Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/18/2005 MAPLEWOOD PLANNING COMMISSION Monday, April 18, 2005, 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. April 4, 2005 5. Public Hearings 7:00 3M Building #278 - Leadership Development Institute and Customer Center (Minnehaha Avenue) Right-of-Way Vacations Utility Easement Vacation Conditional Use Permit 7:20 Conditional Use Permit (CUP) Revision - Home Depot (2360 White Bear Avenue) 6. New Business Resolutions of Appreciation - Jeff Bartol and Daniel Lee 7. Unfinished Business None 8. Visitor Presentations 9. Commission Presentations April 11 Council Meeting: Mr. Desai April 25 Council Meeting: Mr. Ahlness May 9 Council Meeting: ?? (was to be Mr. Bartol) 10. Staff Presentations 11. Adjournment MINUTES OF THE MAPLEWOOD PLANNING COMMISSION 1830 COUNTY ROAD BEAST, MAPLEWOOD, MINNESOTA MONDAY, APRIL 18,2005 I. CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Fischer called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. II. ROLL CALL Commissioner Eric Ahlness Vice-Chairperson Tushar Desai Commissioner Mary Dierich Chairperson Lorraine Fischer Commissioner Michael Grover Commissioner Jim Kaczrowski Commissioner Gary Pearson Commissioner Dale Trippler Commissioner Jeremy Yarwood Staff Present: Absent Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Ken Roberts, Planner Lisa Kroll, Recording Secretary Erin Laberee, Staff Engineer III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Commissioner Desai moved to approve the agenda. Commissioner Trippler seconded. The motion passed. IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Ayes - Desai, Dierich, Fischer, Grover, Kaczrowski, Pearson, Trippler, Yarwood Approval of the planning commission minutes for April 4, 2005. Commissioner Trippler moved to approve the planning commission minutes for April 4, 2005. Commissioner Pearson seconded. Ayes - Desai, Fischer, Pearson, Trippler Abstention - Dierich, Grover, Kaczrowski, Yarwood Planning Commission Minutes of 04-18-05 -2- V. PUBLIC HEARING a. 3M Building 278 - Leadership Development Institute and Customer Center (2350 Minnehaha Avenue East) (7:03 - 8:07 p.m.) Right of way Vacations, Utility Easement Vacation, Conditional Use Permit Mr. Roberts said 3M proposes to construct an 83,000-square-foot building to house a new leadership development institute and a customer center. The leadership development institute will consist of two conference centers created for leadership training. The customer center will consist of exhibition space and will serve as a marketing function for current and future 3M customers. The building will be constructed on vacant 3M Campus property located south of Minnehaha Avenue, just east of Wells Fargo Bank. Commissioner Pearson asked iflhere had been any further discussion regarding the 4" sanitary service connection being undersized? Ms. Laberee's microphone wasn't working, so we couldn't hear her response to the question. Mr. Roberts said it's up to 3M to verify if the 4" sanitary service connection is adequate or not, and if it isn't, 3M would have to change the plans. Commissioner Trippler asked if the city was asking 3M to install another right turn lane off Minnehaha Avenue and if it's a right-turn in could there be a no left-turn out restriction? Mr. Roberts said he was referring to the turn lanes where the shoulder would be widened so the cars would be directed out of the line of traffic. Mr. Roberts didn't believe a proposal was made to restrict left turns, but that is something the city would like to see in the traffic study. Commissioner Dierich asked if there were any future plans to widen Minnehaha Avenue for additional vehicle traffic, and if so, in order to increase the road width would the property width come from the 3M property or the residents across the street? Mr. Roberts said that would not be a decision made by the city, it would be a county decision, but his guess would be the county would try to get as much property from 3M since that would be an easier solution compared to trying to obtain property from the residential side of the road. However, Dan Solar with Ramsey County did not indicate a need to widen the road at this point, and he believed the turn lanes would help the traffic flow. Commissioner Trippler said there is a 350-foot setback from commercial to residential and he understands it is 325 feet to the center of the road which means there is no residential structure within 350 feet. Mr. Roberts said correct. The 325 feet is measured to the center line of Minnehaha Avenue along with 30 feet of right-of-way and a 20 or 30 foot setback for the homes from the right-of-way, so the closest home might be 375 to 380 feet away. Chairperson Fischer asked the applicant to address the commission. Planning Commission Minutes of 04-18-05 -3- Mr. Dean Hedlund, Project Manager for 3M, addressed the commission. Mr. Hedlund had no questions or comments for the commission. Planning Commissioners did not have any questions for the applicant, so the chair opened the public hearing discussion up to the neighbors. The followinq residents spoke reqardinq the 3M Buildinq 278 proposal. Ms. Peaav Auchter. 