St. Cloud Council to Weigh New Housing, Marijuana Dispensary, and $5.7M Road Project at Packed Meeting Tonight

(KNSI) — The St. Cloud City Council has a packed agenda on Monday night with a public hearing for a new apartment building, a local business asking for a license to open a recreational marijuana dispensary and the approval of bids for a major road project.

A public hearing is set for tonight to help the council decide whether to allow the construction of a low-income apartment building on the former YMCA site. Center City Housing wants to build 40 single bedroom apartments on the vacant lot on Northway Drive. The proposed new Elm Ridge Apartments will use trauma-informed and harm-reduction housing models to get people suffering from drug addiction, mental illness, and other disabilities into permanent housing. If the proposal is approved, it will take another two or three years before the building can open. The property is currently zoned commercial and needs to change its planned unit development to allow for housing.

Another public hearing will be held for a request by Wild Weeds in the Centennial Plaza mall for a planned unit development to allow them to turn into a recreational marijuana dispensary. Currently, dispensaries must remain in the C5 heavy highway commercial districts. The business is in a C2 neighborhood commercial area. The planning commission has already denied the company’s request, but the council has the final say.

The council will have a chance to approve a contract for redoing Lincoln Avenue Southeast between 4th Street Southeast and 7th Street Southeast. The city got two bids; the lowest was $4.22 million, submitted by Geislinger & Sons of Watkins. It was 6% under the estimate. Bids for a sidewalk improvement project in the area will be brought to the council for consideration of award later in August. The work is on a separate schedule due to grant funding requirements. The project’s total cost is estimated to be around $5.7 million.

An ordinance defining signs as commercial and non-commercial will also be up for discussion. City officials call it more of a clarification, rather than an ordinance change, but there is one exception to the rule surrounding election season.

The meeting gets underway tonight at 6:00 at St. Cloud City Hall.

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