Loading...
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. PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES May 10, 2021 Page 2 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 PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES May 10, 2021 Page 3 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, PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES May 10, 2021 Page 4 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.