EDA hires EAPC for community-center feasibility; planning staff to update downtown design manual and feed 2050 comp plan

North St. Paul staff told the Economic Development Authority on April 8 that the city has retained EAPC, an architecture and engineering firm, to conduct a feasibility study for a proposed community center. The consultant will complete an initial study and staff will present an informational update to the city council at a forthcoming workshop before wider public engagement.

“EAPC … is a firm as a feasibility study of what to do with that building,” staff said, and members were invited to attend the council workshop for an update. The study was described as a longer-term process that will inform next steps and public outreach.

Board members also focused on the downtown design manual, which several noted is about 20 years old and contains outdated references (building-height limits and a historical review process that no longer exists). Staff and members discussed whether to compress the manual from a long policy guide into a shorter, more usable document or incorporate key elements into the zoning code. Budget estimates for a consultant to update the manual ranged from $10,000 to $20,000 and would be a potential 2026 budget item if contracted.

Staff said the city expects guidance from the Met Council by September–October to begin the comprehensive-plan (2050) update, which will thread into design-manual changes and possible zoning-code adjustments. Members asked staff to evaluate whether core design elements could be advanced through code changes or whether a consultant-led rewrite would be preferable.

No formal EDA vote was taken on contracting for the design manual; members directed staff to continue evaluating options and to report budget implications.