Loading...
Planning Commission - 02/10/2003 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE COMMUNITY PLANNING BOARD MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2003 7:00 P.M., CITY CENTER Council Chambers 8080 Mitchell Road BOARD MEMBERS: Ken Brooks, Frantz Corneille, Randy Foote, Vicki Koenig, Fred Seymour, Kathy Nelson, Dave Steppat, Ray Stoelting, Paul Sodt. STAFF MEMBERS: Stu Fox, Manager of Parks and Natural Resources Mike Franzen, City Planner Al Gray, City Engineer Jane Hovind, Recording Secretary I. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE—ROLL CALL Chair Corneille called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Present: Corneille, Commissioners Brooks, Foote, Nelson, Seymour, Steppat, and Stoelting. Absent: Koenig, Sodt II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION by Nelson, second by Stoelting, to approve the agenda. Motion carried, 7-0. III. MINUTES A. Minutes of the January 27, 2003 Community Planning Board Meeting Steppat noted the second to the last line on the bottom of page 5 should say "Herbst was initially correct in his original assessment that the adult lifestyle homes are important." MOTION by Stoelting, second by Steppat, to approve the minutes of the January 27, 2003 Community Planning Board Meeting. Motion carried, 5-2 (abstained) IV. PUBLIC MEETINGS V. PUBLIC HEARINGS A. LAKE POINT by Taurus Properties, Inc. Request for Planned Unit Development Concept Review on 10 acres, Planned Unit Development District Review with waivers on 10 acres, Zoning District Change from Rural to R1-13.5 on 10 acres, Planning Board Minutes February 10, 2003 Page 2 and Preliminary Plat of 10 acres into 12 lots, 1 outlot and road right-of-way. Location: Southeast corner of Mitchell Road and Cumberland Road. Duane Dietrich of Taurus Properties introduced the project. He stated the site consists of 12 lots. The site is contoured severely which allows for only 55% usable land, the remainder consists of lake, shoreland and impact areas. Four of the lots back up to McCoy Lake. These lots will have 150 foot setbacks from the lake and 150 foot widths. Initially, Outlot D was considered for a NURP pond but it didn't work because of the impact it would have on the wetland area. To conserve mature oak trees the NURP pond was situated between the rear four lots and McCoy Lake. Michael Franzen, City Planner, stated that the project is consistent with densities in the area. The waivers result in the dedication of an outlot for the protection of McCoy Lake saving a large stand of significant oak trees; allowing room for a stormwater treatment pond and reducing impervious surface for the development. The Staff recommendation is for approval according to the recommendations on pages 4 and 5 of the staff report. Nelson asked since Outlot D is no longer being considered for a treatment pond, what the lot will be used for. Al Gray, City Engineer,responded the lot is owned by the City. Stoelting asked whether Lots 4 and 5 shared a driveway. Franzen replied that they do and it's common in areas with trees, slopes and shoreland areas for homes to share driveways. He said the Boulder Point development has houses on each side of a private road. This was done to minimize tree loss. Stoelting said that it seems tree loss was a major consideration for configuration of the lots on this site. He asked Franzen if this configuration had not been used, what the tree loss would have been. Franzen replied it would have impacted the stand of oak trees on the southeast side of the site. He said looking at the densities in the area this is a lower density. Other projects in that area were developed prior to the development of tree, shoreland and wetland ordinances. This plan is a better environmental design. Nelson asked if there will be signage along the rear of the lots abutting McCoy Lake so that homeowners don't take out the trees. Stu Fox, Manager of Parks and Natural Resources,responded they would put up signage that it is City property. MOTION by Stoelting, second by Nelson, to close the public hearing. Motion carried, 7-0. MOTION by Stoelting, second by Nelson, to approve the Planned Unit Development Concept Review on 10 acres, Planned Unit Development District Review with waivers on 10 acres, Zoning District Change from Rural to R1-13.5 on 10 acres, and Preliminary Plat of 10 acres into 12 lots, 1 outlot and road right-of- Planning Board Minutes February 10, 2003 Page 3 way, based on plans dated February 6, 2003, and subject to the recommendations of the staff report dated February 7, 2003, to the City Council. Motion carried, 7-0. B. HENNEPIN VILLAGE - SITES C & D by Pemtom Land Company. Request for Comprehensive Guide Plan Change from Low Density Residential to Medium Density Residential on 2.9 acres, Comprehensive Guide Plan Change from