Golden Valley council hopes to attract future multi-family development at Winnetka and Highway 55

To align with the comprehensive city plan, Zimmerman asked the council to approve an ordinance that would rezone the locations at 7831 Olson Memorial Highway; 440 Winnetka Ave N; 424 Winnetka Ave N; 400 Winnetka Ave N; 7840 Harold Ave; 7830 Harold Ave; 7732 Harold Ave; 7724 Harold Ave; 7710 Harold Ave and 411 Rhode Island Ave N. The spaces are privately owned and lived in, with the exception of one vacant lot owned by the city.

After hearing Zimmerman’s presentation and input from the public, the Golden Valley City Council decided to approve an amended rezoning of six of the proposed 10 properties.

Sites will change from single-family residential (R-1) zones. Now, six properties will be zoned for medium density residential (R-3) zones. R-3 zones allow for everything in R-1 and expands to include things like four-story apartment buildings, senior homes and townhomes. One day, a bus route might be added. For the families living there now, there is no immediate change.

“The people that live there can continue to live there,” Zimmerman said, “They can continue to own homes; they can sell their homes. All that can continue for as long as they want to do that. What (rezoning) does do is signals to an interested developer ‘hey the city long-term sees this as a better place for multi-family development.’ And so, that developer could go to any number of individual property owners and say ‘Hey, I’d like to buy your property.’”

If a developer buys lots from enough property owners, they could speak to the city about creating a new apartment. With areas zoned R-1, the spaces must remain low-density housing.

This rezoning was last proposed in 2020, but the council tabled it, asking for more information, namely a traffic study.

One reason to support the rezoning is adding housing, which city staff say aligns with Golden Valley’s longterm goal of residential growth. They believe it would also bolster downtown and could one day create some spaces for seniors or disabled people.

Some community members at the meeting (and before at various planning meetings) did not support this change. Reasons for concern included increased traffic, a change of the neighborhood aesthetic and fear of sudden corporate presence.

City staff pointed to a city-sponsored 2022 traffic study of downtown use concluded: “Traffic congestion is not a limiting factor for rezoning.”

The area is not zoned for commercial use. Anyone wishing to make changes to the area will still have to go through the city’s usual legal process. Others who are opposed to the rezoning are worried the city might force people living on these properties to sell and move.

“That’s not the case at all,” Zimmerman said. “All it does is gives them more options. Down the road, when they choose to retire and leave, when they want to sell and move somewhere else, now they can sell it to another single-family owner or they could sell it to a potential developer who wants to do an apartment building.”

Councilmember Gillian Rosenquist suggested amending the suggested ordinance so six of the 10 properties were re-zoned. The council voted 4-0 to approve the amended ordinance, with councilmember Denise La Mere-Anderson abstaining.

“Part of our long-range plan is to increase the diversity of housing,” Mayor Shep Harris later told the Sun Post.

As mentioned previously, the comprehensive plan designates the property in question as R-3 areas. However, it may be many years before the land in Harold-Winnetka-Hwy 55 is home to apartment buildings.

“It was a good compromise,” Zimmerman said. “There’s no rush (to rezone the remainder of the properties).”

At this time, there are no development plans in place.