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HomeMy Public PortalAbout12-09-2003PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES - DECEMBER 9, 2003 PRESENT: Bill Loe, Jerry Brost, Marilyn Fortin, Elizabeth Weir, Lenny Leuer, Sharon Johnson, Mary Verbick, Ron Johnson and Dick Picard. Also present, Planing and Zoning Administrator Loren Kohnen, City Administrator Chad Adams, City Councilor Bruce Workman and Planning and Zoning Assistant Sandie Larson. ABSENT: None 1. Chairperson Elizabeth Weir called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m. Ms. Weir reminded everyone that the Planning Commission was a recommending body and that the City Council made the final decisions. Ms. Weir also reminded everyone that the concept plans on tonight's agenda were not public hearings. 2. KEVIN WEBER - 4642 WALNUT STREET - LOT COMBINATION/RE-PLAT - PUBLIC HEARING Loren Kohnen read his memo to the Planning Commission and put up an overhead of the area, explaining the lot combination. He explained that there would be a walk -way between the new garage and the house and also noted that the retaining walls shown were not retaining walls, but big boulders that will be extended along the front lot line. Kohnen also explained that there would only be one driveway cut as there is no longer a garage attached to the house. The public hearing was opened. Kevin Weber said that without combing the lots he could not have a garage. Bill Loe asked Dick Picard his thought on this, since Dick was more familiar with the area where the applicant lives. Dick Picard said Mr. Weber certainly needs a garage. Dick then asked Loren if a 10' set back was all that is required on the side and Loren said yes. Elizabeth Weir asked if the boulder wall needed to be moved at all L. Kohnen said that he had talked to Jim Dillman and as long as the boulders have been moved back to the lot line, they should be o.k. MOVED BY LENNY LEUER AND SECONDED BY MARY VERBICK TO RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF THE LOT COMBINATION/RE-PLAT AT 4642 WALNUT STREET. MOTION PASSED. 2. PUBLIC HEARING ON ORDINANCE REGARDING CONCEPT PLAN REVIEW PROCEDURES 1 Loren Kohnen said that Chad had done the work on this ordinance and had done a good job. Chad Adams said that Ron Batty and staff had also done a lot of work on this. He said that staff feels this ordinance is a win -win for the city and for developers to have comments and questions answered to help developers decide if they want to go forward with an application. Dick Picard asked who did staff comments for when the concept review goes to the city council. C. Adams said that Sandie puts together a report of the minutes from the planning commission meeting. MOVED BY SHARON JOHNSON AND SECONDED BY BILL LOE TO RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF THE ORDINANCE ADDING SECTION 825.61 ET SEQ.TO THE CODE OF ORDINANCES. MOTION PASSED. 4. CONCEPT PLAN REVIEW FOR RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT - CHARLES CUDD COMPANY Elizabeth Weir stated that no votes or straw votes would be taken. This is a time for understanding between the developer and the Planning Commission. E. Weir stated that this concept from Charles Cudd Company would require a comprehensive plan change to be moved up from 2020 to the present. Loren Kohnen put up an overhead of the area., explaining where the site was located. He then went over the staff comments. Rick Denman, President of Signature Homes division of Charles Cudd, introduced himself and Charles Cudd, Bob Leistikow and Mike Gair. R. Denman said that the Charles Cudd company has a great relationship with the City through their Medina Highlands development. He said that they built their 1st home in Medina 13 years ago and people love living in Medina. He said Medina Highlands is doing very well and will be completed next year. He said staging this concept plan they are showing tonight would work very well. Mr. Denman said he thought they were going to meet with the city council first so he has met with each council member and walked the site with them. He said a field trip would be beneficial and would take any of the planning commissioners who wished to go. He said there is high land which overlooks 2 wetlands. Mr. Denman also stated that they would provide big benefits to the city if they were allowed to go forward with this. R. Denman said that the Faue family had lived in Medina on this 100+ acre site for over 80 years and no longer lived on the site and wished to sell it. 2 Mike Gair, MFRA, said that this property is a natural beauty. He said it was 35' above the jurisdictional wetland at it's highest