On Monday, April 14, the Hastings City Council Planning Committee met to discuss a rundown of ongoing city projects ranging from the zoning ordinance update, the Gateway Project, cannabis special use permits, and various construction projects in the city.
Community Development Director John Hinzman spoke to city councilors about these projects, answering questions and providing updates.

Zoning ordinance
Hastings is currently in the process of creating a new citywide zoning ordinance, an update from the previous code which was written in 1996. Hastings City Council voted in May 2024 to contract with the urban planning firm Codametrics to review and rewrite city code at a cost of $65,000.
According to a January 2025 Planning Commission meeting, the goal of this updated zoning ordinance is to better reflect the city of Hastings as it is in the year 2025 and simplify the code to be more accessible to residents.
Hinzman spoke to how city staff are working through the new code line-by-line throughout the next month before moving into an internal testing phase before public review.
In order to test the new zoning ordinance, Hinzman and city staff would take recent projects and see how they would fit into the new ordinance. Hinzman referenced Lake Isabelle Flats as a recent project that might be used as a test, but other examples range to even minor projects like garage additions to residential properties.
“I don’t want people to get the impression that we’re going to be creating something in a vacuum and then putting it forward for quick approval,” said Hinzman.
The code is expected to be officially adopted by the end of this year with public input being solicited by the city this summer.

Gateway Project
The Block 28 project, what is now being called the Gateway Project, is a full reconstruction of block 28, where the former Wells Fargo building sits alongside Spiral Pizza. The city envisions a mixed-use retail/residential building being constructed alongside Highway 61 construction which is expected to take place in 2028, according to the Monday, April 21 presentation to the City Council by MNDOT.
This vision was originally created from the Vermillion Street Guideline. The project has become known as the Gateway Project because it is meant to provide a more appealing gateway for travelers to Hastings who are coming over the Highway 61 bridge.
According to Hinzman, the city has met with a number of developers who have “shown interest” in the project.
A key issue for this project is parking. The city’s current design for the lot shows a large parking lot taking up much of the block; however, if possible, “we would love to have an underground parking lot at that location,” said Hinzman. Future environmental analysis and testing of the site’s water table will dictate availability.
The only existing business on the site is Spiral Pizza, which according to Hinzman is interested in remaining at that location after construction but the specifics of the project are not yet clear.
“Spiral’s main concern has been that they don’t want to move twice,” said Hinzman.

Cannabis special use permits
The city received two cannabis special Use permit applications. Those applications were for the creation of a cannabis retail facility at 215 Ramsey St. by Joshua R. Bruns, and 2103 Vermillion St. by Steve Benowitz.
Notifications for those applications ran in last week’s paper.
By population, the city of Hastings has to accept one cannabis dispensary. The city can have more, but it must accept one if it meets all other requirements. The first requirement is to abide by the city’s zoning requirements. The planning commission will review the applications at the April 28 Planning Commission meeting where a public hearing will be held.
If those applications are approved, the businesses would be then able to go to the state for a state license through the Office of Cannabis Management.

Walden at Hastings
The long-stalled Walden development located at Highway 316 and Michael Avenue is planned to be a 500-unit, 71-acre development consisting of various types of housing from apartments to villas to senior housing. Originally, the development was expected to be rental units only, but Hinzman said that units are now expected to be for sale on the site.
According to Hinzman, the project is running up against a deadline of this year in order to move forward: “From an overall development standpoint, the developer that’s proposing the changes has a purchase agreement on the property, doesn’t own the underlying property and my understanding is that he has until the end of this year to get development approvals by the city to do a project, otherwise he would be in jeopardy of losing the property.”
As to if the city has seen any movement towards those approvals, “I haven’t seen anything tangible,” said Hinzman.