HomeMy Public PortalAboutPC Minutes 11-14-17 1
CITY OF MEDINA
PLANNING COMMISSION
Meeting Minutes
Tuesday November 14, 2017
1. Call to Order: Chairperson White called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m.
Present: Planning Commissioners Todd Albers, Aaron Amic, Dino DesLauriers, Kerby
Nester, Robin Reid, and Janet White.
Absent: Planning Commissioner Kim Murrin.
Also Present: City Planner Dusty Finke.
2. Public Comments on Items not on the Agenda
No comments made.
3. Update from City Council Proceedings
Anderson reported that the Council met the previous week to consider the renewal of the
Hamel Fire Department contract extension request and a zoning amendment for the Lunski
storm sewer taxing district. He stated that the Council also considered the Woodlake Landfill
zoning, noting that members of the MPCA were present at the meeting. He stated that the
Council approved the actions as recommended by the Planning Commission. He stated that
the Council also met in worksession the previous week to conduct a thorough review of the
draft Comprehensive Plan.
4. Planning Department Report
Finke provided an update.
5. Public Hearing – David and Katherine Crosby – 2404 Hamel Road –
Amendment of Existing Conditional Use Permit and Lot Combination
Finke stated that the Commission approved the CUP for a second house with the lot being 70
acres in size. He stated that since that time the applicant has purchased additional land that
they would like to combine into one lot. He stated that staff would recommend approval of
the amendment to the CUP as presented.
White opened the public hearing at 7:10 p.m.
No comments.
White closed the public hearing at 7:10 p.m.
Motion by DesLauriers, seconded by Albers, to recommend approval of the amendment to
the Conditional Use Permit for David and Katherine Crosby for a second principal dwelling
at 2402 Hamel Road, based upon the findings noted in the staff report and subject to the
conditions recommended by staff. Motion carries unanimously. (Absent: Murrin)
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6. Public Hearing – Ordinance Amendment – Chapter 8 of the City Code Regarding Small
Wireless Facilities within the Right-of-Way
Finke provided an update on recent changes in the law regarding small wireless facilities
within the public right-of-way. He reviewed the proposed elements of the ordinance that
would regulate these activities.
Albers asked for clarification on which actions would require a CUP and which actions
would simply require a permit.
DesLauriers asked if the data usage has to be justified.
Finke stated that his understanding was that the push to get the law through was for the Super
Bowl, so that companies could install in Minneapolis and St. Paul without barriers from those
cities in order to cover the data usage that will be in demand during that time. He noted that
following that, there may be a push to compete with cable companies to provide broadband
service to residential customers. He suggested additional language that could minimize the
visual impact.
White opened the public hearing at 7:20 p.m.
No comments.
White closed the public hearing at 7:20 p.m.
Motion by Reid, seconded by DesLauriers, to recommend approval of the ordinance
regarding small wireless facilities within the public right-of-way. Motion carries
unanimously. (Absent: Murrin)
7. 2040 Comprehensive Plan – Review of Jurisdictional Comments
Finke reviewed the draft Comprehensive Plan process, noting that the comments received
from the jurisdictional review were summarized within the staff report. He provided
additional details on the comments received from Loretto and Corcoran and their desire to see
additional development in Medina to help justify their desire for the Metropolitan Council to
extend regional infrastructure to Loretto.
Amic asked if Medina will see additional requests for development, if Medina is the piece
that locks out Corcoran.
Finke stated that area of Medina was slated for development in 2025; but in the draft version
of the plan, the development would be pushed out even further. He summarized the other
comments received from other municipalities that were not as substantial. He identified the
potential long-term sewer service area of the City, noting that the plan exceeds the period of
the draft Comprehensive Plan. He stated that the Steering Committee expressed an interest in
trying to reduce the footprint for the long-term. He noted that there was a comment from the
Metropolitan Council that was inconsistent with their regional treatment plan. He provided
additional details on the long-term sewer service area plans for the City, noting that the
Metropolitan Council agreed that 867 net areas could be removed from the long-term sewer
service area within the City. He stated that the Metropolitan Council has stated that it is not
efficient to serve parcels over ten acres in size with City sewer and water. He stated that staff
believes that if the City works with the Metropolitan Council in the future when the
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Metropolitan Council works on their next regional comprehensive plan that could help to
further reduce the City’s long-term sewer service area.
