Loading...
2014.09.08 PC Meeting MinutesApproved minutes of the September 8, 2014 Planning Commission Meeting Page 1 of 6 J:\PLANNING\Planning Commission\2014\09.08\approved minutes.doc CRYSTAL PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES Monday, September 8, 2014 at 7:00 p.m. Council Chambers, Crystal City Hall A. CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting of the Crystal Planning Commission convened at 7 p.m. with the following members present: X Commissioner (Ward 1) Sears [Vice Chair] X Commissioner (Ward 2) Kolb Approved minutes of the September 8, 2014 Planning Commission Meeting Page 2 of 6 J:\PLANNING\Planning Commission\2014\09.08\approved minutes.doc Of the 15 homes, 13 of them would be accessed from Douglas Drive and 2 from the intersection of 39th and Colorado Avenues. Instead of the 60’ street easement, the development would dedicate a 50’ drainage and utility easement. The 13 lots would receive water and sewer service from Douglas Drive, 10 of which are already in place. There are existing services available on Colorado for the other 2 lots. Mr. Sutter said the developer is showing 3 infiltration basins, but they have no outlet structure and it’s unknown how much runoff from the rear yards they would pick up. The developer is also showing each single-family home on Douglas having a separate curb cut. The developer has also submitted a separate grading plan but has not indicated that the entire site would be graded all at once so the city is unsure how it would be marketed. It appears that each builder would be responsible for grading each lot at time of construction. The city is concerned because the site runs downhill to the north and changes to the grade on one lot can affect the others. The city is not entirely opposed to the idea, however, there needs to be more information provided to the city about the staging of the grading on the site. Mr. Sutter indicated there are two primary issues that staff has identified that leads them to recommend continuing the public hearing to the next meeting in October. The first has to do with storm water treatment. The city requires full treatment of runoff from a development of this size, however there is no provision to treat any of the runoff from the driveways and the front half of the houses and it’s likely the majority of the runoff would go onto Douglas into the existing storm sewer system. If the developer has to put in a pond, it may decrease the number of lots and either increase or decrease the size of the lots, depending on what size the pond needs to be. The city doesn’t see any alternative other than the number of lots on Douglas will have to be reduced by one and since that would affect the plat, the city recommends continuing the hearing until the next meeting to give the developer time to resolve this issue. It is also unknown whether the three small basins would be sufficient in order to treat the rear yard runoff, if not, there could be erosion issues on the city property and pond to the east. The other issue has to do with the curb cuts on Douglas Drive. Hennepin County has both plat and curb cut permitting authority. They have said they will not approve the plat as shown and would require some type of consolidation of the driveways. The county has indicated they would accept shared driveways, which would likely be more practical than the other option of a frontage road. The reason this is so significant is that even if the city were to approve the plat, it has to be recorded at the county. Since they have said they will not approve it as is, it is not recordable anyway and if the plat is not recorded, the lots can’t be sold. Hennepin County also issues permits for the curb cuts, again, they have said they will not do that. Therefore, city staff feels these issues need to be addressed now. Approved minutes of the September 8, 2014 Planning Commission Meeting Page 3 of 6 J:\PLANNING\Planning Commission\2014\09.08\approved minutes.doc Commissioner Heigel questioned if the utilities would be off the front of the property. Mr. Sutter said that one gas main is on the other side of Douglas and another goes up Colorado and turns on 39th, but he was unsure how they were going to feed the gas to the properties, and the plat includes easements so Centerpoint will have a way to get gas service to the new houses. The electric and communications services are on the poles on Douglas, but the service lines will be underground as is required by the city. Commissioner Strand questioned if Hennepin County gave their reasoning for denying the curb cuts. Planner Sutter stated that they want to limit the number of access points for safety reasons. Commissioner Sears asked how many curb cuts Hennepin County wanted. Mr. Sutter indicated they haven’t given a specific number, they just said they needed to be consolidated in some way. City staff did provide the developer with a concept sketch with suggestions including where the city felt a pond should be placed, some suggestions were accepted and some were not. Planner Sutter indicated that it has not been determined how the pond would be maintained. He also emphasized that the reason the city is so concerned about the curb cut and drainage issues is that it may change the layout of the development. After the final plat is recorded the developer can start selling property and once that happens, the city has basically given up their ability to regulate the development. Commissioner Heigel asked what would happen if two property owners with a shared curb cut wanted different driveway materials. Mr. Sutter said the city suggested putting a concrete approach up to the property line and a joint down the center so there would be a clear indicator between the two. Commissioner Kolb questioned why the county thought 6 curb cuts would be safer than 12 or 13. Mr. Sutter said he can’t speak for the county but their reasons probably have to do with larger space between the curb cuts and more consistency. The following were heard: Perry Ryan of Ryan Excelsior Properties spoke before the commission, indicating that their company is the developer of the property and also the engineer. He stated that he had met with the city engineer and showed him where the proposed ponds would be located and that no calculations were ever requested. He also said that the site doesn’t naturally all run to the northeast corner of lot one and to make that happen they would have to do major storm sewer work to collect runoff from the rear yards. The ponds he suggested are natural runoff locations and he also indicated they would propose to direct the roof runoff