St. Paul woman granted extension on boulevard garden removal

After initially being told she had a week to remove her St. Paul boulevard garden because it violated city code, Iris Logan has been granted a six-month extension.

Logan, 69, has been building an elaborate garden of rocks, sculptures and mosaics at her home, including on its boulevard, on Sherburne Avenue in the Hamline-Midway neighborhood for many years.

Neighbors rallied behind her after her daughter posted on Facebook in November that Logan was being required to remove the boulevard garden. A petition supporting Logan has gathered nearly 800 signatures.

Logan has removed much of the display on the boulevard already, but the neighborhood group advocated for a six-month extension because of the scope of the work.

Logan was originally supposed to remove the garden by Nov. 13. On Tuesday, the council was set to vote on a new deadline of Dec. 22, but agreed instead to extend it to June because frost makes it difficult to move large rocks and the boulevard will need to be regraded.

At Tuesday's council meting, Ward 4 City Council Member Mitra Jalali, who represents Hamline-Midway, apologized for the distress Logan has experienced from the city's process, and said the city needs to find a more holistic way of addressing such situations.

"I want to just highlight the human side of this, which is that a completely well-intentioned and beloved community member is experiencing this challenge and the community has asked very clearly for time," she said, as well as discussion on policy change on boulevard gardens.

Justin Lewandowski, a community organizer with the Hamline Midway Coalition, said he is in talks to find a way to honor Logan's contributions to the neighborhood at the nearby Midway Peace Park.

"We're really happy that the city worked with us in recognizing the special circumstances which Iris found herself in, and really happy and looking forward to continued conversation ... around reporting and enforcement of code violations in the future," Lewandowski said.

Separately, the council is discussing an amendment to city code that would allow some raised bed planters in boulevards.