Planning Commission - 06/23/2003 APPROVED MINUTES
EDEN PRAIRIE COMMUNITY PLANNING BOARD
MONDAY,JUNE 23, 2003 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, Paul Sodt, Bill
Sutherland
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 Stoelting called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Present: Chair Stoelting,
Commissioners Brooks, Foote, Koenig, Nelson, Seymour, Steppat, and Sutherland.
Absent: Sodt
II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
MOTION by Foote, second by Koenig, to approve the agenda. Motion carried, 8-0
III. MINUTES
A. Minutes of the June 9, 2003 Community Planning Board Meeting
MOTION by Brooks, second by Steppat, to approve the minutes of the June 9,
2003 Community Planning Board Meeting. Motion carried, 6-0. Abstentions:
Koenig and Nelson
IV. PUBLIC MEETINGS
V. PUBLIC HEARINGS
A. COSTCO WHOLESALE by Costco Wholesale. Request for Comprehensive
Guide Plan Change from Industrial to Regional Commercial on 18.1 acres, Planned
Unit Development Concept Review on 18.1 acres, Planned Unit Development
District Review with waivers on 18.1 acres, Zoning District Change from I-5 to
Commercial Regional Service on 18.1 acres, and Site Plan Review on 18.1 acres.
Location 12005 Technology Drive.
Planning Board Minutes
June 23, 2003
Page 2
Ted Johnson presented the project. He said Costco plans to demolish the existing
single story building located on the eastern side of the site and construct a 137,300
square foot Costco warehouse as well as a freestanding fueling facility located on
the north end of the site. He stated there will be two accesses to the site from
Technology Drive; one on the far western perimeter and one closer to the eastern
property line. He stated there will be 793 parking stalls measuring 10' x 20'. He
said storm water will be directed south to a storm water pond. He described the
building and fueling areas, construction materials, and indicated the location of
parapets to screen mechanical units on the roof.
Johnson stated the signage proposed includes a wall sign over the front entrance,
one in the middle of the building on the western side and one on the northern side of
the building. On the southern side of the building a sign will be located above the
loading dock. He stated they are asking for a waiver for increased signage; the
ordinance has a maximum square footage for wall signs of 300 square feet and they
are proposing total wall signs of 380 square feet.
Johnson said Costco is seeking a waiver from the shoreland overlay zone, which
restricts impervious area within the 1,000 foot overlay zone to 30%. He said they
were asking for 77% for the Costco site. The overlay area is in the far northeast area
of the site. The existing Emerson building and parking area currently consists of
80% impervious coverage.
Johnson stated that staff has requested that Technology Drive be improved along
Costco's frontage to allow for and urban cross section because of the additional
traffic and the drawings will be available for the next Planning Board meeting. The
design changes including a three lane roadway with east and west travel lanes and a
center turn lane, curbing on both sides, and an eight foot pedestrian trail will be
located on the south side of Technology Drive.
Franzen stated commercial is an acceptable alternative use within this area. There
are minor site plan changes. He said one major item is the extent of the road
improvement which is based on the traffic study and site vision at the driveway
access points currently used by Rosemount. He stated there is a need to make
Technology Drive wider to accommodate increased traffic and to lower the high
points in the road for visibility. Any recommendations from the Board tonight can
be incorporated into the new plans for the July 14 meeting..
Bob Enhoff, 8704 Greer Lane, stated his business is adjacent to the site. He said his
main concern is transportation and flow of traffic and with Technology Drive
revised it can be anticipated that on certain days there will be hundreds of cars
coming and going from Costco. Eden Prairie did a great job with traffic control for
the Home Depot area but Technology Drive is not a good road for this much traffic.
He stated the light at Technology Drive and Flying Cloud Drive is not sufficient for
Planning Board Minutes
June 23, 2003
Page 3
this additional traffic. He said the Costco store in St. Louis Park has terrible
gridlock and he doesn't want Eden Prairie in that situation.
Steppat asked the developer how many cars per day he would expect to use the site,
including the retail and fueling facilities. Johnson responded Eden Prairie staff did
the transportation study and he's not aware of the numbers. He said normally the
fueling facility 75% of those users do shop at the Costco store. He said with regard
to traffic congestion, they open at 10:00 a.m. so there's no impact on morning rush
hour traffic and their peak is between noon and 2:00 p.m. He stated the St. Louis
Park store is located in a larger shopping center with Home Depot and Petsmart.
There are also a number of restaurants in the area. As a result, there is congestion
over the noon hour during the week. They are looking at putting in stop signs to
control traffic. St. Louis Park is unique, not like Eden Prairie
Steppat asked how many Costcos are located in the metro area. Johnson responded
St. Louis Park and Coon Rapids. Steppat asked if traffic is a problem in Coon
Rapids. Johnson responded there weren't any problems there.
Brooks asked whether the size of the proposed building was comparative to their
other buildings. Johnson responded 148,663 square feet is the prototypical and
that's the size of the Coon Rapids store. St. Louis Park is modified and is
approximately 130,000 square feet. The Eden Prairie store has the potential for
expansion that would bring it up to 148,663 square feet. Brooks asked why they
were not considering the larger store immediately. Johnson replied it was due to
economics. Because of the costs including roadway improvements, building
materials and landscaping, they had to make the building smaller to reduce costs.
