Submit comments about Hillcrest Master Plan by 3/7

Hillcrest Redevelopment update: the city of Saint Paul wants feedback on the site’s master plan, and you can submit a comment. You can send an email to the City to provide feedback no later than 4:30 p.m. on Monday, March 7th. You can send email comments to city planner Bill Dermody directly. If you’re available, you can also attend the virtual public hearing during the St. Paul Planning Commission’s meeting on Friday, March 4, 2022 at 8:30 a.m. to share your comments live.

What is the Hillcrest Master Plan? The Hillcrest Site is a 112-acre parcel of land in the northeast corner of St. Paul on the border of Maplewood. For most of the last 100 years, it was the site of a golf course. The golf course permanently closed a few years ago, and the Saint Paul Port Authority (Port Authority) purchased the land. The Hillcrest Master Plan is the document that details the Port Authority’s proposed plans to develop the land for housing, light industrial buildings, and other uses.

You can learn more at the City of Saint Paul's Hillcrest (Golf Course) Master Plan website, where you can find the proposed master plan, rezoning study, zoning code study, and proposed Comprehensive Plan amendment.

Not sure what to say about the Hillcrest Master Plan? We have a few general thoughts that you can use within your own comments as you see fit:

1. The draft Master Plan needs to provide enough land for housing and may allocate too much land for light industry. The City asked the Port Authority to set a target of developing 1,000 housing units on the Site, and 1,000 jobs. We are unsure if the current draft plan would hit this target. In order to reach or exceed 1,000 housing units, the Plan in the northern-most area slated for Light Industrial zoning may need to be considered zoned as high-density housing instead. The other areas slated for Light Industrial to the south could remain.

2. We affirm the Port Authority’s stated ambitions for a “net-zero” Hillcrest site: designing and building a site that will be energy-efficient and climate-resilient. We urge the Port Authority to establish more specific strategies and a process by which they can be held accountable to these goals. We encourage them to keep exploring creative options for designing and building a climate-resilient site, such as community solar facilities.

3. This redevelopment will bring living wage jobs to the East Side. According to the Port Authority’s website, existing workforce agreements demonstrate the commitment to providing opportunities to living wage jobs to residents in Saint Paul, especially on the East Side.

4. We applaud the community outreach done by the Port Authority. The past and current outreach has deliberately reached out to community members within a 2-mile radius of the project site, and has engaged nearly 2,000 individuals. Further, the current stage is only the start for community engagement

5. We do not want to see an amendment to the 2040 Comprehensive Plan. We are concerned that this would set a harmful precedent for future developments.

6. Many elements of this Plan are worthy of praise. The proposed bike-pedestrian trails through the site are well-designed, and would connect well to other bike infrastructure near the Site. The linear district stormwater feature and trees proposed along Howard Street would create a thoughtful transition zone between residential and light industrial areas. The Master Plan strikes a proper balance between preserving valuable natural features of the Site (e.g. healthy mature trees, the three largest wetlands) while also responding to the urgent need for more housing and good-paying jobs on the East Side.

You can read more about the Port Authority’s stance on their Hillcrest Master Plan Support Statement page, drafted March 1, 2022.

Thanks for submitting your comments! There will be more opportunities to provide feedback for the Hillcrest Master Plan when it is considered by the City Council; but it’s important to be involved at this step of the process as well.

Sustain Saint Paul’s co-chair Melissa Wenzel testified on March 4. Feel free to use any part of her testimony for your public comment:

Good morning board chair and members of the board. I am Melissa Wenzel, and I live in SE Saint Paul 613 Burlington Road, Saint Paul. I am the co-chair of Sustain Saint Paul and am speaking on behalf of our board. Sustain Saint Paul champions abundant housing, low-carbon transportation, and sustainable land use. I am testifying in support of the Hillcrest Master Plan. Here’s why:

First, I am thrilled to see a development of this nature being proposed on land that was utilized by so few people for nearly 100 years. The Saint Paul Port authority was asked by the city of to set a target of developing 1,000 housing units, a goal we’re increasingly confident they will meet. Further, they Port Authority has been transparent to acknowledge that their expertise is limited on housing. They’ve demonstrated building strong relationships with entities to be successful with any project and we have no doubt they’ll do so for this project.

Second, they plan on securing 1,000 jobs, another target set by the city. The Port Authority again has a track record of meeting and exceeding job creation goals, and has hit the 1,000 job mark for the Beacon Bluff development. Further, the Port Authority has workforce agreements with its project sites and their website indicates that the average wage of “Port Authority” jobs are over $22 an hour. A delay in this project moving forward will delay good-paying jobs to Saint Paul residents, especially for east-siders.

Next, I’m pleased with the targeted outreach the port authority has done, particularly within the 2-mile radius adjacent to this property. Further, outreach has been extensive and the port authority has directly connected with nearly 2,000 individuals and indirectly connected to many more. I do not live within 2 miles and yet have heard presentations about this project at a few different engagement sessions over the last 9 months.

Lastly, Sustain Saint Paul supports this design for the project that will be deeply energy-efficient and climate-resilient. In fact, I’ve heard that if built as designed, it could be one of the most sustainable community in the WORLD. We can truly lead by example, globally, with this project. We believe that the Master Plan strikes a proper balance between preserving valuable natural features of the Site while also responding to the urgent need for more housing and good-paying jobs on the East Side.

Thank you for your time and support on the Hillcrest Master Plan! I can’t wait for this vision to become a reality!