City Review of Linden Corner Delayed

for Linden Corner? Hardly.

Dreams of dramatic debate over the disputed development were dashed Monday afternoon when Planning Commission President David Motzenbecker pushed the project’s hearing back by two weeks.

Motzenbecker told the 80 or so citizens and media members in attendance that the city had received a last-minute petition Monday morning from a group opposing the project, asking for a review of the project’s environmental impact. City staff, he said, hadn’t had time to determine if the mixed-use project was exempted from such reviews.

The parking lots developer Mark Dwyer would like to build on in Linden Hills were once the site of a gas station, whose underground tanks have contaminated the ground with benzene and other petroleum products. Dwyer has promised to include environmental remediation measures during construction.

Monday morning, a lawyer retained by the neighborhood opposition group delivered a letter to the city urging it not to act until the petition was reviewed, until the developer bought the “pocket park” at the corner of 43rd Street and Upton Avenue and until the Linden Hills Neighborhood Council weighed in on the project. The letter said the council had been unable to complete its work due to the Christmas holiday.

“We have no problem with the delay,” said Linden Hills resident and development opponent Robyn Traxler. "If we don't put our time and energy into (this), then what do we believe in?"

Mark Dwyer declined to comment.

City planning staff had recommended approval of the project’s crucial request for permission to build a nearly 60-foot building—the land is zoned for buildings up to 42 feet tall. Reasons cited were the presence of other buildings as high as seven stories, a traffic study suggesting the building wouldn't significantly increase congestion in the neighborhood or shadow neighboring properties and that the increased density the building would create fits the city’s comprehensive plan.