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2025.05.12 - MinutesApproved Planning Commission Minutes – May 12, 2025 CRYSTAL PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES Monday, May 12, 2025 at 7:00 p.m. Council Chambers, Crystal City Hall 1. CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting of the Crystal Planning Commission convened at 7:00 p.m. with the following members present: X Commissioner (Ward 1) Sears [Vice Chair] X Commissioner (Ward 2) Selton  Commissioner (Ward 4) Einfeldt-Brown X Commissioner (Ward 1) Heigel X Commissioner (Ward 3) Sumnicht X Commissioner (Ward 4) Johnson [Chair] X Commissioner (Ward 2) Strand (arrived 7:02) X Commissioner (Ward 3) Buck [Sec. Vice Chair] X Commissioner (At-Large) Scholz Other attendees: City planner Dan Olson, Community Development Director John Sutter, City Council liaison Forest Eidbo, Eric Wright (in-person), Harrison LaHaie (Zoom) Wade Goodenberger (Zoom), all three representing Woda Cooper Development, and other interested persons. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Moved by Heigel and seconded by Selton to approve the minutes of the April 14, 2025 regular meeting. Ayes: All. Nays: None. Motion carried. 3. PUBLIC HEARINGS a. Rezoning to Town Center – Planned Development (TC-PD) for the construction of an apartment building at 6000 – 56th Avenue North (Application Number 2025-02) Planner Olson presented a summary of the staff report and stated he is recommending approval of the rezoning application. Commission member Sears asked how far the curb is from the property line along Lakeland Ave. N. Mr. Sutter said approximately 15’. Sears also asked how the underground stormwater tank will be maintained. Planner Olson said a maintenance agreement would be signed between the city and the applicant. Approved Planning Commission Minutes – May 12, 2025 Chair Johnson asked if the applicant thought about straightening out the drive entrance off of Adair. Mr. Eric Wright said it was designed that way to help out with transition from Adair to Lakeland Ave. N. Commission member Sears suggested that the Adair entrance should be 20’ wide to accommodate the fire truck. Planner Olson said that having the building being sprinklered makes the fire truck access less of an issue for the fire department. Commission member Strand wondered if the bushes will stop someone from jumping the parking lot curb. Planner Olson said there are trees and shrubs along that north property line. Commission member Heigel asked if the applicant could provide more parking spaces. Mr. Wright said the site is pretty tight and it would be very difficult to provide more parking. The development would provide five or so visitor parking spaces. Commission member Sumnicht asked if the logo on the front of the building will be lit. Mr. Goodenberger said that’s not part of the proposed plans, and the logo may not even be installed. Sumnicht also asked if there are zoning regulations for rooftop patios. Mr. Olson said there are no specific requirements. Commission member Sears asked if the exterior lighting would be bright. Mr. Sutter said the exterior lighting will mimic what’s in Becker Park. Sears also suggested that swamp white oaks be separated from the stormwater drainfield so that roots do not grow into that drainfield. Chair Johnson opened the public hearing. Seeing no one who wished to speak, Chair Johnson closed the hearing. Commission member Sears asked what the criteria are for new residents. Mr. Wright said the building is income-restricted and residents cannot earn above a certain level. Commission member Strand if a property manager will live on-site. Mr. Wright said the manager will be on- site only during the day. Mr. Wright went into more detail about how the project is funded. Mr. Goodenberger said the building will contain a lot of energy efficient features. Mr. Sumnicht asked why Woda Cooper provides additional laundry facilities when there are washers and dryers in each unit. Mr. Wright said that washer and dryer hookups are provided in each unit, but a resident may choose not to buy those appliances. Moved by Johnson and seconded by Sumnicht to recommend approval to the City Council of the rezoning application with the conditions in the staff report. Ayes: All. Nays: None. Motion Passed. b. Amend the Unified Development Code to add requirements for a Neighborhood Commercial district (Application Number 2025-03) Planner Olson presented a summary of the staff report and stated he is recommending approval of Neighborhood Commercial district amendments. Mr. Olson said that City Council Approved Planning Commission Minutes – May 12, 2025 expressed a desire at a recent work session to have some of the properties at 60th and Lakeland in the NC district. Commission member Sears asked if the City of Robbinsdale had been notified of the rezonings along 42nd Ave. N. Planner Olson said no, but that he would notify them this week. Commission member Sumnicht said the Public Works building doesn’t seem appropriate to have in the NC district. Mr. Sutter said the property is zoned Commercial and guided for Commercial and if the property is redeveloped in the future, it makes sense to have that property with the same zoning as other commercial properties on West Broadway. Commission member Scholz said the Commission should consider including the properties at 60th and Lakeland in the NC district. Mr. Sutter said it would seem appropriate to have all of those properties in the NC district, not just some. Chair Johnson opened the public hearing. Seeing no one who wished to speak, Chair Johnson closed the