Hibbing releases first Highland Hills community engagement report; deed restriction limits housing to single‑family

The Hibbing City Council on Oct. 16 received the first public engagement report for the Highland Hills planning area and heard a consultant outline resident priorities and next steps.

Bob Streeter, who presented the engagement findings at the meeting, said two community sessions on Sept. 24 and 25 drew 51 sign‑ins and about 80 participants. He said participants produced roughly 108 specific “hopes and concerns” that staff grouped by theme, with traffic and access cited as the top concern.

"There are six parcels, probably around 65 acres at the top of Highland Park Drive," Streeter said, adding that steep slopes reduce the likely developable area to "probably in the neighborhood of 35" acres. He said the engagement exercises produced clustered feedback on traffic and access, preservation of open space and trails, stormwater concerns on 8th Avenue, and questions about where housing would be placed and what buffers would separate new homes from existing properties.

Streeter told the council the property is subject to a deed restriction that allows only single‑family detached homes. "So the only thing that can be constructed are single family detached home housing," he said. He estimated the site could yield "somewhere between 30 and 50" single‑family units.

Miss Solavanti, Community Development Director, told the council the project webpage is still under development and that staff will make the full presentation available online once the page is ready. Streeter described the planning process as three inputs—market demand, site constraints and community feedback—that will be combined into a draft vision and goal statement.

The consultant said staff will prepare a draft vision and design alternatives for council review at a meeting tentatively scheduled for Nov. 20. The draft will be presented to the council in advance so members can use the Nov. 20 meeting to refine goals and design options.

Why this matters: the deed restriction and the community’s emphasis on preserving green space and pedestrian access will shape what types of housing and infrastructure are feasible on Highland Hills. The next formal step is the draft vision and goal statement to be discussed by council and the public.