Office to Medium Density Residential on 4.5 acres, Comprehensive Guide Plan Change from Public to Office on 1.2 acres, Comprehensive Guide Plan Change from Public to Medium Density Residential on .4 acres, Planned Unit Development Concept Amendment on 151.43 acres, Planned Unit Development District Review on 64.9 acres, Zoning District Change from Rural to R1-9.5 on 16.9 acres, Zoning District Change from Rural to RM-6.5 on 48 acres, Site Plan Review on 48 acres, and Preliminary Plat of 151.43 acres into 443 lots, 5 outlots, and road right of way. Location: North of Hwy. 212, east of Spring Road. Dan Herbst of Pemtom introduced the project. He said in 2002, the original plan was approved and has been developed in phases (A, B, C & D). He said the plan was to develop sites A and B first. Because of the scheduling of utilities and with A being ready for houses, sites C and D are the next phase. He stated that part of the site has been sold to MAC. The entrance to the site will include a monument built of Chaska brick and Minnesota limestone and the area will be heavily landscaped. There will be a community center, an existing barn that will be restored and a windmill. There will be a circular parking area, pool and tennis courts. The homes will be made up of three designs: Village, Carriage and Heritage homes. There will be trails and a park incorporated into the site and in the northeastern part of the property there will be retail and office. Franzen stated the proposed plan is consistent with the approved overall plan. With the exception of the addition of a few properties to make the project larger, all of the design features are relatively the same. There are two issues to discuss. The first is the transition from residential to office. Residents will be concerned about their view once the homes are built. The developer has two options. The first is to change the office buildings from one and two story office buildings to two and three story buildings. This will reduce the building footprint and will create additional open space for landscaping. The second option is to reduce the parking setback along Charlson Road to 17.5 feet. This would be a waiver from the City Code. Then this footage could be transferred to the common rear property lines which would create space for additional landscaping. The developer is requesting a waiver from City Code to replace 8,222 inches of trees rather than the required tree replacement which is 10,935 inches. Staff does not support this waiver. There are 51 acres of open space to be dedicated to the City with the development of Site B. Any trees saved in this area can be used to reduce the total tree loss and tree replacement in the planned unit development. The grading and drainage plan had been going through an evolutionary process going from wet ponds to dry ponds. Part of the agreement with MAC has to do with how much water is in the ponds. Planning Board Minutes February 10, 2003 Page 4 They are dry ponds and the pond closest to the clubhouse will be dry all the time. The ponds near the homes will not have liners and are designed so that the water will absorb into the ground. The question is how much larger the dry ponds are in comparison to the wet ponds. It shouldn't impact the design of the office area. Staff is recommending approval of the project according to recommendations in the staff report. Brooks asked if Herbst agreed with Franzen's recommendation. Herbst stated he does not think it's appropriate in the soft market of today to build 2 and 3 story office buildings that he's not sure will even be leased. Franzen responded that this is just an option. Stoelting asked about the parking. He said the plans for multi family show two parking spots provided for each unit. Franzen responded that in the single family area there is space allowed for parking on the streets. The driveways are too short to allow parking. The multi-family could have two cars in front of each garage and parking would be allowed on the street. Stoelting asked if staff anticipated a lot of parking on the streets and if the streets will be a little wider to allow this additional parking. Gray responded they aren't any wider than standard streets as it's a compact urban area and they are all private streets. He said if parking becomes a problem within the project, the homeowner's association will deal with the it, not the City. Stoelting asked Herbst about a temporary drive for Phase I construction and how that would be utilized. Herbst responded that this is a current access for the David Brown property that he would like to continue using until two other access points are built at which time this access will be closed off. Stoelting asked about the four foot visibility fence around the perimeter of the property. Herbst responded that City staff was