City considers changes to allow boulevard gardens

Boulevard planter beds could become legal in St. Paul, under ordinance changes introduced Nov. 15, 2023 by Ward Three Council Member Chris Tolbert. 

The proposal was expected before the council for a public hearing at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 6 at City Hall. It could be voted on as soon as Dec. 13, and would become legal in early 2024.

The amendment comes after a series of issues with residents wanting to keep planting boxes, artwork and Little Free Libraries in the boulevards. Tolbert said his intent is to legalize planter beds or boxes that can be easily moved if access to underground utilities is needed, or street construction takes place. He contends that the current regulations aren’t clear enough as to what is and isn’t allowed.

Yet another goal is to clarify what the process is for seeking an encroachment permit to allow a planter to stay in place.

“These (planters) are all over the city,” Tolbert said. He added that people don’t know the planters aren’t allowed until they hear from the city ordering removal.

For many years, St. Paul didn’t allow anything other than grass on boulevards, until the city council made boulevard gardens legal in October 1996. The changes were brought forward by then-Ward Three Council Member Mike Harris, at the urging of the Macalester-Groveland Community Council. The change allowed flowers, vegetables and other plants, so long as plant height didn’t exceed two feet and greenery didn’t extend into the curb area, street and sidewalk.

The 1996 changes don’t allow anything permanent on a boulevard. People who place benches, planter boxes and other items there have to move them if a city inspector makes a report or if street and utility construction forces a move.

Disputes over planter beds and other items placed on boulevards sometimes end up before the city’s legislative hearing officer. In 2022, a Hamline-Midway family had to remove a boulevard planter box and a Little Free Library from their boulevard, losing an appeal to the city council. The library was one of six that had been placed as part of a 2021 public art project, Love Letters to the Midway.

Earlier this year, a Lexington-Hamline family had to remove a curbside Little Free Library box that was in the boulevard.

The proposed changes would define a raised planter bed as any container or structure designed for the cultivation of plants, flowers or other vegetation. Raised planter beds shall be constructed of wood, brick, masonry, landscape timbers, metal, ceramic or synthetic lumber. Prohibited materials would include wire, chicken wire, rope, cable, railroad ties, utility poles, tires, plumbing fixtures, concrete or any other similar materials.

A process to allow city approval of planter beds is also spelled out by Tolbert. Anyone wanting a raised planter bed in a boulevard would need an encroachment permit from the city.

The bed would have to be kept in good condition and free of rot. The bed couldn’t be more than 12 inches high. The beds would have to be at least two feet behind the back edge of a curb and at least one foot away from a sidewalk. Placement of the beds could not encompass or interfere with boulevard trees.

When a permit holder moves, the bed would have to be removed.

Other council members said that while the appreciate Tolbert’s intent, they see potential issues. Ward Seven Council Member Jane Prince questioned whether beds made of brick or masonry would be seen as “temporary.”

Council President Amy Brendmoen said the city needs to look at the issue carefully and not open what she called a “Pandora’s box.”

The city attorney’s office looked at other cities’ planter bed regulations when the changes were crafted, said Tolbert.