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2017-08-23 Planning Comm Minutes Special MeetingAugust 23, 2017 Special Mendota Heights Planning Commission Meeting – DRAFT Page 1 of 5 CITY OF MENDOTA HEIGHTS DAKOTA COUNTY, MINNESOTA PLANNING COMMISSION SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES August 23, 2017 The special meeting of the Mendota Heights Planning Commission was held on Wednesday, August 23, 2017 in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 1101 Victoria Curve at 6:00 P.M. The following Commissioners were present: Chair Litton Field, Jr., Commissioners John Mazzitello, Michael Noonan, Doug Hennes, Michael Toth, and Brian Petschel. Those absent: Commissioner Mary Magnuson (excused) Hearings A) PLANNING CASE #2017-21 MINNEHAHA ACADEMY, 1340 MENDOTA HEIGHTS ROAD INTERIM USE PERMIT Community Development Director Tim Benetti explained that Minnehaha Academy was seeking an Interim Use Permit for the property located at 1340 Mendota Heights Road and a secondary property located at 1345 Northland Drive. This item was heard under a normal public hearing process and was officially published in the local newspaper and information letters were mailed to all property owners and tenants of buildings located within 350 feet of the site. No objections have been received from staff regarding this request. Mr. Benetti shared a location map showing the old Brown College site located in the heart of the industrial park, bounded by Mendota Heights Road on the north, Enterprise Drive to the east, and Northland Drive to the South. The area is surrounded by a variety of different commercial and office users. The property is actually split into two tax ID parcels, a 2.74 acre parcel and a 2.72 acre parcel for a total of approximately 5.5 acres. The building is uniquely shaped office building that is 56,650 square feet in size and is owned by Mendota Heights Road LLC (Mr. Dan Schadegg). The subject site contains 271 surface parking spaces. The property was leased by Brown College up until June of this year. The building was set up for a typical college or trade school with business school classrooms. However, currently it is being retrofitted under an approved building permit at this time. The previous school space included a library area, science lab, social spaces, student lounge, and various sized offices. Some of these areas are remaining and some are being retrofitted by the Academy. From the Minnehaha Academy’s website, Mr. Benetti discovered that the enrollment is Pre- kindergarten to 12th grade of approximately 825 students. For the purpose of the old Brown School site, they are looking at approximately 350 9-12th grade students plus 50 staff members. The August 23, 2017 Special Mendota Heights Planning Commission Meeting – DRAFT Page 2 of 5 school hours are assumed to be from 8:35 a.m. to 2:55 p.m. and they are looking to lease the space for up to two years. Mr. Benetti then shared images of the building layout, parking plan, traffic flow (cars and buses), and access points, which had been included in the Commission’s meeting packet of information. Mr. Benetti shared the eight standards for consideration of an interim use permit (A-H) and staff’s responses to these standards and their recommendation of approval for this interim use permit. Commissioner Noonan, referencing the hours of operation, asked what the significance of that was. Mr. Benetti replied that it probably has no significance. The hours were included to give an indication of peak travel times in the morning and late afternoon; however, they would be off-peak hours as far as the industrial park is concerned. Commissioner Toth asked what the expected levels were for parking. Mr. Benetti replied that with over 350 students, they are providing 180 spaces. The actual use of spaces is anticipated to be lower than 180. Commissioner Noonan commented that one would suspect that when Brown Institute ran this facility and they used the entire 55,000 square feet, the students were more inclined to drive than one would think a grade nine would. Ms. Donna Harris, President of Minnehaha Academy, came forward and expressed her appreciation to the Commission for considering their application. Minnehaha Academy has been in existence for 104 years and if there were any concerns about the quality of student that would be occupying this space, they have wonderful students, high quality education integrating Christian faith in learning is their mission, and their students are bright, articulate, inquisitive, collaborative students that give back to the community in many, many ways. She foresees the students finding ways to give back to the Mendota Heights community as well. They did not anticipate the tragedy that occurred on August 2. They have heard very clearly from their community – a caring community is one of their core values – that the students and families wanted to be able to keep their students together, grades 9-12. They had other options where they could have sent the 11th and 12th graders elsewhere, but they wanted space where the students could be together and where the faculty could deliver a high quality education. The footprint of the Brown Institute is smaller than they are used to and they will not have the athletic facilities; however, the have friends in the community that they believe would allow them to use some of their space. Ms. Harris expressed her appreciation for Mortenson and to ATS&R for the work that they are doing to help carve some new spaces and collaborative spaces that the students will need. Commissioner Noonan, referencing an image that showed only three buses, asked what they do – do they come specifically in the morning or night, or are they shuttle buses taking kids back and forth to the main campus. Ms. Harris replied that the buses drop off the students in the morning and pick up in the evening. Principal Jason Wenschlag replied that they would have a few buses from their Minneapolis/St. Paul routes that would drop kids off, then they would also have a shuttle August 23, 2017 Special Mendota Heights Planning