4201 50th St. W., Conditional Use Permit with Variances

My name is Andrew Johnson, 5001 Arden Ave, writing against the conditional use permit. While I don't necessarily oppose a day care operating in the church, I'm very concerned about the additional vehicular traffic on Jay Place that will inevitably come with it.

The current traffic flow in and out of the church parking lot for drop-offs/pick-ups would overwhelm Jay Place, causing it to back-up and block the driveways on it. My driveway access is along Jay Place and my concern is egress and ingress to my driveway during drop-off and pick-up hours. With just one to two cars sitting at the stop sign, we would be unable to access our driveway.

Anyone who lives along 50th Street in this corridor knows how long one must wait and how treacherous it is to make a turn with traffic, let alone a cross-traffic turn. Allowing the day care to operate would make this existing traffic problem even worse.

We'd be open to revisitng a proposal like this in the future if the conditional use permit comes with specific actions to mitigate the traffic concerns, but until then as a neighbor and resident who will be directly impacted by this permit, I respectfully ask that this conditional use permit is denied.

This is Mary Jo Ekman, 5003 Arden Avenue in Edina. My husband and I are not able to attend the 1/20/26 public hearing where the proposed new use of Mercy Commons Covenant Church will be discussed. We are therefore providing our written feedback here online. We live on the east side of Arden, two houses in from the SE corner of 50th and Arden Ave. Our driveway opens onto Jay Place.

We are not in favor of the proposed use of the Mercy Commons property (4201 W. 50th St.). The main reason for our opposition is the potential additional M-F traffic congestion that the early childhood education center will cause. It is our understanding that this proposal will cause additional traffic on 50th Street, Jay Place, Indianola Avenue and surrounding areas.

Before we address any specific impacts of this proposal, it is wise to recognize today's traffic flow. Traffic in this area is often very heavy, with rush hour traffic on 50th St. sometimes bumper to bumper or even stopped completely. Our driveway is located behind our home and opens onto Jay Place. With today's traffic levels, it's difficult and often dangerous for us to turn onto 50th from Jay Place. The same thing can be said for Bruce, Arden and Indianola Avenues.

It is important then to address the very practical realities of what an additional ~60-80?) cars in the morning and evening (for early education center drop off and pick up) will cause; congestion in the area, in general, will increase beyond the already heavy levels. First, 50th St. will be backed up even further, as east and westbound cars will be looking to enter and exit the education center. Indianola, Arden and Jay Place will be even harder to access as a result. Second, we anticipate having to stop and wait in our driveway before we can back out onto Jay Place, as cars will be streaming into the parking lot for pick up or completely stopped on Jay Place, waiting for an opening to turn onto 50th. This is safety concern and a real inconvenience for those homes like ours whose driveways open onto Jay Place. Third, pedestrian safety most definitely will be impacted, with more vehicle traffic and congestion in the area.

Thank you for the opportunity to provide this input and feedback.

This is Barbara Kruse. Address is 4075 West 51st Street, Edina. I'm responding to a notice of public hearing that I received saying that the Mis Amigos has requested a permit to operate a church and license childhood early childhood education center at 4201 West 51st street. I believe that is the old Mercy Commons covenant Church property. I would like to see something of value in going into that property. It's pretty historic, beautiful church, beautiful property, and I think a school and another church would be an appropriate use for that area. Thank you. (Transcribed by City Staff. Voicemail received 12/15/25 at 1:17 p.m.)

I support the waiver request. Churches should be free to obtain waivers for vital community services such as daycare and maintain their constitutional right to free exercise of religion. I can't imagine this will present any sort of significant traffic issue.

Hello, this is Pat Biersdorf at 5040 Juanita Avenue in Edina, and I'm just thrilled that the church would be purposed again for a church and a preschool daycare. I think it's wonderful. We have lived at 5040 Juanita for 30 years and our driveway backs up to the church parking lot, and I'm so thrilled they would be using that facility in that building for this purpose as opposed to tearing it down and building high rises, condos, etc., which we seem to have more than enough of. So, again, I just want to voice my support that I think it's a fabulous, wonderful idea and I hope it gets approved in every way. So thank you so much. I'm just giving full support to that project. Thank you so much. (Transcribed by City Staff. Voicemail received 11/28/25 at 3:55 p.m.)

Aaron in White Oaks. This proposal does not address traffic and noise implications of the new uses; I am concerned about both and expect that appropriate studies will be completed and made public for comment. In addition, while "a parking stall variance and a lot are variance" are mentioned, the details and implications are not. Do these variances mean the existing number of parking spaces and lot size do not meet requirements for a church and day care? Does this mean people will be parking on the street and causing congestion in the adjacent neighborhoods?