The Columbia Heights City Council approved first readings of two city code amendments at its March 23.
One amendment would expand alcohol licensing options for certain businesses and give tenants more time to leave properties deemed unlawful to occupy. The other would update land use regulations to align city code with state law and recent council actions.
According to a staff report from Community Development Director Mitch Forney, the first amendment adds an on-sale malt liquor license to city code and allows hotels, restaurants and theaters to obtain one if at least 30% of their gross receipts come from food or nonalcoholic beverages.
The amendment would also allow theaters to obtain an on-sale intoxicating liquor license if 40% of their gross receipts come from food or nonalcoholic beverages, lower than the 55% threshold required for other establishments. Theaters would also be allowed to apply for a wine license if 30% of their gross receipts come from food or nonalcoholic beverages.
The same amendment would extend the maximum time tenants have to vacate a property deemed unlawful to occupy to 90 days, up from 45 days.
City Planner Ursula Brandt said the second amendment addresses sections of land use code that were out of step with federal or state law or with the city’s own ordinances and intentions.
The amendment would allow religious facilities and places of worship to operate with a conditional use permit in the central and general business districts, placing them in the same category as banquet halls. Brandt said such uses would also be required to submit a transportation plan.
It would also update city code to match Minnesota law on nonconformities by allowing the repair, maintenance and replacement of nonconforming structures, as long as the work does not increase the degree of nonconformity.
The amendment also reflects the council’s late-2025 tobacco regulations by changing references from smoke shops to tobacco product shops and adding accessory tobacco retailers as a use. Development standards for tobacco product shops were also updated to reflect shared-wall language, Brandt said.
Finally, Brandt said staff found that a previous code update allowing multifamily dwellings above first-floor commercial space in the central business district had unintentionally left out single-family units, making them nonconforming. The amendment adds more specific language on the types of dwellings allowed in the district.