How housing is shaping St. Paul's city council election
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From left, Chauntyll Allen, Molly Coleman, Cole Hanson and Carolyn Will are running in a special election for a St. Paul City Council seat. Photos: Courtesy of the campaigns
A debate about student housing offers a glimpse of how candidates in Tuesday's special election for St. Paul City Council would approach one of the city's most pressing challenges.
The big picture: St. Paul's biggest issue is housing — from affordability to homelessness to how permissive the city should be to developers at a time when little housing is getting built.
Zoom in: Since the city relaxed zoning rules in 2023, student-oriented housing has been popping up on what were once single-family lots near the University of St. Thomas.
- Now, neighborhood groups worried about overcrowding want a moratorium on multi-unit development near campus — and they're asking the Ward 4 hopefuls where they stand.
Candidate Molly Coleman opposes this moratorium. St. Paul's "foundational challenge" is a decline in revenue and a shrinking property tax base, she told Axios, so extinguishing one of the city's few hotspots for new construction is counterproductive and sends "a mixed signal to everybody."
- Yes, but: Coleman also says city and school officials should address neighbors' concerns around issues like parking.
- Coleman also emphasized she doesn't favor unchecked development. For instance, she says she would have voted against the Highland Bridge developer's request for less density at the former Ford plant site.
Carolyn Will supports a moratorium, saying the theory behind St. Paul's rewritten zoning rules — that increasing the supply of housing will make the city more affordable — may have flaws.
- "We need to take a look at what we're losing when they're tearing down the affordable homes," she told Axios. "Anything valued at $450,000 and under is being torn down."
Cole Hanson also favors an "extremely temporary" moratorium until student feedback can be solicited.
- "I don't have a problem with density. We've got to build more housing," he told Axios.
- However, Hanson criticized St. Paul's new zoning rules to give developers "density bonuses" — allowing them to build bigger under certain conditions — without promising the new units will be affordable. (Hanson, Will and Coleman all favor tying these bonuses to affordability.)
Chauntyll Allen did not respond to Axios' request for comment, but told a League of Women Voters forum last month that St. Thomas owes the neighborhood "an apology for not bringing the community to the table in the first place."
- "I want to preserve our city," Allen said, adding she's concerned about "cracker-jack box" development.
What we're watching: Tuesday's election in Ward 4 — which covers neighborhoods on the western end of the city from Mac-Groveland through the Midway — offers a preview of St. Paul voters' mood before a citywide election for mayor in November.