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Planning Commission - 09/10/2018 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE PLANNING COMMISSION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2018 7:00 PM—CITY CENTER Council Chambers 8080 Mitchell Road COMMISSION MEMBERS: John Kirk, Charles Weber, Ann Higgins, Andrew Pieper, Ed Farr, Mark Freiberg, Michael DeSanctis, Christopher Villarreal, Carole Mette CITY STAFF: Julie Klima, City Planner Rod Rue, City Engineer Kristin Harley, Recording Secretary I. CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER Chair Farr called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE—ROLL CALL Absent were commission members Pieper and Villareal. III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Higgins moved, seconded by Kirk to approve the agenda. MOTION CARRIED 7-0. IV. MINUTES MOTION: Kirk moved, seconded by Higgins to approve the minutes dated August 27, 2018. MOTION CARRIED 7-0. V. PUBLIC MEETINGS SMITH VILLAGE Location: 16389 & 16397 Glory Lane Request for: • Guide Plan change from Industrial and Church/Cemetery to Medium High Density Residential on 7.16 acres • Planned Unit Development Concept Review on 7.16 acres • Planned Unit Development District Review with waivers on 7.16 acres • Zoning District Change from Pub and I-Gen to RM-2.5 on 7.16 acres • Site Plan Review on 7.16 acres PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES September 10, 2018 Page 2 • Preliminary Plat of two lots into five lots and one outlot on 7.16 acres Mark Nelson of United Properties displayed a PowerPoint and explained the application. The applicants are proposing to develop the 7.16-acre property into a multi-family residential project that provides workforce housing, for-sale townhomes, and senior cooperative units for a total of 164 units. This would include trails and shared amenities (storm water,parking, et cetera) including a common space. The senior cooperative would be a HUD-guaranteed cooperative, and 20% (10 homes) would be priced at 80 percent of area median income (AMI). The majority of the parking would be underground. The units would be mostly two-bedroom units, or one bedroom with a den. The applicants were partnering with Halley Land Corporation and Common Bond to construct the development. Of the workforce apartment housing, 52 of those would be priced at 80 percent or less AMI, and six (10 percent of the apartments) would be priced at market rate. These would be one-bedroom, two-bedroom, and three-bedroom apartments ranging from 750 to 1,250 square feet, with monthly rents from $700.00 to $1,325.00. A sport court and play area was integrated with the site and the trails. Klima presented the staff report. The property was currently guided public and industrial. The project did incorporate similar styles and materials to integrate with the surrounding community, and the applicant was currently seeking funding for part of the project; a staff recommendation was contingent upon revisions to the plans including access needed by the City to the proposed partially-underground water reservoir storage facility which will be constructed on 6.5 acres to the south. Alternatives were proposed but no final access points were agreed upon, and staff was recommending the applicant return with a revised access plan. The development included sustainability features and affordability, and staff wished to continue working with the applicants on this due to recent decisions made by the City Council. Also, the applicants needed to clarify their landscaping plan. Several PUD waivers were being requested regarding the number of units (density), setback, senior parking (1.62 parking stalls per unit instead of the usual two), lot frontage, and lot depth. Since additional information was necessary in order for staff to complete its review and provide a recommendation on the application, staff recommended the public hearing be continued to October 8, 2018 to allow the applicant to revise the proposal. Rue gave a brief presentation on the water reservoir storage tank. He stated the City purchased roughly six acres of land on the opposite side of the regional trail facility from the development for the ground water reservoir tank, which would hold five million gallons, either built all at once or in two phases; discussion on this was ongoing. Eden Prairie presently had two elevated towers whereas this would be a partially buried cylindrical tank. The City was requesting construction and operational access. Construction was slated to begin in 2019. DeSanctis asked if the water tank would be encased in brick as was the one on Mitchell Road. Rue replied the architecture was not yet determined,but the tank would have a "depot look" to reflect the structures historically at the site. DeSanctis asked if there PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES September 10, 2018 Page 3 would be impact on the Red Rock Lake or its adjoining wetland. Rue replied it would not as this would be water coming from the water plant, and had nothing to do with ground water or storm water. Kirk asked for the location, and Rue displayed the applicant's slides and pointed out the location between the Regional Trail and Highway 212 near Central Middle School. Freiberg asked for dimensions of the water tank. Rue replied it was probably 100-200 foot diameter and 40 feet high, with 15 feet below ground and 25 feet above ground. The conceptual designs and layouts were still being created. DeSanctis asked the applicant if one electrical car charging station was sufficient. Nelson replied this was a starting point, after which expansion could be considered. Farr asked for a summary of the neighborhood meeting. Nelson replied one was held at City Hall and was well attended by residents across from Eden Prairie Road and from Lincoln Lane. Discussions focused on potential impacts to the Smith House and on the height of the development. Some residents were in favor of the development due to its focus on intergenerational diversity. Mette asked how the applicant determined the calculations for affordable housing, and Nelson replied the Minnesota Financing Agency in collaboration with HUD supplied those. Mette asked if the rules of the senior cooperative that limited the value increase to two percent was for 40 years or forever. Nelson explained for the benefit of the other commission members this was a limited equity cooperative, which limited the appreciation of the value of the homes to two percent per year. The idea was to maintain the home values relative to the market and allow senior members to sell if they must while earning some interest. Nelson was not sure if this rule applied in perpetuity. HUD and other entities would weigh in on this. Mette