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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/14/2002AGENDA MAPLEWOOD COMMUNITY DESIGN REVIEW BOARD May 14, 2002 6:00 P.M. Maplewood City Hall Council Chambers 1830 County Road B East 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 10. Call to Order Roll Call Approval of Agenda Approval of the March 12, 2002 Minutes Unfinished Business: None Scheduled Design Review: a. Kline Nissan Automobile Dealership - 3090 and 3110 Maplewood Drive b. 3M Building #277 - Conway Avenue East of McKnight Road Visitor Presentations Board Presentations Staff Presentations: a. Second City Council Meeting in May Rescheduled to May 28, 2002 (Tuesday) - Relocate May 28 CDRB Meeting to Maplewood Room b. Interview of Applicants for CDRB Membership Adjourn II. III. IV. MINUTES OF THE MAPLEWOOD COMMUNITY DESIGN REVIEW BOARD 1830 COUNTY ROAD B EAST, MAPLEWOOD, MINNESOTA TUESDAY, MAY 14, 2002 CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Ledvina called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. ROLL CALL Matt Ledvina Craig Jorgenson Linda OIson Ananth Shankar Staff Present: APPROVAL OFAGENDA Present Absent Present Present Shann Finwall, Associate Planner Lisa Kroll, Recording Secretary Board member Olson moved to approve the agenda. Board member Shankar seconded. Ayes-Ledvina, Olson, Shankar The motion passed. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Approval of the CDRB minutes for March 12, 2002. Board member Olson had a correction on page 6 in the eighth paragraph. It should read Board member Olson stated that at a recent meeting at work she learned that with rather than when. Chairperson Ledvina had a correction on page 5 in the first paragraph. It should read part of the reason the driveway is curved rather than curbed. Another change is in the fifth paragraph it should read pea gravel rather than peat gravel. Board member Olson moved approval of the minutes for March 12, 2002, with the amended changes. Chairperson Ledvina seconded. Ayes---Olson, Ledvina Abstention -Shankar The motion passed. Community Design Review Board Minutes 5-14-2002 V. UNFINISHED BUSINESS None. VI. DESIGN REVIEW a. Kline Nissan Automobile Dealership - 3090 and 3110 Maplewood Drive Ms. Finwall said Rick Kline, of Kline Auto World, is proposing to build a 25,502-square- foot, two-story Nissan dealership with a 16-bay automobile maintenance garage. The dealership will be constructed at 3090 and 3110 Maplewood Drive (Highway 61). This site is zoned M-l, Light Manufacturing, and currently contains two vacant single-family homes. The applicant is requesting that the city council approve: A 75-foot-wide wetland buffer variance. The Ramsey/Washington Metro Watershed District has classified the wetland on the site as a Class 1 wetland. City code requires a 100-foot-wide wetland buffer along Class 1 wetlands. The applicant is proposing a 25-foot-wide wetland buffer. A conditional use permit (CUP) for a maintenance garage. The sale of new and used vehicles is permitted. City code requires a CUP for service and maintenance garages. 3. Design review (architectural, site, landscape, and lighting plans). The applicant proposes to grade up to the wetland edge and to reestablish an "improved" 25-foot-wide buffer. The parking lot will be constructed 25 feet from the wetland's edge. The applicant is working with Sunde Engineering to design and install a subsurface storm water infiltration system that will help treat the water prior to being deposited into the wetland. This type of system was also installed at the Volvo dealership located to the south of the Nissan site. On April 4, 2002, the Ramsey/Washington Metro Watershed District approved the Kline Nissan dealership proposal. The watershed district requires only a 75-foot-wide wetland buffer for Class 1 wetlands, as opposed to the city's required 100-foot-wide buffer. Therefore, the watershed district approved a 50-foot-wide wetland buffer variance that allows the applicant to remove the entire buffer and to provide an "improved" 25-foot-wide-buffer with reestablished native vegetation once the subsurface storm water infiltration system is installed. After much debate, staff had determined that preserving more of the natural wetland buffer along the northeast side of the property would be a suitable compromise, especially since the watershed district indicated that the flood plain wetland to the east is particularly sensitive. Community Design Review Board Minutes 5-14-2002 Ms. Finwall said allowing the proposed 25-foot-wide wetland buffer on the east and south would preserve much of the applicant's site plan and cause the least disruption to the parking and traffic patterns as proposed. R.J. Ryan Construction submitted a new site plan for review after the planning commission meeting. The new site plan shows the 50-foot-wide wetland buffer setback on the northeast side of the property. With this alternative, the applicant would lose 29 parking spaces from their originally submitted site plan, for a total of 240. For comparison, this would be 64 more parking spaces than the Kline Volvo dealership, (they have 88 spaces). The newly submitted site plan meets the recommendations of staff and the planning commission. However, Mr. Stearns, the Vice President and C.E.O. of Kline Volvo has not approved of the change to Kline Nissan's proposal. On May 6, 2002, the planning commission recommended approval of Nissan's proposed conditional use permit and wetland buffer variance with the condition that Nissan maintain a 50-foot-wide wetland buffer along the northeast portion of the site as recommended by staff. At the meeting, Mr. Stearns, indicated that he agreed with all of staff's recommendations except the 50-foot-wide wetland buffer setback on the northeast side of the site. He indicated that the site was very expensive and because of this they would need every square foot of land they would get. The city's parking ordinance does not clearly define the special parking requirements for an automobile