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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/19/2006 MAPLEWOOD PLANNING COMMISSION Monday, June 19, 2006, 7:00 PM City Hall Council Chambers 1830 County Road BEast 1. Call to Order 2. Roll Call 3. Approval of Agenda 4. Approval of Minutes a. June 7, 2006 5. Public Hearings 7:00 Conditional Use Permit Revision - Liberty Classical Academy (2696 Hazelwood Street) 7:20 Legacy Village Townhomes (County Road 0 and Kennard Street) Comprehensive Plan Amendment (BC to R-3(H)) PUD Revision Preliminary Plat 7:30 5-8 Club Expansion (2289 Minnehaha Avenue) Comprehensive Plan Amendment (R-1 to BC-M) Zoning Map Change (R-1 to BC-M) Conditional Use Permit Revision 6. New Business None 7. Unfinished Business None 8. Visitor Presentations 9. Commission Presentations June 12 Council Meeting: Ms. Dierich (Note - meeting held at Carver Elementary School - Upper Afton Road) June 26 Council Meeting: Mr. Kaczrowski July 10 Council Meeting: Ms. Fischer July 24 Council Meeting: Mr. Grover 10. Staff Presentations Reschedule July 3 meeting - July 5 or July 6? Annual Tour Update (July 31,2(06) 11. Adjoumment MINUTES OF THE MAPLEWOOD PLANNING COMMISSION 1830 COUNTY ROAD BEAST, MAPLEWOOD, MINNESOTA MONDAY, JUNE 19,2006 I. CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Fischer called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. II. ROLL CALL Vice-Chairperson Tushar Desai Commissioner Mary Dierich Chairperson Lorraine Fischer Commissioner Michael Grover Commissioner Harland Hess Commissioner Jim Kaczrowski Commissioner Gary Pearson Commissioner Dale Trippler Commissioner Jeremy Yarwood Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Absent Tom Ekstrand, Senior Planner Erin Laberee, Staff Engineer Ken Roberts, Planner Lisa Kroll, Recording Secretary Staff Present: III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Commissioner Trippler moved to approve the agenda. Commissioner Dierich seconded. The motion passed. IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Ayes - Desai, Dierich, Fischer, Grover, Hess, Kaczrowski, Pearson, Trippler Approval of the planning commission minutes for June 7, 2006. Commissioner Trippler had changes to the minutes on pages 9, 14 & 15. On page 9, last paragraph, change 47 homes per acre to 4.1 homes per acre. On page 14, last paragraph, ninth line, change the word questions to comments. On page 15, second paragraph, lines 4-6 should read Just a few weeks ago Henry Park in Sf. Paul was purchased for $2.5 million dollars in order to save the bluff land. Commissioner Dierich had a correction on page 12, in the first paragraph, change the word iRtor(3lays to plavs out. Commissioner Trippler moved to approve the planning commission minutes for June 7, 2006, as amended. Planning Commission Minutes of 06-19-06 -2- Commissioner Dierich seconded. Ayes - Desai, Dierich, Fischer, Hess, Kaczrowski, Trippler Abstentions - Grover & Pearson V. PUBLIC HEARING a. Liberty Classical Academy - 2696 Hazelwood Street - CUP (7:08 - 7:28 p.m.) Mr. Roberts said Ms. Kathy Smith, representing Liberty Classical Academy, is proposing to open a school for grades K-12 for up to 500 students. The proposed location for this school is in the existing First Evangelical Free Church at 2696 Hazelwood Street. They will start school in this location with about 60 students in grades 6-12 in 2006-2007. To have the school in this location, the church and Ms. Smith are asking that Maplewood approve a revision to an existing conditional use permit (CUP). Specifically, they are requesting that the City Council revise the conditional use permit for the planned unit development (PUD) at 2696 Hazelwood Street. This PUD is for a church and day-care center. This site is part of a larger PUD which includes the Hazel Ridge Seniors' Residence. The Maplewood City Code requires a CUP for schools in any location. Since 2003, Liberty Classical Academy has been operating a school in the Phalen Lake Church at 1717 English Street. Commissioner Desai asked staff to explain how they came up with 1,000 vehicle trips a day because he comes up with another calculation and asked if staff considered students driving their own vehicles to school as well. Mr. Roberts said staff did an estimation of vehicle trips based on the future potential of the school having 500 students. If in fact there would even be that many students in the future there could be the potential for bussing which would eliminate a concern regarding the number of vehicle trips a day. Staff did not consider students driving their own vehicles in the calculation. Commissioner Dierich said on page 3, number 3. it states the council shall review this permit revision in one year. She asked if the city council would review the school and not review the church as well? Mr. Robert said the review is only for Liberty Classical Academy. Commissioner Hess said when he drove to the site he noticed the parking lot looked very warn, he asked ifthe parking lot would be resurfaced, especially because of the increased traffic in and out of the site? Mr. Roberts said staff has not heard anything regarding the parking lot being resurfaced but staff recommended sweeping and restriping the parking lot which is shown in condition 5. We could ask the applicant that question. Chairperson Fischer asked the applicant to address the commission. Planning Commission Minutes of 06-19-06 -3- Ms. Kathy Smith, representing Liberty Classical Academy, 1964 Price Avenue, Maplewood, addressed the commission. She said in the recommendations shown on page 3, number 1. it states all construction shall follow the site plan approved by the city and the school shall follow the floor plans dated May 24, 2006. She asked if that was supposed to read May 24, 1995, or was there a new plan? Mr. Roberts said May 24, 2006, is the date Liberty Classical Academy submitted the floor plans for this application. He said he used that wording to try to tie that to the use of certain rooms for this request but if you or the commission have a different idea we can discuss that. Ms. Smith asked if in the future Liberty Classical Academy required the use of more rooms what would we do for that? Mr. Roberts said the staff report says the Director of Community Development may approve minor changes but if the request was large enough it would have to go back to the city council for a revision. Ms. Smith said she believed the 500 student numberwould have expanded the use outside the 7 classrooms and she was only concerned all the bases would be covered. Mr. Roberts said staff could change the wording to accommodate that in recommendation 1. a. to be changed to and the school shall follow the floor plans submitted to the citv. Ms. Smith said Liberty Classical Academy would really appreciate the support to honor this request. The school has been doing well and has 82 students not 60 as she had originally indicated to staff. Commissioner Hess asked if she could address the question regarding the resurfacing of the parking lot? Ms. Smith said she was not aware of the need to resurface the parking lot and deferred the question to her colleague. Commissioner Hess asked if they planned on submitting new plans to the fire marshal regarding the fire safety? Mr. Roberts said it's the intent of the fire marshal to do an inspection before any plans