2375 Minnehaha Avenue. addressed the commission. Ms. Auchter was upset that the map that was mailed out to the residents in the area was very different from the map that was presented tonight. Her map shows the development would be about a block long, and in reality, it will be three blocks long. Most of the people in the community are not aware of the size of this development so they did not bother to come tonight. This is very deceitful and she is not happy with receiving incorrect information. Secondly, she said she has a culvert in her yard and she lives across the street from this proposal. The foundation for her home was built about ten years ago when the home was moved there. The home was flooded out and the city put the culvert there to help with the drainage there. She purchased the home after the fact. She wants 3M to guarantee that her home and yard is not going to flood. 3M is changing the structure and she is concerned where all the water is going to run off. When she brought this fact to Shann Finwall's attention, Shann said she didn't know there was a culvert in her front yard. Ms. Finwall called her back indicating that she had verified with the city's engineering department that the culvert wouldn't be disturbed. However, not disturbing the culvert and putting up four foot berm doesn't guarantee water runoff onto her property, and that is her first concern. Her second concern is the traffic. She said that Dan Solar of Ramsey County said that Minnehaha Avenue is due for expansion. Between Carlton Avenue and Highway 120 there are 11,000 vehicle trips per day. From Minnehaha Avenue to Carlton Avenue, there are 8,000 vehicle trips per day. That is an additional 3,000 cars a day from 3M, and to her that is massive traffic. They are talking about widening the street and putting in a third lane. You have to deal with Ramsey and Washington County as well as the cities of Maplewood and Oakdale to expand the road at the intersection at Century Avenue. Construction to that area is not going to happen for five to ten years, so putting additional traffic on these streets is definitely going to cause additional concern. Ms. Auchter said she is also concerned about the pond and the pond 3M is going to fill in. She asked if this was a protected wetland, and she was told it is but she was told 3M was going to do a two-for-one exchange for the pond. Ms. Auchter asked if the wild animals know this pond is going to be filled in, are the wild animals going to know where to go when the pond is filled in. Also, how much of the pond is going to be filled in, nobody is answering that. Regarding the trees. Ms. Auchter said a block away is four acres of land called Cahanes Estates where all of the trees were to remain on the outside perimeter, but they wiped out four acres of trees and the property has been sitting vacant for over a year. 3M is wiping out trees and replacing those trees with 92 new trees. She understands 3M has the right to develop their property, however, the residents have a right to be protected and it's the City of Maplewood's job to protect the residents. Planning Commission Minutes of 04-18-05 -4- Ms. Auchter said the law states you can't build within 350 feet. Why is 3M being allowed a 25- foot variance? She said 3M should make the building smaller then. Ms. Auchter said there are no sidewalks along Minnehaha Avenue. This doesn't mean there aren't any pedestrians in the area. People that catch the city bus have to walk to McKnight Road, and many school children catch the bus on Minnehaha Avenue. There are many traffic issues in this area. Putting up a four-foot berm doesn't stop headlights from shining into people's homes. Mr. Roberts said regarding the 350 foot rule, the code says if a building is proposed within 350 feet it requires a conditional use permit; it doesn't say you can't do it. It means it requires an extra layer of review, and that is what the planning commission is doing tonight. 3M could propose to build 30 feet off Minnehaha Avenue and it requires the same review. 3M has chosen to move the building as far back as possible to try to minimize the impact on the street and on the neighbors. Mr. Roberts showed the pond on the map that is going to be filled in as well as where the new ponds would be located. This plan has to be approved by the watershed district which has not been completed yet. Regarding the traffic, Ms. Auchter had more information than staff did by having the conversation with Dan Solar. The city wants the traffic study done to verify if there are other improvements that would be needed because of this development. The city isn't saying there wouldn't be headlights shining into people's homes. A four-foot berm would help with lights shining into the homes, but it wouldn't eliminate lights shining in the homes altogether. The landscaping will be reviewed by the CDRB on Tuesday, April 26, at their meeting at 6:00 p.m. The city inspectors would make sure the drainage is done correctly to ensure the runoff drains correctly. Commissioner Dierich asked if there was some reason the city couldn't require that the west entrance be an "in" only and the east entrance be an "out" only to help with the headlights and the traffic flow? Mr. Roberts said that is a possibility, however, with left turns it may be good to have them spread out so they are not all at one location. That is another thing the traffic study would tell the city as well. Ms. Flo Clark. 