Land Use in Saint Paul

This is how we use vacant lots in Saint Paul, Minnesota:


In case you can't tell, that's a pile of snow (plus grit and sand), about three stories tall at the center. I realize it looks more like a pile of sand or dirt with some snow on top of it, but believe me, it's snow and ice with the grime of winter mixed in, slowly melting now that the weather is turning warmer. I imagine it was most of a story taller at its peak height.

All that snow has to be stored somewhere, I know, but the thing that gets me is where this pile is located.

This vacant lot (which is for sale, as you can see from the commercial real estate sign at center left) is about two blocks from a light rail station and one block from an interstate ramp.

Seems to me there could be a policy in Saint Paul that makes owners of lots like this more eager to sell and less likely to sit on their assets.