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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/29/2008 MINUTES OF THE MAPLEWOOD PLANNING COMMISSION 1830 COUNTY ROAD BEAST, MAPLEWOOD, MINNESOTA TUESDAY, JULY 29, 2008 I. CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Fischer called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. II. ROLL CALL Commissioner Joseph Boeser Vice-Chairperson Tushar Desai Chairperson Lorraine Fischer Commissioner Harland Hess Commissioner Robert Martin Commissioner Gary Pearson Commissioner Dale Trippler Commissioner Joe Walton Commissioner Jeremy Yarwood Staff Present: Absent Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Tom Ekstrand. Senior Planner Ginnv Gavnor. Citv Open Space Coordinator III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Commissioner Trippler moved to approve the agenda as presented. Commissioner Pearson seconded The motion passed. IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES a. July 15, 2008 Ayes - all Commissioner Pearson moved approval of the minutes of July 15, 2008 as presented. Commissioner Hess seconded The motion passed. V. PUBLIC HEARING None VI. NEW BUSINESS Ayes -Desai, Fischer, Hess, Martin, Pearson, Trippler, Walton Abstentions - Yarwood a. 2008 Comprehensive Plan Update - Review and Discussion of Land Use Plan Update Senior planner Tom Ekstrand introduced Mr. Michael Martin, consultant with MFRA. Mr. Martin said tonight's discussion will focus on the last two chapters of the draft comprehensive plan: the parks, trails and open space chapter and the housing chapter. Planning Commission Minutes of 07-29-08 -2- Parks, Trails and Open Space Chapter Mr. Martin introduced Jennifer Haskamp of MFRA. Ms. Haskamp said she has been working over the past year with an advisory panel and the parks commission to develop the parks, trails and open space chapter. Ms. Haskamp explained the process the group used to develop this chapter. Ms. Haskamp gave a presentation on the parks, trails and open space chapter and explained the additions and changes that were made to the current plan. Commissioner Fischer noted population plays a role in how many acres are needed for parks or playgrounds and asked what the current rule of thumb is regarding how many acres are needed per number of people. Ms. Haskamp noted the information is on page 6-13 and explained how it was determined. Commissioner Fischer noted the summary table on page 6-20 and said not all neighborhoods have the same acreage and population or are fully developed. Ms. Fischer suggested two columns be added to give a clearer picture, one for the total neighborhood acreage and one for planned population at full development. Commissioner Trippler added that Sherwood Glen neighborhood includes Keller Park golf course and Hillside neighborhood includes Goodrich golf course and these inclusions give a distorted view of acreage for use by the neighborhood. Commissioner Desai suggested golf courses be classified as open space land. Ms. Haskamp suggested a statement be added to that table stating the totals represented include golf courses and regional parks and asterisk the neighborhoods where they are located. Commissioner Trippler questioned if the funding for parks is not part of city's budget but instead is paid by PAC fees that are assessed on new development in the city. Staff responded his understanding from discussions is that PAC funding covers acquisition and maintenance. Mr. Trippler said he is concerned about funding for parks since Maplewood is almost entirely developed and he feels the city needs to step up and figure out how to fund its parks system. Ginny Gaynor, city open space coordinator, explained park maintenance comes out of the general fund, but most development and redevelopment comes from PAC fees and grants. Ms. Gaynor said the PAC fees are used in any city parks, not just the park where the development occurred. Peter Fischer, city parks commissioner, said PAC fees could be split into several different areas. Mr. Fischer explained that PAC fees from commercial areas can be spent anywhere within the city, but within individual neighborhoods it was initially strongly recommended that they be used as much as possible in the neighborhood where the development occurred, but it was not guaranteed. Commissioner Martin commented on the recent capital improvement plan for parks and recreation projects and how the funding involved at that time was reduced 66 percent. Peter Fischer explained the parks commission's process for capital improvement projects and that the proposed projects were cancelled from last year's plan. Chairperson Fischer suggested that Mounds Park Academy should be added to the list of schools on page 6-28. Ms. Haskamp said the list includes only public schools. Ms. Fischer responded that the list now includes Hill Murray which is private and the list should either include all schools or public schools only. Planning Commission Minutes of 07-29-08 -3- Commissioner Trippler noted the last bullet under Goal 1 on page 6-4 does not make sense and needs to be corrected. Ms. Haskamp said the correction will be made from "that" to "the". Commissioner Desai suggested the term "global warming" under Ecological Goal 2 on page 6-6 be changed to "climate changes" to be more inclusive. Open space coordinator Gaynor was in agreement saying that change would be made. Commissioner Pearson said most citizens would relate to parks and trails acreage as acreage that they could use without paying a fee. Referring to table 6-5, Mr. Pearson said that when acreage of neighborhoods is used that requires a fee it is not representative. Mr. Pearson suggested creating an additional table splitting out what acreages are available for citizens to use without paying a fee. Commissioner Desai noted the correction needs to be made from "or" to "of' in the second to the last paragraph on page 6-13. Commissioner Fischer corrected "or" to "of' on page 6-18 under Jim's Prairie. Housing Chapter Michael Martin of MFRA explained the draft housing plan. Mr. Martin said this draft plan is a continuation of the existing and established housing plan. Mr. Martin explained there are no policy changes proposed with this plan and only housing stock statistics and minor edits such as wording changes have been made. Commissioner Desai asked if the 2000 housing statistics couldn't be updated with numbers more current. Michael Martin responded that the statistics used are from the 2000 U. S. Census figures. Mr. Martin said the Metropolitan Council does only forecasting and estimates. Mr. Martin said these figures cannot be updated until the next U. S. Census is done. Commissioner Desai asked if the 333 units of new affordable housing required by the Metropolitan Council is as of 2000. Michael Martin responded the mandate for these required housing units is to 2020 and coincides with this planning process. Mr. Desai suggested a number of the affordable housing units have already been complied with and this progress should be noted in the document. Mr. Martin agreed and said a clarifying statement would be added. Commissioner Pearson said the mandate year noted in the housing plan is 2030 rather than 2020. Mr. Martin said the report that this mandate stems from is the Housing Plan for the Metropolitan Area from 2011-2020 and that 2020 is the correct mandate year. Commissioner Martin suggested the comprehensive plan schedule be modified so it is updated when the new census statistics are available, rather than using the statistics that are several years old. Michael Martin responded there has been some discussion on that issue. Commissioner Yarwood said since the commission will be reviewing the zoning code after the comprehensive plan review is completed, language might be inserted into the zoning text mentioned in the comprehensive plan that would state changes may be made to the zoning code in the future. Michael Martin responded a statement be added clarifying these zoning district requirements will be reviewed and may be adjusted. Planning Commission Minutes of 07-29-08 -4- Michael Martin noted the commissioners' survey results identifying the ten most important things about south Maplewood and reported they were: efficient use of land, low impact development, natural habitat corridors, wetland protection, cluster development, large wooded areas, nature preserves, infrastructure costs, density, and storm water/impervious surface issues. Jennifer Haskamp commented on housing units per acre in south Maplewood and said incentives need to be encouraged for developers to leave high quality green spaces and save natural resources within a development. Ms. Haskamp said one of the ways to do that is to have flexibility built into density ranges. Michael Martin gave the commission several options for proceeding with the draft plan and asked the commission to determine how they want to proceed. The commission chose to receive a summary memorandum from the consultants detailing the entire draft plan which will be mailed with the next meeting packet. Mr. Martin discussed with the commission ideas for conducting the public hearing, such as speaking time limits, room size and the preferred meeting ending time. Commissioner Desai suggested the public be reminded not to repeat information a speaker has given earlier, but only to note agreement with that previous speaker. Mr. Martin responded this issue would be part of the ground rules announced at the beginning of the public hearing. VII. UNFINISHED BUSINESS None VIII. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS None IX. COMMISSION PRESENTATIONS a. Upcoming Council Meetings and PC Representation: . August 11 (St. John's Hospital Expansion): Mr. Yarwood . August 25 (Gethsemane TIF Request): Mr. Desai . September 8 (items unknown at this time): Ms. Fischer if needed . September 22 (items unknown at this time): Mr. Hess if needed b. Chairperson Fischer submitted an article on "Making Sense of Nature's Systems" A copy of Ms. Fischer's article was included in the meeting packet. X. STAFF PRESENTATIONS a. Possible rescheduling of the August 5 PC meeting due to National Night Out It was agreed to cancel the first meeting in August, since there are no planning items to consider. XI. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m.