Citing concerns about “spot zoning,” the St. Paul Planning Commission has dealt a setback to a proposal to add more than 200 units of affordable, multi-family and artist housing at the Hamm’s Brewery campus in Dayton’s Bluff.

The city has worked closely with developer JB Vang on efforts to install affordable apartments between Payne Avenue and Seventh Street, on five city-owned acres of the long-underutilized brewery.

The effort have been opposed by brewpub owner Rob Clapp, who operates St. Paul Brewing and owns several other buildings on the same campus.

Clapp has said the new housing should be reconfigured as it would take up much of a shared parking lot he uses for his existing and nascent businesses. They include an industrial crafting shop, a distillery, a planned pop-up bar and a future cocktail tasting room.

Vote on zoning

On Friday, the Planning Commission debated rezoning five parcels of land, most of it currently zoned I2, or general industrial zoning, to H2, T3 and RM 2, which are residential, traditional neighborhood and medium-density family zoning, respectively. After an hour-long debate, they approved rezoning three of the parcels, but voted 9-2 against removing industrial zoning from existing brewery buildings at 680 and 694 Minnehaha Ave. East, as well as the shared parking lot.

Clapp, in his letters to the city, pointed out the proposed new T3 zone would be isolated from any other nearby T3-zoned parcel, creating an island of residential zoning with smaller islands of industrial zoning within it, and common driveways connecting them.

“In effect, the proposal will authorize a new kind of hybrid zoning where uses that the city has previously concluded are incompatible could exist within the same site,” said his attorney, Dan Hall, in a separate letter.

Hall pointed to the hypothetical possibility of a future crematorium, municipal incinerator, gun shop, shooting gallery, pawn shop, auto repair, or warehousing and storage that could “overlap with residential housing targeted specifically to families with young children.” Instead of pursuing rezoning, Clapp said a developer might seek a variance for adding an apartment building within an industrial zone, “so there are certainly other ways to advance,” he wrote.

A protracted debate

Minnesota courts have long frowned on “spot zoning,” or rezoning small, isolated plots of land within a larger area with incompatible zoning.

“This is pretty clearly spot zoning,” said Commissioner Richard Holst leading into the vote, noting the city should have done more to find common ground between what he deemed as two respected developers, or simply rezoned half the campus T3. “I’m looking at a map with three spots on them. We made the spots by going around them. … If this doesn’t look like spot zoning, I don’t know what does.”

The Planning Commission debated those arguments at length, noting one of the land parcels was already split-zoned between residential and industrial. Rezoning for that particular parcel was later approved.

“I think it’s complicated because we’re talking about so many individual parcels,” said Planning Commission Chair Kristine Grill. “I think it can look challenging on the map, but be practical in reality. That’s where I came down on voting in favor.”

Commissioner Nate Hood noted the commission’s zoning committee previously found the series of rezonings would not constitute spot zoning, given the mix of businesses and residences nearby. After debating both sides, he said he ultimately disagreed.

“You have two or three islands (of industrial use remaining) within the larger parcel,” Hood said, acknowledging that future development in “that long-range hypothetical could cause incompatible uses.”

Chris Hong, a city planner, said two district councils had recommended approving the rezoning, which supports the redevelopment vision laid out in neighborhood plans and the city’s overarching Comprehensive Plan. The city attorney’s office had found that the rezoning did not constitute spot zoning.

“The Comprehensive Plan has designated the site as an ‘Opportunity Site,’ which calls for higher density, mixed-use developments or employment centers,” said Hong, addressing the Planning Commission on Friday morning. “The rezoning would facilitate the development of these parcels, which have been vacant for nearly 30 years.”

The Planning Commission decision could yet be appealed to the St. Paul City Council.

Related Articles

CommonBond Communities to outsource, layoff 117 from St. Paul headquarters

St. Paul: At Highland Bridge, Weidner Homes, Ryan Cos. win concessions

St. Paul WestRock plant owners look to sell ‘as soon as possible’

St. Paul City Council ends rent control for housing built after 2004

St. Paul Port Authority, developers bullish on St. Paul’s WestRock site

By SCOTT BAUER, AMY TAXIN and MARTHA BELLISLE, Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Officials in communities from rural to urban and red to blue blasted the Trump administration’s list of “sanctuary jurisdictions” with many saying they’ve been outspoken supporters of the president and his stringent immigration policies.

