Minneapolis 2040 Plan includes Innovation District Policy

December 12, 2018 by towersideadmin

Towerside suggested a change to the Minneapolis 2040 Comprehensive Plan to add an “Innovation District” policy that would fulfill the City of Minneapolis’s Resolution 2015R-336 (Aug. 13, 2015), which resolves “that the City of Minneapolis will develop a definition of Innovation Districts to include in the City’s Comprehensive Plan update.”

This recommended policy addition was included in the approved Minneapolis 2040 Plan. Policy #98 Innovation Districts establishes and supports Innovation Districts to employ district-scale infrastructure and systems and to implement flexible policies and practices to allow for experimentation and innovation consistent with the City’s most ambitious goals.

The City will seek to accomplish the following action steps to establish and support Innovation Districts to employ district-scale infrastructure and systems and to implement flexible policies and practices that allow for experimentation and innovation consistent with City goals.

1. Support district approaches to energy, stormwater, parking, waste management, and public realm systems.
2. Allow for and encourage experimentation and innovation – including through changes to City policies and practices – consistent with City goals and expressed priorities of a given Innovation District such as sustainability, job development, production, equity, and affordability.
3. Support funding for redevelopment opportunities including housing, business development, sustainable district infrastructure, and greenspace, with priority given to affordable housing and/or job creation initiatives and projects.
4. In exchange for redevelopment and district system support, require above-standard developments and systems in energy efficiency and production, stormwater, parking, waste management, and public realm.

This policy supports: Goal #1 Goal #2 Goal #3 Goal #4 Goal #5 Goal #6 Goal #9 Goal #10 Goal #11 Goal #12