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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/08/2000AGENDA MAPLEWOOD COMMUNITY DESIGN REVIEW BOARD February 8, 2000 6:00 P.M. City Council Chambers Maplewood City Hall 1830 East County Road B January 18, 2000 1. Call to Order 2. Roll Call 3. Approval of Minutes: 4. Approval of Agenda 5. Unfinished Business 6. Design Review a. Maplewood Retail Shopping Center, 2271 White Bear Avenue - Reliance Development Company b. North St. Paul Post Office Annex, 1686 Gervais Avenue - U. S. Postal Service c. 1999 Annual Report Reconsideration 7. Visitor Presentations 8. Board Presentations 9. Staff Presentations a. Reminder: CDRB Volunteer for February 14 City Council Meeting is Matt Ledvina. (Item to be reviewed is Woodlynn Heights Townhomes No. 7.) b. CDRB Volunteer Needed for February 28 City Council Meeting. (Items to be reviewed are the Maplewood Retail Shopping Center and the North St. Paul Post Office.) 10. Adjourn p:com-dvpt~cdrb.agd MINUTES OF THE MAPLEWOOD COMMUNITY DESIGN REVIEW BOARD 1830 COUNTY ROAD B EAST, MAPLEWOOD, MINNESOTA FEBRUARY 8, 2000 CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Ledvina called the meeting to order at 6:03 p.m. II. ROLL CALL III. Matt Ledvina Present Ananth Shankar Present Tim Johnson Present Jon LaCasse Present Craig Jorgenson Absent APPROVAL OF MINUTES Boardmember Shankar moved approval of the minutes of January 18, 2000, as submitted. Boardmember Johnson seconded. The motion passed. Ayes--all IV. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Boardmember Johnson moved approval of the agenda as submitted. Boardmember LaCasse seconded. The motion passed. Ayes--all V. UNFINISHED BUSINESS VI. There was no unfinished business. DESIGN REVIEW A. Maplewood Retail Shopping Center, 2271 White Bear Avenue--Reliance Development Company Secretary Tom Ekstrand presented the staff report. Mr. Ekstrand asked the board to act on the sign plan if they felt it was adequate. He said the building elevations show possible sign locations on the north, west and east elevations. Mr. Ekstrand said he hoped to establish where the signs would be allowed, not what they would say. On the north elevation there is a possibility of continual signage shown across the whole elevation, at the north end of the west elevation there are spots for three signage areas, and there are areas designated on the prominent towers on the east elevation. Chairperson Ledvina questioned how the 5-foot letters were going to work on the shown sign area and noted that the signage would cover different color materials. He said this raised a concern about signs not being within a "one-colored area." Mr. Ekstrand agreed but thought the applicant was indicating, in the dashed area, "what would encompass 20 percent Community Design Review Board Minutes of 02-08-00 -2- coverage" that the sign code allows. He said he would prefer to see the signs confined to the tan area on the sketch and not cross the material on the columns. Boardmember Shankar asked why so many signs were needed for only four tenants. Mr. Ekstrand said sometimes centers start out with four tenants and then, in the future, get divided into eight units. He felt it was difficult to approve a plan based on the maximum amount of coverage that the sign code would allow. Mr. Ekstrand said pylon signs are shown on the site plan located near Highway 36 and by Cope and White Bear Avenue. According to code, these pylon signs can be 28-feet-tall at the 10-foot-setback line and have one additional foot of height for each additional three feet of setback up to a maximum of 50-feet-tall. Another variable with a highway frontage sign, according to Mr. Ekstrand, is the option of measuring from the grade elevation where the sign is placed or from the nearest road grade. He read from a section of the code on how this is measured. Dan O'Mara, of Portfolio Design, was present representing the applicant. He said the towers were created to make the center inviting. The materials will be in keeping within the context of the neighborhood, but the towers were added for an exciting, contemporary look. Mr. O'Mara said the building was laid out in 20-foot bays to allow anywhere from four to eight tenants. Reliance Development Company, the owner of the center, has decided to leave the area between the towers a cream color. Mr. O'Mara said the foundation of the building and the edges of the towers up to the main building height will be rock-face block, the main sign area will be cream stucco, and the portion to the top of the building will be coated in an EIFS material. On the south, west and north elevations, a field of brick will be in between the rock-face block. All of the windows will be typical storefront windows with bronze anodized frames and clear glass. According to Mr. O'Mara, the red used on the building awning will be a "warm, classical red." The blue and green colors used will also be "rich" hues. The truss and pipes on the towers will be steel and colored the same as the corresponding awning. The pin dots and the line band that follows the awnings on the north, west and south elevations will be typical 8- x 8- x 16-inch block with a center grove to make them look like 8 x 8 x 8. The metal will be a scratch-resistive material. Peter Hilger, also of Portfolio Design said every tenant does not necessarily get a tower. They were added to "develop a rhythm and to provide each end cap with its own identity." Mr. Hilger said the end caps can be subdivided further. He also stated that the corner pilasters will remain dark tan because they are projections and there is no way to run signage across them. However the owner does prefer to have the flexibility to run the signage across more than one bay. Mr. Hilger asserted that they need to be able to locate the doors within anyone of the openings to suit the tenant. Boardmember Shankar didn't feel there was the same rhythm with the door placement as there was with the towers. Secretary Ekstrand thought the doors "should be looked at in terms of as the design that the applicant will put in the facility