HomeMy Public PortalAboutCompPlan-CoverMemo-01-03-2017CCMEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor Mitchell and Members of the City Council
FROM: Dusty Finke, City Planner; through City Administrator Scott Johnson
DATE: December 27, 2016
MEETING: January 3, 2017
City Council Meeting
SUBJ: 2020-2040 Comprehensive Plan Update
Background
On August 3 and 16, the City Council met in concurrent session with the Planning Commission and reviewed and
provided direction on rough drafts of the following chapters of the 2020-2040 Comprehensive Plan update:
Vision and Community Goals
Land Use
Housing
The Council and Planning Commission
also reviewed feedback from the Community Meetings which were held in May on these subjects.
Following these concurrent meetings, a draft of the Comprehensive Plan was released for
public feedback on the City’s website and discussed in the City newsletter and at Celebration Day. Open Houses were also held at the end of October. The Steering Committee met to review
the feedback, made final edits to the Plan, and recommended that the Plan be presented to the Planning Commission for a public hearing.
The primary change from the August draft of
the Plan which was previously reviewed by the Planning Commission was to shift approximately 30 net acres of Low Density Residential to the property immediately west of the Wealshire
development, consistent with the concept plan from the Excelsior Group which was reviewed by the Planning Commission in November. An equal amount of acreage was changed from Low Density
to Rural Residential to the northeast of Wealshire (east of Mohawk Drive, adjacent to Katrinka Road).
The feedback on the draft plan at the Open Houses, from the mySidewalk page and
otherwise submitted to the City is attached for reference. After the Open Houses, three additional letters have been received, which are the first attachment to this report, and are
intended to be made part of the Public Hearing.
As a reminder, the City technically has until the end of 2018 to submit its Comprehensive Plan update to the Metropolitan Council. The
City has, to date, made it a goal to submit early. However, that means we certainly have time to continue working on the draft if the Committee wishes to do so.
The draft Comprehensive
Plan does not yet include sewer and water plans. Because the land use plan has been shifting over the past few months, staff wanted to delay the modeling and other
technical work that goes into these plans until things settle. A high level “implications” summary is provided for the time being. Staff intends to present the full plans, along with
feedback from jurisdictions (school districts, watersheds, neighboring cities, state agencies, etc.) after the six month jurisdictional review timeframe is completed.
Public Feedback
from Open Houses
Approximately 50 people attended the open houses. The open houses included opportunities for “dot activities” where people could place a green dot on things they were
in favor of and red dots on things they were not in favor of. Staff has transferred these dots to the attached maps.
Attendees (and everyone who received the mailer and also the newsletter)
were also encouraged to take part in the discussion on mySidewalk or to provide written comments. One person has provided a comment on mySidewalk (“Looks good”). Staff has also attached
the written comments received.
Steering Committee members were also present at the open houses and discussed the plans with attendees. Staff tried to circle back with members after
each Open House to discuss their concerns. The main discussion points touched on by numerous attendees appeared to be:
Most attendees appeared to support the reduced residential growth
planned.
Property owners north of Chippewa Road and west of Mohawk Drive, adjacent to The Wealshire project, urged that their properties be guided for Low Density Residential development,
consistent with the current plan (NOTE: Some of this property was added to the Low Density Residential land use by the Steering Committee after the Open Houses).
Strong interest in
improved pedestrian connectivity across Highway 55. Numerous attendees advocated a pedestrian bridge over Highway 55 or other measures.
Concern related to increased traffic along County
Road 116.
Concern related to potential water tower in the Fields of Medina Park.
Summary of Plan
Planning Commissioners have been involved throughout the last 15 months with the process
and likely recognize the difficulty in succinctly summarizing the Comprehensive Plan. The attached PowerPoint attempts to describe the process and the “big picture” aspects of the Draft
plan. Staff intends to present this prior to the Public Hearing. Chapter 1, the Introduction of the Plan, also describes the organization of the Plan.
Following is a description and
highlights of the Chapters.
Vision and Goals
The Vision and Community Goals are contained in Chapter 2. The goals speak to maintaining quality of life through protection of natural
resources, open space, and rural character.
Community Background
The Community Background chapter mainly contains demographic information which affects the Plan. Page 3-2 describes
the forecasted residential growth in the City, 1100 additional
households between 2020 and 2040. Staff has calculated that the City would need to plan for 951 households under the plan, because approximately 149 lots have already been approved
for development.
Housing and Neighborhoods
The Housing Chapter provides information on the existing housing stock within the City. The Metropolitan Council requirement that the City
plan for a minimum of 253 housing units at higher density is also contained within this chapter. Requiring higher density housing is a strategy by the Met Council to support the construction
of homes at more affordable price points.
