Posted on by John Edwards

News Brief: “Anger, Sadness and Disapproval” in Linden Hills

And other news from around the Greater Wedge Tri-Neighborhood Metropolitan Area…

VIDEO: Anger, Sadness, & Disapproval. A four-story building is coming to Linden Hills. The zoning code says yes, but their hearts say no. Watch the video below.

Developer seeks approval for three apartment buildings with 271 units on a six block stretch of Girard Ave in Uptown.

Yesterday, two of three Girard Ave apartment proposals received a positive reaction at the Planning Commission Committee of the Whole: a 6-story building next to the Piggy Bank and the Uptown Transit Station; and a 4-story building at 32nd and Girard. The Commission’s response to a third proposal at 27th and Girard indicates it won’t be approved without revisions. Some commissioners took issue with the building’s height of 6-stories; other commissioners were fine with the height, but objected to the building bulk (floor area ratio).

One issue raised at the meeting was the degree to which some areas of high-density zoning within neighborhood interiors were actually eliminated in the Minneapolis 2040 plan (aka the nationally-heralded plan to upzone Minneapolis). Both 27xx Girard and 32xx Girard were marked for downzoning by the 2040 plan — which hasn’t cleared a review process from the Metropolitan Council, and hasn’t been made official by the city. City planner Hilary Dvorak indicated that a comprehensive plan amendment would be required to allow a building of this size if the 2040 plan were in effect. This dynamic creates a need for the developer to move quickly in seeking approval from the city.

Of course, neighbors have concerns about density and so much more (including pedophiles).

Landlord Lobby steps up campaign against Minneapolis fair housing ordinance. Yard signs, emails to their tenants, flyers under doors, and posters hung in buildings. Here’s a rough look at their Facebook spending for one ad. The message from building owners: limiting their ability to deny housing over criminal history, no matter how old that history is, will put “responsible renters” in danger. Among other things, the ordinance would make it easier to find housing for people with misdemeanors older than 2 years and certain felonies older than 5 years.

Contrary to the disgusting tweet below from John Reynolds, the Assistant Director of Government Affairs for the Multi Housing Association, landlords would still be free to deny housing to sex offenders.

Read the whole thread here.

Are you confused by news stories about the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority (and the later corrections to those stories)? Here’s an excellent breakdown of the issues underlying concern about public housing “privatization” in Minneapolis. Read the whole thread.

St. Paul Councilmember Kassim Busuri responds to critics over his failure to support a Pride Month resolution. Busuri expresses no regret for his homophobic social media history, including his 2014 support for a Ugandan law that would sentence gay people to life in prison.

New York Times Editorial Board endorses “More Neighbors.”

Goat Yoga comes to the East Isles Farmers Market. Goat Yoga returns on July 25th.

Are you ready for Cat Tour? The hype around the cat tour is intolerable and it’s only going to get worse. Earlier this week I led a local TV news crew through the Wedge looking for window cats (the cats let me down — we didn’t see any). I will never live down an appearance on the TV news as “local man leads cat tour.”

(Far less hyped is the Pigeons of the Greenway tour, which you can relive in this series of tweets.)

Bold prediction for next Thursday: I’m guaranteeing at least 30 cats. Please join us and don’t forget about the Cat Tour sign contest. Create the best sign and you could win a Cats of the Wedge tote bag!

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Coverage of a St. Paul neighborhood development debate about Lexington and University. The competing concerns: opposition to density, desire for affordability, and opposition to low-income housing.

Unanswered question about the site of this proposed development: how do they pile the snow so high?

Making a mark on St. Paul for Northern Spark.