Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/21/20031. Call to Order MAPLEWOOD PLANNING COMMISSION Monday, April 21, 2003, 7:00 PM City Hall Council Chambers 1830 County Road B East 2. Roll Call 3. Approval of Agenda 4. Approval of Minutes a. Apdl 7, 2003 5, Public Hearings a. Comprehensive Sanitary Sewer Plan Amendment and Update 6. New Business a. Street Right-of-Way Vacations - Maplewood Middle School (Holloway and Lakewood) b. Frontline Church Conditional Use Permit - 2055 White Bear Avenue 10. c. County Road D Extension Right-of-Way Study (Hazelwood to Highway 61) 1. Alignment Study and Options 2. Storm Water and Wetland Study Unfinished Business None 8. Visitor Presentations 9. Commission Presentations a. April 14 Council Meeting: Mr. Desai b. April 28 Council Meeting: Mr. Mueller c. May 12 Council Meeting: Mr. Ledvina Staff Presentations a. Annual Tour Date - June 30, 2003? 11. Adjournment MINUTES OF THE MAPLEWOOD PLANNING COMMISSION 1830 COUNTY ROAD B EAST, MAPLEWOOD, MINNESOTA MONDAY, APRIL 21, 2003 I. CALLTO ORDER Chairperson Fischer called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. I1. ROLL CALL Commissioner Tushar Desai Commissioner Mary Dierich Commissioner Lorraine Fischer Commissioner Matt Ledvina Commissioner Jackie Monahan-Junek Commissioner Paul Mueller Commissioner Gary Pearson Commissioner William Rossbach Commissioner Dale Trippler Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Staff Present: Melinda Coleman, Assistant City Manager Chuck Ahl, Public Works Director Ken Roberts, Associate Planner Lisa Kroll, Recording Secretary III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Commissioner Rossbach moved to approve the agenda. Commissioner Pearson seconded. Ayes-Desai, Dierich, Fischer, Ledvina, Monahan-Junek, Mueller, Pearson, Rossbach, Trippler The motion passed. IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Approval of the planning commission minutes for April 7, 2003. Chairperson Fischer had a correction on page 3, the second paragraph, in the third line. Mr. Ahl said he meant it to read: In other words, a governmental unit can pt~t close a center median cn and still provide reasonable access, which ;;'crd would mean a right in and a right out. Commissioner Pearson moved to approve the planning commission minutes for April 7, 2003, with changes. Commissioner Ledvina seconded. Ayes- Desai, Dierich, Fischer, Ledvina, Monahan-Junek, Mueller, Pearson, Rossbach, Abstention - Trippler Planning Commission Minutes of 04-21-03 -2- V. PUBLIC HEARING a. Comprehensive Sanitary Sewer Plan Amendment and Update Mr. Roberts said city staff and Jon Horn of Kimley-Horn and Associates have completed an update to the Sanitary Sewer Comprehensive Plan portion of the Maplewood Comprehensive Plan. The city last updated the Sanitary Sewer Comprehensive Plan in November 2000. This 2003 update was necessary to address some inconsistencies in the previous update and to consider anticipated future development/redevelopment in the city. This update also was a requirement of the Alternative Urban Area wide Review (AUAR) for the proposed Legacy Village at Maplewood development. This is the project that has been proposed for the undeveloped area west of the Maplewood Mall. Mr. Roberts introduced Mr. Jon Horn of Kimley-Horn and Associates. Mr. Horn gave a presentation on the sanitary sewer comprehensive plan update. He said the City of Maplewood discharges its sanitary sewer to a system that is owned and operated by the Metropolitan Council Environmental Services. He said Maplewood is divided into 74 sewer districts. He said they reviewed those sewer districts and came up with sewer flow estimates for the years between 2003 and 2020. Commissioner Trippler said on page 4 of the south Maplewood sewer study report, under the 3.4 existing land use category, there are zoning categories listed as single-dwelling residential R-1 and planned unit development. He asked if a planned unit development (PUD) is a zoning category? Mr. Horn said yes, the planned unit development showed up in the zoning plan. Commissioner Ledvina asked if the planning commission made a recommendation to approve the update to the sanitary sewer comprehensive plan, how would changes to the sanitary sewer comprehensive plan get incorporated at a later date if those recommendations were made to the city council? Mr. Horn said the plan included getting a draft document approved and accepted by the planning commission and the city council and then submitted to the Met Council. He said through that process there would be some modifications and revisions. He said the south Maplewood sewer study would be presented and before the document is finalized, the modifications would be combined into the final document. Commissioner Dierich asked in regards to the south Maplewood area and the Bailey Nursery property, is it to the city's financial benefit to drain that area for the City of Woodbury? Mr. Horn said until the south Maplewood study is presented in detail, those questions couldn't be answered. The south Maplewood study