Committee approves planning‑commission change to minimum‑height rules, adds flexibility outside downtown

City planner Maylene Smith presented a recommended amendment to the comprehensive plan’s built‑form minimum‑height requirements. Staff said minimums established under Minneapolis 2040 had created predictability but also implementation challenges — notably in transit districts where high minimums (up to 10 stories in Transit‑30) can make some affordable housing and production uses financially infeasible.

Staff proposed lowering several minimums (Transit‑15 from 4 to 3 stories; Transit‑20 from 6 to 4; and in Transit‑30 differentiating areas closest to downtown, which would retain a 10‑story minimum, from areas outside downtown where staff recommended a 5‑story minimum). The Planning Commission amended the Transit‑30 outside‑core recommendation to 6 stories, citing common construction‑practice thresholds. Council Member Chowdhury moved to approve the Planning Commission’s recommendation and the committee voted to adopt it.

The amendment does not change maximum heights or floor‑area‑ratio requirements; staff said the intention is to add flexibility at the lower end of scale while preserving the plan’s growth expectations. Zoning code text amendments would follow this comp‑plan change, including creation of Transit‑30A and Transit‑30B districts to reflect the distinction between core and outside‑core areas.

Next steps: the comp‑plan amendment will proceed to full council and zoning code amendments will be drafted to implement the distinction between Transit‑30A (core) and Transit‑30B (outside core).