HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council - 07/01/1997 APPROVED MINUTES
EDEN PRAIRIE CITY COUNCIL
TUESDAY, DULY 19 1997 7:30 PM, CITY CENTER
Council Chamber
8080 Mitchell Road
CITY COUNCIL: Mayor Jean Harris, Sherry Butcher-Younghans,
Ronald Case, Ross Thorfinnson, Jr., and Nancy
Tyra-Lukens
CITY COUNCIL STAFF: City Manager Carl J. Jullie, Assistant City
Manager Chris Enger, Director of Parks,
Recreation &Natural Resources Bob Lambert,
Director of Public Works Eugene Dietz, City
Attorney Roger Pauly, and Council Recorder
Jan Nelson
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
ROLL CALL
Councilmember Thorfinnson was absent.
I. APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND OTHER ITEMS OF BUSINESS
Case added item XI.A.1. Suggestion for Next Quarterly City Newsletter and item
XI.A.2. Water Surcharge. Tyra-Lukens added item XI.A.3. Discussion of Noice
Ordinance. Jullie said City Attorney Pauly wants to meet with the Council in Closed
Session following adjournment of the regular meeting.
MOTION: Case moved, seconded by Tyra-Lukens, to approve the Agenda as
published and amended. Motion carried 4-0.
II. OPEN PODIUM
Lori Helling, Manager of Recreation Services, displayed the shirt the Recreation
Department has designed as part of the celebration of July as National Parks and
Recreation month. The shirts will be available to residents for a reasonable price.
III. MINUTES
A. CITY COUNCIL/STAFF WORKSHOP HELD TUESDAY, DUNE 17. 1997
MOTION: Butcher-Younghans moved, seconded by Case, to approve as
published the Minutes of the City Council/Staff Workshop held Tuesday, June
17, 1997. Motion carried 4-0.
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B. CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD TUESDAY, JUNE 17, 1997
Butcher-Younghans said sentence 1, paragraph 1, page 7 should be changed to
"Griffith noted the shoreland ordinance maintains certain things such as
prohibiting them from removing brush closer than 75 feet to the lake."
MOTION: Tyra-Lukens moved, seconded by Case, to approve as published
and amended the Minutes of the City Council Meeting held Tuesday, June 17,
1997. Motion carried 4-0.
IV. CONSENT CALENDAR
A. CLERK'S LICENSE LIST
B. RESOLUTION 97-119 APPROVING FINAL PLAT OF EXTENDED STAY
AMERICA (located at the Southwest Quadrant of Valley View Road and
Office Ridge Center)
C. RESOLUTION 97-120 APPROVING FINAL PLAT OF THE BLUFF AT
RIVERVIEW 2ND ADDITION Qocated South of Riverview Road and West
of Concord Drive)
D. APPROVE CHANGE ORDER NO. 1 FOR PARKS/PUBLIC WORKS
MAINTENANCE FACILITY
E. APPROVE CHANGE ORDER NO. 1 FOR MIGHTY DUCKS PROJECT
F. RESOLUTION 97-121 AMENDING FEE RESOLUTION NO. 97-1 FOR
FEES AND CHARGES FOR MUNICIPAL SERVICES
G. LAKE CORPORATE CENTER by Moen Leuer Construction. 2nd Reading
of Ordinance 31-97-PUD-21-97 for PUD District Review on 8.64 acres and
Zoning District Amendment on 8.64 acres, Adopt Resolution 97-122 for Site
Plan Review on 8.64 acres and Approval of a Developer's Agreement for Lake
Corporate Center for Moen Leuer Construction. Location: Wallace Road.
(Ordinance 31-97-PUD-21-97 for PUD District Review and Zoning District
Amendment and Resolution 97-122 for Site Plan Review)
MOTION: Tyra-Lukens moved, seconded by Butcher-Younghans, to approve
items A-G on the Consent Calendar. Motion carried 4-0.
