Planning commission approves surface parking variances for Upper Harbor CPAC site with conditions

The Minneapolis Planning Commission voted to approve variances and site-plan conditions on a proposed principal surface parking lot intended to serve the planned 8,200-seat CPAC amphitheater at Upper Harbor.

Commissioners approved a staff recommendation that granted variances allowing 287 parking spaces on the site, greater parking-lot frontage along Dowling Avenue North and Washington Avenue North than the zoning code allows, and permission for off-site parking within differing zoning districts. The commission also approved a separate motion to require 10 electric-vehicle charging stations rather than the city code-required number or the applicant’s original request for none.

Staff said the site’s size and shape — including 158 feet of frontage on Dowling and about 1,204 feet on Washington and a narrow southern end — make the property atypical and created practical challenges to meeting the zoning code’s 100-space limit for surface lots and its 40-foot frontage caps. Staff recommended approval of the variances on the grounds that the property’s configuration and the regional role of the CPAC create unique…