Should banquet hall along University have parking lot?

A longtime Frogtown commercial building can become a restaurant and banquet hall, with St. Paul Planning Commission approval of a needed conditional use permit March 17. But the project has jump-started debate over off-street parking needs, and whether or not allowing a 50-space parking lot along a transit corridor is consistent with the city’s comprehensive plan and recent city action to eliminate parking minimums.
Blaize restaurant and banquet facility is slated to open at 315 University Ave. The Planning Commission’s decision to approve the conditional use permit is final. It wasn’t appealed to the city council within a 10-day period. Banquet and rental halls operate under such permits, which set hours of operation and other requirements.
The commission rejected a proposed to bring the project back for a site plan review public hearing, 4-9.
The Planning Commission Zoning Committee, which recommended permit approval on a 3-1 vote earlier in March, and the full commission, debated the parking issues at length over two meetings. The city’s comprehensive plan and a recently approved change to the parking standard discourage the construction of off-street parking. Some commissioners upheld those studies as a reason to look carefully at new parking requests. They also raised issues of neighborhood character.
But other commissioners said businesses are being hurt by a lack of off-street parking, especially along University and in the Little Mekong area where Blaize will open its doors.
Owner Chong Soua Vang purchased the property in 2016. Vang also owns 308-310 Sherburne Ave. and 496 Farrington Ave. Those properties in 2018 were rezoned from residential to traditional neighborhoods uses, to facilitate development of accessory parking for 315 University.
Real estate developer Thomas Herr is working with Vang. He told the Zoning committee that Vang has worked on redeveloping the site since 2016. The building itself had many issues including environmental cleanup.
“He went through hell,” Herr said of Vang and his work. Work also hit delays due to the pandemic.
There is a great need in the community for rental space, said Herr, with bookings often many months if not a few years out. Vang envisioned a need for event parking so he purchased two older fourplexes by his business to make way for parking.
The building at 315 University is currently vacant. Built in 1922 as an auto repair garage, its initial zoning classification was light industrial. The building had many different occupants over the years, including stores and restaurant uses. It was rezoned in 1975 for business use and then zoned for traditional neighborhoods use in 2011 in what was a larger rezoning study along the Green Line light rail.
Previous owners had to deal with property code issues over the years. The structure is currently considered a Category Two vacant building, meaning it needs work before it can be reused. Vang is working to renovate the building and replace older equipment from a recent grocery/deli use. His plan is to build a Thai and Lao restaurant and banquet space.
Blaize will be modeled after the East Side’s Destiny Café 2, which Vang also owns. Patrons can have lunch and dinner at the restaurant, and rent the banquet hall. Cultural events such as weddings, family gatherings, community meetings, and graduation ceremonies may be held in the banquet hall section. Events would be held Friday, Saturdays and Sunday nights.
Vang wishes to build a parking lot behind the building. That’s why the adjacent properties were purchased and rezoned.
City planner Tony Johnson noted that the parking lot can be built by right, as an accessory use to the University Avenue building. He said the issue before the Zoning Committee and Planning Commission is that of the permit for the hall, not the parking use.
But Planning Commission Chairman Luis Rangel Morales noted that much has changed in terms of city policy between 2018 and now. He questioned if there is a demand for 50 parking spots for a business on Green Line light rail.
“This seems counterintuitive to the goals of our parking study,” he said. Rangel Morales also noted that city leaders are trying to move St. Paulites away from dependency on motor vehicles.
But Commissioner Jake Reilly noted that without off-street parking, the parking needs of the banquet facility would spill over into the adjacent residential neighborhood. Reilly also said the goals of the comprehensive plan and parking study should be balanced against what property owners see as a need. While the goals of promoting transit use and walking should be encouraged, Reilly said, “We’re never going to not have cars.”