Two-Story Apartment Building Approved on West 31st Street

The construction of a seven-unit apartment building on the south side of 31st Street received unanimous approval from the St. Louis Park City Council on Monday, April 1.

Council members approved a conditional use permit for the Calhoun Apartment Homes, a two-story building with an underground parking lot at 4013 W 31st St. The lot where the building will go is 12,197 square feet in area, with each unit having direct access to its own private patio.

Council Member Susan Sanger called the building a "very good land use" and said it feels appropriate with regards to the rest of the neighborhood.

"It offers a different architectural style than other apartments being built," Sanger said.

Council Member Anne Mavity concurred, remarking that she liked the unique layout of the building.

"I like this design," Mavity said. "It's an option our community doesn't have a whole lot of."

Much of the conversation Monday night involved limiting the hours of construction, with the hope of keeping noise levels down for neighboring properties. 

Applicant Andrew Brenner said he did not foresee "constant nailing and pounding" at the site, but said it's important to have somewhat flexible hours to accommodate weather issues that can bog down construction.

"Construction can be a nasty animal," Brenner said. "It's a situation where if the weather doesn't cooperate and I don't get a couple hours more of work, I could be thousands of dollars in the negative. We need some flexibility because the world in front of us isn't flexible."

The council eventually voted to limit construction hours to 8 a.m.-8 p.m., allowing four days of construction starting at 7 a.m. for pouring the concrete foundation. 

Council Member Mavity voted in favor of the conditional use permit—including the restricted construction hours—but said she didn't think it was the Council's role to be so particular about a project.

"I just feel like being this specific on a development project is not good policy," Mavity said. "It's way too detailed for what this Council should be doing."

Mayor Jeff Jacobs agreed with Mavity, noting the group had "micromanaged this more than is typical."

"We're not construction folks here," Jacobs said.

A total of 13 underground parking spaces will be included in the development—one for each bedroom in the building—though there is not any guest parking included on the lot. Instead, any visitors to the building will have to park on the north side of 31st street.

City code only requires a development to have guest parking equal to 10 percent of the building's population, which in this case would mean 1.3 spaces.

City staff said they did not expect any problems with parking on the street, given the building will only house seven units.

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