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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-01-06 PC Minutes MINUTES OF THE MAPLEWOOD PLANNING COMMISSION 1830 COUNTY ROAD BEAST, MAPLEWOOD, MINNESOTA TUESDAY, JANUARY 6, 2009 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 Absent Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present City Staff Present: Tom Ekstrand. Senior Planner Steve Kummer. Staff Enqineer III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Commissioner Pearson moved to approve the agenda as presented. Commissioner Trippler seconded The motion passed. Ayes - all IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES a. November 18, 2008 Commissioner Trippler moved to approve the minutes of November 18, 2008 as submitted. Commissioner Hess seconded Ayes - all The motion passed. b. December 2, 2008 Commissioner Trippler moved to approve the amended minutes of December 2, 2008 changing "of addressing" to read "of the addresses" in the first sentence of the third paragraph of Item V. a. Commissioner Desai seconded Ayes - Desai, Fischer, Hess, Martin, Trippler, Walton, Yarwood Abstention - Pearson The motion passed. V. PUBLIC HEARING a. 7:07 p.m. - Feed Products North Office Building, 1300 McKnight Road . Conditional Use Permit to Build Within 350 feet of Residential Property . Lot Division Planning Commission Minutes of 01-06-09 -2- Senior Planner Tom Ekstrand presented the staff report for this request by John Fallin, owner of Feed Products North, to build a 5,800-square-foot, two-story office building for his business on the westerly portion of his property, east of McKnight Road and west of the Lakewood Drive bridge. Mr. Ekstrand mentioned in reviewing this request the city observed there is a residence to the south of Feed Products North with code violations and staff is in the process of getting that property's violations resolved. Commissioner Trippler said Lakewood Drive is elevated and the plans do not include a retaining wall and asked staff if there might be a problem with Lakewood Drive sliding into the parking lot. Staff engineer Steve Kummer said a revised plan was done that includes a retaining wall, but there have also been discussions to move some of the parking spaces to the other side of the building. Commissioner Trippler asked what kind of easement the parking lot would be built over and who would need to repair the lot if maintenance needed to be done. Staff engineer Kummer said it is a water main easement and it is the responsibility of the utility owner to repave and make any needed repairs to the parking lot. Commissioner Trippler asked if runoff is planned to flow to the wetland area. Staff engineer Kummer responded that the runoff flows toward the wetlands but will be treated outside of the wetland buffer. Commissioner Martin asked staff if the applicant's 1998 plan is available and how similar it is to the current proposal. Planner Ekstrand showed the commission the 1998 plan. Mr. Ekstrand said a full review was done for the current proposal and, with the city's criteria and wetland requirements being stricter today than in 1998, he feels this is a better plan. Commissioner Yarwood asked staff to comment on the lighting plan to potentially shield the lighting from the neighbors. Staff said the proposed lighting intensities at the property lines are high and the plan must be modified to limit the lighting maximum to .4 foot candles at the perimeter of the site. Bob Moser of Moser Homes, representing the applicant, addressed the commission and apologized that applicant John Fallin was out of town and unable to attend the meeting. Mr. Moser presented to the commission an updated plan that proposes a three and one-half-foot retaining wall located between Lakewood Drive and the parking lot. Mr. Moser said another addition to the plan is that an angle has been added to the parking lot to be certain that the lot conforms to the required setback guidelines. Commissioner Hess asked if there is a lower basement level planned for the building that is not shown on the plans. Mr. Moser responded there is a lower level planned that will be unfinished, but it is intended for use by a future tenant. Mr. Moser said he would like to go on record regarding staff's earlier comments about the city requiring the property owner to the south, who is in violation of city code, to conform to city ordinances. Mr. Moser said Mr. Fallin appreciates staff's efforts to resolve the outside storage issues and the other code violations on the adjacent property. Mr. Moser said Mr. Fallin will be doing a lot to make the area look good and he would like adjacent properties to abide by similar requirements. The public hearing was opened for comments from the public. The following people spoke: Planning Commission Minutes of 01-06-09 -3- Eugene Stepaniak, of 2249 Tilsen Ave in St. Paul, was concerned about an underground stream across the street that there may be spilling in the ground area that runs to Beaver Lake. Mr. Stepaniak said he now lives in St. Paul and wondered why St. Paul is not shown on the maps used at the meeting and also, that he was not included by Maplewood in the survey. Planner Ekstrand said Mr. Stepaniak received a letter notifying him of this meeting, which is a