2383 Minnehaha Avenue East. addressed the commission. Ms. Clark said she agrees with the comments made by Ms. Auchter. She is one of the pedestrians that has to walk on Minnehaha Avenue to catch the bus and has almost been hit by a car more than once already. This area is a real hazard, and many times trying to drive east on Minnehaha Avenue can take more than five minutes to make a turn. Ms. Clark said she also telephoned Dan Solar several times before getting a hold of him. Mr. Solar told her in the next ten years there is a possibility that Minnehaha Avenue could look like 10th Street in Oakdale with a turn lane in the center of the road. Planning Commission Minutes of 04-18-05 -5- Ms. Clark wondered whose property Ramsey County would take from, the residential side or 3M's side of the property. If Ramsey County were to put the turn lanes would Ramsey County tear up the new parking lot and driveways up to widen the road to install a center turn lane or would they take property from the residential side of the street. Ms. Clark said if the traffic continues the way it is, the road will need to be altered sooner than ten years from now. She believes the city should send out a new mailing letting the residents know about this development with the new plans and how this development will affect their neighborhood because the mailing they received was incorrect and deceiving. Chairperson Fischer asked what happened with the mailing the residents received and why they received incorrect information? Mr. Roberts said Ms. Finwall did the review for this proposal, and from his understanding, staff received some preliminary plans which were included in the mailing and things changed between the mailing and the time of tonight's meeting. He will pass the information onto Ms. Finwall and maybe a new mailing can be sent out. Ms. Kathie Baldwin. 765 Mever Street. addressed the commission. Ms. Baldwin wondered why 3M cannot use McKnight Road rather than Minnehaha Avenue to access the property? She also asked how tall this proposed building would be? Mr. Roberts said currently there is no connection to the 3M facility from McKnight Road, and that is why 3M has to access the property from Minnehaha Avenue. Mr. Hedlund said the building is two stories at the tallest point. The two-story portion of the building is built into the hill. So it appears to be a one-story building, but the height is about 20 feet tall. Mr. Jim Beardslev. 2311 Minnehaha Avenue East. addressed the commission. Mr. Beardsley has concerns about the traffic pattern. The traffic discussion has been about right turn lanes, but people turn left off of Minnehaha Avenue from Oakdale which is where a large portion of traffic comes from. He has concerns about the landscaping and would like evergreen trees planted on the north side by the loading dock because that area will look into his house. He wondered why you couldn't put in a connection off McKnight Road through the Wells Fargo bank parking lot to access the property rather than having the entrance and exit on Minnehaha Avenue. He also asked when the traffic analysis was to be done? Mr. Roberts said the landscaping plan will be discussed at the CDRB meeting next Tuesday, April 26,2005, at 6:00 p.m. during their review of this proposal. Regarding the traffic concerns, after the traffic study is complete there will be a lot more questions answered regarding what is and isn't possible. The recommendation requires that the traffic analysis be done before a building permit is issued. Commissioner Grover said he understood 3M may propose to build a 20-unit residential facility in the future to house out-of-town guests attending the leadership development institute by the Wells Fargo bank site, so that sounds like access from McKnight Road wouldn't be a possibility. Planning Commission Minutes of 04-18-05 -6- Mr. Roberts said that's what 3M told city staff, but there have been no plans presented to the city yet. Mr. Hedlund said this facility will have fewer cars than a normal building this size and that is why 3M is asking for a parking reduction. A building this size would require 415 parking spaces, and they are proposing 286 parking spaces, which speaks to how little traffic they expect. Half of this facility replaces the existing Leadership Development Institute that is located on Carlton Street. The parking studies from that facility show on an average day they have 70 cars. They expect that number to go up some. The other half of the facility is a customer center that is an invited experience. The visitors to this customer center are CEOs and CFOs from other areas that are coming from major corporations around the world to this Leadership Development Institute. Mr. Hedlund said the CEOs may be flown in on the 3M company jet and driven in a limousine to the facility, so this wouldn't be the kind of thing where visitors rent a car and go on Map Quest to get directions to the facility. 3M wants to control the experience of its visitors so it's a managed experience. There may be one to two visits with 12-to-20 people a day. They expect few deliveries. This facility will have a warming kitchen, so there will be food deliveries from vendors once or twice a day. The traffic impact is minimal. 3M is spending more money on this building compared to what they typically spend on other 3M buildings because of the Leadership Development Institute. This leadership building is designed to take top leaders from around the world and train them in leadership. The building is not for the average 3M employee. Mr. Hedlund said he anticipates they would have a grand opening for this building. He's not sure there would be an open house for the general public. He understands 3M is planning a board meeting in this new facility, so that puts the pressure on everyone to get this building completed. Commissioner Trippler asked why a sidewalk had not been proposed for this area? He thought the city was trying to get all new developments to build sidewalks in their proposals. Mr. Roberts said there are no sidewalks proposed for this area. This is something the county engineers would need to review, but it's a good idea. There currently is no sidewalk on either side of the street on Minnehaha Avenue. Mr. Rick Auchter. 