Brooks asked if any intersections going into Costco would be controlled. Gray
responded there wouldn't be a need for signals at those entrances.
Foote asked whether the Coon Rapids store is similar in layout to this one. Johnson
responded it wasn't because it's located in a shopping center.
Foote asked why Costco had allowed for larger parking spaces. Johnson said
because of the oversized carts, they can be more easily maneuvered. Foote asked
staff whether there are an adequate number of parking spaces for the size of the
building. Foote asked staff the number of parking spaces at Home Depot. Franzen
responded Home Depot and Costco would both meet code requirements of 5.5
spaces per 1,000 square feet. If Costco were to expand, they would restripe the
existing parking spaces to the smaller 9 foot width to allow for additional parking.
Stoelting asked staff for a review of the traffic study. Gray responded that the
Costco will generate approximately 6,200 vehicles per day. On this section of
Technology Drive, all large developments have access from the south side. With the
additional traffic there would not be major problems. If the Emerson property fully
Planning Board Minutes
June 23, 2003
Page 4
developed as office and office warehouse, it would be important to look at how the
characteristics would change. There would need to be the three lane roadway design
to allow traffic to move through. There will be turn lanes for eastbound traffic,
westbound will use the center lane for turning. If the City implemented an
interchange at 212 and 494 and closed that intersection at Technology Drive and
212 at the east end, overall future development would allow a secondary access.
This could mean a connection to Single Tree Lane. It's necessary to maintain two
entrances for Costco and there will be traffic congestion at certain times. Since they
open later, they won't contribute to early morning rush hour traffic and weekends
there will be a large volume of traffic but none from the office areas. The afternoon
traffic would not be a problem.
Seymour asked Gray if another retail business were to build in the same area, would
there be sufficient space to upgrade the road to a four lane. Gray replied a four lane
road wouldn't be a solution and with another retail user on the site then a connection
to Single Tree Lane would be the best alternative.
Koenig asked the developer if fuel pumps would be open 24 hours per day.
Johnson responded the hours are 6 a.m. to 9 or 9:30 p.m. Koenig stated the last
time Costco came in front of the Board there was discussion about a fueling facility
and gas wars and traffic congestion. She asked about whether there were concerns
with backup of traffic onto Technology Drive should this occur. Johnson responded
that those facilities that experienced the gas wars were located on the west coast. In
the Midwest none of the fueling facilities experience that kind of traffic through
them. Here in Minnesota gas stations aren't permitted to sell gas at 10 or 12 cents
less than other gas stations nearby. State legislation does not allow this type of
activity. Koenig stated that during noon time it is very congested in that area and
she would anticipate that there would be a wait to get onto Prairie Center Drive.
She asked if they expanded the building would there be enough area for additional
parking stalls. Johnson replied the new plans will show the expanded building and
additional parking spaces which will be striped at 9 feet rather than 10 feet.
Sutherland stated he assumed that with the expanded building Costco would not be
asking for more waivers. Johnson stated they would not.
Steppat asked about the fueling area and whether there are concerns about leakage
of fuel and it washing into the lake. Gray responded the storm sewer will drain
toward Bachmans, not near Lake Idlewood. He stated gasoline generally evaporates
so quickly and it's more of a fire hazard than a leakage problem. He said the Amoco
on the corner of Single Tree Lane is connected to the storm sewer system.
Foote asked when the gas station is operating whether there will be someone to man
it. Johnson responded they will have an unattended permit to allow self service.
There will be a manager on duty during those hours and for safety reasons there are
safety switches on the controller enclosure.
Planning Board Minutes
June 23, 2003
Page 5
Stoelting asked how the traffic will stack into the fuel facility. Johnson stated
traffic flow for the facility is one way. The entrance is on the north end, customers
drive through, gas up and then head south. The design is different in that there is an
extra 11 foot lane between the pump islands so that if a nonmember tries to use
pumps they have a lane to exit out. Stoelting asked if there was access from the
west. Johnson responded customers could use the eastern approach the pumps and
turn in to approach the pumps. If they were to go in from the western area they
would circle around.
Koenig asked staff about the possible connection to Single Tree Lane. She stated
she would like some clarification as to its feasibility and a timeline. Gray responded
the corridor for that connection is on the remainder of the Emerson property to the
east of the Costco location and with some grading there is a feasible connection.
Another alternative would be to connect to Eden Road rather than Single Tree Lane,
although Single Tree would be the preferred choice. Any development of the
Emerson property is considered redevelopment. He stated there will be a lot of
those type of projects in the future with new road corridors that don't exist today;
this will be one of them. He said redeveloping the street connection to Single Tree
Lane is not a difficult project to accomplish. Koenig asked for clarification
regarding the easement through the Emerson property. Gray stated the City is
requesting an easement, through the platting process, from Emerson to allow for
building a roadway through their site as future redevelopment occurs. Koenig
asked what the Board's standing was on this. Gray responded the Board had
recommended it and it will be going to City Council. Franzen stated it will be
going before the Council on July 1.
