Planning Commission - 12/09/2019APPROVED MINUTES
EDEN PRAIRIE PLANNING COMMISSION
MONDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2019 7:00 PM—CITY CENTER
Council Chambers
8080 Mitchell Road
COMMISSION MEMBERS: John Kirk, Charles Weber, Ann Higgins, Andrew
Pieper, Ed Farr, Michael DeSanctis, Christopher
Villarreal, Carole Mette
CITY STAFF: Julie Klima, City Planner; Rod Rue, City Engineer;
Matt Bourne, Parks and Natural Resources Manager;
Kristin Harley, Recording Secretary
I. CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER
Chair Pieper called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE – ROLL CALL
Commission members Higgins, Weber and Villarreal were absent.
III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
MOTION: Kirk moved, seconded by Farr to approve the agenda. MOTION CARRIED
5-0.
IV. MINUTES
MOTION: Farr moved, seconded by DeSanctis to approve the minutes of November 18,
2019. MOTION CARRIED 5-0.
V. PUBLIC HEARINGS
A. CENTRAL MIDDLE SCHOOL (2019-22)
Request for:
Planned Unit Development Concept Review on 57.4 acres
Planned Unit Development District Amendment with Waivers on 57.4
acres
Site Plan Review on 57.4 acres
Preliminary Plat to combine multiple parcels into one lot on 57.4 acres
PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES
December 9, 2019
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Jason Mutzenberger, Director of Services for Eden Prairie School District
introduced architect Michael DeVetter with DeVetter Design Group and Jay
Pomeroy with Anderson, Johnson & Associates, and displayed a PowerPoint to
explain the application. The process began in 2016 with an academic plan that
required facility adjustments. Multiple avenues of feedback were explored and
synthesized into the Designing Pathways initiative which included this site
improvement at a cost of 39.9 million dollars.
DeVetter explained the improvements: additional classroom space, a performing
arts center, and expanded cafeteria and gymnasium spaces. He displayed and
explained the overall floor plan. The white canopy entrance would be removed
and made more secure with a new public entrance. The performing arts center
would be state-of-the-art 700-seat audio-visual space with a control booth and an
orchestra pit. Classrooms would be relocated from the east side to the west side.
The new gymnasium would combine the existing three to accommodate larger
events. Locker rooms would be improved and one added for sixth graders. 26
classrooms would be added with a collaborative space design option along with
traditional classrooms and labs. The cafeteria addition would be 6,000 square feet,
linking the existing separate spaces with improved access to daylight. Long,
unarticulated corridors would be opened up and made more pleasant and
collaborative.
Pomeroy explained the site plan with the bus corral and traffic circulation. More
queuing lane and stacking was needed. The bus corral would be striped to prevent
parking during events and school times. The northern drive linking the two
parking lots would be made a more delineated connection to give parents two
options for egress. The large parking lot to the east would be reconfigured to
allow pedestrians to walk with the traffic and the pedestrian paths would be
highlighted with colored concrete. The western parking lot would be repaved and
given landscaped parking islands. A stormwater infiltration basin and rain garden
would be added and another large infiltration basin would be used for biology
classes. Pomeroy explained the locations of the sports facilities, many of which
would not be moved. A traffic study was being conducted. Not included in this
proposal but still in draft version was the connection between School Road and
Scenic Heights Boulevard. The traffic report would address this.
Phase I would be constructed this summer (bus corral and east half of the site);
Phase II in 2020 with the east-west connection. All construction, with the possible
exception of the arts center, would be complete by August, 2021. Devetter
displayed and explained the existing eastern elevation. A darker, complementary
brick, red brick at the entrance, silver panel would be used to match the district
rebranding. He displayed the color palette and materials samples. The building
articulation would follow the massing. He displayed mock-ups to illustrate the
concept.
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December 9, 2019
Page 3
DeSanctis asked how the southeast security lighting would change. Pomeroy
replied the lighting would be replaced with LED lighting. Devetter assured the
security lighting would not illuminate the parking lot but supply a focused, low-
level illumination. The football field would not be lit; the gymnasium and the
theatre would. DeSanctis noted this had a long construction timeline, but Devetter
noted it was not long considering the complexity of the project. DeSanctis asked
the load limit on Scenic Heights Road. Devetter could not answer but Knutson
Construction would be working with them to follow all load limits.
Farr commended the design. He asked if the drop-off demand was a trend or due
to the sixth grade class and if an incentive to take the bus would be effective.
Mutzenberger replied it was an increase of about a third, and it was due to the
addition of the sixth grade with the pattern remaining the same; no more students
were being dropped off or taking the bus. He agreed bus usage could be
encouraged but did not have a specific strategy. Bus and ride sharing were more
frequent with elementary students, whereas sports and after school activities could
increase parents driving middle students around. Farr asked is the cafeteria was
being expanded and the lunchtime reduced without a kitchen expansion.
