The Waytonka Club will host its Spring Market on Saturday, May 9, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Wayzata Community Church, 125 Wayzata Blvd. in Wayzata.
The event will feature local artisans and a taco truck on site, offering shoppers a chance to browse spring gifts and handmade goods while supporting a longtime local service organization.
Waytonka Club, Inc. is a Wayzata-based nonprofit women’s service group that has been assisting local people in times of need since 1937. Over the years, the organization has supported local families, Interfaith Outreach & Community Partners, Home Free shelter, and Wayzata High School scholarships, among other causes.
The group was originally formed to support a missionary in China. Its first 42 members met at the Wayzata Bank, and in later years gathered at locations including Wayzata schools, the Wayzata Country Club, Meridian Manor, and St. Bartholomew Catholic Church. Today, members continue to meet monthly in Plymouth and Wayzata.
Waytonka’s mission has long centered on helping local families in need, with a particular emphasis on health, wellness, and support for local schools. The club has also maintained a longstanding commitment to Home Free, a shelter serving women and children, and continues to provide financial support to IOCP and other community-focused organizations.
Scholarship giving has remained a key part of that work. The club’s first scholarship was $25. Today, Waytonka provides at least four scholarships annually, each worth $1,000, to students planning to study in health or education-related fields.
Lake Minnetonka was officially declared ice-out at 5:38 p.m. on Friday, April 3, after Freshwater and the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office Water Patrol determined a patrol boat could safely navigate the lake’s bays and channels without being stopped by hard ice.
The annual milestone came 10 days earlier than the lake’s median ice-out date of April 13, though it was slightly later than last year, when open water was declared on March 29, 2025.
On Lake Minnetonka, ice-out is observed when a boat can safely travel from shore to shore, through channels, and around islands across the 14,528-acre lake. The observation system dates back to the 1960s, when Freshwater founder Dick Gray developed a consistent method for tracking the event.
Ice-out records on Lake Minnetonka go back to 1855, making the annual declaration both a seasonal marker and a long-running data point for tracking environmental patterns over time. The earliest ice-out on record was March 11, 1878.
Freshwater noted that methods for declaring ice-out vary from lake to lake, but consistency from year to year is what matters most for long-term recordkeeping. According to the organization, many lakes in southern Minnesota also opened slightly earlier than normal this year.
For Wayzata and communities around the lake, the declaration is one of the clearest signs that winter has finally given way to boating season, shoreline walks, and the return of open-water lake life. Historically, Lake Minnetonka has long been central to the region’s identity, with Wayzata’s lakeshore serving for generations as a gateway to the water and to spring itself.
Observed with the water patrol on Friday were Freshwater Operations Coordinator Alison Nesler, Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office Water Patrol Deputy Tom Pierson, and Melissa McNeil of the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Foundation.
Wayzata Public Schools voters approved the district’s bond referendum in an off-cycle election, backing all three ballot questions — including the district’s main $465 million school building bond request. Unlike a general election held alongside broader federal, state, or local races, the vote was decided in a standalone school district election focused specifically on the referendum questions.
The centerpiece measure, School District Question 2, passed with 5,650 votes in favor and 2,385 opposed, or 70.32 percent to 29.68 percent. That question authorized the district to issue up to $465 million in general obligation school building bonds for projects including a new elementary school, a new middle school, an addition to Wayzata High School, safety and security improvements, and other capital work across the district.
Voters also approved School District Question 1, renewing the district’s expiring capital project levy for technology. That measure passed 6,283 to 1,751, or 78.21 percent to 21.79 percent. According to the district’s election results, the levy renewal will provide funding for software and technology equipment, along with technology support and maintenance, and is projected to raise about $7,039,362 annually for taxes first levied in 2029 and payable in 2030, for a total of roughly $70.4 million over 10 years.
Question 3 also passed, with 4,850 yes votes and 3,169 no votes, or 60.48 percent to 39.52 percent. That question, which was contingent on passage of Question 2, authorizes up to $31 million in additional bonding for construction of an 8-lane swimming and diving pool.
