This transcript follows the requested format. Speaker names have been identified using the internal context of the meeting (introductions, self-identifications, and references by other speakers). [00:00] **Miss Crawford:** ...true planting projects, tree pruning and the maintenance, and maintenance seminars, invasive species control projects, and other educational opportunities. So tonight the mayor will read a proclamation recognizing Arbor Day 2023. [00:09] **Mayor Dan Lewis:** Thank you, Miss Crawford. And with that I will read the Arbor Day Proclamation: Whereas the City of White Bear Lake has historically been committed to maintaining the urban forest in city parks and throughout the City by adding to and replacing its valuable tree stock; whereas the city annually confirms its commitment to the urban Forest by promoting public awareness of forestry issues through tree planting projects, tree pruning and maintenance seminars, invasive species control projects and other educational opportunities; whereas the city is celebrating its 35th year of being a Tree City as part of the Tree City USA program, which was founded in 1976 to celebrate towns and cities committed to growing their urban canopy and has helped more than 3,600 communities across the country build out their urban forests; whereas the city recognizes Arbor Day as an annual occasion during which the community pauses to recognize the importance of trees and their impact on our environment and daily lives and encourages public awareness of urban forestry issues; whereas trees in our city increase property values, enhance the economic vitality of business areas, and beautify our community and park system; whereas trees are a source of joy and spiritual renewal; and whereas the mayor and city council desire to extend their support for and recognition of the importance of trees within our city—now, therefore, I, Dan Lewis, Mayor of the city of White Bear Lake, do hereby proclaim May 18, 2023 as Arbor Day in White Bear Lake, and with fellow members of the city council, the park board and city staff, do hereby call upon all White Bear Lake residents to participate in the annual Arbor Day observance. All right, we'll look forward to that. Everybody go plant a tree. Okay, we're gonna move along into item six, public hearings—we have nothing scheduled. Item seven, unfinished business—nothing scheduled. Item 8A, new business: Conditional Use Permit amendment request, stadium seating for White Bear Lake Area Schools. Mr. Lindahl. [01:25] **Jason Lindahl (City Planner):** Thank you, Mayor, members of the council. The application before you, as you mentioned, is a request from the White Bear Lake Area Schools related to their North Campus site at 5045 Division Avenue. This request is a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) amendment, so it serves as an amendment to the original CUP that allowed the expansion of the North Campus site back in 2021. In this case, the expansion that they're seeking is related to the bleachers that are part of the athletic stadium that's part of the overall North Campus site. The original CUP allowed for the athletic stadium to have 1,500 seats, and the applicant is requesting to increase those to 5,000 seats. The property is guided public/semi-public in the future land use map with a comprehensive plan and zoned public facilities. As part of the original approval that was done in 2021, a project of this size and scope was actually required to conduct an Environmental Assessment Worksheet (EAW), and that included a wider review than would be typical of a conditional use permit process. The important thing to note as part of that study as it relates to this one is there is a traffic study that's done as part of an EAW, and as part of this request, staff required the applicant to update the traffic study, or what we feel was the relevant part of the EAW for this proposal. The applicant's been through a neighborhood meeting and the Planning Commission, and both Planning Commission and staff are recommending approval. The request is located in the graphic you see here and in your packet on the screen. The stadium as proposed is generally in the middle portion of the campus. It shows it would call for expanding the bleachers from 1,500 to 5,000 seats. On the home side of the stadium, the expansion would be from 1,500 to 3,500 seats, and then on the guest side—currently there weren't any seats planned for the guest side—that would be expanded to 1,500 seats. There's a close-up view of the site here that shows the expanded home seating on the left side of that screen and the guest seating on the right side. This also shows an aerial graphic view that the applicant put together to show generally how the proposed expansion of the bleachers would be seen on site. Again, here's another graphic of the home side bleachers; the middle portion is the 1,500 seat that's already been approved and constructed, and then it shows the proposed expansion on either side of that existing seating. It's worth noting in this picture also the stadium lighting that was part of the approval for the original CUP is shown here and already in place. Our CUP process, as you may remember, as of the first of the year now requires a neighborhood meeting, and so the applicant conducted that back on March 15th at their North Campus. There were approximately 14 attendees to that meeting. That group generally had questions and concerns related to the list of topics that you see here: traffic, both the previous and updated traffic studies, potential mitigation measures, the size of the