After almost three years, Minneapolis’ comprehensive planning process is nearing an end.
A couple weeks ago, I compared the current draft with the first draft. Your comments made a difference! Thank you! In this blog, I shared information about the Planning Commission hearing. This hearing happened last week. At the hearing, Sarah Tschida, an Our Streets Minneapolis board member, testified along with many other folks who care about the future of our city.
Now, there are two steps left before adoption:
- City Council public hearing on November 14
- City Council vote on the plan in early December
You can check out an update on the Planning Commission public hearing below. But first, there are two more action opportunities for YOU.
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Come to City Hall on Wednesday, November 14th to testify. The hearing starts at 4:30, and you can sign-up to testify line at 4:00. Find me, and I’ll help you draft your 2-minutes of testimony. Expect a wait to testify. That means it’s a great place to meet folks and talk to your neighbors.
- E-mail or call your City Council Member about Minneapolis 2040. Let them know you support the plan and why. If you’d like to see changes, suggest specific language. Here’s how the Planning Commission did that. Advocacy tip: the easier you make it for elected officials to act, it’s more likely to happen.
Our Streets Minneapolis supports the Minneapolis 2040 Comprehensive Plan. Minneapolis 2040 prioritizes racial equity over the status quo. It invites more people to live closer to the things they want to access. And, it includes winter sidewalk maintenance!
What happened at the Planning Commission Hearing
The Planning Commission meeting was lllooooonnnnnnnggggggg. (Watch the full 5 hours here.) With three hours of public testimony scheduled, people started lining up to testify at 3:00pm. So many people came, the commission extended the public hearing another hour.
Super-volunteer and Our Streets Minneapolis board member Sarah Tschida represented our crew. She rocked her testimony (see the two-minute video here). Sarah shared that:
- Our Streets Minneapolis works for a city where biking, walking, and rolling are easy and comfortable for everyone. We support the goals and priorities shaping the plan.
- We support the focus on more homes and complete neighborhoods.
- Thank you for including winter sidewalk maintenance as part of the plan.
- It’s exciting that Minneapolis 2040 seeks to build “a multimodal [transportation] network that prioritizes walking, biking and transit.” But, this needs to be strengthened. We need people-oriented public space. As long as our public space is primarily reserved for trucks and cars, we are building tightropes to connect people-centered islands of space rather than building people-centered spaces.
The Planning Commission heard Sarah’s call to include protected bikeways and neighborhood greenways. Commissioner Sam Rockwell amendment to add them to the plan passed unanimously.
