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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council - 10/05/1999 - Workshop APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP TUESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1999 5:00-6:55 PM CITY CENTER TRAINING ROOM CITY COUNCIL: Mayor Jean Harris, Councilmembers Sherry Butcher-Younghans, Ronald Case, Ross Thorfinnson, Jr., and Nancy Tyra-Lukens CITY STAFF: City Manager Chris Enger, Financial Services Director Don Uram, Public Safety Services Director Jim Clark, Parks & Recreation Services Director Bob Lambert, Public Works Services Director Eugene Dietz, Management Services Director Natalie Swaggert, Manager of Housing and Redevelopment David Lindahl, and Council Recorder Peggy Rasmussen I. CALL MEETING TO ORDER—MAYOR JEAN HARRIS Mayor Jean Harris called the meeting to order at 5:40 p.m. H. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Tyra-Lukens moved, seconded by Butcher-Younghans, to approve the agenda as published. Motion carried 5-0. III. TRAFFI_C DEMAND MANAGEMENT (LAND USE/TRANSPORTATION— GOLDEN TRIANGLE) Enger referenced the first Traffic Demand Management (TDM) Workshop discussion several months ago. Staff recently had a detailed discussion on TDM in the Golden Triangle area. Thorfhmson emphasized the necessity of moving ahead with a traffic plan, especially in the commercial and industrial areas. Thorfinnson said Mayor Harris, Enger and he met with Best Buy representatives to discuss the traffic situation. The strongest tool the City can use is to provide good access to the highways surrounding the Golden Triangle—494, 62, 212 and 169. The I-494 Corridor Commission is working with Eden Prairie, the Metropolitan Council, MnDOT and transportation providers to develop a two-year demonstration project to test various TDM strategies and related TSM improvements within the Golden Triangle area. The demonstration will reduce peak hour traffic congestion by combining the use of existing and new TDM incentives with HOV infrastructure improvements. Lindahl showed a map of the TDM demonstration area in the Golden Triangle. He said it is an opportunity to tie major infrastructure improvement projects to TDM, and he described eight potential projects. They included five improvements conceived as part of COUNCIL WORKSHOP MINUTES October 5, 1999 Page 2 the demonstration project, including three HOV "slip ramps" that would provide access to the surrounding highways, as well as other improvements identified in Mn/DOT's layout plans and EIS for the reconstruction of I-494. The HOV ramps should provide an incentive for people to carpool in order to save time waiting at the other ramps. MnDOT has agreed to the concept of this plan, and they are looking for funds to carry out their portion of it. With regard to land use, a mix of high-density residential, office and commercial is preferred for future development. This mixed use would reduce the number of vehicles coming and going from the area. Developers could build more floor area if they don't generate more traffic or parking. Any housing built in the Golden Triangle would likely be absorbed by employees working in the area. Enger said City Staff needs support from the Council for the mixed-use concept, which he called "urban villages." He also asked for support and direction on the proposal for high-density residential, which would mean 30-40 units per acre and may require approval of building heights beyond the City's ordinance. Lindahl added that the price of land makes high-density necessary. Lindahl showed a template of a proposed TDM plan and said so far the City has been very successful in asking businesses to provide a plan and someone to coordinate it with their tenants. Lindahl said Eden Prairie doesn't want to mandate TDM plans, as is done in some States,but does want to give businesses incentives to develop plans. Thorfinnson said the I-494 Corridor Commission is in the process of identifying major tasks to carry out the goals of the demonstration project and assigning different agencies to handle each of them. They have been talking to the partners in the commission, and also talking to Southwest Metro and Metro Commuter Services. Lindahl added that City Staff is hoping to meet just once with key people in the businesses located in the Golden Triangle, with the message that we are all part of the problem and hope they will assist with the solution. Enger said the City has an ordinance that requires a minimum number of parking spaces. In order to reduce the amount of traffic, the City could go in the opposite direction by setting a maximum number of parking spaces. Thorfinnson pointed out such an ordinance might discourage developers from building in Eden Prairie and put it at a competitive disadvantage to other suburbs that don't have such a requirement. He suggested that the City have guidelines for developers rather than an ordinance. Case said it may be time to look at how many cars are generated by each five-acre parcel of land, and this may encourage high-density residential development. Enger suggested that people living in "urban villages"might park in high-capacity vehicle parking ramps, and this would be an incentive to developers. Butcher-Younghans suggested it would be advantageous for the City to market this idea to certain developers instead of waiting for the developers to come to the City. Lindahl said developers could be told this is the kind of approach the city is taking and suggest high-density housing to them. COUNCIL WORKSHOP MINUTES October 5, 1999 Page 3 Mayor Harris asked Staff to follow up on these concepts and see if they can develop incentives, as well as developing a viable base for both citizens and commercial interests. This demonstration project plan shows there are an array of options for addressing traffic problems. Thorfinmon said this demonstration project provides an opportunity to not only address some of the traffic problems but also enhance tax revenues through mixed-use development. Thorfinnson referenced the recent decision by MnDOT to drop the southwest metro project from its 2000-2002 Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP). This project would add a third lane in each direction on I-494, between Highway 212 and Highway 100. It was originally scheduled to be let in the fall of 2001, but was pushed into 2004. As late as August 9 it was still in the plan, and Thorfinnson said there was no communication from MnDOT to the affected agencies informing them the plan had been dropped from the 2000-2002 TIP. Since then, the Met Council said it would accept MnDOT's TIP if MnDOT agrees to let the bid for this project in July 2002. The Met Council received a letter from the State's Transportation Commissioner agreeing to this. Thorfi mson said this proved to be a good opportunity to show how cities can cooperate to fight this type of action. It pushed the need for improvements on I-494 to the forefront of discussion about transportation. There are now a lot of people thinking about the 494 corridor and about solutions to the problems. Ted Mondale, Chair of the Met Council, said he supports using Met Council funds for the Golden Triangle demonstration project. Mayor Harris congratulated Thorfinnson for his work in pushing for the 494 project. A letter has been received from the Transportation Commissioner confirming the date of July 2002 for letting this project. IV. OTHER BUSINESS V. COUNCIL FORUM VI. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Harris adjourned the meeting at 6:55 p.m.