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Planning Commission - 01/12/2004 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE COMMUNITY PLANNING BOARD MONDAY,JANUARY 12, 2004 7:00 P.M., CITY CENTER Council Chambers 8080 Mitchell Road BOARD MEMBERS: Ken Brooks, Randy Foote, Vicki Koenig, Fred Seymour, Kathy Nelson, Dave Steppat, Ray Stoelting, Bill Sutherland STAFF MEMBERS: Stu Fox, Manager of Parks and Natural Resources Al Gray, City Engineer Mike Franzen, City Planner Jane Hovind, Recording Secretary I. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE—ROLL CALL Chair Stoelting called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Present: Chair Stoelting, Commissioners Brooks, Foote, Koenig, Seymour, Steppat, and Sutherland. Absent: Nelson II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION by Foote, second by Koenig, to approve the agenda. Motion carried, 7-0 III. MINUTES A. Minutes of the December 8, 2003 Community Planning Board Meeting Steppat stated on page 11, 2nd to the last paragraph, 1st line should begin: "Stoelting asked". MOTION by Sutherland, second by Seymour, to approve the minutes. Motion passed 7-0 IV. PUBLIC MEETINGS V. PUBLIC HEARINGS A. BROOKVIEW RIDGE by David and Patricia Smith. Request for Planned Unit Development Concept Review on 4.56 acres, Planned Unit Development District Review with waivers on 4.56 acres, Zoning District Change from Rural to R1-22 on 4.56 acres, and Preliminary Plat of 4.56 acres into 5 lots. Location: 9780 Brookview Circle. Planning Board Minutes January 12, 2004 Page 2 Franzen stated the development plan has changed and the proponent will be eliminating one lot, reducing tree loss and retaining walls. Franzen stated this project has been continued several times and the hearing should be closed. A public hearing is scheduled for January 26, 2004 for the new development plan and notices will be sent for that meeting. MOTION by Brooks, second by Steppat, to close the public hearing and return the plans to the proponent without prejudice. Motion carried, 7-0 B. LAMETTRY TIRE SHOP by Richard LaMettry. Zoning District Change from Rural to Commercial Regional Service on 1.22 acres and Site Plan Review on 1.22 acres. Location: East of Plaza Drive, west of I-494. Darrin Botts presented the project. He stated it will be an automobile center and will be located at I-494 and Highway 5. He stated the business will be accessed from Plaza Drive. Franzen stated this project is a permitted use in a commercial zoning district. He stated there are two items that need to be revised prior to council, the trash enclosure constructed of brick on three sides with a door and a parapet wall to screen mechanical equipment on the roof. He stated the edge of the wetland delineation needs to be shown on the plans to demonstrate there are sufficient buffers to the wetland. Foote asked staff if there was concern regarding sight lines because of the curve of the roadway. Gray responded sight lines shouldn't be a problem, if the business were located on the other side of the road it would be more of a concern. He said this type of business isn't a huge traffic generator and it is very workable in this location. He stated there are areas on the curve of the road that are more sight restrictive. Koenig asked why the proponent has provided for 48 parking spaces when the city only requires 19 or 20. The proponent responded during the early part of the project the calculations were based on the future square footage of the building. Koenig asked staff if they could require proof of parking rather than putting in that many parking spaces. Franzen stated staff is open to either option but if the number of spaces are limited it would be more restrictive to future owners of the property. Koenig asked if they could delineate the wetland permanently so there is some type of marker. Franzen responded there can be and this is usually a standard marker. She asked whether there will be a cash park fee. Franzen responded no, since the project is not a subdivision. He said the park fees would have been paid at the time of the development of Menards Addition. Stoelting asked about signage for the development. Mr. Botts responded there is signage on the east side of the building located above the doors. Planning Board Minutes January 12, 2004 Page 3 MOTION by Steppat, second by Koenig, to close the public hearing. Motion carried, 7-0 MOTION by Steppat, second by Foote, to recommend approval of a Zoning District Change from Rural to Commercial Regional Service on 1.22 acres and Site Plan Review on 1.22 acres,based on plans dated January 6, 2004, subject to the recommendations of the staff report dated January 9, 2004, to the City Council. Koenig asked for an amendment stating the approval is subject to the additional recommendation that the wetlands be delineated with standard City markers. All members voted in favor of the amended motion. Motion carried, 7-0 C. VIKING COLLECTIONS PARKING by Kloeckner Limited Partnership. Planned Unit