PPERRIA welcomes Pratt’s new principal, PPUMC’s new pastor:

Anne Wade, Pratt’s new principal, said the school was off to a good start this year with 163 students; Pratt has the capacity to accommodate up to 188 students. Wade said with the school year starting there are still some stability issues within the Minneapolis Public School (MPS) District, meaning enrollments are still fluctuating somewhat. She said Pratt, for example, was getting a new student tomorrow. She asked those at the meeting to continue to pass on the message that Pratt is a “viable option” for parents looking for schools for their children. With the exception of one classroom, Pratt class sizes average about 23 students.

PPERRIA President Dick Poppele said Chad Koppe intended to make it to tonight’s meeting, but something came up last minute that he had to attend to. Koppe just started at Prospect Park United Methodist Church this summer, Poppele said, and he and his wife, who’s also a pastor, are planning to move into the community and occupy the church’s adjacent residence sometime later this year.

School referendum presentation

Prospect Park resident and longtime Minneapolis School Board Member Judy Farmer gave a presentation in support of the newest property tax referendum supporting Minneapolis Public Schools that will come before voters this fall. Farmer is a volunteer with the pro-referendum campaign, “Vote Yes for Kids!”

Farmer said the city’s last educational referendum, passed in 2000, expires in 2009. The campaign is already advocating a year early, she said, so that in case the referendum doesn’t pass this year, it can try again next year.

“It’s kind of ironic,” Farmer said. “We’re coming to you [asking you to support this referendum] as Wall Street’s collapsing.” While the last referendum promised to decrease class sizes and class sizes still increased, Farmer said 100 percent of the money still went toward reducing class sizes. The strategy just didn’t work the way it was planned because the district lost other funding during that time. She said those behind the previous referendum learned from their mistakes and that Vote Yes for Kids! would not make specific promises this time around, but instead, pledge to work on four areas.

Roughly half of the $480 million referendum, which would run from 2009 to 2017, would again be dedicated to continuing to decrease class sizes. The other half would be divided among early age literacy programs to help schools have all students reading at grade level by the third grade, math and science resources to help all students are ready for algebra by eighth grade, and new technology and textbook investments.

Based on the value of an average Minneapolis home ($256,000), the new referendum would increase property taxes by about $203 per year, or $17 per month.

“These levies were supposed to be for extras in the beginning… they’re not extras [anymore],” Farmer said. A woman named Claudia, the parent of a Pratt third grader, who spoke with Farmer, said “this money is not for fringe benefits or new hula hoops on the playground.” She said just this year Pratt had to fundraise to bring a music teacher into the school once a week.

One person in the audience asked if PPERRIA planned to have “the other side” give a presentation on this issue. Farmer said there were individuals who opposed the referendum, but no formal opposition organization. Poppele asked if the individual wanted a chance to speak. He did speak briefly and commented that the last referendum was unsuccessful and that it “has done less than No Child Left Behind,” in terms of improving education.

Another person in attendance asked if Mayor R.T. Rybak supported the referendum. Farmer said he was an honorary co-chair of the campaign. The person responded that it was peculiar that Rybak would support the referendum, but send his kids to private school. One individual said she didn’t think Rybak’s choice to send his kids to private school was relevant in the discussion.

Update on the Biomedical Research Park and East Gateway District: Phase I in the process of developing the “East Gateway District” is already underway, Poppele said. The first stage of the project will result in 650,000 sq. feet of translational research space with three new research programs and buildings dedicated to imaging, cancer, heart disease, neurosciences and infectious diseases. One building is currently under construction; construction of the other two facilities begins next year.

The university is currently conducting several land-use studies in the Gateway District as it updates its master plan. One person asked where all of the new Gateway District employees will park. Poppele said the university is studying that right now. He also said that the proposed light rail station right near the stadium will likely have a multi-level parking facility that could accommodate some of those people. Light rail transit would probably be another option for those new employees, he said.

Ambulatory Care Clinic in Motley: Fairview Hospitals and Clinics is in the advanced stages of planning an ambulatory care clinic in the Motley neighborhood on a city block of land owned by the university and currently used for surface-level contract parking, Poppele said. The clinic would replace Fairview’s current outpatient clinic on nearby Delaware Street.

