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HomeMy Public PortalAbout02-11-1997PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES - FEBRUARY 11, 1997 PRESENT: BOB BRADLEY, SUSIE MACKAY, ANNE HEIDEMAN, FRANK MIGNONE, CAROLYN SMITH, DECKER VELIE AND BRUCE WORKMAN. ALSO PRESENT, CITY ENGINEER SHAWN GUSTAFSON AND PLANNING AND ZONING ASSISTANT SANDIE LARSON. ABSENT: PENNY ELSENPETER AND CHRIS CROSBY. Vice -chairperson Anne Heideman called the meeting to order at 7:38 p.m. 1. MINUTES OF JANUARY 14, 1997. Anne Heideman made the following corrections: Page 2, 1st Buell paragraph, last sentence, change to: tower is also in ....: Page 2, Bradley paragraph, change to: a tower, that .... and Page 3, 1st paragraph, change to: if Nextel goes, Nextel will take all... MOVED BY CAROLYN SMITH AND SECONDED BY FRANK MIGNONE TO ACCEPT THE MINUTES AS CORRECTED. MOTION PASSED. 2. McDONALD'S RESTAURANTS, INC. - 822 HIGHWAY #55 - CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT FOR FAST FOOD RESTAURANT - PUBLIC HEARING - 7:40 P.M. Sandie Larson went over Loren Kohnen's memo to the planning commission. She then said that Bill Toles of ToI-O-Matic had called and could not be here tonight but wanted his views noted. Mr. Toles said that he had no problem with McDonald's or anyone else building there, but that they should build around what is there and not expect those that are already there to have to change things. What he was concerned about was the possibility of changing the alignment of Clydesdale Trail by his business. He said that he bought his property with the understanding that Clydesdale was a new road and it was where it was going to stay and the last time that the County talked about realignment the then city council made it very clear that existing businesses would come 1st. He said he is getting very, very upset with his comfort zone being nicked away a little at a time. Shawn Gustafson put up overheads of the site and plans. He talked about accesses and the possible need for a frontage road sometime in the future going west of Co. Rd. 116 on the north side of the McDonald's site. He then explained the northerly access for McDonald's and also talked of the ponds adjacent to Highway 55. He stated that two ponds were necessary because of the monitoring wells that were in place. Shawn said that there were three fire hydrants in the area that would be sufficient to service McDonald's, but because two of them were located on the east side of Co. Rd. 116 it 1 may be necessary to provide an additional hydrant on the property. He mentioned that the SAC charges were being determined by the Metropolitan Council Environmental Services Division and that the watershed wants the plans to show the erosion control for the ponds. He stated that the grading and storm sewer designs needed a little modification and then talked more of the north access, future alignment of a frontage road, easements needed for the road, etc. Frank Mignone asked if the concept plan for the frontage road would throw off McDonald's plans for their building and Shawn said he did not think so. Bob Bradley said that basically the entrance would stay the same as shown. S. Gustafson said that his engineering estimate for a security deposit to be provided by McDonald's would be $168,998 and that the amount would be reduced as work is completed. He said that their pavement section is acceptable, but that the city does recommend fabric be used. He also mentioned the easements needed for drainage, utilities, trails and the additional 10' that the county was requesting. B. Bradley asked if the drainage and utility easements were standard and Shawn said yes. There was discussion of the need for a trail easement. S. Gustafson said that all other comments from Hennepin County had been met in the proposed plan. Tom Drews, McDonald's project manager, passed out plans showing the proposed building elevations and put up the overhead of the site. He mentioned that the total site was approximately 1.8 acres, the size of the building and that their proposed number of parking spaces exceeded the ordinance requirement. He said that they will work with staff to make sure that their northern entrance works out and also said that they do need 2 entrances on Co. Rd. 116 for circulation. He said that over 60% of their business is drive-thru. He then pointed out that there was plenty of stacking room for cars going through the drive-thru. He said there would be a menu to look at and then the ordering would be done with a real person, not a speaker and would then be picked up at the next window. He said that they have to allow for delivery trucks and the radius they need on the site and that the trucks are usually at a location for about an hour when they deliver. He said they did squeeze the site to accommodate the County and City easements that were being requested and they have considered the future trail in their site design. He said there would be no problem if a new hydrant was required and that the design of the ponds were being dictated by the monitoring wells that were in place. Anne Heideman wanted to know why the northerly access was not perpendicular to County Road 116. 