point. He said 50% of the property was above this jurisdictional wetland and that there was 1700' lineal feet along Hackamore Road. He showed the potential development and explained the different neighborhoods that would be created. There would be townhomes similar to Medina Highlands to the south and single family on the lots to the north. He said it would be unique, have variety and be cross generational. R. Denman went over some of the benefits to the city: ➢ Beautiful neighborhood ➢ Road improvements- pave Hackamore ➢ Water Infrastructure ➢ Significant tax revenues and park fees ➢ Looping water system which would benefit the water for the Foxberry development Rick said that the 1st home would be built in 2005 with a staged development with 30-40 homes/year over a 5 year period. M. Gair said that the Cudd Company wants to be in Medina and he wanted to say that he knows that Cudd always stands behind their promises. End of developers time. Bill Loe asked what price range the homes would be. R. Denman said the townhomes would be in the $300,000 range and the single family in the high $400's. He said our costs will better define the price. B. Loe asked where they would find buyers. R. Denman said that the demand is way over the supply. Sharon Johnson asked what their 'own taxing district meant. L. Kohnen said for example if there needed to be storm water work done, the residents in the development would be assessed (taxed) for it. He said this is how Wild Meadows was set up. Both Elizabeth Weir and Bruce Workman said that this is done when a PUD is set up. S. Johnson asked about the 'open space' on the island, would there be homes there and Loren said no. R. Denman said it was Loren's and Jim Dillman's idea for the island to be a public park. He said the idea has merit. He said it is valuable land for them, but they want to bend over backwards for the City. 3 B. Loe asked the Planning Commission members about opening up the comprehensive plan, when the plan shows this area for sewer in 2020. Bruce Workman said that if we had slotted the areas shown in 2020 for having sewer sooner, anyone could have come in and we felt if we made it later the city could be more selective and have more control if someone requested the sewer sooner. E. Weir said with the Elm Creek Interceptor here now is one reason for a sooner request. Liz wanted to know if this would be a'leap frog' development and how about the piece between Wild Meadows and Foxberry and the PUD that is undeveloped along Hunter Drive. B. Workman said the landowners have to be willing to sell. Mary Verbick asked about the staff comment about use of site water run-off. L. Kohnen said that the water run-off would be collected in a pond(s) and could be used for sprinkling. Dick Picard wanted to know what criteria the planning commission should use in the future to deviate from the comprehensive plan. R. Denman said the comprehensive plan states that a PUD may be presented. The City can turn anything down and be very selective. B. Workman said the comprehensive plan was a guide plan. We are guiding development and we put that time frame in the comp plan for more control. In answering Dick's question on criteria, Bruce said the criteria should be that it better be good for the residents. Workman said in this case, the infrastructure, paved roads, etc. that the rest of us are not be paying for is a good benefit. E. Weir asked if we are opening the door to more requests for comprehensive plan changes. B. Workman said we can be selective. R. Denman said that in the RR-UR zoning area, there is very little developable land because of wetlands. S. Johnson said that the water/sewer system is intertwined and there are serious questions. R. Denman said they are paying for a study, through the City, with Bonestroo Lenny Leuer asked how many acres there were of upland and he was told 50% of the site. M. Gair said the island is about 11-12 acres, so there are 48 acres of upland out of 120 acres, not counting the island. 