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CITY OF MEDINA
PLANNING COMMISSION
Meeting Minutes
Tuesday February 11, 2020
1. Call to Order: Chairperson Reid called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
Present: Planning Commissioners Aaron Amic, Peter Galzki, Ron Grajcyk, Beth Nielsen,
Kerby Nester, Cindy Piper, and Robin Reid.
Absent: None.
Also Present: City Planning Director Dusty Finke and City Planner Deb Dion.
2. Introduction of Planning Commission Members
All the members of the Commission introduced themselves and provided background
information on their experience.
3. Election of 2020 Planning Commission Chair
Finke opened the floor for nominations for the position of Chair.
Motion by Piper, seconded by Amic, to nominate Reid as 2020 Planning Commission
Chair.
Finke called for other nominations. No other nominations were made.
Motion by Piper, seconded by Amic, to elect Reid as 2020 Planning Commission Chair.
Motion carries unanimously.
4. Election of 2020 Planning Commission Vice-Chair
Finke opened the floor for nominations for Vice-Chair.
Motion by Reid, seconded by Nester, to nominate Amic as 2020 Planning Commission
Vice-Chair.
Finke called for other nominations. No other nominations were made.
Motion by Reid, seconded by Nester, to elect Amic as 2020 Planning Commission Vice-
Chair. Motion carries unanimously.
5. Public Comments on Items not on the Agenda
No comments made.
6. Update from City Council Proceedings
Finke provided an update from the most recent City Council action. He reported that the
Council approved the variance request for the Raskob property, refinanced bonds, and
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applied for and received a grant to complete a study of fire/public safety service s. He stated
that the Council heard the OSI request and directed staff to approve documents of approval.
He advised that a new Police Officer was hired, noting that Belland will be retiring at the end
of March and current Sergeant Jason Nelson will be promoted to the Chief position. He
stated that the Police Department is currently recruiting for the Sergeant position. He advised
that there was a resignation in the Public Works Department and staff is currently recruiting
for that maintenance position.
7. Planning Department Report
Finke provided an update.
8. Public Hearing – Ordinance Amendment: Residential Parking
Requirements
Dion stated that this ordinance review started with a staff review of a potential application for
a townhome project. She stated that at that preapplication meeting the square footage
minimum for the garage space of 440 square feet was determined to be too high for the
project. She noted that the development seemed to meet all the other requirements for a
townhome development in Medina, with the exception of garage size. She stated that the
City currently requires a minimum of 440 square feet for a single-family home and
townhome. She noted that staff then reviewed the requirements of other communities in the
metro area and reviewed those findings. She provided photographs provided by a developer
of two vehicles parked inside garages of smaller square footage. She stated that in 2011 the
City passed the regulation requiring a minimum square footage of 440 square feet for a
garage and noted that prior to that the City did not have a minimum requirement. She stated
that prior to the regulation, the Lennar townhome project used garage sizes of 370 and 389
square feet in size.
Finke noted that the Dominium townhome project, which was constructed after the 440
square foot requirement, made similar comments about garage size and had to adjust their
design to accommodate larger than normally built garage sizes.
Nielsen stated that she did not see Corcoran on the list.
Finke stated that city does not have much of an existing townhome development and
therefore staff did not look into that city.
Piper stated that she is surprised that Wayzata and Orono do not have minimum requirements.
Amic stated that in his opinion Wayzata has a more urban feel which typically has less garage
space.
Nester noted a conference she recently attended where it was stated that as transportation
continues to change, people will most likely change their garage space to additional living
space.
Amic noted that he has also heard that many families may transition from two vehicles to one
vehicle.
Dion reviewed the recommendation for the minimum garage size for single-family homes to
remain at 440 square feet with townhomes decreasing to 400 square feet.
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Finke stated that currently the City has many regulations based on different uses in different
districts. He stated that the proposed table would standardize the requirements for garages
based on use rather than zoning district. He stated that in some cases two garage spaces
would now be required where not previously required and therefore those properties would
become non-conforming. He explained that those properties are within “legacy districts” that
were constructed prior to the regulations enacted in the 1980s. He used the example of the
Independence Beach neighborhood.
Reid opened the public hearing at 7:27 p.m.
No comment made.
Reid closed the public hearing at 7:27 p.m.
