I am writing in response to the article about CPM’s proposed $14-million project that would replace three homes on East Calhoun Parkway with a 55-foot-tall condominium complex.

As far as I can recall, this is the first time since 1988, when the Shoreland Height Ordinance was passed 13–0 by the Minneapolis City Council, that a developer has attempted to exceed the 35-foot limit on a Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board lake parkway by proposing a condominium complex that would be 55 feet in height. The six-story Edgewater faces Lake Street, a commercial corridor in the Shoreland Overlay District, and is not on East Lake Calhoun Parkway.

The intent of the Shoreland Height Ordinance was to protect the city’s lakes from excessive height. Anything over 35 feet was considered excessive height. Until now, developers have respected the Shoreland Height Ordinance on Minneapolis’ lake parkways.

This proposed condominium project would replace three houses with 14 to 16

$1-million dollar condos fronting on East Lake Calhoun Parkway. It is an example of the kind of project that the Shoreland Height Ordinance was created to prevent.

I am familiar with the height ordinance because I was a board member of one of the two citizens’ groups that was instrumental in getting the ordinance passed. If the developer wants to proceed with a condo complex on East Lake Calhoun Parkway, the project should be no higher than 35 feet.

Arlene Fried

Co-founder of Park Watch