Officials who back President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown questioned how their jurisdictions wound up on a list of more than 500 that the Department of Homeland Security says are obstructing enforcement. Several communities were misspelled, including Cincinnati, which was spelled Cincinnatti.

Related Articles

Trump gives Elon Musk an Oval Office sendoff

US government is investigating messages impersonating Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles

Trump holding Pennsylvania rally to promote deal for Japan-based Nippon to ‘partner’ with US Steel

Leadership shakeups at agency tasked with carrying out Trump’s mass deportations agenda

Supreme Court lets Trump strip legal protections from 500,000 people, exposing more to deportation

Jim Davel, administrator for Shawano County, Wisconsin, said the inclusion of his heavily Republican community must be a clerical error.

“We have no idea how we got on this list whatsoever right at this point,” Davel said. “I think it was just a big mix up, probably some paperwork or something.”

Meanwhile, those with policies protecting immigrants also pushed back, saying they are doing right by their communities.

“This is simply the latest attempt by the Trump administration to strong-arm cities like Seattle into changing our local policies through bluster and threats to critical federal funding for public safety and homelessness,” Bruce Harrell, the city’s mayor, told The Associated Press in an email. “It’s not going to work — the law is on our side — and we will not hesitate to protect our people and stand up for our values.”

The list was published as the Trump administration ramps up efforts to follow through on the president’s campaign promises to remove millions of people who are in the country illegally. It came out as Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced major leadership changes, and after a White House official said the administration wanted to drive daily immigration arrests significantly higher.

The administration says each jurisdiction on the list will receive formal notification that the government has deemed them noncompliant and if they’re believed to be in violation of any federal criminal statutes.

Some communities don’t know why they were included

The list was compiled using a number of factors, including whether the localities identified themselves as sanctuary jurisdictions, how much they complied with federal officials enforcing immigration laws, if they had restrictions on sharing information with immigration enforcement or had any legal protections for people in the country illegally, according to Homeland Security.

FILE – Bags containing bedding are placed on cots inside the dormitory tent during a tour of a shelter New York City is setting up to house up to 1,000 migrants, in the Queens borough of New York, Aug. 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

But communities said the list doesn’t appear to make sense. In California’s Orange County, the city of Huntington Beach is on the list even though it has sued the state over its policies that protect immigrants and its City Council supports Trump. But the nearby city of Santa Ana, which has policies to protect members of its sizable immigrant community, is not.

In North Dakota, seven mostly small, rural counties wound up on the list, including Slope County, which has about 700 people and overwhelmingly voted for Trump in 2024. County officials reached out to Republican Gov. Kelly Armstrong’s office to see what steps to take next, and plan to discuss the matter next week with the county state’s attorney, County Commission Chairman Scott Ouradnik said.

Other communities defend their policies that protect immigrants

Communities supportive of immigrants said their policies aren’t just about immigrants but all residents by ensuring anyone who is a victim or witness feels they can come forward and report crime. States including California, Illinois and Washington, which have such policies, are on the list.

In Hartford, Connecticut, Mayor Arunan Arulampalam said the capital city’s laws and policies have enhanced the vibrancy and safety of the community. The city bars people’s immigration status from being used to deny city services and police can’t arrest people solely because of immigration status.

“While my administration remains laser-focused on real solutions that protect our community, it is clear that current federal policies do not share this commitment to safety and threaten to undermine the gains we have made,” Arulampalam said in a statement.

FILE – Members of immigration advocacy groups react as Los Angeles City Council votes to enact an ordinance to prohibit city resources from being used for immigration enforcement in anticipation of potential mass deportations under President-elect Donald Trump, inside Los Angeles City Hall on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

Nithya Nathan-Pineau, an attorney with the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, said it’s unclear what criteria were used to formulate the list or define the concept of sanctuary nor what legal action the government plans to take against the jurisdictions.

“It seems quite arbitrary because not all of these states or specific jurisdictions have a policy that limits cooperation with ICE,” Nathan-Pineau said. “It’s pretty clear that this is another attempt to intimidate and bully.”

What is a sanctuary jurisdiction?

There’s no clear definition of what a sanctuary jurisdiction is, but the term generally applies to state and local governments that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities. It originated in the 1980s with U.S. churches that housed Central Americans who fled civil wars.

