The Planning Commission voted 5-0 to recommend that the City Council approve renaming a short segment of Hopkins Road to Mission Road near Lyndale Avenue. The intersection, once a Y shape, was recently reconfigured into a T, which left two homes with Hopkins Road addresses that city staff said are confusing for emergency responders. The city is offering each of the two owner-occupied households $1,000 to cover the cost of updating licenses, passports and house numbers. No one testified at the public hearing, and the final decision goes to the City Council.
Decided: The Planning Commission recommended that the City Council rename the part of Hopkins Road with two homes near Lyndale Avenue to Mission Road after the intersection was redesigned; each of the two households is offered $1,000 to cover the hassle.
Result: Approved, 5 to 0, by voice vote
The meeting video doesn't make clear how each member voted. The city posts official voting results once the minutes are approved.
The commission voted 4-1 to recommend a citywide overhaul of off-street parking requirements in Sections 12 and 21 of the city code. Under the proposal, minimums for most land uses would drop 10% to 30%, and some would drop 50%. Projects in designated redevelopment districts would get an additional 10% reduction, and applicants would be limited to two parking-flexibility requests. Staff said the parking rules, first adopted in 1958, had not been comprehensively reviewed since 2005. The new standards would apply only to new development, and the City Council is scheduled to hold a public hearing on October 12.
Decided: The Planning Commission recommended that the City Council lower Bloomington's off-street parking requirements for new development, cap parking-flexibility requests at two, and allow six vehicles instead of four at one- and two-family homes; the council is set to hold a hearing October 12.
Result: Approved, 4 to 1, by voice vote
The meeting video doesn't make clear how each member voted. The city posts official voting results once the minutes are approved.
The parking proposal would raise the number of vehicles allowed outside the garage at single- and two-family homes from four to six. Staff said the change reflects multigenerational households and the city's broadened definition of family. A resident testified that a neighboring home already keeps up to nine cars, which they said blocks street sweeping, snow plowing and garbage pickup, and asked whether the higher cap would make things worse. Staff said the limit counts vehicles parked on the street that are associated with the home, so the situation described already violates code and can be reported for enforcement.
A speaker whose family owns a bakery near 98th Street and Lyndale Avenue told the commission that employees of other businesses take the storefront parking, leaving little room for customers. They asked whether the city could offer employee permits. Staff said assigning spaces is a civil matter between property owners and tenants, not a city matter. Staff added that the shopping center has surplus parking on the 98th Street side.
A commissioner moved to amend the parking ordinance to eliminate minimum parking requirements entirely in the Normandale Lake, South Loop and Penn-American districts and at the 86th and 98th Street nodes on Lyndale Avenue. The commissioner argued that parking mandates have slowed transit-oriented redevelopment in those areas. Other commissioners said they were sympathetic but not ready, and suggested studying the idea in next year's work plan. The amendment failed 3-2, though staff said the City Council will be told it was proposed.
Decided: The commission rejected a proposed change that would have dropped parking minimums entirely in the city's redevelopment districts (South Loop, Penn-American, Normandale Lake, and the 86th and 98th Street areas on Lyndale).
Result: Failed, 2 to 3, by voice vote
The meeting video doesn't make clear how each member voted. The city posts official voting results once the minutes are approved.
Staff announced that the October 1 meeting would include a public hearing on a conditional use permit for remote airport parking in the existing parking structure at the Riverview Office Tower development, 3601 American Boulevard East. The commission has final authority on that permit, subject to appeal. The same meeting was to include a study of how the city regulates athletic training, fitness clubs and indoor recreation uses. The October 15 meeting may be canceled for lack of development items.
In response to commissioner questions, the city engineer said Hennepin County has restriped France Avenue near Old Shakopee Road to three lanes, coordinating signal changes with the city. The city plans a future study of 102nd Street between Normandale and France focused on safety and on mobility for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians, though other studies are ahead of it. The engineer said the city usually narrows its wide older streets by restriping because moving curbs has been estimated to cost more than $1 million. Rebuilds tied to other projects, such as last year's 82nd Street sewer work, are used to narrow roads.
Oct. 1 · Public hearing
The Planning Commission held its hearing on the remote airport parking permit for the RiverView ramp at 3601 American Blvd. E., as announced.
October–November 2026 · Public hearing
Changes to the Opportunity Housing Ordinance's parking incentives were expected at the Planning Commission in October and the City Council in November; as of Oct. 12 we hadn't seen them on a commission agenda.
Oct. 12 · Public hearing
The City Council holds its public hearing on the off-street parking ordinance, with the commission's 4-1 recommendation and the failed amendment noted; the result wasn't known when this was written.
Oct. 15 · Meeting
The Planning Commission's Oct. 15 meeting is canceled, as staff expected.
Nov. 4 · Takes effect
The rename of part of Hopkins Road to Mission Road, recommended 5-0 that night, takes effect Nov. 4 after the City Council's Sept. 28 action.