are necessary to submit for fire safety. If the fire marshal finds a need for plans to be submitted then the applicant will be required to provide that. Butch Gervais the fire marshal has been in the building in the past and thought everything was up to code by memory but wanted to double check the building upon doing another walk through inspection. Ms. Rebecca Hagstrom, Director at Liberty Classical Academy, 13 Dellwood, White Bear Lake, addressed the commission. Ms. Hagstrom said her children attend Liberty Classical Academy and they are thrilled with the education the children are receiving. Students are coming from all over the metro area and some are from Maplewood and they appreciate the education they are receiving. The businesses in the Maplewood area are also frequented by the families as a result of their children attending Liberty Classical Academy. Planning Commission Minutes of 06-19-06 -4- Ms. Hagstrom said the growth of the school is good for Liberty Classical Academy and good for the City of Maplewood and the surrounding businesses. They would appreciate receiving approval for this proposal. She hadn't noticed that the parking lot needed to be resurfaced. They have been more focused on the building itself and had not focused their attention on the parking lot. They believe it's up to the church and not up to Liberty Classical Academy to decide if the parking lot needs upgrading or not. Ms. Hagstrom said prior to applying for the permit they checked the rooms to make sure they were all sprinklered and they were which was a real plus. Liberty Classical Academy is very reliable and when the city requires them to upgrade something or make certain changes we have been very cooperative with the City of Maplewood regarding the requirements. Commissioner Hess asked if the exiting requirements have all been taken care of especially for the lower level? Ms. Hagstrom said until the fire marshal makes his inspection she is not aware of any concerns but her understanding is that the church would prefer that the school use the exit where there is a circle to the entrance. There is a ramp and a set of wide steps that go to the lower level and she think it's more than enough room to get in and out of but she believes there are two sets of double doors to exit. Commissioner Hess said he believed it was a state requirement to have for two exits depending on the distance between doors. Ms. Hagstrom said that may be. She wanted to pass along that unfortunately the pastor; associate pastor and the chair of the board were out of town this evening. There was supposed to be a letter to the city from the church and she wasn't sure if that had been sent or not. She said the staff members at the church are in favor of this plan. She said someone from the church will bring the letter in question to the July 10, 2006, city council meeting and hopefully a representative from the pastoral staff can be present. Commissioner Pearson moved to approve the resolution starting on page 21 of the staff report. This resolution revises and extends the time for the conditional use permit for the planned unit development 2696 - 2730 Hazelwood Street. The revision adds a school to the approved uses (the church and the day care). Maplewood bases this permit revision on the findings required by the code and subject to the following conditions (new words are underlined and deleted words are crossed out): .L All construction shall follow the plans that the city stamped May 24, 1995, subject to the following conditions: a. All construction shall follow the site plan approved by the city and the school shall follow the floor plans submitted to the citv. The Director of Community Development may approve minor changes. The city council may approve major changes. b. Dropping the two parking spaces along the south property line at the east end of the parking lot. Planning Commission Minutes of 06-19-06 -5- 2. The proposed school use on the propertv parking lot expansion oonstruGtion must be started within one year after the council approves this revised permit or the permit shall end. The council may extend this deadline for one year. g,. The council shall review this permit revision in one year. 4. The school shall have no more than 500 students. ~. The property owner or manaqer shall sweep and restripe the parkinq lot before the school occupies their space. This shall include havinq the required handicapped parkinq spaces in the parkinq area near the buildinq entrance. 6. The school, the church. the fire marshal and the citv buildinq official shall aqree on a plan for the school and the church to make any necessary or required life safetv and buildinq improvements to the buildinq. This plan shall include the installation and maintenance of: a. The required fire protection (sprinkler) systems. b. An earlv warninq fire protection system (smoke detection and monitorinq). c. Additional emerqencv IiQhts and exit siqns (if necessary). d. Updated doors and hardware (if necessary). e. A proper address on the buildinq. f. Anv other chanqes the fire marshal or the buildinq official deem necessarv. Commissioner Grover seconded. Ayes - Desai, Dierich, Fischer, Grover, Hess, Kaczrowski, Pearson, Trippler The motion passed. This item goes to the city council on July 10, 2006. b. Legacy Village Townhomes (County Road D and Kennard Street) (7:28 - 8:08 p.m.) Mr. Ekstrand said the Hartford Group, the master developer of Legacy Village, is proposing to develop the final segment of town homes at Legacy Village. The application is for 119 townhomes which would be located on the south side of County Road 0 between Hazelwood and Kennard Streets. This portion of the Legacy Village PUD (planned unit development) was previously approved for 96 town house units and an office building on a 1 Yo -acre site at the southwest corner of Kennard Street and County Road D. The applicant is not asking for an amendment to the approved PUD (planned unit development) to build town homes on this office site as part of their town house development. Commissioner Pearson asked if there have been any soil borings taken on the site? Mr. Ekstrand said he believed so but he doesn't have a copy of the soils report. The bad soils on the site should be denoted in a report. He said Mr. Frank Janes can speak further on the soils. Planning Commission Minutes of 06-19-06 -6- Commissioner Pearson said he isn't comfortable looking at changing the zoning for an area where the city does not know if the soils can hold the buildings they are proposing to build. He asked if the parking had been resolved regarding where the additional parking was going to come from since the applicant had 9-foot wide parking spaces on the plan when the code is 9Y:. feet wide for parking spaces? Mr. Ekstrand said there is room on the site plan to construct 9Y:. feet wide parking spaces and the applicant stated the problem has been addressed on the plan. Commissioner Trippler was wondering how the people that would live there would get to the trail system because he didn't see any crosswalks, tunnels, or bridges on the plan and he is concerned about the traffic there. Mr. Ekstrand said staff thought the sidewalk system was complete and the people living there would have no problem gaining access to the trail system. The major trails and sidewalks are along the south side of