HIGHLAND DISTRICT COUNCIL

Community Development Committee Minutes

May 18, 2010, 6:30 p.m.

CDC members in attendance: 

HDC board members: Shawn Bartsh, Tia Anderson, Arline Datu, Tom Brown, , Ethan Bischoff, Kris Thompson, Greg Campbell

            Community members: Alex Selke, Sherry Goodman

Members absent: Katherine Soderberg

Staff:  Kathy Carruth, community organizer

Others present:  Robert Huntley, facility planner, St. Paul Public Schools; Jude Hallanek, architect, McGuire, Courteau, Lucke.

Meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m.

Elections

The committee held elections for community representatives to serve for the year. Sherry Goodman and Alex Selke were elected unanimously for those positions.  Layne Carver, was elected unanimously, in absentia, as an alternate.

Elections were also held for committee officers for the 2010-2011 year.  The following were elected unanimously by the committee:  Tia Anderson, chairman; Shawn Bartsh, vice-chairman; Arline Datu, secretary.

Introduction and Briefing

Introductions were made around the table to acquaint old and new members of the committee.  Tia Anderson then provided a brief explanation of the work of the committee around zoning ordinances in the community and answered questions.

Homecroft School

St. Paul Public Schools' Robert Huntley and architect Jude Hallanek made a brief presentation of the school's request to expand the parking lot area around the school.  The building stopped functioning as an elementary school last year.  It houses primarily offices for SPPS personnel.  The parking lot currently accommodates 22 spaces.  The school wants to expand into the adjacent lawn area to create 13 additional spaces. 

They are pursuing this particular plan because it also includes meeting city requires for storm sewer runoff.  Plans include installation of an infiltration basin.  The architect explained that the new scheme calls for the loss of some trees, but new trees will be planted and some of the existing flowering trees will be re-located.

The committee posed a number of questions to Huntley and Hallanek: 

• It was requested that more landscaping be added, specifically, new pine trees to replace the ones that will be removed during construction of the new parking sots. 
• There was concern that "drug dealing" may be occurring in the parking lot in the evenings.  Last year the HDC voted to request that the driveways to this parking lot be chained or gated at night to discourage parking in the lot after hours. Committee members asked if they could do this as part of this project.  It was suggested that it would be more cost-effective for the school to take these suggestions into consideration now rather than wait until work on the additional parking spaces was completed.  It was also noted that SPPS had worked with the neighborhood at the Horace Mann School to install signage that advised against loitering after hours. Police enforcement was more effective as a result of the signage. Kathy C. said such a sign had been posted at Homecroft as well.
• Storm water - raingardens.  A committee member asked if they had considered using a raingarden to handle the stormwater. The chair said there is currently an ordinance being considered by the city council that has to do with interior landscaping and stormwater management, which might also include options for a rain garden.  She urged Huntley and Hallanek to research the proposed ordinance to ensure that their plans are in keeping with its requirements.
• The vice-chair asked if the school had considered adding on-street parking as opposed to beginning any major construction on additional parking spaces.  She said the addition of on-street parking might help to slow traffic along the Sheridan Road thoroughfare. 

The committee was informed that the project had already received the go-ahead, and that work would begin in July. 

The school was urged to bring projects in Highland to the council early in the process, and before final plans were made so local concerns could be addressed. before they sought approval from the city for any future projects they were planning.

The chair re-iterated that (1) the school  would look at the proposed ordinance before the city concerning interior landscaping and storm water management; (2) the school would/should look into security regarding the parking lot and see if the parking lot could be secured after hours and possibly install surveillance cameras; (3) the school would check into the viability of off-street parking.

There was agreement that this would be done and the school would get back to Kathy Carruth.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:40 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Arline L. Datu

CDC Secretary