04-25-2023 Work Session CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
Richfield, Minnesota
City Council Work Session
April 25, 2023
CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Supple called the work session to order at 5:30 p.m. in the Bartholomew Room.
Council Members
Present:
Mary Supple, Sharon Christensen, Simon Trautmann, Sean Hayford Oleary,
Ben Whalen
Staff Present:
Katie Rodriguez, City Manager; Dustin Leslie, City Clerk; Sack Thongvanh,
Assistant City Manager; Melissa Poehlman, Community Development
Director; Jenell Wood, Assistant Fire Chief; Jay Henthorne, Police Chief;
Amy Markle, Recreation Services Director; Kristin Asher, Public Works
Director.
ITEM #1
CITY COUNCIL AND STAFF QUARTERLY MEETING-POLICY TOPIC PROPOSALS
AND TENTATIVE 2024 WORKPLANS
Mayor Supple introduced the topic to the audience and spoke about limited resources and
fitting priorities within the city’s work plan.
City Manager Rodrgiuez presented the process in drafting the priorities and spoke about how
they were ranked. She also touched on the work plan for 2023-2024 as well as action steps. She then
introduced Proposal #1: Additional Renter Protections. Council Member Whalen summarized the
priority to the rest of the Council.
Council Member Hayford Oleary asked Council Member Whalen if he was hearing about
issues from renters in the community and what led to him putting forward this priority. Council Member
Whalen spoke about criminal background checks and how the long timeline made it impossible for
some people to even apply for rental units. He also spoke about lack-of-notice for evictions and
displacement of people due to the high upfront costs of moving in.
Community Development Director Poehlman spoke about using third party housing navigators
to be more proactive with renters and to find out the issues renters are facing. She also spoke about
looking into what other communities are doing as well as watching what happens at the Legislature in
terms of renter protections.
Council Member Hayford Oleary spoke about where Minnesota was at compared to other
states in terms of renter proctections and the city is lagging behind.
City Council Work Session Minutes
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Mayor Supple stated it was important to strengthen renter protections. She further stated that
working with a housing navigator would put the city in the right direction.
City Manager Rodriguez introduced Proposal #2: Institutional Housing Ownership and
summarized it for Council. She noted there was currently not a problem of investors buying up homes
in Richfield but that staff would continue to monitor.
Mayor Supple stated she brought forward this issue because there have been issues across
the nation and wanted to make sure it would not happen in Richfield. She noted that required
inspections have helped the issue and agreed with staff continuing to monitor the issue to avoid future
problems.
Police Chief Henthorne spoke about inspections and the high levels of code compliance within
the city and how it ensures fewer issues for the future.
Community Development Director Poehlman stated there was a bill at the Legislature which
would help with the issue as it would define what an investor was. While she did not agree with all of
the wording in the bill, she noted it would be a step in the right direction.
Council Member Trautmann spoke about Airbnbs stating that he used to be supportive of them
but is now worrying they could change the dynamic of neighborhoods. He spoke about measures
taken in Bloomington about Airbnbs.
Community Development Director Poehlman stated it was difficult to track Airbnbs in the city
as rental licenses do not distinguish between short-term and long-term rentals. There was also a
discussion about the city’s tourism tax and ensuring that Airbnbs were paying it.
City Manager Rodriguez introduced Proposal #3: State of the Community Event. She noted
that it was likely too late to have an event in 2023 but could schedule one for spring 2024. Due to
limited resources, there would have to be cuts to other programming such as Minutes with the Mayor.
Mayor Supple spoke about attending the Three Rivers Park District State of the Park event
and that is was a good way to showcase their work. She further stated it would be a good opportunity
to have multiple organizations within the community have a voice.
Council Member Hayford Oleary stated it would be worth doing if it could be balanced with
other resources. He noted it would pair well with other current initiatives such as strategic planning.
Council Member Whalen stated he did not have strong views either way on the idea but thinks
a forum in which the community can be showcased would be a good idea.
Council Member Christensen stated that bringing in community partners would be a good idea
because it will give lesser known organizations a chance to become better known.