the property and along Hazelwood and Kennard Street. Commissioner Trippler said he was talking about the trail underneath the power line and he was concerned how people would get across Village Trail East. Mr. Ekstrand said he assumed people would just walk across it. Commissioner Trippler asked if there would be a four way stop or crosswalk there because he is concerned about the safety of small children crossing Village Trail East to get to the tot lot which is to the south. Mr. Ekstrand said Erin Laberee can comment on that. Ms. Laberee said there could be a striped crosswalk there to designate the crossing, and the city could look into a requirement for stop signs if warranted to stop or slow down the traffic. Commissioner Trippler said he would guess there will be a few hundred people living there and there needs to be a safe mechanism for people to get back and forth from the northern quadrant to the recreational facilities. So far this plan does not do show that. Mr. Ekstrand said the city could require the applicant to submit a plan for crosswalk locations. Commissioner Trippler said thank you. Chairperson Fischer asked the applicant to address the commission. Mr. Frank Janes, Hartford Group, 7900 Xerxes Avenue South, Suite 1300, Bloomington, addressed the commission. He said Village Trail East is going to be a private street with minimal traffic and they don't see a problem crossing there. They will certainly look into and speak to staff about providing a crosswalk if that is required. Commissioner Trippler said when he visited Finland he noticed something interesting they do there which is provide a striped crosswalk and then put a speed bump on each side of the crosswalk to ensure the cars slow down. He said that may be something to consider. Planning Commission Minutes of 06-19-06 -7- Commissioner Pearson asked about the soil borings and if there was a report available? Mr. Janes said they have taken extensive soil borings from the site. They have engineers on their staff that has looked at this site. The northeast quadrant of the site has good soils. However, the western portion of the site is going to require soil corrections and they know any building pads will have to comply with the good building practices. Commissioner Pearson asked how many soil borings were taken? Mr. Janes said he didn't know how many soil borings were taken but it was somewhere in the dozens range and they are well aware of the soil conditions. Commissioner Pearson asked what depth the soil borings went to and what level they found ground water at while taking the soil borings? Mr. Janes said he didn't have that information in front of him but they would not prepare any building sites that have not been fully corrected and overseen by a professional engineering firm. He said the Hartford Group has a lot of experience and are well versed in these types of soil situations. Commissioner Pearson asked if the soil borings report had been submitted to city staff yet? Mr. Janes said the report has not been submitted. He said it's not a requirement at this point and if there were any requirements from the building official when the building permit was pulled they would be happy to share the soils information and the work that they are going to do with the engineering staff. Mr. Roberts said Erin Laberee said she would prefer to get the soils report sooner rather than later so engineering has time to review the soil information. Mr. Janes said okay. Commissioner Pearson asked where the additional parking would go to accommodate the 9Y> foot wide parking spaces? Mr. Janes said there is room on the overall site to provide bump outs there and to provide for the additional footage necessary. The landscape architects looked at this. This is something they do all the time to expand the parking and address the site plan. Commissioner Pearson said the site looks pretty tight to him. Mr. Janes said the site is tight but they will make it work and they will show it to staff to ensure everything works well. Commissioner Trippler said there was an error in the letter dated May 11,2006, from the Hartford Group to the city naming the new library as the Anoka County Library when it should be the new "Ramsey" County Library. Planning Commission Minutes of 06-19-06 -8- Mr. Janes said that was an error on their part and it should be corrected as the Ramsey County Library. Commissioner Trippler said on page 25 and 26 of the staff report, the Hartford Group lists planned unit development revisions along with nine criteria and he was assuming those are supposed to be justifications. He thinks they are statements that were made without any way, shape or form of providing any proof whatsoever that any of these things do or don't exist. Doesn't the city require the applicant to provide reasonable justification as to why these criteria will or won't be a problem and if so, is this all the applicant has to do to fill that criteria? Mr. Roberts said in cases like this the city requires some type of justification from an applicant. What is reasonable justification varies from project to project. The Hartford Group did not elaborate on any of the criteria items listed. Staff doesn't disagree with any of the criteria listed, although the Hartford Group doesn't provide much documentation of what they say is true. The question is the planning commission comfortable with the findings as the staff is. If the planning commission expects more then they should let staff know. Staff understands the project and is comfortable with the findings but clearly the Hartford Group could sell the project to the city better than they have. The change is mainly focused on removing the plan to have an office complex and change the plan to residential. The rest of the PUD is about reducing the number of units, revising the site plan and eliminating the office complex from the plan. Mr. Ekstrand said if you take the 1 % acre parcel for an office site and convert that to high density residential, the density that could be allowed per the comprehensive plan is 15 units but the Hartford Group is only proposing 2 additional units. There are 119 units proposed here and 132 units could be on the site. (Mr. Ekstrand reviewed the plan on page 18 of the staff report that represented the approved PUD for the development concept plan for July 14, 2003, when Town & Country planned to build both sites.) Now the Hartford Group is proposing to build 119 units for Lot 1, Block 1. Commissioner Trippler said when the planning commission originally reviewed this plan he liked the fact that there would be an office planned for this area and thought it would be a nice selling point for people that worked in the office complex who may live in this area and could walk to work which would eliminate some ofthe traffic flow. Now as this development precedes the office space is being replaced by homes and that means the concept of working and living in the same area is gone. If this would have been brought to the planning commission as all residential, the commission may have had a different focus on this. Commissioner Grover asked how much of the office space was just for the rental office and how much was for the additional office space? Mr. Ekstrand said this office building was mostly for additional office space. A very small percentage of the space would've