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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/15/20011. Call to Order MAPLEWOOD PLANNING COMMISSION Monday, October 15, 2001, 7:00 PM City Hall Council Chambers 1830 County Road B East 2. Roll Call 3. Approval of Agenda Approval of Minutes a. September 17, 2001 Unfinished Business None o New Business a. Hill-Murray School Conditional Use Permit Revision (2625 Larpenteur Avenue) b. Ramsey County Productive Day Golf Course (Century Avenue and Lower Alton Road) 1. Conditional Use Permit (Revision) 2. Conditional Use Permit (Golf Course) 7. Visitor Presentations Commission Presentations a. September 24 Council Meeting: Mr. Rossbach b. October 8 Council Meeting: Mr. Pearson c. October 22 Council Meeting: Mr. Ahlness d. November 13 (Tuesday) Council Meeting: Mr. Trippler 9. Staff Presentations 10. Adjournment MINUTES OF THE MAPLEWOOD PLANNING COMMISSION 1830 COUNTY ROAD B EAST, MAPLEWOOD, MINNESOTA MONDAY, OCTOBER 15, 200'1 CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Fischer called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. II. ROLL CALL Commissioner Commissioner Commissioner Commissioner Commissioner Commissioner Commissioner Commissioner Commissioner Staff Present: Eric Ahlness Mary Dierich Lorraine Fischer Jack Frost Matt Ledvina Paul Mueller Gary Pearson William Rossbach Dale Trippler Absent Present at 7:35 p.m. Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Ken Roberts, Associate Planner Recording Secretary: Lisa Kroll III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA IV. Mr. Roberts made a change to the agenda. change Number 2 to Number 1. Under 6. New Business, delete b. 1 the Revision and Commissioner Frost moved approval as amended with changes. Commissioner Rossbach seconded. Ayes- Fischer, Frost, Ledvina, Mueller, Pearson, Rossbach, Trippler APPROVAL OF MINUTES Chairperson Fischer made a small correction to the minutes for September 17, 2001, on page 9 in the fourth paragraph from the bottom, change the wording from he rents to to "too" meaning also. Commissioner Pearson moved approval as amended with the change. Commissioner Mueller seconded. Ayes - Fischer, Mueller, Pearson, Rossbach Abstention-Frost, Ledvina, Trippler V. UNFINISHED BUSINESS None Planning Commission Minutes of 10-15-01 -2- VI. NEW BUSINESS a. Hill-Murray School Conditional Use Permit Revision (2625 Larpenteur Avenue East) Mr. Roberts said Hill-Murray School proposes to put an addition onto the west side of the school building for a chapel and a student entrance. This addition would have about 9,000 square feet of space and is to enhance and support the school's religious studies curriculum and to provide a student entrance to the school. In a future phase, they would add another entrance to the school property from Larpenteur Avenue and add 64 parking spaces near their east property line. (The city council approved these changes on June 28, 1999.) Hill-Murray School will do the improvements in stages as their funds allow. Mr. Roberts said staff feels the proposed chapel addition meets the findings for (CUP) approval and would be compatible with the existing school and the development in the area. None of the proposed changes or the addition should cause any problems for the city or the neighbors. Staff is asking the planning commission members to adopt the resolution to approve revisions for the conditional use permit for Hill-Murray School and the athletic fields at 2625 Larpenteur Avenue East. The city bases this approval on the findings required by ordinance. This approval is subject to conditions of approval adopted by the city council on June 28, 1998, subject to the revisions on pages 3 and 4 of the staff report. Mr. Roberts said staff has added a condition for item 1. c. for the chapel addition and have also made some corrections and updates to the other conditions on the school site. One condition staff has proposed to add is condition 11 on page 4 regarding the sweeping and restriping of the west parking lot before August 15, 2002. Item B. on page 4 in the staff report is for the community design review board to review. Commissioner Frost said where do the Fire Marshal's comments come from as noted on page 3 of the staff report? Mr. Roberts answered that some of it is covered in the state fire code, he does not believe any of the comments are in the city code. The Fire Marshal may have some latitude of what he can require and if he considers it to be a life-safety issue. Commissioner Trippler asked staff if they are asking planning commission members to approve item A. on pages 3 and 4 of the staff report? Mr. Roberts said yes. Commissioner Trippler asked if most of the conditions in part A. from item 6-10 on pages 3 and 4 are part of the 1999 changes? Planning Commission Minutes of 10-15-01 -3- Mr. Roberts said the conditions were actually from 1996 and were last updated and changed in 1999. Commissioner Trippler asked if that means Hill-Murray School has not done these conditions since 19997 Mr. Roberts answered no, some of those conditions have been done. The others are still important conditions and staff wants to keep them enforced. Hill-Murray School has not done the new item 7. regarding the bleachers. They have not changed their baseball field yet so that is still an important condition and when they choose to do