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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBoard of Adjustments and Appeals - 03/12/1992 ,APPROVED MIlM71ESS BOARD OF APPEALS AND AD�[ls'IIy@TTS THURSDAY, March 12, 1992 7:30 P.M. City Hall Council Chambers, 7600 Executive Drive, Eden Prairie, MN 55344 BOARD OF APPEALS S: Harvey (chairman)., Freemyer,, Wilkus, Akemann, Anderson, Weeks, Argue STAFF PRESENT: Jean Johnson, Planning Sharon Storholm, Recording Secr'y BOARD MEMBW ABSENT: None I. CALL TO ORDER--nOLL CALL--PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Chairman Harvey called the meeting to order at 7 :30 P.M. Roll call was taken as noted above. II. -SWEARING IN OF DON ARGUE Don Argue read the oath for installation of members on the Board of Appeals and Adjustments. Anderson and Weeks witnessed the document. III ELECTION OF OFFICERS Item moved to end of meeting. IV. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Anderson moved that the Board approve the agenda as submitted. Freemyer seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. V. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 13, 1992 MEETING Weeks noted that on page two, the discussion noted after the motion had occurred before the motion. MOTION: Anderson moved that the Board approve the minutes as amended. Freemyer seconded the motion and it . passed unanimously, with Wilkus abstaining. 2 VI VARIANCES Request #92-004. submitted by Normark Corporation for property located at 7765 Golden A. Triangle Drive, Eden Prairie Minnesota The request is for a variance from City Code Chapter 11. (1) Section 11 03 Subdivision 3-Table 3 to permit: a side yard setback of 10 feet/both sides 30 feet (Code requires a 20 foot setback/40 feet both sides): (2) Section 11.50., Subdivision 6. D. 5 (b), (1) to permit a minimum lot size of 3.7 acres (Code requires 5 acres for Industrial)• (3) to permit a minimum setback from the Ordinary High Water Mark of 70 feet (Code requires 150 feet); (4) Subdivision 7 B to permit a structure 32 feet in height (Code limits structures to 30 feet in Shoreland areas: and C. to permit 51 7% impervious surface (Code allows 30% impervious surface Dan Russ came forward to present the variance request . He said his company, Hoyt , is here this evening to represent Normark Corporation. Up to this point , the request has been approved by the Park and Recreation Dept , Planning Commission, and City Council . The building is a single tenant building proposed by Normark Corp- oration, which deals in fishing and hunting equipment. This building would be the United States headquarters. The world headquarters is located in Finland. He indicated the location in Technology Park at 77th and Golden Triangle Drive. The build- ing footprint is 38,000 square feet. It will be a two story build- ing with office element on the west and portions of the south sides. The remainder of the building is to be used for warehouse and dis- tribution purposes . Containers will come in on semi trucks and shipments will go out daily via UPS. They are requesting four variances this evening. Jerry Floyden came forward and noted that the site is difficult because of the hill . The level goes from 835 to 882 to 940 at the top. In addition, the site was made smaller by donation of a natural preserve area to the City of Eden Prairie and also an outlot donation. The building will be cut into the hillside and the back of the building will be a retaining wall . There will be dirt against the back of the building and the rear of the building will be barely visible. They have a permit form the Corps of Engineers for filling less than 10,000 feet of wetland. No permit is needed from the DNR. There is a 10' setback variance required on the back of the hill . Since there is a natural preserve area to the north, there will never be anything built in that area. Floyden indicated the location of the retaining walls on the drawing and also pointed out a storm water pond--the purpose of which will be to treat storm water from the parking lot, building and storm pipe. The parking will be employee parking and semis will access through Technology Seven property. There will be no traffic around the building. As far as the setback from the creek, there are actually two centers of creeks---the old channel meanders and the new one is man made in a half moon type. The actual location of the building is about the same in both locations. • Russ said that item 4, regarding the 32 ' high structure, was due to the fact that they did not want to add more fill in the area and exceed the DNR regulations. Regarding the 51 . 7% impervious surface request , they had donated the preserve land, but did not 3 • get the tax deduction. This reduced the parcel to 3 . 