Source: Pressure from community groups slowing George Floyd Square development
George Floyd Square council vote preview
The chair of the Minneapolis City Council Committee that could move forward with the development of George Floyd Square says it doesn’t have enough support, again.
Multiple times now, the plan that city staff is recommending — known as the ‘flexible-open’ plan — has failed to move on. And now, 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS is learning more about why that is.
According to Minneapolis City Hall sources, multiple community groups with ties to George Floyd Square are asking some council members not to support the development of the south Minneapolis intersection.
“You’ll have to ask them, I believe that’s the case,” Mayor Jacob Frey said when questioned about if council members are being pressured. “You’ll have to ask them where exactly they’re hearing from.”
5 EYEWITNESS NEWS asked council member Jason Chavez, who hasn’t and says he’ll continue to not support the city staff’s recommended plan.
“There’s many people saying, ‘Don’t do anything. Meet the demands, you know, reform the police department,’ and I definitely understand those concerns,” Chavez said.
On Thursday, at the Climate & Infrastructure Committee meeting, the six council members have an opportunity to move forward with the flexible-open plan — but again, chair Katie Cashman says it doesn’t have the support.
On Wednesday, the mayor and the city’s public works director, Tim Sexton, tried to shore up support for the city’s work.
“It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me to conduct massive engagement, to insist on listening to community and then ignore what they ultimately say,” Frey said.
Sexton says his team has put in more than 10,000 hours of work so far on this — work that, according to the city, has cost more than $2,000,000.
“[We’ve] worked over two years, done a lot of feedback. We actually started with the idea of a pedestrian mall, and after all the extensive engagement with property owners, with people who travel through the corridor, with people who live there, that led us to the recommended option that has this flexible and open design,” Sexton said.
The council members that oppose the plan are pushing for a ‘pedestrian mall’ — but under state law, there needs to be support from at least 51% of neighboring property owners. After the city survived those property owners, those that responded shared zero support.
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