Divided St. Paul City Council approves Grand Avenue development

Two words sum up months of opposition to a plan to replace Dixie's on Grand with a five-story, three-restaurant, 80-apartment mixed-use complex: too big.

But a split St. Paul City Council on Wednesday disagreed, voting 4-3 to approve a project that supporters say will reinvigorate an increasingly sleepy Grand Avenue.

In the end, strong support from the Summit Hill Association and the St. Paul Planning Commission appears to have held just enough sway. Council Members Mitra Jalali, Chris Tolbert, Amy Brendmoen and Dai Thao voted to rezone the area to allow a project of that size. Rebecca Noecker, who represents the area, Jane Prince and Nelsie Yang voted against the move.

Jalali was especially forceful in her support for the plan, saying that in a city desperately needing more housing of all types, projects such as this one must be built.

"This is exactly the type of development that's good for a commercial corridor like Grand Avenue," Jalali said.

Tolbert agreed. "We need to grow as a city," he said. "We all want to have more housing. In order to have more housing, we need to vote for more housing."

While the issue had been framed for months as Summit Hill residents comprising much of the opposition — and, indeed, they mobilized to write and e-mail council members in waves — longtime area resident Marilyn Bach said the nearly 500 people who signed a petition opposing the project came from a wide swath of the city.

"It's a disgraceful example of the City Council not listening to the voices of the people," she said. "I expected it. But I was very hopeful they were poised to turn it down."

The $32.5 million project would include four ground-floor commercial spaces: two for existing restaurants Emmett's and Saji-Ya, and two for new businesses. A setback along Grand in the shape of a U would provide a plaza-like space for public art, benches and events. Dixie's on Grand will not be moving into the new space, said owner Peter Kenefick, who plans to retire the restaurant name after 30 years.

Reuter Walton is the project developer and has worked for months to gain community support. Still, many neighbors object to the building's size and its effect on the surrounding area of Summit's historic luxury homes and Grand Avenue's two- and three-story brick apartment buildings and bungalows-turned-quaint shops.

But supporters, pointing to a decadeslong lack of development along Grand Avenue because of zoning limits, touted the project as a needed shot in the arm. A proposal four years ago to replace Dixie's with a mixed-use project was withdrawn after it met stiff neighborhood resistance.

Dan Marshall, co-owner of Mischief toy store on Grand Avenue and an outspoken champion of the project, said that when Noecker last week indicated she opposed the size of the project, he thought it might be doomed. The council was expected to vote Aug. 11, but the question was delayed after Noecker said that while she supported density and the plan in general, it should be smaller.

"Almost always, the council is going to follow the lead of the council member whose ward it is in," Marshall said. "But cooler heads prevailed. I think they said, 'Hey, the city really needs this.' "

James Walsh • 612-673-7428