Land Use and Growth
The Land Use chapter most often comes to mind when someone thinks about the Comprehensive Plan. In addition to guiding
growth and development in the City, the chapter also establishes objectives for the land uses. These objectives will provide guidance when the City enacts zoning regulations to implement
the Plan. The Land Use plan is contained on Map 5-2 and the Staging Plan on Map 5-3.
These plans guide the following amounts of property for development in the next 20 years:
171
net acres of Low Density Residential (2 units/acre)
21 net acres Medium Density Residential (5-7 units/acre)
14 net acres High Density Residential (12-15 units/acre)
95 net acres Mixed
Residential (3.5-4 units/acre; 1 unit/acre required High Density)
53 net acres Commercial
257 net acres Business
Parks, Trails, and Open Spaces
This Chapter describes the existing park,
trail, and open space system and planned expansion. Planned expansion includes 3 parks in order to provide an active park within ½ mile of all new residential development. The plan
also includes 22 miles of paved trails (9 exist today) and 11 miles of turf trails.
Implementation
This Chapter describes actions which the City needs to take in order to be consistent
with the Plan.
Transportation Plan
The transportation plan describes the existing local system but also how the City fits into the broader county and regional networks. No regional
transportation capacity expansions are planned for next 20 years on Highway 55 or Highway 12.
The plan identifies the need for intersection improvements at various County Roads in
the City. The City will work with Hennepin County to incorporate these into their plans.
In terms of investments on City streets, the plan identifies the following:
Potential extension
of Chippewa Road from Mohawk Drive to Arrowhead Drive.
Improvement to Hackamore Road to add capacity as a result of the Reserve of Medina but also development in communities to the north.
Improvement to Brockton Lane to add capacity as a result of development in Plymouth and Medina.
Study of the Sioux Drive/Hamel Road intersection to improve safety and operation.
Sewer/Water
Plans
As noted previously, these chapters are not yet completed because substantial modeling and other technical work needs to be completed after the Land Use map is complete. A high-level
summary is included in map form.
The plans identify the following capital investments necessary in order to support the growth and development identified in the plan. The cost of
these improvements would be funded through connection fees upon development:
$3,000,000 – New Water Tower (Fields of Medina Park currently prospective location)
$1,600,000 – Water Treatment
Plant expansion
$450,000 – Sanitary Sewer lift station at Willow Drive and Chippewa Road
$200,000 – Upsize Sanitary Sewer Pipe at Hunter Drive and Hamel Road
$1,700,000 – Water Tower
to support Future Development Area near Loretto (after 2040)
Surface Water Management Plan
The Surface Water Management Plan (SWMP) describes how the City will address and improve stormwater
within the community. In addition to establishing objectives how development will treat stormwater, the plan also describes how the City will attempt to address the various mandates
placed upon it to improve water quality through Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) allocations.
Planning Commission Recommendation
The Planning Commission held a public hearing on the
Comprehensive Plan at their December 13, 2016 meeting. Three people spoke at the public hearing, and their comments are included in the attached Planning Commission minutes. One speaker
spoke in favor of additional development in the area south of Hamel which could energize the Uptown Hamel area, rather than pushing development further west on Highway 55. One speaker
had previously provided two letters on behalf of Dellcroft Farms and expanded on their comments. One speaker represented property owners east of Arrowhead Drive and north of Meander,
speaking in support of the Plan.
Following the public hearing, the Commission discussed all of the chapters of the draft Plan. The Commission discussed the Land Use plan following
the comments from the public hearing and the open house and recommending approval as is. The Commission provided a series of recommended changes to the text of the various chapters,
none of which staff considered to change the primary policy direction of the document.
Following the discussion and the recommended changes, the Planning Commission unanimously recommended
approval of the 2020-2040 Comprehensive Plan update.
Potential Action
Staff had originally intended to present the Comprehensive Plan at the January 17 Council meeting and announced this intent at the December 13 Public Hearing. As a
result, staff recommends that the Council wait to finalize discussion until January 17.
In the meantime, the City Council can review the Plan and direct staff to make any changes.
After completing its review, the Council can direct staff to route the Plan to affected jurisdictions for their review and comment. The Metropolitan Council requires the City to allow
six months for the affected jurisdictions to comment.
Staff will collect all comments and present to the City Council this summer for consideration. Only after the jurisdictional
review is complete will the City Council be able to approve of the Plan.
Attachments
Excerpt from DRAFT 12/13/2016 Planning Commission minutes
Letters Received for Public Hearing
Dellcroft
Farm letter (11/17/2016)
Dellcroft Farm letter (12/7/2016)
Housing Justice Center letter (12/1/2016)
Comp Plan Summary Presentation
Comments Received in connection with Open Houses
Maps
showing “dot activities” from Open Houses
DRAFT 2020-2040 Comprehensive Plan