dealership, i.e., parking spaces for automobile inventory. However, using the ratio of 1 space for each 200 square feet of office/showroom, 1 space for every 1,000 square feet of parts storage, 3 spaces for each service bay, and 1 space per employee, the Nissan site is required to have 131 parking spaces. The applicant's original site plan shows 269 parking spaces and the newly submitted site plan shows 240 parking spaces. The proposed building will have a front exterior of flat metal panel wall systems, corrugated metal panels, and anodized aluminum frames with insulated glass. The sides and rear exterior will be rock-face concrete block and EIFS (exterior insulation finish system - a stucco-look material). The front and south side of the building will be visible from Highway 61. The south side of the building has a large expanse of rock-face concrete block, giving the appearance of a very large plain wall. For this reason, staff recommends that design elements found on the front of the building also be implemented onto the south side, including the extension of the flat metal panel wall systems with decorative corrugated metal panels. Much of the north elevation is already treated decoratively. After the May 6, 2002, planning commission meeting, R.J. Ryan Construction submitted a new south elevation showing five, small square windows along the top portion of the elevation. This proposal was submitted due to staff's concerns over the large rock-face concrete block wall that will be visible from Highway 61. Community Design Review Board Minutes 5-14-2002 4 Installing five small windows breaks up the wall only slightly. Therefore, staff further recommends that additional design elements be implemented on the south side. The city's tree preservation ordinance requires that all quality trees that have a trunk diameter of at least 8 inches be removed from the site, be restored one for one up to 10 trees per acre. The site has 18 large trees, 14 of which will be removed. Therefore, the applicant is only required to plant 14 trees on the site. The proposed landscape plan shows a total of 35 trees on the site, exceeding the tree preservation requirements. The applicant has not provided a turf restoration plan for the wetland buffer. This plan should be submitted to the city and the watershed district prior to issuance of a building permit. The lighting plan meets city requirements and includes 24 parking lot pole lights (25 feet high) and 4 wall-pack lights. The maximum light intensity at the property line is .4-foot candles. There are six vehicle display pads shown on the site plan in addition to the 269 to 240 parking spaces proposed. Two of the display pads are shown constructed within the requested 25-foot-wide wetland buffer on the south side of the lot. A new site plan should be submitted which shows that the vehicle display pads do not encroach into the wetland buffer. Chairperson Ledvina said the the wetland variance represents a land use issue and is not really up for discussion at this meeting. That land use issue was discussed at the May 6, 2002, planning commission meeting. He suggested that board members focus on the design elements. Board member Olson asked staff about the letter from Lieutenant Banick recommending this proposal be denied. She asked if staff has spoken with the Maplewood Police Department? Ms. Finwall said the police department has concerns because the proposed dealership is being constructed with the building towards the front of the property and most of the parking in the back. Their concern is that there will be automobile vandalism. It should be noted that the lighting at Kline Nissan appears to be adequate and the dealership does not express the same concern. The police department has these same concerns at the other dealerships in the city. It is an ongoing problem. Board member Olson said this relates more to the fact that the city does not have enough police officers, is that correct? Ms. Finwall said that could be part of the problem. Board member Shankar asked if in addition to the two display units staff was mentioning, some on-grade parking would also be within the wetland easement that would have to be taken out? Community Design Review Board Minutes 5-14-2002 Ms. Finwall asked if Mr. Shankar was referring to the south portion of the parking lot? Mr. Shankar said yes. Ms. Finwall said it does not appear that any of the parking encroaches into the 25-foot setback. Chairperson Ledvina said to clarify there will be two wetland setbacks on this property. A 50-foot setback on the northeast property line and all other areas on the south would be a 25-foot setback. Ms. Finwall said that is correct as proposed by staff and recommended by planning commission. Chairperson Ledvina asked staff if there are dedicated parking stalls for customer parking? He knows the board has had issues with this with other car dealerships. Basically customers don't have enough room to park and the inventory takes all the parking stalls up. Is there any type of requirement or designation on the site plan that would help the board with this? Ms. Finwall said currently the applicant does not designate a specific number of customer parking stalls? Chairperson Ledvina asked what the staff's opinion is in this regard? Ms. Finwall said this has been a problem with other dealerships. The inventory was such that it left little customer parking. However, the applicant is proposing 269 parking spaces. It was a requirement for Maplewood Toyota that they assign several of their spaces as customer parking only. If the board would like to add that as a condition that the applicant assign several parking spaces as customer parking only that would make sense. Chairperson Ledvina asked staff what the appropriate number of customer parking spaces are? Ms. Finwall said the city ordinance does not clearly define that so the staff would probably leave that up to the applicant to decide what their customer load would be. Chairperson Ledvina said perhaps the applicant may have some information