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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council - 09/19/2017 - Workshop APPROVED MINUTES CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP AND OPEN PODIUM TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2017 CITY CENTER 5:00—6:25 PM, HERITAGE ROOMS 6:30—7:00 PM, COUNCIL CHAMBER CITY COUNCIL: Mayor Nancy Tyra-Lukens, Council Members Brad Aho, Sherry Butcher Wickstrom, Kathy Nelson, and Ron Case PLANNING COMMISSION: John Kirk, Mark Freiberg, and Travis Wuttke CITY STAFF: City Manager Rick Getschow, Police Lieutenant Bill Wyffels, Public Works Director Robert Ellis, Community Development Director Janet Jeremiah, Parks and Recreation Director Jay Lotthammer, Communications Manager Joyce Lorenz, City Attorney Ric Rosow, City Planner Julie Klima, City Engineer Rod Rue, and Recorder Cynthia Harder GUESTS: John Houseal, Nick Davis, and Shawn Tapia, Houseal Lavigne Associates Workshop - Heritage Rooms I and H(5:30) I. ASPIRE EDEN PRAIRIE 2040 Mayor Tyra-Lukens called the workshop to order at 5:34 p.m. The City Council, City staff, Planning Commission Members, and the Houseal Lavigne team introduced themselves. Julie Klima, City Planner, thanked everyone for the time to speak about the Aspire Eden Prairie 2040 plan. She said team members from Houseal Lavigne have been helping with community outreach and will be writing content for the Aspire Eden Prairie 2040 plan. John Houseal from Houseal Lavigne said his team has been coordinating with City staff and departments to gather community input through interviews, in-person focus groups, and online surveys. They are before the group to provide an update on where they are and where they are headed with regards to the plan. His team has been finishing up on the community outreach research and is on the verge of starting to write content. They visited Eden Prairie again to meet with stakeholders and the focus groups they had met with in the past to get their feedback one more time in order to make sure the plan is going in the right direction. Houseal commented they have reviewed a consolidation of all the focus group feedback, data collected in the past, and what has been done by the City in the past. He announced preliminary goals and objectives have been delivered to City staff for review, along with additional plan direction and an initial land use plan so his presentation at the workshop is based on the working draft form. Houseal stated the plan will likely include ten chapters, including Eden Prairie Today, a summary of market assessment and a statement of the purpose and intent of the plan; Eden Prairie Tomorrow, a review of the plan's vision, goals, and objectives; Land Use City Council Workshop Minutes September 19, 2017 Page 2 and Development, a very important piece of comprehensive plans examining areas of stability and areas of change; Economic Competitiveness, detailing how to make Eden Prairie a great place to live as well as do business taking into account changing market conditions and government regulations; along with Transportation and Accessibility; Parks, Open Space and Environmental; Housing and Residential; Community Facilities; Water Resources Infrastructure; and Implementation. Houseal noted an executive summary will be provided in the beginning of the document to highlight the purpose and intent of the plan. He noted some goals and objectives may be repeated in multiple chapters and the last chapter, Implementation, will pull ideas from the other chapters. He acknowledged some material may be revised going forward. Changes from the last plan will be pointed out and the reason for the change will be addressed. Houseal said the initial land use mapping plan in under review by City staff as we must be sure to meet Met Council requirements. Met Council does not dictate exactly what cities must do but there are guidelines as to what must be addressed and there are strict requirements regarding housing and residential areas. Aho asked how often Houseal sees such strict requirements. Houseal responded comprehensive planning requirements in other regions generally come from the state-level. He said he believes Met Council's approach for planning at the municipal level is ideal. Houseal classified social equity,heritage preservation, sustainability, and community health as "plan sidebars" and said they would be found throughout the plan's chapters. The idea is to take these quality of life components and sprinkle them into all chapters. Butcher Wickstrom voiced concern of not dedicating a chapter to heritage preservation due in part to the many physical ramifications (buildings, archeological sites, etc.). Case noted he doesn't see heritage preservation tying into some of the other chapters and does not want to lose the value of heritage preservation. Jeremiah agreed it could be beneficial to have a cohesive section on heritage preservation in the Land Use chapter even though it will be a part of other chapters. Butcher Wickstrom said she wants to ensure heritage preservation's presence is not diminished when compared to the City's previous comprehensive plans. Getschow confirmed heritage preservation has not had a dedicated chapter in past plans and in actuality, its presence is being enhanced in the new plan. Houseal said they will investigate if heritage preservation should be its own chapter or if it should be made into a substantial, several page section in many chapters. Many times, they have found heritage preservation cannot be given its due diligence in just one chapter and it has more weight being a part of multiple