According to St. Louis Park planning supervisor Sean Walther, the City Council denied a proposal to construct a building on the northeast corner of Excelsior Boulevard and Monterey Drive at a meeting April 17.

Sophomore Aidan Henry, who lives near Excelsior and Grand, said he heard opposition from his neighbors over the plan.

“I just read some people were mad about (the proposal) because they don’t want (the tallest building) to change, because I think the tallest building is by Excelsior grand,” Henry said. “One of my neighbors was mad about it but it doesn’t affect me directly.”

According to Sean Walther, Bridgewater Banks and Dominium Development offered to purchase a parcel of land from the City with intentions of building a mixed use property including commercial use and residential living.

“The first floor was planned to be approximately 17,000 square feet of commercial uses including 10,000 square foot Bridgewater Bank branch,” Walther said. “Then above that were five levels of housing and the proposal changed over time but the proposal that was ultimately rejected by the city was 148 building units.”

According to Noel Racette, a key member of a group of Park citizens opposed to the plan,  community members feel excited regarding the recent decision after two years of complaints.

“I think it’s a big win for the community because the community actually got involved and their voices were heard,” Racette said.

Racette said community members opposed the proposal for numerous reasons.

“(Some concerns were) the density of the building, so way too many apartments (and) the height of the building. (Also), the lack of green space because of the size of the footprint of the building, the traffic ability so how the vehicles would get in and out for the businesses as well as the residents, and then just the number of vehicles associated with that particular development at that particular intersection,” Racette said.

Junior Lewis Brown said he thinks the proposal would not increase traffic congestion in the area.

“I know that there would be a lot of traffic but the way that Excelsior and Grand was built makes it easier (for) traffic and to be honest there’s not much traffic on Excelsior and Grand anyway,” Brown said. “As long as (the building is) residential and not so much commercial shops I don’t see why it’s such a big problem.”

Racette said the City Council received more public response from the Bridgewater proposal than any other previous city plan.

“I know that there were a lot of emails and phone calls that were going to the city council and the city council actually made a comment at one of the meetings saying that this particular development was the largest public response that they had ever received,” Noel said.

Henry said although he understands the concern of community members, he doesn’t believe the proposal would directly impact him.

“I do know that back in the late ‘90s or early 2000s when they were building Excelsior and Grand people were super mad because it used to just be like a stop sign there and then now there’s a ton of traffic,” Henry said. “In my experience from living across the street it hasn’t bugged me or affected me in any way.”

Walther said he anticipates Bridgewater Banks to partner with a different company and create a new mixed use proposal for this land.

“Bridgewater Banks still owns the property and still would like to invest in the property and probably explore a partnership with a new developer for the site and we’re not sure yet if that’s going to be another mixed use development with residential and commercial or if they’ll pursue a different excuse for mixed use,” Walther said.