asked if there would be no way to enforce the sale of the affordable units to targeted residents who usually needed such housing in subsequent sales due to the HUD financing. Nelson replied that was true; HUD did not allow two classes of membership. This was a corporation in which residents were buying a share. Sale of affordable units to those needing affordable housing was encouraged,but could not be forced. However, this as well as the mandated limit of two percent appreciation in value also prevented flippers or speculators seeking a "windfall." Mette asked what the height of Applewood Pointe was measured from. Klima replied the City recently revised its definition of heights as from the grade plane to the highest point. Kirk asked if the financing and two percent limitations were typical of senior cooperatives in Eden Prairie and surrounding communities. Nelson replied he could not speak to that,but it was consistent with the United Properties brand. Farr asked for and received confirmation that there would be a developer agreement. Farr then asked if the affordable housing requirement would be enforced in perpetuity. Klima replied if the development agreement, which was a contract that existed between the developer and the City, included those stipulations there would be no sunset of them and those stipulations would remain in force consistent with the approved Development Agreement. DeSanctis stated there is a pedestrian crossing on the west side to Miller Park and signaled intersections in the northwest and southwest, and asked if a traffic study had been commissioned. He was concerned about a property attracting seniors that would PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES September 10, 2018 Page 4 require them to walk across Eden Prairie Road. Nelson replied the study was funded by the applicants but commissioned through staff. There were two lights, plus seniors tended to avoid peak traffic times. Farr noted the aerial rendering included a striped pedestrian crossing at the entrance to Miller Park. Nelson replied that crosswalk coincided with both Miller Park and the Regional Trail. Farr invited the public to speak. Donald Hanson of 7936 Timber Lake Drive asked for and received confirmation the commission received his handout in its packets. He objected to the development due to its proximity to Eden Prairie Road. This development would impact three local treasures: Miller Park, the nature trail, and the Smith Douglas More House. There was no existing building of comparable height in the area, and therefore this development was not consistent with the rest of the community along the length of Eden Prairie Road. The entrance to this development would be between the Smith Douglas More House and the nature trail; this and the development's design created visual clutter. Hanson's idea of nature did not include small intermittent squares of green and non-earth-tone colored tiles showing above the trees as shown by the rendering. A successfully contrast to this development was Elim Shores which was hidden in nature and utilized earth tones. Joan Howe-Pullis of 8101 Curtis Lane spoke in support the development as an intergenerational, diverse, and affordable development as a result of collaboration between multiple developers. She pointed out 68 percent of Eden Prairie residents spent over 30 percent of net income on housing. Higgins asked how children needing school buses would be served in this development. Diana Dyste, project manager of Common Bond Communities, replied this had been anticipated, and one alternative was utilizing Glory Lane as a turnaround or utilizing Eden Prairie Road. The applicants would continue to look at this issue. Jesse Menton, regional manager for Common Bond Communities added it was not uncommon in their other developments to have buses enter the common area, which was the preferred option here since Eden Prairie Road was a high traffic route. Freiberg stated there had been an outstanding cooperation between the three developers and encouraged more"thinking beyond the box" alternatives to solve the housing problems in Eden Prairie which had so little land for development. Kirk agreed lifestyle and affordable housing remained a significant issue in Eden Prairie and would continue to be; however, longtime residents, who preferred Eden Prairie as it was, had to accept growth and change in the community. To balance these two needs was the difficulty, and density and height were part of this balance. This development represented for Kirk a reasonable compromise. Farr also applauded the applicant for the effort. Mette agreed the landscaping was more important here than at other sites, and wanted to see further work on this. She had seen the two other Applewood developments and was impressed. She stated she felt confident in the developer and the concept; however, she would like to see a rendering from the trail to confirm how visible the development would be. The parking waiver requested seemed in line with other Eden Prairie PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES September 10, 2018 Page 5 developments, especially since these were two- and more bedrooms. DeSanctis agreed aggressive landscaping was needed, not only for visual impacts but also for acoustical buffers for residents west, east, and southeast of Highway 212. Hanson responded to Kirk's comments, stating he had suggested at the neighborhood meeting the four-story apartment building be turned on its side, and place the townhomes on the street. This was in his handout as well. Farr replied the commission and the applicant received his handout and would consider such a suggestion as well. Jason Potvin of 8181 Curtis Lane asked where the other projects were so residents could view them. Mette replied it was near the bridge on Highway 169. Nelson replied there were developments in Champlin, Minnetonka, Bloomington, New Brighton, Woodbury, and Shoreview. Farr asked him to email a list of addresses to City staff so that participants at this meeting and anyone listening either to the live stream or the video playback of this meeting could contact City staff for these addresses. MOTION: Kirk moved, seconded by DeSanctis, to recommend a continuance of the Smith Village project, based on staff recommendations and information contained in the staff report, dated September 6, 2018 and plans stamp dated August 29, 2018 to the October 8, 2018 Planning Commission meeting. MOTION CARRIED 7-0. VI. PUBLIC HEARINGS VII. PLANNERS' REPORT VIII. MEMBERS' REPORTS IX. CONTINUING BUSINESS X. NEW BUSINESS XI. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Weber moved, seconded by Higgins, to adjourn the meeting. MOTION CARRIED 7-0. Chair Farr adjourned the meeting at 8:15 p.m.