Mutzenberger replied all food was prepared at the high school and delivered to
this site, which was geared toward warming food and preparing side dishes. More
students would be served after the redesign. Farr asked what target year this
design was responding to (two years out, ten years out, et cetera). Mutzenberger
replied this was the ten-year improvement plan. Education delivery would not
change; the emphasis on personalized learning would continue with flexible
furniture, facilitated conversations, and collaborative spaces.
Kirk asked for demographic information related to students. Mutzenberger
confirmed that 626-700 student enrollments were projected over the next ten
years. He expected the student body’s number to remain stable. Farr asked about
the visibility from Highway 212. Devetter stated no study was done from
Highway 212 but the sound wall was quite tall and he expected the impact to be
minimal; no logo was planned to go there. Farr asked if there was a two-story
element, and Mutzenberger displayed and explained the clerestory between the
classrooms meant to bring in light, especially to the interior classrooms that did
not have windows. Farr noted the west would be a windy place and encouraged
wind walls using strategic landscaping to cut down on breezes. Mutzenberger
asked for and received clarification the wind would come from the northwest; he
expected the performing arts center to block the winds.
DeSanctis asked if there was a plan to recapture water near the new performing
arts center. Pomeroy explained the landscaped islands with native plants were part
of this plan, and the planned infiltration area to the north was more effective than
putting one in right off the corner of the center. The outdoor performing arts area
was terraced grass and would also help. The applicant was trying to minimize the
amount of pavement, and the semi-circular concrete area outside the west
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December 9, 2019
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entrance would be landscaped. DeSanctis asked what percent of the mature, large-
caliper trees lining the sound wall would be removed. Pomeroy replied very few
would be removed, only along the low north drive, and the applicant tried to
minimize this impact. The trees would be replaced. DeSanctis noted the location
of a peace garden at the west entrance and asked if it would be protected, and
Mutzenberger assured him it would be preserved with no change. DeSanctis asked
if the large caliper trees would be preserved on the embankments on the west side
and the north side of the school pond. The bluff and the pond would remain
untouched.
DeSanctis commended the traffic flow plan at School Road and Scenic Heights
Road and asked if a roundabout was possible and/or the intersection to the north
could not be widened and leveled to allow for a left turning lane. Pomeroy replied
this could be possible; this was a challenging intersection. The intent was to keep
that route as straight as possible while accommodating trucks. The consultant was
working on this and a roundabout was also possible. DeSanctis asked if metal
detectors were being installed. Mutzenberger replied research was done and metal
detectors were not an option for this school district; staffed secure entrances,
corridor lockdown techniques and safety glass would be utilized instead. Those
with an evil intent to enter could not be absolutely prevented but with a trained
staff and the beneficial partnership with the City the district could provide a safe
environment.
Mette suggested pervious pavers in the center of the bus corral and a change to
the northern road. Instead of looping around the entire site, she suggested it meet
with the corral if possible being that the bus stalls were not continuously used.
Pomeroy replied the slope might make pervious pavers ineffective and having a
landscaped island would make the corral too tight. The north connection involved
a great deal of discussion. During the morning the buses merely dropped off
students but they parked there during the afternoon. The intent was not to bisect
any of the buses and exit without impacting any bus staging, stacking or egress.
Mutzenberger added the goal was to allow parents to flow through the site and
exit as easily as possible. This road was presently a fire lane road and allowing
parents to use it as a two-lane road would be a huge improvement. Farr
emphasized the danger of trying to accommodate too many different parties and
urged the district to incentivize parents to utilize district bussing instead of trying
to make it as easy as possible for them to drive children to and from school when
they had to negotiate a hairpin turn. Mette suggested incentivizing the kids to take
the bus, considering they were now learning about sustainability and
environmental concerns.
Klima presented the staff report. The applicant was requesting approval to
remodel and construct several additions at the Central Middle School at 8025
School Road behind the School District’s Administrative Services Center, which
included the Administrative Services Center, the middle school, and outdoor
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athletic facilities. This included approximately 82,000 square feet of additions and
50,000 square feet of remodeling and included the following additions to the
school: theater, gymnasium, cafeteria and classrooms. The property would be
rezoned to public and a preliminary plat request to make it a single lot. The
project would also expand and reconstruct the main entrance on the west side of
the school and create a new secure entrance. Included were a number of site
improvements and changes to the bus drop off area, the parking lot on the west
side of the school and the area where parents drop off students. Waivers included
building height, a front yard parking lot setback, which was an existing condition.
