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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/06/2006 MAPLEWOOD PLANNING COMMISSION Monday, November 6, 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. October 2, 2006 5. Public Hearings 7:00 Saint Paul Regional Water Services Sandy Lake Site (County Road B - West of I - 35E) Conditional Use Permit 6. New Business None 7. Unfinished Business None 9. Visitor Presentations 10. Commission Presentations October 9 Council Meeting: Mr. Yarwood October 23 Council Meeting: Mr. Roberts November 13 Council Meeting: Ms. Dierich November 27 Council Meeting: Ms. Fischer 11. Staff Presentations Reschedule December 4 Meeting - Tuesday December 5 or Wednesday December 6? 12. Adjoumment MINUTES OF THE MAPLEWOOD PLANNING COMMISSION 1830 COUNTY ROAD BEAST, MAPLEWOOD, MINNESOTA MONDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2006 I. CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Fischer called the meeting to order at 7:28 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 Absent Present Present Present Tom Ekstrand, Senior Planner Ken Roberts, Planner Lisa Kroll, Recording Secretary Staff Present: III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Commissioner Pearson moved to approve the agenda. Commissioner Hess seconded. The motion passed. IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Ayes - Desai, Dierich, Fischer, Grover, Hess, Pearson, Trippler, Yarwood Approval of the planning commission minutes for October 2, 2006. Chairperson Fischer had a correction on page 7, third paragraph, change peace meal to piece meal. Commissioner Trippler moved to approve the planning commission minutes for October 2,2006, as amended. Commissioner Desai seconded. Ayes - Desai, Fischer, Hess, Pearson, Trippler, Yarwood Abstentions - Dierich, Grover Planning Commission Minutes of 11-06-06 -2- V. PUBLIC HEARING (7:30 - 8:03 p.m.) a. Saint Paul Regional Water Services Sandy Lake Site (County Road B - West of 1-35E) Mr. Ekstrand said John Blackstone, of the St. Paul Regional Water Services (SPRWS), is requesting that the city council allow the continued operation of a recycle-materials storage operation. Currently, the applicant is using this property, the Sandy Lake site, as a place to deposit dirt, concrete and bituminous rubble that accumulates after the SPRWS repairs water- main breaks. Mr. Blackstone has explained that they have been doing this already, but he would like approval to be allowed to periodically crush this material, or recycle it, for use later in restoring the ground after water-main breaks. The crushed materials would be stored on site in a row of concrete-walled bins which would hold sand, c1ass-V gravel mix, other gravel, lime grit and cold asphalt mix. These bins would be the only items constructed on the site. The bins would measure 20 feet wide, 30 feet deep and six feet tall. The water conduits from Lake Vadnais are on this site. The site is currently being capped and native grasses will be planted on over two thirds of the open space. They do not anticipate increased generation of traffic. Construction activities including the material crushing will be conducted during normal business hours. Crushing would occur once every year or two. There are approximately 150 water main breaks in their system per year. If a main break occurs at night or on the weekend, they need to restore residential water immediately to continue to serve residents. Commissioner Trippler said in the CUP project summary on page 12, in number 5, second paragraph, in the last sentence it states all SPRWS vehicles will be directed to enter the facility from the west (Rice Street). Based on the map staff included in the packet that didn't make sense because Rice Street wasn't represented on the map. Mr. Ekstrand said Commissioner Trippler is correct. Rice Street is not represented on the map but County Road B is labeled on the map. As you leave the property and take a left that would take you directly to Rice Street. Mr. Roberts said he thinks Mr. Ekstrand is trying to say rather than having the traffic approach the site from the east from 35E or from McMenemy Street, all traffic would be coming to and from the site from Rice Street. Commissioner Trippler said if people would drive up to Rice Street and tum on to County Road B and enter the facility then are you asking for a driveway on County Road B? Mr. Roberts said there is already a driveway located there. Commissioner Trippler said in condition number 6 of the staff recommendations the condition states when dust becomes a problem, "who" defines or decides when dust becomes a problem and something needs to be done about it? Mr. Ekstrand said staff would determine if dust is a problem. If city staff received complaints by telephone staff would act on that as well. Otherwise staff would assume dust would not be a problem at the site. Commissioner Trippler asked if staff would be agreeable to striking the beginning of condition number 6 when dust becomes a problem? Planning Commission Minutes of 11-06-06 -3- Mr. Ekstrand said that's fine. Commissioner Trippler said SPRWS wants the site to be available 24/7 incase of an emergency, but in terms of using the crushing operation, that would be used for a limited time. He would feel more comfortable if it limited the hours of operation because of potential noise and other issues for the neighbors so the crushing operation would not be done in the middle of the night or on a Sunday afternoon for example. He would recommend limiting the crushing operation hours from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 8:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. on Saturday. Mr. Roberts said if the commission wanted to include that it could be added to condition number 5. Commissioner Pearson said the staff report did not include "where" the crushing operation would be located on the