Business, Housing and Zoning Committee

Remote

• Approved a resolution authorizing the Hennepin County Housing and Redevelopment Authority to issue $37 million in revenue bonds for the Olson Court Park Plaza affordable housing project. The committee also approved the forgiveness of the project’s past mortgages.

• Postponed Bazemnt’s (501 Washington Ave S) liquor license application one cycle and continue it to the Committee’s meeting on April 16.

  • Council Member Rainville said that about 85 people attended a meeting he hosted regarding Bazemnt, which has previously been denied an application because of prior violations operating “as an illegal occupancy and apparent unlicensed nightclub” in St. Paul.
  • City staff said after that meeting, Bazemnt downgraded the request from “general” to “limited” entertainment license. The licensee also agreed to a set of conditions, including that prior denied applicants may not work as managers.
  • Rainville encouraged council members to vote no, and said he doesn’t think the city has enough police to patrol bars outside the “core entertainment district.”
  • Council Member Ellison moved to postpone the item so that the committee could get a briefing at the next meeting before taking a vote. Ellison also added that even though the police recruitment efforts are still ongoing, the establishment of the city’s entertainment business should not be held back because of it.

• Approved receiving a total of $4.3 million in government funding for investigating potential contamination and cleanup for 10 development sites across Minneapolis.

  • This is part of a regular funding cycle. Because of Minneapolis’s history as an industrial city, almost all developments contain some amount of contamination, according to CPED staffer Kevin Carroll. In these cases, developers can apply for “brownfield grants” from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), the Metropolitan Council’s Tax Base Revitalization Account (TBRA), and Hennepin County’s Environmental Response Fund (ERF). The city acts as a conduit between the project developers and grantors, vetting applications and transferring funds.

• Set a public hearing for April 16 to consider the sale of 2106 and 2110 Penn Ave N to Envision Communities, Inc., which plans to build a 10-unit “intentional community supporting individuals with lived experience with homelessness.”