Bass Lake Road Station Area Plan Crystal, Minnesota | July 2016 ELECTED OFFICIALS Brent Rusco African Career & Education Jason Zimmerman Michael Mechtenberg Bass Lake Road Station Commissioner Mike Opat Administrative Engineer Resources (ACER) City of Golden Valley Metro Transit Hennepin County, District 1 Karen Nikolai Alliance for Metropolitan Stability Rebecca Farrar Shelley Miller Area Plan (AMS) Mayor Jim Adams Administrative Manager City of Minneapolis Metro Transit City of Crystal Joseph Gladke La Asamblea de Derechos Civiles Beth Grosen Alicia Vap Laura Libby Assistant Department Director CAPI USA City of Minneapolis Metro Transit Council Member, City of Crystal, PREPARED FOR LAO Assistance Center of Ward 1 and 2 Don Pflaum Mike Larson City of Crystal CITY OF CRYSTAL Minnesota (LAC) City of Minneapolis Metropolitan Council Hennepin County Elizabeth Dahl John Sutter Minnesota African Women’s Council Member, City of Crystal, Community Development Director Association (MAWA) Jim Voll Eric Wojchik Ward 1 City of Minneapolis Metropolitan Council FUNDED BY Minnesota Center for Neighborhood Dan Olson Organization (MCNO) Hennepin County Jeff Kolb Rick Pearson Jan Youngquist City Planner Nexus Community Partners Council Member, City of Crystal, City of Robbinsdale Metropolitan Council Northwest Human Services Council CONSULTANT TEAM Ward 2 COMMUNITY WORKING GROUP (NHHSC) Chad Ellos Adam Arvidson Urban Design Associates Olga Parsons Gene Bakke Hennepin County Minneapolis Park and Recreation Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates Council Member, City of Crystal, BOTTINEAU COMMUNITY WORKS Board SB Friedman Development Advisors Ward 3 and 4 Reva Chamblis TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE Denise Engen ZAN Associates Julie Deshler Kim Berggren Hennepin County Dean Carlson Casey Peak James Einfeldt-Brown City of Brooklyn Park Minneapolis Public Housing Council Member, City of Crystal, Brent Rusco Authority Ward 3 Lynn Haney Emily Carr Hennepin County Ron Johnson City of Brooklyn Park Ryan Wilson Julie Deshler Darlene Walser Minnesota Department of Council Member, City of Crystal, Tom Jungroth Todd Larson Hennepin County Transportation Ward 4 Erin Kolb City of Brooklyn Park Nancy LaRoche Pierce Canser Larry Hiscock Metro Transit Nexus Community Partners HENNEPIN COUNTY, DEPT OF COMMU- Olga Parsons Cindy Sherman NITY WORKS AND DEPT OF PLANNING City of Brooklyn Park Casey Peak Amy Geisler Ann Rexine Darlene Walser John Slama Dan Olson Metro Transit Three Rivers Park District Bottineau Community Works Program Manager Denny Walsh City of Crystal Kathryn Hansen Justin Youngbluth Metro Transit Andrew Gillett Emily Goellner Principal Planning Analyst City of Golden Valley HEALTH EQUITY & ENGAGEMENT Michael Krantz COHORT Metro Transit Denise Engen Jeff Oliver African American Leadership City of Golden Valley Principal Planning Analyst Forum (AALF) Bass Lake Road Station Area Plan: Crystal, Minnesota | July 2016 | HENNEPIN COUNTY Acknowledgements b Table of Contents Executive Summary 1 Implementation 50 Public and Private Initiatives 51 Bottineau LRT Overview 3 Policy Recommendations 52 Station Area Planning 5 Next Steps 54 Analysis 6 Definitions of Key Terms 55 Summary of Community and Stakeholder Engagement 7 Health Equity 9 Appendix — Under Separate Cover Market Analysis 11 Hennepin County Bottineau LRT/Metro Blue Line Extension Bicycle Urban Design Analysis 14 Study: Crystal Station Land Use 16 Consolidated Stakeholder/Community Meeting Minutes (Crystal Station Area Planning Process) Transportation Networks 17 Pedestrian Network 18 County Road 81 20 Bicycle Network 22 Shared-Use Network 25 Bass Lake Road Station Area Plan 26 Opportunity Sites 28 Bass Lake Road Promenade 29 Becker Park 33 Potential Long-Term Redevelopment Opportunities 43 TOD Overlay 45 Proposed Land Use Plan 46 Strategies to Support Health Equity 47 Bass Lake Road Station Area Plan: Crystal, Minnesota | July 2016 | HENNEPIN COUNTY Table of Contents c Executive Summary The METRO Blue Line Extension, also known as the Bottineau Light Rail Transit (Bottineau LRT), is a proposed 13-mile exten- sion of the existing METRO Blue Line light rail transit line in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota that will extend from down- town Minneapolis through north Minneapolis, Golden Valley, Robbinsdale, Crystal, and Brooklyn Park, serving the northwest Twin Cities metro. The Metropolitan Council received approval from the Federal Transit Administration in August 2014 to enter the fed- eral New Starts program and is currently in the Project Development phase. Service is anticipated to begin in 2021 with Bass Lake Road in Crystal being one of the LRT stops. The station design calls for a light rail station platform and associated improvements, the develop- ment of The Promenade, a