on that. Chairperson Ledvina said it was unclear in the staff report whether the canopy shown on page 19 is part of the proposal. Ms. Finwall said that was not part of the proposal. She thought the design element elevations would give board members an idea of what the building would look like but that canopy is not part of this proposal. Community Design Review Board Minutes 5-14-2002 Chairperson Ledvina asked the applicant to address the board. Mr. Jack Grotkin, the Vice President of R.J. Ryan Construction, Inc., addressed the commission. Mr. Grotkin said he does not have any color renderings but he does have some finish material sheets that were provided by Nissan from their factory prototype. The entryway is going to have a red ACM material on it that is a fiberglass smooth panel. The glass framing will be silver with a clear glass in it. The metal panels are a gray material. The corrugated metal and louvers will match and are just there for an accent. The EIFS and rock-face block will be painted in a coordinating gray color to match. Chairperson Ledvina asked if these metal panels are flat or gloss finish? Mr. Grotkin said the metal panels are flat and look like brushed aluminum and come directly from Nissan. Board member Olson asked if the color scheme is primarily gray and silver with touches of red? Mr. Grotkin said correct. Chairperson Ledvina asked if the metal panels are painted? Mr. Grotkin said no they are pre-finished metal and are maintenance free. Chairperson Ledvina asked if Mr. Grotkin could address the issue of providing customer parking spaces? Mr. Grotkin said they don't show any customer parking on this site plan. They did address customer parking on the Kline Volvo dealership. For that dealership they used the parking in the front for customer parking. He said there are 12 parking stalls in front of the building that he would propose as customer parking. Chairperson Ledvina asked if that would be sufficient? Mr. Grotkin said he thinks it would be sufficient. He will leave it up to Mr. Kline if more customer parking stalls should be designated or not. Chairperson Ledvina asked if the applicant has any concerns regarding the staff report recommendations? Mr. Grotkin said other than the 50-foot wetland setback recommendation he doesn't have any concerns. Community Design Review Board Minutes 5-14-2002 7 Chairperson Ledvina asked the applicant what he would propose to do to modify the south elevation to reduce the visual impact of that large wall associated with the service area. Mr, Grotkin said he had proposed putting the windows on that elevation from the planning commission meeting recommendation. They could also run a band of single score block across the wall above or below the windows to break up the rock face block wall. He said he would ask the architect about that. Board member Shankar asked about the drainage off the roof. Mr. Grotkin said the building will have interior roof drains and there are overflow scuppers. Board member Olson asked the applicant how they are going to resolve having the car pads extend into the wetland area? Mr. Grotkin said they will either reduce the size of the car pads or eliminate them entirely. The oblong car pad will be reduced and the round car pad will probably be eliminated completely. Board member Shankar said he assumes the cars will be delivered on trucks. How will the trucks get in and out of the site? Mr. Grotkin said the trucks can either come off Highway 61 and exit onto County Road D or enter onto County Road D and exit back onto Highway 61, Part of the concern with reducing the setback from 25 feet to 50 feet is it tightens that up. It will still work but it would have been nice to have a 25-foot wetland setback throughout site. Board member Shankar asked the applicant if he thought there would be enough room to have a semi truck go into the site and unload cars? Mr. Grotkin said yes there is enough room and they are aware that there will be no removing of cars on the highway. Board member Olson said she is curious about the landscape plan. Mr. Grotkin said they have done a tree mitigation report and they have hired a forester to make a plan and follow the guidelines. They are removing quite a few trees from this site but they will be planting new trees, Board member Olson asked if there will be dedicated vegetation along the wetland area? Mr. Grotkin said it will be similar to the Volvo dealership next door with native plantings in the buffer and an award winning drainage system installed in the parking lot. Community Design Review Board Minutes 5-14-2002 Chairperson Ledvina said the major concern for the CDRB is the large expansion of concrete block on the south elevation. The applicant has made some effort by incorporating some small windows into that wall. There may be some further modifications board members may require. Chairperson Ledvina and board member Shankar discussed various ideas for the south elevation of the building to include smooth bands on the large expansion. Board member Olson asked if final approval of the revised south elevation could be done with staff approval? It was determined that a smooth band should be added to align with the windows. The banding should be approved by the staff prior to issuance of a building permit. Board member Shankar moved to approve the plans date-stamped March 5, March 20, April 22, and May 9, 2002, for the proposed Nissan dealership at 3090 and 3110 Maplewood Drive, based on the findings required by the code. Approval is subject to the following conditions: ao Repeat this review in two years if the city has not issued a building permit for this project. bo Before getting a building permit, the applicant must submit to staff for approval the following: Dedicating a 50-foot-wide wetland protection buffer easement along the northeast lot line and a 25-foot-wide wetland protection buffer easement along the remaining wetland edge. This easement shall be prepared by a land surveyor, shall describe the boundary of the buffer and shall prohibit an