FAQs • New Brighton, MN • CivicEngage

When will redevelopment occur?: 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.

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Silver Lake Road

1. What is the "Vision Silver Lake Road 2040" Project?: Vision Silver Lake Road 2040 is the City's effort to identify the specific characteristics that citizens and business owners would like to see incorporated into new development in areas guided for mixed use.

2. How can I give feedback and keep up-to-date on this project?: We have an entire website devoted to community engagement for this project. Learn more about this project and weigh in on how you'd like these nodes to be developed. We'd love to hear your comments about these neighborhoods and get your thoughts on what you want New Brighton to focus on in these areas.

3. Why is the planning process being undertaken?: In 2019, the City of New Brighton concluded a 2-plus-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 new mixed-use development nodes were established along the Silver Lake Road Corridor. This additional planning process is needed to define how future development can occur within these Mixed Use Areas.

4. What are the new mixed-use nodes?: 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 page for maps that illustrate the boundaries of each Mixed Use area.

5. How does this relate to the US Bank Redevelopment?: This planning process is completely independent of the private development proposal to redevelop the US Bank site. Ideally, this planning project would have been completed prior to any redevelopment applications coming forward, but the City does not control the timing of private redevelopment requests.

6. Why wasn't this work done as part of the Comprehensive Plan?: A comprehensive plan establishes broad goals for the City and does not get into granular detail on future development. In simple terms, the comprehensive plan is like a family's discussion on what to have for dinner. Everyone gets to weigh in, but ultimately a collective decision is reached on one dish to prepare. The Vision Silver Lake Road 2040 project is essentially the follow-up discussion where family members can weigh in on the specific ingredients to be used. Once consensus on ingredients (or in our case development concepts) is achieved, the dish (i.e. zoning standards) can be created.

7. Is this the same thing I participated in last fall?: Yes and no. Phase I of Vision Silver Lake Road 2040 sought input on what citizens, businesses, and landowners want to see from new development should it occur. Phase II takes all of that input and represents it in three dimensions to provide an understanding of what could be allowed based on what we heard. By presenting our initial findings this way, citizens and landowners will be better positioned to tell the City if we are headed in the right direction and help us understand what still needs to be adjusted.

8. How will my input be used during Phase III of Vision Silver Lake Road 2040?: Input from Phase II will allow our consultant (HKGi) to identify core concepts the City must build into local zoning regulations to ensure future development tracks with community expectations. The City will make sure to include all such concepts into the new base zoning districts being drafted for Mixed-Use Neighborhoods and Mixed-Use Regional guided areas.

9. What are zoning districts?: Zoning is the primary tool that Cities use to establish a framework of what can and cannot happen on every property within the City. Whereas the Comprehensive Plan identifies general use throughout the community (i.e commercial, residential, industrial, mixed-use, etc), zoning regulations establish specific standards for development such as how large a building can be, where structures can be located, and how much parking is required, etc. Because "mixed-use regional" and "mixed-use neighborhood" are new land use classifications, the City must create new zoning standards to govern changes in these areas.

10. What happened to my business? The Phase II exhibit eliminated my building!: The illustrative concepts created for the Vision Silver Lake Road 204 project are not development plans and they do not show desired changes to the built environment. Each concept is simply a single representation of potential redevelopment incorporating design aspects sought by the public during Phase I of Vision Silver Lake Road 2040. Embodying initial public feedback in this manner allows us to elicit additional comments (to make sure we're on the right track), which in turn will allow the City to craft zoning standards for this new Mixed-Use area.

11. Is the City pushing these changes?: Absolutely not. Within the Comprehensive Plan, the community as a whole identified the City's primary needs (i.e. housing, more commercial options, etc), and designated a handful of Mixed-Use areas where adding such features was deemed most appropriate. Whether changes occur and when changes occur (if ever) is wholly and completely up to the landowners within the Mixed-Use areas. The land-use transition to "mixed-use" simply expands options and opportunities which incentivizes investment sooner rather than later.

12. When will redevelopment occur?: 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.

13. Where can I get more information and track the progress of this study?: Please refer to the Vision Silver Lake Road 2040 project page for the latest updates regarding the project.

14. Who can I contact if I have questions?: 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!