Mayo five-year plan to get final city review Wednesday
Feb. 19—ROCHESTER — At least two parking expansions proposed in Mayo Clinic's five-year plan have the potential to conflict with Destination Medical Center design guidelines.
In a Jan. 11 letter to Tim Siegfried, Mayo's division chairman of facilities project services, Rochester's Community Development staff raised questions about proposed parking expansions along Center Street and Third Street Southwest in the downtown core.
The lettersays that the adopted DMC design guidelines suggested new parking facilities should be avoided in the area.
The two sites are among at least 12 outlined in Mayo's 2021 five-year plan and Siegfried has repeatedly stated the plan isn't a list of what will happen.
"Some of these are very conceptual at this point," he told the Rochester City Council last year as the report was being developed.
In a response to the city's Jan. 11 letter, Mayo Clinic said any changes or development on the questioned sites would be coordinated with the city.
The city council will have its final public hearing on the five-year plan during its 7 p.m. meeting Wednesday, followed by a vote on approving the plan.
The meeting, which is not being held Monday because of the Presidents Day holiday, will be in city council chambers of the city-county Government Center, 151 Fourth St. SE and livestreamed at
, as well as Spectrum cable channel 180 or 188 and Metronet channel 80.
Mayo Clinic is required to report potential construction and development projects every five years under city ordinances created to overcome challenges related to medical facility development that don't fit standard zoning provisions.
"Prior to adoption, there were many years of variances for building density, parking, loading requirements and the like," Rochester Community Development principal planner Desmond McGeough said. "It created negative short- and long-term implications for both Mayo and the city of Rochester, in terms of timelines and expenses."
The updates have occurred every five years since 1991, and the tentative nature of included projects means several have carried over from past reports.
In addition to the parking concerns, the Community Development letter includes several suggested tweaks to the 2021 report to clarify or correct the status of projects that have already started or are being actively discussed.
City staff also sought clarity on the number of Mayo Clinic employees regularly working downtown, which they say will help the city more effectively plan infrastructure needs.
The report says 28,855 employees were working downtown or on the Saint Marys Hospital campus in January 2021.
However, circumstances changed during the following year with adjustments made during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Since January 2021, approximately 2,900 staff who were previously based in downtown Rochester began transitioning to permanent remote worker status," Mayo Clinic said in its reply to the city's Jan. 11 letter. "Mayo Clinic will provide the city and public with updates as this number evolves in the future."
Meetings scheduled to be held during the week of Feb. 21 include:
Rochester
—Public Utility Board, 4 p.m. Tuesday. Access information is available at
—Heritage Preservation Commission, 5 p.m. Tuesday. Access information is available at
—City Council study session, 3:30 p.m. Wednesday in city council chambers of the city-county Government Center, 151 Fourth St. SE. The meeting will livestream at
and be available on Spectrum cable channel 180 or 188 and Metronet channel 80.
—City Council, 7 p.m. Wednesday in city council chambers of the city-county Government Center, 151 Fourth St. SE. The meeting will livestream at
and be available on Spectrum cable channel 180 or 188 and Metronet channel 80.
Olmsted County
—Rochester-Olmsted Council of Governments, noon Wednesday. Meeting details will be posted at
https://olmstedcounty.primegov.com/public/portal
Rochester Public Schools
—School Board, 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in the boardroom of the Edison Building, 615 Seventh St. SW.