legal requirement, and further explained that the Maplewood site maps used at the meeting do not include any properties of neighboring cities. In this case, Maplewood's property maps stop at McKnight Road and don't include St. Paul. Commissioner Pearson asked whether soil borings have been taken on this site. Staff engineer Kummer responded he has not received soil borings from the site, but they will take as many as needed to construct the building. Mr. Pearson suggested that borings be taken on this area. Mr. Kummer responded that soil borings are typically taken on every project site, including city projects. Commissioner Hess asked staff if the underground stream referred to by Mr. Stepaniak is shown on the city's maps. Engineer Kummer responded there are no maps that show groundwater flow in the city, but staff will look into the concern of an underground stream. David Thorwick, 2285 Tilsen Court, said his concern is vehicle lights from the driveway shining onto his property. Planner Ekstrand responded that city code requires an eighty percent screening with dense evergreens or a wooden fence to block headlights between the parking lot and drive. Mr. Ekstrand said this is included as one of staff's recommendations in the staff report. Bob Moser, the applicant's representative, said some soil borings have been taken on the site and he will submit them to city staff. Mr. Moser said he is not aware of a water table elevation problem, but this will be checked. Mr. Moser reiterated that they have no intention of using or disposing of any hazardous materials or unapproved matter on the site. Mr. Moser said the purpose of this building is as an office and this would include any additional tenants. Mr. Moser said they are receptive to a lighting plan that will minimize inconvenience to adjacent properties including whatever is dictated by the city. Toni Thorwick, 2285 Tilsen Court, asked for clarification on the height of the proposed parking lot as opposed to her property. Commissioner Trippler noted the elevations involved and said the proposed eighty percent opaque screening required by the city should take care of lighting on her property. There were no further comments from the public. The public hearing was closed. Commissioner Yarwood suggested a lighting recommendation be included stating the lighting be shielded or directed to shine into the interior of the applicant's property. Planner Ekstrand said lighting is a community design review board recommendation, but it would be an appropriate item to add. Commissioner Yarwood also suggested a condition be added to include a retaining wall. Commissioner Trippler moved the planning commission recommend: a. Adoption of the resolution approving a conditional use permit for the Feed Products North office building, located at 1300 McKnight Road. This permit allows the construction of an office building on land zoned M1 (light manufacturing) within 350 feet of residential property. Approval is based on the findings required by ordinance and subject to the following conditions: 1. All construction shall follow the site plan approved by the city. Staff may approve minor changes. 2. The proposed construction must be substantially started within one year of council approval. The city council may extend this permit one additional year. Planning Commission Minutes of 01-06-09 -4- 3. The city council shall review this permit in one year. After two years the permit shall end unless construction has started. 4. Compliance with conditions in the report by Steve Kummer, Maplewood staff engineer, dated December 2, 2008. An addition of a retaining wall east of the east parking lot shall be included. 5. Compliance with conditions in the report by Ginny Gaynor, open space naturalist with the city, in her report dated November 26, 2008. 6. Compliance with conditions in the report by Shann Finwall, environmental planner with the city, dated December 26, 2008. 7. Provide wetland-protection signs along the wetland buffer as required by ordinance. The number and placement of these signs shall be determined by the environmental planner. These signs shall prohibit any building, mowing, cutting, filling or dumping in or around the wetland. 8. To develop this site adjacent to residential property, the applicant shall provide a screening buffer that is at least six feet tall and 80 percent opaque upon installation. This buffer may be comprised of evergreen trees or a decorative wood fence. Such screening shall be subject to staff approval. b. Approval of the lot split to separate the office site from the main part of the applicant's property located at 1300 McKnight Road, subject to the following conditions: 1. The property owner shall dedicate cross easements on the west property that cover the utilities (sanitary and storm) which serve the lot east of Lakewood Drive. 