that work, that condition is still in effect. On the new item 9. Hill-Murray School has done the turf management plan, and the last sentence was deleted because they submitted the new front-entry addition and it is completed, so that part of that condition is no longer needed Commissioner Trippler said for the most part planning commission members are just making sure Hill-Murray School understands these things still need to be maintained? Mr. Roberts said that is correct. Chairperson Fischer asked the applicant to come forward and address himself. Mr. Paul May, of Rafferty, Rafferty, Tollefson, Architects, the project architects, addressed the commission. Commissioner Trippler asked Mr. May about the comments from the Fire Marshal on page 3 of the staff report. Mr. May answered that number 1, regarding the fire protection sprinkler system, is part of the uniform building code and the fire code. Number 2, regarding the visual alarm notification system, is part of the uniform building code for Americans for Disabilities Act (ADA) and Number 3, regarding the audible alarm notification system, is part of the fire code. Commissioner Trippler asked aren't those items already in place? Mr. May said the items are currently in place in the school and these would be extensions of the systems into the addition. Mr. Roberts said the Fire Marshal has asked staff to make sure the comments go in the staff report early. This is so an architect or an applicant will be aware of those conditions early on and so there would be no surprise later. Commissioner Rossbach said in looking at the plans on the second floor of the school in the existing building, are those rooms actually that strange shape as shown in the plans? Mr. May said in the staff report on page 15 those rooms are band practice rooms and are meant to have swayed walls for the acoustics. Planning Commission Minutes of 10-15-01 Commissioner Frost moved to adopt the resolution on pages 22-23 of the staff report. This resolution approves revisions for the conditional use permit for Hill-Murray School and athletic fields at 2625 Larpenteur Avenue East. The city bases this approval on the findings required by ordinance. This approval is subject to conditions of approval adopted by the city council on June 28, 1998, subject to the following revisions (The deletions are crossed out and the additions are underlined). 1. All construction shall follow the plans as noted below: a. For the athletic fields, follow the plans date-stamped March 6, 1998. b. For the school and parking lot addition, follow the plans date-stamped May 19, 1999. c_ For the chapel addition, follow the plans date-stamped October 1,2001. The director of community development may approve minor changes. T~,~,, ,,......, ,.....,°"~'""" .., ,..,,"*"~' ,,,..... ..... *~,.-.,,.. The proposed construction for the chapel~ addition,.,, ,,.,o "'~ ~..,..,~, .... ,..,,w '~-",,",.,,,,.. must be substantially started within one year of council approval or the permit revision shall end. The council may extend this deadline for one year. The city council shall review this permit annually to monitor the traffic and parking situations related to the use of the athletic fields. Any new lights shall be installed to meet the city code. This requires that they be screened or aimed so they do not cause any light-glare problems on streets or residential properties. Post and maintain signs on the edge of the wetland-protection buffer prohibiting any building, mowing, cutting, filling or dumping within the buffer. Wetland buffer signs in the mowed area shall be placed at the edge of the lawn. That portion of the proposed walking/running path that is within 50 feet of the wetland shall be built with a pervious material. 78. Ensure that all bleachers and dugouts are at least 30 feet from the Sterling Street and Larpenteur Avenue right-of-ways. 8g. The city may require the applicant to plant 30 native species of trees for screening between the playing fields and the homes on Knoll Circle, as may be determined at a future hearing on the conditional use permit. Planning Commission Minutes of 10-15-01 -5- 9_ ! 0. The school shall prepare for city approval a turf management plan for the athletic fields. This plan shall include the mowing, watering and fertilizing practices that the school will follow in the care of their athletic fields and grounds. The school shall prepare for city approval a turf management plan for the athletic fields. The school shall prepare and follow the plan so the practices will minimize the impact of the storm water runoff on the nearby wetlands. ~ .... *~pprcvc *h.'o ,,,.,,, ~,,,~,-,,,, ................ ~ .... ;.,,-,., h, ,;,,~; ...... ;+ ~,,, *h,~ frcnt ~nt."/ "'"'-'"" ..... '"' I"'""'' ,..,v v ,.., .,-,,,.,,.,....~ ~ ,,,,,.,,,.,,-,...