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Planning Commission reviews 287-space lot to serve Upper Harbor amphitheater
Summary
The Minneapolis Planning Commission on July 7 reviewed a planned 287-space surface parking lot at 3701 and 3601 Washington Avenue North to support the Community Performing Arts Center, including required PUD, conditional use review and an event transportation management plan.
The Minneapolis Planning Commission on July 7 considered an application from the Upper Harbor project team to build a 287-space principal surface parking lot at 3701 and 3601 Washington Avenue North to serve the Community Performing Arts Center (CPAC).
Staff said the lot would be divided into two zones: a 74-space rideshare/drop-off area and a 213-space paid parking area. Hilary Dvorak, principal city planner in the Land Use, Design and Preservation section, told commissioners the rideshare area is intended to turn over repeatedly before and after events, and that the applicant projects roughly 38% of attendees — about 3,000 people at large events — will arrive by rideshare. "The ETMP will be monitored by the applicant, the City of Minneapolis and the Park Board and the ETMP will be adjusted as needed," Dvorak said.
The lot is proposed to support the CPAC, an 8,200-seat outdoor amphitheater previously approved by the Planning Commission in June 2023 and expected to open in 2027. City staff said ticketed events for the amphitheater could total up to 54 a year and non-ticketed events up to 36 a year, for a maximum of about 90 events annually; ticketed events will not be scheduled January through April. For a typical event, staff said gates would open at 5 p.m., shows would start at 6:30 p.m. and, per the city's noise ordinance, end by 10 p.m.
Dvorak said the parking site sits about one-third of a mile from the CPAC main entrance on West River Road North and that event-day traffic-control agents would direct vehicles and pedestrians along Washington to Dowling, across at signalized crossings and down West River Road to the amphitheater entrance.
Because the site is 2.93 acres and the Corridor 6 Built Form Overlay District limits surface parking lot size to 1 acre, the project requires a planned unit development (PUD) conditional-use review, variances and site-plan review. Staff recommended commissioners find the proposed public land conveyance conforms with the comprehensive plan and noted the PUD application must demonstrate at least 10 amenity points; the report recommends 16 points. Staff explained five of the additional points would be reserved for future signage and would return to the commission for sign-plan review.
As part of the CPAC approvals, the applicant must develop an Event Transportation Management Plan (ETMP) that city staff and the Public Works Department must approve before a certificate of occupancy is issued for the amphitheater. Staff said the ETMP will be refined as construction progresses and that it will guide event-day operations, including shuttle buses, rideshare, off-site parking, biking, walking and transit.
No formal vote on the PUD or conditional-use permit appears in the provided transcript excerpt. Staff asked the commission to make a public land conveyance finding as part of the application review during the meeting.
Next steps outlined by staff include additional sign-plan review, approval of the ETMP by CPED and Public Works before the Certificate of Occupancy, and continued coordination with the Park Board and event operators as the project moves toward building permits and opening in 2027.