7 acres. The impervious surface is higher than code allows, but it is 24% if the donated land is taken into consideration. Truck traffic will enter from the north--an area that is well screened with berms, trees and evergreens to hide the trucks . The hardship in this instance is that there is no slope to run the driveway around, but they would like to protect the creek corridor and maintain minimum truck traffic on Golden Triangle Drive. They will be replacing 738 caliper inches of trees . The exterior elevation of the building will be burnished block finished with copper on the domes. There will be windows on the creek corridor and east side. It will be an attractive project for a sensitive site . Johnson said that the proponent had covered the background well . Included in the packet are the minutes from the Planning Dept as well as the Park and Recreation discussion on the project . The shape of the lot has changed over the years. In previous proposals, there were variances also, but with this request , there are fewer parking stalls. Two other aerial half sections are available for review if necessary. The Planning Commission and the Park and Recreation and Council approved the project . She confirmed that the area was presently zoned as office use at 27 , 700 square feet. Freemyer had questions on the sodding and parking lot drainage. • Russ said the natural vegetation will not be mowed. Floyden noted that the overflow areas will have mats for protection. Freemyer asked how close the earth was to the roof of the building in the rear area. Floyden said that there will be a fence installed for protection from potential problems. Russ said that the rear area needs to be addressed also as an insurance issue. The fencing will be necessary and they are addressing the problem. Wilkus had questions on parking. Floyden answered that there are two retaining walls. They do not want to take all the trees out . The retaining wall will be of Keystone and about 4 ' high. The truck docks easement has been granted. Weeks asked if there were issues with the Watershed and Corps of Engineers . Floyden answered that the Watershed deals with the storm water detention pond and the Corps of Engineers deals with the wetland issue. 4 • Weeks asked if pipes would be coming into the pond from other buildings. Floyden answered that there was. He believed that there are easements for that. Harvey asked about the fact that there were 82 spaces required and they were only asking for 67 . Floyden answered that there were only 30 employees. Harvey asked Floyden to confirm that fact that trucks will be coming in from Valley View or Washington Drive. Floyden answered yes, that would be the case. Harvey asked how many feet the pond was located from the side _. property lifie. Floyden answered the distance was 10' . Harvey noted that in 1987 , Nine Mile Creek flooded. Will the retaining pond prevent that from happening again? Floyden answered that the pond is a treatment pond--not a storm water retention pond. It is 10' deep. It would be covered in a • 100 year flood. Johnson noted that in some instances, it is regtnred to dredge ponds to maintain depth. Harvey asked what the lowest elevation of the building was that was above the high water mark. Floyden answered that it is 20' above the high water mark at 855 ' . Harvey asked about a silt fence. Floyden answered that it is the edge of the DNR protected waters. Harvey asked about the location of the snow fence. Floyden answered that it is pretty close to the property line. Harvey asked why grading was 60' beyond the property line. Floyden answered that it was for the safety of the workers. Harvey asked about fill for the area. Russ answered that the fill will be imported and will be brought in on Golden Triangle Drive. It will take one week or less. • Harvey asked about the closest point of the building to the creek. 5 • Russ answered that the distance was 70' at the closest point to the center of the creek. Harvey said that he had difficulty with the impervious surface issue. Russ noted that in 1986, there was 7.8 acres when the building was proposed. Then, there would have been 24% coverage. It seems that• they gave up the donated land too early at no benefit. Harvey said that there still would have been a 32 acre buildable site. Weeks asked about drainage tile. Russ answered that there would be drainage tile,but the design was not completed yet for the wall . Weeks asked about the run off from the hill . Floyden answered that the amount has been calculated according to the size of the pond. Akemann asked about drainage from the pond. Floyden answered that the depth and the slope of the pond help prevent algae. There will be water running in from two directions • to keep the water circulating. Harvey asked about the exit from the pond. Floyden answered that there was a submerged outlet pipe that led into a man made area. Akemann asked if