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Planning Commission - 11/25/1996 AGENDA EDEN PRAIRIE PLANNING COMMISSION Monday,November 25, 1996 7:00 p.m. COMMISSION MEMBERS: Kenneth E. Clinton, Randy Foote, Bill Habicht, Ismail Ismail, Katherine Kardell, Douglas Sandstad, Mary Jane Wissner STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE: Jessica Lind STAFF MEMBERS: Michael Franzen, City Planner Scott A. Kipp, Senior Planner I. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE--ROLL CALL II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA III. MINUTES IV. PUBLIC HEARINGS A. BEARPATH 8TH ADDITION by Ron Clark Construction. Request for PUD Concept Amendment on 2.3 acres of the overall 420 acre Bearpath PUD,PUD District Review on 2.3 acres,Zoning District Change from RM-6.5 to R1-13.5 on 2.3 acres, and Preliminary Plat of 2.3 acres into six single family lots. Location: East of Bearpath Trail South, west of Dell Road and south of Hennepin County Regional Rail Authority. B. EDEN PRAIRIE MALL EXPANSION by General Growth Properties, Inc.. Request for Planned Unit Development Concept Review on 87.13 acres. Location: Eden Prairie Mall at Highway 169 and Prairie Center Drive. V. REVIEW OF TAX INCREMENT FINANCING PLAN VI. MEMBERS' REPORTS VII. CONTINUING BUSINESS VIII. NEW BUSINESS IX. PLANNERS'REPORTS X. ADJOURNMENT APPROVED MINUTES CITY OF EDEN PRAIRIE PLANNING COMMISSION MONDAY,NOVEMBER 25, 1996 7:00 P.M. CITY CENTER Council Chambers 8080 Mitchell Road COMMISSION MEMBERS: Kenneth E. Clinton, Randy Foote, Bill Habicht, Ismail Ismail, Katherine Kardell, Douglas Sandstad,Mary Jane Wissner STAFF MEMBERS: Mike Franzen, City Planner; Al Gray, City Engineer; Chris Enger, City Manager; Elinda Bahley, Recording Secretary 1. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE -ROLL CALL Chair Clinton called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. All members were present. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA • MOTION: Kardell moved, seconded by Foote,to approve the Agenda as published. Motion carried 7-0. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Foote noted on the top of page one the time should be 7:00 p.m. instead of 7:30 p.m. Sandstad stated page 10, fifth paragraph,replace the first sentence with... Sandstad commented he was concerned with roadway construction on certain roads not keeping pace with the population growth of the City. MOTION: Sandstad moved, seconded by Wissner,to approve the Minutes of the November 12, 1996 Planning Commission meeting as amended. Motion carried 6-0- 1 with abstention by Kardell. IV. PUBLIC HEARINGS A. BEARPATH 8TH ADDITION by Ron Clark Construction. Request for PUD Concept Amendment on 2.3 acres of the overall 420 acres Bearpath PUD,PT-JD District Review on 2.3 acres,Zoning District Change from RM- 6.5 to R1-13.5 on 2.3 acres, and Preliminary Plat of 2.3 acres into six single • family lots. Location: East of Bearpath Trail South, west of Dell Road and Eden Prairie Planning Commission November 25, 1996 south of Hennepin County Regional Rail Authority. Shaun Laftka of Ron Clark Construction,reviewed the development proposal with the Commission explaining the site plan and showing examples of the building architecture. He noted they have three sites that he would administratively subdivide into two unit townhomes. Looking closely at this site, he believes it would be better to subdivide this or plat it for six single family home sites. It would be similar to the Golf Villa site currently in Bearpath. This subdivision will minimize the tree loss and would create better character in this particular area. Each building would have separate driveways to each home and it would be three buildings. There are not a lot of areas for building placement under the current plat and he explained how they the buildings will be located. This will allow them to maneuver the buildings a little better between trees, deal with the grade easier, and create an overall unique product. Sandstad was concerned that many of the fire hydrants were obstructed by snow and suggested that the Homeowner's Association be made aware of this hazard. There are currently two fire hydrants located at each end of this site. They are adding one more fire hydrant back at the end of the common driveway. Franzen commented that this product is similar to the Bent Creek Cove project by Taurus Development which the Planning Commission reviewed a couple of months ago. That project represented the lifestyle choices that the developer felt was important for the market and this is the same for the Bearpath proposal. There are a number of different styles in Bearpath and staff believes this is not only healthy for Bearpath but healthy for the community to have a variety of different products. The density of the project is similar to what was approved. There are waivers that are required for this project but they are due more to the type of housing rather than the density. Staff recommends approval according to the conditions on page 3 and 4 of the Staff Report. Kardell asked if there was any concern about the fact that the homes are going to look so identical across the frontage street. Franzen replied they would be more concerned if all the lots were fronting Bearpath Trail. The public hearing was opened. 