been for the rental office space. However, it wasn't really clearly defined on the plan but typically rental offices do not take up that much space. Commissioner Grover asked if there were other parts of Legacy Village where the developer has removed office space from the plan or is this the only time? Planning Commission Minutes of 06-19-06 -9- Mr. Ekstrand said the site where the new Ramsey County Library site is being built had been approved as restaurant space and could have been office space so that was a conversion to something other than what was originally approved. Commissioner Grover asked how much office space are we losing in comparison to the whole Legacy Village development site? Mr. Ekstrand said this is a 1 Yo acre parcel in an 85 acre development for Legacy Village. Commissioner Trippler said he thought the anchor of this Legacy Village development was a large office complex at Kennard Street and Legacy Parkway? Mr. Ekstrand said on the northeast corner of Kennard Street and the Legacy Parkway half of the six-acre site which is nearing completion. This developer also has plans to do a building just like this next door. Commissioner Trippler said he thought that was going to be a multi-story building. Mr. Ekstrand said it was labeled on the plan as a corporate commercial office site. There is no one user defined for this property. The current first phase will be used by Health East who would occupy the entire first floor of the complex. The applicant is talking about building the second building ahead of schedule as they are nearing completion of the first phase. There will also be a proposal for a senior building coming in soon for this area. Commissioner Dierich said it appears the developer wants to make changes to the wetland and the ponding areas and she didn't see that addressed in the application. Many of the neighbors were upset about the loss of the big trees and she asked about the tree replacement plan because there is no information in the packet about it and the plans are very incomplete. This would help inform the neighbors in the area. Mr. Ekstrand said the trees and wetlands go hand in hand. There are a lot of trees being lost which is the sad part of this development but that fact was known from the beginning. The developer will be preserving trees around the wetlands and will be maintaining the wetlands. Ms. Laberee said there is a wetland in the eastern portion of the site that is proposed to be filled in and that has been mitigated on the south side of the new County Road 0 between Hazelwood and Highway 61. Mr. Tom Gelman, President of Cardinal Point, addressed the commission. He said he represents 160 seniors at Cardinal Point and their concern is the safety of the senior citizens that live there. The traffic flow along County Road 0 and Hazelwood Street will increase considerably when County Road 0 opens up. They are concerned what measures will be taken with traffic control at Hazelwood Street and County Road D. The people that live in Cardinal Point are interested in walking but are concerned about their safety with the increased traffic. Commissioner Pearson asked if it would be possible to get a copy of the soils report when staff receives it? Mr. Ekstrand said yes. Planning Commission Minutes of 06-19-06 -10- Mr. Ekstrand said due to the concern of the planning commission regarding the crosswalk, a condition could be added this evening by the planning commission or it could be added to the conditions for the community design review board. Commissioner Grover moved to adopt the resolution approving the comprehensive land use plan amendment from Be (business commercial) to R3H (high density residential) for a 1 Yo -acre parcel previously planned for an office building in Legacy Village. Approval of this change is because town homes would be more compatible and in character with the adjacent town home development than the previously approved commercial building and because the proposed density of this site would be 13 units less than it potentially could be. Commissioner Grover moved to adopt the resolution approving a revision to the Legacy Village planned unit development as it relates to the previously approved rental-townhomes and executive-office suites and clubhouse sites. Approval of this revision is based on the findings required by the ordinance and subject to the following conditions (additions are underlined and deletions are crossed out): 1. The development shall follow the plans date-stamped May 11, 2006, except where the city requires changes. The director of community development may approve minor changes. 2. The proposed construction must be substantially started within one year of council approval or the permit shall end. The council may extend this deadline for one year. 3. The city council shall review this permit in one year. 4. The applicant shall comply with the requirements in the engineer's report dated June 1, 2006. 5. The applicant shall provide a copy of the homeowner's association documents to staff for approval. 6. The following changes are hereby made to the approved PUD conditions: Rental Townhomes Bns Offise/Clubhouse: a. The project will be constructed according to the plans date-stamped May 11. 2006, frem Hartford Gr-oul'l sates 1l.'2.'Q3 in all details, except as specifically modified by these conditions. b. 1\ sidewalk will be pr-ovises sontinuously on the nortt-! or west side of Streot 1\ l3et\veen Kennars Stroot and Hazolwoos Dri'ie, inoluding the se!!ment bet\\'een tho offioe/olubhouse parkin!! lot ans townhouse buildin!!s 11 ans 12. c. Sisewalk oonnections 'Iii II 130 asses sonnocting the po'....er line trail to tt-!o ourb of Str-eet ^ ol'll'losito townt-!ome buildings 6 ans 8; d. ne sisowalks servin!! the fr-onts ofto'....nhome builsin!!s 1 d, 1 ll, 17, 18, 1 9 and 20 will be extendod south to sonneGt witt-! tho power line trail. Planning Commission Minutes of 06-19-06 -11- e. Street 8 and Street C serving tl=le to-....nl=lomes will bo sonstruGted in their ontirety witl=l tho to'....nhomes, re€)ar-dless ef the status of tl:1e multi family and oemmer-cial par-sels te tl:1e east- f. Parking s(3aoes willee proviEled atthe ends efthe E1riveways at the rearef euildin€)s 1,2, 3 aREI 1, Hi/Hi, 19/20, 21/22 and 28/26 anEl sisewalks willl:Je (3rovises from thoe;o parkin€) spaoes sonnosting to tl=le front sidowalke: of oaol=l of thoso DI:JilsiRge:. g. The infiltration tr-enol=les on the SOI:Jtl=l sises of l:Juildin€)s 13/11, 18/16 ans 19/29 will be mosifies to aocommodate a revises ali€lnment for the (3ower line trail, pro'"ises that reasonaele graEles are (3revides fer the trail ans any sisewalks, senneoting to it, and appr-oval of tl=le sity engineer €l0n€lerRing the size ans Nnotion of tl=le tren€ll=1es. h. ,II. six foot 'NiEle sidoVlalk shel,lIEl be pr-evided if at all pessible en the sel,lth side Elf COl,lnty Roas D for the entire length of the (3FOjeGt fr-om Hazelweos Drive to SOl,lthlawn Dri'lo, throl,lgh continl,lod SiS€ll,lSsion Det\'.'een the €lit'! ans Hartford, focloJsing on oxaGt sisewalk wiEltl:1, looatien and ri€)l:1t of way neess fer tl,lrR lanes aREI other featur-es of tl:1e County Roas 0 pr-ojeot. i. .