In St. Paul’s Merriam Park, the time-out on real estate redevelopment is over.

At the request of Ward 4 City Council Member Samantha Henningson, a proposed real estate moratorium that would temporarily prevent lot splits and demolitions at 41 historic homes in Merriam Park has been withdrawn.

Henningson had proposed the nine-month ban on major real estate changes to give the city time to complete a historic study of the area, which could ultimately be nominated for a special historic district designation.

The neighborhood is a popular with developers and there have been proposals to tear down select older homes and replace them with sizable apartment buildings or even two or three properties, angering many longtime residents.

Housing advocates, however, have called every new apartment essential toward alleviating the rental crisis.

“This moratorium was meant to be pro-active, versus reactive,” Henningson said. But after “lots of lost sleep and deliberation,” she came to the conclusion that “voting against this moratorium doesn’t do anything to stop the historic survey from moving forward.”

At her request, a brief “bridge” moratorium went into effect in mid-March, halting any proposals that had not yet been submitted to the city, after which the council held a public hearing on the proposed nine-month moratorium on April 4.

At that time, they heard impassioned pleas from the Tierney family, who had grown up at 1905 and 1911 Iglehart Ave. W., to allow their elderly parents to sell the two stately houses. Their parents, they said, had counted on the home sales to fund their senior care in Highland Park.

Prospective buyers had offered to purchase both houses — which date back to 1900 and 1885, respectively — and replace them with as many as three or even four new properties.

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Henningson noted that of the 41 historic houses that would be impacted by the moratorium, 26 homeowners signed a petition in favor of it. Those homeowners made a commitment to preservation, she said, and she expected that will continue.