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Planning Commission - 04/22/2019 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE PLANNING COMMISSION MONDAY,APRIL 22, 2019 7:00 PM—CITY CENTER Council Chambers 8080 Mitchell Road COMMISSION MEMBERS: John Kirk, Charles Weber, Ann Higgins, Andrew Pieper, Ed Farr, Michael DeSanctis, Christopher Villarreal, Carole Mette, Balu Iyer CITY STAFF: Julie Klima, City Planner; Rod Rue, City Engineer; Kristin Harley, Recording Secretary I. CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER Chair Pieper called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE—ROLL CALL Commission member Weber was absent. III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Higgins moved, seconded by Kirk to approve the agenda. MOTION CARRIED 8-0. IV. MINUTES MOTION: Villarreal moved, seconded by DeSanctis to approve the minutes of April 8, 2019. MOTION CARRIED 8-0. V. PUBLIC HEARINGS A. CASTLE RIDGE Location: 612-635 Prairie Center Drive Request for: • Planned Unit Development Concept Review on 19.75 acres • Planned Unit Development District Review with waivers on 19.75 acres • Zoning District Review on 19.75 acres and Zoning District change from C-Com to RM-2.5 on 1.4 acres • Site Plan Review on 6.94 acres 0 Preliminary Plat of four lots into one lots and two outlots on 19.75 acres PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES April 22, 2019 Page 2 Klima presented the application, which was a redevelopment of an existing site at Prairie Center Drive and Flying Cloud Drive which included the Broadmoor Apartments, Castle Ridge Care Center, and some vacant property. An overall PUD was approved in 2008. The presentation was organized in three parts. The Senior Care Center(at the southwest) would be seeking full approval, and the other two areas would be seeking PUD concept approval and be platted as outlots. The commission was being asked for high-level detail feedback on these two outlots. The Broadmoor Apartments consisted of 240 all age units, with studios, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments with detached garages. The Castle Ridge Care Center provided 82 units currently. The 2008 approval was for an overall PUD for 704 residential units (372 senior and 332 general occupancy), commercial development extended farther up Prairie Center Drive than being requested in the current application, roadway design, and plaza areas. The 2019 proposal included 274 senior units and 250 general occupancy, 20,000 square feet of retail, a 110- or 120-room room hotel,public gathering spaces, and an amended roadway design. Klima presented a rendering of the proposed structure and side elevations of the senior housing site (lot one). Access would come from Columbine Road to the parking area, and there would be outdoor amenities and a landscaping plan. There would be two proof of parking areas. The development did not comply with the metric of two stalls per unit, as it is usual for senior developments to seek a parking requirement waiver. Staff recommended the plan be revised to remove the proof of parking to meet the landscape requirement. Klima explained the elevation images and the various entrances. The phasing plan involved three phases. In 2008 the developer did not have development partners, as now. Phase one involved the demotion and removal of Broadmoor Apartments and construction of the senior units. After these units are completed, the Castle Ridge Car Center tenants would be relocated into the new facility. Phase two would be construction of the general occupancy residential units. Phase three would include the construction of the commercial portion. The density was approximately 40 units per acre. The Multi-Family Area (Outlot A) concept plan consisted of two buildings: a seven-story and a five-story building connected with a two-story common space, 250 one-bedroom and two-bedroom rental units and 328 parking spaces, common site elements, site amenities, group usable open space, and 1.3 parking stalls per unit. With the overall PUD the City and the developer were looking for a cohesive development rather than three distinct ones. The density here was approximately 51 units per acre. The southeastern commercial area (Outlot B) consisted of 20,000 square feet of retail in the form of single story, drive-through uses, a 110- or 120-room hotel, surface parking, gathering spaces, and common design elements. The goal was a dynamic mix of uses and architectural interest to create synergy (such as a grocery store, a medical office building, sit-down restaurants, etc.). PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES April 22, 2019 Page 3 The Site Design Objectives included human scale interest and sense of place, natural amenities, pedestrian connectivity, enhanced site design and traffic circulation, with a parking lot that was intuitive and direct. Staff recommended an exit connected to Prairie Center Drive and parallel parking be removed to prevent congestion, and the proposed drop off area needed more detail to ensure the private drive remained clear. The Castlemoore Drive area had three options recommended by staff: to vacate Castlemoore entirely, to terminate the Castlemoore roundabout or to leave the site as is and redesign the site plan. The developer decided to pursue the vacation of Castlemoore and maintain access to the property south of Presbyterian Homes. Other issues included the nearby wetland area and the plans would need to be revised to align with the most recent wetland delineation. Staff recommended the commission continue the public hearing to May 13 to allow all parties to provide feedback to staff and the applicant. John Fletcher of Presbyterian Homes presented the PowerPoint and explained the application. He presented the organization's mission statement and emphasized long-term ownership was key; this developer was not a market-rate developer. Presbyterian Homes had been in operation since 1955, and sold only one community since then. The 19.75 acre Castle Ridge Care Center site would be integrate into a master planned community with third-party partners. The proposed senior housing of 274 units would provide a continuum of care throughout life and was the only