Planning Commission - 08/09/2004 APPROVED MINUTES
EDEN PRAIRIE COMMUNITY PLANNING BOARD
MONDAY,AUGUST 9, 2004 7:00 P.M. CITY CENTER
Council Chambers
8080 Mitchell Road
BOARD MEMBERS: Ken Brooks, Larry Kacher, Vicki Koenig,
Kathy Nelson, Peter Rocheford, Fred
Seymour, Ray Stoelting, Jon Stoltz, and
William Sutherland
STAFF MEMBERS: Michael Franzen, City Planner; Rod Rue,
Assistant City Engineer; Carol Pelzel,
Recording Secretary
I. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE—ROLL CALL
Chair Stoelting called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Present: Ken Brooks, Larry
Kacher, Vicki Koenig, Kathy Nelson, Fred Seymour, Ray Stoelting, William Sutherland.
Absent: Peter Rocheford, Jon Stoltz.
II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
MOTION: Nelson moved, seconded by Koenig, to approve the agenda as published.
Motion carried, 7-0.
III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
MOTION: Seymour moved, seconded by Nelson, to approve the July 12, 2004, minutes
as published. Motion carried, 3-0-4 with Kacher, Koenig, Sutherland and Brooks
abstaining.
IV. PUBLIC MEETINGS
V. PUBLIC HEARING
A. HILLTOP TOWN OFFICES (continued) by Arima, L.L.C. Request for
Planned Unit Development Concept Review 6.89 acres, Planned Unit
Development District Review with waivers on 6.89 acres, Zoning District
Amendment within the Office Zoning District on 6.89 acres, Site Plan Review on
6.89 acres, and Preliminary Plat of 6.89 acres into 16 lots. Location: 7480 Flying
Cloud Drive.
Michael Manning, Civil Consultant for Arima, briefly summarized the items they
had revised after discussions with the Board and City staff. Staff had asked that
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August 9, 2004
Page 2
they revise the preliminary plat, the grading plan and architectural elevations.
Manning explained that since their last meeting, the Developer has met with City
Staff and has resolved the right-of-way issues. The developer has also modified
the preliminary plan and grading plat, bringing those two items into conformance
with Staff's recommendation. Exterior building materials were also modified to
meet City Code. The Developer is in concurrence with Staff recommendations.
Manning further explained that the maximum height of the retaining wall is
approximately 14 feet of exposed face with the wall tapering down to 3 feet at the
ends.
Franzen reported that Staff's recommendation is for approval of this request. In
addition, a setback waiver is now required because of the dedication of additional
right-of-way along Flying Cloud Drive. This has resulted in the building being
closer to the road. In view of the fact that the City is getting the right-of-way and
construction of the retaining wall, it is reasonable for the City to grant the setback
waiver.
Rue reviewed with the Board the layout of the site as prepared by the City's
consultant. The right-of-way request has been refined since Staff's request for the
right-of-way as well as the layout of the proposed turn lane. Rue reviewed with
the Board the proposed road modifications on Flying Cloud Drive including a
right-turn lane. He explained that in addition to the right-of-way dedication, they
need to consider the elevation points the consultant designed in order to build the
proposed road changes. The developer has been asked to match the grade points
when they build their retaining wall. Stoelting asked if there are any significant
changes to the grade points on the consultant's plan compared to the Developer's
plan. Rue said he was not sure but would guess that the Developer's are probably
lower. Stoelting asked if the Developer has any problem with the request to match
the grade points near the right-of-way. Manning responded that the request would
result in additional exposed retaining wall surface, which would be an increase in
cost. He explained that without seeing the plan he is not sure if it would be a
significant increase but it should be reasonable.
Nelson expressed her appreciation to the Developer for having worked with Staff
to resolve the issues placed before them and appreciated their making the
necessary changes to comply with Staff's requests. Nelson said at this point, she
was ready to move forward with this project.
MOTION by Nelson, seconded by Koenig, to close the public hearing. Motion
carried, 7-0.
MOTION by Nelson, seconded by Sutherland, to recommend approval to the
City Council of a request for Planned Unit Development Concept Review on 6.89
acres; Planned Unit Development District Review with waivers on 6.89 acres;
Zoning District Amendment within the Office District on 6.89 acres; Site Plan
Review on 6.89 acres; and Preliminary Plat of 6.89 acres into 16 lots based on
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August 9, 2004
Page 3
plans dated June 28, 2004 and August 6, 2004, subject to the recommendations of
the staff reports dated July 9, 2004 and August 6, 2004. Motion carried, 7-0.