site in relation to the homes in the area. He asked what the setback was in terms of noise for the residents in the area? Mr. Ekstand said that is not identified in the staff report and Mr. Blackstone can address that question when he has the opportunity to speak. However, you can see where the materials are being stockpiled right now if you visited the site and staff assumed that is where the operation would occur. Commissioner Pearson said he noticed that and he thought that would be about 200 feet from the homes. Noise could be a problem if it would be closer than that. Chairperson Fischer asked the applicant to address the commission. Mr. John Blackstone, SPRWS at 1900 Rice Street, Maplewood, addressed the commission. He said the location of the crushing operation would be located on the northeast side of the site which would be as far away from the residential area as they can get. The crushing would be contracted out with companies such as Semple Excavating who has done work for the City of Maplewood. The crushing would be done during the work week during normal business hours. Any work done in the evening or weekends would be very costly and charged as overtime. Chairperson Fischer asked the applicant if he had any problems with the conditions listed in the staff report? Mr. Blackstone said no. Chairperson Fischer asked if anyone in the audience wanted to speak regarding this item to come forward. Mr. Thomas Peck, 120 County Road BEast, Maplewood, addressed the commission. He said his main concern is the standing water in his yard. He said when SPRWS started modifying the terrain in the 1990's his backyard has been getting flooded every spring. He asked if they would continue pumping the water out like they have for the last six years with a six-inch diesel pump to remove the water out of his yard. Planning Commission Minutes of 11-06-06 -4- Mr. Blackstone said SPRWS started depositing lime sludge in the Sandy Lake area in the late 1930's and early 1940's and over time the levies were built. The plan now is that this area is raised with a 1 % slope down in the southwest direction. That was an agreement worked out between the City of Maplewood, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, and the Watershed District. The city and the Watershed District preferred the water to sit on the land as long as possible and the MPCA "didn't" want the water to sit on the land because they didn't want it to infiltrate. Then the three entities agreed there on a 1 % slope planted with native grasses. The water will run through the ponds and go into Trout Brook. The grading permit would be issued by the city and this would be an agreement between the City of Maplewood and the Watershed District and the MPCA. Mr. Peck said he wanted some assurance that the SPRWS will continue to use the service road. If the flooding continues to be a problem it is easy to raise the road. If SPRWS is going to continue to drain water off his property which happens once or twice in the spring, than he is fine with that. If another situation happens then he will have a problem with that and complain. Mr. Blackstone said he didn't think there were any other plans to change the operation at this time. He said Mr. Peck's concerns were noted. Mr. Peck said if the city wants him to call every time dust is a problem from this site then he will do so. He said if he washes his truck in the morning by afternoon his truck is so dusty he can write his name in the dust on his truck. He said he deals with it because he knows he could have worse neighbors than SPRWS and so far they have been okay to work with. Mr. Will Rossbach, Maplewood city council member addressed the commission. He said he is here to speak in the role of a water board commissioner, the group that regulates this utility. He said he was fortunate enough to get a tour of the SPRWS facility about a month ago and part of the tour was for the Sandy Lake area. Not too long ago a proposal for soccer fields was approved but has since been eliminated. The lime pits are difficult to project what exactly will happen with the dirt when you put it into the pit. The concept to have soccer fields requires a flat playing field and due to the unsettling nature of the soil the concept to have soccer fields was ruled out. We are all trying to do things together to reduce costs and be more efficient and this is a good example of working well together. It's less expensive for the utility company to do things this way and less expensive compared to having the work done off site and is less efficient. The rumor is that the capping of the lime fields will be done on a much quicker schedule than originally anticipated. Staff had said it would take a year or so and now Frattalone Excavating is working on a project where they will have a very large quantity of soil to get rid of. Frattalone Excavating is willing to charge the utility company basically nothing to cap the rest of the lime field and this may get done yet this year. When the hauling of the dirt is done the traffic should be diminished significantly because most of the trucks that go to the site are bringing in fill to dump. The dumping process had stopped at one time because the utility company ran out of money. It's always a good thing when the city can take something someone else doesn't want which helps both parties involved. Mr. Blackstone invited the planning commissioners and staff to call and schedule a tour of the SPRWS facility. He said SPRWS wants to be a good neighbor to the city and think it is an interesting tour for people to see what we do here and how things operate. Chairperson Fischer closed the public hearing. Planning Commission Minutes of 11-06-06 -5- Commissioner Pearson moved to adopt the resolution approving a conditional use permit for the St. Paul Regional Water Services proposed material-storage and crushing/recycling operation on the Sandy Lake site south of County Road B. Approval is based on the findings required by ordinance and subject to the following conditions: (Additions to the conditions are underlined and deletions are stricken.) 