Development Concept Amendment on 4.42 acres, Planned Unit Development District Review with waivers on 4.42 acres, Zoning District Amendment in the Office Zoning District on 4.42 acres, and Site Plan Review on 4.42 acres. Location: 7500 and 7544 Market Place Drive. Dan O'Brien presented the project. He said Viking Collections is a collection agency and currently occupies 2/3 of the building and are expanding onto the third floor. They are needing more parking as employees are parking on the streets. They would like to expand their parking to an off-site location. He said this is a temporary solution and when they move out of the building the site would be redeveloped into a traditional office building sometime in the future. Franzen stated this parking is considered an interim use and the property is too highly valued to remain a parking lot for a long period of time. He stated the last off- site parking lot the city approved was for Best Buy which consisted of 240 parking spaces across the street from the Best Buy building. Steppat asked when they are anticipated to move out. O'Brien responded probably in the spring or summer. Seymour asked the number of employees. O'Brien responded he's not sure about it but there is a huge demand for parking. Sutherland asked if the intent of the parking lot was for employee parking and whether they do vehicle repossessing and, if so, he would not be for using the parking for repossessed vehicles. The proponent responded Viking is not involved in repossessing vehicles. Stoelting asked why City Code requires parking to be on the same parcel as the structure it is to serve. Franzen responded the intent of the code is to prevent shared parking between different developments that have the same peak parking demands and to minimize parking on public streets. Stoelting asked how the employees will get from the parking lot to the building. O'Brien showed a site plan and stated there are sidewalks in the area of the parking Planning Board Minutes January 12, 2004 Page 4 lot. They would have to walk through the parking lot across Office Ridge Circle and to the building. There really was no good solution for a sidewalk. Stoelting asked staff if there are safety concerns for the employee pedestrians and vehicular traffic. Franzen responded if there was a public road through the development, they could put sidewalks in place. Because of the berms and plantings there is no practical way to build a sidewalk. Gray responded at places like Wal-Mart people walk in the drive aisles and cars and people must watch out for each other. This lot will be used for overflow parking on those days it's needed. Gray stated this is in the private domain to some extent. As long as the other tenants are comfortable with pedestrians cutting through certain areas, it shouldn't be a problem. Foote referred to the travel demand management plan and asked whether all the businesses were required to participate. Gray stated Eden Prairie is one of the few communities that require this type of thing consistently from the business community. He said the largest single opportunity to improve traffic in the Twin Cities is to increase the number of people in the vehicles but there is a high resistance to carpooling. If it could be considered politically correct, like recycling, it would be accepted but there just isn't that kind of interest in carpooling. The benefits are unlimited in terms of air quality, less traffic congestion and improved safety. Foote stated the City has done a study on how successful the Travel Demand Management Plan has been with local businesses. Gray responded it would be difficult to determine because someone would have to count the number of occupants in the cars. Brooks stated Viking Collection has outgrown their facility and the parking. They are located in an area too small for them. He said there isn't going to be a van or pick up and delivery of the employees from the parking lot to the building. It's also important to take into account the Minnesota weather. They would be better suited to locate their business somewhere else. He asked about the approval and how long they would be allowed to park off-site and whether it could be for a limited amount of time, 18-24 months. Franzen responded that it is a big investment for the company to construct a permanent parking lot if they could only use it for a limited amount of time. Franzen stated because of the number of employees with Viking Collection, they would have difficulty finding a site with enough parking anywhere in the region. Most parking ordinances require 4 to 5 spaces per 1,000. They have 9 spaces per 1,000 currently. Koenig asked if the City would be liable for accidents because they are not providing sidewalks within the complex. Gray responded he doesn't know if the City would be legally liable. The employer would have the primary duty to provide a safe environment for their employees which is over and above the liability the City would have. Gray said there are parking lots all