The main bond question carried at all five polling locations listed in the district’s results. Hamel Community Center voted 1,477 to 469 in favor. Wayzata Creekside Building supported it 925 to 349. At Wayzata City Hall, the vote was 980 to 670. Plymouth Community Center Room A backed the measure 1,350 to 458, while Plymouth Community Center Room B supported it 918 to 439.
With all three questions now approved, the district has voter authorization to move forward with a major package of facility, technology, and athletic infrastructure investments.
Image courtesy of Wayzata Beach Bash.com / Rick Born Productions.
The Wayzata City Council approved a special event permit for two concerts as part of James J. Hill Days 2026, restoring a major live-music component many viewed as one of the festival’s signature attractions.
The concerts are planned for Sept. 11 and 12, 2026, in conjunction with James J. Hill Days, with promoter Rick Born and RB Productions proposing two ticketed shows at the Boatworks property. City staff said the event is expected to draw about 2,500 attendees each night and recommended approval with conditions related to security, crowd management, marina and beach access, parking, public safety staffing and noise mitigation.
The approval comes a year after the council denied a similar WAAM Fest proposal for 2025, a decision that reopened broader questions about noise, timing, format and what kind of entertainment belongs within Wayzata’s signature community festival.
Without the concert last year, James J. Hill Days still brought crowds downtown — but to many, the festival felt like it was missing its capstone event. The headlining concerts had the potential to serve as the crown jewel or pinnacle of the weekend, particularly for older teens, young adults and others looking for a marquee nighttime draw tied directly to the celebration.
This year, council’s discussion was less about whether live music belongs as part of James J. Hill Days and more about the conditions under which it should return.
City Manager Aurora Yager told council that staff supported the permit application but recommended a 10:30 p.m. music cutoff. She said the applicant had requested an 11 p.m. permitted end time, while staff’s recommendation reflected complaints tied to recent concerts. Yager noted that previous events had been permitted until 11 p.m. with the understanding that music would generally end around 10:30, but said complaints from 2023 and 2024 led staff to recommend a firmer end time for music this year.
Born told council the request for an 11 p.m. permit was not about routinely pushing the concert later, but about providing flexibility if weather or technical issues delayed the start. He said the intended target remains a 10:30 p.m. finish, adding that “10.35 is probably the average.”
He also explained that the extra time matters financially for an outdoor event. If weather interrupts a show and a headliner cannot perform long enough to satisfy ticket holders, he said, the promoter may still have to pay the artist while also refunding the crowd. “If a headliner artist, that’s what we pay all the money to,” Born said. “And it can be three, four or $500,000.”
One notable part of the discussion involved the kind of lineup Born hopes to bring in this year.
Rather than committing to two nights of the same genre, Born said he is trying to book two different genres of music. “I’d like to have a 1 and 1,” he said, explaining that different music styles attract different audiences. He said that would be his preference, while also noting that booking flexibility remains important as plans come together.
That point addressed one of the lingering tensions from last year’s debate, when the proposed Electronic Dance Music format became part of the council conversation and, for some, part of the controversy.
Several of the same undercurrents remained present this time. Some council members emphasized Born’s long track record in Wayzata and expressed comfort in giving him room to operate, pointing to his experience producing large events and his willingness to adjust based on prior feedback. Others remained cautious about the possibility of repeating two nights of back-to-back EDM-style programming, citing the amount of negative reaction that followed earlier events.
Still, the broader result was clear: the concerts are back as part of James J. Hill Days.
That matters because large-scale live music has long been part of the festival’s identity and its after-dark energy. Last year’s absence made that easier to see. For many attendees, James J. Hill Days without a major concert felt incomplete — a successful community festival, yes, but one missing the big finish.
This year’s approval restores that piece of the weekend while also showing that council is still trying to balance two priorities at once: preserving a major entertainment draw for one of Wayzata’s biggest annual celebrations, while setting conditions that reflect neighborhood concerns and lessons from prior years.
Born also told council that a two-night format is important economically because of the cost of staging an event of this scale. Infrastructure such as fencing, sound, lighting, security and portable restrooms is expensive, he said, and far harder to justify for a one-night-only event.
