Minnetonka Planning Commission recommends approval of Minnetonka Middle School East expansion

The Minnetonka Planning Commission unanimously recommended that the City Council approve a conditional use permit and site-and-building plan review for additions and site changes at Minnetonka Middle School East, 17000 Lake Street Extension.

Staff planner Ingleson told the commission the 32-acre campus, with a building dating from 1963, would receive two major additions—a gym/auditorium totaling nearly 14,000 square feet and a science wing just under 10,000 square feet—plus two small bathroom additions, a new west-side bus corral and a reconfigured parking layout. Staff reported the site currently contains about 203 vehicle parking spaces and 22 bus parking spaces and identified roughly 184 city-regulated trees on the property; staff said 16 trees would be removed under the proposal and that tree-protection thresholds would still be met.

The project is funded through a recent school bond referendum, Paul Briscois, the district’s executive director of finance and operations, told commissioners, and the district said the additions are intended to improve educational programming rather than add capacity for new students. Briscois thanked city staff and neighbors and said the district looks forward to working through construction.

A major element of the plan is a new bus corral and circulation scheme intended to separate buses from parent drop-off traffic. Ingleson said the city’s traffic consultant recommended shifting crossings and altering circulation to reduce conflicts during peak drop-off and pick-up periods. The applicant said the old bus corral provided about 46 spaces and the new configuration will provide 93 spaces; staff and the applicant described this as resulting in roughly a 50% increase in site parking availability for events when buses are absent.

Architect David Maroney explained construction and envelope details, including high-performance insulation (polyisocyanurate panels in the gym and improved cavity-wall insulation elsewhere), and said the gym/stage will use precast concrete with sandwich-panel insulation to achieve higher R-values. Briscois noted the district has pursued energy-efficiency measures across its campuses and participates as an anchor tenant in several utility-scale community solar gardens.

The applicant outlined a phased construction schedule: the new bus corral and some site work are slated for immediate summer construction, sanitary sewer replacement and pool condenser relocation are included in summer bids, and the majority of west-side building work is planned to begin in July and extend through the next school year with a phased opening targeted in late 2027 to early 2028.

Commissioners asked detailed questions about phasing, pedestrian safety, queuing capacity and snow removal. The applicant and staff said each drop-off zone can accommodate about eight to ten passenger vehicles, that the layout includes recirculation lanes and supervisory control to reduce queue spillback onto public roads, and that plowed snow can be staged in graded areas to the west of the site.

No members of the public spoke at the hearing. Commissioners voiced broad support, citing improved safety for students and neighbors, better circulation, enhanced accessibility (including plans to replace an existing wheelchair lift with a full elevator) and attention to stormwater and tree replacement. Commissioner Banks moved to recommend approval; the motion passed unanimously. The commission’s recommendation will go to the City Council on April 27 for final action.

Votes at a glance: The Planning Commission voted to recommend approval of the conditional use permit and site-and-building plan review for Minnetonka Middle School East; the commission’s recommendation will be considered by the Minnetonka City Council at its April 27 meeting.

What’s next: If the City Council adopts the resolution as recommended, the district will proceed with phased bidding and construction as described to the commission.