Opponents of University of St. Thomas arena appeal to St. Paul City Council

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Residential neighbors opposed to a 5,500-seat Division 1 hockey and basketball arena already under construction at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul are taking their case to the St. Paul City Council.

The residents, who have formed a nonprofit together under the title Advocates for Responsible Development, filed a 51-page appeal this week of an arena site plan that was approved by city planning staff in April and later supported by the St. Paul Planning Commission. On May 10, the Planning Commission denied two separate appeals of the staff-driven site plan approval.

The city council likely will take up the nonprofit’s latest appeal on June 5, and construction — which had been paused in April — has once again been halted until the council’s decision is made.

The opponents have predicted heavy traffic impacts and raised environmental concerns about carbon emissions and river run-off, though the Planning Commission pointed out that relocating hockey games from leased ice time at St. Thomas Academy in Mendota Heights would reduce driving for students, who are now required to live on campus their first two years.

Those environmental benefits could be offset, however, by suburban alumni and other visitors driving onto campus, according to residents.

Daniel Kennedy, an attorney who lives near the south campus, said in an email this week that the university’s entry into the National Collegiate Hockey Conference “will sharply increase attendance. … Several NCHC teams average greater than their respective seated capacities, meaning they routinely have standing-room-only crowds. Adding University of Minnesota-Duluth, St. Cloud State and North Dakota State to the schedule will surely pack the house.”

Setback requirements from the seminary in question

In their appeal, the Advocates for Responsible Development also have pointed to requirements embedded within the city’s conditional use permits governing construction on campus.

Those permits were published in 1990, 1995 and 2004, and taken together with the city’s zoning code and the state’s Mississippi River Corridor Critical Area regulations, have formed what some Planning Commission members have described as a complex series of overlapping goals and expectations for on-campus development.

The arena opponents maintain that the permits require at least a 50-foot construction setback from the university’s seminary property, and more likely 70 feet based on a formula that takes into account building heights.

Pointing to language in both the 1990 and 1995 permits, university officials said this week that no setback is required from the seminary’s property line as long as the two campuses continue as institutional uses and blend together, functioning as one campus.

Zoning code

The appeal notes, however, that the city zoning code surrounding setbacks for university construction are more stringent than the permits, meaning the university still needs to request a special zoning variance: “A conditional use permit is a vehicle to place limitations on an otherwise permitted use; it is not a vehicle to permit what would otherwise not be permitted.”

The permits also require that a loading drive that currently exists between Goodrich Avenue and the former Binz Refectory building must be removed, eliminating vehicular access from Goodrich to any of the university buildings on the south campus, if the refectory undergoes major remodeling work. “St. Thomas substantially remodeled the basement and first floor of the Binz Refectory in 2022-23, yet has not removed the drive from Goodrich Avenue to the Binz Refectory as required,” reads the appeal.

City planning staff have said the Goodrich Avenue question needs separate consideration and is not germane to the arena discussion.

The latest appeal to the city council is separate from a legal case before the Minnesota Court of Appeals, which argues that the city needs to conduct more rigorous environmental analysis than what was presented in the arena’s Environmental Assessment Worksheet last summer.

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Lynx’s Collier earns WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week

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Minnesota forward Napheesa Collier earned the WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week award on Tuesday, the fifth in her career.

Collier led the Lynx to two wins over Seattle to open the season, the team’s first 2-0 start since 2019. In the season opener, she had a double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds, and in the second game, she added 17 points in the final 20 minutes as the team won in the second overtime. She averaged 24.5 points on 46.3% shooting over the week.

She leads the WNBA in steals and is fourth in scoring.

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Caleb VanArragon wins Twin Cities Open, his first professional event

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The week after he finished collegiate regionals, recent Valparaiso golfer Caleb VanArragon won the Twin Cities Open on Tuesday at the Meadows at Mystic Lake, carding an 11-under 133. His bogey-free, 6-under 67 in the second round earned a win in his first event as a professional.

“I didn’t really know what to expect mentally this week because it’s a lot different playing for money than playing to win tournaments,” VanArragon said.

He started strong, with a 6-under 66 Monday, two shots behind leader Bryce Hanstad. On Tuesday, he added his first birdie of the round at the fourth, then took the lead at the sixth as Hanstad pulled back-to-back double bogeys.

VanArragon’s next steps take him to Garland, Texas next week, where he will attempt to qualify for the PGA Tour Americas and compete in the Final Qualifying for the 2024 U.S. Open on June 3.

Last year, he became the first player since 1998 to win both the Minnesota State Open and MGA Amateur Championship in the same season.

Zach Sklebar, a Fargo pro, finished second after a whirlwind six birdies over a nine-hole stretch on Tuesday. Former NDSU golfer Nate Adams finished third.

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Hudson bicyclist injured in hit-and-run plans dance party

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Barbara Espy is ready to dance again. And this time, she’s inviting everyone to dance along with her.

Last July 2 in downtown Hudson, Wis., Espy was on her e-bike when she was struck and dragged by a hit-and-run driver leaving Independence Day festivities. She suffered catastrophic injuries in the process, requiring a hospital stay of 40 days, in addition to spending another 30 days in a rehabilitation center.

At the time, first responders were unsure she would make it to the morning, let alone walk again.

Since, Espy has undergone an extensive rehabilitation process, and on Tuesday, June 4, is hosting “Music in the Park,” an event she is calling a celebration of growth, healing and most important to her, dancing. The event starts at 7 p.m., featuring music from The 70s Magic Sunshine Band, at Lakefront Park in downtown Hudson.

“I shouldn’t have survived. But I’m not a survivor, I’m an overcomer,” Espy previously said to the Pioneer Press. “A survivor is existing, and not dying, and learning to live with whatever your disabilities are. Overcoming it to me is body, mind and spirit. It’s your attitude.”

For more information about Concerts in the Park, contact the Hudson Area Chamber of Commerce & Tourism Bureau at 715-386-8411 or visit hudsonwi.org.

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