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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/07/2008 MINUTES OF THE MAPLEWOOD PLANNING COMMISSION 1830 COUNTY ROAD BEAST, MAPLEWOOD, MINNESOTA TUESDAY, OCTOBER 7,2008 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 Present Absent Present Present Present Absent Present Present Present City Staff Present: Tom Ekstrand. Citv Planner Steve Kummer. Staff Enqineer III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Commissioner Trippler moved to approve the agenda as presented. Commissioner Hess seconded The motion passed. Ayes - all IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES a. September 16, 2008 Commissioner Trippler moved approval of the minutes of September 16, 2008 as submitted. Commissioner Yarwood seconded Ayes - Fischer, Hess, Martin, Pearson, Trippler, Walton, Yarwood Abstention - Boeser The motion passed. V. PUBLIC HEARING a. 7:01 p.m. - Richie Place Lot Split, LaBore Road East of Arcade Street . Comprehensive Land Use Plan Amendment - OS (open space) to R1 (single dwelling) . Lot Division Planner Tom Ekstrand presented the staff report for the proposal to develop 16 single-family detached town homes in Maplewood and Little Canada. Three of the 16 lots are within the City of Maplewood's boundaries and the remaining 13 lots are in Little Canada. Staff is bringing this proposal before the planning commission due to the majority of the project being in Little Canada and due to the proposed open space land use. Staff said it is unclear why this private property was originally planned as open space. Staff said the city attorney has advised that the city should not be planning private properties as open space and it is appropriate that these private property designations be changed to single dwelling. Planning Commission Minutes of 10-07-08 -2- Commissioner Hess asked whether the requirements of the sewer standards would be the same in Little Canada as in Maplewood since Little Canada will be installing the sewer for the project. Staff engineer Steve Kummer responded saying that the drainage going into the pond would be the same as if Maplewood had reviewed the plan. Mr. Kummer said that the pipe layout was not out of the ordinary and is within Maplewood's standards. Commissioner Martin asked about street assessments for improvements on a Little Canada street with the house being in Maplewood. Mr. Kummer said that the two cities would need to create a joint powers agreement for city services. Phil Solby of Lauren and Company Development, the applicant for the project, explained plans for this proposal. Mr. Solby discussed the current down trend in the housing market and the applicant's desire to increase the value and marketability of this land. Mr. Solby said that no improvements would be done until there were a significant number of lots sold and all improvements could be done at one time. The applicant was asked what measures would be taken to protect the wetland when the development begins. Mr. Solby responded that they would follow all of the guidelines and requirements requested by the city. Mr. Solby said that in addition there is a natural buffer of trees and vegetation on the edge of the wetland that will help protect the wetland. The public hearing was opened for comments. The following people spoke: David Himmelbach, 2970 Labore Road, Little Canada, said a notice of foreclosure was pinned to his door last week. Mr. Himmelbach said the foreclosure notice included the applicant's property included in this proposal. John Gores, 2870 Arcade Street, Maplewood, said that he and his wife Jolene Gores have filed a lawsuit with the City of Little Canada claiming that an approved variance for a cul-de-sac length was inappropriate. Mr. Gores also presented to the commission a copy of the Little Canada engineer's drainage plan for this project, a copy of a notice of foreclosure, and a report from Shann Finwall discussing tree preservation and wetland buffer review. Mr. Gores asked that this request be denied by the commission due to legal and economic issues. Bill Schorn, 2940 Labore Road, Little Canada, said he owns the property west of the proposed development. Mr. Schorn commented that it would not be unusual for a homeowner with property that is designated open space use to not be able to build on that property and yet be required to pay taxes on the property. Mr. Schorn said the foreclosure issue is very important for consideration. Gary Kuam, 2934 Labore Road, Little Canada, said he is an adjacent property owner and understands that this property will be developed eventually, even if not developed by Mr. Sol by. Mr. Kuam noted his concerns with this development including safety issues, length and design of the cul-de-sac and space for turnaround for fire trucks, water run off and the holding pond and swale and protection of wetlands and Gervais Lake. Bill Hanson, 2836 Keller Parkway, said he is against this proposal for many of the reasons previously addressed tonight. Mr. Batista, 951 Beam Avenue, said he is against this proposal. Mr. Batista noted that an engineer told him it would be cheaper to install sewer