concerned about people going out and using the bluff area for dogs, etc. The fencing will prevent them from using the property. Stoelting asked about the mail box stations. He asked in conjunction with the street parking,how the stations work. Whether there was an area to park to get the mail. Herbst responded that there are a number of stations throughout the site. Residents can pull up to the station in their vehicles to get mail. The stations are protected from inclement weather. There are approximately sixteen mail boxes per station. Steppat asked when the office/retail section will be developed. Herbst responded that he'd like to have it developed by a major developer who deals with commercial properties. The market is currently very soft so it may be 5 — 8 years before it's developed. Steppat asked the price ranges of the homes. Herbst responded the Carriage is in the low 200,000's, Heritage is in the high 200,000's, the single family homes will be between $325,000 - 350,000, and the Wooddale townhomes will be in the high 400,000's. Planning Board Minutes February 10, 2003 Page 5 Steppat asked Gray if road improvements need to be made. Gray responded Spring Road is where there needs to be changes and they are already planned for this next summer. The improvements of the intersection of Charlson and 212 would need to be in place when the office area is developed. Nelson asked why Herbst is developing C & D since A is just in the beginning stages. Herbst responded because of the tremendous amount of fill that had to be removed, it's taken a while to get started. Sales of the lots have been very good. Wooddale and Ryland would like to build models on site C by the fall of 2003. It's hard to market without models. Nelson asked if the models on site A are the same distance apart as the homes in the neighborhood will be. Herbst responded they would. Nelson stated that the Heritage homes in the plans don't seem to have an old look to them. Herbst stated they are meant to look older with the colors,pitch of the roof and other building materials and the surroundings such as fences, landscaping and neighborhood amenities will add to that look. Nelson stated that the distance between the homes seems close but not as much as she expected. Herbst responded that the inside of the homes gives the feeling that they're not as close. Windows are situated in such a way that they are not looking out on the house next door. Nelson stated her concern about the office area and how the neighborhood will be affected by that. Herbst responded there will be a disclosure statement signed by homeowners so that they are aware of this eventual office product. Corneille asked about the original comments made by Mr. Herbst regarding the transition between office and residential and what the issues are and what staff has recommended. Franzen responded that the goal is to add more open space between the slope on the pond and the parking lot, doubling the size of that area. In order to do that the developer could build out closer to Charlson Road. The developer still has the option of going through rezoning process before homes are built. The board should recommend that the developer, when developing the office area, provide a larger green space between the office space and residential. The only options are to go up with 2 or 3 story buildings or go with a reduced setback. Stoelting asked about the tree replacement issue where the developer is asking for a waiver on the amount of tree replacement. He asked if this was tied into the office and residential transition area. Franzen stated that at the time they put the staff report together they didn't know the number of trees that would be saved in site B. Staff doesn't support waivers for tree replacement. There is a sliding scale of tree replacement which is designed to preserve trees. There are clusters of trees in the project that can't be worked around and need to be removed. There won't be a need for a waiver if the tree numbers are accurate for site B. Staff will make adjustments as the plans progress and will advise the Board on the final numbers. Planning Board Minutes February 10, 2003 Page 6 Seymour asked whether the proposed Charlson Road improvements at the intersection of 212 would be done now or at a later date. Gray responded, the intersection will be built at a later date as it's part of the overall Charlson project. He said that that portion of the project may be transferred from the City's responsibility to the developers and that would change the time frame for the improvement of that intersection. Charlson Road will be done in phases, the intersection will need to be completed when the office area is developed. Seymour asked if there would be more than one entrance into the residential area off of Charlson Road. Gray responded