HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/09/2000 AGENDA
MAPLEWOOD COMMUNITY DESIGN REVIEW BOARD
May 9, 2000
6:00 P.M.
City Council Chambers
Maplewood City Hall
1830 East County Road B
1. Call to Order
2. Roll Call
3. Approval of Minutes: April 11, 2000
4. Approval of Agenda
5. Unfinished Business
6. Design Review
a. Sprint PCS Monopole, 2500 Hudson Place
b. Birch Run Station Sign Plan Revision for JoAnn Etc, 1725 Beam Avenue
7. Visitor Presentations
8. Board Presentations
9. Staff Presentations
a. CDRB Volunteers Needed for the May 22 and June 12 City Council Meetings.
b. Site Lighting Presentation by Tine Thevenin is Scheduled for July 11.
10. Adjourn
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MINUTES OF THE MAPLEWOOD COMMUNITY DESIGN REVIEW BOARD
'1830 COUNTY ROAD B EAST, MAPLEWOOD, MINNESOTA
MAY 9, 2000
CALL TO ORDER
Chairperson Ledvina called the meeting to order at 6 p.m.
II. ROLL CALL
Matt Ledvina Present
Ananth Shankar Present
Tim Johnson Present
Jon LaCasse Present
Craig Jorgenson Present
III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
April 11, 2000
Boardmember LaCasse moved approval of the minutes of April 11, 2000, as submitted.
Boardmember Shankar seconded.
Ayes--Ledvina, Shankar, LaCasse, Jorgenson
Abstain--Johnson
The motion passed.
IV. APPROVAL OFAGENDA
Boardmember Johnson moved approval of the agenda as submitted.
Boardmember Shankar seconded.
Ayes--all
The motion passed.
V. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
There was no unfinished business.
VI. DESIGN REVIEW
A. Sprint PCS Monopole, 2500 Hudson Place
Secretary Tom Ekstrand presented the staff report. Chairperson Ledvina asked, with the
revised location of the pole, if there was a concern for the residents to the west. Mr. Ekstrand
said the trees were quite thick on that side. Since the homes in this area are at a lower
elevation, ground screening would not be a benefit. Mr. Ekstrand said this installation is a 30
x 30, fenced-in site with a monopole and ground equipment.
David Huihui, a representative of Sprint's consultant group, reviewed the staff report and had
no questions or concerns about the conditions. A couple of the boardmembers expressed
concern about the barbed wire proposed for the top of the fence. Mr. Huihui maintained that
the barbed wire served a security function and it was "pretty much a standard thing on all of
the compounds." Because the height of the fence has been shortened to six feet, this was
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even more of a consideration. Staff suggested that an angled bare wire at the top of the
chainlink fence might make the barrier sufficiently difficult to cross. Various options were
discussed by staff and the board.
Terry DeGraw, chairman of the board of trustees at Christ United Methodist Church, had
similar concerns about the barbed-wire fence. He viewed ten different monopole sites and
only two had fences. Mr. DeGraw was "led to believe" that the barbed wire could possibly be
dropped. Secretary Ekstrand reminded the board that conditional use permits are reviewed
after one year. If there was just cause, the applicant could choose to add the barbed wire
after this year review. He also suggested that the recommendation could be worded such
that the applicant could add the barbed wire if trespassing or vandalism occurred before the
one-year time. Boardmember LaCasse strongly recommended an angled top wire instead of
the barbed wire.
Boardmember Johnson moved the Community Design Review Board ·
Approve the site and design plans date-stamped April 26, 2000, for up to a 100-foot-tall
telecommunications monopole and equipment to the property at 2500 Hudson Place.
Approval is based on the findings required by code and subject to the applicant doing the
following:
1. Repeat this review in two years if the city has not issued permits for this project.
Before the city issues a building permit, city staff must approve a landscaping plan for
the property. This plan shall show the planting of a mix of Austrian Pine and Norway
Pine trees to the west of the existing garage, on the north side of the proposed lease
area and northeast of the existing church building. (These are the areas noted for
additional tree planting on the plans date-stamped May 15, 2000.) These trees are to
help screen the base area. These trees shall be at least 8 feet tall, balled and
burlapped and shall be planted in staggered rows as shown on the proposed plans.