Commission Meeting – DRAFT Page 3 of 5 in the morning and in the afternoon that pick up at the south campus and bring kids from there to the main school and take their faculty and staff that need to go to the south campus from the main school to there. That would happen in the morning and afternoon as well; they only have one shuttle bus. Commissioner Noonan asked, for physical education, if the students would be shuttled back to the main campus for that. Principal Wenschlag replied in the negative and stated that they will be leaning more on fitness and conditioning and the health aspects, more wellness. They would not be having team sports classes or out in the parking lot playing touch football. They would be installing a fitness center in the building and focusing more on that. Then the 9th and 10th graders who signed up for a physical education class will take one of the required health classes in one of the classrooms. Chair Field opened the public hearing. Mr. Randy Odegaard, the building and facilities manager for the property located 1333 Northland Drive, the property surrounded by Brown College came forward. He was representing the owners of the property and his tenants. He welcomed Minnehaha Academy to the area; however, his tenants have some concerns. He met with Principal Wenschlag at Minnehaha Academy last week and now has a little bit of an idea of what they are looking at. He stated that his tenants are mostly concerned about bus traffic and student traffic as they do share some common driveways, entrances, and exits. He then pointed out the areas he was referring to on Mr. Benetti’s traffic pattern diagram. He indicated that the main concern is for everyone’s safety, especially with the anticipated construction to take place on Pilot Knob Road and Northland Drive. Mendota Heights Road would be a much safer route due to the fact that there signal lights at major intersections. He urged the students, staff, and parents to use that route versus Northland Drive. Principal Jason Wenschlag returned and, replying to the traffic concerns raised, stated that they would be spending quite a bit of time training their students and parents on traffic flow and where they should be. They will be out with signs, have good signage, and they are hoping to put arrows on the pavement itself to direct people on where to go around the building. They do see it as a concern and have talked Mendota Heights Road to Highway 55 being the best route and the most probable route they will take. Mr. Richard Shattuck, property manager for the Brown College building, stated that despite the fact that the last couple of years there has been minimal occupancy in the building; at the time that they purchased the building six years they were operating at full capacity. All of the parking spaces were being used, the resulting traffic that went with that was in place without incident or any problems for the surrounding neighborhood at that time. He sees less traffic resulting from this; the only difference being a few buses a day. Chair Field asked for a motion to close the public hearing. August 23, 2017 Special Mendota Heights Planning Commission Meeting – DRAFT Page 4 of 5 COMMISSIONER HENNES MOVED, SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER PETSCHEL, TO CLOSE THE PUBLIC HEARING. AYES: 6 NAYS: 0 ABSENT: 1 (Magnuson) COMMISSIONER NOONAN MOVED, SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER MAZZITELLO, TO RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF PLANNING CASE 2017-21, INTERIM USE PERMIT FOR TEMPORARY 9-12TH GRADE SCHOOL IN THE INDUSTRIAL ZONE BASED ON THE FOLLOWING FINDINGS OF FACT: 1. The proposed temporary school use will not be detrimental to the health, safety or general welfare of the community, nor will cause serious traffic congestion nor hazards, nor depreciate surrounding property values. 2. The proposed interim school use conforms to the general purpose and intent of this code and comprehensive plan, including all applicable performance standards, provided all conditions are met and upheld by the property owners during the term of construction. 3. The date or event that will terminate the use can be identified with certainty. 4. The property on which the use will be located is currently in compliance with all applicable city code standards. AND WITH THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONS: 1. The interim use for this temporary school use is valid for up to two complete school year periods, starting from August 24, 2017 and terminating June 30, 2019. 2. Any extension of this interim use permit beyond the June 30, 2019 expiration date must be submitted to the City of Mendota Heights at least sixty (60) days prior to this date, and approved by the City Council. 3. All new remodeling or interior work (including building, electrical, plumbing, heating/cooling and other related work must be submitted for standard building permit review prior to any work being started. Commissioner Noonan commented that exhibit that shows the orientation of the traffic flow is a very thoughtful depiction of how traffic will flow. He believed that the comment the principal made that there is an education process that needs to take place with the students and parents is very true. Looking at other schools in the area he was sure that each year, with new freshmen coming in, there is an education process that takes place as to how parents drop off, how buses are circulated, etc. The fact that they are going in with their eyes open means that they will be respectful of their neighbor, and be a good neighbor as well. The tightness of the site really dictates that they need to work together. AYES: 6 NAYS: 0 ABSENT: 1 (Magnuson) Chair Field advised the City Council would consider this application immediately following this meeting’s adjournment. August 23, 2017 Special Mendota Heights Planning Commission Meeting – DRAFT Page 5 of 5 Adjournment COMMISSIONER TOTH MOVED, SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER NOONAN, TO ADJOURN THE MEETING AT 6:28 P.M. AYES: 6 NAYS: 0 ABSENT: 1 (Magnuson)