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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/08/20041. Call to Order MAPLEWOOD PLANNING COMMISSION Wednesday, September 8, 2004, 7:00 PM City Hall Council Chambers 1830 County Road B East 2. Roll Call 3. Approval of Agenda 4. Approval of Minutes a. August 16, 2004 5. Public Hearings 7:00 Home Occupation License (1477 County Road C) 7:30 Ramsey County Suburban Courthouse (2050 White Bear Avenue) Lot Division Conditional Use Permit . New Business None . Unfinished Business None 8. Visitor Presentations 9. Commission Presentations a. August 23 Council Meeting: Mr. Mueller b. September 13 Council Meeting: Mr. Bartol c. September 27 Council Meeting: Ms. Dierich d. October 14 Council Meeting: Ms. Fischer 10. Staff Presentations a. Commissioner's Appreciation Picnic - Wednesday, September 15 11. Adjournment MINUTES OF THE MAPLEWOOD PLANNING COMMISSION 1830 COUNTY ROAD B EAST, MAPLEWOOD, MINNESOTA WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2004 I. CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Fischer called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. II. ROLL CALL Chairperson Lorraine Fischer Commissioner Jeff Bartol Vice-Chairperson Tushar Desai Commissioner Mary Dierich Commissioner Michael Grover Commissioner Daniel Lee Commissioner Paul Mueller Commissioner Gary Pearson Commissioner Dale Trippler Present Present Absent Present Absent Present Present Present Absent Staff Present: Ken Roberts, Planner Lisa Kroll, Recording Secretary Erin Laberee, Staff Engineer III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Mr. Roberts requested to remove the Home Occupation License at 1477 County Road C from the Public Hearing portion of the meeting due to the applicant withdrawing their request from the city. Because of this withdrawal, Mr. Roberts requested to move the Commission Presentations and Staff Presentations portions of the meeting before to the Public Hearing portion of the meeting to fill in time until the 7:30 p.m. public hearing for the Ramsey County Suburban Courthouse. Commissioner Pearson moved to approve the agenda as amended. Commissioner Bartol seconded. Ayes - Bartol, Dierich, Fischer, Lee, Mueller, Pearson The motion passed. IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Approval of the planning commission minutes for August 16, 2004. Commissioner Pearson moved to approve the planning commission minutes for August 16, 2004. Commissioner Bartol seconded. Ayes- Bartol, Dierich, Fischer, Lee, Mueller, Pearson Planning Commission Minutes of 09-08-04 -2- V. COMMISSION PRESENTATIONS a. Mr. Mueller was the planning commission representative at the August 23, 2004, city council meeting. The only planning commission item discussed was the Hillside Estates Preliminary Plat & Zoning Map Change for Springside Drive, passed ayes all with some concerns that were discussed. b. Mr. Bartol will be the planning commission representative at the September 13, 2004, city council meeting. The only planning commission item to discuss will be the Cottages at Legacy Village. c. Ms. Dierich will be the planning commission representative at the September 27, 2004, city council meeting. There are possibly two items to discuss which include the Ramsey County Suburban Courts Building and possibly the Summerhill Senior Housing. d. Ms. Fischer will be the planning commission representative at the October 14, 2004, city council meeting. Items to discuss have not been determined yet. VI. STAFF PRESENTATIONS a. Commissioner's Appreciation Picnic - Wednesday, September 15, 2004 Mr. Roberts reminded planning commissioners of the appreciation picnic to be held Wednesday, September 15, 2004, from 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Battle Creek Park. This picnic is to thank board and commission members for their service time. **THE PLANNING COMMISSION TOOK A 15-MINUTE RECESS BEFORE BEGINNING THE PUBLIC HEARING AT 7:30 p.m. VII. PUBLIC HEARING (7:30 p.m.) a. Ramsey County Suburban Courthouse (2050 White Bear Avenue) Mr. Roberts said David Chase of Kraus-Anderson Construction and Ramsey County, is proposing to build a 15,150 square-foot suburban courts building on the vacant city-owned property at 2050 White Bear Avenue. The building would have two courtrooms, office space, meeting rooms and associated space for the suburban courts operation. Mr. Chase is requesting that the city approve: 1. A lot division to create a new, separate lot for the courts building. Planning Commission Minutes of 09-08-04 -3- 2. A conditional use permit (CUP) to construct a public building. Section 44-1092 of the city code requires a CUP for a public service or public building uses in any zoning district. Commissioner Pearson asked what type of formula was used to determine the number of handicapped parking spaces for this proposal? Mr. Roberts said the architect can answer that but that is something the building code dictates. Commissioner Bartol asked for additional information on the background of the current courthouse and the reason for the new building? Mr. Roberts said the courts are leasing space in a commercial building on White Bear Avenue near Radatz Avenue and the facility is too small and has security issues. Because this is a leased space and they don't want to put a lot of money into the leased building space, Ramsey County thinks it is time to have their own free standing facility rather than leasing or renting space in another building. There will still be two courtrooms and the number of parking spaces stays the same but there will be more clerical and office space. Commissioner Bartol said since Maplewood is giving this land to Ramsey County for free, what would happen if the courthouse outgrew the new building, would the city get the land back? Mr. Roberts said unless the city negotiates something different, the city loses the land permanently. Commissioner Bartol asked if Mr. Roberts could explain briefly why this would benefit Maplewood? Mr. Roberts said as he understood it, the city council felt it was important to keep the suburban court in Maplewood primarily for the convenience for the police officers to appear in court with the time constraints of having to drive to another facility, park and