Minneapolis Planning Commission OKs Fruen Mill redevelopment

MinnPost’s Twin Cities Documenters program trains and pays community members to take notes at local government meetings. Below are Documenter Amy Brugh’s summary and observations from the May 4 Minneapolis Planning Commission meeting, where the commission approved redevelopment plans for a decades-long abandoned site in Bryn Mawr. You can find Amy’s full notes here, which include links to the agenda and video.

Summary:

The commission approved three items in North Minneapolis through the consent agenda, which means they didn’t have any discussion:
- A project that expands housing for youth and young families by leasing a Minneapolis Public Schools property to The Link, a nonprofit organization.
- A redevelopment of the Fruen Mill building, a long-abandoned site in Bryn Mawr. The commission granted permission to remodel the building for future build-outs – which the site plan describes as a potential spa, hotel and restaurant – and to establish a bar on the third floor.
- A party-wall split on a newly constructed duplex to allow for single-unit purchases.

The commission denied a variance request – which is a request for an exception to the zoning code – for a housing development in Northeast Minneapolis at Marshall Ave NE and 10th Ave NE. The five-story, 89-unit building was approved, but a variance asking to adjust the setback was denied.
- The members of the commission had a lengthy discussion regarding the project and an ordinance change in 2023, which was passed after this project’s initial approval in 2021.
- The commission members noted that this was a unique situation and could be an unintended consequence of the variance change.

Observations and follow up questions:

Accessibility: Did you face any challenges that made it harder to document the meeting or that may have made it difficult for others to attend? For example: trouble accessing the location, difficulty hearing the discussion, lack of nameplates for elected officials, or the agenda being unclear, disorganized, or incomplete.

The agenda wasn’t unclear, but because the Planning Commission members themselves were struggling with interpreting a change in city ordinance, that made it hard to discern some of what occurred in this meeting.

Scene: About how many members of the public attended the meeting? If watching virtually, what was the livestream count (if applicable)? Was anyone protesting outside?

There were 9 views of the YouTube livestream.

Notable: Do you have any follow up questions or other observations to share? What stood out to you as interesting or confusing? Is there anything you’d like to see reporters look further into? Were there any particularly memorable quotes?

The Planning Commission members demonstrated some of the difficult decisions they have to make in order to be in compliance with Minneapolis 2040 and city ordinances, even if a project seems “good” on the surface.

How to get involved:

When is the next meeting for this board/committee? Any upcoming public hearings? Online surveys?

Next Minneapolis Planning Commission meeting is on Monday, May 18 at 4:30 p.m.

More context:

Read Documenter Amy Brugh’s full notes here, which include links to the agenda and audio recording. View our full database of notes here.

Want to become a Documenter? You can start by making an account here.

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