building, mowing, cutting, filling or dumping within the buffer. The applicant shall record this easement before the city will issue a building permit. = Submitting a revised grading plan showing compliance with the required wetland dedications. The grading plan shall include grading to within 10 feet of the wetland edge on the side where the 50-foot-wide wetland buffer is required, with restoration of the remaining 40 feet of wetland buffer consisting of native plantings to be approved by staff and the watershed district. = Submitting a revised landscape plan for the restoration of 40 feet of the wetland-protection buffer on the northeast side of the site and for the 25- foot-wide buffer in the other wetland buffer areas. This plan shall be subject to staff and watershed district approval. Underground irrigation is required for all landscaped areas, excluding the wetland protection buffer. Community Design Review Board Minutes 5-14-2002 4. A revised site plan showing the following revisions: a) A 50-foot setback for the parking lot from the wetland on the northeast side of the site. The revised site plan shall include the reconfiguration of the parking stalls and will ensure that no vehicle display pad encroaches into the required wetland buffer. b) A right-turn lane from Highway 61 into the site, subject to MnDOT's approval. c) A trash enclosure that matches the building in material. This enclosure shall not be placed in required parking spaces. It must have a 100 percent opaque closeable gate. If the trash dumpster is kept inside the building, an outdoor enclosure is not required. Verification that all watershed district special provisions, as indicated on the watershed district permit, are met prior to issuance of a building or grading permit for the site. A revised south building elevation showing a smooth faced band on the concrete block to align with the windows. The banding shall also align with the metal panels located on the side. This revision is subject to staff approval Combine the two parcels (3090 and 3110 Maplewood Drive) into one parcel with Ramsey County. Proof of lot combination must be submitted prior to issuance of a building permit. Applicant shall submit to staff for review and approval a striped parking plan which designates customer only parking spaces within the site plan. c. The applicant shall complete the following before occupying the building: 1. Replace any property irons removed because of this construction. Install a reflectorized stop sign at the exit and a handicap-parking sign for each handicap accessible parking space. Construct a trash dumpster enclosure to meet code requirements, unless trash dumpsters are stored indoors. Community Design Review Board Minutes 5-14-2002 ]0 Install an in-ground lawn irrigation system for the parking lot islands and the sodded areas between the highway and the parking lot. Lawn irrigation in the right-of-way may be waived if MnDOT will not allow it. It is also waived in the wetland buffer area. 5. Post signs identifying the customer and employee parking spaces. Install city approved wetland buffer signs at the edge of the wetland buffer easement that notifies that no building, mowing, cutting, filling or dumping is allowed within the buffer. d. If any required work is not done, the city may allow temporary occupancy if: 1) The city determines that the work is not essential to the public health, safety or welfare. 2) The city receives a cash escrow or an irrevocable letter of credit for the required work. The amount shall be 150 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. This approval does not include signage. All proposed signs must comply with the city's sign ordinance and the applicant must obtain all required sign permits prior to installation. All work shall follow the approved plans. The director of community development may approve minor changes. Board member Olson seconded. Ayes - Ledvina, Olson, Shankar The motion passed. This item goes to the city council on Tuesday, May 28, 2002. b. 3M Building #277 - Conway Avenue East of McKnight Road Ms. Finwall said 3M Company is proposing to build a 56,861-square-foot (total of both floors), two-story building on the north side of Conway Avenue west of the Building #270 parking lot. The applicant would use this building to house computer and data- processing equipment. They anticipate a parking need for 28 new parking spaces. There would be 26 spaces west of the proposed building and two on the north side. The paved area on the north is meant for dock access and deliveries. Community Design Review Board Minutes 5-14-2002 The building would have an exterior of brick, precast concrete and metal panels. The brick would match the color of the other brick buildings in 3M Center. The metal panels would be a compatible color to the brick, though the applicant has not determined the panel color. The proposed building would fit in with the other buildings at 3M Center. If the applicant has not picked the color of the metal panels by the meeting date, staff suggests that the review board direct staff to approve the building colors prior to building permit issuance. The proposed building would have adequate parking. Should parking needs change and more parking be needed in the future, there is a considerable amount of open and ramped parking next to this site. Ms. Finwall said the applicant proposes to remove 11 existing trees along 5th Street and Conway Avenue but would replant the perimeter of the site with 30 new trees and two planting beds. The proposed landscaping seems somewhat sparse in consideration of the large south elevation of the proposed building. Staff recommends that the applicant add landscaping along the south side by including three to four planting beds spaced along the front to break up and soften this long elevation. The revised plan should also identify the planting species, sizes and quantities. City code requires deciduous trees to be at least 2~/~ inches in caliper, balled and burlapped. Coniferous trees must be at least six feet