St. Paul could be next for teardown rules

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Teardown backlash may be coming to St. Paul.

As Minneapolis proposes changes to its regulations for new homes and infill construction in response to a boom of teardowns and oversize homes, a St. Paul City Council member aims to stop the trend from hurting the city’s desirable Highland Park and Macalester-Groveland neighborhoods.

St. Paul City Council member Chris Tolbert, who represents Ward 3 in St. Paul where most of the teardown and new construction is occurring, plans a two-pronged approach that he says will ease the construction burden on neighbors and protect the character of the city’s neighborhoods – two of the biggest issues associated with residential projects.

Starting about two years ago, Tolbert said he and others began noticing the teardowns and new construction in Highland Park and Mac-Groveland. Within three blocks of his own Highland Park home, Tolbert estimated there are 20 reconstruction projects completed, in progress or about to begin.

While remodels and new homes can boost property values and increase the city’s tax base, attract new residents and keep growing families in urban neighborhoods, Tolbert said it’s also important to make sure construction isn’t a burden to neighbors.

Taking cues from Minneapolis and Edina, which also experienced a boom of teardowns a few years ago, Tolbert has introduced a new residential construction management agreement that requires contractors to acknowledge the city’s building regulations and notify neighbors prior to starting construction on projects valued at more than $25,000.

The notification process aims to help neighbors understand what’s going on and improve communication if issues arise, Tolbert said. He said he hopes the agreement, set to go before the full council for a final decision later this month, will help reduce damage to neighbors’ property, lack of snow removal and the spread of debris and construction materials, among other issues.

Tolbert said many of the builders he’s consulted support the changes and the notification process because contractors that don’t keep up their sites give all of them a bad name.

“During construction we’ve had a lot of issues. It’s a few problem contractors that make it difficult on the neighborhoods and it wastes city resources,” he said.

Joe Urbanski, who owns St. Paul-based J&D Builders, said they notify neighbors usually a day before starting construction. He said it helps residents know who to contact if issues arise, Urbanski said it can be advertising for future clients in the neighborhood who are also thinking about a remodel.

Urbanski acknowledged that some neighbors may be rightfully annoyed during construction.

“It’s a big pain in the neck while construction is going on for six months,” he said.

Besides the inconvenience of construction, neighborhoods are also concerned about the size and style of newly built and remodeled homes. City staff are starting a zoning study to look at dimensions and design standards for the new construction or remodeling of single-family homes in Ward 3. Based on the study’s findings, Tolbert said the city could make changes to its zoning code.

When it comes to matters of style and taste, Tolbert said it’s much trickier for the city to balance the needs of homeowners and builders who are behind the projects with those of surrounding property owners.

“We want to protect the people who have invested in the block and you don’t want someone’s house to ruin other houses by completely blocking out sunlight,” he said.

Vince Birdsley, owner of Prior Lake-based Copper Creek Development LLC, said following the city’s current zoning codes without the need for variances keeps home sizes in check. Birdsley’s company is behind two new construction projects at 1942 and 1950 Highland Parkway.

“We try to design so that it looks like something that could have been there 60 years – except with all of the things that people want new homes for,” he said.

Urbanski said the city’s ordinances already contain the size of new homes. Under city code, a home and attached garage can only cover 35 percent of the lot.

“There’s only so much you can put on those lots,” he said.

The construction management agreement is set to go before the full City Council later this month. The results of the zoning study, approved Wednesday, and a staff recommendation about any changes is expected in January 2015. Any new standards would “be applied only to Ward 3’s established neighborhoods.”