chapters. Nelson said it is important to assert heritage preservation property is to remain City- owned and is not available for sale. Houseal agreed and noted Nelson's comments were echoed in many of the focus groups. Heritage preservation is a big part of Eden Prairie and he confirmed its importance will not be undersold. Houseal gave a summary of subarea plans, meaning areas in the City more susceptible to change and need more detailed planning analysis. Subareas identified included the Crosstown industrial area, Martin Drive, the landfill, and the Southwest neighborhood City Council Workshop Minutes September 19, 2017 Page 3 commercial areas. The landfill's subarea plan was done by the Pollution Control Agency (PCA) and after extensive outreach, it was determined the Southwest neighborhood was not in favor of adding commercial to the area. In the end, Houseal's team focused on Crosstown industrial and Martin Drive. Houseal believed Crosstown industrial businesses couldn't be better located because they are functional and accessible but not on land usable for redevelopment as residential or office buildings. Industrial areas are valuable to the City and have a limited amount of incremental development. When interviewing these businesses, it was found many want to do little things to improve their property but are hesitant because of zoning requirements. There is opportunity to work with these businesses to encourage upkeep of buildings. Short-term and long-term vision for the area will be detailed in the plan and it was noted through talking with the businesses, there is a desire for sidewalks in this area which is something for the CIP list. Martin Drive is also an industrial business and transportation hub. The part of this subarea with one-story office buildings has potential for future residential or mixed-use due to accessibility and highway visibility. There are currently no sidewalks; sidewalks and intersection improvements are a priority along with better connection to the bike trail and better parking options. Zoning, long-term vision, and landscaping options for the Martin Drive subarea will be addressed in the plan. Nelson asked why review of the Golden Triangle was not included. Jeremiah noted many other studies were done on the Golden Triangle area and recommendations will be included in the Land Use plan instead of in a subarea plan. Nelson asked if proposals for new buildings are considering resilience and energy components to ensure the buildings are maintained well. Houseal commented he reviewed design guidelines from Sustainable Eden Prairie with staff and they will pull those guidelines into the Aspire Eden Prairie 2040 plan. Tyra-Lukens hypothesized if members of a focus group are very passionate about one particular issue, at what point does their zeal get tamed down? Houseal said focus group participants are aware their feedback will not automatically have a home in the plan. He said his team will determine what merits attention by weighing comprehensive research against feedback from resident focus groups so important issues are addressed, nuances get included, and things to be considered are addressed as considerations as opposed to recommendations. The Mayor thanked the Houseal Lavigne team for their presentation. Next, Klima gave a presentation on the MUSA (Metropolitan Urban Service Areas) boundary. She explained the current MUSA line on the west side of the City is circuitous, following a topo line instead of property lines as it does on the other side of town. She said the line bisects properties and raises questions as to what is developable. There is limited development potential for land outside the MUSA. There are homes located outside of the MUSA on septic and well which raises an environmental concern. Klima said as infrastructure gets extended, there may be services for homes outside the MUSA. City Council Workshop Minutes September 19, 2017 Page 4 Klima said staff has analyzed the west side of the MUSA line. There are approximately 77 acres in total below of the MUSA; 28 acres are no touch, 31 acres are steep slope, and 17 acres is neither steep slope nor bluff. Nelson asked if the MUSA line's purpose was originally to halt expansion of cities. Klima said the MUSA was last examined in the late 1990s and appears to have been used as a tool to preserve natural areas as well as allow for some development. Staff is currently proposing a swap as part of Aspire Eden Prairie 2040 to exchange areas with development opportunity on the west side for City-owned areas without development opportunity on the east side of town. Case stated the Council has a lot of history of protecting the bluff and he would want more information as to exactly what land is being considered for a swap. Getschow confirmed this consideration of a MUSA line swap includes the same land discussed in previous workshops. Butcher Wickstrom pointed out the area being discussed has many cultural resources. Case suggested separating the MUSA line discussion from the Aspire Eden Prairie 2040 discussion. Nelson said she wants to protect the bluff, steep slope and floodplains but she is concerned about older homes with septic tanks that may begin dripping down into the river and bluffs. She would like to see these homes have sewer and water access. Case said he would like to talk more about this. Getschow explained the MUSA line was brought up as a self-driven discussion topic. It can be separated from the Aspire Eden Prairie 2040 plan and a future workshop can be devoted for further discussion. Open Podium - Council Chamber (6:30) II. OPEN PODIUM III. ADJOURNMENT