St. Paul City Council blocks developer’s hopes for lower density at Ford plant site

St. Paul’s City Council blocked a request from the developer of the Ford plant site to build a one-story commercial strip at a major intersection, with a tie vote Wednesday from the shorthanded council.

Ryan Companies, the developer charged with transforming the former factory into the Highland Bridge neighborhood, wanted to build shorter buildings than the three- and four-story structures, with both apartments and businesses, they initially promised at the intersection of Ford Parkway and Cretin Avenue. The company cited both the city’s rent control ordinance and problems with the land in their request. The Board of Zoning Appeals denied the company’s variance request last month.

Council President Rebecca Noecker, who voted against Ryan’s appeal, said she saw the company’s “practical difficulties” as resulting from their design choices, such as which way the buildings face, and not from site issues like bedrock and water table.

“It seems the developer, perhaps encouraged by city staff, has determined a design that led to practical difficulties,“ Noecker said.

Councilmember Saura Jost, whose Ward 3 includes the site, said she believed Ryan’s claim that it would be too difficult to build taller buildings at the site, and repeatedly said she thought the zoning board put too much weight on testimony from another developer who disagreed.

“I think that the variance is consistent with the applicable policies in the comprehensive plan,” Jost said.

The tie vote means the Board of Zoning Appeals' denial of the company’s variance request stands, unless a council member who voted against the appeal brings the issue up again.

Noecker voted against Ryan’s appeal, along with councilmembers HwaJeong Kim and Nelsie Yang. Jost voted to grant Ryan’s request, with Councilmembers Cheniqua Johnson and Anika Bowie. The council is a member short with Councilmember Mitra Jalali’s leave of absence ahead of her resignation.

It took years of debate to settle on zoning for mostly three- and four-story buildings that mixed businesses and apartments.

In January, the Board of Zoning Appeals denied Ryan Companies' request for a variance from that zoning. Some zoning board members said that granting Ryan’s variance request would wreck the vision for an urban, walkable neighborhood.

“The end result is short buildings, low density and a lot of parking, which I’m not sure is part of anybody’s master plan,” board Chair Daniel Miller said.

Maureen Michalski, senior vice president of real estate development with Ryan, said the company’s proposals were not really that far off from the city’s plans and earlier proposals from the company, she said.

“Overall the intent is the same,” she said last month. “The overall Highland Bridge is the same.”

During a public hearing last week, several residents asked the City Council to deny the variance and make Ryan stick to its original plans, though some said they just want to see something built, even if it is disappointing.

Yang compared neighbors' lofty aspirations for the area to the Heights development in her ward, at the former Hillcrest golf course.

“It was such a refresher to hear from everybody, ‘Hey, here are all my hopes and dreams for Highland Bridge,’”