Summit Hill Board Will Vote on Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) August 9

At the Zoning and Land Use (ZLU) meeting and public hearing held on Thursday, July 19, the ZLU and the nearly 50 neighbors in attendance heard Jamie Radel, senior planner for the City of Saint Paul Planning and Economic Development Department and lead on the ADU issue, give a presentation on the proposed move to allow ADUs city-wide.

In her presentation and handout, Radel outlined the City's rationale for this expansion. Numerous questions were asked by neighbors and the ZLU during the course of the meeting; those that she couldn't answer at the meeting were addressed the following week in a follow-up email.  These questions and the responses are outlined here.  Ward 2 councilmember Rebecca Noecker was at the meeting to listen to the discussion.  (Note that there are links to the City study and proposed ordinance in the previous news item on the July 19 meeting.)

At the end of the ZLU meeting, committee members voted 3-1 to recommend to the full SHA board that Summit Hill not be included in this expansion, but would consider it at a later date if and when there was sufficient data from other parts of the city that would answer the many concerns and questions raised by Summit Hill neighbors.  This recommendation will be given at the next board meeting on Thursday, August 9 at 7 pm at Linwood Recreation Center.

We highly encourage neighbors to send their written comments to the SHA board ahead of the August 9 meeting for the board to review.  All comments received will also be forwarded to the City Council regardless of which side of the issue they reflect.  Those should be sent to info@summithillassociation.org.  Please be sure to include your street address in your correspondence.  Neighbors are also welcome to attend the August 9 meeting to listen to the discussion and vote.  Due to time constraints, comments by non-board members may be limited, so we encourage you to send your written comments to ensure your viewpoint is shared ahead of the vote.

The outcome of that vote will go to the City Council as SHA's recommendation prior to the Council's third reading of the proposed ordinance on Wednesday, August 15 and public hearing.  A vote by the Council to be taken after the fourth reading a week later.