Finke reviewed comments received in regard to the staging of the high-density residential
housing. He stated that it will be identified as an inconsistency with the housing plan of the
Metropolitan Council. He stated that the staging plan allows flexibility in that it allows
development up to two years prior to the identified staging. He stated that if the staging was
identified as 2020, those properties would be able to develop in 2018, but noted that the
development process may be more complicated because of the higher standards that would
need to be met. He stated that changing the staging would be consistent with the
Metropolitan Council’s plan. He stated that the Steering Committee supported changing the
staging to be consistent with the Metropolitan Council’s plan if Met Council staff continued
to take the position that allowing development as soon as the plan was in effect was a
concern. He stated that an estimate of uses for Uptown Hamel was requested and therefore
provided. He stated that staff made a number of small changes to the plan that came up
during the past six months and provided a brief summary. He stated that the Commission had
an opportunity to make a final review of the plan before it goes to the Council this week to
consider formal submission to the Metropolitan Council. He reviewed the timeline from that
point, noting that the Metropolitan Council will have 120 days to review if they consider the
plan to be complete. He stated that if the Metropolitan Council approves of the plan, the
Council could then adopt the plan to make it effective.
Reid asked for input on the Mark of Excellence applications.
Finke stated that the Council tabled the Comprehensive Plan amendment for the existing
Comprehensive Plan. He stated that it did not seem that the application was moving towards
approval and therefore the applicant asked for the item to be tabled. He stated that the
Steering Committee reevaluated the land use designation for the property and left the south
portion of the property business and reaffirmed the 2025 staging for the northern portion of
property.
DesLauriers stated that he agrees with not pushing forward on the staging for the high-
density. He asked for additional information on the ratios for Uptown Hamel.
Finke stated that there is no need for regulatory impacts, but is simply a projection of 40
percent residential use, 40 percent commercial use, and 20 percent office use.
DesLauriers referenced that staging in the area of Mohawk and Chippewa does jump out on
the map, as there is a parcel guided for development in 2025, while the parcels around that
are all guided for 2018 or 2020.
Finke explained how the staging was determined. He noted that some of those surrounding
parcels are commercial and therefore available for development. He stated that because of
the reduction in the residential projections from the Metropolitan Council, there is less land
available for residential and therefore less parcels to be divided into the different staging
areas. He explained how the Metropolitan Council develops its system statements and then
allocates those projections between cities.
White noted that while the City can plan for high-density housing and affordable housing,
that does not mean that a developer will come forward wanting to develop that type of
product.
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Albers asked if there will be additional requirements for high-density housing in the next
system statements for the City, specifically whether the requirement would start fresh or
whether additional units would be added to the units already required.
Finke stated that it would be difficult to guess how the Metropolitan Council would move
forward. He stated that in this cycle there did not seem to be a value on whether you met the
previous requirement or failure to meet that estimate. He noted that the health of the
economy and job market have a bigger impact on the system statements.
Reid complimented the staff for the amount of work that they have contributed to this
process, along with the Steering Committee. She stated that the plan is carefully thought out
and everyone did a great job.
Motion by Reid, seconded by Albers, to recommend approval of the 2040 Comprehensive
Plan as presented. Motion carries unanimously. (Absent: Murrin)
8. Approval of the October 10, 2017 Draft Planning Commission Meeting Minutes.
Motion by Amic, seconded by Reid, to approve the October 10, 2017, Planning
Commission minutes as presented. Motion carries unanimously. (Absent: Murrin)
9. Council Meeting Schedule
Finke advised that the Council will be meeting Thursday, November 16, 2017, and Finke
volunteered to provide an update on tonight’s meeting.
10. Adjourn
Motion by DesLauriers, seconded by Albers, to adjourn the meeting at 8:12 p.m. Motion
carried unanimously.