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The city of Wyoming won’t be seeing a couple of apartment buildings go up on the freeway side of Heims Lake— but there will be a new building toward the east side of the city on Hwy. 8.

Council voted unanimously to deny a Conditional Use Permit for a 55-plus housing site requested by 257 Land Holdings LLC of White Bear Lake. The action was on deadline as the permit review has already been extended 60 days as allowed, beyond the 60 day limit in state law to make a decision.

The project has not conformed with the Comprehensive Plan, according to staff recommendations.  The site, to the south of the former Xccent business,  is cramped for two garages and two buildings to be built appropriately and design is not suited for use as senior housing.

The structure that was approved is for Gregory Contracting, for a main office and showroom, with operations located out of another site.  This plan at Hazel and Hwy. 8 will not be where heavy equipment or materials are stored.

A few residents from 250th Street and nearby side streets asked questions of council about further traffic study, adding a turn lane, keeping visitors off residential roads, etc. The company will encourage entering and exiting as close to the highway as possible and not put traffic on side routes. Hazel Avenue will close when the reconstruction and expansion of the highway gets started 2026 or 2027.

There was a small dispute on MnDOT requirements based on traffic count estimates, as one resident saw 50 potential trips by 25 employees in paperwork—but the contracting firm owner said that is a long range estimate for septic calculations only, and 15 staff will be at the building.  

A right-in turn lane heading west is not recommended by city staff, because it will just get torn up when Hwy. 8 is reconstructed.  There is no support for delaying the entire project until after the highway gets addressed, city zoning official Fred Weck explained, because the land use application is before the city now and the plans meet current standards.

In other business:  council authorized engineering to go out for bids to rebuild Fallbrook and 264th.  The city will post no parking areas fairly soon which will be temporary just to clear the work area.

Wyoming got a grant for implementing “age friendly”  aspects to community life and council heard  a 10 hour per week coordinator is part of the funding package. 

The city administrator will advertise for someone to be a project coordinator and help with a survey, using the grant.  This is not a permanent position and is to be associated with the Council on Aging and AARP program tasks.

Reuter Walton,  affordable housing developers,  are meeting in a workshop with council June 27 at 5:30 p.m. at city hall to have preliminary discussion about what the city would welcome as far as a project. 

Council also accepted, with regrets, resignations from Wyoming Police Officer Boecker, and from the building inspector who is moving to a similar position in the metro, and one exiting firefighter.

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