hearing. Moved by Strand and seconded by Sears to recommend approval to the City Council of the Neighborhood Commercial district amendments, with the condition that the four properties (five parcels) at 60th and Lakeland Ave N. be added to the new district. Ayes: All. Nays: None. Motion Passed. c. Miscellaneous amendments to the Unified Development Code (Application Number 2025-04) Planner Olson presented a summary of the staff report and stated he is recommending approval of the miscellaneous UDC amendments. Planner Olson also provided the City Council discussion on the four policy issues that occurred at a recent Work Session. Commission member Strand isn’t in favor of the density that would come with reducing lot requirements for two-family dwellings. All other commission members agreed except Sumnicht, who was in favor of reducing lot area. Commission members discussed the pros and cons of not restricting future vehicle fuel stations in the TC-PD district. Commission members discussed the history of parking space surpluses for various businesses in Crystal. Commission Buck also said that parking lots provide snow storage. Commission member Sumnicht said he doesn’t think reducing a lot of parking minimums would have much of an effect on the town center area as it exists today. Commission members discussed the pros and cons of eliminating the requirement for a garage for single and two family dwellings. Commission member Sears said if that requirement was deleted, the city might want to require house site plans to show where a future garage could be located. It was suggested removing this proposed amendment from consideration until further research could be completed by staff. Approved Planning Commission Minutes – May 12, 2025 Commission members asked about ADU sizes for attached single-family, two-family and the NC district. Chair Johnson opened the public hearing. A Crystal resident said he supports leaving the lot width and area unchanged for two-family dwellings, doesn’t support new ADUs in new housing types, and isn’t in favor of deleting the requirement for a garage space for one and two-family dwellings. Seeing no one else who wished to speak, Chair Johnson closed the hearing. The following motions were acted upon regarding the four policy issues identified in the staff report. 1. Reduce minimum lot width and area for two-family dwellings Moved by Sumnicht and seconded by Johnson to recommend that the City Council leave the minimum lot width at 80’, but reduce the minimum lot area to 9,000 sq. ft. Ayes: Johnson, Sumnicht, Buck and Selton. Nays: Scholz, Strand, Heigel and Sears. Motion failed. Moved by Sears and seconded by Strand to recommend that the City Council leave the minimum lot width at 80’ and minimum lot area at 10,000 sq. ft. Ayes: Scholz, Strand, Heigel and Sears. Nays: Johnson, Sumnicht, Buck and Selton. Motion failed. Since both motions failed, the ordinance is unchanged for this policy issue. 2. Restrict auto-dependent uses in the TC-PD district. Moved by Sears and seconded by Heigel to recommend that the City Council adopt the proposed restrictions on auto-dependent uses but not prohibit vehicle fuel stations from the TC-PD district. Ayes: Johnson, Heigel, Buck, Sears and Strand. Nays: Selton, Scholz, and Sumnicht. Motion passed. 3. Modify parking requirements. Moved by Sumnicht and seconded by Strand to recommend that the City Council amend the minimum parking space requirement for restaurants to 4 spaces plus one space per 250 sq. ft. of gross floor area. Ayes: All. Nays: None Motion passed. Approved Planning Commission Minutes – May 12, 2025 Moved by Sears and seconded by Buck to recommend that the City Council keep the covered parking (garage) requirement for one and two-family dwellings. Ayes: All. Nays: None Motion passed. 4. Allow ADUs for additional housing types and NC. Moved by Scholz and seconded by Selton to recommend that the City Council ADUs continue to be allowed only in detached single-family dwellings. Ayes: Johnson, Strand, Selton, Buck, Heigel, Sears, Scholz. Nays: Sumnicht Motion passed. Moved by Sumnicht and seconded by Johnson to recommend that the City Council also allow ADUs in the proposed Neighborhood Commercial district (NC). Ayes: Sumnicht, Johnson Nays: Strand, Selton, Buck, Heigel, Sears, Scholz. Motion failed. Moved by Scholz and seconded by Selton to recommend that the City Council adopt the clarifications and corrections of the UDC amendments as outlined in the staff report. Ayes: All Nays: None Motion passed. 4. OLD BUSINESS – None 5. NEW BUSINESS - None 6. GENERAL INFORMATION • City Council actions on previous Planning Commission items: None. • Development and construction update: Mr. Sutter said that the developer for the proposed apartment building for the former Wells Fargo bank site at 7000 – 56th Ave. N. has decided not to pursue the development. • Update from Council Liaison: Council liaison Eidbo said that the City Council met with a consultant last Saturday as part of their strategic planning efforts. The Council also acted on a new ordinance to allow trees in the right-of-way and is in the process of moving the city’s GIS capabilities in-house. The city will also be completing a tree inventory later this year. Approved Planning Commission Minutes – May 12, 2025 • Staff preview of likely agenda items for Monday, June 9, 2025 meeting. Planner Olson said that the application deadline is not until tomorrow, but that he is not expecting any applications. 7. OPEN FORUM 8. ADJOURNMENT Moved by Sears and seconded by Buck to adjourn. Ayes: All. Nays: None Motion carried. The meeting adjourned at 10:00 p.m.