V. PUBLIC HEARINGS/MEETINGS
A. EDENVALE FAMHLY HOUSING by Jim Deanovic. Request for
Comprehensive Guide Plan Change from Office to Medium Density Residential
on 3.3 acres and High Density Residential on 2.8 acres, Planned Unit
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Development Concept Review on 6.3 acres, Planned Unit Development District
Review on 6.3 acres, Zoning District Change from Community Commercial to
RM-6.5 on 3.3 acres and RM-2.5 on 2.8 acres, Site Plan Review on 6.3 acres
and Preliminary Plat of 6.3 acres into 2 lots. Location: Mitchell Road and
Valley View Road. (Resolution 97-123 for Comprehensive Guide Plan
Change, Resolution 97-124 for PUD Concept Review, Ordinance for PUD
District Review and Zoning District Change and Resolution 97-125 for
Preliminary Plat)
Jullie said the official notice of this Public Hearing was published on June 19,
1997 in the Eden Prairie News and mailed to 35 property owners. The project
includes a 32-unit family rental housing proposal and a 52-unit assisted living
services building. The developer of the family housing has applied for CDBG
and TIF funds to help offset land costs and lower rents. The CDBG and TIF
Plan will be before the Council for consideration on August 5. The 32-unit
rental proposal will help the city meet its livable community goals for 1997.
Jim Deanovic, developer, and Gary Tushie, architect, reviewed the project.
Enger said the Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval of the
Guide Plan Change and PUD Concept Review for the project at its June 9, 1997
meeting, and voted unanimously to recommend approval of the PUD District
Review, Rezoning, Site Plan Review and Preliminary Plat for the project at its
June 23, 1997 meeting, subject to the recommendations of the Staff Report of
June 20, 1997.
Enger said this is a housing proposal on a commercially-zoned site. The site was
chosen because most of our affordable housing and assisted living projects are
located between residential and commercial land, and this site has not been
particularly attractive to commercial development, primarily because of limited
access to the site.
Due to the relatively early meeting date for this Council meeting, Enger said the
Parks, Recreation& Natural Resources Commission has not yet reviewed the
project. There are issues regarding the trail connections, the tot lot and the area
of tree mass vegetation on the project that the Parks Commission will be
reviewing. He suggested the Council refer the item to the Parks Commission
with the understanding that Parks staff and the developer should revisit the
landscaping plan at the perimeter of the site and other areas on the site where
existing tree mass might be saved, and report back at Second Reading with a
revised landscaping plan..
Enger then reviewed the financing tools that will be used for the project.
Harris asked if the Staff recommendation includes revisiting the landscaping
issue. Enger said that was correct.
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Tyra-Lukens was happy to hear there is an attempt to save the tree mass. She
likes the project because it fulfills a need we have in the community. She was
concerned with the right-in/right-out turn on Mitchell Road and the traffic
problems we might have if people make U-turns. She asked if they reviewed
the traffic volumes for this as compared to a commercial project. Enger said the
traffic volumes from this project are extremely low--200 or fewer average daily
trips. An office project could generate many times that traffic volume. There is
no full access to the property so a commercial use for it has not developed.
Jeff Strate, 15021 Summer Hill, said he is a member of the Edenvale-Glenshire
Conservancy Group, and they would like to participate in any landscaping
discussions with the developer. He received phone calls from other members
about not losing the second growth softwood. Because of the revenue problems
in the City, he would like the Council to consider the impact of rezoning
commercial land since we make much more in taxes from commercial
development.
Michael Rush, 16907 Hanover Lane, asked if an analysis has been done as to
the incremental costs of rezoning the property. There is CDBG and TIF
funding involved as well as rezoning costs, and he wanted to know the net cost
of rezoning this property.
Enger said this project is part of an overall strategy for affordable housing in the
community. He said it is expensive to go from a commercial property to a
subsidized property; however, this has been sitting as an undeveloped
commercial property for many years. He said it would be easier to provide
affordable housing within residential areas but that has not been proven to be a
viable thing to do. They are left with sites that are at the fringe like this one
that are more expensive to develop.
Rush thought we should have a dollar figure of what the real cost is. Tyra-
Lukens noted this is not totally a financial issue as we get pressure from the Met
Council about affordable housing goals. Harris said we are trying to meet the
housing needs of an increasingly diverse population in the City, and we also
have an aging population in the City.
Rush thought we should have a very clear picture of the trade-off costs. Case
thought we need numbers as we look at the entire City, but he did not want to
get stuck on what this one will cost. He thought we are doing this as we look at
the southwest quadrant and see how many homes we need to build in order to
pay for the costs there.
Enger said if the City made its decision on land use only, the answer would be
homes by commercial/industrial property and the worst answer would be large-
lot, single-family development. In the Comprehensive Guide Plan the City has
looked at taxes as a major component but not the main component. We have
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one of the healthiest balances of commercial/industrial property in the
metropolitan area.