A façade articulation waiver would allow the proposed gymnasium design and the
district did provide 75 percent complementary Class One materials but offered
only two, rather than three different materials, hence the waiver for this. A waiver
for a higher fence around the running track reflected what one saw at other school
facilities and City parks. The final waiver addressed the parking lot islands, which
were usually included in commercial sites. This application included eight to ten
sustainable features. The school district would have to go through the bidding
process, which meant there could be bid alternates in the future. The design
before the commission reflected the current information at this time and any
pending approval would reflect what was intended through this review process.
Staff recommended approval with the conditions, mostly detail items, included in
the staff report.
Kirk asked staff to address the traffic report process. Rue replied with the traffic
study different options were being analyzed, with a stop sign at School Road
being considered. Onsite improvements such as the longer drop off area and the
improved interior circulation would relieve the short term traffic issue on Scenic
Heights Road. The design resulting from the traffic study would be a future
discussion and application. This intersection would be examined during the
Capital Improvement Plan in 2020. Farr noted the shoreland setback combined
some lots and asked how the percentages of pervious surface were tied to this.
Klima stated in 2000 the school district went through a process to receive a
variance to exceed 30 percent of impervious surface for the entire site, so all of
these combined properties did not affect this. Farr asked if the bus radius could be
widened and a landscaping element put in the additional yard space facing
Wallace Road in lieu of parking lot islands.
MOTION: Kirk moved, seconded by DeSanctis to close the public hearing.
MOTION CARRIED 5-0.
Mette commended the architecture and thanked the architects. DeSanctis
commended the consideration of solar panels and the inclusion of natural light.
MOTION: Kirk moved, seconded by Mette to recommend approval for a
Planned Unit Development Concept Review on 57.4 acres; Planned Unit
Development Amendment with waivers on 57.4 acres; Site Plan Review on 57.4
PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES
December 9, 2019
Page 6
acres; and Preliminary Plat to combine multiple parcels into one lot on 57.4 acres
based on Plans stamped dated November 27, 2019 and the staff report dated
December 3, 2019. MOTION CARRIED 5-0.
B. CODE AMENDMENT FOR R1-9.5 SIDE YARD SETBACKS (2019-25)
Request to:
Amend City Code Chapter 11 relating to side yard setbacks in the R1-95
zoning district
Klima explained this was the City’s smallest single family residential district. It
was created in 1982 and lagged behind in creation time compared to other
districts and recognized the need for some smaller lots. The setback requirement
was cumbersome and open to interpretation, so staff requested this language
update for clarity and consistency for equitable application. The proposed code
amendment clarified City expectations, created no non-conformities on existing
R1-9.5 properties, allowed flexibility, and was consistent with recent Planned
Unit Development waiver requests. The goal was to clearly state the minimum
side yard setbacks in R1-9.5 district and to be consistent with the chart display of
side yard setbacks in the R1-44, R1-22 and R1-13.5 zoning districts chart, and to
delete language in Section 11.03, Subdivision 2., A., 8 of which that could be
interpretive in regard to minimum side yard setback.
Farr asked the City’s allowance for backyard service and emergency vehicle
access. Klima replied she was not aware of any concerns; the City had a “healthy”
amount of such properties and there were no issues of access. Rue added most
emergency situations involved easements and he was aware of certain obstacles to
access such as fences, shrubs, trees, grade changes and retaining walls, but he
could recall no problems of access in this case.
MOTION: Mette moved, seconded by Kirk to close the public hearing.
MOTION CARRIED 5-0.
MOTION: DeSanctis moved, seconded by Farr to recommend approval to amend
City Code Chapter 11 regarding side yard setbacks in the R1-9.5 zoning district
based on information in the staff report dated December 4, 2019. MOTION
CARRIED 5-0.
VI. PLANNERS’ REPORT
Klima announced the 2020 Work Plan distributed to the commission would take more of
a proactive approach and had identified City-led initiatives such as a new commissioner
training curriculum in the first quarter, and code amendments in the other quarters
including zoning districts and changes to the zoning ordinance. Staff recommended
approval of the work plan presented to the commission tonight and it would be presented
to the City Council in February, 2020.
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MOTION: Farr moved, seconded by Mette to approve the 2020 Work Plan. MOTION
CARRIED 5-0.
Klima announced the next meeting would be held January 13, 2020 and staff would bring
the training curriculum at that time.
VII. MEMBERS’ REPORTS
Farr noted the performing arts center sign above the Central Middle School’s new center
and suggested naming it after Principal Joe Epping.
VIII. ADJOURNMENT
MOTION: Kirk moved, seconded by DeSanctis to adjourn. MOTION CARRIED 5-0.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:29 p.m.