Arden Hills has declared a moratorium of up to a year on any expansions of college campuses into parts of town that are not plainly intended to be used for educational buildings.
The move last week by the City Council follows a request by the University of Northwestern to occupy a corporate campus facility abandoned by Smiths Medical when it moved to the west metro area.
Matthew Bachler, a senior planner, said the moratorium was intended to give city officials time for an in-depth look at appropriate places in town for higher education uses. Arden Hills also is home to Bethel University.
The matter drew some irritated comments after Council Member Jonathan Wicklund told colleagues he wasn't sure about the "optics of what's happening right now." It feels like "undercutting a process that started several weeks ago," he said.
Council Member Brenda Holden responded:
"We've spent time planning, planning, planning, and all of a sudden because a building becomes available their emergency is our emergency? I'm insulted. We're supposed to throw out all the plans the city has made?"
The council had struggled a few weeks before to explain why it was opposed to the Smiths Medical deal. Council members said last week that they were open to re-examining the issue but wanted time to do so.
Northwestern has submitted an application for the change of use, Bachler said, so the city will have to respond. Holden noted that "it's not allowed in that area so I don't know what the application does anyway."
Under questioning from Wicklund, Bachler said the staff expects to recommend the study be done by an outside consultant and could not estimate what the cost might be.