licensed care center in Eden Prairie. It offered independent living, assisted living, memory care, and a care center. He summarized the previous and the changes since then of the proposed plan. The previous plan held over 700 units with large retail; the current application right-sized the development and shifted the key central intersection south of Prairie Center Drive and created a more useable five-acre apartment parcel. Traffic would be encouraged to use Columbine Drive more frequently and the road south of the CVS would enter the parcel. Fletcher displayed the basic architectural massing, which would maintain the senior parcel toward Purgatory Creek and place commercial spaces and all age housing toward Prairie Center Drive and Columbine Drive. The architecture and design found a balance between approved recent projects and the development's unique flair with 100 percent class one materials. He explained the many offered amenities and reiterated the phasing, sustainability, and affordability. Ryan Sailer, with Timberland Partners explained his firm agreed to work with Presbyterian Homes. There was a demand for more units in a project with an exterior and interior design that did not compete with another similar project down the road. There were many issues to work out with staff and he was here to take initial feedback. Evan Jacobsen, of Tushie Montgomery Architects, gave a short presentation and PowerPoint showing sizes, orientation massing, ingress and egress, lighting, parking PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES April 22, 2019 Page 4 ideas, elevations and a drop-off point and asked for preliminary feedback. Drew Johnson, of Oppidan Investment Company, presented a PowerPoint and described the process of becoming involved in this project. He compared the 2008 and 2019 plan in terms of major themes, reiterating many earlier points and showing less area for retail. He presented strengths and weaknesses of the 2008 plan and strategies for the 2019 proposal. Max Musicant, of the Musicant Group, displayed a PowerPoint of the sense of place intended for this development in the central plaza and the park. He showed nested loops, which he explained people naturally gravitate toward, for the retail and pedestrian spaces. He showed the pedestrian pathways which he explained were not typical berms and drives but accessible pedestrian crossings. He explained the speed of traffic more than the presence of traffic itself inhibited pedestrian movement, which was an issue since the two main arterials carried a great number of cars. This shifted the accent to the west of the development. Pavement, landscaping, and architectural elements would enhance pedestrian safety. Drew Johnson added the goal was to make application based on the feedback by summer or fall with no variances and no leniency with regard to the zoning code. Iyer asked the square footage of the units, and Fletcher replied senior apartments would be 800-1,000 square feet, and two-bedroom apartments at 1,200 to 1,800 square feet. Kent Kelley, of 401 Southeast Main Street of Minneapolis and a former Eden Prairie resident, explained his sister Ellen Kelley lived in the senior care facility and stated he was in favor of the Presbyterian Homes portion of the proposal, as he was impressed by the staff and their care. Judy Thayer, of 4826 Sparrow Road in Minnetonka, stated her 93-year-old mother lived in the care center. She found the staff to be caring and love but added the Home was "yesterday's home," small and dated and needed replacement. She stated her mother looked forward to the new facility and supported a quick resolution. Mette asked if the affordable units were confined to the independent living units, and Fletcher replied it would extend to the skilled nursing facility. Mette asked how that worked with the payment of rent plus services. Fletcher replied the method was income restriction rather than rent restriction: the eligible residents would primarily be folks on Medicaid, with an income at or less than $12,000.00 per year. Mette noted the apartment building would be short on parking and suggested if Castlemoore Drive were vacated and made private, that the entire senior development be shifted even five or 10 feet to add more parking. DeSanctis noted a key constraint was the heavy traffic in the area and asked if the City considered a jitney or shuttle stop to encourage a circulatory flow of commerce. Fletcher replied Presbyterian Homes had a shuttle service between all its communities and planned something similar to DeSanctis's suggestion. PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES April 22, 2019 Page 5 Farr commended the idea of a Southwest transit loop around the area. He commended the assemblage of this team and the great job done on the presence of the building and the phasing. He found the one delivery berth short sighted and recommended two or three, to accommodate family drop offs and pick-ups, deliveries, pharmacy, emergencies vehicles, and Uber/Lyft and recommended the developer pay attention to long-term delivery berths as well. His observation was this while he had no issue with multiple waivers, these teams were "pushing too hard," specifically on parking, the lack of green space, and on setbacks. He suggested utilizing multi-story towers to allow for better organized green space. Kirk stated he remembered when the 2008 proposal came before the City and stated then the commission was more cautious about height and density back then. Eden Prairie had since changed, and density required height. He thought the City and certainly he were far more open to multistoried towers than previously. Higgins stated she was speaking on the residential portion of the project and had a concern regarding the movement of cars and people. She thought this development could use more massing, and multiple levels. She was also concerned that young families in rental would not have access to Purgatory Park, and grandchildren regularly visited senior housing. She recommended trails for children to ride small tricycles and bicycles. Iyer noted there was an architectural trade-off between density and green space and this had to be examined, especially for the age