Metro briefs: Maple Grove police aim to curb holiday shoplifting

Shoppers in Maple Grove may see more police officers and mobile trailers with cameras in store and mall parking lots during the holiday season as the police department works with retailers to curb shoplifting.

The department has brought back its Holiday Retail Crime Initiative this year as shoplifting cases in the northwest metro suburb hit 528 as of late November, more than the city had in all of 2021.

The thefts have happened at Big Box retailers and small businesses, said Commander Jon Wetternach.

Police met with business owners ahead of Black Friday to educate them on the latest trends in retail theft and how to spot it. The department has deployed its Safe Streets Unit with more officers to detect and apprehend shoplifters, and to monitor the mobile cameras.

The department ran its first Holiday Retail Crime Initiative in 2015.

"We have found it as a helpful deterrent because of the extra police presence and enforcement," Wetternach said.

TIM HARLOW

STILLWATER

Catholic youth camp discussion continues

The Catholic youth camp that hopes to land in May Township will have hearings in the coming weeks before the Township Board, which this week approved updates to its comprehensive plan and zoning rules that reflected some residents' objections to the camp.

The board's vote included a controversial decision to drop the words "youth" and "camp" from approved uses in the township's conservancy district. Before a standing room-only crowd at May Town Hall, the supervisors voted 2-1 on Tuesday to approve the final plan, with supervisor Steve Magner dissenting. He said leaving "youth" and "camp" out of the township's zoning rules gives them less regulatory power.

The Minnesota Catholic Youth Partnership wants to buy 600 acres owned by the Wilder Foundation for a youth camp, plans that have upset some neighbors in the naturally beautiful setting of northern Washington County. Partnership President Tim Healy said the organization has filed a conditional use permit application with the township, and expects to have hearings within 60 days.

Each side has claimed legal authority, though no lawsuits have yet been filed. Healy said the land has an existing conditional use permit from Wilder's era, one that will allow the Catholic Youth Partnership to run its camps. Township Board Chair John Adams said he has been persuaded by legal arguments set forth by Brian Bell, a Dorsey and Whitney attorney representing the Manitou Fund, that say the conditional use permit stays in place, but the uses that it allows can expire.

MATT MCKINNEY

MAPLEWOOD

Library renovation begins

The Ramsey County Library branch in Maplewood is closing Monday for a major interior renovation.

Work is expected to continue through fall of 2023. The renovation will add study and meeting spaces and improve a variety of issues including lighting, seating, acoustics and layout. The renovation will cost $3.7 million.

The library, at 3025 Southlawn Dr., was built in 2007 and draws an average of 144,000 visitors each year. Interior designs were drafted last March using public feedback.

Starting in January, hours at the White Bear Lake and North St. Paul branches will be extended to accommodate the renovation closure.

SHANNON PRATHER