No date yet · Follow-up
Commissioners asked for a dedicated study of parking in the development districts on a future work plan; the council approves the work plan.
No date yet · Follow-up
Staff said they could report to the commission on whether the 2024 streamlining changes are working, if commissioners want it.
No date yet · Follow-up
Staff recalled the City Council wanting parking rules revisited in about five years.
No date yet · Follow-up
The city plans a study of 102nd Street from Normandale Boulevard to France Avenue for traffic, bike and pedestrian safety, but it isn't next in line.
What was asked, what the room said, and what the public record answers. Times are from the captions and approximate.
Asked by Becky Miller (public hearing)
In the room
Miller said a nearby home has up to nine cars on the driveway and street in the evenings, blocking street sweeping and snow plowing. Staff and Commissioner Coleman said the limit counts cars on the street tied to the house, so nine is over the limit now and would still be over it at six.
What the record says
That matches the code. Today the limit is four vehicles per unit outside a garage or on the street, and the ordinance would raise it to six, still counting street parking. Cars in a garage or visiting don't count. Violations can be reported to Environmental Health at 952-563-8934.
Asked by Commissioner Munster
In the room
Staff said Environmental Health investigates, usually after a complaint, recording license plates and checking whether the vehicles are registered to the property before issuing an order to that property.
What the record says
Enforcement is complaint-driven and already busy: staff report an average of 128 properties a year got orders for too many vehicles over the last five years, many with five or six. Complaints go to Environmental Health by phone or email; the plate-check method was described only in the room.
Asked by Commissioner Linnee
In the room
Staff said they would use the new standard as the baseline for whatever is new and compare it with what was originally approved.
What the record says
Still open. The staff report says the new minimums apply to future development applications and don't undo parking reductions already granted, but it doesn't say how a partial rebuild of an existing site is counted.
Asked by Commissioners White and Coleman
In the room
Staff read the wording as applying to a development, building or site, and said a later phase, such as a second phase of the Gallery apartments, could likely seek different measures than the first. Commissioner White asked staff to make the wording clearer before it goes into code.
What the record says
The ordinance sent to the council says "a development or site may select a maximum of two parking flexibility measures," with an extra allowance for a nonresidential use with a transportation demand plan. It doesn't address phases, so how phased projects are counted is still open.
Asked by Commissioner Munster
In the room
Staff said the review happens at approval, based on the project's documents and age-restricted marketing. A conversion to market-rate apartments would be "a little riddle" about which standard applies, but staff said Bloomington hasn't seen such conversions.
What the record says
The city definition only says the housing is designed and intended mainly for people 55 and older; it doesn't mention a recorded restriction. Federal fair housing law separately requires 55+ housing to have at least one person 55 or older in 80% of occupied units and to publish and follow age policies. The ordinance would cut its parking minimum from 1.5 to 1.3 spaces per unit.
Asked by Commissioner Coleman
In the room
Staff said they've suggested compact spaces to a few applicants, but at 8 by 16 feet versus 9 by 18 they don't gain much. Staff said the 50-stall minimum might deserve study, while the 20% cap works well.
What the record says
That matches the code: up to 20% of required spaces may be compact, at least 8 by 16 feet, and they count only in lots of 50 or more stalls. The parking ordinance doesn't change those rules.
Asked by A commissioner
In the room
Staff said no: charging spaces count as regular parking. Staff believed apartments need one charger per 50 units and offered to confirm.
What the record says
Staff had it right. The code requires 1 space per 50 apartment units to have a Level 2 charger or better, and those spaces sit in the parking table, not among the flexibility measures.
Asked by Acting Chair Isse and Commissioner White
In the room
Staff said no report has been published since the 2024 streamlining ordinance, only examples, such as a restaurant patio and a business near France Avenue and Old Shakopee Road that were approved administratively. Staff said they could prepare a report if the commission wanted one, and White urged them to start collecting data.
What the record says
Still open. We found no published city report measuring results of the 2024 changes. The commission's own minutes list "how the City is tracking development incentives" among its questions, and staff made no firm commitment.
Asked by Commissioner Munster
In the room
Staff pointed to a planned study of South Loop zoning and building intensity, though not focused on parking, and said the commission can recommend adding a development-district parking project to next year's work plan, which the council approves.
What the record says
A South Loop zoning review is on the adopted 2026 work plan. Coleman's amendment to drop minimums in the districts failed 2-3, and the commission asked for a dedicated future study of district parking; the council has not yet adopted a 2027 work plan.
Asked by Commissioner Munster
In the room
City Engineer Julie Long said it's a Hennepin County project that cut France to three lanes, with the city adjusting signals at 102nd Street. She said a 102nd Street study from Normandale to France is planned but isn't next, and that moving curbs costs far more than restriping.
What the record says
Hennepin County restriped France from four lanes to three between about 98th Street and Old Shakopee Road during summer 2026 pavement work, adding left-turn lanes at 102nd Street and a shorter school crossing. A school-zone speed limit is possible in 2026-27.