tall. Ms. Finwall said the site is currently used as a parking area for semi trailers. These would be relocated to 3M's Case Street distribution center in St. Paul. Ms. Finwall said Chris Cavett, Maplewood Assistant City Engineer, reviewed the applicant's civil drawings. Mr. Cavett felt that the applicant should develop the plans further. He outlined his concerns in the staff report. The review board should require the applicant to submit revised civil engineering plans for review and approval of the city engineer. Chairperson Ledvina asked the applicant to come forward and address the board. Mr. Jeff Rudin, the project manager for Sebesta Blomberg, addressed the board. Sebesta Blomberg is the architecture and engineering firm for this proposed project at 3M Company. He said the building is the technical operations system and houses computer equipment. It is a two-story building with a 20,000 square foot second floor that will be a machine room for the computers. The color of the metal panels will be gray and are pre-finished. The precast stone is cream in color and is a veneer material. This material acts as a wainscot and will be around the east and west elevations and along the north wall at the loading dock. The columns are wrapped in the precast stone as well. Community Design Review Board 12 Minutes 5-14-2002 Board member Shankar asked if the drainage from the roof is internal? He does not see any scuppers. Mr. Rudin said there is a step in the roof beyond the main roof expanse over the machine room. This drains into an interior roof drain system on the east and west side. The building is essentially wrapped on three sides by a single story structure. Mr. Rudin said the Iow roof on the north actually drains to the north into a storm sector and out to a catch basin that is located in Avenue "N". The east and west Iow roofs on the west side drain into the 12-inch diameter pipe that goes to the drainage well under the parking lot. The drainage from the single story roof to the east actually drains out onto the grade and they use the natural landscaping as a filter for the solids and phosphorus before it enters the street. This seemed to be consistent with what the staff was looking for. Board member Shankar asked if the glass is going to be green like the other buildings adjacent to this? Mr. Rudin said no the glass is clear. That building you're referring to is old. They are trying to tie this proposed building into the triad of buildings north of Conway Avenue. Chairperson Ledvina said this will be a big improvement from what is currently there. The storm water drainage and the landscaping will definitely be a huge plus for this site and he is very happy to see this development there. The architecture is such that the building does not appear massive and has some features and variations of building materials and he does not see any issues to bring up. Board member Olson said considering there are not very many windows this is quite an attractive product. Regarding the letter from Chris Cavett about storm water management, were all of his concerns in the staff report addressed yet? Ms. Finwall said none of those issues have been addressed yet. Chairperson Ledvina said those are conditions of approval so staff would anticipate the applicant would meet those. Board member Shankar said he would agree with Mr. Ledvina's comments. He is not a fan of 3M brick but having massive amounts of metal panels like they are proposing breaks it up. Otherwise, he said an entire building of 3M brick would be over-bearing. Board member Shankar moved to approve the plans date-stamped April 17, 2002, for the proposed building #277 at 3M Center on Conway Avenue. Approval is subject to the applicant doing the following: Repeat this review in two years if the city has not issued a building permit for this project. Community Design Review Board Minutes 5-14-2002 Before getting a building permit, the applicant shall submit the following to staff for approval: A revised grading, drainage and erosion-control plan addressing the issues in the assistant city engineer's memorandum dated April 29, 2002. A revised landscape plan that includes three to four additional planting beds in front of the south elevation. The revised plan shall also identify the planting species, sizes and quantities. 3. If any required work is not done, the city may allow temporary occupancy if: ao The city determines that the work is not essential to the public health, safety or welfare. bo The city receives a cash escrow or an irrevocable letter of credit for the required work. The amount shall be 150 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. Board member Olson seconded. Ayes - Ledvina, Olson, Shankar The motion passed. VII. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS No visitors present. VIII. BOARD PRESENTATIONS Board member Olson briefly reviewed the last city council meeting she attended in March. The city council discussed the Hillcrest Animal Hospital and the Lighting Ordinance and that was all that pertained to the CDRB. IX. STAFF PRESENTATIONS aB Second City Council Meeting in May Rescheduled to May 28, 2002 (Tuesday) - Relocate May 28 CDRB Meeting to Maplewood Room Ms. Finwall reported that the city council would be meeting in the council chambers on Tuesday, May 28, 2002, because of the Memorial Day holiday. Therefore, the CDRB meeting will be moved to the Maplewood Room at 6:00 p.m. on May 28, 2002. She said there are four items to be reviewed. Community Design Review Board Minutes 5-14-2002 14 1. Dearborn Meadows Town homes 2. 