2 Eden Prairie Planning Commission November 25, 1996 Kardell commented she was pleased to see there is a great variety of houses being built in Bearpath and had no problem with the project. The waivers seem consistent with what's already been done and she supported the project. Habicht said the project has quality,and the waivers allow a different product to be built. He supported the project. Wissner stated she liked that the homes were a more staggered than the twinhome concept. The project is good and she supported it. Sandstad commented this looks much better than the original plan and supported the project. MOTION 1: Wissner moved, seconded by Kardell, to close the public hearing. Motion carried 7-0. MOTION 2: Wissner moved, seconded by Kardell, to recommend to the City Council approval of the request of Ron Clark Construction for PUD Concept Amendment on 2.3 acres of the overall 420 acres Bearpath PUD, . PUD district Review on 2.3 acres, Zoning District Change from RM-6.5 to R1-13.5 on 2.3 acres, and Preliminary Plat of 2.3 acres into six single family lots based on plans dated November 22, 1996, and subject to the recommendations of the Staff Report dated November 22, 1996. Motion carried 7-0. B. EDEN PRAIRIE MALL EXPANSION by General Growth Properties,Inc. Request for Planned Unit Development Concept Review on 87.13 acres. Location: Eden Prairie Mall at Highway 169 and Prairie Center Drive. Franzen commented this is the first part of the process for the review of plans for this project. They are looking at the planning development concept to consider the general feasibility of the project. It would return to the Planning Commission some time after the first of the year to look at specific plans for the building architecture,utilities,the site plan,bus service,the grading plan, and the landscaping plan. Bill Mosten of General Growth,gave an overview of the plans submitted. He explained the plan includes the addition of Dayton department store to the shopping center and the subsequent relocation of Sears to accommodate the addition of Dayton at the south side of the building. The plans include a new consolidated United Artists theater. The food court has been relocated from • 3 • Eden Prairie Planning Commission November 25, 1996 the lower level of the center court up to the upper level adjacent to the movie theater. A multi purpose ice rink will be added to the center court to be designed in such a way to be used for other functions. There will also be a number of big box users to the shopping center. They will be renovating the entire mall and adding new sky light fixtures and fimshings all over the mall. The square footage will be approximately 1.2 million up from 900,000. Tom Brink, architect, Park Hill Associates, explained the design features of the mall and pointed out the locations on the diagram. He noted that his company is considered one of the premier mall designers in the country. The desire here is to create kind of a town center or a gathering place for Eden Prairie residents to have a feel almost like Main Street of past years. There will be a reason to come here other than shopping. The goal is to bring in smaller buildings rather than make this feel like a very large repetitive sort of building. They have worked with staff to bring in some civic uses into the center court where the City could program the space. There is a better location for this down on the lower level where there is access from the exterior parking. Mosten commented they!re looking to put in a children's play area near where people can have a cup of coffee and watch the shows. The upper level will have a lot of visibility from the food court to the ice rink. This will be like a downtown common area also creating an outdoor feeling inside. There will be a new signage program on the interior to help customers get around the site as well as on the exterior. The Daytons store will be a duplication of the store in Maplewood. On the whole, this will be a new shopping center and you may not recognize the old one. Foote was concerned about stores being shut down during the construction phase. Mosten replied they will not close Sears at all because they have to be operational through the whole process. They are currently working on a plan with the tenants to relocate in each quadrant during construction. Kardell commented it was not too long ago the Commission had a proposal from the mall to add restaurant pads in the parking lot which is now Mervyns. She was concerned about jumping the gun on the parking issues. Franzen said in 1994 they were looking at 9000 square foot pads out in what was the Carsons parking lot for a restaurant. Because this never got built, it's his understanding that the restaurant will not occur out in the parking lot and that would be available for parking. • 4 Eden Prairie Planning Commission November 25, 1996 Ismail asked what the big box tenant is. Mosten replied the major sporting good stores,houseware stores, etc. Kardell was concerned about who will be responsible for the maintenance of the City space as well as the ice arena, and the programming responsibilities connected to the different uses. Mosten replied from their prospective the City will be the tenant. The space will be there to do with it what they wish. They will be glad to help work with them and coordinate with them. It will be total space to how the City wants the ice rink. General Growth will be the operator of that ice rink and it's their responsibility for the maintenance and the programming on day to day operations. Kardell expressed concern about only one set of escalators that goes to the theater from the inside of the mall. She asked if that was adequate access to get people back and forth to restaurants that might be located in the center. Mosten commented that they try to disburse activity throughout the center. He did have some'concern on a project they just did in Houston similar to this with one set of escalators. It's been working very smoothly and he was proved wrong. He believes it will be just fine. Brink said they had a plan with • another set of escalators and United Artists said it wasn't necessary. Sandstad commented it's a good job on the concept plan and he liked what he saw. He said there would probably be a parking deck sometime in the future and asked if there was any particular quadrant of the property where those long term