Several university and Fairview representatives attended the last PPERRIA zoning meeting to discuss the plans. “We had a very lively discussion,” Poppele said, eliciting chuckles from several in the room. In that discussion it was suggested by some PPERIA members that the clinic’s exterior be softened some to better mesh with the surrounding residential properties. Poppele said the university and Fairview’s willingness to meet with the neighborhood suggests there’s a chance they might be willing to take PPERRIA’s suggestions into account when construction begins around mid-to late 2009, but given how advanced the renderings appear, Poppele said he doesn’t think there is much of a chance the neighborhood will be able to have much of a say.

At the meeting, Poppele said university officials said the institution had no plans of expansion south of Fulton Street. One person at the PPERRIA meeting said the University years ago said it had no intention of expansion past Oak Street, and now look at how that’s changed.

Poppele also said it’s his understanding that Fulton, which borders the site of the new clinic to the south, will likely become the university’s new main route into the Biomedical Sciences area.

At the same zoning meeting, the university said it considers Huron Boulevard its eastern boundary on the Minneapolis Campus. PPERRIA zoning committee member Karen Murdoch said it was the first the neighborhood had ever heard of the university’s so-called boundary since the street was built some 15 years ago. Poppele told Murdoch the news really didn’t come as any surprise to the neighborhood, which could have guessed that was probably the case.

Pointing to a detailed rendering of the proposed ambulatory clinic in front of the room, one person asked, “How many people in this room would like to live across the street from this thing?”

Another person asked about parking for the new facility. Poppele said parking seemed to be sufficient as there would be around 250 parking spaces in a ramp below the clinic and additional parking available in the Oak Street Ramp. The individual replied that several people on the next block over from the clinic (what the University calls “Block 11”) were told by the university that it will be short on parking spaces. The same person also said the Oak Street Ramp is usually full for contract parking and questioned whether it could really accommodate the ambulatory clinic’s overflow.

Campus Crossroads “community space” revised: The PPERRIA zoning committee was recently presented with revised plans for the community space at the proposed eight-story Campus Crossroads development. Original drawings showed a small entrance on Oak Street leading into a hallway that eventually led to the community space, which could take the form of a theater, reading room or even a multipurpose room.

The committee was not impressed with the lack of visibility from the street. The latest revision shows a window-lined corridor along a portion of Oak Street that leads into the space. Poppele said it is more exposed to the street and not as tucked away as the earlier design. The zoning committee is still discussing the latest rendering, but Poppele said the latest drawing is probably more along the lines of what the space and its Oak Street entrance will actually resemble.

PPERRIA welcomes YouthCARE to the neighborhood: Jenni Zickert with YouthCARE, a project offering free multi-cultural programming for 7–18-year-olds, said her organization recently moved to 27th and University Avenue from the Warehouse District. YouthCARE’s mission is to provide positive out-of-school activities for youth and to promote respect of self and others. Zickert said she works specifically with one of YouthCARE’s Young Women’s Mentoring Program. YouthCARE has eight staff, as well as interns from several local colleges. Lots of volunteers also keep the organization going, Zickert said.

Self-initiated parking study: Livability Committee Chair Joe Ring said he and other neighbors have initiated their own study of parking patterns on Arthur and Bedford Streets, Clarence Avenue and one other street to compare parking issues when the university is in and out of session. The study began in August and Ring, who is monitoring Clarence Avenue, said he saw the average number of cars parked on the street between August and September increase by “well over 50 percent.” The results of the study, which will be completed next month, will be sent to the Heritage Preservation Commission to document the parking issue.

Update on local, national historic designation processes: At a Sept. 16 hearing, the Heritage Preservation Commission voted unanimously to approve Prospect Park’s nomination for local historic designation, granting the neighborhood interim protection while the city’s planning department conducts its study, which won’t begin until early next year. Ring said he got the sense from the HPC’s Jack Byers that the Hess-Roise study of the neighborhood must be supplemented with a study by the city — that the HPC would not use the Hess-Roise-drafted study alone.