would be presented sometime in May. Commissioner Dierich asked if the city is reserving the capacity, then when does the city pay for that? Mr. Ahl said sewer capacity is allocated through SAC charges (sewer availability charges) and those charges are collected when the city issues building permits. Chairperson Fischer asked if anybody in the audience wanted to be heard regarding the sanitary sewer plan update? Planning Commission Minutes of 04-21-03 -3- There were no audience members that wanted to speak on this issue. Commissioner Pearson moved to adopt the resolution on page 4 of the staff report. This resolution approves the proposed Comprehensive Sanitary Sewer Plan Update. Commissioner Ledvina seconded. Ayes - Desai, Dierich, Fischer, Ledvina, Monahan-Junek, Mueller, Pearson, Rossbach, Trippler The motion passed. VI. NEW BUSINESS a. Street Right-of-Way Vacations - Maplewood Middle School (Holloway and Lakewood) Mr. Roberts said Ron Parrucci, Director of Business Services for School District 622, is requesting that the city council vacate two street rights-of-way on the Maplewood Middle School property. The reason for the requested vacations is that one, Tierney Avenue right-of-way, lies in the location of the school. The other, Frisbie Avenue, lies within the athletic fields. Both are dead-end rights-of- ways that are not needed for street or utility purposes. The applicant wants to vacate these streets since there is no reason to keep them of record. Commissioner Dierich asked how often does it happen that street right-of-ways are vacated and are needed years later? Mr. Roberts said it has happened in the past and it would not be difficult to request that property owners dedicate new right-of-ways with new development plans. Commissioner Rossbach moved to approve the resolution on page 6 for the vacation of the Tierney Avenue and Frisbie Avenue street rights-of-way at Maplewood Middle School. The mason for these vacations is that there is no public purpose in retaining them. Commissioner Pearson seconded. Ayes-Desai, Dierich, Fischer, Ledvina, Monahan-Junek, Mueller, Pearson, Rossbach, Trippler The motion passed. This item goes to the city council on May 12, 2003. b. Frontline Church Conditional Use Permit - 2055 White Bear Avenue Mr. Roberts said Mr. Bill Arrigoni, representing Frontline Church, is proposing to open a church in the existing ASI office/warehousing building at 2055 White Bear Avenue. This would be a new location for the church that is now operating in Roseville on Hamline Avenue. To have the church in this location, Mr. Arrigoni is asking that Maplewood approve a conditional use permit (CUP). The Maplewood City Code requires a CUP for churches and places of worship. As proposed, the school would lease about 11,500 square feet of space in the existing 82,000-square-foot building. Mr. Roberts said the church would use their space primarily on Sunday mornings and on Wednesday evenings. These times would not conflict with the other tenants in the building as they use their spaces primarily during the day on weekdays. Planning Commission -4- Minutes of 04-21-03 Commissioner Rossbach said he understood the building was being leased. He asked staff if that meant the building was still on the tax roll? Mr. Roberts said that was his understanding. Chairperson Fischer asked the applicant to address the commission. Mr. Bill Arrigoni, the Senior Pastor for Frontline Church, residing at 1394 Hilltop Ridge, Houlton, Wisconsin, addressed the commission. Commissioner Rossbach asked Mr. Arrigoni where the Frontline Church is located? Mr. Arrigoni said Frontline Church is currently located at 2819 Hamline Avenue in Roseville in a shopping center that is owned by Kraus-Anderson. The shopping center has been sold to Presbyterian Homes, and the shopping center will be torn down in a few months. Commissioner Rossbach asked what the size of the congregation currently was? Mr. Arrigoni said their congregation was now at 100 people. Commissioner Desai said he read in the Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings. held at the church during the week? staff report that the primary activities happen on He inquired if that meant there were no other activities Mr. Arrigoni said normal office activities happen during the day and in the evening there are small prayer meetings but there are not entire church meetings or gatherings. Commissioner Trippler said the memo from Deputy Chief Banick stated he was concerned about the safety and security of the patrons and he recommended the lighting plan be reviewed. He asked the applicant if he was aware of these situations? Mr. Arrigoni said no, he was not aware of Mr. Banick's comments. Mr. Arrigoni said however, he has discussed increasing the lighting in the area with the owners of the building. Commissioner Trippler said Deputy Banick's memo stated that there had been an increase in rear- end traffic crashes in the area. He asked if Mr. Arrigoni has been made aware of that? Mr. Arrigoni said no he was not. Commissioner Mueller asked if their intention was to own