Cahill District Area Plan

There was a great turnout for the third and final work shop held back on February 21. About 65 people attended despite the snowy weather. (Thank you to all who attended or provided comment online!) All feedback received from Work Shop 3 in-person or online is available for review under the Documents tab of this page. Since Work Shop 3, the Working Group has been reviewing the feedback and working with the Consultant Team to develop a draft plan. It is anticipated that a draft plan will be made publicly available for review and comment in early May. Public hearings by the Planning Commission and City Council to consider adoption of the plan would likely take place in June and July. Public hearing dates will be set once a draft of the plan is ready for review.

Addison Lewis, Community Development Coordinator

We are still planning to hold our workshop this evening on the Cahill District Area Plan from 7-9pm at the Edina Public Works & Park Maintenance Facility (7450 Metro Blvd). Interested participants may RSVP here. For those unable to make it, all information and opportunities to provide feedback will also be made available online, likely by end of day Wednesday, February 22. We hope to hear from you one way or another!

For any questions, please contact Addison Lewis, Community Development Coordinator, at 952-833-9522 or ALewis@Edinamn.gov

Join us for an interactive community workshop to review and respond to draft plans for the future of Edina’s Cahill District. Topics will include the overall vision for the district, concepts for potential redevelopment, plans for a renewed and expanded public realm, and how Edina should measure and track progress. This workshop will build on the feedback received from prior workshops and other forms of engagement.

The Cahill District Area Plan Workshop #3 will be held on Tuesday, February 21 from 7-9pm at the Edina Public Works & and Park Maintenance Facility (7450 Metro Blvd). Interested participants may RSVP here.

For any questions, please contact Addison Lewis, Community Development Coordinator, at 952-833-9522 or ALewis@Edinamn.gov

Workshop Overview - A community workshop was held for the Cahill District Area Plan on Tuesday, September 13th. The meeting took place at the City's Public Works and Park Maintenance Facility with approximately 25 people in attendance. The consultant team gave a brief presentation on what has been done to date and attendees participated in a number of group exercises to identify what types of activities they would like to see in the district in the future and where those activities should occur. Attendees also held discussions about what future redevelopment should look like in the district and how it should take place. All meeting materials from the workshop can be found under the "Documents" section of this page. Those that were not able to attend the meeting can still share their input by completing the map activity and survey activity found above.

Hennepin Planning Grant Award - The City of Edina has been awarded a $50,000 Hennepin Planning Grant from Hennepin County to expand the scope of the Cahill Area District Plan process. This additional scope will allow the City to go more in depth in analyzing mobility and public realm improvements in the district. This will include identification of challenges and opportunities in making the area more accessible by walking, biking, and transit, as well as ways to improve the public realm to be a more attractive, sustainable, and cohesive space within the district. The full scope of work can be found under "Documents".

Addison Lewis, Community Development Coordinator

Residents, businesses and anyone who is interested in helping collaborate on the future of Edina’s Cahill District are invited to a workshop Tuesday, Sept. 13. The meeting will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Edina Public Works & Park Maintenance Facility, 7450 Metro Blvd.

Located in the southern portion of the City, the Cahill District is bounded by West 70^th Street (north), Cahill Road (west), Minnesota State Highway 100 (east), and the Bloomington city line (south). The City completed a Small Area Plan for the 70th & Cahill Neighborhood Node in 2019; that plan called for an effort to study the entire Cahill District to determine how best to improve the area. Work has been under way since last fall to draft the Cahill District Plan to guide development. "We've been building off of the conversations held in the November kick off workshop and are excited to further refine the goals our community has for this key district of our city." - Kate Agnew, Cahill District Plan Co-chair.

At the workshop, participants will review and refine principles and goals for the district, explore decisions and tradeoffs, prioritize which activities should occur in the area and begin to assign where those activities might best be located.

Please RSVP for the meeting here: Cahill District Plan Workshop

For more information, contact the Planning Division at 952-826-0369

The Working Group has continued to meet monthly to review existing conditions and constraints. A public workshop will take place (likely in September) to hear from the community regarding goals for the area and begin discussing development alternatives. This workshop will build on the feedback received at the workshop held in November 2021. Details regarding the workshop will be announced within the next few weeks.

Engagement with the business community has also begun. The City will host focus group meetings with businesses and property owners to gain feedback on existing strengths and weaknesses of the district and how it could be improved. An electronic survey has also been distributed to businesses and property owners.

-Addison Lewis, Community Development Coordinator

The Working Group held it’s first meeting with staff from Bolton & Menk (consultant team) in early May. The focus of the meeting was largely around reviewing existing conditions, motivators for studying the Cahill District, identifying major topics and trends, as well as key voices and partners that will be part of the process. Some time was spent discussing the scope of the project, the role of the Working Group, project timing and schedule. The Working Group plans to meet again in mid-June. The next step will be to create a current area profile and trend analysis based on the existing conditions review.

Addison Lewis, Community Development Coordinator

Bolton & Menk has been selected as the consultant to work with the Working Group on developing the Cahill Area District Plan. We are very excited and fortunate to have their assistance on this project! The team includes members with strong familiarity of the Cahill District having worked on both the 70^th and Cahill Small Area Plan, as well as the Comprehensive Plan. Haila Maze will be the team’s project manager. Other members of the team will bring expertise in the areas of urban design, land use, green infrastructure, transportation, economic development, and community engagement. A copy of their proposal can be found under the “Documents” section of this page. The first Working Group meeting with the Bolton & Menk team will be held in May. Stay tuned for additional updates and engagement opportunities this summer.

-Cahill Area District Plan Co-chairs Kate Agnew & David Alkire

The Cahill District Area Plan project is up and running! The Planning Commission approved the candidates for the Working Group on December 30, and the Working Group met for the first time (virtually) on January 31. The new team spent some time getting acquainted, received some orientation information from City staff, and discussed the expected timeline for the project. In addition, the Working Group reviewed a draft of the consulting RFP, and was given a few days to study the document and provide feedback.

The RFP was approved by the Planning Commission on February 9, and published later that week. Proposals are due March 4, and the Working Group will meet the week of March 14 to review proposals and formulate questions for consultant interviews. Consultant finalists will be interviewed by staff and select Planning Commissioners later in March.

Stay tuned to Better Together Edina throughout 2022 for updates on this important community effort!

Cahill District Area Plan Co-chairs Kate Agnew and David Alkire

The RFP (Request for Proposal for Consulting Services) was approved by the Planning Commission on February 9, 2022.

Consultants will be responsible for the following activities during the district planning process:

• Developing a current area profile that includes demographics, physical conditions, land use/zoning and other pertinent information; also projecting population, demographic, economic and environmental trends for the future,

• Working with the District Area Working Group to develop a community engagement plan,

• Leading or assisting with the implementation of the community engagement plan,

• Identifying issues or conflicts and potential options for consideration by the District Area Working Group,

• Drafting the district area plan document, and

• Make final edits to draft plan based on public feedback

The Community Engagement Plan should generate the following district plan components:

The consultant’s scope of work should include at least the following meetings:

• 9 Working Group meetings (1 per month for 9 months)

• 2 community meetings

City staff will screen and select three consultants to be interviewed by select Planning Commissioners and staff based on the perceived match between the information provided and the City’s project needs. Interviews with the project team are anticipated to take place during the month of March. Responses are due by 4:30pm on Friday, March 4th, 2022.

For more details, see the complete RFP in the documents tab.