Rush again asked that when we make these decisions, we find out what the
trade-off is. Enger said Staff will provide the numbers at 2nd Reading.
MOTION: Butcher-Younghans moved, seconded by Tyra-Lukens, to close the
Public Hearing. Motion carried 4-0.
Case said he appreciated what will be looked at with the landscaping, but, as
was directed by the Tree Preservation Task Force, property with tree mass
should always have that taken into consideration. He was frustrated that this is
a project where the tree mass concept applies, and people will see these 20-30
year old trees leveled. He would like to see us discuss the issue of peripheral
tree mass and try to keep the tree mass somewhat perceptually intact. He
thought it would not take much to shift two buildings in so that some islands of
the tree mass could be retained. He thought this is a great opportunity to model
what came out of the Tree Preservation Task Force. He encouraged staff to see
if everything along the west side of the property along Mitchell Road could be
saved.
MOTION: Tyra-Lukens moved, seconded by Butcher-Younghans, to adopt
Resolution 97-123 for Comprehensive Guide Plan Change from Office to
Medium Density Residential on 3.3 acres and High Density Residential on 2.8
acres; to adopt Resolution 97-124 for PUD Concept Review on 6.3 acres; to
adopt Resolution 97-125 for Preliminary Plat of 6.3 acres into 2 lots; to approve
1st Reading of the Ordinance for PUD District Review on 6.3 acres and Zoning
District Change from Community Commercial to RM-6.5 on 3.3 acres and RM-
2.5 on 2.8 acres; and to direct Staff to prepare a Development Agreement
incorporating Commission and Staff recommendations and directing the Parks
Commission and Staff to review the landscaping issues and to consider the
discussion at tonight's meeting regarding the tree mass issue. Motion carried
4-0.
Harris complimented the proponent on a thoughtfully designed project that
addresses the needs of our growing community.
B. NATIONAL TIRE AND BATTERY by Sears. Request for PUD Concept
Amendment on 15 acres, PUD District Review on 1.15 acres, Zoning District
Amendment in the C-Reg-Ser District on 1.15 acres, and Site Plan Review on
1.15 acres. Location: Eden Road and Hwy. 212. (Resolution 97-126 for PUD
Concept Amendment, Ordinance for PUD District Review and Zoning
District Amendment)
Jullie said the official notice of this Public Hearing was published on June 19,
1997 in the Eden Prairie News and mailed to 16 property owners. This project
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will be replacing the existing Hardee's building. The proposal is consistent with
the design philosophy used for other car care projects where a combination of
building jogs, recessed service doors, and metal canopy designs provide
architectural compatibility and minimise views to the service doors. He said
proponent is requesting early issuance of a demolition permit to remove the
existing building. This action would help the construction schedule for a late
fall opening.
Lawrence Levenson, representing Sears, reviewed the project.
Enger said the Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval of
this project at its June 9, 1997 meeting, subject to the recommendations of the
Staff Report of June 6, 1997. He reviewed the recommendations in the Staff
Report. The Parks, Recreation& Natural Resources Commission did not
review this project.
There were no comments from the audience.
MOTION: Case moved, seconded by Butcher-Younghans, to close the Public
Hearing; to adopt Resolution 97-126 for PUD Concept Amendment on 15 acres;
to approve 1st Reading of the Ordinance for PUD District Review on 1.15 acres
and Zoning District Amendment in the C-Reg-Ser District on 1.15 acres; and to
direct Staff to prepare a Development Agreement incorporating Commission and
Staff recommendations. Motion carried 4-0.
C. BEST BUY CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS EXPANSION 1997 by Best
Buy. Request for PUD Concept Amendment on 28.46 acres, PUD District
Review on 28.46 acres, Zoning District Change from Rural to I-2 Park on 1
acre, Site Plan Review on 28.46 acres and Preliminary Plat of 28.46 acres into 1
lot. Location: Flying Cloud Drive. (Resolution 97-127 for PUD Concept
Amendment, Ordinance for PUD District Review and Zoning District
Change and Resolution 97-128 for Preliminary Plat)
Jullie said the official notice of this Public Hearing was published in the Eden
Prairie News on June 19, 1997 and sent to 10 property owners. The proposal is
to add 110 parking spaces divided in three areas on site. This is to
accommodate approximately 76 cars that are currently parking in existing drive
aisles and temporarily at the Wooddale Church. A total of 1,098 parking stalls
are on site. With the additional parking stalls, a total of 1,204 spaces will be
available. The proposed additional parking will require removal of the private
tennis court, however, the ballfield will remain. These recreational facilities
were not required as part of the original development. The development was
subject to cash park fees.
