MNsmartgrowth

Published Monday, June 26, 2000 in the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

Metro Council seeks to involve public in planning to manage region's growth

Steven Dornfeld,
Editorial Page Editor.

The council's initiative could help nurture more smart-growth efforts such as those already bubbling up in places such as Burnsville, Maple Grove and St. Louis Park.

With the help of an important new partner, the Metropolitan Council is embarking on a new effort to engage the public in a discussion of how to better manage the future growth of the region.

The council has obtained a $250,000 grant from the McKnight Foundation to fund the public outreach and planning effort. It will be led by Calthorpe & Associates, a nationally recognized urban design firm based in California.

And this could be just the start of McKnight's support for the council's latest "smart growth" initiative. Foundation President Rip Rapson said last week that it may provide another $250,000 for the planning effort, as well as seed money for future demonstration projects.

By the year 2020, the Twin Cities is expected to add 650,000 people and 330,000 households. Under its so-called "regional blueprint," the council hopes to contain more than half of this growth within the existing 590,000-acre Metropolitan Urban Services Area, where costly sewers, roads and other infrastructure already are in place. The remainder of the growth would be steered into 60,000 acres on the edge of the region's developed area.

But the council has relatively few tools at its disposal to achieve these goals, and the Minnesota Legislature has shown no inclination to increase the council's powers. Indeed, the regional planning body regularly faces efforts by a few misguided lawmakers to shut it down entirely.

"Our intent is to breath some life into the council's blueprint," Rapson said.

Toward that end, the council will utilize a model it tested last year in siz communities along the St. Croix River and Minnesota 36. Rather than simply trying to impose its views, the council commissioned Calthorpe to work with local officials and citizens' groups on urban design options tailored for each community.

The consistent thread ws to promote compact, transit- and pedestrian-friendly development, preserve open space and protect the scenic St. Croix River valley from unrestrained growth.

The effort was surprisingly well received by the communities that participated. Oak Park Heights Mayor David Schaaf called it "the single most positive thing" the Metro Council has done.

Now, the Metro Council will utilize the Calthorpe firm over the next 2 1/2 years to help:

Establish baseline data on how the comprehensive land-use plans of Twin cities communities are working to achieve the goals of the Metro Council's regional blueprint, and begin discussing the consequences of current and planned growth patterns.
Select four to six distinct subregions within the Twin cities metro area, reach out to citizens within each subregion and involve them in an active discussion of growth management and design alternatives.
Identify four "opportunity sites" of 20 to 100 acres each to demonstrate new urban designs that involve building housing around offices and shops, thereby fostering neighborhoods where people can walk to work and take mass transit to more distant locations.

Metro Council Chairman Ted Mondale said his agency has some seed money to help leverage development of the four sites. And Rapson said his foundation may be prepared to supplement the council's efforts.

"We are talking fairly seriously at McKnight about creating a fund to help support smart-growth development," said Rapson.

The council's new planning effort is not likely to change the Twin Cities urban landscape overnight. But it could help nurture more smart-growth efforts such as those already bubbling up in places such as Burnsville, Maple Grove and St. Louis Park. They are attempting to escape the ravages of strip malls and big-box retail, and create small-town downtowns with walkable streets that link a mix of shops, housing, parks and plazas.

"Smart growth is about choosing the kind of communities we want rather than accepting the kind of communities we get," Mondale said. "And it's about saving taxpayer dollars by maximizing our investment in the infrastructure and services we've already put in place."

In the end, the council may need additional powers and resources to achieve its growth-management objectives. But this initiative could help build public support for smart growth and improve the political climate for change.

Write Dornfeld at sdornfeld@pioneerpress.com or at the Pioneer Press, 345 Cedar St., St. Paul, MN 55101.

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