2022.06.13 Planning Commission & PRC Work Session
4141 Douglas Drive North • Crystal, Minnesota 55422-1696
Tel: (763) 531-1000 • Fax: (763) 531-1188 • www.crystalmn.gov
Crystal Planning Commission Agenda Summary
Joint Work Session with the Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission
Monday, June 13, 2022
Immediately following the 7 p.m. Planning Commission meeting
Crystal City Hall - Community Room
1. Call to Order
2. Presentation and discussion regarding planning for the CP Regional Trail*
3. Adjournment
* Items for which supporting materials are included in the meeting packet
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CP Rail Regional Trail: Golden Valley/New Hope/Crystal
Luce Line RT to Crystal Lake RT Segment (Segments E and F)
May/June 2022 Update
Three Rivers Park District Co-Project Managers
Kelly Grissman, Director of Planning
Kelly.Grissman@threeriversparks.org
Danny McCullough, Regional Trail System Manager
Danny.McCullough@threeriversparks.org
Brief Project Summary
The CP Rail Regional Trail is envisioned as a north-south multi-use, non-motorized recreational corridor spanning from
the Minnesota Valley State Trail in Bloomington to Crystal Lake Regional Trail in Crystal at Becker Park. The regional trail
will be planned in segments to allow for thoughtful community engagement and detailed route analysis. This phase will
focus on Segments E and F through Golden Valley, New Hope and Crystal between the Luce Line and Crystal Lake
Regional Trails.
The regional trail corridor was originally centered along the CP Rail line; however, this is not feasible for most of the
corridor. Alternative routes will be identified and studied during the master planning process to determine which option
best balances feasibility, cost, private property impacts, and safety.
Initial Community Engagement: Awareness Building and Destination Preference Summary (May/June)
Three Rivers staff attended a few community events that drew participants from all three communities to ask about
where people want to walk, bike or visit and to start building awareness of the master planning work. A summary of this
engagement is below.
Event Background Feedback Summary
Paso a Paso
April 30 @ Cooper High School in New
Hope
Event was attended primarily by Spanish
speaking community members as part of
the Step To It Challenge Kick-Off
• Generally people seemed excited about a new paved, off-road trail
• About 180 people visited the Three Rivers table; however, few
participated in the mapping activity due to familiarity with the
project location as they were from an adjacent community and
language barrier (instructions and icons were translated to Spanish
but other map components like streets/park names were not).
Bike Rodeo
May 5 @ Golden Valley City Hall
Event was attended primarily for youth
ages 3-10 and their families to encourage
and support safe youth bicycling
• Parks and Community Centers, specifically Bassett Creek Park are
popular, desired destinations. Schools and visiting friends and
family were also desired popular, destinations.
• About 65 people stopped by the project table. Of those that
actively engaged: about half were under 10 years old and about a
third were 35-59 years old.
Vehicle Fair
June 4 @ the Crystal Community Center
Event was attended primarily by families
with young children from Crystal and
surrounding cities
• Access to other parks and trails were the most desired destinations.
• One family commented on the desire to not place the trail on any
main roads such as Douglas or Winnetka due to traffic volumes and
crossings to go east and west.
• In total 25 comments, with over half coming from people 18-34
years old.
Preliminary Route Review/Approval for Public Engagement (May/June)
The project team comprised of Golden Valley, New Hope, Crystal, and Three Rivers staff as well as Toole, the project
consultant, have identified three general routes (separate hand out) for preliminary review and for approval to proceed
with public engagement. These routes were identified based on existing bike/trail/sidewalk plans, connectivity to
parks/school/local destination, potential impact on adjacent properties, anticipated feasibility and project team input.
This information will be shared and discussed at the commission and council meetings listed on the following page.
City Meetings/Groups
Golden Valley Open Space and Recreation Commission: May 23
City Council: June 14 (City staff will share the project information)
New Hope Citizen Advisory Commission: June 14
City Council: June 20
Crystal Park and Recreation Commission: June 13
City Council: June 21
Tentative Community Engagement Plan: Route Review (July/August)
Three Rivers is preparing a community engagement plan to gather input from the general public, existing regional trail
users, adjacent property owners/residents and targeted community groups (youth/seniors, BIPOC, persons from
households with an annual income of $50,000, Hispanic/Latino, and new residents (refugees/immigrants) through July
and August. The offerings outlined in the draft working engagement plan are still being confirmed and will be modified
to ensure participation from all identified groups. All dates/times/events are subject to change.
Interested parties are encouraged to visit the project website (CP Rail Regional Trail Master Plan | Let's Talk Three Rivers
(letstalkthreerivers.org)) to view the most current listing of upcoming engagement offerings, to learn more about the
master planning efforts, and to provide comments online. Interested parties may request a private phone conference or
virtual meeting with Three Rivers staff by emailing cprailregionaltrailmasterplan@threeriversparks.org.