In the absence of proponent, Enger reviewed the project.
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Enger said the Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval of
this project at its June 9, 1997 meeting, subject to the recommendations of the
Staff Report of June 6, 1997. The Parks Commission did not review this
project.
There were no comments from the audience.
MOTION: Butcher-Younghans moved, seconded by Case, to close the Public
Hearing; to adopt Resolution 97-127 for PUD Concept Amendment on 28.46
acres; to adopt Resolution 97-128 for Preliminary Plat of 28.46 acres into 1 lot;
to approve 1st Reading of the Ordinance for PUD District Review on 28.46
acres and Zoning District Change from Rural to I-2 Park on 1 acre; and to
direct Staff to prepare a Development Agreement incorporating Commission and
Staff recommendations. Motion carried 4-0.
VI. PAYMENT OF CLAIMS
MOTION: Case moved, seconded by Tyra-Lukens, to approve the Payment of Claims
as submitted. Motion carried on a roll call vote, with Butcher-Younghans, Case,
Tyra-Lukens and Harris voting "aye."
VII. ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS
VHI. PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS
IX. REPORTS OF ADVISORY BOARDS & COMMISSIONS
A. SOUTHWEST METRO TRANSIT COMMISSION (Councilmember Nancy
Tyra-Lukens)
Tyra-Lukens reported that all three communities have voted to levy the transit
tax within the community. She reviewed the progress of the circulator route,
noting it was a necessary addition because the Telebus was very heavily used
and could not add additional riders. They have had some problems with people
who have a hard time getting from the Telebus to the circulator. They are
meeting with the staff of all three cities as well as other groups to arrive at
solutions to the problems.
X. APPOINTMENTS
XI. REPORTS OF OFFICERS
A. REPORTS OF COUNCILMEMBERS
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1. Suggestion for Next Ouarterl City Newsletter
Case said he has received calls from residents about progress on the
Staring Lake playground, the Dayton store and the completion of the
intersection at Anderson Lakes Parkway and Hwy 169. He suggested we
use the City newsletter to provide a summary of things like that going on
in the City in order to keep people abreast of events and schedules.
2. Water Surcharge
Case thanked the Water Department staff for the statistics and asked that
we be updated on those. When we approved this, he understood we
were trying to sensitize people to their water usage. He thought we
should revisit this in October or November because he was not sure it
was our intention that over 50% of the residents would receive some
type of surcharge. He thought another issue is whether it does exactly
what we want it to in terms of fairness. Because the bill is based on
different amounts of usage during the winter, people are being charged
differently for the same usage in the summer. He would like to sit down
with all the data and address some of the questions and see if it is doing
what we want it to do. He encouraged residents to call so we can
understand the effect of the ordinance.
3. Discussion of Noise Ordinance
Tyra-Lukens received a call from a resident concerned about car radios
and boom boxes. She asked staff to report back on how to determine the
extent of the problem and what options we might have.
B. REPORT OF CITY MANAGER
C. REPORT OF DIRECTOR OF PARKS, RECREATION & NATURAL
RESOURCES
D. REPORT OF DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT
1. GROWTH STRATEGIES FOR THE SOUTHWEST AREA OF
EDEN PRAIRIE
Enger said staff is returning to the Council with a summary and
recommendation for a growth strategy under existing City policies for
the southwest quadrant. This is an outgrowth of the joint meeting with
the Planning Commission earlier this year.
Enger said the Planning Commission recommended approval of the six
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Page 9
basic goals outlined in the Staff Memorandum of June 20, 1997. Staff is
proposing the use of density transfer as a tool in order to provide for a
variety of housing. Reviewing the two scenarios proposed, he said
Scenario 1 would maintain the same percentages of housing balance as
we currently have--43% multi-family and 57% single family. Scenario 2
would include more single-family housing and town houses with no
apartments. The range of density proposed is 1.74 - 1.94 units per acre,
both of which are within the gross density provided for in the ordinance.
Case would like to see the figures used to arrive at the tax revenues
generated by the two scenarios. Enger said Staff can provide those;
however, he suggested the Council adopt the recommendations as a
range. Case said he would like to see the numbers if a project with a
higher density than expected is proposed so that we could know another
goal on the list has been met. Enger said Staff would be able to provide
that information.