^. sidewalk willee (3ro'/ises on tl:1e south side of Cel,lnty Read D and sidowalks will be (3re'lides OloJt to that sidewalk fr-om the nor-tl=l side €If Dl,lildings 1,1,21,22,23,21 and 25 as '.'loll as to the oll,lel=leuse front entry and the €llubl=l0l,lse parking lot. j. The grades of the power line trail and all public sidewalks will meet ADA guidelines for slope. k. Overstor:y tr-ees willee plantes alon!] 80th sides of Street ^ at an average of 30' te 10' on €lenter instoad of the average 79' s(3aoin!] sl=lm...n en the (3lans. I. Ovorstery trees will De (3lanted along Deth sises of Street Bans on tl=le west side of Street C at an avera!]e of 30' to 10' en oenter insteas ef the semetimes 1 99' spaoing sl=lown on tl=lo plans, sloJoh asditional tree islanss to DO €leor-dinatod '.'litl=l modifies (3arking bays that mi!]l=It be adses to tl=lis stroot. m. Overstory tr-ees will 8e planted alon!] 80th sises of Konnar.a Str-eet in frent of the townl=lomes at an aver-a!]o of 39' to 19' on oenter instead of tho avera€)e 80' te 1l0' e:(3a€ling she'Nn on tl=le (3lans. n. The curve in Villaqe Trail East Stroot 1\ opposite 8uildin!]s 10 ans 12 will shall be flattened as much as possible to limit headlight qlare on aimes into the front of the units. o. All setbacks are approved as shown barrinq any construction requirements reqardinq the power line easement to the south from Xcel. Front builsin!] setba€lks (olul:ll=lol,lse and buildin€ls 1, 1, 5, 11, 15,21,22,23,21,28 ans26) to Hazolwood Drive, Kennai'd street and COl,lnty Roas D tl=lat are less than requires DY the zoning oose are slile€lifi€lally alillilFeVed within this PUD as shown on the site lilian, do.....n to a miniml,lm 0f 8' for the olubhol,lse and 18' for the townl=lome bl,lilsings in orser to enhanso the urban €l1=1aractor of the streets ans intersoGtions. Planning Commission Minutes of 06-19-06 -12- p. Sise yar-El building setBaoks for all Bl,lildings tt-lat are less tt-lan reql,lires by tt-le zoning oode are Sl3esifj()ally apl3r-eves within tt-lis PUD as st-lewn on the site I3lan. q. Visitor-parking spaces for the rental town homes will be added or modified as follows: 1) Parking spases 'Nill be asses so there is a total of at least 1 fl spases on tt-le west side of KOAAard ans at loast 51 spusos on the oust side of Konnar.e, sl,lsh that tt-lo fr-ent door of ne I,lRit is more tt-lan 200 feet from a grol,lp of at least 5 sl3ases. The applicant shall provide visitor-parkinq spaces at the minimum quantity of one-half space per town home unit. This works out to a minimum of 60 visitor parkinq spaces reauired. Furthermore. the visitor-parkinq spaces must be placed such that the front door of no unit is more than 200 feet from a qroup of at least five spaces. 2) Street ,,\ will be widenes te 2€l' ourb to sl,lFI3 and on str-eet pamllel parking '.viii be assed alon€l tt-le north and west sises of tt-le street except for within 100' of the pavement of Hazelwood Drive and Kennard Street. 3) Tho private drive immesiately soutt-l of Bl,lilsings 2 ans J will be wisones to 2€l' SI,lFe to SI,lFI3 and on street l3arallel parking '.viii Be added aleng the nortt-l sise of the sri\'e. 4) Parking ar-eas will be addos eet-lins buildin€ls 1 and 1 wt-lere tt-le driveway aeuts tho ponding area, sensistent with tt-le resommendatien ef the oity engineer on pr-evising adequate gmding ans functioning ef tt-le pond. 5) Parking ar-eas willl3e added eet-lins Bl,lildings 15/1€l. 19/20,21/22 ans 25/-2€l te r-neet the parking and sistanse sriteria oites t-lere. 6) Street B will Be wisened to 2€l' SI,lFe to ourb ans l3amllel parking will Be addes along tt-le noFlt-l and west sises of tt-le street, er assitional angles parking will Be added to r-noet the oriteria for parking spaoes sites t-lere. r. Tt-le parking lot for the sll,lBhouse/of.fioe Bl,lilsing will be r-nesified to ads "Weof of parking" spaoes iA tt-le gr.ElOn aFea noFlt-l ans east of tt-le swir-nr-ning pool, for a total of 91 spaoes possil3le in tt-le lot. Suet-l spases will only ee sonstruotes if tt-le owner eelieves they are noeses, or if they are neeses in the futur-e to assr-ess parking proBler-ns at the building in tt-le opinion of tt-le sor-nmunity sevelopr-nent direGtor, who oan orsor tt-le spaoes to be constl'\,lsted. Suct-l spases will maintain a sisewalk sonneotion betwoen tt-le swimming pool ans sll,ll3house builsing in an islans in the middle of the parking Bays as shown on tt-le plans. s. An easement over the power line trail on this parcel will be provided to the city for access and maintenance. Commissioner Grover moved to approve the preliminary plat for Legacy Village townhomes, subject to the following conditions: 1. The applicant shall comply with the requirements in the city's engineering report dated June 1, 2006. Planning Commission Minutes of 06-19-06 -13- 2. The applicant shall sign a developer's agreement with the city engineer before the issuance of a grading permit. 3. The applicant shall dedicate any easements and provide any written agreements that the city engineer may require as part of this plat. 4. The applicant shall pay the city escrow for any documents, easements and agreements that the city engineer may require that may not be ready by the time of plat signing. Commissioner Trippler seconded. Ayes - Desai, Dierich, Fischer, Grover, Hess, Kaczrowski, Pearson, Trippler The motion passed. This item goes to the city council on July 10, 2006. c. 5-8 Club Parking Lot Expansion (2289 Minnehaha Avenue) (8:08 - 9:01 p.m.) Mr. Roberts said the owners of the 5-8 Tavern and Grill located at 2289 Minnehaha Avenue have purchased the single family house located to the east of their existing property (2303 Minnehaha Avenue). Jill Skogheim of JBJ Dining, Inc., representing the 5-8 Tavern and Grill is proposing to demolish the single family house for the expansion of the restaurant's parking lot. Commissioner Trippler said in looking at the plans it appears half of the parking spaces are 15% feet in length and others are at 17% feet in length but if the stalls are altered to be 18 feet in length which is what the city code states, how does that reconfigure the parking lot? Mr. Roberts said any parking space that overhangs in the parking lot or landscape strip can be at 15% feet in length allowing for vehicle overhang not into a drive aisle. The ones most affected by this are the spaces along the center. Staffs recommendation was for the spaces to be 18 feet long but make it be one-way traffic circulating through the site. Staff is confident it can all be worked out. CommissionerTrippler said it was his understanding the applicant was proposing to build a fence along the north and east edge of the parking lot. Mr. Roberts said the fence would be located along the north property line. There have been conversations regarding moving the fence in 5 to 10 feet from the east property line which is something the CDRB will be looking at during their review. Commissioner Trippler said when he paced off 45 feet that took him to a manhole cover on the site so if the plan was to move the driveway over 45 feet from the existing driveway you will run into the storm sewer so you may have to go over 47 to 50 feet to miss the manhole on the boulevard. Ms. Laberee said she thought staff's intention was to move the drive entrance over so it lines up with the next westerly drive aisle. She sees where the manhole cover is on the plan and doesn't think the drive aisle would be over that far. Planning Commission Minutes of 06-19-06 -14- Commissioner Trippler