General Public (2 per city)
City Community Event
Golden Valley Farmers Market (July 10)
Music in the Park/Ice Cream Social (July 11)
New Hope New Hope Summer Theatre Off-Broadway Musical Theatre - Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor
Dreamcoat (Fri or Sat between July 21-August 6)
Farmers Market (Any July/Aug Sat except July 16)
Crystal Crystal Farmers Market (Aug. 2)
Crystal Frolics (July 28-31 – exact date/time TBD)
Existing Regional Trail Users (min. 1 per city)
Bassett Creek Regional Trail Pop Up Northwoods Park in New Hope (Aug. 17)
Valley Place Park in Crystal (Aug. 5)
Luce Line Regional Trail Pop Up Near Winnetka in Golden Valley (July 11)
Near Douglas in Golden Valley (July 13)
Adjacent Property Owners/Residents (variety of times/locations/dates/mechanisms)
Crystal Summer Park Neighborhood Meeting Crystal Highlands Park (July 6)
Virtual Lunch Hour Open House Zoom Mtg (tent. July 20)
Evening Virtual Open House Zoom Mtg (tent. July 20)
In-Person Open House In Person Mtg (tent. July 27)
Small neighborhood block meetings Upon request and in partnership with a ‘neighborhood champion’.
Neighborhood champion would be responsible to coordinate
meeting date/time/location/invite with neighbors.
Private Phone Conference or Virtual Meeting Upon request
Targeted Community Groups (min. 2 community events and/or listening session per targeted community group, prefer
to draw from entire project area when feasible. Engagement opportunities listed below are not yet confirmed and will
change.)
Youth Events
Penny Carnival (July 29)
Wet and Wild Fun Day Valley Place Park (Aug. 5)
Crystal Soccer Camp (July 18-22 – exact date/time TBD)
Golden Valley Little League/Girls Softball/Soccer (TBD)
Listening Sessions
Three Rivers Explorer Camp at Bassett Creek Park in Crystal (Week of Aug 22)
Bike Rangers in Golden Valley (July 11, 18 or 25)
Seniors Events
Bingo and Food Truck Friday at New Hope City Hall (Aug 12)
Listening Sessions
Pedal Pushers in Golden Valley (TBD)
Crystal Park/Event Volunteers Discussion (TBD)
BIPOC Events
Crystal Summer Park Neighborhood Meeting @ Broadway Park (Aug 3)
New Hope Farmers Market (Any Sat in July/Aug except July 16)
Becker Park Pop Up in Partnership with Three Rivers Disc Golf (July 17) or separately
Listening Sessions
TBD
Households with annual
income under $50,000
Events
Prism Food Shelf Pop Up (TBD)
Becker Park Pop Up in Partnership with Three Rivers Disc Golf (July 17) or separately
Low Income/Affordable Housing Pop Up (Location/Date TBD)
Listening Sessions
New Hope Police Dep. Community Engagement (TBD)
Hispanic/Latino Events
Music in the Park: Salsa del Soul (Golden Valley on July 18 or New Hope on Aug. 10)
North Lions Park Pop Up in Crystal (TBD)
Crystal Soccer Camp (July 18-22 – exact date/time TBD)
New Residents Events
New Hope Farmers Market (Any Sat in July/Aug except July 16)
Listening Sessions
African Career, Education, & Resources Inc. (ACER) Bike Event (July/TBD)
Engagement findings will be posted on the Let’s Talk website and shared with decision makers upon completion.
City Support Requested (Ongoing)
Three Rivers is requesting city/project team support on the following:
- Assist with sharing project information via typical city communication channels
- Attend virtual and in-person open houses
- Help coordinate Three Rivers participation at city led events/programs
- Keep local commissioners and council members informed of engagement opportunities and initial feedback
CP RAIL REGIONAL TRAIL OVERVIEW
CP RAIL REGIONAL TRAIL
BLOOMINGTONA
B
C
D
E
F
EDINA
ST. LOUIS PARK
NEW HOPE CRYSTAL
GOLDEN
VALLEY
SEGMENTS E AND F
CP RAIL REGIONAL TRAIL DRIVING TOUR + INITIAL ENGAGEMENT
CP RAIL REGIONAL TRAIL POTENTIAL ROUTES - OVERALL
CP RAIL REGIONAL TRAIL POTENTIAL ROUTE - A
CP RAIL REGIONAL TRAIL POTENTIAL ROUTE - B
CP RAIL REGIONAL TRAIL POTENTIAL ROUTE - C