Last month, Trump signed an executive order requiring the secretary of Homeland Security and the attorney general to publish a list of states and local jurisdictions that they considered to be obstructing federal immigration laws. The list is to be regularly updated.

Federal departments and agencies, working with the Office of Management and Budget, would then be tasked with identifying federal grants or contracts with those states or local jurisdictions that the federal government identified as “sanctuary jurisdictions” and suspending or terminating the money, according to the executive order.

ICE, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, enforces immigration laws nationwide. The agency often seeks state and local help in alerting federal authorities of immigrants wanted for deportation and holding them until those authorities are able to take custody.

Taxin reported from Santa Ana, California, and Bellisle from Seattle. Associated Press writers Jack Dura in Bismarck, North Dakota, David Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, Gisela Salomon in Miami and John O’Connor in Springfield, Illinois, contributed.

St. Paul is throwing a downtown block party Friday afternoon in Mears Park.

The event — to be held from 5 to 7 p.m. — is open to the public and will feature musical performances as well as food and beverages for purchase.

The city is hosting the party in partnership with Warrior’s Next Adventure, The Bulldog, Barrel Theory, and Lost Fox, as well as St. Paul Parks and Recreation, Visit St. Paul, St. Paul Downtown Alliance, and St. Paul Area Chamber.

A portion of the proceeds will be donated to Warrior’s Next Adventure, a nonprofit that helps veterans overcome mental health challenges.

City officials note that Sixth Street will be closed as part of the event.

Related Articles

Ellison drops objection to appointment of Otto Bremer Trust trustee’s daughter

Christopher Harrington: Experiencing the arts transforms the way we see the world

Frost championship celebration livens up Xcel Energy Center

Judicial cookout for the homeless renamed for late founder Jim Randall

Vandals trash part of Alliance Bank Center in downtown St. Paul

When Lionel Messi and Inter Miami played Minnesota United in early May, it wasn’t just soccer supporters who turned out in droves to Allianz Field. More Latino reporters flocked to St. Paul to cover one of the greatest players of all time.

But the superstar Argentine midfielder only speaks Spanish and didn’t meet with reporters after United’s 4-1 win, so Loons head coach Eric Ramsay helped bridge a language gap for that community.

The second-year coach from Wales deems his Spanish speaking skills as “intermediate level” and often answers at least one question in Spanish during every press conference after home games. The volume of inquires just increased for the Messi match.

Noticias MN reporter Ricardo Manjarrez has been a regular at Loons games for years and has noticed an uptick in interest over the past two seasons.

“The Latin community is getting to know Minnesota United,” Manjarrez told the Pioneer Press. “They might have their team from Ecuador or Mexico, but now it’s also Minnesota United.”

Minnesota United head coach Eric Ramsay answers questions during a press conference after an MLS soccer match against FC Dallas in St. Paul, Minn., Saturday, June 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

At age 33, Ramsay is the youngest head coach in MLS. Last spring, he left an assistant role at Manchester United in the English Premier League to be a first-team head coach and he didn’t want the first crack at it to be in another British dressing room.

Part of the appeal of MLS was the chance to constantly improve his language skills, which also includes French. He enjoys the every-day challenge of speaking with the Loons’ handful of Latino players and its one Frenchman.

And his quest for fluency in multiple languages remains a reason Ramsay stays committed to the Loons for the foreseeable future, despite reported interest and connections for coaching vacancies back home at West Bromwich Albion, Southhampton and Swansea City over the past few months.

“For the British coaches, (speaking only one language) has always been seen as a barrier,” Ramsay said. “It’s never been a necessity for British people in general. … I think it’s cost British coaches in the past. I think there’s a stereotype as to who can do what and where. Your average Portuguese coach has probably got the whole continent open, much more open than British coaches are seen on that island; very few are going to go afar and succeed.”

Since arriving in Minnesota in March 2024, Ramsay hasn’t shied away from his clear, grand ambitions to progress in the profession. That remained apparent when he sat down with the Pioneer Press to talk about his multilingual background.

When talking about his improving French skills, he said: “If, for example, tomorrow, I had an offer from PSG (Paris Saint-Germain FC) to go and be their manager, I feel pretty confident (that) in a couple of months, I’ll be able to get to a really proficient level.”

