Planning CommissionItem 5aApproved
Approval of November 24, 2025 Planning Commission Meeting Minutes
The Planning Commission formally approved the written minutes from its November 24, 2025 regular meeting, which included the 3-2 approval of a 3-year Interim Use Permit for temporary employee parking on a vacant lot next to Lakewinds Co-op.
Passed 5-0
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Potential benefit
Creates an official public record of prior Commission actions, including the Lakewinds Co-op parking permit decision.
Concern to consider
None; this is a routine procedural vote confirming the accuracy of the record.
What happens next: The approved minutes become the official public record of the November 24, 2025 meeting.
Sources: Planning Commission agenda (city portal) ↗
Planning CommissionItem 7aOutcome pendingYour input welcome
Public Hearing on MICC Rezoning, Conditional Use Permit, Preliminary Plat, and Variances for New Learning Center on 76th Street West
Minnesota Independence College & Community (MICC) requested land-use approvals to build a 27,978 square-foot, 2-story vocational school for autistic and neurodivergent adults at 2000, 2006, 2018 76th Street West and 7532 Morgan Avenue South, including rezoning from Low Density Residential (R) to Multifamily Residential (MR-2), a Conditional Use Permit, a Preliminary Plat splitting four lots into two, and five variances (three setback reductions, a lot coverage increase to 37%, and a 15-stall parking reduction to 38 spaces). Staff supported the full request, finding it consistent with the Comprehensive Plan's 2008 'Medium Density Residential' guiding for the area, and a traffic study projected fewer than 100 additional daily trips.
recorded in the approved minutes — tally not yet extracted here
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Potential benefit
Brings a long-planned vocational school for neurodivergent adults to a vacant site, replacing underused residential lots with a facility MICC has sought since 2016, while reserving a second lot for future housing (up to 15 units/acre).
Concern to consider
The project requires five variances, including a 15-stall parking shortfall (38 vs. the required 52 stalls) and setbacks as small as 6.5 to 10 feet from lot lines, which some residents could see as reducing buffers or increasing localized parking pressure.
What happens next: The Planning Commission held the public hearing on December 8, 2025; City Council consideration is tentatively scheduled for January 13, 2026 (first reading) and January 27, 2026 (second reading), within the extended 120-day statutory review period ending February 20, 2026.
Sources: Planning Commission agenda (city portal) ↗