Downtown St. Cloud’s 20-Year Vision Faces Public Hearing, Council Vote Monday

(KNSI) – The St. Cloud City Council could sign off on a long-term vision for downtown Monday, when it holds a public hearing on the draft downtown comprehensive plan and is set to vote after taking public comment.

The plan gets a full day of council attention. Members first review and discuss it during a study session at 4:00 p.m. Monday, June 15th, in the council chambers, then take it up formally at their regular meeting at 6:00 p.m., where the public hearing and vote are scheduled. Community Development Director Matt Glaesman is set to walk the council through the document during the afternoon session.

Monday’s hearing follows the planning commission’s approval last month of the downtown plan and a companion Division Street subarea plan, on a 5-1 vote, with Commissioner Sabrin Ali casting the lone no vote. That action came after its own public hearing and a roughly month-long comment period.

Glaesman has stressed throughout the process that the document is a long-term vision rather than a mandate, and that it gives the city no authority to force any property owner to sell or redevelop.
The draft sets a 20-year horizon. It describes a downtown that by 2045 functions as a year-round regional destination for entertainment, art, history, culture, and riverfront activity while holding onto its historic “Granite City” identity.

The plan builds on the city’s 2015 comprehensive plan and covers the downtown core and the Division Street corridor. Six goals anchor the document, ranging from advancing redevelopment and activating both Mississippi riverfronts to expanding housing and prioritizing pedestrians. A set of “big moves” turns those goals into priorities, including reclaiming the Mississippi River as downtown’s “front door,” expanding downtown living, and positioning the area as a regional destination.

One of the most notable shifts from 2015 is the emphasis on housing over office space. Glaesman says the post-COVID landscape has made housing the key to bringing people downtown around the clock, creating an active public realm and making commercial development possible.

Residents got their first in-person look at the vision during an April 22nd open house at the Rivers Edge Convention Center, where the city unveiled 16 renderings of what key sites could become. Among the featured locations is the current Stearns County campus downtown, an eight-to-nine-acre site where county offices and courts will eventually move out once the new Stearns County Justice Center is built. Other concepts focus on the Lady Slipper block, the riverfront near the convention center, and additional sites along Division Street. Public input also pointed to interest in a downtown grocery store, a continuous riverwalk with water recreation such as kayaking, façade and lighting improvements, and replacing aging cobblestone and pavers with more accessible materials.

Residents who want to weigh in will get their chance at Monday evening’s public hearing before the council votes. The draft downtown plan and the Division Street subarea plan are both available for review on the city’s planning webpage.

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