Monitor in a Minute

Wondering where the music is coming from when you try to sleep or visit a Midway Marketplace store? Devices set up by the city’s Department of Safety and Inspections (DSI) are being used to broadcast music. The devices, which are moved around the property, play classical music all day and night.

Use of such devices is a common tactic to discourage loitering. The city contracts with an outside vendor to set up, maintain and move the devices.

The music carries, especially at night. That has prompted complaints from Hamline Midway residents over the past several months. With the music continuing, some have stepped up their efforts to file complaints with the city.

They are asking residents to contact Ward One Council member Anika Bowie and Ward Four Council Member Mitra Jalali. The shopping center is in Ward One, but the noise carries into nearby Ward Four. A form letter posted on the neighborhood social media page states, “It is loud enough to disrupt my sleep. I have already submitted a noise ticket but this music has been played since last summer, or earlier. The complaint tickets are not working. It is time to stop. Please work with DSI to mute the music.”

St. Paul does regulate noise, with decibel limits between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. The city council can work with DSI to grant noise level variances.

Neighbors who had filed complaints over the past several months said they have not had a response that addresses the issues. While the city web page directs residents to call the police non-emergency line to make noise complaints, the public is being directed to an online form, at https://tinyurl.com/3vnhp2nf

Read more about noise at https://www.stpaul.gov/departments/safety-inspections/report-concern/common-concerns/noise-and-sound-level-limits-saint

 

Renovate 1558, the organization that is focused on trying to save the historic Hamline Midway Branch Library, recently gave an update on its work to save the Henry Hale Memorial Library, Hamline Branch. 

The library closed last year. It is slated for demolition and replacement.

Renovate 1558, which takes its name from the library’s street address of 1558 Minnehaha Ave. W, continues to argue that the 1930 building can be saved and repurposed. The group led the charge in successfully getting the structure placed on the National Register of Historic Places in January 2023.

The group is also continuing its legal fight against the city to prevent building demolition, and has launched GoFundMe to help cover legal costs. City official contend that the library is dated and needs to be replaced.

“Sadly, in Saint Paul, Minn., love of history isn’t enough to stop a wrecking ball swung by city leadership and the Saint Paul Public Library (SPPL), nor is its inclusion on the NRHP, which the city actively opposed. Instead, our elected officials and SPPL want to toss away the historic library like a crumpled Taco Bell bag. They plan to replace it with a new library on the same lot. While slightly larger, the new building trades community history, sustainability, and artful character for a design some called ‘reminiscent of a credit union,’” the group’s GoFundMe page stated.

Renovate 1558 has called for the existing library to be renovated, or for library services to be moved to a larger space, possibly a community center.

 

Four new commercial development districts have been created in the West Midway area that is the Creative Enterprise Zone. The St. Paul City Council Feb. 21 created the districts, following a public hearing earlier last month at the Capital Region Watershed District offices.

The council action will allow up to nine new on-sale liquor licenses to be issued among the four districts. Commercial development districts are a mechanism the city uses to issue on-sale liquor licenses in wards where none are available.

While city officials in recent years have loosened liquor regulations to allow restaurants to obtain license outside of the per-ward cap, not every business wanting an on-sale licenses has qualified.

The notion of allowing more liquor licenses in the Creative Enterprise Zone began last year when Paikka, an event center at Vandalia Tower, sought commercial development district status so it could obtain a liquor license. That led to discussions of putting all or part of the Creative Enterprise Zone in a district, to promote entertainment options. The zone itself was created more than a decade ago as a means of promoting vibrancy and support for the arts community in the area.

The original proposal was for one large district. That was amended to create four smaller districts.

The four new districts take effect this spring.