thoughts might be. Mosten replied it's not something they have given a lot of thought to yet. They feel they are maxed out on the site at this point. There are no plans for any additions of the site than what they have here. Sandstad asked if there were any specific details as to the free standing structure on the front elevation. Mosten stated they will try to capitalize on gaining visibility on 494 and the idea is to create a fun and exciting entrance. Sandstad encouraged the use of an electric zamboni for the ice rink because they have had no problem with electric indoors so far. He asked what the square footage is of the City's open space area. Enger replied at this point they are thinking in terms of 5000 square feet and the cost to the City would be extremely low. Foote was concerned about how many parking spaces they will be loosing. Mosten said a couple of hundred. Foote said if they built a parking deck it 5 • Eden Prairie Planning Commission November 25, 1996 would compensate for what they lost. Ismail asked what makes them think this plan would change the health span of the center. Mosten said Daytons is a big help because it's the predominant retailer. This is one of the highest population growth areas in the metro area and it's certainly leaning towards an increase. Wissner was concerned about the one way through system in the parking lot. Mosten said the department stores don't like it and they would rather not do it. However, when you get into the high Christmas season,it does flow the traffic better. Wissner commented she shops at Southdale Mall because it's one way and it flows better. She doesn't want to get in a situation where people can not make a left out. She was concerned about the 14 movie theater because she wasn't sure if there was such a need for it and whether it would fill up. Habicht said its a wonderful project but was concerned about the external traffic not necessarily on the site but the access points. Mosten replied they are fairly comfortable with the situation. Mr.Weisner stated the square footage will be an eight to ten percent increase. A traffic study was conducted by BRW which concluded that the additional square footage would result in approximately 300 cars to a two way operation to the traffic system for the mall. It would be a modest ingress but not enough to cause a concern. Habicht expressed concern that traffic is going to be an issue more so than parking or internal routing of traffic. Franzen said one of the frustrations he has with Southdale and Ridgedale is they don't have enough potential access points in and out of the mall area. The malll here has five potential signalized intersections. Kardell was concerned that Chanhassen, Chaska and Waconia do not have convenient access to the mall. The only way it's convenient for those people to get there is to come up Highway 5 to Prairie Center Drive to Singletree Lane. She was concerned that the other entrances and exits would not be utilized. Habicht said they should not underestimate the traffic impact from Highway 169. 6 Eden Prairie Planning Commission November 25, 1996 Sandstad asked that pedestrian concerns be included in the study. He was concerned that there be a safe place for pedestrians to cross. He commented that one of the reasons he does not visit movie theaters right now is they are old and welcomes the new movie theater. Foote commented that he does not see traffic as a problem here. He thinks human nature will tell people to go around to the other side when one side is crowded. Enger said they are confident this will go well. There is a lot to be done at the intersection surrounding the center to be improved so that this will be one of the best centers in the future. Gray commented they could use four to six lanes and they need to have double left turn lanes at the intersections,particularly at Prairie Center Drive and Highway 169. Those kinds of improvements would be significant. Another thing they need to do is emphasize transit connections to this facility. The transit hub is much more important in the future than it is perceived today. They need to make a lot of intense improvements in the long run to make this system work and to make it much more accessible to both pedestrians and transit. Franzen reviewed the Staff Report with the Commission. He explained the parking proposal noting that three alternatives for parking at the shopping center were proposed. The first concern is having total parking spaces out there to meet the needs of the department stores,the mall, and the City. The proposal is for alternative three which is 4.5 spaces per 1,000 square feet and proof ofparking which could be deck parking in the future. They have done proof of parking on many projects,mostly on large office buildings,and the most recent was with Twin City Federal. Alternative three includes the reduction of the stall width from 9 feet to 8.75 feet which staff suggested allows more of surface parking to be built without having to rely upon a parking deck. It also includes additional parking spaces on the east side of the shopping center. The potential improvements listed in the Staff Report are the minimums needed to accommodate traffic for the mall at ultimate development and occupancy. Amore comprehensive look at traffic and access for this project and the commercial areas near the mall is needed and will be worked on jointly between General Growth and City staff to develop area solutions that work best for the mall and the City. This would be reviewed with the Planning Commission and City Council as part of zoning and site plan review. i • Eden Prairie Planning Commission November 25, 1996 Kardell commented she would not be comfortable with a parking stall less than nine feet wide.. Eden Prairie is very heavily populated with four wheel drive vehicles and she would not be