~ I-,~,..., 1._~0 11. Submit a grading and drainage plan for watershed district approval to provide sedimentation control at the storm water discharge point before it dumps into the south wetland area. 11. The school shall sweep and restripe the west parkin.q lot before Auqust 15, 2002. Commissioner Pearson seconded the motion. The motion carries. Ayes - Fischer, Frost, Ledvina, Mueller, Pearson, Rossbach, Trippler This item goes to the city council on November 13, 2001, and the community design review board will review it at their meeting October 23, 2001. Ramsey County Productive Day Golf Course (Century Avenue between Lower Afton Road and Linwood Avenue) Mr. Roberts said Kevin Finley, of the Ramsey County Parks and Recreation Department, is requesting approval of plans for the Productive Day nine-hole golf course. The proposed golf course would be located on property owned by Ramsey County, part of which was previously used for farming and cattle raising by the Ramsey County Correctional Facility to the north. The proposed nine-hole golf course would have a 2,200-square-foot clubhouse, a practice range, golf-practice area, a teaching area and a parking lot. The applicant also proposes to build a 7,740-square-foot maintenance building north of Lower Afton Road on the correction facility's property near their existing maintenance buildings. The proposed golf course would be partially maintained by a staff of inmates. There would be about ten inmates at any one time working the course. The county would select Iow-risk inmates through a screening process. These persons would be those who are sentenced to the correctional facility for short terms. High-risk, long-term inmates would not be eligible to work in this program. A corrections officer would supervise the inmate workers. There will also be a grounds keeper to manage the grounds-keeping operations. Mr. Roberts said the applicant is requesting that the city council approve a conditional use permit (CUP) for a golf course. City code requires a (CUP) for golf courses in an F (farm residence) district. The community design review board will be reviewing the building, site and landscape plans. Planning Commission Minutes of 10-15-01 -6- Mr. Roberts said the proposed golf course would be compatible with the surrounding development and was welcomed by most of the neighbors. ^ neighborhood survey was sent out and from that survey 52 replies came back with comments. 41 neighbors liked the proposal, 9 neighbors had no opinion but offered comments and 2 neighbors were opposed to this project. The county has had at least two neighborhood meetings and has invited neighbors to come and hear about the project and voice their concerns. There are 10 wetlands on the site. The RamseyNVashington Metro Watershed District Board conditionally approved the Productive Day Golf Course proposal pending submittal and final plans on October 3, 2001. Cliff Aichinger, the district administrator for the watershed district had comments that were in the staff report. Mr. Roberts said the proposed maintenance building will be across Lower Afton Road. There is an entrance road at that location now where the maintenance building is proposed that serves as a back entrance into the correctional facility and to their greenhouses. The maintenance building would be next to that driveway so there would not be any additional curb cut onto Lower Afton Road. Mr. Roberts said to make a correction to the staff report on page 5 item A. the second sentence should say LowerAfton Road not UpperAfton Road. Commissioner Ledvina asked staff if there have been any incidents with the residents associated with the activities with the workhouse and the nursery? Mr. Roberts said he has never heard of any incidents but the county staff could answer that. Mr. Roberts said he lives 2 blocks from that area and he has never heard of any incidents and it is not a concern of his as a neighbor of the facility or in his position with the city. Commissioner Pearson asked staff if this is going to have any negative effect on the St. Paul Firing Range operation? Are they sufficiently below grade there that they can still continue to operate in that location? Mr. Roberts said he can't answer that. That may be a question for the architect to answer. He said he knows the county and the project designers were well aware of that facility. Commissioner Trippler asked staff if planning commission members shouldn't really look at the maintenance building because staff considers it to be a small item? Mr. Roberts said page 2 of the staff report talks about that item. A minor construction project is defined in the city code as less than $200,000 in value and can be reviewed and approved by city staff. The maintenance building is essentially an oversized garage with an office so it will be less than $200,000. It was not seen as a major item in this case. Commissioner Trippler said that even though it is three times larger than the clubhouse it is considered to be a garage? Mr. Roberts said yes. Chairperson Fischer asked the applicant to come forward and address himself. Planning Commission Minutes of 10-15-01 -7- Kevin Finley, the Director of Administration and Golf Operations for the Ramsey County Parks and Recreation Department addressed the commission. He said upon review of the staff report he supports the work that they have done. This project has been in the works since August 1998. It was an idea that the corrections department came up with and was pursued as a joint venture. The property is adjacent to the correctional facility and the parks and recreation department has the expertise in operating golf courses, so they thought it would be a good idea to explore. There has been tremendous support from the neighbors. Back in 1998 a letter was submitted with 115 signatures on it to the county board in support of the project. They have had several open meetings with the neighborhood. They