there were any building doors in the pond area. Floyden answered that there were no doors in the corner near the pond, but there were loading docks further back. There are large willows that will stay in the pond area. Argue asked what the approximate surface area of the pond was . Floyden answered that it was about 10,000 sq. ft. Argue said that it seemed to have adequate run off. MOTION: Weeks moved that the Board approve variance request 92-004 finding the lot ' s shape and topography as hardships. Further finding the Normark project is not a significant change from previous approvals. Such approval shall be subject to final City Council approval and Watershed approval as suggested by Freemyer and accepted by Weeks. The conditions in the Staff Report • on pages 6-7 shall be abided by (6 conditions) . Anderson seconded the motion and it passed 6-1 with Harvey opposed. Harvey noted that his opposition was based on the impervious surface issue and the fact that there could be drainage problems on the site. 6 • VII. ELECTION OF OFFICERS A. CHAIRPERSON MOTION: Akemann nominated Harvey for the position of. Chairperson. Freemyer seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. B. VICE CHAIRPERSON MOTION: Anderson nominated Akemann for the position of Vice Chairperson. Akemann declined the nomination. MOTION: Akemann nominated Weeks for the position of Vice Chairperson. Freemyer seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously. C. SECRETARY MOTION: Freemyer nominated Anderson for the position of Secretary. Anderson declined the nomination. MOTION:Freemyer nominated Wilkus for the position of Secretary. Anderson seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. •VIII OLD BUSINESS Liquor Store Akemann asked on the status of the liquor store in Eden Prairie and the location proposed for it. Johnson answered that a lease in the Rainbow center had been agreed upon. New Testament Church Akemann asked about the lighting on the New Testament Church and the vehicles parked there. Johnson answered that four vehicles had been moved out. Since it has been foggy, it has been hard to judge the intensity. Argue agreed that the lighting there has been very bright. Helle Property Harvey noted that there were to be trees planted on the property to screen the mechanical there. He had not noticed any trees. • April 7th City Council Meeting with Board The meeting will be at 6: 30 on April 7th. Items suggested for discussion were: 7 • 1 . Weeks suggested signage be discussed. There needs to be a re-evaluation of the placement , elevation and residential area issues. 2 . Freemyer suggested reviewing the issue of lot splits and also he felt that some elements of the sign code were too restrictive-- such as double faced signs . Johnson noted that code has been changed regarding double faced signs . 3 . Akemann noted that in some cases, the wiring in signs is exposed. 4 . Weeks suggested the discussion of broad base issues, such as City Council concerns versus the Boards concerns on variances. Anderson felt that the variance discussed and granted this evening would be an example of one which would have been granted even if it were denied by the Board. Johnson noted that variances need to be granted on hardship issues and not trade offs. Freemyer noted the lot across from Rainbow center will be a car lot. The signage allowed there is very visible. • Johnson noted that other car dealers are already inquiring into more signage . Signage along freeways should be discussed. 5 . Weeks felt that there needs to be a better understanding between City Council ' s goals and Board' s goals. One other issue is moving of houses. Harvey suggested the revision of financial guarantees. 6 . Weeks suggested the discussion of environmental issues such as motor boats and recycling. 7 . Freemyer noted that the issue of hardship should be addressed. Do both groups have the same understanding of the word "hardship"? Even the Council needs to identify the hardship. Harvey noted that the Board is not an advisory board, but a decision making board. IX. NEW BUSINESS Harvey welcomed Argue to the Board. Argue explained that he had lived in Eden Prairie since June of 85 . He is employed at North Central Bible College. • The Board members introduced themselves to Argue . Johnson noted that next month there are two requests: Central Middle • 8 School and Opus Corporation. The Planning Dept is considering a size up of signage for temporary purposes . Anderson noted that she will not be at the next meeting. Akemann noted that on Valley View Road near the Super Valu entrance, the beavers have leveled the trees near the pond. X. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Anderson moved that the Board adjourn. Akemann seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. Meeting adjourned at 9 : 12 P.M. • ',I