City Council Meeting Date: August 4, 2025
To: Mayor & City Council
City Administrator
From: Jake Reilly, Community Development Director
Mikayla Schmidt, City Planner
Mathias Hughey, Associate City Planner
Title
Consideration of a Conditional Use Permit for St. Olaf College to add 26 Parking Stalls to the Lincoln St. Parking Lot within the Perimeter Transition Area.
Body
Action Requested:
The Northfield City Council is being asked to consider the attached Resolution approving the conditional use permit (CUP) for St. Olaf College to add 26 Parking Stalls to the Lincoln St. Parking Lot within the Perimeter Transition Area.
Summary Report:
The applicant, St. Olaf College, has applied for a CUP to add 26 parking stalls to the Lincoln St. Parking Lot within the Perimeter Transition Area. St. Olaf applied to have 28 additional parking spaces when they first constructed the new townhomes and residence halls in 2020. The existing parking lot was constructed in 2022 as part of a larger campus development that included expansion of student housing in the area. At that time, the amount of off-street parking permitted in the area was limited.
At the July 22, 2025, City Council meeting, Councilors reviewed the application, Planning Commission findings, and public comments and directed staff to draft a resolution approving the Conditional Use Permit. A draft Resolution is attached.
The applicant cites an increased number of staff and students on campus, a waitlist for student parking passes (approximately 300 students), event parking challenges, and periodic parking on neighborhood streets to justify the requested increase. In total, St. Olaf proposes to add 119 parking spaces on campus to accommodate the additional 100 faculty and staff, and 130 students added since 2020. 26 of these spaces are proposed for the parking lot located at 219 Lincoln St. W.
St. Olaf manages student parking through a lottery system. First year students are prohibited from ...
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