a building and move the congregation or is the plan to continue leasing space? Mr. Arrigoni said they will have a five-year lease at this location but their ideal situation would be to buy land and build a church, but that is out of their budget right now. Commissioner Desai asked if there was an existing sprinkler system in the warehouse building and was it compatible for the amount of people that will be in the building? Planning Commission Minutes of 04-21-03 -5- Mr. Arrigoni said there is a sprinkler system. He said they will be working with the Fire Marshal throughout the renovation process to ensure the sprinkler system is compatible for the amount of people that would occupy the space. Commissioner Pearson moved to adopt the resolution on pages 15 and 16 in the staff report. This resolution approves the conditional use permit for Frontline Church to operate in the building at 2055 White Bear Avenue. Maplewood bases this permit on the findings required by the code and subject to the following conditions: 1. All construction shall follow the plans dated March 26, 2003, as approved by the city. The director of community development may approve minor changes. 2. The proposed church must be started in this location within one year after council approval or the permit shall end. The council may extend this deadline for one year. The church shall meet the requirements of the city building official and the fire marshal. In addition, city staff shall determine the maximum capacity of the church upon review of the final floor and building plans. 4. The property owner or manager shall sweep and restripe the parking lot before the church occupies their space. 5. The city council shall review this permit in one year. Commissioner Rossbach seconded. Ayes- Desai, Dierich, Fischer, Ledvina, Monahan-Junek, Mueller, Pearson, Rossbach, Trippler The motion passed. This item goes to the city council on May 12, 2003. c. County Road D Extension Right-of-Way Study (Hazelwood to Highway 61) Mr. Chuck Ahl, Public Works Director at the City of Maplewood, gave another presentation regarding the County Road D Extension Right-of-Way Study from Hazelwood to Highway 61. He said it's recommended that the planning commission review the alignment options and the storm water management and wetland mitigation plan for the County Road D Realignment Project (City Projects 02-07 and 02-08) and table making a recommendation until May 5, 2003. Mr. Karl Keel of URS gave a presentation on the roadway alignment issues. Mr. Ron Leaf of Short Elliott Hendrickson gave a presentation on the storm water wetland plan. Commissioner Dierich asked Mr. Ahl, which of the road alignment options is flagged by staff as the preference? Mr. Ahl said Mr. Kgel said the preference was option Wl. Planning Commission Minutes of 04-21-03 -6- Commissioner Monahan-Junek said the report references the monitoring of the wetlands for five years and she wondered what happened after the five-year time period? Mr. Ahl said the responsibility for monitoring for the first five years is part of the permitting process. The city currently uses a staff member from the Nature Center to do such monitoring. They would expect to expand that and within five years they would like to have an environmental staff person. Commissioner Dierich asked staff if they could have a breakdown of the figures regarding the cost for the wetland mitigation and the land acquisition by the next planning commission meeting? Mr. Ahl said Mr. Horn is the project manager for this project and he could spend time at the next meeting going over the figures for the planning commission. The city is estimating a little Iow for property acquisition before they negotiate. He said the city has a large contingency fund that would cover that. Commissioner Dierich said having those figures would help her make some decisions. She asked where the four-lane road would run? She said it says in the report the road will be four lanes but it doesn't look like there is enough room and there are also significant land level issues. Mr. Ahl said the railroad berm will need to be removed through that area. He said that railroad line is abandoned. He said the railroad line exists for one reason, and that is that if the 30-ton transformer at Xcel should fail, the transformer would have to be removed. The transformer can only now be removed by rail. A 104-tire, 25-axel truck is now being worked on in a 6 to 9 month time period that could move the transformer. However, the truck is a special order vehicle and would require special permits. He said the transformer cannot be taken over a bridge because the bridge could not hold it. It can only be transported on a railroad bridge. Commissioner Monahan-Junek asked what the speed limit on Beam Avenue was? Mr. Ahl said the speed limit is between 40 and 45 mph at different sections of Beam Avenue. Commissioner Monahan-Junek asked why it's not acceptable to have the realignment of County Road D at the T-intersection on the west side of TH 617 Mr. Ahl said this is a county road and it has a county