In planning for the future redevelopment of the St. Paul Ford plant,
where cars have long been manufactured, the city is working with the
company and other community stakeholders and consultants to explore
various sustainable design possibilities for the site.
Ford
Motor Co. will shut down the plant this fall and put the 160-acre
property that overlooks the Mississippi River on the market next year,
according to Merritt
Clapp-Smith, a senior planner for the city's planning and economic
development department.
Although there are no concrete plans yet
for the site, or a developer, the city is working on the issue now
because it wants to see a design that can "operate in a way that's
efficient and cost-effective and better for the environment and health
of residents," she says.
As such, the city is prioritizing energy
efficiency, conservation practices, stormwater management, and
multimodal transportation options and minimizing carbon dioxide
emissions at the site, she says.
Those priorities are partly
the result of a couple reports that outline numerous green design
options and stormwater management solutions that are posted online
here and
here.
Various
city staffers and consultants presented the reports in a public meeting
with the Ford Site Planning Task Force earlier this month.
An
in-progress environmental assessment of the site along with a consultant
study of environmental and traffic impacts related to different
redevelopment scenarios will also inform any redevelopment proposals,
she says.
All of this information will help the task force,
which has been working on the issue since 2007, to recommend a redevelopment
framework for the site to the city, she says.
Source: Merritt Clapp-Smith, senior planner, St. Paul Planning and Economic Development
Writer: Anna Pratt