Maplewood council approves second reading to rezone part of 7443 Hazel Avenue after residents seek stronger buffering

Maplewood City Council voted during its Nov. 12 meeting to advance an ordinance that would rezone the northern 3,360-square-foot portion of 7443 Hazel Avenue from SR (single-family residential) to CB (community business), moving the measure to a third and final reading in December.

Resident John Niehaus, of 7461 Hazel Avenue, told the council the revised proposal is smaller than an earlier plan but still runs alongside about half his backyard. He urged the council to require “the tallest possible fence” and mature conifer plantings to reduce noise, light spill and patron activity near his property, and asked that excavation not damage the roots of a 50-plus-year sycamore tree whose trunk straddles the property line. Niehaus said the original buffer had been 16 feet and that the new plan provides only 10 feet.

The applicant, identified during discussion as Mr. King, said the back portion of the site would be used for parking only and described the business’s hours and operations. “It would be all for parking,” he said, and added that the food truck used as the business’s kitchen would remain at the front building.

City staff told council that fencing, landscaping, lighting plans and any required screening are reviewed as part of the building and permitting process and that code limits on fence height and transparency apply. Staff said the city can mandate solid fencing, minimum planting sizes and a lighting “volumetric” plan to show that glare remains on the property and does not spill onto neighbors’ yards.

Council discussion acknowledged neighborhood concerns while noting the project is a planned unit development and that some administrative lot consolidation and additional administrative approvals would occur if rezoning is approved. Several council members said they were comfortable with the applicant’s willingness to work with staff and residents on more robust buffers and asked staff to consider hiring a landscape architect to ensure mature, effective plantings.

A voice vote carried the ordinance through both first and second readings during the meeting; council members scheduled the third and final reading for the next meeting in December.

What happens next: If the council adopts the third reading, the rezoning will become effective according to the city’s ordinance schedule and any required administrative lot consolidations and building-permit reviews would follow. The record shows residents requested specific conditions for fencing, planting size and protections for the sycamore; those details will be addressed in the building-permit and landscape-review process.