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 circumstances.

The staff presentation said the CPAC would be at 3501 West River Road North and estimated the venue could hold up to 8,200 seats and host as many as 54 large ticketed events and up to 90 total events in a calendar year. Staff noted the proposed principal surface lot would be used about 25% of the year and would be gated and staffed on event days. They also said roughly 26% of the proposed spaces would be dedicated to ride-share/drop-off and would turnover repeatedly during events.

Commissioners pressed staff and the applicant on alternatives such as structured parking and on traffic and transit planning for the site. Staff said earlier and ongoing conversations with Metro Transit had not produced closer fixed-route service for the area; the nearest existing stops for routes 22 and 32 are about a mile away. Staff and commissioners described the project as a “chicken and egg” situation: they expect development and event activity to strengthen the case for additional transit in future phases of Upper Harbor.

Commissioners approved the variance to allow more than the code-limited frontage and the larger number of surface spaces on a voice roll call. The roll call on that variance recorded eight ayes and one nay (Meyer: No; Ayes: Baxley, Chowdhury, Connolly, Gordon, Jones, Shepherd, Thompson, Wagner).

On the EV-charging requirement, the applicant had requested a variance from the zoning code that would reduce the required EV charging stations from the code amount (14) to zero. After debate, the commission denied that extreme reduction and instead adopted a compromise motion to require 10 charging stations. That motion passed 6–3 (Ayes: Chowdhury, Connolly, Gordon, Shepherd, Wagner, Meyer; Nays: Baxley, Jones, Thompson).

Staff also identified a set of nine conditions as part of the site-plan review. Key conditions recorded in the discussion included: providing a total of 51 trees and the required shrubs for the parking lot (staff noted the applicant proposed 39 trees and staff recommended meeting the full 51); ensuring each parking space is within 50 feet of an on‑site tree (staff said one additional tree was needed to meet that requirement in a specific area); and designing the parking-lot landscaping so it runs parallel to the lot to provide the required screening. Commissioners also discussed monitoring and refining event traffic management, including traffic-control agents on event days and adapting operations if standing congestion appeared at Dowling and Washington.

Public comment at the hearing included a nearby property owner who said existing intersections already back up and expressed concern that event traffic might spill onto neighborhood streets. Staff and commissioners noted the Planning Commission’s limited authority to regulate public-street parking outside the site.

The commission adopted the remaining associated items (site-plan review conditions and related variances) consistent with the staff recommendations. The motion to adopt the remaining items (A, B, C, F, and G as listed in the staff packet) was declared adopted by the chair.

The commission’s approval includes multiple conditions and alternative compliance approvals; final permitting will require the applicant to satisfy the listed site-plan conditions before permits are issued and the city’s legal review of ground-lease and development documents will continue.