said he now sees what Ms. Laberee was referring to. Commissioner Dierich said Mr. Beardsley's letter makes reference to the rental property not being taken care of along with issues of the condition of the fence on the property. She asked if staff had any information from the police department or from the city regarding the rental property and past problems with the property and how those issues were responded to if anything. Mr. Roberts said he wasn't aware of the complaints or if they were made to the city or directly to the 5-8 Club. However, now that the 5-8 Club knows about the issues if they want to have their parking lot expansion they should make sure they are good neighbors. Commissioner Hess asked about the metal light fixtures shown on the plan that would go in on the site. Mr. Roberts said the lighting is something the CDRB reviews and staff has not looked that closely at the plans to answer that question. Commissioner Hess said he's just curious how those lights would impact the neighborto the east. Mr. Roberts said the lighting code requires no light spillage over the property line. The light has to only shine into the commercial property and the applicant would have to provide a detailed lighting plan as to how that will work. Commissioner Pearson said he wondered if there was a possibility of moving the fence in and planting some evergreen trees on the east side for a noise barrier and separation. There was a study done about four orfive years ago regarding creeping commercialism and this is an example of that. This is an area where you want to see the business get the additional parking needed to get the cars off the street and to make the neighbors happy. But there is a serious concern for the resident who has to live next door to a restaurant and bar with the late hours, lights shining at all hours of the night, doors slamming, cars driving in and out of the parking lot, people talking and yelling, customers who drank too much walking around etc. The businesses across McKnight Road have talked about damage they have incurred to their property along with the fact that the fence was not greatly maintained. The CDRB should look at a berm with a fence on it orthe fence moved along with pine trees to separate and soften this area. He would hope that the CDRB looks at the needs of the resident who lives next door who has a considerable investment in his property. Mr. Roberts said he will make sure Ms. Finwall is aware of these concerns. Commissioner Dierich said she is a frequent customer of the 5-8 Club and she knows the tavern itself is very small and she wanted to make sure the restaurant wasn't expanding with this proposal and that the proposal was only for the parking lot expansion? Mr. Roberts said the building will not be expanding; this is a request to only expand the parking lot. Planning Commission Minutes of 06-19-06 -15- Commissioner Dierich said the reason she asked is because the first page of the staff report it states in number 3. a conditional use permit (CUP to expand the restaurant and a nonconforming parking lot) when really it should only be CUP to expand a nonconforming parking lot. If you move the driveway, is there a way that when the restaurant closes for the evening you can add a condition to have that part of the parking lot closed so the noise is reduced throughout the evening hours for the residents who live close to the 5-8 Club? Mr. Roberts said he isn't sure of a practical way to do that. Commissioner Dierich said you could put chains up to close the driveway area. Chairperson Fischer said if a customer drives into the parking lot early and stays late then the car could get locked behind the chains. Mr. Roberts said the employees' usually park the furthest away from the door in order to keep the parking spaces open closest to the door for the customers. Commissioner Dierich asked if there was a way to add that condition to help protect the neighbors? Mr. Roberts said that may be a question for the applicant and if there were a lot of problems with noise that could be something staff could look at in a year or so. Commissioner Hess asked what the distance was between the new parking area and the existing fence? Mr. Roberts said the distance is proposed at 20 feet but there has been talk of putting the fence somewhere in between that to allow some room for snow storage off the commercial parking lot but allowing the fence to be away from the property line to better accommodate the plantings the adjacent resident has. The code doesn't say the fence has to be along the property line. Staff doesn't want the fence on the edge of the parking lot because we know snow is going to damage the fence and we want room for cars to overhang but there is clearly room to make the fence meet both the needs of the parking lot and for the neighbor to the east. The CDRB will have to look at this issue closely because of all the issues here. Commissioner Hess said he was wondering if there could be a berm there, how much space is required and how high of a berm could there be? Mr. Roberts said the problem with a berm is the drainage issues. When you start building up the land there will be more water running to the east and the neighbor doesn't need more drainage onto his site so you don't want to increase the off-site runoff by building the berm. You want the water to run towards the 5-8 Club parking lot. Chairperson Fischer asked the applicant to address the commission. Planning Commission Minutes of 06-19-06 -16- Ms. Jill Skogheim, Director of Operations, JBJ Dining, Inc. speaking for the 5-8 Tavern & Grill, 2289 Minnehaha Avenue, Maplewood, addressed the commission. They are dealing with the parking issues and the issues of the fence and landscaping and are open to discussions. The neighbor to the east said evergreens were not desirable to him because of the sun and amount of daylight issues for his landscaping and plantings that he has invested in on his property. They want to stay within the code to have the buffer area between the commercial property and the residential homes. The parking lot has become inadequate to service the needs ofthe customers and it has had adverse affects on Minnehaha Avenue as well as with the flow of the parking lot itself and that is the reason for this request. In January 2005 the 5-8 Club purchased the residential home with the hope to resolve the parking issue in the near future. Ms. Skogheim said in March 2006 the 5-8 Club was prepared to move forward with this plan and met with the neighbors to discuss their concerns and made changes to the proposal based on the neighbor's comments. They are adding 20 parking spaces which mean they would be 13 parking spaces over the required number of parking spaces which will hopefully resolve the problems for the foreseeable future. The resulting improvements from this plan involve the water draining to the south eliminating runoff on the northeastern corner and they will be able to have adequate surface water storage with the expansion of the rainwater gardens on the south of the property. They will be able to add a snow storage area where they will be able to pile the snow so they don't have the issues with the fence being knocked over like they had in the past. As well as the eastern access will help with the internal circulation and the parking lot as well as