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Vision Silver Lake Road 2040 Project
The City of New Brighton's Comprehensive Plan, adopted in 2019 following a 2.5+ year planning process, identified the City’s goals for development over the next 20 years on everything from housing to infrastructure to economic development. To accomplish such goals in a fully-developed community, the Comprehensive Plan had to identify “potential areas of improvement” throughout the City that are well-situated for owner-driven redevelopment projects. Three such nodes were identified along Silver Lake Road, and all three areas were guided for “mixed use development” to broaden their development potential. The Vision Silver Lake Road 2040 planning project was subsequently launched to provide the City with needed input from the public to create zoning districts to govern these new mixed use areas.
Vision Silver Lake Road 2040 consisted of the following three phases:
Phase One - Initial Public Input (Completed in October 2021)
The first portion of the study focused on informing residents about all three areas guided for change, and sought input on how future redevelopment should look in terms of form, character, and amenities. Outreach for this phase included signage within the Silver Lake Road corridor advertising the project and how to participate; direct mailings to business owners explaining the project, how to participate, and when to attend a town-hall style meeting; website postings; social media posts; a newsletter article; Farmers Market table information; and hosting of the Town Hall meeting to answer direct questions from residents and business owners alike. The final results of Phase One public input were later summarized by our consultant in a multi-paged handout that can be downloaded from this link.
Part Two - Refining Public Input through Conceptual Illustrations (Completed in July 2022)
Using everything that was heard during the initial round of public input, the consultants leading Vision Silver Lake Road 2040 prepared illustrative concept plans for each mixed-use area to elicit additional comments and feedback from the Community. The illustrative concepts created for the Vision Silver Lake Road 2040 project were not development plans and they did not show desired changes to the built environment. Each concept plan was simply a single representation of conceptual development incorporating design aspects sought by the public during Phase I of the study. Illustrating initial public feedback in this manner allowed the City to elicit additional comments from the public (to make sure we're on the right track) which in turn allowed the consultant to formulate final recommendations for base zoning concepts the City should strongly consider when crafting its new zoning districts. The final results of Phase Two public input were later summarized by our consultant in a multi-paged handout that can be downloaded from this link.
Phase Three - Consultant Identification of Zoning Foundations (in process)
To complete the project, feedback from Phase II engagement was compiled by the project consultant and was shared with the City Council & public at the September 27th City Council meeting. The consultant used the results of the final round of engagement to develop recommendations on zoning standards the City should strongly consider building into final zoning districts based on all input to date. New Brighton’s Assistant Director of Community Assets and Development, Ben Gozola, will be using this guidance to draft new mixed use zoning districts by the end of 2022. The final results of the Vision Silver Lake Road 2040 study and its recommendations are summarized in a multi-paged handout that can be downloaded from this link.
For more information, please see the FAQ below or check out the project website hosted by our consultant.
- What is the "Vision Silver Lake Road 2040" Project?
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Vision Silver Lake Road 2040 was the City's effort to identify specific characteristics that citizens and business owners would like to see incorporated into new development in areas guided for mixed use by the City’s Comprehensive Plan.
- Can I still provide feedback?
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Public input opportunities specifically for Vision Silver Lake Road 2040 have closed, but there will be at least one public hearing on the zoning language that results from this study. Scheduling of that public hearing will occur in late 2022. Please reach out to the Assistant Director of Community Assets & Development, Ben Gozola, if you would like notification of this public hearing. If you are interested in seeing the feedback received over the course of this project, please visit the project website.
- Why is the planning process being undertaken?
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In 2019, the City of New Brighton concluded a 2+ year planning process by adopting the 2040 Comprehensive Plan which established a direction for community development over the next 20 years. As part of that plan, three (3) new mixed-use development nodes were established along the Silver Lake Road Corridor. The Vision Silver Lake Road 2040 project was essential to defining how future development should be allowed to occur within these Mixed Use Areas. Findings from this process will be translated into new zoning districts.
- What are zoning districts?
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Zoning is the primary tool that Cities use to establish what can and cannot happen on every property within the City. Whereas a Comprehensive Plan identifies generally allowed uses throughout a community (i.e commercial, residential, industrial, mixed-use, etc), zoning regulations establish the specific standards development must follow in these areas. Examples of zoning standards include but are not limited to how large a building can be, where structures can be located, and how much parking is required for the use being established.
- Where are the new mixed use nodes along Silver Lake Road?
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The three new mixed-use nodes on Silver Lake Road are near the intersections with Rice Creek Road, Interstate 694, and County Road E West. Please refer to the Vision Silver Lake Road 2040 project website for maps that illustrate the boundaries of each Mixed Use area.
- Why wasn't this work done as part of the Comprehensive Plan?
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A comprehensive plan establishes broad goals for the City and does not get into the granular detail handled by zoning. Vision Silver Lake Road 2040 was designed to be the necessary bridge between the comprehensive plan and zoning code which allowed landowners and surrounding members of the public an opportunity to provide direction on how development should be allowed to occur within these areas.
- What is the history of this project?
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The Comprehensive Plan, which guided areas on Silver Lake Road for mixed use development, took 2.5 years to complete. Vision Silver Lake Road 2040 started in July of 2021, and is only now being completed over a year later. All told, nearly four years of meetings, discussions, and associated public input sessions have led to the creation of the mixed use zoning districts being prepared by the end of 2022.
- Is the City forcing businesses to close and redevelop?
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No. Whether or not changes occur and when changes occur is wholly and completely up to the landowners of the City. Transitioning land use guidance from “commercial” to "mixed-use" simply expands options and opportunities for landowners which hopefully incentivizes investments sooner rather than later.
- When will redevelopment occur?
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The decision on whether or not the redevelop a property, as always, remains with the landowner. The City has no control over the timing of private development projects.
- Who can I contact if I have questions?
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Please email Ben Gozola or call him at 651-638-2059 and he will get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you for your interest in this effort!