Council Member Trautmann noted it may be a good idea to piggyback this with another event
to increase attendance.
City Manager Rodriguez introduced Proposal #4: Eliminate Parking Requirements. She spoke
of concerns regarding safety, staff time, and resident push back which could affect other strategic
planning initiatives.
Council Member Hayford Oleary spoke about the proposal and stated he was not suggesting
an all-or-none proposal. He also noted that he hears a lot of complaints about parking.
City Council Work Session Minutes
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Community Development Director Poehlman stated staff was looking at solutions for spillover
parking and noted a lot of departments would be involved in creating a plan for eliminating parking
requirements.
Public Works Director Asher spoke about parking difficulties during the winter and issues
residents face when there is limited parking during snow emergencies.
Police Chief Henthorne talked about how common parking complaints were for the city and
that there were around 1,200 parking complaints out of 40,000 total calls for service over the course
of the previous year. He further noted that the amount of complaints were increasing each year since
there was less and less parking available. He also spoke about the difficulties of plowing and towing
during snow storms due to the narrowing of the roads.
Council Member Whalen stated that streets in Richfield are wide and that while it may affect
some residents ability to park, he did not see it as a reason to keep parking requirements in place. He
also stated that 1,200 out of 40,000 calls did not seem like a lot.
Police Chief Henthorne stated that 1,200 out of 40,000 may not seem like a lot but adds up to
100 calls a month which takes up a lot of time for officers since they respond to every call.
Council Member Hayford Oleary asked the Chief how many calls were actually violations
compared to perceived violations? Chief Henthorne stated he had no data on how many were actually
violations but that officers work to educate residents in all instances.
Council Member Hayford Oleary asked if staff could research the areas where it would work
better to have less parking requirements. He stated that he could see why a 100% elimination would
be too much for a lot of residents but argued it could be a way to get more small businesses in the city
as well as affordable housing. He spoke about specific examples he sent out to the group prior to the
meeting.
Council Member Trautmann said he was supportive of looking at where it would make most
sense to change parking limits.
Mayor Supple stated she did not support eliminating parking minimums and that a better way
would be to look at areas where it would be more effective and looking at variances on a case-by-
case basis. She further stated that residents were concerned about barriers for certain groups with
elimination of parking minimums. She also spoke about winter parking requirements and emergency
vehicles not being able to get through.
Council Member Whalen stated he was generally supportive of this proposal but that doing it
all at once was not practical. He stated that eliminating parking minimums was not eliminating parking
in the city. He also spoke about climate change and that society needs to change their habits in order
to keep the planet habitable. He asked staff what specific parking ratios were problematic in the city.
Community Development Director Poehlman stated that Beacon housing developments have
not used all the parking. She stated fast casual type restaurants will often get variances for parking
requirements. She further stated that there were not enough staff resources as most of the
department’s work was legally required work. She said that if the Council wanted to make this
proposal a priority, that the department would have to move other priorities over. She said that there
have been restaurants that the city has worked with on a case-by-case basis with parking variances.
Mayor Supple stated that the city could advocate for more transit in the area by putting it on
the list of legislative priorities.
City Council Work Session Minutes
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Council Member Hayford Oleary argued that transit will never be able to compete with cars
while everything is catered to driving. He noted that transit has improved and parking minimums
should reflect that.
City Manager Rodriguez spoke about the variance process as well as lack of sidewalks
making it more difficult to put in reduced parking minimums.
Council Member Whalen said it seemed like the Community Development Department needed
more staffing to help with big picture items. He noted that many of the priorities of the strategic plan
included community development and that they were important priorities. City Manager Rodriguez
spoke about available staffing resources, support from other departments for community development
projects, and reduced revenues related to redevelopment.
Mayor Supple and City Manager Rodriguez summarized the conversation and spoke about
next steps.
ADJOURNMENT
Mayor Supple adjourned the work session at 6:53 pm
Date Approved: May 9, 2023
Mary B. Supple
Mayor
Dustin Leslie Katie Rodriguez
City Clerk City Manager