City Council Meeting Date: September 8, 2026
To: Mayor and Members of Council
City Administrator
From: David Bennett, Public Works Director/City Engineer
Jeff Schroepfer, Police Chief
Scott Wapota, Community Development Director
Title
Discuss summary of input received related to St. Olaf Neighborhood Parking and short-term implementation strategies.
Body
Action Requested:
The City Council discusses summary of input received related to St. Olaf Neighborhood Parking and short-term implementation strategies.
Summary Report:
Over the past few years residents adjacent to St. Olaf College have experienced a significant increase in students parking and storing their vehicles in adjacent neighborhoods. Two factors driving this change are the construction of new student housing and the college moving from a need-based to a first-come-first-served permitting system. In a previous attempt to address the issue, St. Olaf constructed an additional 119 parking spaces, a number that exceeded the waitlist for permits at the time. The waitlist quickly rebounded after the expanded permits were issued.
Resident concerns include having limited space to park adjacent to their home for themselves or visitors, limited space for trash collection resulting in missed pickups, vehicles partially blocking driveways, and unsightly views of parked cars. Of particular concern are the number of student vehicles that appear to be parked/stored on city streets for extended periods of time.
To better understand what the neighborhood was experiencing along with sharing some possible strategies for solutions, staff canvased the neighborhood to received input the last week of July and held a neighborhood meeting at St. Olaf with representatives from St. Olaf in attendance so they could also hear from the neighborhood.
The canvassing area focus was Manitou St. west to Campus (170 Properties). The City also noticed 268 properties for the neighborhood meeting (map is attached).
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