2375 Minnehaha Avenue East. addressed the commission. Mr. Auchter said he is here to speak for the animals because they can't speak for themselves. They have great-horned owls in their trees in their backyard, they get deer, frogs, and when they look out their window, they see a building, and on the other side they consider they have a lake view. There are ducks that land in the pond, whooping cranes and other birds have a route that they take before they drop down into the pond. This building will affect the wildlife, and he wants people to be aware that there is wildlife in the area. Chairperson Fischer closed the public hearing. Commissioner Trippler moved to approve the conditional use permit resolution. This resolution approves a conditional use permit for a building to be constructed closer than 350 feet to a residential zoning district within a light-manufacturing zoning district. The building will be constructed within 325 feet of a residential zoning district on the vacant 3M Campus property located south of Minnehaha Avenue, east of the Wells Fargo Bank (670 McKnight Road). Approval is subject to the following conditions: (the addition to the original motion is underlined and in bold). Planning Commission Minutes of 04-18-05 -7- a. The city engineer shall approve final construction and engineering plans prior to issuance ofa grading permit. These plans shall comply with all requirements as specified in the city engineering report dated April 12, 2005, which requires, among other items, a traffic study to analyze trip generation for future and proposed development and the installation of two right- turn lanes. Consideration should be aiven to install a sidewalk or a trail alona Minnehaha Avenue for the safety of pedestrians. b. All construction shall follow the plans date-stamped March 18, 2005, with the revisions as required and approved by the city. The director of community development may approve minor changes. c. The proposed development must be started within one year after city council approval or the permit shall end. The city council may extend this deadline for one year. d. The proposed development must meet the requirements of the city building official, the city fire marshal and the Ramsey/Washington Metro Watershed District. e. The city council shall review this permit in one year. Approve the street vacation resolution. This resolution approves the vacation of two unused street right-of-ways located within the 3M Campus property (Meyer Avenue [north/south street right-of-way] and Margaret Street [east/west street right-of-way]). Approve the utility easement vacation resolution. This resolution approves the vacation of a portion of the existing utility easement located within the 3M Campus property. Approval is subject to the applicant dedicating a new utility easement to the City of Maplewood. The new easement must be 20 feet in width and describe the existing sanitary sewer alignment. The easement must be recorded with the county prior to issuance of a building permit. Commissioner Pearson seconded. Ayes - Desai, Dierich, Fischer, Grover, Kaczrowski, Pearson, Trippler Abstention - Yarwood Commissioner Dierich made a friendly amendment for 3M to install a sidewalk along Minnehaha Avenue. Commissioner Yarwood abstained from voting because he is a 3M employee. The motion passed. This item goes to the city council on May 9, 2005. b. Conditional Use Permit (CUP) Revision - Home Depot (2360 White Bear Avenue) (8:08-8:25 p.m.) Planning Commission Minutes of 04-18-05 -8- Mr. Roberts said Home Depot, located at 2360 White Bear Avenue, is requesting a conditional use permit (CUP) amendment to have additional exterior storage, display, sale and distribution of merchandise at their store. They now have a CUP for outside storage and display forthe outdoor garden center located on the north side of their store. Home Depot is requesting an amendment to their CUP for a permanent addition on the northwest side of the exterior garden center for additional outdoor storage of merchandise. They also requested an amendment to their CUP to have four other areas on the property for the outdoor storage, display, sale and distribution of merchandise. Commissioner Trippler said if the commission approves this CUP, there is going to be 172 less parking spaces than what the city would typically require for a building this size. He thinks this is unacceptable. Home Depot may not be experiencing a parking problem because people are parking in the lot at Petsmart or at Cub Foods and walking into Home Depot. Chairperson Fischer asked the applicant to address the commission. Mr. Gregg Barker, Store Manager for Home Depot at 2360 White Bear Avenue, Maplewood, addressed the commission. Amy Campbell, Coordinator at Home Depot, was also present but did not speak. Mr. Barker described the different storage areas and what they would like to do at the Home Depot store according to his memo on page 7 of the staff report. He said their busiest time of the year is the Memorial Day weekend. Because of the heavy