Nancy Edmonds Hanson

After an hour of sometimes-contentious discussion, the Moorhead City Council approved rezoning an area south of 40th Avenue South from TZ/Transitional to MU-2/Neighborhood Mixed Use. Approval of the ordinance’s second reading at Tuesday’s meeting clears the way for further development of the Prairie Parkway subdivisionun southeast Moorhead.
Local developer Justin Berg, a native of Moorhead who grew up near the area, has been working with the city and its planning commission for four years on plans for the area between 21st and 28th Streets South. Berg is vice president of Horizon Real Estate Group. Prairie Parkway II is his second initiative on what was formerly farmland between Southside Regional Park and Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd.
Single-family homes have been under construction for several years in Prairie Parkway I north of 40th Avenue. This week’s zoning change covers the area south of the avenue.
Berg requested the zoning change, city planner Robin Huston told the council, to accommodate the second phase of his master plan. It includes a mix of small-scale, neighborhood-friendly businesses along with apartments, townhomes and single-family houses on smaller lots. Those units, she said, are intended to fill in the “missing middle” of local housing with a mix of single-family homes, townhouses or apartments.
Huston reported that, while no objections have been received from Moorhead homeowners in the area, three objections have been received – the latest presented at Tuesday’s meeting. Sue Anderson questioned how the development, with its small businesses and greater density of housing units, would affect the value of her property. She also wondered whether more multi-unit housing is needed here.
The city planner noted that neither Anderson nor the other two people who previously expressed their opposition live within the city of Moorhead. “All of them live in Moorhead Township, outside the city limits,” she said.
Council member Deb White questioned the zoning change, based on her own concern over how the proposed development would increase traffic and impact property values. Larry Seljevold echoed her concern about whether its combination of commerce and density might have a negative effect on the resale value of nearby homes.
Chuck Hendrickson, who voted against the zoning ordinance at its first reading last month, repeated his concern over traffic. “It’s fear of the unknown,” he said. “I just kind of wonder what’s planned there.”
Assistant city engineer Tom Trowbridge responded to White and Hendrickson’s traffic worries. “The city built 40th Avenue back in 2005 as a minor arterial street that could handle 5,000 to 15,000 cars a day,” he said. “That was part of our comprehensive plan.” Currently, he said, the eastern section of the thoroughfare sees just 500 vehicles daily, while the busier end near Eighth Street, more than a mile west of Berg’s development, is nearing 5,000. The road, he asserted, can handle traffic generated by Prairie Parkway II, especially since no residential driveways will open directly onto that avenue.
Huston noted that Berg’s plans for the development have been thoroughly vetted not once, but twice, by all city departments with a stake in them, including utilities, the fire department and traffic engineering. It complies with the city’s master plan and other documents. The planning commission discussed and approved Berg’s zoning request and plat before forwarding it to the council.
In the end, White, Seljevold and Hendrickson all joined their colleagues in a unanimous vote to approve the zoning.
Council member Matt Gilbertson may have had the last word: “We need homes in Moorhead. You guys are stepping up to do it. I say, ‘Go for it.’”