Nancy Edmonds Hanson
“Five big ideas in five years.” That’s what the city of Moorhead charged the Stantec consulting firm with developing one year ago. After 12 months of public meetings and consultations with city residents and leaders, the planning and zoning commission got a look at the weighty road map its consultants have developed, approving it Monday and sending it on to the city council final adoption.
The 112-page plan and its prescriptions for city policy and action were presented by Beth Elliot, the local representative of the international design and planning firm. Elliott, the Midwest planning and design team leader, is based in Minneapolis. She worked with specialists in several of the company’s 252 offices around the world to update the city’s comprehensive plan.
“Cities usually update their comprehensive plans every 10 years,” Moorhead city planner Robin Huston noted. “Ours was adopted in 2004 and updated in 2009, so we’re very much overdue.”
The “five big ideas” around which the Stantec recommendations are grouped included these priorities:
Transform Downtown Moorhead into the ‘heart of the community’ by incorporating a range of housing and retail options, cultural amenities, parks, and public services.
Integrate a mix of mutually supportive land uses and experiences in redevelopment areas by building upon and strengthening existing retail centers and utilizing experience-based marketing.
Connect neighborhoods to parks and trails and provide multimodal access to downtown, the Red River, and community amenities.
Embrace resilient environmental and equitable solutions, planning for infrastructure, building development, energy, and climate adaptation while building a greener community.
Build and nurture local businesses as key partners in building and maintaining a prosperous community.
While no community members testified before the planning commission, the year-long process has included plenty of input. Much came during “design week” last July, when the consultants hosted a public information session, met with city leaders and stakeholders, and conducted “walkshops” of the areas deemed of principal interest, including downtown, the EasTen area, the intersection of I-94 and Eighth Street South (christened the Holiday district in honor of the long gone mall in the northeast quadrant), the Comstock neighborhood near the colleges, and the MCCARA industrial park.
Two new chapters were added to the plan as a result of residents’ input, “Sustainability and Resiliency” and “Arts, Culture and Placemaking.” The former builds on ongoing plans already sketched out by the Resiliency Task Force and local participation in the Minnesota Green Step Cities program, while the latter extends initiatives begun by the arts and culture commission. The “placemaking” suggestions include ways to make the downtown in particular more inviting to both residents and visitors.
Nuts-and-bolts recommendations address zoning-oriented issues, including land use, the future demand for housing, and building heights and standards in various areas of the city. According to the study, Moorhead’s projected household growth implies a demand for around 280 housing units per year for the next ten years. If existing rental/ownership patterns hold, that equates to a demand of 109 rental housing units per year—a number that closely matches apartment growth over the past 10 years.
In her presentation, Elliott suggested that the city may need to intervene to ensure that the housing mix accommodates people at all income levels and life stages, especially at lower and moderate income levels.
The full report, for which the city has committed to pay $270,000, will be presented to the city council for approval and adoption March 28.
