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Planning Commission - 09/22/1997 AGENDA EDEN PRAIRIE PLANNING COMMISSION ,onday, September 22, 1997 7:00 p.m. COMMISSION MEMBERS: Beverly Alexander,Kenneth E. Clinton,Randy Foote,Bill Habicht, Ismail Ismail,Douglas Sandstad, Mary Jane Wissner STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE: Jessica Lind STAFF MEMBER: Scott A. Kipp, Senior Planner I. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE--ROLL CALL II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA III. MINUTES IV. CONTINUED PUBLIC HEARINGS A. BEST BUY CAMPUS CONCEPT PLAN - 1997 by Best Buy. Request for PUD Concept Amendment on 47.45 acres. Location: 7575 Flying Cloud Drive. B. VILLAS AT PURGATORY CREEK by Hartford Capital. Request for Rezoning from Rural to R1-13.5 on 9.8 acres and Preliminary Plat of 9.8 acres into 15 lots. Location: Sunnybrook Road. V. PUBLIC MEETING VI. MEMBERS' REPORTS VII. CONTINUING BUSINESS VIII. NEW BUSINESS IX. PLANNERS' REPORTS X. ADJOURNMENT APPROVED MINUTES CITY OF EDEN PRAIRIE PLANNING COMMISSION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1997 7:00 P.M. CITY CENTER Council Chambers 8080 Mitchell Road COMMISSION MEMBERS: Beverly Alexander, Kenneth E. Clinton, Randy Foote, Bill Habicht, Ismail Ismail, Douglas Sandstad,Mary Jane Wissner STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE: Jessica Lind STAFF LIAISON: Scott Kipp,Senior Planner; Elinda Bahley, Recording Secretary MEMBERS ABSENT: Douglas Sandstad,Jessica Lind I. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE-ROLL CALL Chair Clinton called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Foote moved,seconded by Habicht,to approve the agenda as published. Motion carried 6-0. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Wissner made a correction under Approval of Minutes. The third sentence should read...Wissner stated she felt legally there is nothing that can be addressed but would support the project in order to move it through the process. Foote made a correction under Approval of Minutes. The sixth sentence should read... Foote said page 9, seventh paragraph, a second sentence should be added to read... He said because of the building's uniqueness,it would be difficult to be used for any other purpose. MOTION: Wissner moved, seconded by Foote, to approve the minutes of the September 8, 1997 Eden Prairie Planning Commission meeting as amended. Motion carried 5-0-1 with one abstention by Clinton. Planning Commission Minutes September 22, 1997 IV. CONTINUED PUBLIC HEARINGS A. BEST BUY CAMPUS CONCEPT PLAN- 1997 by Best Buy. Request for PUD Concept Amendment on 47.45 acres. Location: 7575 Flying Cloud Drive. Kipp explained at the last meeting Best Buy was prepared to present a plan that reduced wetland alteration down to 2.66 acres. Discussion did take place on that but because of a failure on the part of the delivering of the packet,the Commission could not take action and felt they needed a continuance so the project could be further reviewed. At that time, staff recommended additional wetland reduction to take place. Since that meeting,Best Buy has revised the plans again. Dave Clark,architect,reviewed the changes made to the concept plan and the wetland mitigation plan. The wetland alteration has been reduced down to 1.4 acres. A secondary roadway was proposed to handle the truck traffic and to keep it away from the parking lot area as not to interfere with pedestrians walking. This roadway will also enable the neighbors adjoining the site a simple route with no conflicts. A wetlands and landscape consultant has been consulted to enhance the plantings in the • wetland areas and encroachment areas. They are cooperating with City staff to revise the landscape plan to put in things that are more suitable to the natural wetland environment. Best Buy has met with Southwest Metro Transit to create a traffic management plan and a traffic coordinator has been appointed to work with Southwest Metro to work on that plan. Debra Brodsho of Brodsho Consulting, wetlands consultant, reviewed the plan created to enhance the natural plantings in the wetlands area. There will also be a teaching environment created around the remaining wetlands. This effort will include trails and educational kiosks around the wetlands, and reinforcement, through plantings, of the various wetland zones that exist around the site. There are a lot of future opportunities available there such as a gazebo or a deck. Clark said they are still mitigating at 4:1 ratio as opposed to 2:1 and have been approved by DNR and the Corp. of Engineers. Best Buy feels the green space and the ballfields are important to the company in that location. They would downsize the future building size on the site first and keep that area open. Ismail was concerned about the off site mitigation in Winthrop. Clark said Winthrop was about 70 miles west and explained why it was not feasible doing it on site. If they attempt to do on site mitigation in an area that doesn't have sufficient water flow through it, it will not have sufficient growth. The wetland provided in Winthrop has to be inspected and approved by the government agencies for the next three years. 