7200/7250 France Ave., Final Site Plan Review and Zoning Ordinance Amendment

This is Charles and Barbara Strothman at 7220 York Avenue South, Edina, Unit 112. It’ s a condominium. We are right directly across from the Macy’s site and are not too excited about having this big structure being rammed in our face. One of our big concerns i s, as we look see how the planning is developing, is that next to the promenade current ly is a nice grassy area with beautiful mature trees and from the looks of the plan it look s like they want to push that building much closer to the promenade which would require taking out those trees. We are vehemently opposed to taking them out. We also see t hat this project violates a lot of the ground rules, regulations, or requirements for the preservation of that area on the promenade. I think that should be revisited again and an explanation should be given for any variances that are allowed. I'd be interested in following what you do with this information. Sorry I can’t be there in person to voice my concerns. Thank you for listening to me. (Transcribed by City Staff. Voicemail received 7/1 8/24 at 9:17AM)

Hello. My name is Jill Thorson. I am the manager at 71 France Apartment 7161 France Avenue South next to the proposed development of the Macy's. My feedback would be that the parking is in short supply here. Sometimes we use the Macy's lot for overflow, with their permission. By adding more businesses and more apartment homes, we are concerned that there is not going to be enough parking in the area. So if that could be considered, or maybe some more parking added, that would be appreciated. Thank you (Transcribed by City Staff. Voicemail received 7/17/24 at 1:02 PM).

My name is Lisa Pohlman and I live at 7206 Bristol Circle and I'm calling about the 7200/7250 France Avenue development proposal six-story apartment building with underground parking. I moved into this neighborhood in May of 2021. At the time I was told the I height zoning for this area was three stories and now we're looking at a six-story apartment. I moved in and I tolerated decrepit buildings for over a year that actually had people like living in them (like homeless people living in them) and putting graffiti up. Now I've dealt with this hole in the ground there that is an eye sore. It's ridiculous. I live in a neighborhood in Cornelia and now we're going to have a six-story tower next to us and it's one block away. There's already a huge development going on over in the Richards area. There's plenty of apartments in Centennial Lakes. You’re cramming more and apartments in this area and we can’t even deal with the traffic now on France Avenue. What are you going to do when you bring 150 more units right there right next to a neighborhood where we have single family homes. It’s way too much and I’m opposed to a six-story 150-unit apartment building coming up 1 block away from me. Thank you. Bye. (Transcribed by City Staff. Voicemail received 7/19/24 at 3:41 PM).

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Dietrich Nissen, 7104 Glouchester Avenue. We live a few blocks away from this site but I've grown up going by it for decades.

I vehemently do not support this project nor any additional housing development on this site, or side of France Avenue. We have already built plenty of MDU housing options in the southeast part of Edina in the last five years. It would be wise to slow down, let families move in, and make sure our city and school infrastructure can handle the increase from those families before adding an additional 153 families who will also need services, too. This also applies to the 500+ unit buildings being proposed for the Macy's Furniture site.

I would much rather see the City use this particular site to accomplish two other goals related to the quality of life for residents in the area:

1) Fill in the current site with dirt and turn the majority of it into a beautiful park with the west side being filled with trees. It would not only look much better than these proposed apartment buildings, it would also serve as a natural sound barrier for the families on Bristol Blvd and Bristol Circle who are constantly dealing with traffic noise and commercial activity.

2) Work with Hennepin County to design and create a one-of-a-kind pedestrian/bike bridge so people can safely travel across France Avenue from the South Cornelia neighborhood. A bridge would provide a focal point for foot/bike traffic, and also negate the risk of a motorist hitting anyone. Get creative. Make it wide, make it beautiful, make it fun to go cross.

Bill Gough, 6941 Hillcrest Lane. This project seems very reasonable for the property. It is not as dense (153 living units) as what is being proposed for the Macy's Furniture plot (over 500) across France Avenue. Far more consideration was given here to the bordering residential neighborhood with natural space behind the apartments (It actually begs the question as to why the city feels it needs so much density near the Promenade and Centennial Lakes in the Macy's development?). Also, it would be nice if developers and the city could PLEASE show how a graded France bike/pedestrian crossing, either a bridge or a tunnel, would fit with these proposed developments - where would it go across France Avenue, how it would be accessed by the public, and how would it look?