2. The applicant shall dedicate a public drainage and utility easement over the 24-inch culvert on the property if it is found to belong to Ramsey County. Commissioner Pearson seconded The motion passed. Ayes - all Commissioner Yarwood asked if a motion was needed on the lighting issue or if it would be noted to the design review board. Planner Ekstrand said if time allows the addition would be made in the staff report to go out the next day if possible or would be verbally noted at the review board meeting, and also it would be revised for the city council's review. VI. NEW BUSINESS a. Sustainable Maplewood City planner Tom Ekstrand presented discs from environmental planner Shann Finwall to the commissioners for their review. Mr. Ekstrand said Ms. Finwall will attend a future meeting to discuss this item. b. Rural Residential Conservation-Approach Ordinance Amendment City planner Ekstrand introduced consultant Jennifer Haskamp of Pulse Land Group, who presented preliminary information regarding a draft code amendment proposed to modify the rural single dwelling district (R-1 R) to become the rural conservation dwelling district. Planning Commission Minutes of 01-06-09 -5- Ms. Haskamp said the city council recommended the draft comprehensive plan on December 8 and guided the south Maplewood area for a density range of .5 to 1.5 units per acre. Ms. Haskamp explained the council then directed that an ordinance be prepared to protect this area in the interim until the comprehensive plan is legally adopted. Ms. Haskamp explained how the proposed ordinance will work and then reviewed the draft ordinance with the commission. Commissioner Yarwood said he is concerned that the wording in the ordinance is fuzzy, such as defining what credit given means when exceeding standards such as in the steep slopes ordinances and how much is needed to exceed in order to receive this credit. Commissioner Desai suggested the wording from the comprehensive plan be adopted as an ordinance until the comprehensive plan is legally adopted. Ms. Haskamp responded that the amended densities cannot legally be amended in that way. Ms. Haskamp said that legally the zoning must match the land use. Ms. Haskamp explained this ordinance would legally allow the city to encourage developers to do things do get additional density. In reply to the commissioner's comments on fuzzy ordinance wording in the ordinance, Ms. Haskamp said further defining the wording would take considerable time and the ordinance needs to go into effect as soon as possible in order to stop undesirable development which would be allowable under the current comprehensive plan. Commissioner Walton asked if all of the density incentives are equal. Ms. Haskamp responded that in theory the densities are all equally weighted, but the ordinance would allow staff to have discussions with developers to encourage the conservation principles that would meet the intent of the ordinance. Commissioner Trippler questioned why the city does not again put a moratorium on this property prohibiting development for another year. Councilmember John Nephew, who was attending the meeting, responded saying the city council previously enacted a moratorium and then extended that moratorium. Mr. Nephew understood the city's ability to again "extend" the moratorium were used up. Commissioner Fischer said the word "view" used in the ordinance could be further defined, since beauty is in the eye of the beholder and watching the language may prevent a problem as a matter of definition. Ms. Haskamp agreed that defining what constitutes a view is challenging and said without a view shed study, defining what corridors to preserve and defining what that would mean would be subjective. Ms. Haskamp said the list of conservation principles was identified previously by the various commissions and advisory groups and that list could be modified. Commissioner Yarwood suggested the item referring to cluster housing be removed from the ordinance, since housing closely spaced was something they wanted to avoid. Commissioner Fischer disagreed with Commissioner Yarwood's suggestion saying that sometimes the kindest thing for the environment is to cluster housing rather than to spread it over the entire area. Commissioner Desai asked if restricting a developer from building townhouses or condos was included in the ordinance. Ms. Haskamp responded that permitted uses are any uses that are permitted in the R-1 R district and that would not include townhouses or condos. Ms. Haskamp said this discussion has been very helpful and she will take a look at making clearer and tighter definitions and defining where possible what a credit might be. Planning Commission Minutes of 01-06-09 -6- Ms. Haskamp said this item would be brought back before the commission for a public hearing and reconsideration on January 20. VII. UNFINISHED BUSINESS None VIII. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS Carolyn Petersen, 1801 Gervais Avenue, said she felt the R 1 R ordinance needs lot of further review. Ms. Petersen said she has studied and read on cluster development and she feels it is a good way to go to encourage trail development and natural areas. IX. COMMISSION PRESENTATIONS . Commissioner Yarwood reported on the December 8 city council meeting. . January 12 City Council Meeting - Commissioner Fischer will attend. X. STAFF PRESENTATIONS City planner Ekstrand reviewed the current schedule for commission representative attendance at city council meetings and explained he moved Commissioners Desai and Yarwood to the bottom of the list since they attended recent meetings. The commission had no changes. XI. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 9:37 p.m.