St. Paul’s Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) recently convened to deliberate on proposals that met with both approval and a withdrawal, evidence that community development is a live organism, hardly predictable, oft subject to the ebbing concerns of neighbors and the aspirations of applicants. In their latest session, documented on March 7th, several cases were presented, pivoting around the establishment of housing facilities and expansions beyond current zoning limitations, a routine dance of civic governance and urban evolution.
The BZA granted a unanimous nod to Amani Construction & Development for a variance allowing a significant increase in paved surface on a planned townhouse-style complex at 550 Brunson Street, according to meeting results posted on the City of Saint Paul, MN website. Whereas Khalid Samatar’s vision for a supportive housing facility at 360 Sherman Street was retracted, addressing perhaps, the invisible yet palpable lines of comfort or concern drawn by the community or the drawing board’s revisions.
Then there was Right Time Sober Living LLC, whose plan for a 16-person residence at 1070 Jackson Street was narrowly approved, despite falling short of the zoning code’s spatial parameters for such facilities – an aggressive negotiation for those marginalized elements in our landscape, striving to find their place. This literal encroachment against zoning bylaws suggests a paradox of proximity and distance, how close is too close, and for whom does the bell of variance toll…