4 L. Leuer's commentary: He said the RR-UR zoning district was an 11th hour addition to the comprehensive plan that was pushed on us by the Met Council for the land around Loretto and Paul (our then city clerk) added the rest. The Met Council wants the RR-UR density to be 3/acre and the City was trying to keep the core city rural. He said he doesn't want to see the Met Council force more of the RR-UR on us taken from the RR because your development is larger lots. He said he is very hesitant to go ahead until he knows we don't have to give up some RR zoning to RR-UR. M. Gair said that they will meet with the City's Met Council representative and city staff. L. Leuer said he is still very hesitant, this is a big impact on the City. S. Johnson wanted to know if water for this development tied into the City's plan for sewer and water and wondered if this area fit in to the plan. Chad Adams stated that the City was looking into a water treatment plant for the Hamel water system and also 2 more wells. He said that Bonestroo and Ehlers & Associates were working on it with staff, and this or more development may affect the design. S. Johnson asked if we had an affordable home issue. E. Weir said that is something we need to negotiate. E. Weir asked about the island and if that area goes to the city for a park, how about a road to it. R. Denman said there would be a walkway, 5'-6' wide. He pointed it out on a map. L. Leuer asked if the park would be public or private and Loren said public. L. Leuer mentioned a Chippewa Road extension on the southern border of this property. He said there now is a private driveway there that serves four houses and he wondered about Chippewa being extended in that area for another access to this development. L. Kohnen said he did not think that the residents of the four homes would want that done. L. Leuer said he questioned the wisdom of one access to the development. D. Picard asked about the park fee. C. Adams explained the minimum and maximum per unit and that it would be based on 8% of the pre -development of the land. L. Leuer wanted to know if we had gotten Corcoran's comprehensive plan. C. Adams said he has it, but has not reviewed it yet in reference to this project. He said that will come at a later stage if this goes forward. 5 Ken Guenthner, Mayor of Corcoran, said he is hesitant to talk as a representative of Corcoran as he was here as a private citizen because he lived just north of the area that was being talked about. Marilyn Fortin said she is concerned about the water with all the development in the Hamel ares. She said the study is very important. E. Weir said this looks like a very nice development but she has deep reservations of opening up the comprehensive plan and opening the door. 5. CONCEPT PLAN REVIEW FOR RETAIL DEVELOPMENT - RYAN COMPANIES - NW CORNER OF HIGHWAY 55 AND COUNTY ROAD 101 Loren Kohnen put up an overhead of the area. He said the major part of the land was owned by Wally Cates. He then read the staff comments. Richard Koppy, Ryan Companies, said that they were dealing with approximately 32 acres, not including the piece behind the ballroom. He said that Target has worked with Ryan on many projects and Ryan has also worked with many other major corporations. He introduced Mike Lamb, planner, that was helping with this project. Mike Lamb said there were three different areas to be considered here: ➢ Uptown Hamel ➢ Highway 55 corridor ➢ Urban Commercial area He said it is not easy bringing all this together. He said they do have ideas on how to coordinate the areas: ➢ Color ➢ Gateway Monumentation ➢ Signs ➢ Lighting ➢ Corridor Landscape ➢ Materials R, Koppy said that the ballroom accesses probably would be closed and they would use the new access with lights. Elizabeth Weir said that re -zoning this area to a PUD does fit into the overall intention of the comprehensive plan for this area. Mary Verbick wanted to know if Ryan had taken into consideration the Cherry Hill neighborhood and if they had met with them. R. Koppy said yes, the neighborhood has been taken into consideration, but no they have not had a neighborhood meeting yet. He mentioned that would likely be their next step. 6 Sharon Johnson asked about traffic. R. Koppy said they had submitted a draft traffic study to the city. He said they looked at 101 and 116 as well as Highway 55. Lenny Leuer said what about the businesses south of Highway 55. R. Koppy said they had looked at crossing over the Highway with the new access over to Hamel Road, but with the railroad, it probably would not work. He said that MnDOT would like a median. Koppy said that with a TIF approach they could do more like maybe a frontage road with the businesses to the south. L. Leuer asked about the telephone easement on the ACE property. L. Kohnen said that it had been moved to the north. Loren also said that there was a 30' easement on the ACE property on the west side, but none on the Berthiaume property. L. Leuer asked more about the traffic study and he wondered if with the proximity of the two stop lights that are on Highway 55 at 116 and 101, if MnDOT was agreeable to another one. R. Koppy said as long as they close some of the current access points. L. Leuer asked if there were retaining walls planned. R. Koppy said yes, probably