3. Tillges Medical Office Building 4. Lexus Addition S.P. Richards Addition b. Interview of Applicants for CDRB Membership Ms. Finwall said there are three applicants for the community design review board (CDRB) vacancy. This vacancy is for the remainder of Board member Tim Johnson's two-year term, which would end January 1, 2003. The three applicants are Diana Longrie-Kline, Richard Eugene Currie, and Julie Lin Beitler. The board's recommendations will go to the city council on Tuesday, May 28, 2002. Chairperson Ledvina discussed the interview process with applicants. The applicants were interviewed in alphabetical order by last name. Julie Lin Beitler was the first applicant to be interviewed. Chairperson Ledvina asked if she has any problem with the obligations of meeting two Tuesdays a month at 6:00 p.m. or in the role of a community design review board member? Ms. Beitler said no. She is studying for her Master's degree and she has class on Monday and Wednesday night. Chairperson Ledvina asked while listening to the meeting this evening, if she had any comments or impressions to share of the proposals and how things were handled between staff, the board and the applicant? Ms. Beitler said she thinks the CDRB needs a few more people on the board. It is kind of quiet up there. She thinks the board pointed out some good things. Especially with the Nissan dealership and adding the banding by the windows on the south elevation, it is too plain. It is interesting to learn the details that are picked through. She is sure with each applicant you gain more experience. The design review is interesting to her and she would really like to learn more about the steps of putting up a building. So many times you hear about the planning issues and you don't hear about the issues that went into the coloring, the lighting, the landscaping and so forth. It would be something she is definitely interested in. Chairperson Ledvina asked if she thought there was anything that could have been improved on that the board did not consider? Ms. Beitler said the two projects were pretty straightforward and she did not see anything that the board did not bring up or ask about. Chairperson Ledvina asked if she had any comments about the strip mall called "The Corner Shops" located off Highway 36 and White Bear Avenue regarding the design and site plan? Community Design Review Board Minutes 5-14-2002 15 Ms. Beitler said she feels it is a problem driving into the parking lot and she always feels like she is going to get into an accident there. You have cross traffic from McDonald's and the other stores and restaurants and it is a bit dangerous. She is not sure of another way the parking lot and entrance could have been designed but it is very busy and congested. She is not impressed with the landscaping and the ramp coming off Highway 36 onto White Bear Avenue has a lot of garbage there along the fence. She is not sure if that is the city or the county right-of-way but it looks really bad and not very appealing. Otherwise, she likes the restaurants that are there and it looks a lot better than when Bali Hai restaurant was there. Chairperson Ledvina asked if she has any thoughts about any recent developments. One that looks really nice and one development that you wondered what the city was thinking and who let this happen? Ms. Beitler said she is not impressed with how Pier 1 and Michael's Arts and Crafts development turned out from when the Bruentrup Farm was taken out. She likes the pond but it needs more landscaping and it is a shame that the large tree died. She is a preservationist and would have rather seen the farm stay. She does like Emma's Place so far with the deep colors and they have turned something that was just an open lot into something that she thinks will end up looking nice. She does live by the Woodland Hills Church and she thinks that looks nice compared with what was there before. The color scheme and the entrance is a nice design she thinks. Board member Olson asked if she has heard about the Hillcrest Area? Ms. Beitler asked if she is referring to turning the bowling alley into town homes? Board member Olson was referring to the Hillcrest Village Concept plan that was in the newspaper and presented at a Metropolitan Council meeting at the church not too long ago. It does involve the City of Maplewood too. Ms. Beitler said she knows it involves St. Paul. She thought it was odd to have town homes right there on White Bear Avenue. Board member Olson asked how long she has lived in Maplewood and what city did she move here from? Ms. Beitler said she has lived in Maplewood for two years. She moved here from White Bear, where she lived for a while. She is originally from Osceola, Wisconsin. Board member Olson asked if she liked Maplewood? Ms. Beitler said Maplewood was the closest city with malls and restaurants from Osceola, Wisconsin where she grew up. She felt at-home and comfortable here when they were looking for a house. Community Design Review Board Minutes 5-14-2002 16 Board member Olson asked what her involvement was with GIS? Ms. Beitler said right now her position with Minnegasco she is a GIS Specialist. She is responsible for entering anything into the GIS database. GIS is a mapping and data storage program. They put all the gas facilities and all the data that goes along with it. They produce maps. She just started working in the field with contractor design, specking and putting in gas mains and making sure that they get the notes. The main part of the job is taking accurate dimensions and it is very important when you are working with gas. Board member Olson asked her why she wants to be on this committee? Ms. Beitler said she applied for the planning commission opening but someone else got the position. She did not know too much about the CDRB but Shann Finwall described it to her and she became interested. She finds any land use issues interesting to her. It was her major in college and she has not pursued it yet but it is really something she wants to get into it right now. She said she does some volunteer work at Minnegasco and it is a good feeling to give back. Chairperson Ledvina thanked her for taking the time to interview and mentioned to her there would be a voting process done by the board and those results will be passed on to the city council. The city council interviews will be Tuesday, May 28, 2002. If she has any questions about anything she should call Shann Finwall. Richard Eu.qene Currie was the second applicant to be