2 T. Drews said that based on meetings with city staff they tried to get some kind of alignment. S. Gustafson said the intersection is shown at about an 80 degree skew instead of 90 degree and that this is o.k. F. Mignone asked about access to the future frontage road for other businesses like Peggy's and Adam's Pest Control. S. Gustafson said that he would hope that they would be served, but a way would have to be found for them to get to the frontage road through the McDonald's property. F. Mignone then asked about the rest of the property on the site that looked like it was not being used for anything. T. Drews said that would stay green space. Bruce Workman asked why the plans did not show a sprinkler system. T. Drews said that one is not required because of the size of the building. He also said that there was a fire suppression system in the kitchen. He said there is no playground planned for now but there is space for one in the front and still meet set -backs and green space. Carolyn Smith asked where the recycling space was in the building. T. Drews said that there is usually a container by the trash containers and maybe one in the kitchen. C. Smith said that state law requires that all new buildings have a certain amount of space set aside for a recycling area. T. Drews said yes they have to provide recycling containers and that is by the trash area. C. Smith said she thought the space had to be inside. T. Drews said they have built a lot in Minnesota and have always been in compliance. Paul Lague, T.C. American at 3839 County Road 116, said that he is worried about the northerly access issue. A. Heideman told Mr. Lague that she would urge him to get together with Dave Mayer and McDonald's and discuss the issue. Anne also mentioned that the paths on T.C. American property are private paths. 3 B. Bradley said that the one corner by the driveway does not have to be there and if that is lopped off there will be nothing on T.C. American's property. Gordon Jensen, attorney representing Countryside Cafe/Peggy Rasmussen, pointed out on the site plan where the cafe was located in relation to McDonald's site. He suggested that now is the time for the frontage road because the need is there to service properties taking into consideration the access for the cafe and others. He said the cafe has one Hwy. 55 access now and on a good weather day there are about 400 cars in and out that can go either way on Hwy. 55. He pointed out on the map the current traffic patterns. He said a significant number use Co. Rd.116 for their access. He said the proposal puts Peggy's accesses from three down to one and is this not creating a problem? He then questioned whether a McDonald's was the best use for the site and thought it a bit premature for approval. F. Mignone asked Mr. Jensen if he felt this was a safety issue and Mr. Jensen said yes. Peggy Rasmussen said she has not done a specific study but that 60-75% of her traffic comes across from Co. Rd.116. She said this plan also eliminates the possibility of any deliveries and/or garbage trucks on her property. She then pointed out on the map where her building was. She said that this plan presents extreme difficulty to her customers. B. Bradley asked if then all this time Peggy's customers were driving over others property. A. Heideman asked if there was any kind of easement. G. Jensen said there was no written easement. He said this is a legal issue, but their allegation is that they have used it (entrance to Co. Rd.116) all this time and it is theirs to use by adverse possession. B. Bradley said that the planning commission cannot deal with the easement issue. He then said she would also need an easement to get to a frontage road and Mr. Jensen said yes. A. Heideman said that all the planning commission could do is to suggest to the city council that they consider moving ahead with the extension of Clydesdale Trail to the west for a frontage road. She said the only thing that they can deal with is the application before the commission and if there is no reason to not to approve it, we recommend the approval to the city council. B. Workman said that our job was to look ahead and see the concerns for other properties. He said that the Highway 55 access will be closed sometime in the future and we need to suggest to the city council to look ahead at the frontage road issue. 4 S. Gustafson said that the state has a cooperative agreement program to pay 90% of the construction cost. B. Bradley said that the frontage road still does not solve Peggy's problem without an easement. P. Rasmussen said if I asked for anything I would ask that the future be looked at. She said she has been in business there for 22 years and her business depends on traffic. She said the frontage road issue has been talked about and if you can, make a recommendation to move ahead with the frontage road. A. Heideman said that she is comfortable with recommending to the city council that the frontage road issue go forward. C. Smith also said that if Peggy's Hwy. 55 access is closed, she would be compensated for the access by the state. A. Heideman acknowledged that we had received letters from both Peggy and Randy Mayer concerning this application and wanted to say that in many years, this is the first time she has ever heard anything nice be said by Randy. Randy Mayer the evening wasn't over yet. He then said that he resolved his access to