have had two or three layers of design review including neighborhood representatives, and people from the watershed district have helped out through the wetland issues in identifying those buffer zones in the plan. Commissioner Pearson asked Mr. Finley about the St. Paul Firing Range and if it has been taken into account with the design of the plans? Is this something that once the golf course opens there will be complaints about the firing that is done on the range? Mr. Finley said they have been very upfront in all of the discussions with the public. When they went into this project there were no intentions of displacing the St. Paul Firing Range. The St. Paul Firing Range is aware that the golf course is going to be developed, if the plans get approved. In the plans themselves there will be some berming. The St. Paul Firing Range is quite a bit lower by an elevation than where this golf course will be sitting and the firing of guns will be a noise factor. Commissioner Pearson said he did not see anything on the citizen comments or that the St. Paul Police Department had been notified. Or did that they have an opportunity to respond in regard to their property? Mr. Roberts said he is sure the St. Paul Police Department was notified but he will check the file. Commissioner Trippler asked if there had been any other names thought of for the golf course other than the Productive Day Golf Course. There are a number of good professional Minnesota golfers, have you ever thought of naming a course after a Minnesota golfer like The Patti Berg Course or The Lehman Course? He is concerned about the maintenance building being on the other side of Lower Afton Road. He does not live in that area but whenever he has been in that neighborhood that road seems to be very busy. He asked if they anticipate that it will be difficult to get the equipment back and forth across that street particularly during rush hour traffic? Mr. Finley said the correctional facility workers will be getting ready and going out to work very eady before the golfers are even there. They will be on the turf side before the rush hour begins in the morning and back on the other side before the rush hour in the evening. Mr. Finley also addressed the naming of the golf course. He said they had an opportunity to ask neighbors and others for a new name for the golf course. The ideas for a new name for the golf course were due Monday, October 15, at 4:30 p.m. He is happy to report there were 115 suggestions and only about 11 of those suggestions were already repeated. They will go through a process that involves the park and recreation commission, the correction advisory board, and the county board to come up with a new name. The issue of naming a Planning Commission Minutes of 10-15-01 -8- golf course after a famous golfer is that it costs a lot of money, when they lend their name to a golf course they take quite a stipend to do that. Commissioner Rossbach said his concern is about a letter that was sent in from one of the neighbors that talked about things that have allegedly happened over the last 15 years. The letter was regarding calling in and some activities that they said they witnessed. One of the incidences mentioned was with drug paraphernalia. What is your response to that? Mr. Finley referred that question to the Superintendent at the Ramsey County Correctional Facility. Art Cavara, the Superintendent at the Ramsey County Correctional Facility addressed the commission. He said members of the correctional facility spoke to the individual that wrote the letter expressing her feelings and the allegations regarding the inmates. She said she has seen contraband drops, cat calling etc. He said he has worked at the correctional facility for 8 years and he has never heard anything regarding these allegations nor has anybody else at the facility. He said if she did call the police department why hadn't anybody at the facility been notified of these allegations? Mr. Cavara gave the woman his name and telephone number, the assistant director of the corrections department's name and telephone number, and he said she was asked to come over to the facility to see how things are done and the process of the system. Mr. Cavara said the woman chose not to do that. He is not aware of any of the allegations that were made in the letter. He has gone to her address to see if in fact you can see things that take place from that location. He said it is almost impossible to see from her backyard with the fence and a grove of trees that are through that area. It is in an area that is further west from where inmates actually do any work, so he is not aware of what the woman is talking about. She talks about contacting the police department with complaints, when that does occur a complaint is logged on the lieutenant's logs and we found there were no such recordings of any complaints. The woman talks about late night activity, unless the inmates are on work release, and that is usually only one-or-two-inmates that work midnight shifts, they are in their rooms at 10:00 p.m. If they go to work during the day they have an hour to get back to work. Most of the inmates are in the facility by 6:00 p.m. if they are on work release. The other inmates that are on community crews are in the facility by 3:00 p.m. So he is not aware of any nighttime activity that