By Kelli Latuska
The City of Duluth is seeking public comment on the Draft Alternative Urban Areawide Review (Draft AUAR) for the Central High School Redevelopment Project through March 21, 2024.
An AUAR is a tool used to understand how different development scenarios will affect the environment of the study area before development occurs. The study area is approximately 80 acres on the site of the former Duluth Central High School near Central Entrance and H. Courtney Drive and includes the Incline Village project.
Two development scenarios are being evaluated in the AUAR. Scenario A is a business park scenario with light industrial/warehousing distribution uses. Scenario B represents mixed commercial and residential (mixed use) to capture the full potential environmental impacts of future development.
An AUAR consists of three steps: Scoping EAW, Draft AUAR, and Final AUAR. The Scoping EAW has been completed confirming the scope of the scenarios that have been analyzed in the Draft AUAR. The Draft AUAR documents existing conditions and plans for the AUAR area, anticipates impacts that may result from the two scenarios, and recommends potential actions to avoid, minimize, and mitigate anticipated impacts from the scenarios.
Comments on the Draft AUAR may address the accuracy and completeness of information, potential impacts that warrant further investigation, additional information that may be needed to secure permits for specific projects, and mitigation measures necessary to prevent significant environmental impacts that may result from projects undertaken in the AUAR area.
Responses to comments received by the deadline and necessary amendments to the AUAR document will be considered by the Planning Commission at a meeting anticipated for April 2024. The Final AUAR will be considered by Planning Commission at a meeting anticipated for May 2024.
The Draft AUAR can be viewed online at https://duluthmn.gov/planning-development/environmental/environmental-reviews/. A hard copy of the document can be viewed at the Downtown Duluth Public Library in the Reference Department.
The City of Duluth will accept written comments until 4:00 pm, Thursday, March 21, 2024 via US Mail or e-mail at the contact below. Comments will become a part of the record of the official AUAR process.
Written comments should be submitted to:
Kyle Deming, Senior Planner
Department of Planning and Economic Development
City Hall, Room 160
411 West First Street
Duluth, MN, 55802
(218) 730 - 5580
kdeming@duluthmn.gov
There will be a public hearing on the Draft AUAR at the Planning Commission meeting, 5:00 pm, Tuesday, March 12, 2024 in Council Chambers, third floor, Duluth City Hall. – City of Duluth press release