over town. The incident levels are not significant regarding pedestrians and vehicles. This is not being detected and it's very unlikely to happen. Koenig stated the concern is the number of pedestrians. Planning Board Minutes January 12, 2004 Page 5 Gray stated once the facility is in service, a pattern will develop. There are employees who are regulars. Those people will use a path to get there to reduce the conflict with traffic and vehicular traffic will get used to the pedestrian's patterns. O'Brien stated he is an owner of a building in that area. He said with Viking Collection the employees arrive in the morning and leave in the evening. Koenig asked if any of the other businesses in the complex had been contacted and if they had any comment about this. O'Brien responded there have been ongoing discussions between Viking and the Lakewood Office Park Association regarding shared parking. There is a cross parking and use easement on site. There is no opposition to the additional parking. Koenig asked staff whether speed limit signs or"watch for pedestrian" signs could be installed. Gray stated they could post the speed limit and that would be feasible. Steppat stated that this looks like a successful business who may move on someday. This is a less than ideal situation but it will work for the company. It's important that people use caution and, although it's not ideal, it's plausible. Koenig stated that if they do stay there permanently and it becomes a long-term solution, that parking area will prevent another business from locating there. Sutherland stated he agreed with the earlier comment that this is less than ideal but workable. There may be other options down the road. Brooks asked if they will lease the site from the owner. O'Brien stated they will purchase the property. Brooks asked how the employees will navigate from the parking lot to the building. O'Brien showed on the site plan the walking paths they will be likely to take. Brooks asked staff whether there will be standard lighting, Franzen responded there will be lighting. MOTION by Steppat, second by Koenig to close the public hearing. Motion carried, 7-0 MOTION by Sutherland, second by Seymour to recommend approval of a Planned Unit Development Concept Amendment on 4.42 acres, Planned Unit Development District Review with waivers on 4.42 acres, Zoning District Amendment in the Office Zoning District on 4.42 acres, and Site Plan Review on 4.42 acres, based on plans dated December 3, 2003, subject to the recommendations of the staff report dated January 9, 2004, to the City Council. Motion carried 6-1, Koenig voted nay Planning Board Minutes January 12, 2004 Page 6 D. SHORELAND MANAGEMENT City Code Section 11.50 Franzen stated the first item has to do with a threshold change for land alteration in the shoreland area. Code requires the board and council would have to review all land alterations in shoreland areas regardless of the amount of land disturbed. This would create a burden on the City to review hundreds of permits per year and an inconvenience for homeowners. The threshold would now be 100 cubic yards or more. The last two items are what the City Attorney has suggested as reasons for approving or denying variances and waivers. Staff recommendation is to approve the ordinance. Steppat asked whether the wording "Board of Adjustments and Appeals" should be removed from the code since the board no longer exists. Franzen responded it would have been too costly to delete all the Board of Adjustments and Appeals references in the City Code and so code was amended to have the Community Planning Board assume the responsibilities of the Board of Adjustments and Appeals. Koenig asked whether those homes in the major center area that have conditional use permits would need to reapply for a permit. Franzen responded that people can have an office in their home and if it occupies a portion of the house. The conditional use permit is required when people want the entire house used for office. MOTION by Steppat, second by Koenig, to close the public hearing. Motion carried, 7-0 MOTION by Steppat, second by Koenig to approve the shoreland management ordinance, City Code Section 11.50. VI. MEMBERS' REPORTS VII. CONTINUING BUSINESS VIII. NEW BUSINESS Brooks asked about the stock-piled iron on the corner of Anderson Lake Parkway and Flying Cloud Drive what is being built there. Franzen responded the final office building of the approved plan. One of the tenants is CH Robinson. Koenig asked about Wooddale Church's landscape plan and whether they are following the approved plan. She stated she had driven by and noticed the remaining cottonwood trees. Fox responded that Wooddale is following the plan and the cottonwood trees are in the right- of-way between the parking lot and Bryant Lake Drive Planning Board Minutes January 12, 2004 Page 7 IX. PLANNERS' REPORTS X. ADJOURNMENT MOTION by Sutherland, second by Seymour to adjourn. Motion passed, 7-0. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 8:08 p.m.