the car movement on Minnehaha Avenue. This way there will not be cars making a left hand turn across the right hand turn lane. The landscaping is designed to enhance and improve the property as well as provide a buffer that is desirable for the neighbors' concerns of blocking the view of garages and allowing for sunlight for peoples gardens etc. She said they are willing to work with the city and the neighbors regarding the issues at hand. Mr. Gary Johnson, Anderson Engineering of Minnesota, LLC, 13605 151 Avenue North, Suite 100, Plymouth, addressed the commission. He said they recently made changes to the project plans that will enable them to meet the city requirement to infiltrate 1 inch of water from the parking lot surface and reduce the water runoff by 70% by running the drainage from the newly created impervious surface down to the south and into the proposed rainwater gardens. They are also adding some structures with sediment traps in them to the old structure to allow things to function better. From an engineering standpoint, they have addressed most of the staff concerns. Commissioner Trippler said he discussed this with Shann Finwall and asked if he is correct that they are looking at using a pervious surface versus an impervious surface for the expansion of the new parking lot? Mr. Johnson said at Shann Finwall's suggestion they discussed and investigated that. At first there was a concern whether they would have enough room for a conventional type infiltration trench and rainwater garden, then they looked at pervious pavers as well as pervious asphalt but didn't go that route. They decided it made more sense to expand on the southern end of the site which is a rock infiltration trench with a rainwater garden above it since there was one existing already. Commissioner Dierich said with homes you can only have a certain percentage of a pervious surface and a certain percentage that has to be impervious and she asked if there was a restriction like that for commercial properties? Planning Commission Minutes of 06-19-06 -17- Mr. Roberts said that requirement is only applicable if the property is in a shoreland district. Chairperson Fischer asked if anyone else wanted to speak regarding this proposal. Mr. James Beardsley, 2311 Minnehaha Avenue, Maplewood, addressed the commission. He stated in his letter that he sent to the city that he is opposed to this proposal because of creeping commercialism. This is a serviceable single family house, at a reasonable price, and the 5-8 Club is bulldozing the house to build a parking lot. He said he doesn't find that to be philosophically or environmentally correct. Knowing this is probably going to take place anyway, he would like to see the fence moved away from the lot line at least 10 feet. The reason for this is he has an extensive garden that runs from the front of the yard 300 feet to the back of the yard and 150 feet of this would be affected at a cost to him of $4,000-$5,000 just in plant materials not including labor. He believes the 10-foot setback for the fence would allow good air circulation and good light so that the plants that are photosensitive would grow. He said he would have less of a problem with diseases on some of the very sensitive plants he has in that area. Even though he would accept the 10 foot fence setback he still opposes this project. Ms. Kathy Sorenson, 2302 Stillwater Road, Maplewood, addressed the commission. She said the way the land lays the runoff runs down into her yard and she is concerned about this. She wondered if that area could be leveled out so she doesn't get all the runoff onto her property. The fence that is there now has not been maintained and she has doubts that the 5-8 Club will maintain the new fence either. Trucks have already gone through the fence. This proposal will affect her gardens as well but nothing like this will affect Jim Beardsley's gardens. Right now she has an existing chain link fence and her understanding is the 5-8 Club plans to match the fence up to what is there already which puts that less than 2 feet away. She is not sure how this is going to be done with her fence there or if the 5-8 Club plans on taking her fence down. There are also trees along that back line that have never been cut down all the way. Her main concerns are the 5-8 Club maintaining the rear property, the fence and the water runoff onto her property. Ms. Skogheim said they are amenable to moving the fence 10 feet but the trade off is what they can do with the landscaping. They are willing to do what ever the city feels is best for the 5-8 Club to do. Regarding the chain link fence, they are willing to work those details out with the neighbors. Commissioner Pearson asked if they planned to put up a new fence? Ms. Skogheim said they are going to put up a completely new fence. She is working with two fence companies for the possibility of a PVC fence or a chain link fence that is 90% opaque. Commissioner Pearson asked if they would be amenable to loading snow up and removing it off the site after heavy snowfalls because trying to push a large area of snow from the parking lot into a small area isn't going to work. Ms. Skogheim said the other place for the snow to go is in the 10 feet between the fence to the east and their property. Commissioner Pearson said if you start piling the snow up against the fence you are going to have the same problem the neighbors are complaining about now and the 5-8 Club's track record of maintaining the fence has not been good. Planning Commission Minutes of 06-19-06 -18- Ms. Skogheim said she is aware of one concern regarding the fence which they did respond to as a local small business. They want to fit into the community and want to work to resolve the concerns of the neighbors and their desires as well as the desires of the 5-8 Club. The 5-8 Club wants to be a good neighbor. Commissioner Grover asked if the runoff would be improved or not that goes onto the neighbors' property to the north? Ms. Laberee said currently the drainage flows to the northeast corner of the residential property where the parking lot is proposed. The parking lot will have curb and gutters so the runoff will stay within the parking lot and the off-site drainage will be considerably reduced from what it is now. The water from the parking lot will drain into the rainwater gardens. Commissioner Dierich said this building is not the most attractive and now they are adding this really large parking lot which has no greenery. She asked if any thought had been given to planting landscaping in the dead spaces such as in parking spaces 33 & 34 and in the median between spaces 36 & 35, and possibly planting trees at the end of spaces 67 & 54 where the lights are to break up the expanse of the asphalt? Mr. Roberts said in looking at attachment 7, page 15 in the staff report, it shows landscaping planned for the site. He thinks the two striped areas on the corners of the plan are intended for snow storage and those areas would not have to be paved but he wouldn't want to plant landscaping there and have it get buried by the snow but that could be an opportunity for additional greenery on the site. He will pass that information onto Shann Finwall but that is something the CDRB will be reviewing as well. Commissioner Dierich said if the fence is going to be moved there should be