she wrote about in her letter. Commissioner Rossbach asked Mr. Cavara if he would talk a little bit more about the process if someone did want to call to alert the correctional facility about something that happened? He asked Mr. Cavara if someone should call 9117 Also the information that members have says the correctional facility has crews that are going out into public situations, he asked if Mr. Cavara could talk about that too. Mr. Cavara said if a resident wishes to call about inmate misbehavior or suspicious behavior thinking it is an inmate, the telephone calls that they do get, which are few and far between, come directly to the workhouse and are directed to Mr. Cavara's office or his assistant. If Mr. Cavara or his assistant would not be present, they go to the shift lieutenant and are recorded in a log. Mr. Cavara gets information on all of the telephone calls recorded. When they had cattle on the property, and they did farming, any complaints that came in, members of the correctional facility would go directly to the neighbors who complained. He has gone to the locations himself personally and has sent crews out to investigate any complaints that were Planning Commission Minutes of 10-15-01 -9- received. Generally the residents that border the correctional facility will call directly. If they call 911 he is not positive what happens to the people's calls or where they would be routed. It may be routed to the Maplewood Police Department, but if the calls are being routed there, he would expect that the police office would contact the correctional facility with the complaint. The problems that occur with the inmates are with working the farm or the nursery. The inmates will be working and will leave the tractor right in the middle of the field and walk away. They go into town and are picked up two or three days later. Mr. Cavara said the correctional facility has never had any problem with any community crews they have. They have them working for the government center, at the libraries throughout the county, cleaning up garbage houses and bus stops, and a correctional officer is with the crew of 4 or 5 doing that. The nursery and the grounds-keeping crew generally have 10-to-12 inmates a day. They are usually in or around the greenhouses or in the trees or tree lots, and there are four people supervising them at all times. Mr. Cavara said in the eight years he has worked there they have never had any type of behavior that would be considered assaultive or disruptive. Basically they get lazy and they have to send the inmates back into the facility and they get locked down for refusing to work. This past year Mr. Cavara said three inmates have walked off community crews from the nursery which they believe were set up ahead of time when the inmates called a girlfriend or a loved one and had them meet the inmate outside of the woods. At that point they have guards and patrol cars chasing them down 5 minutes later to catch them. Mr. Cavara said the inmates are generally level-1 inmates. A good majority are traffic offenders of all kinds, drug users, minor-property offenders with a good percentage of the inmates going through that facility more than once, the staff know these people very well. Most of them do not have any incident reports that are written within the facility. So there are not the high-risk person offenders at that facility. As of Friday, October 12, they had 112 inmates that would make outside clearance and they are only taking 18 of them outside. Commissioner Pearson asked Mr. Cavara what the direct number you would want residents to call with complaints would be? Mr. Cavara answered that his direct number is 651-266-1440. Commissioner Mueller asked Mr. Cavara in his opinion, if cleaning that area up, would that increase the possibility of covert type activity, or would it decrease the possibilities? Mr. Cavara said he thinks it will remain the same. They have inmate crews that will be mowing the ditches and the correctional officer might be 50 yards away, but that is not to say they are not going to drop a pack of cigarettes or something. They are all strip-searched when the inmates come in, and the item is usually caught quickly on the inmates. It is probably easier to leave contraband on the workhouse property verses on a golf course because of the fences, trees, shrubs, buildings, etc. on the property where things can be hidden. It would be pretty visible on a golf course and the plan right now is to have at least 2 correctional officers on the golf course that will be within sight. They have to worry about the girlfriend or loved one waiting for the inmate to escape in their car on Century Avenue. We don't believe the inmates would get out of line with the public or the neighbors and they are very sensitive about that. If an inmate even looks suspicious they get pulled off the crew and put back in the correctional facility and get replaced. Being assigned to the nursery and the Planning Commission Minutes of 10-15-01 -10- golf course will be the "jewel" the inmates are looking for. People want to get outside and work rather than being cooped up inside the facility with 40-to-50 people in one unit with a television blaring. Very few inmates are selected to go outside. Commissioner Frost asked Mr. Cavara if there would be other maintenance people in addition to the