FAQs

Small area plans help to shape and guide how a defined geographic area will evolve over time. Most small area plans seek to do the following: 

• Engage the community to develop a long-term vision for the area (Typically, we are planning for a 20 year time horizon or more.)
• Define how the area should be maintained or changed over time 
• Identify issues, opportunities, and priorities for the area 
• Identify appropriate land uses and (sometimes) provide design guidance for private property and the public realm (e.g., How close should buildings be to the street? How tall should they be? How wide should sidewalks be?) 
• Identify future infrastructure improvements needed to achieve the vision (e.g., modifications to an intersection, upgrading utilities, etc.) 
• Advance the goals of the Comprehensive Plan

The result of a small area plan is typically a series of recommendations or implementation strategies that may take the form of:  

• Changes to the Future Land Use Map.  This map indicates how the City envisions land will be used in the future (commercial, industrial, low density residential, etc.)  This may be different than how the land is used and zoned today.  The Future Land Use Map provides a guide when redevelopment proposals are brought to the City.  
• Zoning changes 
• Infrastructure projects 
• Renderings depicting design guidance for buildings and the public realm
• Strategic initiatives
• Items to be studied further

A small area plan does not...

• Guarantee any change will occur - market conditions, property owner decisions, and city budget priorities significantly influence implementation. 
• Determine the affordability of housing or whether it is renter or owner occupied
• Decide specific businesses or industries that will locate in the area (e.g., a grocery store or technology companies) 
• Require that development will look exactly like plan renderings 

There will be a series of community meetings for this project.  Meeting dates will be announced on the project homepage. You can also sign up to receive email updates on the project homepage to be notified as future meeting dates are announced.  Feedback will also be collected through this site. 

The City recognizes that as a fully developed community, most areas of the City are unlikely to undergo significant change.  The 2008 Comprehensive Plan identified "Potential Change Areas" prompting the completion of small area plans that help shape and guide redevelopment for all of these areas. In April and May of 2017 "Big Ideas Workshops" identified several more areas that may be considered Potential Change Areas in the future, including the Lincoln Londonderry area, which was then included on the Planning Commission's 2024 Work Plan. Several issues have driven the desire to create a plan for this area: 

• In 2023, a development proposal was received for the area. Without a plan in place, there was significant disagreement among adjacent neighbors if the proposal would fit within the area. The proposal did not move forward and there are no current proposals for the area. This plan will seek to develop a consensus around future development in the area. 

• There are significant questions regarding the sanitary sewer capacity of this area, an issue shared with most of Western Edina. As this impacts an area far outside of the small area plan’s boundaries, this plan may not be able to solve this issue completely, but it will be taken into account as future opportunities are considered. 

• Following the 2020 COVID19 pandemic, economic markets have changed significantly, especially for office and industrial properties. This plan will seek to evaluate the existing uses in the area to ensure that the area’s economic future is resilient to these changes and avoids future blight. 

Boards and commissions may create working groups to assist them with their work plan; however, working groups work at the direction of the whole board or commission.  The role of a working group is to study issues in greater depth, to report findings back to the board or commission or to assist with community initiatives or events.  In this case, a working group has been commissioned to assist the Planning Commission in developing the small area plan. The working group is made up of the following Edina residents. 

• Lou Miranda (Chair)
• Meriwether Felt 
• Ryan Daye 
• Nancy Spannaus
• Steve Brown
• Jignasha Pandya 
• Coryn Griffeth
• Jim Diley
• Russ Rubin 

The City's adopted small area plans can be found here. (See "Appendix A - Small Area Plans")