one by the highway and one by Cherry Hill. L. Kohnen said that the City would like to see this area and Uptown Hamel tied together thematically with walls, monuments, etc. Marilyn Fortin said she likes that idea. E. Weir said she walked the Cherry Hill berm and wondered how much a new building would be lowered. R. Koppy said residents would not see the building from Cherry Hill, except maybe a little from the south west corner. E. Weir asked about the earth balance. R. Koppy said they have not gotten that far into yet. Lee Koppy, Schoell & Madsen, said there would be about 150,000 yards of excess material. He said they would try and minimize that with the walls. E. Weir wanted to know if the west side of the building could be made to look a little better. 7 R. Koppy said they would do their best to work with the City. L. Leuer asked about a loading dock. R. Koppy said on the east side of the building. He pointed out on a map where. He also said that they do not plan on having 101 being a major access point to Target. 70-80% would come off of Highway 55. He said 101 would be the major access for trucks and that Super Targets get about 10-20 deliveries per week. M. Verbick asked about hours and lighting. R. Koppy said that Target has an OEA which is an operation agreement that covers Target and the surrounding Outlots. He said that Target would not be open 24 hours. L. Leuer said he would like to see a x-section, so he could see what the site will look like from all angles. R. Koppy said they have done that and certainly would submit later. L.. Leuer asked about the outlots. R. Koppy said that Ryan would retain the outlots except the one behind the ballroom. He said they would set that one up for development, but the use would not be part of this PUD. He said the ballroom would have to take care of the gravel area in front of the motel. Dick Picard asked about Mr. Lamb. C. Adams said that the city had requested the Ryan bring someone like Mr. Lamb in to be involved to coordinate the development with Uptown Hamel. He said the developers would also be involved. The City will approach this as a collaboration effort. R. Koppy said again that the lighting, plantings, etc. are all things that will help the two areas be tied together. D. Picard wanted to know who pays for all of this. He did not understand why the City should be involved with the costs. C. Adams explained the role of a TIF district and Bruce Workman said that TIF helps capture new tax revenue from a project to pay for infrastructure. D. Picard asked the benefits to the City. L. Kohnen said some of the things include sewer and water lines replaced, traffic problems controlled, Clydesdale completed, storm water issues taken care of. 8 D. Picard said he is never comfortable financing a big corporation. It was explained again that this is not what TIF does. Jerry Brost said it is always hard to sell a Super Target to a community. He said on the other hand he sees it as a possible opportunity for the entire area, tying both sides of Hwy 55 together. He did say that the traffic in the area is a concern, but on the other hand this traffic would present Uptown Hamel with more traffic. Jerry said he really likes the idea of bringing money and development into the area and tying together with Uptown Hamel under City expectations. Sharon Johnson said she thinks we need to back up. She said looking at a Super Target across from Uptown Hamel, both sides of the highway are high with 55 in the middle - what is the site you see coming down the road - now it is Holiday, it would then be Target. She said her interpretation is people like this area because of the rural feel, with the homey small town feel. She said you won't see quaint Uptown Hamel, you will see Target. She said lots of thought needs to be given to what this will do to our image.. She said she does not see the benefits make up for a Target to get what we want (better infrastructure, etc.) E. Weir thanked Ryan Companies for their presentation. 6. UPDATE TO PLANNING COMMISSION Chad Adams updated the Planning Commission on the City Council decision to hire a full-time planner. He said that he has recommended retaining Loren as a consultant for on -going projects with the Planning Commission and staff meetings. Bill Loe asked if this was a city council decision and Adams said yes. 7. MINUTES OF NOVEMBER 12, 2003 There were several grammatical changes. MOVED BY BILL LOE AND SECONDED BY JERRY BROST TO APPROVE THE MINUTES AS CORRECTED. MOTION PASSED. MOVED BY DICK PICARD AND SECONDED BY JERRY BROST TO ADJOURN MOTION PASSED. Meeting adjourned at 9:13 p.m. Planning and Zoning Assistant Date 9