Loading...
Planning Commission - 07/13/2009 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE PLANNING COMMISSION MONDAY,JULY 13, 2009 7:00 P.M., CITY CENTER Council Chambers 8080 Mitchell Road COMMISSION MEMBERS: John Kirk, Katie Lechelt, Jacob Lee, Alexander Martin, Jerry Pitzrick, Peter Rocheford, Kevin Schultz, Jon Stoltz, Travis Wuttke STAFF MEMBERS: Stu Fox, Manager of Parks and Natural Resources Michael Franzen, City Planner Scott Kipp, Senior Planner Regina Herron—Planner II Rod Rue, City Engineer Julie Krull, Recording Secretary I. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE—ROLL CALL Chair Stoltz called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Rocheford arrived during the first public hearing. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION by Schultz, seconded by Lechelt, to approve the agenda. Motion carried 8-0. III. MINUTES A. PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING HELD ON JUNE 22, 2009 MOTION by Pitzrick, seconded by Schultz, to approve the minutes. Motion carried 6-0. Kirk and Lechelt abstained. IV. INFORMATIONAL MEETINGS V. PUBLIC MEETINGS VI. PUBLIC HEARINGS A. AT&T Cellular Tower—Olympic Hills - (continued) Request for: EDEN PRAIRIE PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES July 13, 2009 Page 2 • Site Plan Review on 23.44 acres Location: 12100 Pioneer Trail James Ries,representing AT&T,presented the proposal. He started by going over the items that were brought up by the Commission at the previous meeting for staff and project proponent to address. The first item was to look at having a co-location on the existing tower at 9813 Flying Cloud Drive. Mr. Ries stated upon further investigation this would not be a feasible location because the existing 87 foot tower would not provide the necessary coverage. The next item would the possibility of co-location as part of the Pioneer Trail improvements that are currently underway. After contact with Hennepin County, they stated no structures would be included in the area taller than 30 feet. The next item would be the relocation of the monopole on the church property. The project proponent, City Staff, members of Pax Christi, and neighbors worked together to come up with a new location. That location would be 170 feet to the south of the proposed location,behind the northwest corner of the building. This location would add additional screening. Stoltz asked Kipp to review the staff report. Kipp stated Staff, church members and representatives from AT&T met with neighbors and agreed on the new location, which provides additional screening. Staff recommends approval. Stoltz opened the meeting up for public input. Matt Kleffner, of 9559 Woodridge Circle, wanted to thank everyone for accommodations to his concerns over the original placement of the tower. Schultz stated at the June 8th meeting he had concerns regarding the placement of the tower and asked the project proponent to consider other options. He wanted to thank the project proponent for going back to the drawing board and exploring all possibilities. MOTION by Kirk, seconded by Wuttke, to close the public hearing. Motion carried 9-0. MOTION by Kirk, seconded by Wuttke, to recommended approval of the Site Plan Review on 23.44 acres, based on plans stamped dated June 29, 2009 and the staff report dated July 10, 2009. Motion carried 9-0. B. Variance 2009-04 by City of Eden Prairie Parks and Recreation Request to: • Permit a Shoreland setback variance from 100 feet to 4 feet for the construction of an observatory structure. City requires a 100 feet setback from the Ordinary High Water level. Location: 13765 Staring Lake Parkway EDEN PRAIRIE PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES July 13, 2009 Page 3 Stu Fox, Manager of Parks and Natural Resources, presented the proposal. He stated the City received the telescope from the Astronomical Society and they would like to build a structure to hold the telescope. The telescope is approximately the size of a hot water heater and would sit on a large pedestal. In looking at the site at Staring Lake, the best unobstructed view would be the south, southwest area of Staring Lake Park because you would not be getting the light from the City of Minneapolis. The City hired an architect to draw up the structure walls, which would be 4 1/2 feet high with a turn-off roof. It would look similar to a house. The variance request is due to the shoreline setback. Stoltz asked Franzen to review the staff report. Franzen stated there are three items to be addressed when granting a variance request. The first item being reasonable use of the property; this property cannot be put to reasonable use without the variance. The question to ask is would it be reasonable to have an observatory in a City Park next to the lake. The second item would be if there are any unique circumstances to take into account. An observatory requires an obstructed view and needs to be close to the Outdoor Center. The structure could be located at the required setback, but that would require removal of several trees. The third item to take into account would be by granting this variance request, would it alter the character of the neighborhood. The proposed building is replacing the existing building and would be somewhat smaller in size. Stoltz opened the meeting up for public input. There was no input. Stoltz asked Fox how many people could be in this structure at one time. Fox stated if the people were viewing from a screen, the building could house a dozen people. Lechelt asked about security of the structure. Fox said the building would be secured when not in use and stated the value of the telescope is approximately $40,000. Lechelt asked if there would be a chance for flooding. Fox stated it could be a possibility but the base portion of the telescope would be above the flood stage. Schultz asked if the telescope would be handicap assessable. Fox said there would be a paved trail to the telescope and a ramp to accommodate wheel chairs and a double door at the opening. MOTION by Schultz, seconded by Kirk, to close the public hearing. Motion carried 9-0. MOTION by Schultz, seconded by Wuttke, to recommend approval of the variance to permit a Shoreland setback variance from 100 feet to 4 feet for the construction of an observatory structure,based on plans stamped dated June 18, 2009, and the staff report dated July 10, 2009 and based on the following findings. EDEN PRAIRIE PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES July 13, 2009 Page 4 • The building needs to be located next to the lake to have an unrestricted view for the telescope. • Locating the structure at the required setback requires significant tree removal. • The