City Council - 03/01/2005 - Workshop APPROVED MINUTES
EDEN PRAIRIE CITY COUNCIL/PLANNING COMMISSION WORKSHOP
OPEN FORUM/OPEN PODIUM
TUESDAY, MARCH 1, 2005 CITY CENTER
5:00—6:25 PM, HERITAGE ROOM II
6:30—7:00 PM, COUNCIL CHAMBER
CITY COUNCIL:
Mayor Nancy Tyra-Lukens, Councilmembers Brad Aho, Sherry Butcher, Ron Case, and Philip
Young
PLANNING COMMISSION:
Ken Brooks, Larry Kacher, Vicki Koenig, Kathy Nelson, Peter Rocheford, Fred Seymour, Ray
Stoelting, Jon Stoltz
CITY STAFF:
City Manager Scott Neal, Police Chief Dan Carlson, Fire Chief George Esbensen, Public Works
Director Eugene Dietz, Parks and Recreation Director Bob Lambert, Community Development
Director Janet Jeremiah, Communications Manager Pat Brink, City Assessor Steve Sinell,
Economic Development Director David Lindahl, City Planner Mike Franzen, Assistant to the
City Manager Michael Barone, City Attorney Ric Rosow, and Recorder Lorene McWaters
Police Chief Dan Carlson was not present. Deputy Chief Rob Reynolds was in attendance.
Heritage Room H
I. MAJOR CENTER AREA STUDY
Community Development Director Janet Jeremiah introduced several members of the
consultant team working with the Major Center Area (MCA) Task Force on the MCA
study —Barry Warner, Marie Cote and Jodi Geise of SRF Consulting, Inc., and Greg
Ingraham of Ingraham& Associates.
The MCA is a 1,200-acre area in and around the Prairie Center Drive and Valley View
"ring roads." Last fall, the Council appointed a task force to make a comprehensive
study of this area. There have been two Task Force meetings, and the consultants
updated Council on their work on this study to date and asked for feedback from the
Council and Planning Board.
The consultants reviewed current trends in the MCA, including land use and transit
trends. Some of the key findings include:
Parking is the primary land use in the MCA, with parking covering 65% of the private
land area.
Many newer developments incorporate mixed uses in a compact area
While the MCA has fairly good road access, it is not logical or intuitive
Other transportation challenges include traffic signals along main roadways that are
not coordinated; short roadway segments connection to the mall's internal ring road;
and lack of linear roadways creates high turning volumes
The consultants also reviewed results of the Task Force Priorities Questionnaire. These
results indicate that, according to the Task Force, the preferred land uses are civic and
community uses and parks, trails and open space. In addition, the Task Force would like
to see pedestrian connections strengthened and upgraded streetscape appearance. They
would also like to see improved signage to aid in wayfinding from highways and
directional signage on local streets. Overall their vision is of an MCA that is a compact
and walkable central district.
Barry Warner said he believes assessed land values in the MCA will continue to rise and
will be a key driver of change within the area. He asked Council and the Planning Board
for feedback on the direction of the study to date.
Mayor Tyra-Lukens asked why it looks like there is a movement away from a corporate
office concept in subarea 7, when it was originally guided commercial. Warner said that
it has a significant residential component now, and resident sensitivity to any
development in this area will be a factor in the direction the area takes. He agreed that a
corporate identity office use would be a logical use for this area, if it wasn't already
largely residential.
Planning Board Member Larry Kacher said he appreciates all the work staff, the
consultants, and task force members have done on this study. He asked if overall design
guidelines or principles to be used in decision making will be developed as a result of the
study. Warner said this depends on how the City wishes to proceed. There are differing
views on expected outcomes for the study and those issues will be ironed out in
upcoming meetings. Jeremiah said the current plan calls for overall concept alternatives
to be developed and then presented at the next task force meeting and a community open
house. Input from the public will be used by the task force to craft a final alternative.
There would then be another community open house and subsequent task force meeting.
Creation of guidelines will depend on how much the City wants to regulate development.
They could decide to let market forces drive the direction. Jeremiah said she is sensitive
to the fact that the Planning Commission is considering development proposals for the
MCA on a continual basis and that decisions may be made that don't fit with the task
force's final recommendations.
Parks Director Bob Lambert said he forsees one of the main challenges being in subarea
2 in regard to implementing changes in land use. Community Development Director
Janet Jeremiah pointed out that City staff are also undertaking a strategic process for
economic and housing development, which will include the GTA.
Councilmember Butcher asked how the subareas of the GTA will be integrated into a
cohesive district. Warner said the outer ring roads need wayfinding devices and
streetscaping to help identify the area. Jeremiah said Richard Lang from Visual
Communications will be coming into the process to help with these issues.
Mayor Tyra-Lukens said she wonders if the City is biting off more than it can chew with
this large of a study area. She asked if perhaps we should be focusing on a smaller area.
Planning Board Member Fred Seymour asked if there will be any integration of this study
with the GTA study. Jeremiah said subarea 9 is the overlap zone between the GTA and
the MCA. The main area of mutual concern is LRT.
Council Chamber
II. OPEN FORUM
Resident John Mallo addressed council about his concerns regarding the flying of the flag
on City property.
III. OPEN PODIUM
IV. ADJOURNMENT