bleachers and event attendance impact, how the public address system and lighting systems would be used, the district's overall improvements in the city review process, and questions about the future use of the South Campus. Of those 14, approximately seven people spoke, and the comments from those seven were generally opposed to the project. The Planning Commission then held its public hearing back on March 27th. There were a total of three comments that came in via email or phone calls before the meeting, and those were generally opposed. Comments were again related to traffic, parking, noise, and lighting. During the public hearing, there were nine people that spoke: three were supportive and six were opposed. Generally, those opposed had similar concerns that we've talked about from the neighborhood meeting. The CUP looks at a number of criteria... consistency with the City’s 2040 comprehensive plan, compatibility with present and future land uses... staff finds that this particular application doesn't change any of those previously mitigated factors. A third factor looks at conformance with general performance standards... most specifically related to the expansion of the bleachers, the traffic study also helped us look at parking analysis for the site. To summarize, the parking study looked at events at the South Campus and then compared them with the conditions that are proposed for North Campus. They looked at a typical event, which they cited as about 1,600 people, and then they looked at larger events, basically classified as the homecoming game, which would be about 3,800 people. They also looked at full capacity of the potential 5,000-seat bleachers. The applicant says getting actually 5,000 people in there is not really practical; it doesn't usually happen that way given the size of people and how they sit in those seats. But if you look at the assumption that they made—three people coming per vehicle for a typical event—there is adequate parking on the site based on the numbers of stalls they're proposing. When you get to a full capacity event, there is the potential to have a parking shortage. The EAW also looked at visualization, specifically the lights. Given that the increased capacity doesn't affect the lights, staff didn't make any changes related to lighting. Looking at noise, the original EAW looked at both noise related to construction and then increased noise from the actual site. It is fair to note that the analysis they did of the school expansion didn't typically include the expansion of the bleachers. But looking at the standards from the MPCA, generally, staff's experience is that the ambient noise from an occasional event like this wouldn't exceed those standards. Then the CUP looks at depreciation of values. The original CUP made findings that high-quality schools are an important part of property values. Staff doesn't see any conflict with the expansion. It also looks at whether the site can be accommodated by existing public facilities (water and sewer). There is a noted condition related to getting sewer access or a SAC determination. Finally, it looks at traffic generated. The surrounding roads have the capacity to absorb the additional traffic, though it's important to keep in mind that this is in the context of proposed improvements for Bald Eagle, Division, and 8th Avenue. There are a number of conditions related to traffic that are recommended in that traffic study. Those have to do with designating drop-off and pick-up areas outside the parking areas, parking restrictions, and timing adjustments for signals at 7th and 8th at the intersections of Highway 61. And with that, staff would stand for questions. I would note that the applicant is here and prepared to make a presentation. [06:17] **Mayor Dan Lewis:** Thank you, Mr. Lindahl. At this time, I think we would like to hear from representatives from the district. [06:33] **Tim Wald (Assistant Superintendent):** Good evening, Mayor, council members. You know you've been around education for a long time when you remember the Mayor as a high school student—that's where we're at. Thank you, City Council, for hearing this CUP request tonight. I want to acknowledge the diligence of the city staff and the Planning Commission. We have with us tonight a host of our folks from World Architects, Larson Engineering, and SEH Engineering. In the 2019 bond referendum, there was an overwhelming statement by our community to support the unification of our high school in the neighborhood where it’s at. 60 years after the previous dedicated high school was built, another generation said they want to unify the high school in that location. It’s going to be a really beautiful campus. I want to address a question that’s come up quite a bit: "Why now?" The plan was originally that football would stay at South Campus and eventually move to the high school site. What’s changed is that in 2018-19, we didn’t anticipate that we would have the footprint to build the amenities and parking to host larger events. That’s changed. We were able to acquire more property than we thought possible. So we are able to do it earlier than anticipated. I'll turn it over to Maria Kennedy, an architect with Wold. She has worked specifically on this stadium project. [08:31] **Maria Kennedy (Architect, Wold Architects):** Thanks, Tim. This plan shows how this would be built out. The West half of the site has been constructed and mostly built out. There were items on the original stadium design that are not changed as part of this CUP—the lighting and the sound system are not proposed to be modified