Nester stated that her fear would be that people would not have enough room to park two
vehicles in their garage and would park one vehicle outdoors, which is not aesthetically
pleasing. She stated that she is in agreement with the restructuring within the ordinance but
would remain at a minimum of 440 square feet.
Nielsen stated that this sounded similar to the deck issue on Hunter, where builders build as
much as they can. She commented that this would allow a builder to build more home with
less garage/deck.
Piper commented that a smaller garage would also cause people to want to place their trash
cans outside of the garage.
Nielsen commented that this could also cause people to put their bicycles and other items
outdoors.
Reid commented that often happens at homes with two and three car garages.
Amic commented that some trucks are too large to park in a garage. He stated that when
walking through the Enclave townhome development, he does not often notice two vehicles
parked in a garage. He commented that often those garages have enough space for one
vehicle and the additional storage items.
Nielsen asked if 400 square feet would be sufficient for the potential development
application.
Finke stated that the developer would still need to modify their plans, noting that the
difference would simply be how much living space would need to be converted to garage
space.
Piper asked if townhome developments require vehicles to be parked in garages.
Finke commented that often trash cans are required to be in the garage but not vehicles. He
stated that the Enclave townhome development has garages of 380 square feet, and therefore
400 would be slightly larger.
Amic commented that at 400 square feet you are probably not going to fit two vehicles. He
commented that he does not believe that garage space will be a problem in 20 years and
believed that 400 square feet seemed like a good middle ground.
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Galzki stated that one amenity of Medina is the amount of open space and he is leery when he
sees the trend in more development of smaller homes. He stated that 440 square feet is
already a small garage and would leave it as is.
Nielsen stated that if the garage size was reduced, the developer could potentially redesign to
add another townhome unit.
Galzki stated that the development would still need to meet all the other zoning requirements
and a few hundred square feet will most likely not make a significant difference.
Finke stated that the developer has stated that if the requirement is changed to 400 square
feet, the builder could make the change converting living space to garage space, but at 440
square feet the entire model would need to be changed. He noted that the developer has not
tweaked their model to that degree for any other community in the metro.
Reid stated that she would not have a problem changing the minimum to 400 square feet, as
people moving into townhomes often expect less space. She referenced the requirement that
would require all garage space to be connected or tucked under. S he asked how that would
apply to multi-family housing, such as apartments.
Finke stated that if the requirement is not included, the apartment would have the option for a
detached garage bank that is a more outdated style of construction.
Amic commented that he believes that the Enclave townhome garages are too small but
agreed that 400 square feet would seem to be a good middle ground.
Finke explained that for townhomes, the larger requirement would equate to more garage
façade rather than living space. He spoke of the relation of the size requirements and density
requirements, noting that only so much will fit on the land still meeting the density and other
requirements.
Galzki commented that 400 square feet seems sufficient for a townhome and would be a good
compromise in providing for additional development.
Motion by Nester, seconded by Piper, to keep the minimum garage size at 440 square feet.
Further discussion: Nielsen stated that the question would then be whether to change the
other requirements recommended by staff.
Motion by Nester, seconded by Piper, to keep the minimum garage size at 440 square feet
and recommend approval of the other changes to the ordinance pertaining to residential
parking as presented. Motion failed with a vote of 3–4 (Nester, Nielsen, and Piper in
support).
Galzki noted that there are requirements from the Metropolitan Council and this change
would help to support the required density.
Grajcyk commented that he previously lived in a townhome with a smaller garage that was
still very nice with good curb appeal. He commented that in his experience 400 square feet
was enough space to park two vehicles and keep the trash can inside.
Motion by Amic, seconded by Galzki, to recommend adoption of the ordinance amending
regulations pertaining to residential parking as recommended by staff with a minimum garage
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size of 400 square feet for townhomes. Motion carries 4-3 (Nester, Nielsen, and Piper
opposed).
9. Approval of the December 10, 2019 Draft Planning Commission Meeting Minutes.
Motion by Nielsen, seconded by Galzki, to approve the December 10, 2019, Planning
Commission minutes with the noted changes. Motion carries unanimously.
10. Council Meeting Schedule
Finke advised that the Council will be meeting the following Tuesday but noted that the
Commission could provide a representative for the first Council meeting in March. Nielsen
volunteered to attend in representation of the Commission.
11. Adjourn
Motion by Galzki, seconded by Piper, to adjourn the meeting at 7:56 p.m. Motion carried
unanimously.