state aid highway status. He said in order to construct that type of road there has to be a contiguous alignment, a right hand turn, and have 5,000 vehicles a day. This would require a three-way stop, which is typically not allowed on a state aid highway system. He said when proposing that plan to the county traffic engineer they said they would not support that plan at any time because it does not meet the proper criteria. Commissioner Desai asked how having the railroad tracks coming down would effect the Gateway Trail? Mr. Ahl said as part of this plan it was the city's goal to have the Gateway Trail (Vento Trail) constructed all the way up to Highway 96 and White Bear Avenue. Greg Mack, the Ramsey County Parks Director, had a grant to construct the trail. He was hoping to have the railroad abandoned by now. Unfortunately, working with the railroad is very difficult to deal with. He said on top of that, Burlington Northern has leased this line to Minnesota Commercial for operation and they have a six- year lease. Planning Commission Minutes of 04-21-03 -7- Mr. Ahl said they are looking at that as one of the business propositions and have asked for a significant amount of cash in order to buy out those leases. In the long term it would be a goal to have this trail extended to Highway 96 and White Bear Avenue along this corridor with the cities of White Bear Township, White Bear Lake, Vadnais Heights, and Maplewood. They are working with Mr. Mack on abandoning a small segment of the trail and constructing it up to the County Road D area and moving it through to Buerkle Drive and TH 61. Commissioner Mueller asked if the intention was to keep the dead end to County Road D on the other side of the bridge? Mr. Ahl said yes. Commissioner Rossbach said he believes there is a piece missing from this plan and it seems it does not fit in with the goals in the comprehensive plan about protecting existing neighborhoods. Mr. Ahl said the goals of the comprehensive plan are to provide an adequate level of service to commensurate with the land use plan for the entire community. He said this plan moves the city in that direction and it sets the city up with future improvements. It is his opinion that the problems the city is enduring around the Maplewood Mall area and the area roadways are the result of congestion because the transportation system cannot handle the volume of traffic. Therefore, the city is hearing about people making a shortcut through the residential neighborhoods. An example of this is Walter Street between TH 61 and up to County Road D. This area has some of the highest traffic volumes for a residential street and there is an absolute need for the alignment of the western section of roadway. In his opinion, the speed and the traffic volume through residential neighborhoods like that along Walter Street is unacceptable. Commissioner Rossbach said he agrees that the city is planning on implementing a number of changes to help move traffic along. However, even with the studies the city has done and the proposed road alignment, he feels the traffic level would be at the same level the city is currently at in 2003 when 2010 comes. He said with the improvements the city has planned, the changes will not protect the neighborhoods from people making shortcuts through residential neighborhoods. Commissioner Dierich said when looking at the wetland mitigation on figure 4, it appears there is only one outlet out to County Road D. Mr. Ahl said there would be three outlets, there is no outlet proposed to Hazelwood Avenue. There will be a major outlet to the south on Kennard Street up to County Road D. As part of the staff recommendation, there is going to be a new street from Kennard Street over to Southlawn Drive. The city is also having discussions with St. John's Hospital regarding a possible connection of St. John's Boulevard to Kennard Street as a through street over to Hazelwood Street. Chairperson Fischer asked if anyone in the audience wanted to speak on these issues for them to come forward and give their name and address. The following people spoke: Mr. Tom Gelman, Vice President of the Board of Directors of Cardinal Pointe, addressed the commission. The realignment of County Road D will have an impact on the residents at Cardinal Pointe. He said whichever plan the city chooses, they hope it will be far enough from Cardinal Pointe to keep the traffic, noise and the glare from the car lights down. Planning Commission Minutes of 04-21-03 -8- Mr. Gelman said if they can keep the railroad berm between the largest point of the road and Cardinal Pointe, they would be most appreciative. Mr. Robert Kranze, 1264 Highridge Court, Maplewood, addressed the commission. He said he lives in the new townhomes on the west end of County Road D, which are affected by this project. Wetland H is right out the back of his property. When he bought this town house he was told the wetlands would not be disturbed because they were protected by the government policy. He said they paid more for the town house lot because it was on a