Home base

Ramsay grew up in a tiny Welsh village near England, but borders were constantly being broken down. His father was a drummer in a rock band, but in his 30s, and went to college to be a language teacher.

When Ramsay was small, he spent stints living in France and Spain. “Just a bit of a gentleman introduction (to those languages) for me,” he said.

Back in Wales, his home, which also included a multilingual mother, was often filled with foreign students.

“It was like the U.N.,” Ramsay said. “We’d have loads of Asian students, my dad would welcome as many French and Spanish students because they were his languages. We always had a touch point with that type of thing.”

Ramsay’s interest in Spanish and French increased when he was a teenager, and those foreign exchanges taught him how to try to communicate without a shared fluency.

“It’s being comfortable with the discomfort, I think,” Ramsay said about learning other languages. “That’s probably the first barrier that people fail to get past. It’s not an easy thing to do. If you want to learn language well, you really have to grind at it. You have to feel quite happy to make lots of mistakes.”

Ramsay’s parents are English and moved to Wales, where they raised Eric and his brother. Eric’s wife Sioned is from an area of Wales where the Welsh language is held dear and her family are staunch speakers of it.

Now Eric and Sioned try to speak a lot of Welsh while in their home in the Twin Cities suburbs. Eric’s commitment to language studies has deepened while abroad and he wants his kids, Jac and Lille, to be bilingual and value their heritage.

“I study it much more, and then it’s easy for me to be at a level above a 3 year old and a one year old,” he joked.

‘Would be a cold relationship’

Given the high level of diversity within MLS, Zarek Valentin — a former Loons player turned assistant coach — has seen other multilingual coaches on his previous teams, including Giovanni Savarese in Portland and Tab Ramos and Paulo Nagamura in Houston.

“Tactic can get explained multiple different ways, whether it’s translating apps or whatever it might be,” Valentin said. “But (the real value) in terms of relating to (players) emotionally (is) talking through some of the tough decisions, whether they’re playing or not.”

As a head coach, Ramsay wants a distance between himself and the players, but when possible he tries to have direct conversations with them in their native tongue as he breaks news about why, for instance, they are being left out of the starting XI.

“To not blur the lines in terms of why players are being taken out, because a lot of times the players’ minds can be very creative in negative ways,” Valentin said. “So, for him to be able to have a very clear conversation, nothing’s lost and the player is fully understanding.”

But Ramsay still feels he has room to improve.

“I haven’t got the same subtlety that I can go to in English,” he said. “So, if I’m having a difficult conversation with a player, it’s not quite as easy to soften it in the way that I would if it was (U.S. midfielder Wil Trapp) I was leaving out, or whatever. So, I think that’s also opened my eyes to the fact that there’s a level (of fluency) and then there’s a real level. … If I worked in a Spanish-speaking country, I would have to really improve on just the subtleties and the softness of what I say.”

But Ramsay’s effort is there. After one match last month, injured French midfielder Owen Gene was hanging out near the dressing room when Ramsay came up to him for a hushed one-on-one conversation. Ramsay was personally checking in on a new player sidelined for six weeks.

When Ramsay speaks to the team as a whole, he does it in English, while Valentin, a Puerto Rican, will live translate into Spanish for “La Banda” — the team’s band of half-dozen Latino players. Valentin can also help on the training ground or sideline during games, especially with slang.

Ramsay said his multilingualism skills can help recruit players to the club as the two sides are working on transfers. Before coming to MNUFC last summer, Argentine midfielder Joaquin Pereyra only had Spanish-speaking coaches in his native country. While he is now trying to learn English, Ramsay’s Spanish helps Pereyra feel comfortable sharing his perspective.

“If Eric didn’t speak Spanish, it would be a cold relationship and not as close,” Pereyra said in Spanish via club translator Marleine Calderon. “Since he speaks Spanish and is approachable, we are able to have a conversation with him.”

Los Angeles Galaxy’s Emiro Garces, right, vies for the ball against Minnesota United’s Joseph Rosales, left, as Minnesota United’s head coach Eric Ramsay looks on during the first half of an MLS Semifinal Conference playoff soccer match against Minnesota United, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)

Related Articles

How Julian Gressel can immediately help Minnesota United

Loons fearing worst on Hassani Dotson’s right knee injury in L.A. draw Saturday