sentence-to-serve inmates working on the golf course? Mr. Cavara said the intention for the inmate laborer is to do the trimming, mowing, tree planting and the nursery and they intend to make full use of that. There will be a professional golf course superintendent that is going to be hired that will run the turf maintenance program. There will also be a fulltime maintenance person that will be part of the correctional facility staff and at least a half-time mechanic. They will probably supplement that with a few park and recreation aides that will be supplemental employees. Commissioner Frost asked Mr. Cavara would the correctional workers work in the clubhouse or for the food service? Mr. Cavara said there would be additional staff in the clubhouse. Commissioner Frost asked if the workers for the clubhouse would be coming from the correctional facility inmates? Mr. Cavara said no, the inmate labor is strictly for the grounds crew. Commissioner Mueller asked the length of the course, and is it an executive par, executive 9, or a par 3 course? Mr. Cavara said it is a par 35 course and there is a varying length from 3,000 yards down to 1,600 yards depending on the tee. Commissioner Mueller asked Mr. Cavara if anyone is helping to design the course to make it significant? He is assuming there will be somebody good designing the course but is it possible to get anybody with a big name to help design the course? Mr. Cavara said they do have a golf course architect that they have been working with who's name is Garrett Gill who is the principal of Gill Miller who is in the audience. He has designed some of the better courses in this area if anybody would like to address any questions to him. Commissioner Mueller asked what the cost will be to hit nine holes at this golf course? Mr. Finley said when they did the financial feasibility study they were looking at a rate of $15 for nine holes so it will be in that range. Commissioner Mueller asked Mr. Finley if it is possible to get a membership, or is this a public course? Mr. Finley said one of the things about this golf course is that it will be part of the golf course system that includes Keller, Goodrich, Manitou, and Island Lake. But it is going to be on it's Planning Commission Minutes of 10-15-01 -11- own and there will be a huge debt service to pay. It will have to be paid for out of the revenue generated from this golf course, so they probably won't lump in memberships with the other courses as it is done. He is sure there will be some type of a discount for residents at least. Commissioner Rossbach said golf courses use a lot of fertilizers, chemicals etc. and there is a lot of wetland area there. What if any provisions have been made to try and deal with that situation and safety. Mr. Finley said the biggest thing is to establish the buffer zones. They have worked very closely with the watershed district and establishing those zones and certainly the City of Maplewood has the opportunity to review the recommendations. They have had to actually change the design of the golf course a few times just to meet those standards. There will be those buffer zones that will include areas not only during construction, but during operation as well. They are hoping the quality of the water on the property will be better after the golf course is operating because of the quality of the plant material that is there. Some of the steep slopes that are there will be gently graded so there is not as much runoff into those ponds. In addition to that, as part of the hiring of the golf course architect, they have an expert that is part of their team that is working with his golf course superintendents in developing a maintenance plan for this property. It is very sensitive with all the water. All of the pesticide applicators are licensed by the State of Minnesota and he has full confidence that they are not harming the property when they are applying pesticides or fertilizers to the property. Commissioner Frost moved to adopt the resolution on pages 30-31 of the staff report approving a conditional use permit for a nine-hole golf course on the west side of Century Avenue between Lower Afton Road and Linwood Avenue. Approval is based on the findings required by the code and subject to the following conditions: 1. All construction shall follow the approved site plan. 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 become null and void. 3. The city council shall review this permit in one year. If Ramsey County sells this golf course to a private individual or company, they must request an amendment to the Maplewood Comprehensive Plan to change the plan for this site from G (government) to P (park) or OS (open space). The applicant shall dedicate wetland-buffer easements around each wetland on the golf course property. These easements shall describe the boundaries of the buffers and prohibit any building, mowing, cutting, filling or dumping within the buffers. The applicant shall record the deeds for these easements before the city will issue grading and building permits. (code requirement) The applicant shall check with the city staff for the width of each buffer easement prior to drafting any easement documentation. 