and SPBA article by Kiki Sonnen SPBA President about preventing glass bird
strikes in development of St Paul downtown waterfront. The provision was
removed from plan by City staff. Bird strikes kill 1 billion birds a year
in US. New buildings with public funding in MN should meet "green" criteria
that include prevention of killing of birds--- the counter example is what
happened in construction of the US Bank stadium.
Over 1000 birds were killed in one night in downtown Chicago a few years
ago. The glass building (McCormick Place Lakeside Center) has since been
retrofitted to bird-safe the glass. For four decades volunteers had picked
up dead birds at this building during spring and fall migrations.
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*Bird’s Eye View - Kiki Sonnen*
Protect Our Birds:
Stop Window Collisions
Protecting the Mississippi River's natural, cultural and scenic resources
was prioritized in the 1970's.
Then Governor Wendell Anderson thru Executive order and soon after the
State Legislature created the Mississippi River Corridor Critical Area
(MRCCA), which required localities in the metropolitan area to create
coordinated land planning and zoning regulations. In 2017 new MRCCA rules
required the localities to update and adopt new zoning provisions.
Environmental groups, neighborhood district councils, and civic groups see
this as an opportunity to improve bird safety measures along the
Mississippi Flyway. We now know that a billion birds in the United States
alone are killed by window strikes each year. We also know that habitat
loss, collapse of the insect population, and climate change have a deep
negative effect on our birds. Simple building and zoning design changes can
reduce window collisions by 95% The birds need our help now.
Four years ago at the public hearing, the St Paul Planning Commission heard
our pleas for bird safe glass, bird safe lighting, improved landscaping,
tiered building heights and clear setback rules for new development. The
Commission directed zoning staff to draft the language for those measures.
The staff wrote the new language, but city administrators left the matter
sit for four years. Finally, the matter was returned to the Planning
Commission. But all the bird safe measures have been stricken!
Again neighbors, environmental groups, bird advocates and concerned
community members testified before the Planning Commission on May 2, 2025.
We repeated our concerns and our desire to have bird safety measures
returned to the zoning ordinance. The issue will soon be heard at a public
hearing before the City Council maybe mid-August or September.
The cost of bird safe glass is less than 1% of total new construction
costs.
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State law requires bird safe glass in all projects using state bonding
funds.
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Bird safe zoning ordinances are working throughout North America
including Berkeley CA, Toronto, Madison WI, Middleton WI, Minneapolis (new
skyways), Mountain View CA, New York, Portland ME, Sacramento, Seattle,
Washington DC, and more.
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Bird safe glass is already installed in these local buildings: Allianz
Field (glass doors), Bell Museum, Hamline-Midway Library, Higher Ground St.
Paul Shelter (Catholic Charities), Macalester College–Janet Wallace Fine
Arts Center, Theater and Dance Building, Minnesota National Wildlife
Visitor Center, North End Community Center, Playwrights’ Center, UMN Bee
and Pollinator Research Lab.
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Bird safe glass is also slated for these planned buildings: Mississippi
River Learning Center, The Park at Riversedge, Wakan Tipi Center
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