HomeMy Public PortalAbout03-08-16 PC Minutesdoc 1
CITY OF MEDINA
PLANNING COMMISSION
Meeting Minutes
Tuesday March 8, 2016
1. Call to Order: Chairperson V. Reid called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
Present: Planning Commissioners Chris Barry, Randy Foote, Kim Murrin, Robin Reid,
Victoria Reid, and Janet White.
Absent: Todd Albers.
Also Present: City Planner Dusty Finke.
2. Public Comments on Items not on the Agenda
None.
3. Update from City Council Proceedings
Councilmember Anderson stated that from a land use planning perspective the Council
approved the Final Plat of the Enclave at Brockton 6th Addition and also annexed the small
parcel of property into the Tomann Preserve. He noted that the largest focus of the City in
the past six to eight weeks has been the Comprehensive Plan and advised that a draft version
would soon be available for review. He stated that the Steering Committee welcomes any
comments from the Commission and the residents.
4. Planning Department Report
Finke provided an update.
5. Approval of the January 12, 2016 Draft Planning Commission Meeting Minutes.
Motion by Foote, seconded by Murrin, to approve the January 12, 2016, Planning
Commission minutes with the noted changes. Motion carries unanimously. (Absent: Albers)
6. Clydesdale Market Place, LLC – Amendment to Planned Unit Development
at 345 Clydesdale Trail to Replace Existing Monument Sign (PID #12-118-
23-24-0026 and #12-118-23-13-0036)
7. Ordinance Amendment to Chapter 8 of the City Code Regarding Exterior Building
Materials and Architectural Standards in the Uptown Hamel-1 and Uptown Hamel-2
Zoning Districts
Finke stated that this amendment arose through the discussions for Hamel Brewery, noting
that through that discussion the Commission expressed support for adding cement fiberboard
siding as an allowable material to the Uptown Hamel zoning districts. He noted that a similar
amendment was recently made to allow the material in the rural residential zoning district.
V. Reid opened the public hearing at 7:10 p.m.
No comment made.
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V. Reid closed the public hearing at 7:11 p.m.
Motion by R. Reid, seconded by White, to recommend adoption of the ordinance regarding
exterior building materials in the Uptown Hamel zoning districts. Motion approved
unanimously. (Absent: Albers)
8. Wealshire of Medina – Site Plan Review for Construction of 150 Resident Memory Care
Facility – NW Mohawk Drive and Chippewa Road
V. Reid stated that this is the third time this application has come before the Commission and
asked if the Commission should review this as a new application or whether the background
information should be considered.
Finke suggested the latter option, as the Commission has already approved and commented
on the plans. He noted that since the last reviews some of the items have been amended and
some of the conditions have been met. He highlighted the two largest changes noting that
there were 20 to 26 underground parking spaces proposed in the first two reviews and advised
that the applicant is no longer seeking the underground parking for cost reasons and will
instead provide additional at grade parking for the site. He stated that the applicant is also
proposing to create the fire lane in gravel rather than bituminous, for cost saving purposes.
He noted that there is nothing in the building code, which requires the fire lane to be
composed of gravel.
R. Reid asked and received confirmation that the fire lane would be required to be plowed in
the winter months.
Foote stated that the impervious surface is well below the maximum and asked if that
increased with the creation of the additional at grade parking spaces. He asked if additional
parking would be created along with future phases.
Finke stated that the impervious surface did increase with the parking area. He identified a
future parking area and noted that the facility would be slightly over parked in the first phase.
Foote asked if the gravel fire lane would remain gravel or whether that would be paved in
future phases.
Finke stated that staff is not recommending a condition to that nature but noted that the
applicant may choose to do that in future phases if funding allows.
Murrin asked if the extended parking caused the decrease in agricultural land that would be
available for farming.
Finke replied that the reduction in farmable land is a result of the wetland mitigation required.
V. Reid asked if the parking setback specified would apply to the eastern portion of the site.
Finke stated that the width of the right-of-way width be accounted within that setback.