as opposed to the exact placement of the doors." Mr. Shankar liked the looks of the doors centered in the bay. This was too limiting for Mr. Hilger. Mr. Shankar also had a problem with the narrow sidelight and preferred that the door be mullion to mullion. Mr. Hilger said this would be a nonstandard door. Mr. Hilger explained that they design shopping centers on a four-foot module because it allows a demising wall to occur at anyone of the breaks (four-feet on center) at any one of the glass points or any spot within four feet on any of the piers. If the Community Design Review Board Minutes of 02-08-00 -3- sidelight were eliminated, the door would be larger and heavier and thus more difficult for the handicapped to operate. Mr. Hilger said the building is 19'4" and there is a 1½-2 foot parapet along the front of the building and up to a 4 foot parapet along the rear. The roof elevation varies because it pitches but the joist elevations have not been worked out at this level. There will be packaged rooftop units. Mr. Hilger said they will be going with a three-color scheme because "Kinko's loves blue," Starbucks is green, and Davanni's is red. Using multiple color schemes helps to enhance the identify of each of the tenants. Dan O'Mara answered questions about the pylon sign. He said Reliance requested six panels and a smaller center-name panel below it. The same architectural theme, with the arched roof, would be used. It would have light-weight metal boxes with a back-lit capability. The 150-foot-height was based on the elevation of Highway 36, not the off-ramp. The height of the smaller pylon was based on the elevation of White Bear Avenue. He said three ourses of rock-face block will be the base of the sign. The colors would match the building. Mr. Hilger said the sign box would be die-cut metal and have a dark-face material with the letters cut out of the face material and be internally illuminated. Boardmember Shankar asked why there wouldn't be glass on four bays of the north elevation since it was so exposed to Highway 36. He didn't think it was necessary to glass the center bay. Mr. Hilger answered that tenants hate glass. There was concern expressed as to whether the fence on the dumpster area was high enough. Mr. Hilger said the walls are ten feet high. He felt it was important to note that the dumpster was placed in the notch of the building. Mr. Hilger said they neglected to note it but the end caps would have a sign. Secretary Ekstrand said if the boardmembers did not feel comfortable with the sign plan, they could table that aspect and wait to see redrawn elevations that included the changes discussed at this meeting. He did not feel the sign plan was bad--just that not enough information was given. Chairperson Ledvina asked for information on the criteria that is used for the pylon sign. He thought a 50-foot sign was too tall. Chairperson Ledvina didn't have a problem with the towers but found it difficult to picture how the building would look. Overall, he said good quality materials were being used. Mr. Ledvina thought the towers were going to provide the "distinct feature of this site," but he did have a concern with the multiple colors. He felt the awnings, as well as the colored metal work, should be uniform in color Secretary Ekstrand made a few comments on the landscape plan. He said there are some assets to the site, especially the screening on the boulevard at the north end which "waives the need for much on the north side." He would like to see the four ash trees on the south side preserved. Mr. Ekstrand hoped to see "something better done along the White Bear Avenue frontage." He suggested that the board might want to see a revised landscape plan at the same time as the sign plan. Mr. Ekstrand advised the board to delete C.2. b. that refers to the color scheme if they thought it was acceptable. He recommended that C.2. c. (submittal of a comprehensive sign plan) and C.2. e. (submittal of a landscape plan for approval) be retained. Mr. Ekstrand also did not want to see a "hodgepodge" of color over a period of time through a change of tenants. Community Design Review Board Minutes of 02-08-00 -4- Chairperson Ledvina suggested that the applicant choose one color for the awnings and metal work and stick to that color. He thought C.2. b. could be changed to read, "the color scheme submitted to the Community Design Review Board is acceptable with the exception of the use of multiple colors in the awnings and metal work. The applicant shall submit or maintain a uniform color which is subject to staff approval." Mr. Ekstrand said the board could look at a revised color scheme with the landscaping and sign plan review. Since there were different opinions among the board members on the color scheme, Mr. Ledvina felt the motion could be left as written by staff and the color, sign and landscape be reconsidered at a future meeting. Boardmember Johnson moved the Community Design Review Board recommend: Adoption of the resolution which approves a ten-foot parking lot setback variance for the proposed Maplewood Retail Site at 2271 White Bear Avenue. Approval is based on the following findings: The proposed five-foot-wide green strip would meet the spirit and intent of the ordinance in combination with the wide highway boulevard. The highway right-of-way ranges in width from 52 feet to 100 feet adjacent to the proposed north/northeast lot line. With the proposed five feet of setback, there would be 57 feet to 105 feet of green space to the shoulder of the highway off ramp. This is well over the typical green strip width between a parking lot and a street which is 25 to 30 feet (15 feet of setback and 10 to 15 feet of boulevard). The parking lot setbacks proposed are substantially better than the existing ones. Currently the Bali Hal parking lot is at the lot line, and in areas, extends into the right-of- way. The applicant's plan would improve this current situation. Complying with the code would cause the developer undue hardship because of circumstances unique to the property. The site is difficult to fit a development since it has three street frontages and has an irregular shape. Approval of the plans, date-stamped January 7, 2000, for the proposed Maplewood Retail Site at 2271 White Bear Avenue, based on the findings required by the code. Approval is subject to the applicant complying with the following conditions: 1. Repeat this review in two years if the city has not issued a building permit for this project. 