Clydesdale Trail by purchasing the property behind him when it was for sale. He said that the property in question has been for sale many times over the last number of years. He said if Peggy's access is limited, too bad, but you have to grow with the times. He said his Uncle's property (McDonald's site) has been shrunk by both the city and county on the east side and now to the north for the frontage road, if that is built. He said that this site plan should stand on its own and go forward. The public hearing was closed at 8:47 p.m. A. Heideman mentioned the requirements that the Elm Creek Watershed had brought forward and Tom Drews said they had no objections to any of the requirements. MOVED BY CAROLYN SMITH AND SECONDED BY SUSIE MACKAY TO RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF A CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT FOR McDONALD'S CORPORATION AND DAVE MAYER FOR A McDONALD'S RESTAURANT AT 822 HIGHWAY 55 WITH THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONS: 1. All requirements of the Elm Creek Watershed District be met. 2. All easements required to be dedicated: drainage and utility, 10' requested by Hennepin County, 10' trail easement by City, drainage easement over pond area and easement for future frontage road to the north. 3. Safety of NURP pond approved by staff. 4. Hamel Fire Department to approve hydrant locations and plans. (Bruce Workman wanted it noted that he is concerned that no sprinkler system is required). 5 5. Recycling requirements to be met. 6. Requirements in city engineer Shawn Gustafson's letter to be met with the exception of #5 - the property does not require combining or subdividing. 7. No exterior storage allowed. 8. Staff to verify that all signs meet the ordinance. 9. Rooftop equipment to be screened. 10. Landscaping per plans submitted 2/11/97. 11. Parking areas to meet ordinance. 12. Hours open for business: 6:30 am to 10 pm Sundays -Thursdays and 6:30 am to 11 pm Fridays and Saturdays. Other hours as needed for maintenance. 13. Number of employees will be approximately 75 full and part time. 14. All exterior lighting shall be designed and installed so that the globe is recessed and enclosed on all sides except the bottom and no light is cast directly on any other property. 15. No outside bells or loudspeakers. 16. Letter of Credit (financial guarantee) be provided in the amount of $168,998 per city engineers estimate for improvements. MOTION CARRIED. 2. SPRING HILL GOLF CLUB - CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT - PUBLIC HEARING - 9:15 P.M. Sandie Larson went over Loren's memo to the Planning Commission stating that the proposed golf club would be primarily in the City of Orono with all buildings being in Orono and just a few of the holes in Medina. She also mentioned that Monday night the Orono city council had tabled the EAW until a special meeting on February 20th Shawn Gustafson put up an overhead of the site plan and said that 4 1/2 holes would be in Medina. He said that he had a difficult time determining the wetlands for filling and/or mitigation and that at least 2 areas in Medina were proposed for wetland filling. Marshall Braman, Schoell and Madson, representing Spring Hill Golf Club, said that there were two wetland impacts in Medina. He mentioned the dam structures of about 1 1/2 - 2' for water retention. He said that there were ditches now and that all wetlands would be restored. Susie Mackay asked if the current ditches were for drainage and Marshall said yes. S. Gustafson said that he is concerned with the swale and the 12' fall shown between the two wetlands near the north border of the property. Creating the swale will require a very deep cut and a great possibility of erosion between the two wetlands. He then asked if Spring Hill had an erosion control plan and Marshall said yes. Shawn then told the Planning Commission that the WCA rules state that if two jurisdictions are involved the LGU should be where most of the loss occurs. Because this is in Orono, the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District will have final approval as Orono's LGU. Shawn 6 then said that Medina has an interest in a trail along Tamarack Drive in the future and there has been discussion with Orono on the size of the trail easement. The trail will have to hug the right-of-way because of wetlands and the steep slope. It was felt that even though 10' was the original size thought of for the trail easement, 5' would be adequate. Whatever the size is determined to be, Medina's trail easement will match Orono's. He said that Medina would also like the County to look at the future alignment of County Road 6 near Tamarack and if the County would speculate to see if the tunnel would conflict with any future safety improvements. This intersection is in Orono, but Medina wants it known that the sight line at that intersection is a concern to Medina and also that there is a need to look at right-of-way for future turn lanes at that intersection. Fred Harris, plant ecologist for the DNR, was present to give information concerning the `Big Woods' that is in the area being considered for this golf club. He said that he has been working on the Big Woods area. There are three areas of the original Big Woods that remain in this area: Medina 