interviewed. Chairperson Ledvina asked if he has any problem with the obligations of meeting two Tuesday's a month at 6:00 p.m. and in the role of the community design review board? Mr. Currie said no he can schedule his time as seen fit. His work at Twin City Nursery was not happy tonight however because they were busy so they did not appreciate him leaving early. He saw the ordinance about the 21~ inch caliper and sometimes your smaller trees will take off better than bigger trees. Chairperson Ledvina asked if there are any specific developments in the city he felt were real quality developments and good examples of how to do things? Also on the flip side do you know of any developments that were not? Mr. Currie commented on the last time he was up there was when they were doing Gander's Mountain. You have to realize he was on the fire department for 13 years so he pre-planned all the buildings west of Highway 61. He had to go through and draw out plans. They have all the drawings of where everything is. When you talk about Gander's Mountain and you wanted to kick out and make an indentation. In fire fighting when you get in there, guys get lost in a smoke filled place. Outside you can put some artificial stuff. When you put nooks and crannies in it is not a good situation. Guldens restaurant was one of them. Community Design Review Board Minutes 5-14-2002 17 He was in that fire and in the basement they had a cement wall and the fire was on one side and the fire fighters were on the other side and they could not find the door to go to the other side. Consequently they lost it. Most of the designs are good, He has not seen anything way out of line. Tonight's drawing look like they are going to use all of the same bushes right around the wetland where there am other plants that maybe they could have used to get some more color contrast. There are red twigged and there are also yellow twigged for wetland areas. Chairperson Ledvina asked if he had any questions about how the board handled any of the two proposals tonight? Mr. Currie said he thought it went smooth. Of course 3M wants to have their whole complex look the same. Nissan looks like they are going to unload cars out into the street anyway. He sees the dealerships all the way down Highway 61 when he comes home at night. They all say they don't do that but they do. It will look good. The windows at Nissan could have been bigger. They looked too tiny for that wall. They could have put some arborvitaes on the outside or something to break that wall up and give it a whole different effect. If they had the parking lot about four foot from the building and you can get arb's that only have a two to three foot spread and you would still have enough room in the back of the building so they won't be up against it. Chairperson Ledvina asked if he had any comments about the strip mall called "The Corner Shops" located off Highway 36 and White Bear Avenue with the design and site plan? Mr. Currie said he doesn't get out that way. He goes on County Road B. It is interesting; he read who is supposed to be on this committee. If you read it there is a total of 6 people. You are supposed to have two architects, two landscapers, and two lay people. Chairperson Ledvina said he believes that was a recommendation. The reason they have an odd number is to prevent a tie vote. Ms. Finwall said there is an error in the CDRB ordinance. It states them will be five members. However, it goes on to state there will be two from landscaping, two from architecture and two lay people which adds up to six people instead of five. Board member Olson asked if that is something the board should correct as a committee? Mr. Currie said it is probably that should either be corrected or add something else. Ms. Finwall said she would supply a copy of the ordinance at the next meeting for members to take a look at. Community Design Review Board Minutes 5-14-2002 18 Board member Olson said she did ask Tom Ekstrand about the number of CDRB members. She said when the design review board only has four members and someone can't make the meeting it is hard to make the quorum. Mr. Ekstrand's response was that it is a bit of a problem getting the community out to apply for these openings. Mr. Currie said maybe go to seven members so you have a better chance of a quorum. He said all the commissions he has applied for didn't seem to have a shortage of applicants. The only one was the civil service board. Board member Olson said maybe Mr. Ekstrand was referring to earlier and conditions may have changed. Board member Olson asked Mr. Currie how long he has lived in Maplewood? Mr. Currie said 49~ years. Board member Olson asked him if he ever had a wish to move somewhere else? Mr. Currie said no. He has his ma's house and you can't take him out. He was offered to move to Oregon and run the nursery in St. Paul, Oregon. Board member Shankar asked Mr. Currie if he could give the board one example of a building he liked in the City of Maplewood for building design and one that you like for landscape design? Mr. Currie said he likes the landscape design at St. Jerome's because he did it. His least favorite is the golf dome. Chairperson Ledvina said thank you for taking the time to interview with the board and he can contact Shann Finwall if he has any questions. Mr. Currie said okay and he will see everyone on Mondays. Diana Lonqrie-Kline was the third applicant to be interviewed. Chairperson Ledvina asked while listening to the meeting this evening, were there any comments or impressions of the proposals of how things were handled between staff, the board and the applicant? Ms. Longrie-Kline said she was surprised that the first applicant for Nissan did not have their color renderings prepared and ready to go and that it was hard to match up the colors with the design that they were presenting. If she were asking questions she may have asked what were the peak times of the day and how many customer's do they have on average during this peak time? Community Design Review Board