a condition added to ensure the rear area of the property is addressed and that it doesn't become a dead zone where nobody takes responsibility for it. Chairperson Fischer closed the public hearing. Commissioner Pearson asked Ms. Laberee if she felt comfortable allowing the applicant to have snow piled up on the site by the fence or should a condition be added requiring the snow to be loaded and hauled away? Ms. Laberee said if the snow is pushed up against the fence it's going to be a problem because when the snow melts it will run onto the neighbor's property causing more problems. The snow needs to be contained in the parking lot. Commissioner Pearson said if the drive aisles are going to be narrower would it make any sense to angle the parking spaces? Mr. Roberts said the project engineer can take a look at that but you tend to lose spaces when you angle the parking spaces. Commissioner Pearson said if the parking spaces are too narrow it makes it difficult to back out. Planning Commission Minutes of 06-19-06 -19- Ms. Laberee said she and Shann Finwall looked into that and found the parking stalls were adequate to back into. Commissioner Trippler moved to adopt the comprehensive land use plan amendment resolution attached in the staff report. This resolution changes the comprehensive land use plan from single dwelling residential (R-1) to business commercial (modified) (BC-M) for the expansion of the 5-8 Tavern and Grill parking lot onto an existing single-family lot at 2303 Minnehaha Avenue. The city is making this change because: a. The expansion of the parking lot will supply adequate off-street parking and loading facilities for the site. b. The parking lot will be designed in the best manner to avoid disruption of adjacent or nearby residential areas including locating the parking lot 20 feet from the residential property to the east and installing a 6-foot high privacy fence along all shared residential property lines. Commissioner Trippler moved to adopt the rezoning resolution in the staff report. This resolution changes the zoning map from single dwelling residential (R-1) to business commercial (modified) (BC-M) for the expansion of the 5-8 Tavern and Grill parking lot onto an existing single-family lot at 2303 Minnehaha Avenue. The city is making this change because: a. The change is consistent with the spirit, purpose and intent of the zoning code. b. The proposed change will not substantially injure or detract from the use of neighboring property or from the character of the neighborhood, and that the use of the property adjacent to the area included in the proposed change or plan is adequately safeguarded. c. The proposed change will serve the best interests and conveniences ofthe community, where applicable, and the public welfare. d. The proposed change would have no negative effect upon the logical, efficient, and economical extension of public services and facilities, such as public water, sewers, police and fire protection and schools. e. The proposed change is supported by a majority of the neighbors surveyed. f. The applicant is proposing to use the property in question for a commercial parking lot and not for residential purposes. Commissioner Trippler moved to adopt the conditional use permit resolution in the staff report. This resolution approves two conditional use permits for the 5-8 Tavern and Grill at 2289 and 2303 Minnehaha Avenue including: a. A conditional use permit to allow the expansion of a restaurant within the business commercial (modified) (BC-M) zoning district. b. A conditional use permit for the expansion of a nonconforming parking lot (20-foot setback from residential property required, 5-foot setback proposed). Planning Commission Minutes of 06-19-06 -20- Approval is based on the findings required by the code and subject to the following: (added conditions are underlined.) a. Construction of the 5-8 Tavern and Grill and parking lot shall follow the site plan approved by the city. The director of community development may approve minor changes. b. The parking lot expansion shall comply with all city engineering requirements as defined in the June 9, 2006, engineering review. c. The proposed parking lot expansion must be substantially started within one year of council approval or the permit shall become null and void. The city council may extend this deadline for one year. d. The city council shall review this permit in one year. e. Snow shall be removed from the parkinq lot and hauled off site as necessary. f. The east fence shall be moved in 10 feet from the property line. Commissioner Pearson seconded. Ayes - Desai, Dierich, Fischer, Grover, Hess, Kaczrowski, Pearson Abstention - Trippler The motion passed. This item goes to the city council on July 10, 2006. Commissioner Pearson strongly recommends that the CDRB take a look at the east wall and sufficient screening for some type of treatment for noise reduction in consideration of the single family homes in the area. Commissioner Trippler abstained due to a possible conflict of interest as he is serving on the Environmental Committee with James Beardsley, 2311 Minnehaha Avenue, the neighbor who spoke against this proposal. VI. NEW BUSINESS None. VII. UNFINISHED BUSINESS None. VIII. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS None. Planning Commission Minutes of 06-19-06 -21- IX. COMMISSION PRESENTATIONS a. Ms. Dierich was the planning commission representative at the June 12, 2006, city council meeting held at the Carver Elementary School on Upper Afton Road. The city council discussed the EAW for Carver Crossing of Maplewood which was tabled after a 2 hour discussion. The city council also discussed Comforts of Home assisted living facility at 2300/2310 Hazelwood Street for a CUP and PUD which was passed by the city council. She mentioned there was a tour with the Parks Department this evening that she believed the planning commission would have enjoyed participating in. b. Mr. Kaczrowski will be the planning commission representative at the June 26, 2006, city council meeting. The city council will be discussing the Eldridge fields Right-of-Way vacation and preliminary plat (west of Prosperity Avenue) for five single-family homes. They will also be discussing the noise concerns for the Pioneer Press building at 1616 Gervais Avenue. c. Ms. Fischer will be the planning commission representative at the July 10, 2006, city council meeting. The city council will be discussing Liberty Classical Academy, 2696 Hazelwood Street, for the CUP Revision, Legacy Village Townhomes, County Road 0 and Kennard Street for the Comprehensive Plan Amendment, PUD Revision, and Preliminary Plat, the 5-8 Club Expansion at 2289 Minnehaha Avenue for the Comprehensive Plan Amendment, Zoning Map Change and the CUP revision. d. Mr. Grover will be the planning commission representative at the July 24, 2006, city council meeting. It is unknown at this time what items will be discussed. X. STAFF PRESENTATIONS The Planning Commission voted and decided to reschedule the Monday, July 3, 2006, Planning Commission Meeting to Thursday, July 6, 2006. Annual Tour Update (Monday, July 31, 2006) Mr. Roberts asked the planning commission who would be attending the annual tour and everyone in attendance said they would be coming. XI. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 9:16 p.m.