Several council members said they remained mindful of the noise complaints that followed earlier concerts and acknowledged concern about again fielding calls from residents if sound levels became a problem. Even so, the council ultimately voted 5-0 to approve the permit and bring the concerts back as part of James J. Hill Days 2026.
WAYZATA — One of Wayzata’s sweetest spring traditions returned this year as residents gathered to tap maple trees, collect sap, and boil it down the old-fashioned way into syrup.
This year’s gatherings included March 25 and April 7 events connected to Merrily Borg Babcock’s driveway at the end of Reno Street, where participants carried forward the hands-on work of turning sap into finished syrup after tapping trees in Wayzata’s Big Woods.
The tradition is part of Wayzata’s broader maple tapping program, which has for years invited residents and families to learn how to tap trees, gather sap, and take part in the community boil. Parks & Trails Board and City published materials describe maple tapping as a seasonal program tied to the Big Woods Preserve, the 14-acre remnant of hardwood forest east of Colonial Square that includes sugar maples.
Babcock, a longtime Wayzata civic leader and volunteer, has also been publicly linked to the program’s beginnings. A recent Wayzata.com profile noted that she helped establish the Maple Tree Tapping Program with John Curtis, adding the event to a long list of community efforts she has helped shape over the years.
Babcock, a longtime Wayzata civic leader and volunteer, helped establish the Maple Tree Tapping Program with John Curtis, with Jack and Cheryl Amdal also among its supporters from day one. The syrup program is one of many community efforts she has helped shape over the years.
On her Facebook page this spring, Babcock offered a simple update that captured both the continuity and the labor of the season: “Still wearing the same boots and cooking sap to syrup. Will finish the 2026 season Tuesday evening.”
The work itself is no small undertaking. When Cheryl Lawson asked on Facebook, “How many cords of wood do you use each season for syruping?” Babcock replied: the “City has delivered 3 loads and we have used about 3 taking into consideration the use of last years old, sometimes ‘punky’ wood.”
The tradition also feels especially fitting in Wayzata, where sugar maples and the remnants of the Big Woods are part of the town’s oldest landscape. Historical accounts show that maple sugaring was happening in this area as early as the 1850s, giving today’s gatherings a connection to spring rituals that long predate the modern city.
That deeper connection is part of what gives the event its appeal. It is not simply about making syrup. It is also about slowing down, gathering outdoors, and taking part in a seasonal practice that links neighbors to the land and to one another.
City newsletters in recent years have highlighted the educational side of the event as well, with participants learning how much sap is required to make even a small amount of syrup. In 2023, the city reported that volunteers collected 420 gallons of sap and produced about 10 gallons of syrup.
For those gathered around the kettles this spring, the process was slow, smoky, and communal — a small but memorable rite of the season. In a town that values both tradition and stewardship, Wayzata’s annual maple tapping and syrup making remains a simple way to celebrate both.
“The Wayzata baseball team is preparing for the 2026 season. That includes plenty of practices indoors at the Central Middle School dome in Plymouth. The Trojans have high hopes heading into the spring season with returning key players – Matthew Berkland, Kieran Leatherman, Sam Mohs, and Cruz Sturm back from a team that finished with a 19-7 record last year and a runner-up finish in the Section 6AAAA tournament. Wayzata will open the 2026 season on the road at Buffalo on Wednesday, April 8th.” via CCX Media.
The Wayzata City Council voted 4-1 Tuesday night to approve an emergency interim ordinance imposing an immediate 12-month moratorium on new short-term rentals, with Mayor Andrew Mullin casting the lone dissenting vote, citing concerns largely centered on procedural sequencing.
The action follows a March 30 district court order that voided the city’s earlier short-term rental ordinance, setting off a new round of discussion over how Wayzata should regulate the use moving forward. City staff said the emergency pause is intended to give the council time to study the issue and consider changes to the city’s zoning ordinance and other official controls.
Community Development Director Alex Sharpe opened the discussion by outlining the legal and procedural backdrop. He said the city adopted Ordinance 852 on Oct. 9, 2025, prohibiting short-term rentals through its rental dwelling licensing regulations, but that approach was later challenged in court by short-term rental operators.