wetland and they thought it would stay there. He just found out the wetland that was there had been allowed to deteriorate. The soils indicate that the wetland is not the best wetland it used to be. He is sympathetic to the neighbors that have lived in that area for 30 plus years that are affected by this road alignment project. He said he is less sympathetic to the business owners, because in his opinion, they don't care about things like wetlands. He said plan W1 would save the three houses on County Road D but the road would go right through the wetland. He said he was told that with wetland mitigation, if you need to go through the wetland area there would be a two-to-one replacement of wetlands replaced somewhere. He would like consideration to be given for the restoration of the wetland. He asked what the zoning would be for the developable land in that area? Mr. Keel of URS said the land is zoned industrial. He said they would suggest that a less intensive commercial use be utilized east of the roadway and that a residential use would be appropriate west of the roadway, adjacent to the existing residential area that is to the west. Mr. Kranze asked with the higher density residential, will there be an effort to have another wetland preserved whether homes or town homes are built? Mr. Keel said it depends on which road alignment plan is selected. He said if the alignment is selected that removes the wetland, the wetland replacement is proposed to occur on the east side of TH 61 on the golf course property. Mr. Kranze said he would like the wetland to be put where God put it rather than over on the golf course, which is nice for the golfers. He thinks the wetland would be more beneficial on the west side where it has been. Mr. George Suppan, 3050 Hazelwood Avenue, Maplewood, addressed the commission. Mr. Suppan said it looks like one of the ponding areas will be right behind his house. He is concerned about that because of the elevation of the pipeline. He said they say they need to have runoff. In the elevations proposed in the EAW and the AUAR, the area where the gas line extends east of Hazelwood Avenue to the Legacy Village property is at the same level if not higher than the backyards of the property owners that are at the south side of where the pond is being proposed. Mr. Suppan said he wanted to make sure the pond would not have an impact on the residential area. At this point, the residents do not have a firm agreement of doing anything other than staying put. He is concerned that the pond level is going to be higher than the level of the homes and any potential water problems this could cause. Mr. Ahl assured Mr. Suppan that the pond would be located so it would not drain towards or into the residential homes. The planning commission will be reviewing these items again at their May 3, 2003, meeting. Planning Commission Minutes of 04-21-03 -9- VII. UNFINISHED BUSINESS None. VIII. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS None. IX. COMMISSION PRESENTATIONS a. Mr. Desai was the planning commission representative at the April 14, 2003, city council meeting. Items discussed were the home occupation hair salon for 2697 Pinkspire Lane, the city council approved the request. The city council denied the land use change for the higher density for the Van Dyke Village Townhomes and tabled action for the PUD request for the conditional use permit. b. Mr. Mueller will be the planning commission representative at the April 28, 2003, city council meeting. Items to be discussed will be the utility easement for Schroeder Milk, the reconsideration of the Sibley Cove Apartments on County Road D, and the CUP for the Van Dyke Village Town houses. c. Mr. Ledvina will be the planning commission representative at the May 12, 2003, city council meeting. Items to be discussed will be the street rights-of-way vacation for the Maplewood Middle School, the Frontline Church conditional use permit, and possibly the Legacy Village and the County Road D extension realignment. X. STAFF PRESENTATIONS a. Annual Tour Date - June 30, 2003 Mr. Roberts said he would like the planning commission to think about June 30, 2003, as the date for the upcoming annual tour. He said because there are five Mondays in the month of June, this fifth Monday in June makes the annual tour a possibility for the city council and planning commission to attend since they wouldn't have any scheduled meetings that week. Ms. Coleman reminded planning commission members that the joint city council and planning commission meeting on Monday, May 19, 2003, will start at 6:00 p.m. and end at 8:00 p.m. when the regular planning commission meeting would begin. Ms. Coleman said staff is in the process of scheduling a community-wide meeting to discuss the issues that have risen at Emma's Place. Based on the concerns of the neighborhood at the past planning commission and city council meetings, there is a need for a community-wide meeting to communicate the problems and try to resolve the issues. XI. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 9:23 p.m.