Park Board committee rejects St. Anthony Parkway land swap
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A proposal before the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board would pave green space on the southeast corner of Central Avenue and St. Anthony Parkway to provide parking spaces for an adjacent mosque.
Update: The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board Planning Committee late Wednesday rejected the land swap resolution by a 4-0 vote. (Commissioner Londel French was absent for the vote, having left the virtual meeting after objecting to questions about the proposal.)
Previously:
An Aubudon Park mosque is again seeking an arrangement with the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board to pave over green space along St. Anthony Parkway.
The Masjid Salaam Cultural Center at 3141 Central Ave. NE has battled the Park Board for years in hopes of adding car parking along the parkway just east of Central Avenue, on the southern edge of the Waite Park neighborhood.
The parks board has long refused to sell the parcel for private development. The religious institution’s latest proposal involves a land swap for similar sized lots in North Minneapolis that would further the Park Board’s racial equity goals.
The mosque’s leaders have said the lack of parking and drop off areas serving its building create safety concerns for its congregation and visitors, though it purchased the building in 2018 knowing it did not have parking.
District 1 Parks Commissioner Chris Meyer and the Audubon Neighborhood Association have opposed previous plans to develop parking on the site. Meyer told the Star Tribune in February that the city should be moving away from car-dependent design.
In a Facebook post Tuesday, Meyer said that he had not changed his mind on the issue, which as chair of the Planning Committee put on the agenda to “put the matter to a vote and settle it.”
“It is emphatically not the responsibility of the Park Board to solve the parking issues of private interests,” Meyer wrote. “We are not the Parking Board.”
Billy Menz, who is running unopposed to succeed Meyer as District 1 parks commissioner, said he has spoken with members of the Somali community who support adding parking to the intersection.
“I’m going to look at things with fresh eyes [when elected],” Menz said, adding that he is also interested in how current board members respond this week. As of Tuesday morning he had not seen the resolution, but he had concerns in general about the idea of an exchange.
“I don’t like the idea of giving land to private entities or religious groups, and the precedent it sets for the future is a challenge,” Menz said.
He acknowledged the potential safety issues around the busy intersection but noted there is an alleyway where kids and others can be dropped off safely at the rear of the building.
A resolution is on the agenda for the Park Board’s Planning Committee virtual meeting at 5:50 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 6.
No members of the public will be allowed inside the building for the board meeting. Instead, community members wanting to call in may sign up to provide public comment by phone by completing this form before 12 pm Wednesday.
Community members wanting to use the write-in option may send their comments to OpenTime@minneapolisparks.org by noon on the day of the board meeting. Please list the related topic you are speaking to in your subject line.