2 Planning Commission Minutes September 22, 1997 Kipp indicated the September 5 staff report recommended that the wetland alteration be reduced from 2.66 acres to 1.4 acres. One option to achieve this included using the tennis court and some additional upland areas for parking. Best Buy has chosen to reduce the building square footage rather than upset the ballfields and other recreational areas on the property. Plans have been provided to reduce the wetland alteration from 2.6 acres to 1.39 acres. The future building size has been reduced by an additional 20,000 square feet from 90,000 to 70,000 square feet. The overall parking has been reduced from 2,313 spaced to 2,064 spaces. One NURP pond has been removed from the wetland. Staff recommended approval of the plan. Clinton was concerned about the impact of the traffic. Kipp said the original staff report had a traffic analysis which determined this proposal would be generating less trips than it would with industrial land use. Therefore,it is meeting what the City has already established or set aside for that site for traffic generation. He added that Best Buy is pursuing Traffic Demand Management opportunities to help reduce peak hour traffic impacts. The public hearing was opened. • Wissner commented Best Buy has shown a good example of corporate citizenship. The project looks very nice and will be good for the community. She supported the project. MOTION 1: Wissner moved, seconded by Alexander,to close the public hearing. Motion carried 6-0. MOTION 2: Wissner moved, seconded by Alexander, to recommend to the City Council approval of the request of Best Buy for PUD Concept Amendment on 47.45 acres based on plans dated September 18, 1997 and subject to the recommendations of the Staff Report dated September 19, 1997. Motion carried 6-0. A continued Public Hearing B. VILLAS AT PURGATORY CREEK by Hartford Capital. Request for Rezoning from Rural to R1-13.5 on 9.8 acres and Preliminary Plat of 9.8 acres into 15 lots. Location: Sunnybrook Road. Kipp explained as with the last project, due to the late packet delivery at the last meeting,the Commission listened to the discussion on the project and did continue it until tonight to let the Commission further review the plans. 3 Planning Commission Minutes September 22, 1997 Bill Griffith,representing the developer,said there was an issue about a maple tree on Lot 5 at the last meeting. Stu Fox,the City Forester, and Perry Ryan looked at that issue since that time and they indicated it would not be feasible. He presented a drawing of what it would look like if the road was jogged back 75 feet and explained why it would not work. He said they had spoken with Mr.Fox in which he indicated it would be very difficult to grade anywhere around the tree without killing it because of its size and significant root system that comes out from the tree. The tree is significant but the tradeoff doesn't give the tree a higher survival opportunity. Griffith said ultimately, when you balance that against the development and the lot layout, you end up loosing about two to three home sites to save a 36 inch tree. However,the tree loss on the site is similar and consistent with projects in the creek corridor. Foote was concerned about soil corrections. Perry Ryan, Ryan Engineering, commented at this stage of development they would not have soil reports completed and would not get them completed until prior to construction. • Alexander was concerned about the homes being too close to the flood plain area. Griffith said the Watershed District reviews projects for just those kind of concerns but they do have to have the development site with the lowest elevation two feet about the 100-year flood level. The fill is 42 percent of what could be placed in the floodplain according to the Watershed District. This project is below other projects in terms of fill in the flood plain that has been approved in Eden Prairie. This project has been designed variance free and the flood plain issue is something that would be addressed adequately by the Watershed District. He noted staff has reviewed that issue as well. Kipp commented the proposal is consistent with other proj ects within the Sunnybrook area. The staff report has a comparison table which indicates this project is consistent with other projects. The shoreland ordinance has been met and the project does not require any variances. Staff recommended approval of the project. Wissner was concerned about the legal aspect if there should be a water problem after the project has been approved or is it just a, "buyer beware"type of situation. Kipp said if all issues are met, including Watershed review and approval, the property should not have a problem. Foote asked if the City would be responsible if there was a catastrophic flood and one of the homes did have a water problem. Kipp said he didn't know but the Federal Emergency Management Agency has flood maps to determine if it's within a certain 4 Planning Commission Minutes September 22, 1997 flood zone, for flood insurance. Foote said he was hesitant putting the City in any kind of financial risk. Kipp said he would follow up on it. Alexander said the wetland limit is very close to where the homes will be on Lots 3 and 4. She suggested a legal clause in the documents saying if there is a flooding problem in the future the City is in no way liable. Kipp said he can't answer that question. He noted that the Developer's Agreement for the project will control house pad locations according to the pads shown in the plans. Clinton asked about Outlot A. Griffith said the developer has agreed to dedicate Outlot A,which is about 2.7 acres,to the City,and another additional 3/4 of an acre is going to be covered by a conservation easement to protect the wetland. Approximately one-third of this site will be controlled by the City after the development. Habicht asked if they looked at the building pad on Lot 2. Griffith said they did. There are some significant trees on the edge of the wetlands and pulling Lot 2 up will effect the wetlands area and will require cutting additional trees. The drainage pattern would also be changed in this area. All of these issues were taken into account and it appeared that this is still the best location for that house pad. Habicht asked if on Lot 3,the area of the lot between the two wetland areas,will be within the conservation easement. Griffith said it could be and was a good suggestion. They did not propose it but there is no reason to keep it outside the conservation easement. The Public Hearing was opened. Bob Claus, 12491 Sunnybrook Road,noted he lives to the east of the development. He emphasized that he was looking forward to nice new homes over there and new families moving in with children. His question was if everything is in Code and there are no variances,does that