at all, and the stormwater design already incorporated the potential to expand. The expansion proposed to the home bleachers would increase capacity from 1,500 to 3,500. On the East side, it would add 1,500 seats for visitors. This 3D view shows the scale of the existing bleachers and the expansion. The sound system is a distributed system, which differs from South Campus. It has multiple speakers around the site to minimize sound transfer off-site. We have SEH Engineering here to answer detailed traffic questions, but we commit to the recommendations in the report. As for the schedule, Bald Eagle (West side) improvements are planned to be complete this summer, and the road improvements on Division and 8th Street will be complete by summer of 2024. [10:25] **Mayor Dan Lewis:** Thank you, Ms. Kennedy. Council, I am going to open this up for public comments. If anybody does have any public comments, I'd invite you to the microphone. Please state your name and address. [10:43] **Jeff Taylor:** My name is Jeff Taylor and I live at 5211 West Bald Eagle Boulevard. I've been a member of the community almost my whole life, a 1979 grad of Mariner High School. I’m wondering about the March 15th meeting; I’m not sure how that was communicated. Before the referendum, it was stated three separate times that the stadium would remain at South Campus. Now I understand things have changed, but that’s what was stated before an election. Number two, the disruption the neighborhood is already going through. It's hard to understand why it’s important to build a 5,000-seat stadium when the average crowd is 1,600, or why you'd build it when 3,800 people would max out the parking lot. If there are only two people per car, you have 600 cars parking in the neighborhood. Why build this for five football games a year? We already have a 4,800-seat stadium at South Campus. I guess my concern is this is being rushed through. We see the increase in traffic already. I would respectfully request that you delay any improvement on the CUP proposal. Thank you. [12:47] **Mary Pollard:** I just want to echo what Mr. Taylor just said. My name is Mary Pollard, 2321 5th Street. I don't think it's too much to ask that the school district get the traffic they currently have under control before we okay them to bring three or four times as many people into the neighborhood. Thank you. [13:06] **Jeremy Post:** My name is Jeremy Post, I live at 2068 3rd Street. I work in the school district, coach football and basketball. I think it's important to understand that people who live within two blocks of the stadium are likely to speak against it, and they have every right to because change is hard. But as leaders, you have to look at facts. I grew up in Lanesboro. When the bike trail was built, everyone complained about disruption, but Lanesboro exists today because leaders didn't react to the emotions of change. Every ward passed the levy. We finally found a way to deal with our facilities. Our current stadium (South Campus) is in a neighborhood and it's worse there because there wasn't a traffic study done and there's only one way out. This is an opportunity to improve the situation. We're already bringing 3,000 kids a day there in a year and a half. That's already happening. We're talking about four nights a year that are not at the same time as school. That will reinvigorate the neighborhood and downtown White Bear Lake. Thank you. [15:33] **Jim Galvin:** My name is Jim Galvin, I live at 4702 Wood Avenue. I came to speak in favor of adding seating. I have three issues: history and tradition, community impact, and student impact. I came to White Bear Lake in 1970 as a math teacher and coach. Price Field, right behind Central, had varsity football games from the 40s into the early 80s. White Bear Lake has always had excellent football programs. In the 70s, it was "Friday Night Lights"—it was a community event. Thousands of spectators flocked to the downtown location. They drove by our restaurants and businesses. Most importantly, the impact on students. These kids are now going to have a home for four consecutive years. Our players want to play their home games here, not hop on a bus and drive to South Campus. They want to dress in their own locker rooms and walk to their own field. Thank you. [17:51] **Alistar Downey:** Alistar Downey, 1988 Campbell Circle. The school is awesome, they've done their due diligence. Change is hard; I no longer have deer in the yard because we eliminated the natural grass. My concern is on the city side. What is the city plan for widening Bald Eagle or signage for no parking? Because obviously, come September, we’ll be playing football over there. Thank you. [18:32] **Mayor Dan Lewis:** Seeing no one else, I will close this public comment period. I came into this issue with very mixed feelings. The concept of having varsity football games at the new campus is a no-brainer. But I also remember the plan for the referendum and what promises were made. I wouldn't go as far as to say it was a bait-and-switch; I’ll take the District's word that they went in with best intentions and more homes were acquired. But is it worth delaying a little bit so we can break in the new high school and get the neighborhood acclimated before bringing varsity football back? I want to throw that out to the council. I live on the North side, and while I enjoy the noise of a touchdown, traffic and parking are real concerns. Tim, why do we need to do this starting in 2024 versus delaying it to 2025 or 2026? [20:30] **Tim Wald:** We capitalized on construction pricing over the last