V. Reid stated that perhaps additional landscaping would be desired between the site and the
adjacent low-density residential area. She identified an item on the plan and asked if it was a
berm.
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Finke replied that the item is actually a ditch.
Corey Wiskow, representing the Wealshire of Bloomington, stated that he was present to
answer any questions. He noted that questions regarding the landscaping would most likely
be better answered by the Civil Engineer for the project, Rob Olson. He noted that there is a
landscaping berm in another area of the project.
V. Reid stated that she would like to see additional landscaping on the eastern border of the
property.
Finke noted that there are boulevard trees included in the landscaping plan that would go
between the parking area and right-of-way. He stated that the Commission could make an
additional condition if desired.
Wiskow stated that if the Commission desires shrubs, they can easily be installed, noting that
it is in their best interest as the applicant to make the site pleasant and attractive. He stated
that when they developed the plans their wish list included underground parking but noted
that as the bids come in the cost is too high to proceed with that element. He noted that the
cost for 22 underground parking stalls would have been between $800,000 and $950,000. He
stated that the cost would never be recaptured and therefore a value decision had to be made
and that is why the decision was made to place additional parking on the east side of the site.
Barry asked if the loading dock would be a smaller space now that the underground parking
will be eliminated.
Wiskow explained that when the underground parking was removed they also needed to
change the way trucks would deliver materials. He stated that the garage door would be
removed and replaced with a double door for loading. He stated that in regard to the gravel
fire lane, there would most likely only be a gator style ATV traveling the fire lane for
maintenance and the only time a full vehicle would travel the fire lane would be if a fire
vehicle used that access.
Finke stated that if dust is a concern a condition could be added regarding dust control.
Wiskow agreed that the dust would create a condition for them as well and feel that there
would be no traction that would create dust on that fire lane.
Councilmember Peterson asked if the gravel fire lane would be a nine-ton capacity roadway
to support fire vehicles.
Finke confirmed that the fire lane would be constructed to the required capacity.
Councilmember Peterson noted that the road does not have a bypass at this time. He stated
that he does support the request for additional landscaping.
Finke replied that while the turn lane improvements are not required at this time there is a
petition and waiver agreement for the future construction of that element if deemed necessary
in the next decade.
Wiskow stated that in regard to the farm land there would just not be enough usable space
with the additional wetland mitigation efforts.
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Murrin stated that she is in favor of the project as proposed, as the saved expense from the
underground parking could be better invested into the site. She stated that she did not have
concern with the gravel fire lane as the applicant would also have incentive to control the
dust.
R. Reid stated that she is in favor of the project and believed that senior aged living would be
a great asset to Medina.
White agreed that she also supports the project, noting that she would like to see a more
detailed landscaping plan to occur with phase one.
Finke stated that there is a condition included that addresses the need for a fully developed
landscaping plan and noted that he can adjust the condition to require more robust
landscaping along the eastern side of the property with the first phase.
Barry stated that he allow supports the project and believed that it would be a great addition
to the community. He also supported the request for a more robust landscaping plan
available for the City Council review.
Foote echoed the comments thus far and also supported a more robust landscaping plan.
Motion by Murrin, seconded by Foote, to recommend approval of the Wealshire of Medina
Site Plan review for the construction of a 150 resident memory care facility subject to the
conditions recommended in the staff report and with increased shrubbery on the eastern side
of the parking lot. Motion approved unanimously. (Absent: Albers)
9. Update on Comprehensive Plan Update Process
Finke noted that although the City has until 2018 to complete the Comprehensive Plan
update, the process is already underway. He explained that the City wants to get through the
process as expeditiously as possible in order to reflect the reduced forecasting from the
Metropolitan Council. He stated that there are multiple methods in which the Commission
and residents can provide input on the mission, vision, goals and policy. He stated that the
Steering Committee and staff attempted to use the vision and goals and apply those to the
land use concept. He advised of the reviews that are currently underway by the engineering
staff to determine if the infrastructure would support the land use concept. He stated that
feedback and the input received in the interim will be reported back to the Steering
Committee on April 21st. He stated that the land use map has not been released for wide
distribution as the intent was to first receive comments from the Planning Commission and
City Council. He stated that the system statements from the Metropolitan Council were also
summarized and reviewed the bullet point items. He stated that while the intent of the City is
to maintain the rural character, the City must also meet the mandates as outlined by the
Metropolitan Council. He stated that the Steering Committee has emphasized their
discussion on residential areas thus far in the land use discussion. He provided the different
lot sizes for residential land uses and noted comparison developments that exist in the City
with those different lot sizes, noting that the plan utilizes mostly low and mixed density
residential.