“On March 30th, 2026, the district court issued an order declaring that Ordinance 852 was a zoning regulation and therefore void,” Sharpe told the council.
Sharpe said staff brought forward the moratorium as a possible tool while the city considers a new zoning-based framework. He emphasized that staff was not explicitly urging the council to adopt the moratorium, but said it was being presented for consideration because of the risk that additional operators could apply before new zoning rules are in place.
“Specifically, we’ve had already one, potentially two new applicants that were not short-term rental operators in 2025 apply for short-term rental licenses in 2026,” Sharpe said.
He later confirmed those were not just preliminary inquiries. When asked whether the applications were complete or still in an early phase, Sharpe said: “They’re complete applications with fees paid,” adding that rental inspections had not yet occurred.
That timing, Sharpe explained, could carry long-term consequences. He told the council that once a use is lawfully established, it can become a legal nonconforming use if the city later changes its zoning rules. In practical terms, that means a newly approved short-term rental could potentially continue even after a new ordinance is adopted, so long as it complies with applicable provisions and does not lapse for more than a year.
Council Member Molly MacDonald said she supported both the moratorium itself and the decision to adopt it on an emergency basis, framing the vote as a continuation of the city’s earlier work on the issue.
“We had really studied this, engaged the community, and I think really came to the right conclusion,” MacDonald said. “While there may be some debate about how we got there, I think where we got was the right place.”
Council Member Ken Sorensen also backed immediate action, saying the temporary pause was consistent with the city’s earlier direction and would give the council time to continue discussing the issue without allowing additional applications to move forward in the meantime.
“I’m in favor of this moratorium. I think we should enact it as soon as possible,” Sorensen said. He said the move was “very consistent with where we ended up with the ordinance we passed last year,” and noted the city had already received two new applications.
“I think we could expect more if we don’t enact a moratorium,” Sorensen said. Sorensen said the emergency measure would create space for the council to continue evaluating its options. “It gives us the time we need to really think this through,” he said.
Mayor Andrew Mullin said his opposition was procedural rather than substantive. He said the council had not yet received “a full legal briefing on the status of our existing case, which we lost,” and that he wanted the city to signal to the community that it was still evaluating all available paths before acting. In his view, adopting a moratorium before receiving that briefing felt “out of order,” and he said he would have preferred to table the matter and revisit it after council had a clearer understanding of the court ruling and its options. “We are looking at all options and we are going to take the path that makes the most sense,” Mullin said, indicating those options could include an appeal, zoning regulations, or a return to what he described as responsible regulations.
Mullin said he considered the move premature because the council still did not know what path it would ultimately choose. “It doesn’t mean that I’m not in support of it,” he said, but added that his concern was “how the information is coming to us and not having a full understanding of the implications of court ruling.” He said he would have preferred to consider the moratorium after receiving a fuller legal briefing.
Mullin also read a statement into the record from existing short-term rental license holders Theresa and Bob Fisher, who he said were unable to attend the meeting. Their message urged the city to include current operators in the discussion rather than treating them as outsiders to the community.
“We sincerely want our voice to be heard,” Mullin read from the statement. “We would welcome an opportunity to work with a task force or related group to come up with ideas and an action plan to identify and address the issues of short term rentals.” The Fishers added that local owners want “to have a positive relationship with our fellow community members, be responsible residents, and want to be treated as part of the community.”
In the public forum portion of the council meeting, Benton Avenue resident Marilyn Richter urged the council not to lose momentum on regulation despite the recent court ruling. Richter said the need for short-term rental rules “still exists for Wayzata” and pointed to ongoing problems on Benton Avenue, where she said issues tied to a concentration of short-term rentals had persisted for at least two years.
Richter told council members that the city should not let its planning efforts be derailed by the lawsuit. “Please don’t let your interest in planning be dropped because of the lawsuit,” she said, adding that “there has to be a way” to regulate short-term rentals, noting that similar issues have been addressed in communities across the country.
The ordinance approved Tuesday imposes a 12-month moratorium on any new short-term rental use in the city while staff studies whether and to what extent Wayzata’s official controls should be revised. Under the ordinance, the moratorium does not apply to short-term rentals with licenses that are active and in good standing as of the ordinance’s effective date, or that were active and in good standing when Ordinance 852 took effect.