VI. INFORMATIONAL MEETINGS
A. BEST BUY by Best Buy. Request of an informational meeting to discuss the
future rezoning from Office to Commercial Regional Service. Location: 7901
Flying Cloud Drive.
Tim Palmquist, Project Development Manager for Best Buy, explained that they
were before the Board this evening to review concept plans for a Best Buy store
that they have been working on for the past couple of weeks. Their company has
purchased the Fargo Electronic property in Eden Prairie for their proposed store
and it is their hope to open the doors of this store next spring or summer. They
would like to begin construction as quickly as possible. They have reviewed
issues raised by the Planning Department and have met with City staff. There have
been updates made to their initial plans and Palmquist said he would address the
concerns raised by City staff this evening and answer any questions the Board
might have.
Paul Anderson, WCL Associates, explained that they have tried to incorporate all
of the comments made by City staff into the plan. The current site plan includes a
two-story building or a 45,000 square foot store. The upper level will be the sales
floor with a parking lot underneath the store. The initial concept included access
to the lower level parking from Highway 212. City staff asked that this be moved
from Highway 212 and that the front sidewalk be increased in size. The proposed
sidewalk will now be 30 feet wide on the ends and 20 feet in the middle.
Landscaping will also be incorporated into this area. Staff also asked that there be
a walkway and green space connecting the front door down to Leona Avenue. A
sidewalk was created bringing customers from Leona to the front door. This did
result in their losing some parking spaces. Anderson further explained that Staff
recommended that they move the loading area to the lower level. This would
result in an area that would not work very well functionally. They would need an
elevator to move goods up and down. The developer is proposing to leave the
dock on the upper level and to use landscaping to screen that area. Anderson
stated that Staff also recommended that they put in a right-turn lane off of Leona.
Their plan does now incorporate that right-turn lane. One of the other initial
comments was the taking of 25 feet along Leona Avenue to incorporate that right-
turn lane and sidewalk. They have added those 25 feet plus a 35-foot setback
beyond that and that is included in the current plan. All of this works out with
being in compliance with setbacks,pedestrian access to the front door and vehicle
access to the lower level. They would like to keep the dock on the first level
where they feel it would be less visible. Hotels, Highways 494 and 212 and other
retail surround this site. Anderson said they feel that most of the issues have been
addressed. However, they did start with the preferred ratio for parking at 7 per
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August 9, 2004
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1,000. The City guideline is 6 per 1,000. The proposed changes brought them to
6.5 per 1,000. They feel that this is too small.
Palmquist explained that the reason they would like to see a 7 per 1,000 ratio is
that their parking needs are higher than most retailers. They try to provide
adequate parking for their customers. It is expensive to raise the building and
locate parking underneath it and since they are a stand-alone facility they will
need more parking than if they were in a large development. They want to make
sure they have adequate space for parking. They are currently working with staff
on the parking issue and are looking for ways to mitigate the loss of parking
spaces. Anderson reviewed the original elevations of the proposed building with
the Board along with alternative elevations that they are trying to work into the
proposal. They have lowered the standard roof elevations by a couple of feet.
They have been working with many different elevations on this project. Anderson
also reported that they are proposing signage on three sides of the building.
In response to a question from Stoelting, Anderson explained that there would be
106 parking spaces on the lower level, 117 in the front of the building and 54 on
the right hand side of the building. Nelson said the plans show a service center on
the Flying Cloud side. She asked for an explanation of the center. Palmquist
explained that this is an installation service center. When customers purchase an
item such as speakers or a security system for their vehicle it would be installed at
this facility. Staff would drive the vehicle into the service bay and when the work
is completed they would drive it back out of the bay. There is a small customer
waiting area in this center. Nelson questioned why it was placed on the Flying
Cloud side. She explained that Flying Cloud is one of the main entry points into
Eden Prairie and she feels the developer needs to devote more attention to this
side of the building for that reason. Palmquist said they are treating this building
as a four-sided building. The original proposal shows the service center on that
side of the building, which they thought would be best because it would put the
install bays at the same level as the store. Given the nature of this site, it slopes up
from the parking lot to the 494 side. On the other side they already have the
loading entrance and an entrance to the lower level parking. They must also take
into consideration the traffic circulation in the area. They are willing to look at
other options. Nelson said how the building looks on the Flying Cloud side is
extremely important and she wants to see that side pretty dressy. Palmquist said
there would be considerable landscaping on that side and he feels they will end up
with a nice project with mature landscaping. Anderson pointed out that the slope
of the site does restrict them somewhat with the placement of the service center.