Harris said that, while this is not a Public Hearing, she would allow
members of the audience to speak.
Jeff Strate, 15012 Summer Hill, urged Council and staff to consider a
different way to go about working out the ultimate plan for this. He
thought the Council should involve more of the small landowners in that
area and more of the entire community in order to deal with this
proactively. This is an extremely important area, and there is no place
along the Minnesota River that has as great a view. Part of the area is
next to the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge. He thought
there was too much housing in the plans.
Paul Olson, 8899 Flescher, said this project will change the entire
dynamics and culture of Eden Prairie. He thought we are dealing with
an issue that the Council is obligated to include the citizens in. This is a
huge tract of very sensitive land. He thought we need to look at a lot of
things, and the critical issue is that this is a project that needs the citizens
to be alerted and he didn't think that has occurred.
Michael Rush, 16907 Hanover Lane, was concerned there are no
priorities and no parameters for success or failure against a hidden
objective. He thought there was very little public debate on these
objectives. He has not seen any indication of what the policies and
objectives are. He thought such a big decision deserves a big debate.
He thought the range should go from building nothing to building at an
extremely high density. We should be creative and try to serve as many
of the objectives as possible.
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Butcher-Younghans noted this is a beginning discussion about a plan,
and this is the first time the Council has seen it. She liked a lot of what
she saw. She liked the fact that it keeps the land forms as she believes
that section is very important historically and culturally. She thought we
need to be very careful about what areas we save. The area has many
burial mounds, and we need to preserve the bluff crests. We also need
to keep the land configurations such as Miller Springs and Spring Road.
She would like to see the historic sites mapped out and placed on top of
this map. She thought we should ask any developers to do a Phase 1
archaeological survey on any land that is to be developed, so that we
really understand what kind of cultural impact we might have on that
area.
Tyra-Lukens thought it would be very helpful to see an overlay of the
historical sites. It would also be nice to see the tree masses laid out.
Enger said the joint workshop meeting with the Planning Commission
occurred as a culmination of a number of difficult land use reviews. The
Commission had some difficulty during that time with controversial
projects. They asked for clarification and direction for the rest of the
development of large areas in the City. He said public debate has been
part of the regular activities. The recommendations do not include any
changes to the Comprehensive Guide Plan. It calls for low density
residential development with parks and open spaces. This is a
continuation of the planning and development of Eden Prairie. We have
discussed these as goals and direction to give staff, developers and
property owners as to the strategy for implementing the Comprehensive
Guide Plan.
Enger said the charts shown are meant to help visualize the different type
of housing and are not plans, master plans or concept plans. He noted
this is not the end of the process, nor is it the beginning.
Harris thought the interpretation of this is as a general conceptual
framework to show what might happen in the southwest section that is
now available for development. She thought this brings us back to
whether those six basic goals are to be validated. She could not think of
six better goals, and she would urge the Council to give staff direction to
pursue the range of options.
Case could see us adopting the goals as a skeletal framework within
which projects will come in and be reviewed. He saw this as an opening
in the process, subject to review as we go along. He didn't know how to
pull in the community before there is a specific project.
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MOTION: Case moved, seconded by Butcher-Younghans, to direct
Staff to pursue the growth strategy for southwest Eden Prairie by
adopting Scenario 1 and 2 as a target range as per the Staff report of
June 20, 1997. Motion carried 4-0.
E. REPORT OF DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS
1. APPROVE SALE OF CITY PROPERTY TO MINNESOTA
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Q"DOTI FOR TH 212
RIGHT-OF-WAY
Referring to the Staff Report of July 1, 1997, Dietz noted we have been
in negotiations with MNDoT for the sale of these four City-owned
parcels for a long time. We have agreed to the numbers for all four
sites, but there are some timing issues yet to be resolved on two of the
parcels.
MOTION: Butcher-Younghans moved, seconded by Case, to adopt
Resolution 97-129 Authorizing Sale of Well No. 1 and a portion of the
former Police Station site to the Minnesota Department of
Transportation for right-of-way purposes to construct Highway 212.
Motion carried 4-0.
F. REPORT OF CITY ATTORNEY
Presented in Closed Session following adjournment.
XII. OTHER BUSINESS
XIII. ADJOURNMENT
MOTION: Tyra-Lukens moved, seconded by Butcher-Younghans, to adjourn the
meeting. Motion carried 4-0. Mayor Harris adjourned the meeting to a Closed
Session with the City Attorney at 9:15 p.m.