Unpermitted Rehab

EDIT #2: To delve further into the drama of 2320 Colfax, see our timeline.

EDIT: Some background for those who aren't closely following Wedge neighborhood drama. Last week, Nicole Curtis had a Facebook freakout, distributed to her 500,000 fans, over the removal of siding on a house located at 2316 Colfax (in preparation for demolition). Nicole is an HGTV personality who remodels homes all over Minneapolis. She's also the celebrity friend of the Wedge's collection of anti-density activists (MRRDC, Healy Project, Team Tuthill, etc). She's been especially critical of a plan to demolish the houses at 2316 and 2320 Colfax to make way for an apartment building. If you have a house vigil, she'll bring a camera crew. She says things like, "Uptown needs another apartment building like a hole in the head." 

Everyone and their mother was having Fred Sanford-style heart attacks last week over the Wedge's most notorious homeowner, Mike Crow, doing work (let's call it "de-hab") on 2316 Colfax without a weekend permit. It got me thinking that I could make a name for myself, and graduate from fake journalist to nosy neighbor, by taking down a permit scofflaw.

The Basketball NIMBYs

Just under the feather boas, Mueller Park's dark underbelly.

The 1974 plans for Lowry Hill East Park (as Mueller Park was originally known) put the basketball court on the western side, along Colfax Avenue. Two hoops were available for full-court play until they were demolished as part of a park renovation that began on May 4th, 1998. The newly renovated Mueller Park opened later that summer with one half-court hoop, located on the Bryant Avenue side of the park. Considering the events of the intervening years, those of us who live in the neighborhood today are lucky to have any basketball court at all.

This Survey Is No Joke

I made fun of this survey a while back. But in retrospect, I really dropped the ball. This is no joke. LHENA is about to decide how to spend money based on the results. There's going to be a community vote at the October 15th board meeting. It's hard to say if the voting will include options for "Improving Housing Stock" that go beyond the two choices in the image below. My hope is that they don't spend all the money on a brand new historic district and some historic walking shoes. Let's withhold the "sudden windfall" until LHENA can figure out how to assess neighborhood priorities without rigging a survey.

In Conservation District News...

UPDATE: Alex has since written an actual blog post on the topic.

Pissed-off Twitter Correspondent, Alex Cecchini, has our report...

Real Stories of the LHENA Task Force: Vol. 2

This is not a picture of the LHENA task force.

October is Superfluous Acronym Month (SAM). See if you can spot the impenetrable acronyms that we've needlessly inserted into this month’s Task Force report.

Like last time, nothing of substance was accomplished at the Lowry Hill East Neighborhood Association Housing & Development Task Force (LHENAHDTF). That's not to say there wasn't common ground; we agreed that good things were good, and also, that bad things were bad. We haven't yet gone on any armed raids to bust up illegal attic conversions. But there were plenty of interesting things to report on.

Wedge Week In Review: 2320 Colfax Done?

We have the highlights from this week's failed 2320 Colfax appeal. 90 minutes have been boiled down to seven. Lisa Goodman plays the role of parking hero--and cuts through the bullshit on variances. But, truly there's no bigger Wedge Warrior than Janne Flisrand; despite a busy schedule, every time you turn on Channel 79, she's making the case for requiring less parking.

7 Reasons to Join the LHENA Housing Task Force

It's nearly that time again. What time, you ask? Task force time. What task force? The LHENA Housing & Development Task Force (LHENAHDTF). Geez, it's almost like you haven't been paying attention.

The next meeting is October 7th, 6:30 p.m., Jefferson School (Media Center), 1200 W 26th Street.

Any old fool can show up, the first Tuesday of every month, and be on the task force. Even I'm on the task force. Our task? To provide LHENA with a future talking point that goes something like this: "Listen, Mr. Developer Guy and/or Corrupt Politician--our task force spent many grueling months/years/decades working on these development guidelines, and look at you, just trampling all over them."

At least, I think that's how it's supposed to work.