to the rear yard as well, so only the additional runoff would be from the driveway. Approved minutes of the September 8, 2014 Planning Commission Meeting Page 4 of 6 J:\PLANNING\Planning Commission\2014\09.08\approved minutes.doc Mr. Ryan said that in talking with the city, they would not take a position on the curb cuts, but indicated it would be a county decision. He talked with the county and they said they would like two houses per driveway but they would be willing to talk about it. Mr. Ryan also said that this is only a preliminary plat and as such, is not recordable and doesn’t feel that these two issues should delay approval of the plat. Commissioner Kolb asked Mr. Ryan whether his conversation with Hennepin County regarding the curb cuts was prior to the August 28, 2014 letter the city received stating the county will not approve the proposal of one driveway per lot. Mr. Ryan indicated it was. Commissioner Strand asked Mr. Ryan why he felt the city was taking a stand on the driveways. He said that the city has always said it was a county decision. Mr. Sutter said that what the city has said all along was that the county would be resistant to separate curb cuts and shared curb cuts would be a way to deal with that, but that the developer would need to contact the county and resolve it with them. Mr. Sutter also said the city in no way advocates for shared curb cuts, it’s a county road and the city doesn’t have the authority to issue permits, the county makes that decision. Mr. Sutter explained that the concern of city staff is the plat submitted shows individual curb cuts, the county is saying they won’t allow it, so he feels it would be irresponsible on the city’s part to move forward until this issue has been decided. He also said that a preliminary plat isn’t really preliminary, it just means this is the submittal with all the details that have been worked out, and the final plat which gets recorded to actually create the lots doesn’t show the details. Commissioner Sears questioned how the runoff from the driveways would be handled. Mr. Ryan said that this is a unique property since the majority of the frontage is on Douglas Drive, and that most other subdivisions in the city do not intercept the runoff from the driveways. They are proposing that the majority of the runoff, which comes from the roof, be directed to the rear ponds. Their goal is to reduce amount of area runoff that would go to Douglas Drive and at least match the amount of current drainage. Mary Weber, 3825 Brunswick Ave N, wanted to know the size of the lots. Mr. Sutter said they range from 8,700 – 18,000 square feet with the majority being 64.5 feet wide. Rochelle Cossette, 4051 Brunswick Ave N, questioned what would be done with the current Public Works building. Mr. Sutter said the salt storage shed and the utilities building would remain, the streets building and metal pole barn would be removed. The council has not determined what the long term usage would be; Approved minutes of the September 8, 2014 Planning Commission Meeting Page 5 of 6 J:\PLANNING\Planning Commission\2014\09.08\approved minutes.doc it’s very complicated by the flood zone. Ms. Cossette also questioned whether there was an approximate market value for the proposed houses, but the developer did not have an answer at this time. Planning Commission discussion: Commissioner Kolb mentioned that the commission could either accept the staff recommendation to continue the public hearing or could vote to approve. Mr. Sutter confirmed that, saying if it was approved it would go to council the following week for consideration. City staff would probably ask legal counsel to advise the city council on whether or not the city would be creating a vested right by approving the preliminary plat. Commissioner Kolb questioned if the plat was approved whether it would come back before the Planning Commission. Mr. Sutter said he was unsure what would happen, it would be up to the city council. Moved by Commissioner Strand and seconded by Commissioner Heigel to continue consideration of Application 2014-7 for the plat of Gaulke Pond Homes on property located at 3924 and 3908 Douglas Drive North. Motion carried 6 – 1 with Sears, Heigel, VonRueden, Buck, Johnson and Strand voting aye and Kolb voting nay. D. OLD BUSINESS 1. Consider Application 2014-6 for a conditional use permit for U-Haul (2740 Douglas Drive North) to store and display one vehicle in the Lamplighter Square parking lot. (Continued from August 11, 2014 meeting.) Staff presented the following: Mr. Sutter said the office use is all permitted; the CUP is only for the single U- Haul vehicle. Since the last meeting, Mr. Sutter indicated he spoke with the U- Haul representative who indicated that all other trucks will be off-site and he felt that both the business owner and U-Haul both understand what is allowed. Commissioner Kolb wanted to make sure that the city had the power to revoke the CUP if it becomes a problem. Mr. Sutter said if they had multiple vehicles there, they would be violating the zoning ordinance and subject to the city’s standard enforcement process. If the violations continued, the council would have the option to revoke the CUP. Commissioner Heigel questioned whether it was ever clarified what type of vehicle would be allowed. Mr. Sutter stated that the square footage limit of 270 square feet has been added to the conditions. The following were heard: None were heard. Approved minutes of the September 8, 2014 Planning Commission Meeting Page 6 of 6 J:\PLANNING\Planning Commission\2014\09.08\approved minutes.doc Moved by Commissioner Kolb and seconded by Commissioner Buck to recommend approval of Application 2014-6 for a conditional use permit for U- Haul (2740 Douglas Drive North) to store and display one vehicle in the Lamplighter Square parking lot. Motion carried. E. GENERAL INFORMATION 1. City Council actions on previous Planning Commission items: ▪ August 19: Approved a sign setback variance for 5120 56th Ave N (Liquor Liquidator) 2. Bottineau/Blue Line LRT update from Hennepin County and Finance & Commerce article Mr. Sutter informed the commission that the Bottineau Light Rail project office will be in the Crystal Gallery Mall in the former Northwest Family Physicians location. 3. Staff preview of likely agenda items for Monday, October 13, 2014 meeting Noodles & Company might be coming in for a CUP for an outdoor patio which will include liquor. F. OPEN FORUM No one spoke before the commission. G. ADJOURNMENT Moved by Commissioner Sears and seconded by Commissioner Von Rueden to adjourn. Motion carried. The meeting adjourned at 8:05 p.m.