Seymour asked about sign waivers and an explanation of the sign package. Franzen
said Costco is entitled to a pylon sign, wall signs on the main building and wall
signs on the gas canopy. Wall signs area percentage of the wall area not to exceed
300 square feet. Costco's total sign allowance is 1388 square feet, 30 feet greater
than the code allows.
Seymor asked about the Target signs. Franzen stated that Target is permitted 300
square feet per wall or 1,200 total square feet. Target asked for a waiver to have two
signs greater than 300 square feet in exchange for less overall sign area. The City
approved a 500 and a 400 square foot sign. Larger signs can be acceptable provided
they are proportional to the size of the building and look appropriate in scale.
Stoelting asked the board members if there are changes to point out to the
developer. He asked whether Board members were comfortable with the guide plan
change and also their comfort level with the sign waivers.
Brooks stated it appears the developer has worked with the staff for a long time, and
he had no issues or questions.
Planning Board Minutes
June 23, 2003
Page 6
Foote stated that regional commercial is a better use than industrial and would
support the waivers. The only concern will be the traffic and road design.
Steppat stated he is fine with a guide plan change which fits the land use for the
area. He said the issue is traffic.
Seymour said he is comfortable with the guide plan change and waivers being
requested. This is a good location for this business.
Sutherland stated he is comfortable with the guide plan change and the waivers. He
is concerned about the traffic issue.
Koenig stated is not comfortable with the extent of the impervious surface and
questioned whether more trees could be saved. Fox responded the existing trees are
basically landscape trees. The tree ordinance protects larger woodland, native trees
and that's not the situation on this site.
MOTION by Brooks, second by Foote, to recommend a continuance to the July 14,
2003, meeting. Motion carried, 7-0. Nelson abstained
B. BRYANT LAKE VIEW SECOND by On the Level Inc. Request for Preliminary
Plat of 2.57 acres into 2 lots. Location: South of Crosstown, east side of Beach
Road.
Perry Ryan stated they are proposing redevelopment of the 2.57 acre site which
would include splitting the property into two lots; lot 1 will be 48,561 square feet
and lot 2 will be 68,266 square feet within the R1-22 zoning district. He said there
will be a 22% tree loss. The access to the existing home is a private drive that goes
through the private property. There are utilities available on the site.
Franzen stated the project meets all city requirements. Staff is recommending
approval according to the conditions on page 3 of the staff report.
Koenig asked if the 22% tree loss is over the entire site. Fox responded it was.
Nelson asked how many trees are to be removed from lot 2. Fox said tree loss is
estimated over the entire site, and no separate calculation was done for lot 2.
Sutherland asked Ryan about the drawing and whether he feels comfortable about
signing the preliminary plat. Ryan responded he would not feel comfortable doing
that. Sutherland stated it looks like a land surveyor drawing. Ryan responded that a
survey company did do the drawing.
MOTION by Steppat, second by Foote, to close the public hearing. Motion
carried, 8-0.
Planning Board Minutes
June 23, 2003
Page 7
MOTION by Brooks, second by Nelson to approve the Preliminary Plat of 2.57
acres into 2 lots, based on plans dated May 2, 2003, subject to the
recommendations of the staff report dated June 20, 2003, to the City Council.
Motion carried, 7-0. Sutherland abstained
C. CODE AMENDMENT — STANDARDS FOR THE PROTECTION OF
WETLANDS
Franzen stated the reporting requirements need to be clarified within the Wetland
Protection Code and guidelines are needed for reporting of the results of the
monitoring to determine that the wetland buffer is developing according to the
approved wetland buffer plan.
Foote asked if there are any changes to the substance of the ordinance. Franzen
responded there are no changes to the current ordinance, this is new language added
to the ordinance.
MOTION by Steppat, second by Foote, to close the public hearing. Motion
carried, 8-0.
MOTION by Sutherland, second by Foote, to approve the request for a Code
Amendment - Standards for the Protection of Wetlands, subject to the
recommendations of the staff report dated June 20, 2003, to the City Council.
Motion carried, 8-0.
VI. MEMBERS REPORTS
VII. CONTINUING BUSINESS
VIII. NEW BUSINESS
IX. PLANNERS'REPORTS
A. New Information—Plan Changes
Franzen stated the introduction of the new information at Planning Board meetings
can be confusing. He said the memo should be helpful in clarifying and handling
new information. He said most projects come before the Board with a clear
recommendation from City staff and concurrence with the staff recommendation by
the proponent. Occasionally, there are projects that have unresolved issues, a
disagreement with the staff recommendation, or new information presented at the
public hearing. New information should be presented in a clear and concise
manner.
Planning Board Minutes
June 23, 2003
Page 8
B. How to Make a Motion
Franzen stated this memo will help with making clear and logical motions.
Sometimes the pre—written motions need to be modified. The memo outlines the
procedure for making, amending, and voting on motions.
Koenig stated that on the tree loss motion it should have been opened up for
discussion and she wants to make sure that's on the record.
X. ADJOURNMENT
MOTION by Steppat, second by Koenig to adjourn. Motion carried, 8-0.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 8:25 p.m.