R. Reid noted the southwest corner off Baker Road that identifies high density residential and
asked what that type of development would look like, specifically whether those would be
high-rise apartments.
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Finke provided an example of the Gramercy building, which is ten units per acre, noting that
there is a lot of green space around that building. He explained that when density increases
there is a correlation between the height of the building and how much space it takes up on
the lot noting that higher buildings could have more green space.
R. Reid noted that the beginning paragraph of the Comprehensive Plan should be rewritten.
She believed the first statement was too blunt and needed wordsmithing.
Murrin referenced the vision statement and suggested that first sentence read “Medina is one
united community” rather than “Medina is ONE community.” She provided some
grammatical suggestions. She stated that it would also be helpful to have the existing land
use plan for comparison purposes.
R. Reid stated that the land use map from the existing Comprehensive Plan can be found on
the City website.
Murrin asked the average unit per acre currently in the City.
Finke replied that the existing Comprehensive Plan identified 3.0015 units per acre and noted
that the existing average in the City is roughly short of two units per acre.
Murrin asked what would happen if the City does not follow the mandates from the
Metropolitan Council.
Finke replied that the Metropolitan Council would then not approve the Comprehensive Plan
and would ultimately sue the City and take them to State court, similar to Lake Elmo in the
last round of Comprehensive Plan updates.
V. Reid stated that the words in the vision and mission statement are words that can be
amended along the way. She stated that she would like to have input on the goals and
concepts.
Murrin stated that she is in agreement with the goals and that is why she only had
grammatical corrections.
V. Reid noted that is what she is looking for so that she can say confidently to the Steering
Committee that the Planning Commission supports the proposed concepts and goals. She
confirmed the consensus of the Commission supporting the goals and concepts.
Finke displayed a map, which identifies the properties that could develop or redevelop.
R. Reid stated that it appears that there is a fair amount of general business planned and asked
if that is actually the anticipated amount.
Finke agreed that there is a fair amount of acreage identified but noted that the development
would be dependent on the market regardless of what is done on with land use. He noted that
if you make too much land available there will be a correlation with lower land prices, while
if not enough land is made available there will be a correlation with higher than desirable
land prices. He provided additional clarification on the lot size for low density residential.
He noted that there are larger amounts of low density residential and general business
identified in the land use concept and summarized some of the discussion points of the
Steering Committee during the land use concept discussions. He stated that the land use
concept fulfils 931 units of the 951 that would be required under the Metropolitan Council
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forecasts. He believed that would be consistent with the forecasts from the Metropolitan
Council and noted that some of the developments could come forward with slightly higher
density than the minimum identified in the concept.
V. Reid identified an area along Highway 55 that was changed in land use since the last
meeting of the Steering Committee, which she is concerned would now b able to support a
big box store.
Finke stated that he attempted to match the discussion of the Steering Committee to
purposely not support large commercial development, such as big box stores. He did not
believe there would be sufficient space in that location for that type of development but noted
that he could shorten up that land use band if needed. He explained that staff was directed to
intentionally not create a space which would allow for big box development. He discussed
methods in which development could be spread into different areas and how sewer and water
availability would impact those decisions. He noted that a number of the commercial and
industrial guided properties remain in the same land use, they simply have just not developed.
10. Council Meeting Schedule
Finke advised that the Council will be meeting the following Tuesday.
R. Reid volunteered to attend the meeting.
11. Adjourn
Motion by Murrin, seconded by Barry, to adjourn the meeting at 8:30 p.m. Motion carried
unanimously.