absolutely make it 100 percent guaranteed it's a good plan. Lot 5 in Block 1 just drives all those other houses back into the flood plain more and creates more fill. Lot 3 in Block 2 is so close to the wetlands and he didn't see a need for a house there. Lot 3 sort of squeezes in so Lot 2 has to be inconsistently jetted out from the rest of the development. Griffith said there was no reason to altering configurations of Lots 2 and 3. That is something more typically done if there were a series of significant tradeoffs but they are coming within the framework that the City has created for developments of this type. 5 Planning Commission Minutes September 22, 1997 Thomas Lapic,3557 Tara Lane,Woodbury,commented his address used to be 12655 Sunnybrook Road and he is one of the owners of the conforming duplex. It seems significant that not only is this development in spirit with the Comprehensive Plan,it's absolutely within the letter. There are no exceptions, no waivers, no mitigating circumstances. The plan is clean and he stands to gain from this development. He's Lot 8 and he and his wife will be moving back to Eden Prairie and building on that lot. He said the maple tree had been shading his picnic table for many years. He doesn't want to see it go but he will not loose site of the fact it's going to remain a tree area. He encouraged the Commission to approve this project. Cindy Wersal, 12645 Sunnybrook Road, noted their horses graze down in the wetland. They don't want their horses grazing in two feet of water and that's not the kind of wetland it is. This is not a swamp wetland. This is a low land that occasionally gets wet when there's been a lot of rain. Their horses are down there all the time and there isn't a problem with it. Gerry Wersal, 12645 Sunnybrook Road, commented the particular finger of wetland going up into Lot 3 and encroaching on Lot 2 is a very similar type of wetland. A majority of the time it's a dry wetland but go out on a day like today you would probably see some water. It's important to him to look at this whole wetland and flood plain area in context with what they're looking at this year. They are told this year they are not only experiencing the 100-year flood circumstance, but they are experiencing the 500-year circumstance. They are experiencing the same thing along Purgatory Creek, as along the Mississippi and the Minnesota River. To say they are not effected by such major floods would be incorrect. He expressed great concern about the Post Construction. The backyards of another project built on Sunnybrook Road 24 months ago are now wetlands. Lee Smith, 12500 Sunnybrook Road, was concerned about the Post Construction. The very first project built on Sunnybrook Road had trouble. Her other concern is the flood plain because there is no stopping people who have the flood plain in their backyard from altering it. They are taking out vegetation and altering it to the way they want it to be. They moved there in 1967 and the sewer came through shortly after about 1971. They have to stop playing around in there. Foote commented this is not the way he would lay out this development. Lot 5 is basically unsellable in some respect but it will sell. The City has set precedents before approving property with flood plain fill. That's part of the problem where you can't say no to the next developer. The project has no variances and meets all the Comprehensive Guide Plan rules. 6 Planning Commission Minutes September 22, 1997 Wissner said a lot of people like to overlook wetlands which definitely gives them privacy so there should be no problem with that lot. They have done a good job and she supported the project. Habicht commented the developer has played within the rules. He felt the Commission has to support it. He was comfortable with this project within the spectrum of other projects of this nature. He supported the project. Alexander said since the project does meet requirements and is not asking for any waivers,the Commission should support it. Clinton stated if the project meets all requirements and there are no complications with what the City Code requires,then the Commission should support it. Foote said even though he didn't think the layout was the best it could be,it does meet requirements and the Comprehensive Guide Plan rules. He supported the project. MOTION 1: Alexander moved, seconded by Habicht,to close the public hearing. Motion carried 6-0. MOTION 2: Alexander moved, seconded by Habicht, to recommend to the City Council approval of the request of Hartford Capital for Rezoning from Rural to R1- 13.5 on 9.8 acres based on plans dated September 2, 1997 and subject to the recommendation of the Staff Report dated September 5, 1997. Motion carried 6-0. MOTION 3: Alexander moved, seconded by Habicht, to recommend to the City Council approval of the request of Hartford Capital for Preliminary Plat of 9.8 acres into 15 lots based on plans dated September 2, 1997 and subject to the recommendations of the Staff Report dated September 5, 1997. Motion carried 6-0. V. PUBLIC MEETING None. VI. MEMBERS' REPORTS Wissner commented there have been three murders in Eden Prairie on business sites in the last few months. There will be a workshop on October 8, 1997 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.at the Capital building. The workshop will have speakers who will help companies to create a plan to go in effect if this should happen in the workplace. It will show them how to deal with the media,with the police, etc. This is a workshop 7 Planning Commission Minutes September 22, 1997 to deal with any negativity in the workplace. She also suggested doing a workshop regarding wetland issues to educate people about it. VII. CONTINUING BUSINESS None. VIII. NEW BUSINESS None. IX. PLANNER'S REPORT Kipp said there are no projects for the October 13 meeting. X. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Ismail moved, seconded by Foote, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 6-0. The meeting adjourned at 8:25 p.m. 8