3. The access drive between the tower lease area and the existing parking lot shall be
paved with bituminous.
If the landscaping or trees are not installed by the completion of the tower, the city
shall require the applicant to provide 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 within six weeks of occupancy.
5. All work shall follow the approved plans. The director of community development may
approve minor changes.
6. The chainlink fence shall be 6-feet-high with no barbed wire.
7. The monopole shall be placed as shown on page 9 of the May 3, 2000, staff report.
Boardmember LaCasse seconded.
Ayes--all
The motion passed.
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B. Birch Run Station Sign Plan Revision for JoAnn Etc., 1725 Beam Avenue
Secretary Tom Ekstrand presented the staff report. Staff, after viewing the JoAnn etc. store
in Woodbury, felt the six additional ~ign~ were excessive. If the board denied the proposed
sign plan, the applicant would have the option of using the JoAnn sign with the words
"experience the creativity" close to it or simply use the Joann, etc. sign alone as they did in
Woodbury. Mr. Ekstrand said, if the applicant decided to drop the six small signs, he would
approve it.
John Rieter of Arrow Sign Company was present representing Laura Berjon (of Advance Sign
Group) and JoAnn Fabrics. He said the trend in signs is to list their services or supplies in the
signage. Mr. Rieter also pointed out that this is a big store and the owner wanted it to look
like such--not like an empty store. He noted other stores in the metropolitan area that have
the same type of signage that is being requested.
Chairperson Ledvina agreed with the staff recommendation and thought too much extra
signage was "visual pollution." He also suggested that the board act on this request in a
"positive way" and felt "JoAnn etc." with "experience the creativity" was acceptable.
Boardmember Shankar was not in favor of allowing the line "experience the creativity." He
thought there were too many long malls that look "after five o'clock like an abandoned
warehouse." Mr. Shankar said allowing a few of the ancillary signs helps "to bring life to the
whole strip mall." He summarized by saying he was in favor of deleting the line "experience
the creativity," but keeping the other six signs.
Another boardmember agreed with Mr. Shankar that "experience the creativity" was too
much. He also felt it would be a long empty-looking space without the additional signs.
Mr. Ekstrand said he was most concerned with the issue of precedence to avoid excessive
signage. He preferred the large JoAnn sign with "experience the creativity" immediately
under it.
Boardmember Shankar moved the Community Design Review Board amend the staff's
recommendations for JoAnn etc. at Birch Run Station to allow the applicant six additional
signs as shown on the sign plan dated May 1, 2000, and require deletion of the line
"experience the creativity." The applicant will be allowed to incorporate this sentence into the
JoAnn sign as constructed at another project. The approved sign would then be as shown on
the sign plan dated April 7, 2000. If the square footage of the JoAnn, etc. store is reduced in
the future, the community design review board retains the right to reduce the number of
ancillary signs approved at this meeting.
Boardmember LaCasse seconded.
Ayes--Shankar, LaCasse, Johnson
Nays--Jorgenson, Ledvina
The motion passed.
VII. VISITOR, PRESENTATIONS
There were no visitor presentations.
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VIII. BOARD PRESENTATIONS
Chairperson Ledvina spoke about an article in the May 6, 2000, Minneapolis Star and Tribune.
He said Portland, Oregon has ordinances which look at the aesthetics of single-family residential
housing. The whole concept of the article related to residential designs which incorporate
garages as the prominent feature from the street.
Mr. Ledvina had some comments on the New Century planned unit development. He thought the
developer had done a very good job in designing this plat. Tom Ekstrand said he saw a preview
of the plans and thought it looked "wonderful--like a very attractive development."
IX. STAFF PRESENTATIONS
A. CDRB Volunteer for May 22 City Council Meeting: Mr. LaCasse will attend this meeting.
CDRB Volunteer for June 12 City Council Meeting: Mr. Shankar will attend this meeting.
B. Site Lighting Presentation by Tine Thevenin is Scheduled for July 11
Ms. Thevenin is scheduled to give a site lighting presentation at the July 11 review board
meeting. Tom Ekstrand discussed changing the agenda so she could give her presentation
at the beginning of the meeting.
X. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 7:05 p.m.