Because at least four of the five council members voted to declare an emergency, the moratorium took effect immediately upon adoption rather than waiting for an additional reading and publication. Staff had told the council that without emergency adoption, the ordinance likely would not have taken effect until sometime in May.
In the ordinance preamble, the council found that short-term rentals “have the potential to negatively impact the health, safety and welfare” of the city if not properly regulated, and that the city needs time to study the issue and consider “necessary and appropriate changes” to its policies, ordinances and official controls.
Tuesday’s vote marks the city’s latest move in an ongoing fight over short-term rentals, as Wayzata shifts from a court-rejected prohibition toward a temporary freeze designed to preserve time for a new regulatory approach.
WAYZATA — The Wayzata City Council is set to meet in closed session Tuesday night as the city confronts the fallout from a Hennepin County ruling that voided its short-term rental ban and considers whether to impose an emergency moratorium on new short-term rentals.
According to the public notice, the closed special meeting is scheduled for April 7, 2026, at 7:30 p.m., or shortly after the regular council meeting, under the attorney-client privilege exception in Minnesota’s Open Meeting Law. The notice says the closed session is for the council to meet with its attorneys regarding litigation brought by property owners against the city over its short-term rental ordinance.
The litigation stems from Ordinance 852, adopted last fall, which prohibited short-term rentals under the city’s rental dwelling licensing code. In an order filed March 30, Judge Joseph R. Klein held that Ordinance 852 “is a zoning ordinance,” that Wayzata was required to follow the procedural requirements of the Minnesota Municipal Planning Act, and that because it did not, the ordinance is “void.”
City staff is now asking the council to declare an emergency need for a temporary halt on new short-term rentals and to approve a first reading of Ordinance 859, described in the agenda report as “an Emergency Interim Ordinance Imposing an Immediate One Year Moratorium on New Short-Term Rentals Pending Study and Consideration of Amendments to the City’s Regulations and Official Controls.”
The agenda report says staff recommends adoption of the ordinance. It states that, after the court’s decision, the city needs time to study how short-term rentals should be addressed through its zoning ordinance and other official controls, especially given what staff described as the “potential for increased demand for new STR license applications.”
Under the draft ordinance, the city council would declare “an immediate, pressing, and emergency need” for a moratorium on new short-term rentals following the court order that voided Ordinance 852. The proposed measure would direct city staff to study whether the city’s zoning and subdivision ordinances should be revised to address short-term rentals.
The moratorium, if adopted, would last 12 months and would apply to any new short-term rental use in the city. The draft defines a short-term rental as occupancy of less than 30 consecutive calendar days. It would not apply to rentals with dwelling licenses that were active and in good standing either on the effective date of the new ordinance or on the effective date of Ordinance 852.
The draft goes further than pausing applications. It says the city would not “accept, issue or process any application of any kind” related to new short-term rentals during the moratorium, and that any such application received would be denied.
Staff also outlined how the vote would matter. The agenda report says the moratorium would begin immediately only if at least four of the five council members vote to declare an emergency in the ordinance preamble. Otherwise, if approved by a simple majority, it would take effect only after a second reading at a later meeting and publication.
The court order did not decide every issue raised in the lawsuits. Judge Klein declined, for now, to rule on the plaintiffs’ nonconforming-use claim and did not reach the takings issue, both because Ordinance 852 had already been found void.
Tuesday’s closed session signals the city is weighing its legal options, while the proposed moratorium suggests officials may try to prevent any expansion of short-term rentals while they reset the ordinance process through a zoning study and possible code changes.
In a phone interview this morning, Mayor Andrew Mullin clarified that elected officials are considering the appropriate next moves, both legally and from a policy standpoint including the requests from staff.
“The city is evaluating its options, including an appeal of the court case, the requested moratorium, appropriate zoning measures, and allowing short term rentals for responsible operators. Policymakers will evaluate staff’s recommendations and determine the next steps in both the public council meeting and closed session.”
Stay tuned to Wayzata.com for more on this issue as it develops.