6. The applicant shall install wetland buffer signs that prohibit any building, mowing, cutting, Planning Commission Minutes of 10-15-01 -12- filling or dumping within each wetland buffer. (code requirement) 7. The driving range lights shall not be on later than 10:30 p.m. Commissioner Rossbach seconded the motion. The motion carries. Ayes - Dierich, Fischer, Frost, Ledvina, Mueller, Pearson, Rossbach, Trippler This item goes to the Community Design Review Board meeting October 23, 2001, and goes to the City Council meeting November 13, 2001. VII. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS None. VII. COMMISSION PRESENTATIONS a. Mr. Rossbach was the representative at the September 24, 2001, city council meeting. Items discussed were the ally vacation next to 49 Kingston Avenue that was approved and was an ayes--all vote by city council. The 5-8 Club that is known as Beau's on Minnehaha Avenue was discussed and approved and it was an ayes--all vote by city council as well. Schlomka Landscaping conditional use permit and the oversized accessory structure was approved and voted ayes--all by city council. Walgreens on 1706 White Bear Avenue was discussed and with the changes that were made including the two entrances to the store, more windows, and the set back, Walgreens did not want two entrances or have the building set back and wanted all the parking in the front of the store. City Council approved the changes 4-to-1 if Walgreens built their building to staff's recommendation. Walgreens basically said if that was the case then Walgreens would not be building on that particular site. It was brought up that Walgreens is also looking at the Pawn store sight on Larpenteur Avenue and White Bear Avenue in St. Paul and that might be a better location for that store. They also discussed comments and findings of the Beaver Lake Town home Environmental Worksheet and there was no significant environmental impact by building the development. The cost for the environmental worksheet was $20,000 the developer paid for it. Mr. Rossbach believes council will end up with the original version and if another $20,000 was put into it he believes they will want their money back somehow. The council accepted the comments and responses and found no significant impact from the worksheet and approved it 5-to-0. b. Mr. Pearson was the representative at the October 8, 2001, city council meeting. Salvation Army church expansion was discussed and approved by the city council. The Sinclair Oil Corporation was discussed and approved by the city council. The third item discussed was the Toyota expansion and was approved by the city council. After the meeting Mr. Pearson heard there was a testimony about Toyota and other dealerships on Highway 61 still unloading cars on the highway. Mr. Roberts said this has been a problem not only with Toyota but also with other Planning Commission Minutes of 10-15-01 -13- dealerships on Highway 61, especially where there is a wide boulevard. The transport truck will pull up on the shoulder and unload the vehicles instead of pulling into their lots and maneuvering their trucks in the car lot. He has seen transport trucks doing this and stopped into the dealership one day and told them it was not a very safe thing to do. All the dealers know about the rules, but they say they get new drivers or different companies and they don't know these rules, then they start unloading vehicles onto Highway 61. c. Monday, October 22, 2001, no planning commission representative is needed for the city council meeting. d. Tuesday, November 13, 2001, the city council meeting will be held on Tuesday because of Veterans Day and will be represented by Dale Trippler. Chairperson Fischer asked staff in looking at the maps for the Hill-Murray addition across the street it has the sign on the open space and it looks like an R-3 on it? Is R-3 correct for an official city open space? Mr. Roberts said the city does not have an open space zoning. It is only in the land use plan. Frost and English is an example of this because it has 3 different zonings on it from the last development proposal that was never built. Commissioner Rossbach asked if it is required that the two be compatible with each other?. Mr. Roberts said yes, but the calculations that are done are for the land use plan designations. Chairperson Fischer asked if that is being misleading on the map? Mr. Roberts said no. Chairperson Fischer read an article from the Minnesota Planning Newsletter about an issue Maplewood faced a while ago. This was regarding the deserting of "big-box stores" and referring to some communities that now have an ordinance that would prevent vacant premises from being prevented from occupation from another tenant. She asked staff if this is happening here or is this strictly from other parts of the country? Mr. Roberts said he read that article too and he has never read or heard that happening locally or statewide. Commissioner Rossbach asked chairperson Fischer to explain that a bit further. Chaiperson Fischer read the article and asked if staff could run a copy of the three-column article for the next agenda? Planning Commission Minutes of 10-15-01 -14- IX. STAFF PRESENTATIONS Mr. Roberts said Birch Glen Apartments on Ariel and Beam Avenue picked up the building permit and building has already started. Emma's Place on Van Dyke and East County Road B is waiting for the building permit that is currently being reviewed. X= ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 8:13 p.m.