appear in court taking more time away from their duties. This land is not now on the tax role and would probably never be put on the tax role; rather, it could have been a park or expansion of the community center. Giving the land to Ramsey County was an incentive to keep the courthouse in Maplewood and that was the decision made by the city council. Commissioner Bartol thanked Mr. Roberts for clearing that up for him. Chairperson Fischer asked the applicant to address the commission. Mr. Bruce Thompson addressed the commission. He is the Assistant Director of Property Management for Ramsey County and the Project Manager for Ramsey County. Ramsey County operates the suburban court facility and is mandated by state law to do so. They are leasing 1300 square feet in a commercial building. The court facility is on two different floors and there are many issues relating to security and with the space that is sectioned off. The County did not want to spend a lot of money to retrofit the space to their needs. Back in February, the county board sent a letter out to the suburban cities stating Ramsey County wanted to build a new building and that the county was looking for cities to donate the land to the county for the suburban court facility. Maplewood was the only community that really stepped up and said they had land that would fit Ramsey County's needs. Planning Commission Minutes of 09-08-04 -4- Mr. Thompson said because police officers in Maplewood are often required to be in court and wait until they are called, it takes them out of service while they are at the court facility. Being farther away from the court facility takes officers away from their street job longer. Mr. Steve Lanak, Architect with DSGW Architects, 548 Apollo Drive, Suite 10, Lino Lakes, addressed the commission. He said they are working with Kraus Anderson to design the courthouse facility. Mr. Lanak gave a new design plan to Mr. Roberts to display on the monitor. The applicant said they would be providing new plans to Mr. Roberts on Friday September 10, 2004. This plan has relocated the parking to the back of the property and they have moved the building to the south and lowered the building a few feet to balance the site better from a soils condition. By moving the building to the south it creates a larger grassy area between the path and the pond area to treat the runoff. Benefits from changing the site plan are that they pickup 14 more parking stalls in the front of the building, it creates better site drainage, and better cost. He said regarding the handicapped parking question, they looked at the historical need for handicapped parking at the current court facility and estimated they need 100 parking stalls. Therefore, they used the ratio of 1 handicapped parking space per 25 parking spaces and came up with 2 handicapped spaces in the front of the building and 2 in the back of the building. Commissioner Dierich asked if she heard correctly that the parking drainage was going to go from the parking lot into the pond and not into a holding pond or is that a holding pond? Mr. Roberts said as he understands it with this plan, the applicant wants to sheet drain into the grass run over the grass before it eventually goes over land to the wetland area. In fairness to the city engineer they have not seen this new plan and will have to review this and see if this is acceptable or not. Commissioner Bartol asked if this land was fairly flat and if there was a need for a retaining wall? Mr. Lanak said the land is fairly flat and there is probably four or five feet of slope from the south to the north towards the pond. There isn't a significant change in grade to need a retaining wall and he believes the wording in the report was general wording used by the city. Commissioner Bartol said he believes the revised site plan is very good and it opens more space up to the back where the path goes through and appreciates the change in the plan. Commissioner Mueller asked why they would have 2 handicapped parking spaces in the rear of the building? Mr. Lanak said he sees that point and that may be something they may need to change since the majority of the handicapped needs would probably be in the front of the building and not in the rear of the building. Commissioner Dierich asked if there were changes in the exterior of the building? Mr. Lanak said yes there are changes to the building exterior and they expect to have those revisions to staff later this week. Chairperson Fischer asked if anybody else in the audience wanted to speak regarding this item? Nobody in the audience came forward. Planning Commission Minutes of 09-08-04 -5- Commissioner Pearson moved to approve the lot division shown on the survey on page 14 of the staff report. This lot division creates a new, separate parcel for the Ramsey County Suburban Courthouse facility at 2050 White Bear Avenue. This lot division approval is subject to the city and the county signing access and maintenance agreements for the property and for the parking lot(s). Commissioner Pearson moved to approve the resolution on pages 24 and 25 of the staff report. This resolution approves a conditional use permit for the Ramsey County Suburban Courts facility at 2050 White Bear Avenue. The council bases the permit on the findings required by code and it is subject to the following conditions: . All construction shall follow the site plan approved by the city. The director of community development may approve minor changes. Any future expansions or major changes to the site or to the building require the approval of a revision to the conditional use permit by the city council. 2. The applicant must begin construction within one year after the council approves this permit or the permit shall end. The city council may extend this deadline for one year. 3. The city council shall review this permit in one year. Commissioner Lee seconded. Ayes - Bartol, Dierich, Fischer, Lee, Mueller, Pearson The motion passed. This item goes to the CDRB on Tuesday, September 21,2004, and to the city council on Monday, September 27, 2004. VII. NEW BUSINESS None. IX. NEW BUSINESS None. X. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS None. Xl. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 8:02 p.m.