there would be one entrance off Charlson Road and possibly a temporary entrance off Spring Road. Eventually when the intersection is done there will be two entrances off Charlson Road and the Spring Road entrance will not longer be used. Foote asked if Spring Road would accommodate the additional traffic. Gray responded that traffic will head out to the Spring Road/Pioneer Trail intersection and he wouldn't anticipate any problems. Corneille asked Herbst to comment on staff s suggestions for the transition from residential to office. Herbst responded if he could do the landscaping he would but there is no place left to plant trees. Regarding the 2 or 3 story office buildings, the economy won't support that much office. He said he realizes the importance of making sure the office area is appropriately screened. Stoelting asked about Miller Spring and where it is in relationship to the development. Fox responded there is a plan with the Watershed district to change the area. Nelson asked if it would work for homes nearest to the office area to be built last and that way people will see the office area before the houses are built. Herbst stated that restricting the building of the homes would not be beneficial since the market is good for residential housing. The office market is very soft currently but if it were to turn around the homes and the office area could be built simultaneously. Foote stated he is concerned about the roadway system and the fact that the Charlson/212 intersection won't be improved until the office area is built in 5 - 8 years. Gray responded that as a City project, that would be the case. If it became the developer's project, it could be done sooner. It's important that Spring Road and the Charlson improvements are done at separate times since Spring Road would be closed for two months when it's upgraded. The grade of 212 needs to be changed in order to upgrade the Charlson/212 intersection. This will result in a reduction of traffic on 212 during construction. The 212 road improvements are public projects assessed to abutting property owners. Foote stated he is concerned that down the road if there are traffic problems with the new development, the road improvements may need to be moved up. MOTION by Stoelting, second by Steppat, to close the public hearing. Motion carried, 7-0. Planning Board Minutes February 10, 2003 Page 7 MOTION by Stoelting, second by Brooks, to approve the request for Comprehensive Guide Plan Change from Low Density Residential to Medium Density Residential on 2.9 acres, Comprehensive Guide Plan Change from Office to Medium Density Residential on 4.5 acres, Comprehensive Guide Plan Change from Public to Office on 1.2 acres, Comprehensive Guide Plan Change from Public to Medium Density Residential on .4 acres, Planned Unit Development Concept Amendment on 151.43 acres, Planned Unit Development District Review on 64.9 acres, Zoning District Change from Rural to R1-9.5 on 16.9 acres, Zoning District Change from Rural to RM-6.5 on 48 acres, Site Plan Review on 48 acres, and Preliminary Plat of 151.43 acres into 443 lots, 5 outlots, and road right of way, based on plans dated February 7, 2003, and subject to the recommendations of the staff report dated February 7, 2003, to the City Council. Motion carried, 7-0. Nelson asked again about the transition between homes and office. Corneille responded that he is confident that the planning staff and the developer will work it out. Brooks responded that the developer is working to mitigate this although it's going to be a few years. Steppat stated that he shares Nelson's concerns. Nelson asked how important it is that this area be developed as office or could it be developed for houses. Franzen stated that office must be here as a transition to the airport. Franzen said it's up to the Board to determine a better transition and how that would be accomplished. In addition to the disclosure statement there could be signs posted that say it's the site of a future office development. C. WETLAND ORDINANCE AMENDMENT Franzen stated the ordinance has three changes: City accepts LGU status for the Minnesota River watershed, definition changes based on State changes to wetlands, and minor clarification of City definitions to eliminate confusion. MOTION by Stoelting, second by Steppat, to close the public hearing. Motion carried, 7-0. MOTION by Brooks, second by Stoelting, to approve the request for a Wetland Ordinance Amendment, and subject to the recommendations of the staff report dated February 7, 2003. Motion carried, 7-0. VI. MEMBERS REPORTS VII. CONTINUING BUSINESS VIII. NEW BUSINESS IX. PLANNERS'REPORTS Planning Board Minutes February 10, 2003 Page 8 X. ADJOURNMENT MOTION by Stoelting, second by Steppat to adjourn. Motion carried, 7-0. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m.