Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Land Use Access Appeal topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council grants University of St. Thomas appeal, allows limited continued access from Goodrich Avenue
Summary
The council granted the University of St. Thomas’ appeal to modify a 2004 conditional-use permit condition, allowing an existing loading drive between Goodrich Avenue and the Bins Refectory to remain with strict use limits and a two-year interim allowance during arena construction.
The Saint Paul City Council on April 16 granted an appeal from the University of St. Thomas to modify condition 16 of a 2004 conditional-use permit, allowing an existing drive between Goodrich Avenue and adjacent buildings to remain but restricting its use.
Council Member Provetsky moved to approve the appeal based on staff findings; his motion described the modification and the restrictions. “Goodrich Avenue access, the loading drive which currently exists between Goodrich Avenue and the Bins Refectory shall be used only for materials deliveries to and pickups from the Binser Factory and Brady Education Center, maintenance vehicles, and emergency vehicles. It may not be used for student, employee, or visitor vehicle traffic, and it may not be connected to parking spaces accessed by those users,” Provetsky said when moving the motion.
The motion also included a temporary allowance tied to arena construction: the drive may be maintained for current purposes for an interim period during construction of a multipurpose arena and associated access infrastructure for a period not to exceed two years.
Why it matters: The appeal resolves a long-standing dispute between the university and neighbors over a drive that the planning commission had conditioned to be removed when remodeling took place. Council members debated whether the planning commission’s prior findings should be upheld and whether the original rationale for the condition still applied. Council President Naker said they would vote against the motion because the planning commission’s record supported upholding the condition in its plain form.
Vote: The motion passed 5–1; Council President Naker cast the lone no vote. Supporters said the modified condition preserves necessary deliveries and emergency access while limiting nonessential traffic.
Next steps: The modified condition will be reflected in the permit records and enforced by planning staff; the interim two-year allowance will expire if construction and associated access infrastructure are completed within that period.
Speakers quoted in this article are drawn from the council meeting transcript.
