Asuburban state lawmaker introduced
legislation Feb. 28 that
would dramatically alter a cityapproved
affordable housing project
in south Minneapolis - but could
also greatly restrict Downtown loading
zones.
Rep. Tom Workman (R-Chanhassen)
amended what legislative staff called
a \"Mn/DOT housekeeping bill\" with a
not-so-routine provision eliminating
city and county authority to grant
variances for loading zones on stateaid
roads. Workman admits he was
concerned about the so-called Boulevard
project at 53rd Street & Lyndale
Avenue. City officials granted a loading-
zone variance to allow more
housing units in the project.
However, all of Downtown\'s roads --
with the exception of 12th Avenue
and Nicollet Mall - are also state-aid
roads. City officials say Workman\'s
bill would prevent the
city from creating
future loading zones,
forcing developers and
local officials to go to
the state legislature for
permission.
Rep. Scott Dibble
(DFL-Minneapolis),
who voted against the
amendment in the
House Transportation
Policy Committee, said he feared
there could be implications for future
courier loading zones Downtown.
\"[Rep. Workman] wasn\'t able to
respond to my inquiries
about what this means
for central business districts,
where you necessarily
have loading
zones,\" Dibble said.
Councilmemmber Barret
Lane (Independent-13th
Ward) said of Workman\'s
amendment, \"Whether
this is focused at the
Boulevard or not, this is
a serious incursion into municipal
authority to regulate land-use planning
within its borders. You wouldn\'t
find this generally attached onto a
housekeeping bill for Mn/DOT.\"
Workman, who runs a solid-waste
hauling firm, said his amendment is
aimed at preventing unsafe placement
of loading zones. \"Because of
the way people build buildings, my
employees and everybody else\'s
employees have to sit in the
middle of busy highways
doing, in my case, solid waste
removal,\" Workman said.
\"County state-aid highways
are not loading zones.\"
The representative said he did
not yet have a Senate sponsor
for the amendment. However,
as chairman of a committee,
Workman would have more
power to put the amendment
in the House-Senate \"conference
reports,\" large multi-issue bills that
receive up-or-down votes at the end
of a legislative session.
Workman\'s legislation created
intrigue at the March 1
city council meeting, where
Mayor R.T. Rybak accused
a lobbyist who led opposition
to the Boulevard project
of trying to defeat it by
pushing for the amendment.
Rybak singled out Mary
Ann Campo - who owns
property next to the Boulevard
- with a throat-clearing
maneuver: \"Those of us with
influence over some of the lobbyists
who snuck this in, who should
remain nameless -- [Rybak coughs
dramatically] Maryann Campo -
should do everything we can to make
sure that we don\'t have people
sneaking in amendments at the Legislature
to try and slow some very
tough work.\"
Campo, a south Minneapolis resident
and former Republican legislative
candidate, declined to comment on
any \"gossip\" of her involvement. \"I
have no comment, it\'s Mr. Workman\'s
amendment,\" she said.
Regarding the mayor\'s comments,
Campo said: \"The mayor should be
more careful before engaging in comments
like that -- you should get
them verified.\"
Workman said Campo had spoken to
him about the amendment.
- B r e n t K i l l a c k e y
