St. Paul City Council simplifies standards in mixed-use zoning areas

It just got a pinch easier to open a coffee shop in St Paul and to add housing above it but it could get easier still The city s traditional neighborhood zoning districts invite at various intensities real estate growth that combines housing retail and office uses side-by-side or in a single building often with apartments built over a restaurant or ground-level storefront The T T T and T districts also include design standards governing everything from windows and trees to block lengths The St Paul City Council on Wednesday approved a longstanding effort to encourage more pedestrian-oriented design in T districts while allowing in several cases greater height and density under a simplified zoning code The changes run from mild to meaningful merging various sections of the zoning code while canceling others outright The council s - vote was right now followed by a decision to perform a follow-up zoning examination that aims to potentially refashion more of the city s commercial corridors as mixed-use T districts especially along transit lines We are right away doing the next step mentioned City Council President Rebecca Noecker addressing fellow council members Effort to simplify regulations Over the years advocates for affordable housing and mixed-use maturation have called on the city to simplify regulations and loosen a few permitting and design standards within the T districts while in specific cases adding more standards to encourage pedestrian access The city set out to address those demands through investigation and outreach that began in resulting this week in zoning changes that progress advocates like Sustain St Paul have praised for their flexibility On Sept by a vote of - the St Paul Planning Commission recommended approval of the staff-driven zoning changes included in the T district zoning research The city council held a constituents hearing on Nov These common-sense changes will make the T districts easier for city staff to administer and easier for prospective real estate developers especially regular folks working on small locally-financed neighborhood-scale projects to understand and follow wrote Benjamin Werner a public rise manager with Dayton s Bluff Neighborhood Housing Services in a letter to the city council Werner and others encouraged the city to rezone existing business and transit corridors and expand T districts throughout the city so that people can open neighborhood-serving businesses like coffeeshops and corner stores in more places without first having to get their property rezoned The council which voted - to adopt the new T district zoning evaluation straightaway pivoted to do exactly that again voting - to initiate a T district follow-up and transit corridor zoning research The changes Among the newly-approved changes Parking Surface parking in T districts must not be located within feet of a corner Building facade A section of the code called building facade articulation has been renamed frontage elements and now requires a building s base feet not just the base feet facing abutting population streets to include elements that relate to the human scale at grade doors windows projections awnings canopies porches stoops etc Floor area ratios for affordable housing The maximum allowed floor area ratios can be increased if at least of the residential units are designated affordable housing for at least years and leased at or below of area median income as defined by Minnesota Housing Height In T districts a maximum height of feet is already permitted with a conditional use permit though structures must be stepped back by one foot from all setback lines for every feet of height over feet The new code amendments state that additional building height is permitted when stated in an adopted T District master plan and they remove restrictions on height allowances in the river corridor overlay district and within light rail station areas between Lexington Parkway and Marion Street Definitions The zoning code now tweaks definitions of T T T and T districts to emphasize commerce transit and intensity Until now for instance T districts allowed greater transit use alongside high-density mixed-use progress Under the new definition T districts will be defined as those in which both more frequent transit function and reliance on transit make high-intensity mixed-use maturation practicable and desirable Design standards The new code amendment eliminates existing language that says in general it is desirable for each block to include certain diversity in housing type building type and mix of land uses It also relaxes standards around block lengths transitioning from higher to lower density neighborhoods and using established building facade lines as well as requiring new buildings on corner lots to be oriented to the corner and two populace streets Retail and restaurants In T neighborhoods any individual retailer within a building may take up no more than square feet In T -T districts a conditional use permit is required for new construction covering more than square feet to ensure size and design compatibility with the particular location Conditional use permits are required in all T districts for restaurants printing and other factory-style production larger than square feet Coffee shops A conditional use permit is required for a coffee shop or tea house spanning more than square feet in floor area in T and B business districts The previous threshold was square feet Rental storage Within a mixed-use building rental storage may not exceed of the building s total floor area and may not have storage units on the first floor or at skyway level In all T districts the storage facility s primary entrance loading areas and freight elevators must not be located within the front third of the building and may not be shared with other uses Setback restrictions Up to of the building facade on any lot would be allowed to exceed the maximum setback requirement in order to create outdoor seating gathering areas or courtyards Civic and institutional buildings in T and T districts would be exempt from the maximum front yard setback requirement Related Articles Shari Moore to retire after nearly years at St Paul City Hall St Paul Hamm s Brewery site designated local heritage preservation district Bye Bye Bitcoin St Paul City Council discusses banning crypto ATMs St Paul offering for those facing eviction Here s how it works Lawsuit filed after St Paul City Council unanimously approves firearms regulation ordinance Certain setback restrictions would still apply to corner lots near transitway platforms as well as local heritage preservation sites Height at property lines Under the new rules structures adjoining residential districts RL-H at a common property line or alley must be no more than feet high along rear and side lines They may exceed that requirement if they re stepped back at a distance equal to the additional height or if additional building height is permitted in an adopted T district master plan Rooflines Buildings of two or more stories must include a cornice parapet or roof overhang in the area between the top floor and highest point of the building