1. The applicant shall comply with the site plan date-stamped October 6,2006. All construction shall follow that approved site plan. The director of community development may approve minor changes. 2. The construction of the bins and paving of the driveway apron must be substantially started within two years of council approval or the permit shall become null and void. 3. The city council shall review this permit in one year. If the applicant has not substantially started this project by that time, the city council may renew this permit. 4. The applicant shall submit a detailed plan for the approval of the city engineer and the Capitol Regions Watershed District showing how they will prevent any erosion and sediment from leaving the site. This plan shall also include the restoration of the riprapped areas of the slope down to the pond and detail the construction of a paved driveway apron from County Road B back 50 feet into the site along both branches of the driveway. 5. The annual materials-crushing operation shall be reviewed by staff after the first time to evaluate whether there were any problems or nuisances caused by this activity. The city council may prohibit any subsequent crushing activity if problems and complaints occur. The hours of operation for the crushino shall operate between the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Mondav throuoh Fridav. 6. When dust becomes 0 problem, The applicant must keep the site watered to control the dust. Commissioner Trippler seconded. Ayes - Desai, Dierich, Fischer, Grover, Hess, Pearson, Trippler, Yarwood This motion passed. This item goes to the city council on November 27,2006. VI. NEW BUSINESS None. VII. UNFINISHED BUSINESS None. VIII. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS None. Planning Commission Minutes of 11-06-06 -6- IX. COMMISSION PRESENTATIONS a. There were no planning commission items to discuss at the October 9, 2006, city council meeting; therefore, Mr. Yarwood did not need to attend the meeting. Mr. Roberts reported on the city council meeting. He said the first discussion regarding the south Maplewood moratorium took place. The city council requested additional discussion be added to the next city council meeting to discuss it further. b. Mr. Roberts reported on the October 23, 2006, city council meeting. The city council heard the first reading of the south Maplewood moratorium which would include properties south of Carver Avenue along with both sides of the freeway for properties zoned R-1 (R) and F (Farm). The second reading will be on Monday, November 13, 2006. The council also approved the preliminary platforthe Legacytownhomes on the northwest corner of Legacy Village. The city council adopted a resolution to keep options open for TIF financing for the Gladstone area. Various task forces have been working on the property at Highway 5 and Highway 120 regarding the possibly development of that property. The city council authorized staff to proceed with the former Marshlands property proposal which would involve wetland restoration, wetland credits, marshlands and possibly an environmental classroom setting. City councilmember Will Rossbach updated the planning commission on the Gladstone Redevelopment Area. He said the city council took the task force master plan along with its goals and directives and edited them inserting the city council's wording and kept it in the same format. Then staff took that information to come up with a partial new layout. This will be worked on again at a workshop Monday, November 13, 2006, at 4:00 p.m. When the city council is done with the final plan it will be available for the public to view on the internet or by coming to the city hall to get a copy of it. c. Ms. Dierich will be the planning commission representative at the November 13, 2006, city council meeting. Items to discuss include the second reading of the south Maplewood moratorium ordinance and a public hearing for the closing of the St. Paul Tourist Cabins and manufactured home park. A developer has been working with the residents and slowly moving them out of the park. A state law requires the city hold a public hearing when a manufactured home park is being closed. d. Ms. Fischer will be the planning commission representative at the November 27,2006, city council meeting. The only planning commission item to discuss is the CUP for Sandy Lake for the materials storage and recycling for the SPRWS. Planning Commission Minutes of 11-06-06 -7- e. Lorraine Fischer spoke regarding the Livable Communities Grant proposal. Chairperson Fischer read a notice that stated on November 3,2006, the Livable Communities Advisory Committee completed its evaluation of the 2006 Livable Communities Demonstration Account grant proposals and determined the proposals it will recommend for funding. The committee decided to recommend ten proposals for funding, of the 17 remaining under consideration. The application forthe Gladstone Neighborhood project has been recommended by the committee to receive $1,800,000. The advisory committee's recommendation will be presented to the Council's Community Development Committee (CDC) on Monday, November 20, 2006; at 4 p.m. CDC action is scheduled for Monday, December 4,2006, with Met Council action on the grant awards expected on Wednesday, December 13, 2006. X. STAFF PRESENTATIONS Due to a budget hearing in the city council chambers on Monday, December 4, 2006, we need to reschedule the meeting to either Tuesday, December 5, or Wednesday, December 6, 2006. The majority of the commissioners are able to attend the planning commission meeting on Tuesday, December 5, 2006. XI. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 8:23 p.m.