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2008-10-28 Planning Comm MinutesPlanning Commission Minutes October 28, 2008 CITY OF MENDOTA HEIGHTS DAKOTA COUNTY, MINNESOTA PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES October 28, 2008 The regular meeting of the Mendota Heights Planning Commission was held on Tuesday, October 28, 2008, in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 1101 Victoria Curve at 7:00 P.M. The following Commissioners were present: Chair Lally, Commissioners McManus (arrived late), Norton, Viksnins, and Hennes. Those absent: Commissioner Povolny. Those present were Public Works Director John Mazzitello, Assistant to the City Administrator Jake Sedlacek, and Planner Steve Grittman. Minutes were recorded by Rebecca Shaffer. Approval of September 23, 2008 Commissioner Hennes moved, seconded by Commissioner Viksnins, to approve the minutes of September 23, 2008 of the Planning Commission meeting. AYES 5 NAYES 0 Hearings PLANNING CASE #08 -28 Tim Gunderson / Somerset Country Club 1416 Dodd Road Conditional Use Permit Commissioner Field asked to abstain from this discussion as he is a member of the country club. Mr. Grittman reviewed a map showing the location of 1416 Dodd Road, which is zoned R -1, One Family Residential. The applicant is proposing to remove a free - standing wood concession stand and construct a lock room, snack bar, and laundry addition. Mr. Grittman reviewed a drawing of the pool area and noted the existing pool house is directly west of the pool and indicated how the new building will be situated. Mr. Grittman said conditional use permits are necessary for golf courses in the R -1 zone to ensure that the use of the property will not detract from the residential character of the neighborhood. Mr. Grittman said the proposed changes are relatively minor and do not seem to have a negative impact on the neighborhood. Staff is recommending approval of the conditional use permit as presented. Commissioner Viksnins asked for clarification of the condition permit requirements in relation to changes in the use. Mr. Grittman said golf courses are a conditional use and part of the Planning Commission Minutes October 28, 2008 conditional use permit builds in the site plan to the extend that the buildings on the site are the permitted use, and any changes need to have a permit (incremental amendments to the permit). Commissioner Viksnins asked if the swimming pool is considered an extension of the golf course amenities. Mr. Grittman said the pool use is an acceptable extension of the golf course use. Jim Woolback, Gunderson Construction, said Mr. Grittman explained the application very well. Chair Lally asked when construction will start. Mr. Woolback said it will start as soon as they get the permits. Chair Lally opened the public hearing. Seeing no one coming forward wishing to speak, he asked for a motion to close the public hearing. Commissioner Norton moved, seconded by Commissioner Viksnins, to approve close the public hearing. AYES 5 NAYES 0 Commissioner Viksins moved, seconded by Commissioner Norton, to recommend approval of the Conditional Use as presented in the Planners Report. AYES 5 NAYES 0 PLANNING CASE #08 -29 Telecom Transport 1196 Northland Drive Conditional Use Permit Mr. Grittman reviewed the site plan showing the location of the proposed TTM antenna addition on the property at 1196 Northland Drive (intersection of I -494 and Highway 55). Mr. Grittman said the applicants are proposing a conditional use permit to add an antenna onto an existing cell phone tower. The applicant will be constructing a small antenna (18 -in round) on that pole as well as adding some ground equipment that goes along with the antenna. Mr. Grittman noted that this is not a new coverage application, but the antenna will be used to add a backhaul network service for wireless carriers. The monopole is owned by AT &T, and TTM is proposing to lease at 4' x 4' (16 sq. ft) ground lease within AT &T's existing compound to accommodate the equipment panel. Mr. Grittman said the ordinance pertains mostly to new cell towers, and those regulations for the most part do not apply to this application. It was noted that Commissioner McManus arrived. Planning Commission Minutes October 28, 2008 Mr. Grittman said the proposed antenna will not negatively affect the public health, safety and general welfare of the community and recommends approval of the proposed conditional use permit with the conditions as noted in the Planners Report. Commissioner Field spoke of his concern about the lease agreement, which has not appeared to be resolved with the City Council. Mr. Grittman said the city has a lease