Minneapolis 2040 plan rezoning questioned by some residents

Minneapolis’ 2040 plan went into effect on Jan. 1, 2019, and has been guiding the city’s growth and change in several areas, including housing.

The 2040 plan allows for more housing choice, according to the city. It’ll provide more flexibility and options for new housing in Minneapolis. The city also said the Metropolitan Council is projecting significant growth for Minneapolis in coming years, and said increased housing options such as this helps the city prepare for growth.

With the new housing projects, the city has to update its zoning code to match up with the 2040 plan.

Dirk Nicholson, Tangletown Neighborhood Association board member and committee chairman, said, “The charm of these neighborhoods that have been here for decades and decades if not a century or more and so it does feel disruptive I think."

"I think that’s where some of the disconnect between what residents are looking at and saying well wait this is the reality of living on this block," Nicholson added.

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Garret Duncan, a development analyst with North Bay Companies, said the company wants to tear down a single-family home and garden near the intersection of 46th Street and Pillsbury Avenue in southwest Minneapolis to build five units, each with three bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms. The complex would have three parking spaces. The developer said the tenants would pay $1,800 to $2,500 per month in rent.

“Five units is really too much for a city lot…We recognize that development is going to happen, it’s just that five units is a lot for a city lot, a triplex would be much more compatible," said Kristin Garwick, who lives next to the proposed housing complex.

Garwick, who’s lived in Tangletown for more than 20 years, said this will add to congestion and a lack of parking.

“We have several multi-generational families, we have three day care businesses on the block, the increased traffic is just not something that we are looking forward to,” Garwick said.

It’s not a done deal yet, though. By the end of the month, North Bay Companies said it’ll be submitting its land use application. Once the application is complete, it will have to go to the planning commission for approval, according to the city.