group being considered. Fletcher replied developers did wish to create multistoried buildings but also wished to balance cost and after a height of six floors construction costs went up 40 percent per floor. He noted the relationship between construction costs and rent prices and the team wished to preserve affordability. Mette stated she appreciated the challenges with building higher buildings, and stated the commission should give credit to the planned outdoor rooftop space memory care garden. She encouraged more of this as a solution as well in the market rate section. Villarreal stated he wished instead to place solar panels on the rooftops. He thanked Fletcher for including EV (electric vehicle) charging in the parking lot and asked if they were dedicated to the visitors or to the public. Fletcher replied they would be for senior residents, not the general public,because they would be free of charge. Farr asked for the trigger for an EAW/EIS (Environmental Assessment Worksheet/Environmental Impact Statement). Klima replied the initial review was completed in 2006-2008 and staff consulted with the City Attorney and MN EQB and determined an EAW was not necessary this time as the project fell within the parameters of what was considered last time. Farr asked if a traffic study addressed shared parking ratios. Johnson replied the developer keyed on parking counts. The reduction of density on the site allowed the main entrance off Prairie Center level of service to be acceptable for the intersection staying as is. Also the reduction of overall arterial traffic plus a smaller project made the 2008 findings even stronger. Farr asked if shared parking between uses could facilitate market users could use the Presbyterian Homes site when parking there was not as full. Johnson replied the SRF report on traffic was silent on PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES April 22, 2019 Page 6 shared reduction recommendations. Farr recommended the developer SRF provide strategic recommendations when the application came back to the commission. He also recommended a taller tower and to open up a town green He stated he liked the architecture and anticipated the project's greater detail in the application. Villarreal asked the definition of a three-quarter entrance. Rue stated a typical four-way intersection one could turn left-right in both directions, whereas here the movement straight across and the left turn were eliminated, making this not a true three-quarter entrance. Villarreal asked if there was a reason why there was no entrance from south Flying Cloud once the driver was past Prairie Center Drive. Rue replied the area was designed with Columbine and Fountain Place both signalized off the arterials. The predominant access would be off Columbine, and both that and Fountain Place would connect at signaled intersections to Prairie Center Drive and Flying Cloud Drive, respectively. Villarreal stated that forced a driver to make a circle or to make a U-turn, and more retail could make the situation more difficult to enter the site and asked if an entrance and exit on Flying Cloud Road could be considered. Rue replied the roadway was controlled by the county and the spacing requirements might not allow a change or a full access to be put in. Mette stated the three-quarter intersection would require anyone looking to take a left onto Prairie Center Drive would be coming up Columbine Road which usually was backed up in her experience. She anticipated congestion getting worse and urged that this needed to be mitigated,perhaps with two turn lanes. Kirk reiterated height, density, and protection of Purgatory Creek were the emphases in 2008, but he saw new needs for today. He commended the team and Presbyterian Homes. He stated he understood the costs but the commission needed to push for more green space. Parking and congestion were important issues and mistakes had been made in the past; he urged creative solutions for this for the future. Higgins urged the developer consider how deliveries, or when people move in or out, can take time and to plan for this. Villarreal asked the developer not to be beholden to chain businesses but to try to develop community retail, and to consider the flow of traffic with these delivery vehicles. He wished the EV chargers to be better plotted and located. He asked the developer to consider utilizing solar on the west-facing roofs. Farr stated he would like to scatter this and call it a mixed use project, which he did not find it to be. He stated he was drawn toward design guidelines, at the risk of moving toward a Town Center, which called for mixed use. He called for street-level retail with residential above. He also wanted to see dynamic pedestrian elements along the red lines (pedestrian edges) on the "sense of place" slide, and for greater integration with the rest of the development. He did not see residents in their eighties or older attempting to cross those intersections, driveways, curb cuts, and drive-through lanes, where presently retail businesses were planned to be isolated on drive-through islands. Mette agreed, and added this reminded her of Windsor Plaza which had retail on the first floor which would frame the main hotel really well with a plaza green space. She conceded this would impact an already difficult parking plan. She suggested a limit of two drive-through lanes,perhaps PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES April 22, 2019 Page 7 at the northwest side. She commended the plaza but stated it could be incorporated with mixed use to allow for a framed community feel with a main central plaza. DeSanctis asked if there could be community garden, and Fletcher replied one was not planned at this time. MOTION: Kirk moved, seconded by Higgins to recommend a continuance of the discussion on the application into the May 13, 2019 meeting based on the staff report dated April 18 2019. MOTION CARRIED 8-0. B. PLANNERS' REPORT C. MEMBERS' REPORTS Farr stated this was National Architectural Week and also Earth Day. D. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Farr moved, seconded by DeSanctis to adjourn the meeting. MOTION CARRIED 8-0. Chair Pieper adjourned the meeting at 8:54 p.m.