This story was updated to reflect Mayor Mullin’s comments.
WAYZATA — A Hennepin County judge has voided Wayzata’s short-term rental ban, ruling that the city adopted the measure as if it were a licensing change when it legally functioned as a zoning ordinance and required a different public process.
In an order filed March 30, Judge Joseph R. Klein held that Ordinance 852 “is a zoning ordinance,” that the City of Wayzata was required to follow the procedural requirements for enacting or amending zoning ordinances under the Minnesota Municipal Planning Act, and that because the city did not do so, the ordinance is “void.”
The ruling marks a major turn in a dispute that began last fall after Wayzata moved to prohibit rentals of fewer than 30 consecutive days in licensed rental dwellings.
The ordinance was adopted Sept. 23, 2025, after first and second readings on Sept. 9 and Sept. 23, and published Oct. 2. It changed the city code to require that licensed rental dwellings be occupied only under written leases of at least 30 days and added language stating that no person may lease or allow use of a dwelling unit as a short-term rental. Existing rental licenses held by the plaintiffs were set to expire March 30, 2026, with the ordinance taking effect for existing short-term rentals on April 1, 2026.
Property owners sued in October, arguing the city’s action was not merely a licensing amendment under Chapter 815, but a land-use regulation that should have gone through the zoning procedures required by state law, including a noticed public hearing before the Planning Commission. The city argued it was exercising its police powers and was not required to follow that process.
Judge Klein sided with the property owners on that core issue.
The court’s order does not resolve every question raised in the lawsuits. Klein denied, for now, the plaintiffs’ claim seeking a declaration on nonconforming-use rights, holding that issue was not ripe because the ordinance itself had already been found void. The court also did not reach the takings issue for the same reason.
That means the ruling turns on process, not on whether the city could ever regulate short-term rentals through a properly enacted zoning ordinance or whether any specific property owner has established vested rights.
The litigation traces back to two lawsuits filed in October and November 2025 by Wayzata homeowners seeking relief in district court. Those cases were later consolidated, according to the court’s background summary.
For Wayzata, the ruling is a significant setback in its effort to end short-term rentals through the ordinance adopted last year. For the plaintiffs, it is a clear win on the legal theory that the city changed the rules on land use without using the procedures Minnesota law requires for zoning changes.
Whether the city appeals, restarts the process, or takes another approach to regulating short-term rentals is likely to determine the next chapter in a debate that has already drawn close attention from property owners and city officials alike.
WAYZATA — The City Council paused during its public forum this month to recognize the service of Graciela Gonzalez, whose resignation from the Charter Commission marks the close of more than two decades of involvement across some of Wayzata’s most influential boards.
Mayor Andrew Mullin noted that Gonzalez is among a small group of residents who can say they’ve served across four different commissions — including the Heritage Preservation Board, Planning Commission, Park and Trails Board, and most recently the Charter Commission. Her tenure stretched across multiple terms beginning in the early 2000s.
“In her 30 years of living here, Graciela spent more than 20 of them serving her community,” Mullin said. “Your influence and presence on our community has been felt over those two decades.”
Mullin described Gonzalez as a consistent presence in council chambers and a “steadfast advisor” on a wide range of initiatives, adding that her departure will be felt.
“We’re sad to see you leave Wayzata,” he said. “You’ve been a fixture here.”
He also pointed to a piece of local history Gonzalez recently shared — a Lakeshore Weekly clipping from 2001 documenting her initial appointment — noting that even at that time, others like Kent Howe and Judy Starkey stepped aside to make room for her service, a reflection of the regard she held in the community.
When invited to speak, Gonzalez kept her remarks brief, focusing less on her own tenure and more on encouraging others to get involved.
“It’s been a privilege and an honor to serve Wayzata over those many years,” she said. “I would just encourage anybody to step up and apply for a board or a commission — it’s a wonderful opportunity to make a difference.”
She added a simple reminder that underscored her years of civic involvement:
“We live here, and we should care about what happens.”
Gonzalez is relocating to a warmer climate, closing a chapter of service that spanned more than 20 years and left a lasting imprint on the city’s boards, commissions, and civic life.
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