Minutes 5-14-2002 She knows whenever she has been to a dealership there is never any customer parking. People are parking in the fire lanes and that can be a safety hazard. Ms. Longrie-Kline said she would have asked how many employees will they have and where will the employees park? She thinks 12 customer parking spaces is probably the minimum. Those would have been some of the questions she might have asked. With regard to the south elevations, she thinks the idea of having a band on the wall along is a good idea. She works for the Target stores in the real estate department and she is a senior property administrator. Her region of responsibility is primarily on the east coast so she does not work with any shopping centers in Minnesota whatsoever so there is no conflict of interest. One of the things she does quite often is review architecture and signage for different Target centers. Target has approval rights at these centers and that is part of what she does besides review legal documentation and draft legal documents. One of the architectural items she likes to look for is to ensure that a block wall isn't just a big block wall. Ms. Longrie-Kline said she likes the idea of having the band on the south elevation on the Nissan building between the windows. She illustrated how she would have suggested banding to the board. In regards to the 3M Center proposal, she thought they did a pretty good job with their building. She thought it could have used a little more landscaping. Chairperson Ledvina asked if she has any concerns about the obligations for being a board member? Ms. Longrie-Kline said none whatsoever. She said she does not travel for her job and she lives 15 minutes away. She works in Minneapolis but if she knows what time the meeting is she just leaves early enough to get here in time. Chairperson Ledvina asked if there are specific developments in the city she felt were real quality developments and good examples of how to do things? Also on the flip side do you know of any developments that were not? Ms. Longrie-Kline said it is like the old saying if something is good you never remember it, but if something is bad that sticks out in your mind. You see it and it is pleasing and it seems fine. At the Maplewood Mall she did not like the big box store called Just For Feet. She looks at a lot of signage and reviews documentation for signage in her position. For this reason she thought that the large Birch Run Sign was a massive sign, maybe a bit too large. Chairperson Ledvina asked if she had any comments about the strip mall called "The Corner Shops" located off Highway 36 and White Bear Avenue with the design and site plan? Ms. Longrie-Kline said she does drive by the development and she used to occasionally go to the Bali Hai restaurant that was there. Community Design Review Board Minutes 5-14-2002 2O She does go to Kinko's in that strip mall and she thinks the parking is fine at least for the times she goes there. The mix of tenants seem to work fine. She said she likes the looks of the architectural features and she thinks it looks kind of trendy and fun. Board member Olson asked if there was any other commission that she might be interested in if she can't be on this commission? Ms. Longrie-Kline said she has applied for the planning commission and she is also interested in the community design review board. She has been trying to get on the planning commission for some time now and she will keep trying until she can get on a commission. Board member Olson said her commitment to Maplewood appears to be very strong. Is there another community that you have ties to? Ms. Longrie-Kline said she has lived here for 18 years. She works in Minneapolis and is on the Hennepin County Bar Association. She is also involved with the volunteer lawyers network and she does pro-bono cases occasionally for them. She is also on the board for the St. Croix Valley Boys Choir and has been on that board for five years. Board member Shankar asked if you had to review two projects and approve only one, and one project had a strong site plan but the building design was mediocre. The other project, the building design was spectacular but the site plan was lacking, which one would you approve? Ms. Longrie-Kline said she thinks it is very important to have a good site plan. That site plan has all the elements you need for functionality of the site whether or not it is parking, drainage, access to roads etc. and a building can be a mediocre and it can be very functional inside and it can be a fine building without being beautiful. Chairperson Ledvina thanked her for her time during the interview with the board. He said the board will vote and if you have any questions you can contact Shann Finwall. Chairperson Ledvina asked each member to vote accordingly with 3 being the hi~qhest score and 1 being the lowest score. Ms. Finwall stated the voting results were as follows: Julie Lin Beitler had 5 points. Richard Euqene Currie had 4 points. Diana Longrie-Kline had 9 points. Community Design Review Board Minutes 5-14-2002 21 Board member Shankar said Diana Longrie-Kline had well-rounded answers. interests in a wide variety of things. She had Chairperson Ledvina said Diana Longrie-Kline has a lot of very strong qualities that will improve the board's decision making and the contributions to the proposals that come before the board. Board member Olson said Diana Longrie-Kline had excellent answers. She would like to add that Diana's knowledge of signage in her position at Target would prove to be particularly valuable to the board as the review of the sign code moves forward, Chairperson Ledvina agreed that he was interested when Diana talked about signs. Her knowledge would be a real plus when the board reviews the sign code. Board member Olson moved that the CDRB recommend to the city council to approve Diana Longrie-Kline for the CDRB vacancy. Board member Shankar seconded. Ayes - Ledvina, Olson, Shankar The motion passed. X. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 8:07 p.m.