East Phillips environmental activists: No deal yet on Roof Depot

More than a month after Minneapolis officials lauded a hard-fought compromise over a contentious development project in south Minneapolis, environmental activists blocking the city's plans want to make clear: No deal has been struck, their lawsuit continues and so do negotiations.

"We are continuing to fight for our neighborhood's health," said East Phillips residents Steve Sandberg on Thursday during a rally of several environmental organizations on the steps of City Hall. "We want to correct the impression that was given off by the city that we have agreed to something that the city is proposing. We're still in negotiations and we will continue that, but we have not received the details of the city's plan."

The city has wanted to concentrate Public Works operations in the centrally located East Phillips neighborhood since 1991 so that staff can get around more efficiently on their routine maintenance of city infrastructure.

In 2010, it completed the first phase of that Public Works campus at 1901 E. 26th St. When the owners of the defunct Roof Depot warehouse — at Longfellow Avenue and E. 27th Street — decided to sell in 2016, the city leapt at the chance to complete the second phase: a yard for water distribution maintenance employees, their equipment and fleet.

A group of longtime East Phillips residents objected. Organized as the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute (EPNI), they had another vision for the Roof Depot warehouse — an urban farm incorporating affordable housing, aquaponics and small business retail that required saving it from demolition.

After years of split City Council votes, tens of millions of public money spent and no significant advancement on either course of action, council members celebrated a promising compromise proposal in June.

Mayor Jacob Frey and Council Members Jason Chavez and Emily Koski came up with an offer they hoped the East Phillips community would accept: exclusive development rights to 3 acres for an urban farm as long as EPNI dropped its environment lawsuit against the city and allowed the Public Works water yard to be built next door along with a job training center that would prioritize opportunities for residents living within a 2-mile radius.

"The community, the mayor, City Council and staff have all been playing a major role in helping to bring this project to fruition," said Council President Andrea Jenkins. "I hope that is a signal for continued cooperation."

Frey signed the terms of the agreement in early July, but more than a month later, the Roof Depot controversy has not been put to rest. Environmental activists say they are frustrated that council members seemed to prematurely celebrate the completion of a deal while negotiations over health and environmental issues are ongoing.

EPNI has continued to push against the Public Works campus because it could bring additional vehicle emissions into a low-income, minority neighborhood already more burdened by heavy industry and air pollution than almost anywhere else in the city. Additionally, there is an arsenic plume beneath the existing Roof Depot warehouse, and many residents want details about how the city will clean it up without exposing the neighborhood to toxins in the course of demolition.

"This is not about just a building. ... It's about stopping the toxic harm to the East Phillips community," said Satish Desai of the Sierra Club, North Star Chapter. "The city needs to recognize that consultation is not consent, and work with this community to find a plan that will not sacrifice the health of East Phillips residents for services for the rest of us."