City Council gives final approval to Minneapolis 2040 plan

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The Minneapolis City Council voted 10-1 Friday to give final approval on the “Minneapolis 2040” development plan. 

City leaders spent more than spent more than two years creating a roadmap for the future of Minneapolis. The city says the plan integrates more than 10,000 public comments collected during a two-year engagement process that actually began under Mayor Betsy Hodges and a different city council makeup. 

The 2040 plan is based on 14 goals adopted by the city council ranging from living-wage jobs and public health to the arts and environment. The plan is essentially a blueprint to help guide the city’s development for the next 20 years. 

“As we move forward, I know that this council’s commitment to race equity, environmental sustainability are front and center and will maintain those priorities as we go forward with the implementation of this plan,” City Council President Lisa Bender said. 

One goal of the plan is to increase affordable housing by allowing developers to create duplexes and triplexes in parts of the city currently restricted to single-family homes. It is an idea that has received push back by some residents who feel it would change neighborhoods and add congestion.

Following Friday’s vote, Mayor Jacob Frey released a statement saying in part, “Minneapolis is leading the nation in the fight to create affordable housing and pushing back on intentional segregation in neighborhoods across our city."

Only one councilmember, Linea Palmisano, a longtime critic of the plan who represents Ward 13 in southwest Minneapolis, voted against the plan. 

Groups who filed a lawsuit saying the plan was bad for the environment will get a chance to make their case before the Minnesota Court of Appeals in December. 

With the plan approved, the zoning changes could take effect in January.