traffic, Home Depot hires an off-duty police officer to direct traffic and keep things moving along. Home Depot has additional personnel on staff that weekend to handle the additional customers. Otherwise, Home Depot has enough parking for their customers' needs. On a regular day the parking lot is typically no more than 75% full. Chairperson Fischer asked if anybody in the audience wanted to address the commission regarding this item and nobody came forward. Chairperson Fischer closed the public hearing. Commissioner Pearson moved to adopt the resolution on pages 14 and 15 of the staff report. This resolution approves revisions for the conditional use permit for the property at 2360 White Bear Avenue (Home Depot). The city is basing this approval on the findings required by ordinance and it is subject to the following conditions (deletions are crossed out and additions are underlined): 1. All construction shall follow the site plan that the city stamped October 1 9,1 991J. The director of community development may approve minor changec. 1. All construction, uses and outside storaae areas shall follow the site plan dated April 7, 2005, in the staff report as may be approved bv the city council. This includes the location and size of the approved outside storaae areas. The city will allow the outside sales and storaae of trailers and landscapina materials with this revision. City staff shall approve the finallavout for all outdoor sales and storaae areas. The director of community development may approve minor chanaes to these plans. Planning Commission Minutes of 04-18-05 -9- 2. The store shall use the outside storage and display within 239 days of the council's approval or the permit shall end. The city council may extend this deadline for one year. 3. The city council shall review this permit revision in one year. 4. This permit allows a waiver of the parking code to allow 172 fewer parking spaces than the code allows since there is adequate parking available for the existing and proposed uses. The city may require Home Depot to add more parking spaces or to reduce the amount of area for outdoor sales and storage if the city determines that a parking shortage has developed. 5. The property owner or store manaqer shall keep the site clean of all debris and qarbaqe. This c1eanina shall be done on a reaular basis. 6. The property owner or store manaqer shall work with the city enqineerinq department on a plan for the protection of the city sidewalk and for the entrance driveway near White Bear Avenue. This plan may include the installation of bollards or other measures to prevent trucks and other larqe vehicles from damaqinq the curbinq. the pedestrian ramp and the public sidewalk. Commissioner Dierich seconded. Ayes - Desai, Dierich, Fischer, Grover, Kaczrowski, Pearson, Yarwood Nay - Trippler Commissioner Trippler voted nay because a 26% reduction in parking spaces is unacceptable to him for the amount of customers Home Depot receives and he believes customers are using parking spaces at Cub Foods and Petsmart as an alternative and walking to the store. Commissioners Pearson and Desai said when they shop in the area they haven't noticed a shortage of parking spaces and therefore had no problem voting for this proposal. The motion passed. This item goes to the city council on May 9, 2005. VI. NEW BUSINESS Resolutions of Appreciation - Jeff Bartol and Daniel Lee Mr. Roberts said Jeff Bartol and Daniel Lee have resigned from the planning commission. Mr. Roberts attached their letters of resignation and a resolution of appreciation for each of them. Commissioner Trippler moved to approve the resolution of appreciation for Jeff Bartol and Daniel Lee. Commissioner Grover seconded. Ayes - Desai, Dierich, Fischer, Grover, Kaczrowski, Pearson, Trippler, Yarwood Planning Commission Minutes of 04-18-05 -10- The motion passed. This item goes to the city council on May 9, 2005. VII. UNFINISHED BUSINESS None. VIII. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS None. IX. COMMISSION PRESENTATIONS a. Mr. Desai was the planning commission representative at the April 11 ,2005, city council meeting. Items to discuss included the Ramsey County 800 MHz Antenna Facility at 645 Sterling Street South which was approved ayes all. Planning Commission interviews took place and two commissioners were reappointed, and two new commissioners were appointed and welcomed. The council also discussed the Emergency Management Services Dispatching which passed with a 4-1 vote to look at having a consolidated dispatching center with Ramsey County. b. Ms. Fischer will be the planning commission representative at the April 25, 2005, city council meeting taking Eric Ahlness'es place. Items to discuss include the Easement Vacation Request for Wyngate Townhomes, (north side of Legacy Parkway), Parking Setback Variance for Heritage Square 4th Addition (new County Road D & Highway 61). c. Representation for the May 9, 2005, city council meeting was to be Jeff Bartol but is currently unknown at this time. Items to discuss include 3M Building #278 Leadership Development Institute and Customer Center (Minnehaha Avenue) Right-of-Way Vacations, Utility Easement Vacation, and Conditional Use Permit, the Conditional Use Permit Revision at Home Depot at 2360 White Bear Avenue, and the Resolutions of Appreciation for Jeff Bartol and Daniel Lee. X. STAFF PRESENTATIONS None. XI. ADJOURNMENT Planning Commission Minutes of 04-18-05 The meeting was adjourned at 8:43 p.m. -11-