few years and residents were willing to sell their houses. We have a certain amount of time where we need to spend the bond money. We capitalized on a soft construction market that allowed us to do things better than originally expected. We never expected to have 1,344 parking spots available. As for the "bait-and-switch" idea, the answer during meetings was always that the long-term goal was to bring it to the new site. The site now allows it, so that's why we're here. [21:19] **Mayor Dan Lewis:** I appreciate that. People have reached out to me saying they voted for the referendum based on the original plan, and they don't feel right about the change. I sympathize with that. [22:04] **Councilmember Edberg:** How many other events do you have in mind besides those five football games? How many are at the high end of the attendance estimate? And what gives you confidence that current conditions are an accurate predictor? [22:25] **Chad Jorgensen (SEH Engineering):** We reviewed ticket sales for the past three to five years. The homecoming numbers used were the highest attendance over that period. Generally, an average game will operate very similarly to school dismissal. On-street parking will happen regardless of event size—look at South Campus now. We recommended opening a second gate to encourage patrons to use the existing parking on site. [23:40] **Tim Wald:** One condition added was that we'd work with the White Bear Police Department to mitigate that, perhaps putting signs out on game days or working with Ramsey County for no-parking signage on Bald Eagle. [24:12] **Councilmember Jones:** What other existing events are scheduled for the stadium at 1,500 capacity? Soccer, lacrosse? [24:34] **Tim Wald:** Soccer, boys and girls lacrosse, and varsity track meets. That would be about 16 events in the fall and 19 in the spring. Adding football brings it to 20 in the fall. [24:50] **Councilmember Jones:** My concern is the average football game attendance versus dismissal. Is it comparable? [25:17] **Tim Wald:** Homecoming this year had 3,050 people and 780 cars. Right now, we have about 600 cars coming and going every day from the high school. It clears very quickly. When this is built out, there are three exits on the Bald Eagle side, three on Division, and one on Bloom. [25:54] **Councilmember Jones:** I'm concerned about the State High School track meet mentioned in the press. I get the economic impact, but for the neighbors, it’s a lot to ask. We already ask a lot of our downtown with Marketfest and the parade. I don't want to see more external events added beyond what we're already asking of the neighbors. Is there a way we can put a mechanism in the CUP so that anything outside the norm needs to be specifically asked for? [27:31] **Tim Wald:** There will be requests to use the stadium because the track will be one of the finest in the Midwest. We don't have anything scheduled yet, other than possibly outdoor graduation. [28:05] **Councilmember Jones:** I just want to ensure we aren't inviting even more events into the neighborhood without a mechanism to review them. [28:22] **Jason Lindahl:** The CUP mechanism allows the council to add conditions directly related to mitigating conditions produced by the use. You have the ability to add conditions to address those concerns. [28:44] **Councilmember Jones:** One other question—are the road improvements and restrictions the city placed in the budget? [28:57] **Tim Wald:** Yes, all road improvements identified are in the budget. The Bald Eagle project will happen this summer. [29:10] **Councilmember Hughes:** We anticipate the school growing. What does this look like in five years? [29:21] **Tim Wald:** Future enrollment is predicted to grow. The high school is built for a capacity of 3,200. We are currently at 2,400. [29:40] **Maria Kennedy:** The original traffic study was planned around that full capacity of 3,200 students. [29:48] **Councilmember Hughes:** And for neighborhood parking—the study shows about 130 to 150 cars parked in the neighborhood? [29:56] **Chad Jorgensen:** Those would be scattered where you can legally park. [30:08] **Councilmember Hughes:** If we’re considering "no parking" areas that aren't useful, it becomes an enforcement issue. [30:19] **Councilmember Edberg:** Mr. Lindahl, in your presentation, you talked about traffic in the neighborhood. Did that refer to parking or moving traffic? How should we be thinking about mitigating the impact? [30:44] **Paul Kopas (City Engineer/Public Works):** As far as parking restrictions go, we prepared a slide. Currently on Division, we have no parking on both sides from the railroad tracks down to 5th Street. There are one-sided restrictions on Bloom and 9th Street. The traffic study recommends no parking on the East side of Bald Eagle along the campus to help with sight distances. At South Campus, we have permit parking during school hours, but it’s not enforced on weekends or evenings. We could look at a similar process for North Campus, perhaps even signing it so it includes events. We can also look at the active management of vehicles exiting the lots, having the school district hire officers to manage intersections, and adjusting signal timing at 7th and 8th. [32:29] **Councilmember Edberg:** My concern is the amount of overflow parking in the neighborhood. I think parking will be better with the new facility, but the inclination of some for rapid access means they'll still park on the streets. I’m very open to more active signage strategies. I've seen what happened around the old Mariner before signage was implemented.