There were around five people in favor of the local designation at the hearing, and three against, Ring said. Ring said he thought those opposed to local designation were mostly “ill-informed” about what the protection would mean. Several people, he said, were concerned that their houses were not historic and questioned why they would be given historic designation. Ward 2 Council Member Cam Gordon disagreed, saying it would be more accurate to say those aforementioned people (who had been included in the Hess-Roise report) were objecting to their inclusion in the historic district despite being included in Hess-Roise. Ring said he still thinks their concerns reflect a misunderstanding about why the proposal for designation was made in the first place.

The only downside about the hearing, Ring said, was the lack of testimony/ written statements in support of local protection from Prospect Park residents. “If we want this to go forward, there’s a lot that needs to be done,” he said. If residents support the designation it should be because they actually want it, Gordon said. “I don’t want anybody to feel they’re having this shoved down upon them,” he said. One person at the meeting said they thought people in the neighborhood would be more willing to give input if they knew more about how it would affect what a person can and can’t do with their house. Another individual said he was concerned that the neighborhood would have to approve or reject designation before it was clear what the stipulations would be for home modifications. Ring responded, saying that before HPC would ever vote to approve the neighborhood the designation, neighborhood-directed guidelines would have to be written.

Poppele said, like Gordon, he didn’t want people to confuse local and national designation. It’s the local designation that would have more of an affect on what someone could do to their house, he said. National designation is “most important to focus on before we worry about the local designation,” he said.

PPERRIA member Julie Wallace asked for a “good Q&A” to be uploaded on PPERRIA’s website to inform people about details of local and national designation.

Additional lanes on I-94 will stay in-place, at least through July: Tom O’Keefe, who Ring referred to as “our MnDOT guy,” recently told Ring the extra lane added on I-94 while the I-35W bridge was down will stay in place until July 2009, at which time a decision will be made about whether it will become permanent. The impact of the extra lane is still being studied. The issue impacts the neighborhood’s chance of securing a sound wall, Ring said. If the fourth lane becomes permanent, the sound wall will be a lot easier to secure. Conversely, Ring said, it will be much more difficult to get the sound wall funded if the highway goes back to the way it was.

Liquor license requests: Zoning Committee Chair Florence Littman said Campus Pizza and Pasta will move across the street to the Stadium Village Mall, due to the proposed Campus Crossroads project, which would require the demolition of the pizza restaurant’s current home. The pizza shop wants to obtain a full liquor license, Littman said. When U-Garden got its full liquor license recently, the restaurant and PPERRIA agreed on some conditions, so that the establishment remained “a restaurant with incidental liquor sales” instead of vice versa, she said. The number of restaurants requesting full liquor licenses is expected to climb as the stadium nears completion. Littman said she hopes other restaurants will agree to the same conditional liquor licenses.

Possibility of a church at 64 Bedford: There has been interest in using part of the space at 64 Bedford as a meeting house or church. The new owner of the property spoke to three different city planners about the idea, Littman said, and received three different answers about what would he would have to do to proceed.

New mini-dorm on Yale Avenue “not causing problems yet”: The new tenants at 1217 Yale are not causing problems yet, Littman said. Karen Murdoch, who lives on Yale, said the students have been riding bikes and that parking hadn’t been an issue.

Residents solicited to sell property: Littman said residents on Bedford Street and Orlin Avenue have recently received letters from people representing an undisclosed potential buyer who is interested in their property. The areas that have been targeted are zoned R-4 and some even R-2, Littman said.

Bylaws amendment proposed for October meeting: An amendment to PPERRIA’s bylaws was introduced, to be considered at next month’s meeting. The amendment would affect the number of board members elected at the annual meeting.

NEXT: Board meeting, Oct. 27, 2008.
MEETINGS: 4th Monday monthly, 7–9 p.m., unless otherwise announced. Refreshments, conversation 6:30–7 p.m. Prospect Park United Methodist Church, 22 Orlin Avenue SE
CONTACT: 612-331-2970
66 SE Malcolm Ave., Minneapolis, MN 55414
pperria@tcfreenet.org
www.pperr.org

last revised: September 26, 2008

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