with AT &T and is not sure how this will be resolved. Mr. Grittman said it will be up to the council on how to handle this. Debra Weiss, consultant representing TTM, explained how this service will support the wireless technology to increase their capacity to get data from their existing equipment to the main switch. Ms. Weiss said she would like to work with Staff on the conditions as some of them will not apply. Councilmember Field asked if this backhaul will in any way be connected to his cell phone. Ms. Weiss said it will not. TTM is also asking for the exclusion to the understanding of the lease agreement between AT &T and the city for the $500 because they are not supplying to the end user. Commissioner Norton asked if this was the same type of technology that was presented by TTM a few months ago. Ms. Weiss said that was correct, and it was when they wanted to put the same type of equipment on the water tower. Chair Lally asked if residents of Mendota Heights have been receiving better service from AT &T. Ms. Weiss said they are mostly supplying the data from the equipment back the main switch. Commissioner McManus asked where the ground equipment will be located. Ms. Weiss said it will be on the northeast side, and that the antenna will be painted to match. Commissioner McManus asked about security. Ms. Weiss said there will be no fencing as everything is securely contained inside a smaller box, similar to transformers. Chair Lally opened the public hearing. Seeing no one else come forward wishing to speak, he asked for a motion to close the public hearing. Commissioner Field moved, seconded by Commissioner Norton, to approve close the public hearing. AYES 6 NAYES 0 Commissioner Norton moved, seconded by Commissioner Field, to recommend approval of the conditional permit in accordance with the findings and conditions outlined in the Planners Report. Planning Commission Minutes October 28, 2008 AYES 6 NAYES 0 Update on Mendota Mall Mr. Sedlacek reviewed the new concept plan submitted by Paster Enterprises to the City Council at their October 21St meeting. Mr. Sedlacek said the City Council received the recommendation from the Planning Commission to approve what the applicant had, however the City Council still felt that the applicant did not have enough to make this development fit the character of the neighborhood because they did not take into consideration the preservation of the wetland. At that point, the developer felt it was better for them to revise the plan rather than have the application denied on August 5th Mr. Sedlacek talked about the processes that were taken over the past few weeks to get to this point, and the City Council gave their nod as the October 21St meeting to proceed with the details. Commissioner Hennes asked for clarification on the bridge crossing over the wetland. Public Works Director John Mazzitello said he met with Aaron Hemquist, the development engineer with RLK, to find options for that crossing. Mr. Mazzitello reviewed the cross section drawing showing the greenway, and explained how there will be two openings (12 -ft wide precast concrete arch culvert for the trail and a 72 -in. concrete culvert that has the bottom 18 inches buried for the water passage). The reason for this option is economical in nature. The greenway opening would be from south to north of approx. 75 -ft wide and the drainage channel at full capacity is about 6 to 8 feet wide. Mr. Mazzitello said this is an earthen structure with a retaining wall, and the bridge will accommodate both vehicle and foot traffic. There will be a 12 -ft drop in elevation. Chair Lally asked if there has been any indication of what will be going into the buildings. Mr. Sedlacek said the timeline has been submitted and does not believe there is a specific timeframe for the office, and there is talk about housing in 2010 depending on the market conditions. Senior housing is being seriously considered. The applicant would like to begin construction in 2009, including taking out a portion of the existing building and reconstruct the space, adding in the construction of Walgreens, some retail and some restaurant within Phase I. Commissioner Hennes asked if this will come back to the Planning Commission. Mr. Sedlacek said it would only if the City Council wishes the Planning Commission to review anything specific. Preliminary feedback from the council is that this is a workable plan and they are anticipating working out details without coming back to the Planning Commission. Commissioner Viksnins said he had some reservations about this project, one being the absence of the creek and the second is the clustering. Commissioner Viksnins asked if there