comfortable with smaller parking stalls. Foote asked where the compact spaces would be located. Weisner explained that where they have tight spaces and expansion they tend to put the compact spaces. It's in the outer area of the parking field and they keep more normal size spaces in the parking area. Foote. He would like to see 9 feet but would settle on no less than 8.75 feet. Clinton commented he was comfortable with an 8.5 foot stall width. Wissner commented her main concern is not the width but that it be angle parking. It's much easier to get in and out when it's angled and it does make a difference. Chris Enger explained a different way to look a parking. He felt the City could grant General Growth a waiver to stripe the paking lot at 8.5 feet wide, . but only give tehm credit for the number of parking spaces based on a 9 foot stall width. This means that credited parking is 4.2 per 1000, instead of 4.5 as requested by the developer,with,.8 per 1000 as proof of parking in a deck. He added that it does not matter how the lot is stripped, since 10 months out of the year the lot is half full. The busy season and during the winter you can always see the stripes because of the snow and people park a little farther apart. The City should be more concerned with having enoung parking spaces. The Planning Commission discussed the parking stall width furhter and based on the staff analysis could support the 8.5 stall width. MOTION 1: Sandstad moved, seconded by Kardell, to close the public hearing. Motion carried 7-0. MOTION 2: Sandstad moved, seconded by Kardell,to recommend to the City Council approval of the request of General Growth Properties, Inc. for PUD Concept Review on 87.13 acres based on plans dated November 22, 1996,with an 8.5 parking stall width to be striped as a waiver from the City code, with credited parking at 4.2 spaces per 1000, based on a 9 foot stall width and proof of parking to 5 spaces per 1000. Motion carried 7-0. • 8 Eden Prairie Planning Commission November 25, 1996 V. REVIEW OF TAX INCREMENT FINANCING PLAN Enger reviewed the tax increment financing plan. He explained that the role of the Planning Commission as the official planning body under the statute of the State of Minnesota is to determine whether or not the project contemplated for the use of TIF funds conforms with the Comprehensive Guide Plan. It is made up of 3/5 of the General Growth proposal for renovation of the shopping center and made up of 2/5 of potential City projects. Those City projects over a 17 year period in time have not been developing a great deal at this point, spending most of their energy and time on the details of the center. One half of that 2/5 or 115 of the project would be ongoing subsidized housing projects. The center would be the engine for funding for these housing projects. They would be pay as you go projects so they could not bond for these projects. If there was not money available for the tax year then the City would not spend the money so there would be no risk. The City program would be what's characterized as potential economic development projects which would be all different types of projects that the City would be involved with. General Growth has agreed to allow the City the first dollars coming off the tax increment project. That's how the City expects to avoid any risk of the public on those projects. It would allow the City the ability to bond ahead so they could get a good sized amount of money together. If there are any additional taxing dollars generated from the renovation of the center,the City would get it's fifth of those first which would limit significantly any risk that the City would have. The project which the Planning Commission is being asked to find compatibility with the Comprehensive Guide Plan are the renovations of Eden Prairie Center, commercial projects,housing projects as suggested in the Comprehensive Guide Plan, and economic development projects made up of road improvements and property acquisitions that conform with the Comprehensive Guide Plan. Ismail asked if the renovations of the mall would go through if the Commission was not comfortable with the tax increment financing plan. Enger explained that the state law does not require that the Planning Commission recommend approval of the tax increment compatibility. It is required that the Planning Commission review it. Wissner commented that the project is compatible with the Comprehensive Guide Plan and has no problem using tax increment money on this project. Habicht noted that this area is the hub of downtown and believes it's almost impossible for the Commission not to find this project to be compatible with the • 9 Eden Prairie Planning Commission November 25, 1996 Comprehensive Guide Plan. Kardell and Foote concurred with Habicht. Enger noted that when the City Council looked at this a year ago they gave blessing to the concept of having staff work further with General Growth. They wanted to make sure that the taxpayers and citizens of Eden Prairie were held as risk free as possible. That was one of the major goals. Sandstad said as far as he's concerned the project seems to be consistent with the Comprehensive Guide Plan. MOTION: Kardell moved, seconded by Foote,to approve Resolution No. of the Eden Prairie Planning Commission finding to adopt the redevelopment plan for redevelopment project No. 5 that it's consistent with the Comprehensive Guide Plan of the City. Motion carried 7-0. VI. MEMBERS' REPORTS None. VII. CONTINUING BUSINESS None. VHL NEW BUSINESS None. IX. PLANNERS' REPORTS Franzen noted there is one item on the agenda for December 9 which is a revisit of the Laukka-Jarvis project. X. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Kardell moved, seconded by Wissner,to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 7-0. The meeting adjourned at 8:55 p.m. i 10