City Taking Survey for Future of Linden Hills

This week, the City of Minneapolis and the Linden Hills Neighborhood Council (LHiNC) are kicking off an effort to get neighborhood input on a plan that will, in many ways, write the future of Linden Hills.

The small area plan process will take many months yet, but first, planners say they want to gather the "aspirations" people might have for Linden Hills' two business districts at 44th and France and 43rd and Upton, and what might be needed to fulfill those dreams. To that end, the city will post a short survey on the small area plan project website from Feb. 1 to Feb. 22. Hard copies will also be available at Linden Hills Park.

Once the surveys are in, planners will convene a community workshop at Linden Hills Park on Thursday, Feb. 28 to discuss the results. Two identical sessions will be held from 4:30 p.m. to 5:45 p.m., and then from 6 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. A "virtual open house" is also tentatively scheduled for late April to showcase some of the alternatives planners draw up in response to the surveys and the Feb. 28 workshop.

For the following month, city staff and the consultant hired by the neighborhood will retire to to hammer out a draft plan that will be released for community feedback some time in July. Once residents and LHiNC have had several weeks to digest the plan and make their comments, the city council will vote on whether to make the plan official some time in the early fall.

Questions about the process should be directed to city planner Brian Schaffer at 612-673-2670 or brian.schaffer@minneapolismn.gov.

What is a Small Area Plan?

A small area plan is a plan that is developed for a clearly delineated area and gives more detailed recommendations than would be provided in the City’s comprehensive plan. A small area plan does not function to replace the comprehensive plan but rather serves to refine its existing policies.  It builds on the goals, policies and implementation steps in the comprehensive plan to provide a finer level of detail.

A small area plan is a document that outlines a long-range vision of typically 15 to 20 years for land use and development in the subject area. The plan examines the current conditions of the area, develops a future vision of what residents and business representatives want the neighborhood or area to become and then formulates specific goals, objectives, and policies or projects to implement that vision.