2. Before getting a building permit, the applicant shall: a. Submit grading, drainage, utility and erosion control plans to the city engineer for approval. b. Submit a building color scheme to the community design review board for approval. c. Submit a comprehensive sign plan to the community design review board for approval. Community Design Review Board Minutes of 02-08-00 The a. b. -5- Boardmember LaCasse seconded. The motion passed. d. Revise the site plan for staff approval substituting the hardwood chips next to the southerly parking row with landscape rock mulch. e. Submit a revised landscape plan for community design review board approval providing trees on site along the White Bear Avenue frontage. 3. applicant shall complete the following before occupying the building: Install a handicap-parking sign for each handicap-parking space. Provide continuous concrete curb and gutter all around the parking lot and driveways. c. Paint the rooftop mechanical equipment to match the building color if the units are visible. (code requirement) d. Construct the trash dumpster enclosure using the same materials and color as the building. This enclosure shall have a 100 percent opaque gate. e. Install an in-ground lawn irrigation system for all landscaped areas except for the planted areas by the wetland behind the building. (code requirement) f. Provide site-security lighting as required by the code. The light source, including the lens covering the bulb, shall be concealed so not to cause any nuisance to drivers or neighbors. 4. If any required work is not done, the city may allow temporary occupancy if: a. The work is not essential to the public health, safety or welfare. b. The city receives a cash escrow or an irrevocable letter of credit for the required work. The amount shall be 200 percent of the cost of the unfinished work. Any unfinished landscaping shall be completed by June 1 if the building is occupied in the fall or winter or within six weeks if the building is occupied in the spring or summer. 5. All work shall follow the approved plans. The director of community development may approve minor changes. Ayes--all B. North St. Paul Post Office, 1686 Gervais Avenue--U.S. Postal Service Secretary Tom Ekstrand presented the staff report. He said the barbed wire fencing is a permitted use. Chairperson Ledvina thought some of the trees in the front of the building were "too mature." Mr. Ekstrand felt it was desirable to retain the trees, however, they could be trimmed. Community Design Review Board Minutes of 02-08-00 -6- Chip Lindeke of Rafferty, Rafferty, Tollefson, Architects was present. He had no comments on the recommended conditions. Mr. Lindeke said the post office decided not to install the barb wire fence but instead will have a 6-foot-high fence around the parking lot. The proposed fencing extends to the end of the screen wall and will have a sliding gate to secure the area. For the most part, they will keep the existing color scheme. There will not be a trash enclosure. Boardmember LaCasse moved the Community Design Review Board Approve the plans (stamped November 13, 1998) for the proposed Ramsey County Family Service Center, based on the findings required by the code. The property owner, Ramsey County, shall do the following: 1. Repeat this review in two years if the city has not issued a building permit for this project. 2. Before getting a building permit, the applicant shall provide the following for staff approval: a. A grading, drainage, utility and erosion control plan. b. A sidewalk/trail plan for the extension and connection to the Gateway Trail. c. A revised site plan showing the handicap parking next to the front sidewalk. 3. Complete the following before occupying the building: Construct a trash dumpster enclosure for any outside trash containers. The enclosures must be 100 percent opaque, match the color of the building and have a closeable gate that extends to the ground. If the trash container is not visible to the public it does not have to be screened. b. Install all required landscaping. An in-ground lawn irrigation system is not required since there are county maintenance personnel on site to water landscaped areas. c. Construct the sidewalk/trail extension and connection along White Bear Avenue. Screen any roof-top mechanical equipment that would be visible from the Ramsey Nursing Home. Any other roof-top units that are visible from any other direction must be painted to match the building. e. The screening mentioned in 3.a. and d. shall be subject to staff approval. 4. If any required work is not done, the city may allow temporary occupancy if: a. The city determines that the work is not essential to the public health, safety or welfare. b. The city receives a cash escrow or an irrevocable letter of credit for the required work. The amount shall be 200% of the cost of the unfinished work. c. The city receives an agreement that will allow the city to complete any unfinished work. Community Design Review Board Minutes of 02-08-00 -7- 5. All work shall follow the approved plans. approve minor changes. Boardmember Johnson seconded. The director of community development may Ayes--all The motion passed. C. 1999 Annual Report Reconsideration After discussion, the board directed staff to revise the annual report. VII, VISITOR PRESENTATIONS There were no visitor presentations. VIII. BOARD PRESENTATIONS There were no board presentations. IX. STAFF PRESENTATIONS A. CDRB Volunteer for February 14 City Council Meeting; Mr. Ledvina will attend this meeting. B. CDRB Volunteer for February 28 City Council Meeting: Mr. Johnson will attend this meeting. X, ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 7:55 p.m.