proposed building is smaller and shorter than the existing building. Motion carried 9-0. C. Prairie Physicians Building Request for: • Guide Plan Change from Office to Community Commercial on 1.24 acres • Zoning District Change from Office to Community Commercial on 1.24 acres. Location: 16570 W. 78th Street Matt Nicoll, a partner in the Prairie Physicians Building, stated he has been involved in this project for the past six years. He pointed out the Prairie Physician Building has been a challenge to fill occupancy and that is the reason for the guide plan to community commercial. They feel they will be able to lease more space by doing that. They will be doing nothing else to the building. Stoltz asked Herron to review the staff report. Herron stated Staff recommends approval and pointed out the site is adjacent to a commercial use and would conform to the surrounding area. Stoltz opened the meeting up for public input. There was no input. Pitzrick asked if rezoning this to commercial would affect the parking requirements. Herron stated the parking requirement would be the same as the previous use. MOTION by Schultz, seconded by Kirk, to close the public hearing. Motion carried 9-0. MOTION by Schultz, seconded by Wuttke, to recommend approval of the Guide Plan Change from Office to Community Commercial on 1.24 acres and Zoning District Change from Office to Community Commercial on 1.24 acres, based on plans stamped dated June 25, 2009 and the staff report dated July 10, 2009. Motion carried 9-0. D. Light Rail Presentation This is a presentation on Station Area Planning for light rail in the City. Randy Newton, Assistant City Engineer, and Tom Dobbs, consultant for Hennepin County,presented the Light Rail presentation. EDEN PRAIRIE PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES July 13, 2009 Page 5 Randy Newton addressed the Draft Environment Impact Statement(DEIS) portion of the study. The DEIS is a required component of the project development process for all FTA New Start projects. The scoping portion of the DEIS took place in the fall of 2008, and involved community meetings. The Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority (HCRRA) plans to complete the DEIS by the end of 2009. Evaluation of alternatives has been ongoing since completion of the scoping process. The next steps are to finalize the DEIS. Currently, two alternative alignments are under consideration in Eden Prairie. Alternative Alignment 1 would follow the LRT trail right-of-way, which Hennepin County owns. Alternative 3 would run through the Golden Triangle Area and end at Mitchell Road. There have been several changes to the Alternative 2 alignment. The biggest change is through the Major Center Area. Because of some fatal flaws with the alignment a recommendation was made to move the alignment and station from the middle of the Town Center area. 5 public open houses are scheduled from August 1lth to August 19th. The Eden Prairie open house will be held August 19th at the Eden Prairie City Center. In September a preliminary LPA recommendation is expected to be made by the Southwest Technical Advisory Committee (TAC.) A public hearing in front of the SW PAC is also planned for September. In October the SW PAC is expected to make a final LPA recommendation. The HCRRA Board will then need to take action on the LPA and forward it to the Metropolitan Council for inclusion in the Transportation Policy Plan. This schedule should then allow for the Transportation Policy Plan to be amended in late 2009. Simultaneous to this process the DEIS work will be wrapping up and should be completed by late 2009. With this schedule the project should be able to move into preliminary engineering in early 2010. Lechelt asked what fatal flaws were created by going through the Town Center Area. Mr. Newton indicated the issues going through the area were significant grade changes, traffic impacts and FHWA approval. In particular the alignment would require all traffic going through a major intersection to stop every time an LRT Tran would pass through. The revised alignment through the Town Center Area addressed several of these issues but introduced a couple of property takings. Tom Dobbs presented the Station Area Planning portion of the presentation. The station area planning study is for Alignment 3 only. There are five stations in Eden Prairie. They are: City West Parkway/Shady Oak, Golden Triangle, Eden Prairie Town Center, Southwest Station and Mitchell Road. The planning is informed by City Comprehensive Plan, City Planning and Area Studies, Current and Planned Development, DEIS Study, Visioning Sessions 1 and 2, Public Meeting 1, Market Conditions and Forecasts, Traffic Analysis, Meetings and Dialog with City Staff. The next steps will be the following: 7/14/09 —meeting with EP City Staff, 7/22/09—EP Public Meeting#1, 8/19/09 - EP Public Meeting #2, and 09/09 - Production and Publication of SAP. EDEN PRAIRIE PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES July 13, 2009 Page 6 Pitzrick asked, with the relocation of the Town Center, what are we going to do with the Guide Plan. Franzen said we will select the final alignment of where this would go and we would have to revisit it through a public process. Lechelt stated she has some concerns with parking being closest to the stations and could a mixed use setting be considered, possibly combining the parking ramp with commercial use. Mr. Dobbs said that would be a great idea to incorporate that. The reality is the County will provide components of property and how it will be acquisitioned. Schultz stated he has attended a few scoping meetings and noticed a lot of residents come to the podium and express a lot of concerns,but has not seen a lot of input from area businesses and asked Herron to address this. Herron stated the Chamber of Commerce and business owners adjacent to the proposed station locations have been invited to attend the visioning sessions and an open house. Feedback was provided and the majority of it was positive. She stated this is an ongoing process and the businesses will be kept informed. VII. PLANNERS' REPORT Franzen stated there will not be a Planning Commission meeting on July 27th. The next meeting would be August loth. There will be two items on the agenda for that meeting. The first item will be a public hearing on garage sale definition/regulations. The second item will be a public hearing on the Heritage Preservation Ordinance. VIII. MEMBERS' REPORT IX. CONTINUING BUSINESS X. NEW BUSINESS XI. ADJOURNMENT MOTION by Kirk, seconded by Schultz, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 9-0. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 8:26 p.m.