lift stations to Labore Road than to continue installing the sewer line to Arcade Street. Planning Commission Minutes of 10-07-08 -3- David Himmelbach spoke again regarding the previous owner's excavation of the site and soil pollution issues with the property. Mr. Himmelbach said that in the past he had requested soil testing of the property by the MPCA, but was told there was no funding available to do the testing. John Gores spoke again regarding the open space designation of this property and reminded the commission that the 60-day time limit is now in effect for this proposal and it needs to be considered and addressed within that time limit. Phil Solby, the applicant for this proposal, said they are trying to cap losses with this project. Mr. Solby further explained that there is a voluntary foreclosure with confidential lender agreements in place. Mr. Solby said they have agreed to see this project through and that he will continue to act as the developer to complete this project if possible. Mr. Solby asked the commission to look at this request solely on its merits and what is relevant. Bill Schorn again spoke against this request and said Mr. Solby failed to retain his letter of credit. Commissioner Boeser noted that approval of the lot split plan for three or fewer lots is staff's purview and asked staff whether they can move forward with approval of this lot split if the commission rejects it. Mr. Ekstrand responded negatively that this request would go forward and noted that this request also includes a proposed land use plan amendment. Jolene Gores, 2870 Arcade Street, said that the city of Little Canada never approved detached town homes for this property. Ms. Gores said Mr. Sol by's financial qualification is relevant. Commissioner Yarwood said that the financial issues pertaining to the applicant discussed tonight are not the commission's purview and the commission can only consider the request before them. There were no further comments from the public; the public hearing was closed. Commissioner Martin moved to table this request in order to get a legal opinion from the city attorney. Commissioner Trippler seconded and requested the following information on: 1) whether the drainage was adequately designed, 2) whether pond calculations were correct, 3) whether the cul-de-sac criteria was met, 4) issues with the elevations and slopes on the three lots in Maplewood and whether they could be developed without having an adverse impact on the wetlands, the tree preservation matter, and the storm sewer outlet structures. Commissioner Boeser suggested that with all the issues needing clarification this request should be denied and the applicant can reapply. Commissioner Boeser suggested that if this item is tabled, it should not come back to the planning commission for consideration until after November 18, 2008. The commission then voted The motion passed. Ayes - all Planning Commission Minutes of 10-07-08 -4- Commissioner Boeser said he felt that he had the wool pulled over his eyes on this project. Mr. Boeser said it was a great oversight on the part of staff, whether intentional or not, to not inform the commission of an intent to foreclose on this property. Mr. Boeser said it doesn't have to do with the financial viability of the current owner of the property, but it has to do with the standing of them as the owner of the property or the interested party in the property. Mr. Boeser said to be quite honest, this would have been a very easy decision coming forward, if we had notice that a foreclosure was going to occur on a property; we obviously don't want to make a decision on a property until we know that the owner is going to be there long term. Mr. Boeser said he was angry that he didn't receive the full deal from staff and asked if staff had a reason he should let him know. Mr. Ekstrand responded to Mr. Boeser saying that he learned about the financial issues and foreclosure at exactly the same moment as everyone else at tonight's meeting heard it and clarified that he had no previous knowledge of the foreclosure and he was not clouding or keeping anything from the commission. Commissioner Martin questioned whether this issue is with the property or the property owner and said he does not feel that staff needs to do a credit check on applicants. Commissioner Yarwood said the commission's responsibility is to make decisions based on the most appropriate land use regardless of who the applicant is. VI. NEW BUSINESS None VII. UNFINISHED BUSINESS None VIII. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS a. Mayor Diana Longrie addressed the commission regarding the 60-day legal notice. IX. COMMISSION PRESENTATIONS Upcoming Council Meetings and PC Representation: . September 22: St. John's Hospital PUD Revision and Vacations - Staff reported . October 27,2008: Legacy Shops PUD Revision Scheduled - Mr. Yarwood X. STAFF PRESENTATIONS a. October 21 planning commission meeting is cancelled. b. November 4 planning commission meeting rescheduled to November 6. c. A flyer was distributed to the commission from Lucille Watt XI. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 9:48 p.m.