wide pedestrian path along Bass Lake Road, and a redevelopment proposal for Becker Park This transit project will have an impact on land use around the BECKER PARK LRT station, including Crystal’s commercial core. The Hennepin County Bottineau LRT Community Works program was established in 2015 to leverage this important regional transit investment by partnering with cities along the Bottineau LRT line to help plan for, and implement, critical changes “beyond the rails” — future land use, pedestrian, bike, and bus connections, and critical programs and policies to support communities living along the line. A vigorous community engagement process was initiated in spring 2015 to discuss and make recommendations on a future vision for the area surrounding the Bass Lake Road LRT station. The City of Crystal and Hennepin County facilitated discussions and public workshops that sought input from residents, businesses, community representatives, community groups, elected officials, and the Bottineau Community Works Technical Advisory Committee. This report summarizes the THE PROMENADE ALONG THE NORTH SIDE OF BECKER PARK collective recommendations of the stakeholders. THE FROLICS IN BECKER PARK Bass Lake Road Station Area Plan: Crystal, Minnesota | July 2016 | HENNEPIN COUNTY Executive Summary 1 Bottineau LRT Overview Bass Lake Road Station Area Plan This section of the report gives a brief overview of the Bottineau The vision for the station area is to create an entrance and strong LRT transit initiative, including initial goals of the Bottineau LRT pedestrian connections to downtown. The community would like to Community Works program. An explanation of station area planning see the retail hub at West Broadway and Bass Lake Road and Becker is also provided. Park become improved versions of what they are today — a unique commercial center and civic park surrounded by desirable residential Analysis neighborhoods. The station area plan identifies opportunity sites, The station area planning process was underpinned by a robust com- improvements to Bass Lake Road between the LRT station and West munity and stakeholder engagement effort. A summary of this pro- Broadway Avenue, park ideas, and redevelopment options around the cess and the comments from the community are presented in this sec- LRT station. Land use suggestions, placemaking, and strategies to tion. The consultant team also completed baseline market and urban achieve health equity are also discussed. design assessments. These broad discussions and studies provided insight into the strength, challenges, and opportunities around the Implementation Bass Lake Road LRT station in Crystal. The implementation section looks beyond the planning process and outlines a process for putting the plan into effect. This section includes ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITY The LRT will be located next to existing railroad Transportation Networks tracks and could bring new economic development opportunities a summary of public and private initiatives, policy recommendations, With a new LRT station proposed in Crystal, it is important to look and the next steps needed to translate the vision into reality. closely at all the supporting transportation networks. An important consideration in the station area plan is access to the new station for all transit riders, whether by foot, bike, vehicle, bus, or some com- bination. This section of the report outlines recommendations for enhancing the existing transportation networks to ensure they sup- port all modes of transportation. PEDESTRIAN PROMENADE The stretch of Bass Lake Road between the LRT station and West Broadway should be enhanced with pedestrian promenades on both the north and south sides Bass Lake Road Station Area Plan: Crystal, Minnesota | July 2016 | HENNEPIN COUNTY Executive Summary 2 Bottineau LRT Overview The METRO Blue Line Extension, also known as the Bottineau Light Rail Transit (Bottineau LRT), is a proposed 13-mile expan- sion of the existing METRO Blue Line in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota that will extend from downtown Minneapolis through north Minneapolis, Golden Valley, Robbinsdale, Crystal, and Brooklyn Park, serving the northwest Twin Cities metro. The Bottineau LRT will link to local and express bus routes, and will seamlessly connect to the regional transitway system at Target Field Station in downtown Minneapolis. The Hennepin County Bottineau LRT Community Works pro- gram was established in 2015 to leverage this important regional transit investment by partnering with cities along the Bottineau LRT to help plan for, and implement, critical changes “beyond the rails.” Initial goals of the program are to: » Re-envision the Bottineau Corridor as a multi-modal transit cor- ridor that supports LRT, bus, pedestrian,