Franzen explained that tonight's meeting is to review the Best Buy proposal and
no formal action is requested at this time. Staff would like to get a feel from the
Board members as to whether or not they would be in favor of changing the
zoning of this site from Office to Commercial Regional Service. Franzen said they
need to take the same amount of care that they did for the Fountain Place
proposal. Staff is proposing that the same 11 conditions that were used for the
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August 9, 2004
Page 5
Southwest Station be placed on this project. Staff will take the responsibility for
the service center going on the Flying Cloud side of the building. This is necessary
because of the flow of traffic on this site. They want to separate the car traffic
from pedestrian traffic. There are good architectural solutions that can be done to
the service center area. The Board may want to consider a waiver on the front yard
setback to allow everything to fit on this site and to make it look right. Franzen
pointed out that this is a work in progress and the waiver is something they could
consider. Commercial use of this property is appropriate. Franzen said a more
refined project that is consistent with other projects reviewed and approved would
be brought back to the Board for consideration at their August 23 meeting.
In response to a question from Seymour, Palmquist explained that this proposed
store would be roughly 45,000 square feet while their Richfield store is
approximately 53,000 square feet. Sutherland said the developer seems to be
spending a great deal of money on this site and he questioned what attracted them
to this location. Palmquist stated that Best Buy likes to have a site that is highly
visible and this site is visible from 494 and 212. Brooks said he did not have a
problem with changing the zoning. It is great to see retail expand across from the
Eden Prairie Center and this proposed project is a great benefit to the City. The
architectural design of this building is extremely important as they continue to
build this City out. Building designs have changed a lot over the years and he
commended City staff for continuing to challenge the architects to make big box
buildings more attractive. Kacher said he agrees that the City would benefit from
the additional retail and he has no objection to the rezoning of this property.
Stoelting said he too has no objection to changing the zoning. Nelson explained
that given the location of this proposal, it is very appropriate to change the zoning
and also considering that they have taken away a number of commercial uses.
Koenig said she also concurs with the rezoning especially with this particular use.
It will be an asset for the City. Seymour said he does not have a problem with the
proposed rezoning. Sutherland indicated that he is in favor of this proposal.
With regard to landscaping, Koenig asked how much would be required for this
particular site. Franzen explained that there is a mathematical formula in
calculating how much landscaping is required and that this project will be
consistent with the looks they are seeing in current retail projects. Koenig said
additional landscaping might break up the area along Flying Cloud Drive and
improve the way it looks and reduce the size of the building from a visual aspect.
Sutherland pointed out that this building is one of the "gate posts" to the City and
that he agrees with Nelson that they need to be sensitive to what travelers feel as
they come into the City. This is something that Best Buy should also be sensitive
to. Nelson pointed out that this building does have four fronts and the dressier the
better. Nelson said she would encourage the developer to investigate all methods
for improving the visual site of this development.
Stoelting said that the staff report talks about an enclosed loading area similar to
the one located at the neighboring Cub Foods store. He said he was concerned
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August 9, 2004
Page 6
about the loading area and whether or not it should be covered. Stoelting
suggested that the developer examine possible options similar to what was done
with the loading area of Office Depot. Palmquist explained that with the grading
of the site, a truck would be four feet lower than the first floor level. The wall they
are proposing is 15 feet high and with the truck being four feet lower, the wall
would actually be 19 feet, which would more than screen any truck parked at the
dock. It will definitely be screened from 494 and Leona Drive. Palmquist said they
would look at this but there does not seem to be any point in putting a roof over
that structure. Stoelting said he would like to see a cross section of the proposed
building. Nelson asked if there would be an elevator for the underground parking.
Palmquist said there would be two elevators from the lower level to the entry and
there will also be exit stairs.
Franzen said architecturally, they intend to make this proposal unique and
interesting. They need to take a close look at the type of landscaping that will be
used during the summer months. That is what sets a development apart from other
projects. With regard to the loading area, Franzen explained that loading is not
permitted in a front yard. A planned unit development waiver would be required.
This site has three street frontages. Due to the shape of the property, it is not
possible to modify the plan so that loading is in the rear yard. Franzen said this is
a small loading area comparable to Office Depot. He said he was not sure what
the solution to screening the dock would be but this is something they will take a
look at.
Stoelting asked that the developer take a closer look at the landscaping plan,
loading area, site lines, and to present options for similar brick color type of
materials they will be introducing for this project.
VII. MEMBERS REPORTS
VIII. CONTINUING BUSINESS
IX. NEW BUSINESS
X. PLANNERS' REPORTS
XI. ADJOURNMENT
MOTION by Brooks, seconded by Nelson, to adjourn the meeting at 8:10 p.m. Motion
carried, 7-0.