Planning Commission - 05/10/2021APPROVED MINUTES
EDEN PRAIRIE PLANNING COMMISSION
MONDAY, MAY 10, 2021 7:00 PM—CITY CENTER
Council Chambers
8080 Mitchell Road
COMMISSION MEMBERS: John Kirk, Ann Higgins, Andrew Pieper, Ed Farr,
Michael DeSanctis, Rachel Markos, Carole Mette,
William Gooding, Robert Taylor
CITY STAFF: Julie Klima, City Planner; Matt Bourne, Manager of
Parks and Natural Resources; Rod Rue, City Engineer
I. CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER
Chair Pieper called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE – ROLL CALL
Absent were commission members Mette, Kirk and Gooding.
III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
MOTION: Higgins moved, seconded by DeSanctis to approve the agenda. MOTION
CARRIED 6-0.
IV. MINUTES
MOTION: Taylor moved, seconded by Farr to approve the minutes of April 12, 2021.
MOTION CARRIED 6-0.
V. PUBLIC HEARINGS
CODE AMENDMENT FOR PARKING
Request for:
Amend City Code Chapter 11 relating to parking stall and aisle size
Amend City Code Chapter 11 relating to multifamily parking
requirements
Klima displayed a PowerPoint and presented the staff report. This was a two-fold
request: parking stall and aisle size, and specific parking requirements for multi-
family housing. The 90-degree parking stalls would decrease from 19 feet in
depth to 18 feet. The drive aisles would decrease from 25 feet in width to 24 feet.
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All other size and dimension requirements would remain the same. This had been
a routine request of developments.
Multi-family parking requirements would change from two parking stalls for
every unit, with one enclosed, to providing an exception to allow for one stall per
efficiency/studio unit. Senior housing parking requirements would also change to
one stall per unit for independent/active senior living, plus one-half stall, and one
stall per four beds plus one space for employee for skilled nursing housing. Half
of all stalls would continue to be enclosed. Klima displayed the differences in the
number of stalls required under the current and the proposed codes. Staff
recommended approval.
Farr asked how adaptive reuse of senior living facilities could affect these parking
changes. In the future, he added, the use of single-occupant vehicles might not
dominate our culture. Higgins replied it was difficult to project future changes but
agreed the nature of transportation could fundamentally change. DeSanctis stated
in the short run, larger vehicles such as Metro Mobility shuttles, et cetera, might
not be as well accommodated by these changes, but he too agreed there might be a
decreased need for vehicles while a need for multi-family units would increase.
He added how this would impact scooters and bicycles was unknown. Klima
replied bicycles and scooters might be accommodated, as the City was working to
encourage those. Farr noted designated parking spaces for bicycles and scooters
was a very popular accommodation in southern states which did not have as much
snow and cold as the northern states. Pieper noted this change was in line with
previously approved waivers. Markos added the reduction of pavement was a
sustainable concept for the future.
MOTION: Higgins moved, seconded by Markos to close the public hearing.
MOTION CARRIED 6-0.
MOTION: Farr moved, seconded by Higgins to recommend approval of the
Code Amendment for Parking based on information in the staff report dated May
10, 2021. MOTION CARRIED 6-0.
CODE AMENDMENT FOR GROUP USABLE OPEN SPACE
Request for:
Amend City Code Chapter 11 relating to group usable open space
Klima presented the staff report. This would bring the Code into alignment with
development trends and patterns in Eden Prairie, and apply it consistently.
Currently an average 210 square feet per unit has been provided in recent
developments, both indoor and outdoor. Staff looked at neighboring communities
to get an average percentage of area set aside for this use. This would be changed
to 150 square feet of group usable open space per unit, a little bit below the
average of neighboring communities, who were facing a similar struggle to meet
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usable open space requirements. Also, the definition of “usable open space”
would be revised to be clearer and more consistent. Staff recommended approval.
MOTION: Farr moved, seconded by DeSanctis to close the public hearing.
MOTION CARRIED 6-0.
Farr suggesting for the City to find some ways to incentivize rooftop open space
in new developments. He also suggested 250 square feet as a base, with this
dropped to 150 square feet if a rooftop open space was designed. Higgins
concurred but said she could not envision how this would be implemented.
Markos echoed Farr’s idea and asked if other communities provided rooftop
amenities. Klima replied Bloomington required 300 square feet of usable open
space per unit, but a 400-square foot universally accessible rooftop space could
count for up to 50 percent of the required open space. Staff could go back and
take a look at how this would have impacted past projects, and/or commission
members could add this to its recommendation to the City Council. Such a
requirement could also be communicated through the PUD process, but Klima
understood Farr’s suggestion to intend this requirement to be discussed earlier in
the development process.
Taylor commended Farr’s suggestion, and asked what incentives would look like.
Farr replied it would be a reduction in ground-level open space to 150 per unit
with bonus points for developers who went “above and beyond.” It could also
take other forms, such as the City’s requirements on low-environmental-impact
building materials. His suggestions were merely the “germ of an idea” to
minimize the City’s carbon footprint. Klima reiterated this applied to multi-family
zoned districts, and other zoned areas had their own requirements. Farr added
most developers might not spend the extra dollars to create a roof to
accommodate a rooftop usable space, but he could not know that. Amenities such
as open space were in high demand, and they might be more amenable on
buildings taller than three stories. He was trying to be proactive but would not
make it a condition of approval. He thanked the commission members for
considering his ideas. Pieper asked if garden areas would be included. Farr stated
his idea was to allow the developers to use as much as the land as needed for
parking and the building footprint. An open space requirement on grade might
take away from that, and from water management, et cetera, whereas most
developers might not consider the rooftop as an asset. The incentive was to
construct an amenity on the rooftop rather than on grade level. Higgins noted an
example of a dense development in Denver, Colorado that provided a private
staircase up to the rooftop garden from each unit, as elevated plant containers
along the units in a creative community experience.
Farr commended staff’s itemizing of both exterior and interior amenities and
urged there to be a blend that worked with Minnesota’s weather changes. Klima
stated staff worked with developers on an individual level to achieve that blend,
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and this conversation about Farr’s concept of utilizing the rooftop was helpful to
staff. Farr gave the example of a dedicated trail for a development that circled a
parking lot and asked if a trail would count as usable open space. Klima replied
this would meet the definition of usable open space and would help the developer
calculate square footage to meet the new Code requirement. Pedestrian facilities
had counted toward usable open space in the past.
MOTION: Farr moved, seconded by DeSanctis to recommend approval of the
Code Amendment for Group Usable Open Space based on information outlined in
the staff report dated May 6, 2021. MOTION CARRIED 6-0.
CODE AMENDMENT FOR GROSS AREA SITE PER DWELLING UNIT
Request for:
Amend City Code Chapter 11 relating to gross area site per dwelling
unit
Klima presented the staff report. This amendment would be struck from the Code
as redundant and inconsistent.
MOTION: Higgins moved, seconded by Taylor to close the public hearing.
MOTION CARRIED 6-0.
MOTION: Higgins moved, seconded by Taylor to recommend approval of the
Code Amendment for Gross Area Site Per Dwelling Unit based on information
outlined in the staff report dated May 6, 2021. MOTION CARRIED 6-0.
PLANNERS’ REPORT
MEMBERS’ REPORTS
VI. ADJOURNMENT
MOTION: Farr moved, seconded by Higgins to adjourn. MOTION CARRIED 6-0.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:51 p.m.