26, Wolsfeld Woods and Woodrill. The Medina 26 area is the one in the golf club area and consists of about 40 acres. He said that in the 1800's much of the Big Woods area was cleared for agriculture use and that less that 1 % of forest remains today. He said that Medina 26 was in relatively good condition and any piece remaining is considered important. He said he was here just to inform us of the Big Woods area and ask that it be considered. B. Bradley asked if he was suggesting that golf courses were more detrimental than housing. F. Harris said one is just as detrimental as the other. C. Smith asked if the area was protected and Fred said no legal protection. B. Bradley said that unless someone gives the land to the state, there is no protection. C. Smith said that she has seen where people building have tried to save trees and they have either tried to save the wrong tree or did something else wrong and maybe foresters should work with developers so that things are done correctly. She wanted to know if the golf course had taken any of this into consideration. Andy Hunter president of Spring Hill Golf Club, said that everyone involved agrees with everything that has been said. He said that this was an environmentally friendly ardent project and that the Big Woods area is one of their biggest concerns. He said that during actual construction, the design might change somewhat if a tree or a stand of trees is in the way that needs saving. He said they are not only going to transplant 500 trees, they will be planting 500 new trees. He said over 1/2 of the Big Woods area would be saved. He said not every tree can be saved but they feel that this is a better proposal than any other development would be. B. Workman said that the area will change even with this course. Golf courses use fertilizer, other chemicals, etc. 7 A. Hunter said this is an Audubon Signature Course and every tree that can be saved will be. Dick Krueger, Orono resident who's property abuts the course, said that he urged Medina to step back and look at this proposal. He reiterated Fred Harris's comments on the importance of the Big Woods area and said that the entire ecology will change with the golf course. S. Mackay said that she empathizes with what is being said but that it was not in their power to do what they want. She said the time to deal with this would have been before the golf course purchased the property. A. Heideman said that we can only deal with the proposal before us and unless a group is before us with a proposal, we can only deal with the one that is. She suggested that Mr. Krueger comes to the city council meeting when they will hear this proposal. C. Smith said that the legislature protects wetlands and maybe it is appropriate to talk with your legislature about protecting these wooded areas. She said it is sad to keep losing things that cannot be replaced. There was continued discussion on destroying woods. Decker Velie said that with all due respect, if Mr. Krueger felt this strongly about this, maybe he should have done something sooner. A. Heideman said we can only suggest that the golf club take all this into consideration. A. Hunter thanked staff for the time that had been given to this proposal. He stated that this was a non-profit enterprise golf club and not a country club. Meals would be limited largely to lunch and the membership would also be limited. He said they were hoping to start this summer with opening summer of 1999. He stated again that the majority of this proposal was in Orono with about 50 acres out of 210 being in Medina. He said they were supportive of the trail system. The public hearing was closed at 10:15 p.m. MOVED BY BOB BRADLEY AND SECONDED BY FRANK MIGNONE TO RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF A CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT FOR SPRING HILL GOLF CLUB'S MEDINA PORTION WITH THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONS: 1. Trail easement on the east side of Tamarack to be consistent with trail portion in Orono. 2. Retaining wall on the 9th tee to be accepted by staff. 3. Drainage and erosion control plans to be accepted by staff. 8 4. Full consideration be given to preserving the Big Woods area as much as possible. 5. No restroom facilities in Medina. 6. Assurance from Orono that the EAW is accepted. 7. Watershed approval. 8. Medina be kept informed on the Wetland conservation application. 9. If the report from the watershed district, EAW or anything else in Orono should in anyway change the project, Medina has the right to re-evaluate their decision. 10. If non-profit status ever changes, this is to come back to the planning commission for further review. 11. It is noted that Medina resident, Mike Hofkin's concerns have been met by the golf club. MOTION PASSED WITH 6 AYES AND 1 NAY. BRUCE WORKMAN DID NOT FEEL THIS WAS THE BEST USE FOR THE PROPERTY. Carolyn Smith said that we should know where else there are special areas like the Big Woods in Medina so the planning commission knows and these areas can be taken into consideration. Fred Harris said that he would furnish maps to the city outlining area of concern. MOVED BY BRUCE WORKMAN AND SECONDED BY DECKER VELIE TO ADJOURN. MOTION PASSED. Meeting adjourned at 10:35 p.m. Planning and Zoning Assistant Date 9