is any progress on the clustering issue. Mr. Sedlacek said that has become a tradeoff for the incorporation of the wetland. Planning Commission Minutes October 28, 2008 Chair Lally asked if there are any other right in / right out along Highway 110. Mr. Sedlacek said the applicant will be proposing a deceleration lane going east bound and turning right onto the property, however there are no acceleration coming out of the property going east bound. Mr. Mazzitello said the right in / right out is perhaps not the most desirable access to retail development; it is used of off state highways in some circumstances. The city does have one across from Highway 110 to the east of Lexington near the SuperAmerica station, and there is a right in only by the Caribou Coffee Shop in the Village. Mr. Mazzitello said it is Staff's understanding from the developer that part of the purchase agreement for the MnDOT right of way land was given for the northeast quadrant. Commissioner Field asked about the setbacks from Highway 110. Mr. Sedlacek explained the setbacks (135 -ft to the restaurant building), being 80 -ft closer than the previous plan. Commissioner Field asked if the alignment of the east side road where the right in / right out is proposed is the same proportion in relation to the Dodge Nature Center property. Mr. Sedlacek said that was true. Commissioner McManus asked if the creek will have continuous flow of water. Mr. Mazzitello said the intent is for the creek to behave as closely to current conditions as possible, the only difference to that will be the outlets to the three storm water ponds are intended to go into the drainage way so there will be an added flow during storm events. Commissioner McManus asked if the ponds will be maintained by the natural flow of water. Mr. Mazzitello said a typical storm water pond functions with a dead storage volume, which is an amount of water that always sits in the pond, and then the storm events would cause that surface to rise and fall; the design intent barring a severe drought condition would be the ponds to function with rain water only. Commissioner McManus asked if anything has been done in relation to the improvement of the architecture to the building. Mr. Sedlacek said at this point, the drawings that were reviewed by the Planning Commission have not been reviewed by council, but council has asked that at least one of these buildings be unique and compliments with the buildings across the street. Commissioner Field said he noticed that there has been some painting on the back of the existing building. Mr. Sedlacek said these are just some maintenance repairs. Mr. Sedlacek said residents can contact him or Mr. Mazzitello with any questions or concerns. Staff is anticipating that the developer will be at the November 18th council meeting with more detail, giving people a chance to give some input. Mr. Sedlacek said emails can also be sent to cityhall(&ci.mendota- heights.com. Commissioner McManus asked if the council will be reviewing the architecture. Mr. Sedlacek said they may bring something to the November 181h meeting; however they will be working on some of the condition items first. The applicant received an extension until February 22, 2009. Commissioner Viksnins said this proposal is sufficiently different from the one that the Planning Commission previously reviewed and asked if the new plan should be coming back before the Planning Commission Minutes October 28, 2008 Planning Commission in some form. Mr. Sedlacek said the Planning Commission is advisory to the City Council and if the City Council felt that this was a new application, they would seek input from the Planning Commission, however they are not required to do so. Commissioner Viksnins said it would be appropriate to hold structured settings for residents input at this point instead of visiting with the city on an ad -hoc basis. Commissioner Viksnins said he feels the council should give some thought to sending this back to the Planning Commission for a review of the current proposal. Mr. Sedlacek said he will bring that up to the next council meeting; and the council can always refer to the Planning Commission minutes. Verbal Review Planning Case No. 08 -26 Mary Ellen Kappas Wetlands Permit • Approved by the City Council as recommended by the Planning Commission. Planning Case No. 08 -27 Mark Goblisch Variance • Denied by the City Council as recommended by the Planning Commission. Chair Lally asked for an update to the property at 694 Wentworth Avenue. Mr. Mazzitello said council discussed at their last meeting the course of action they wish to take, and has Staff is currently discussing with the city attorney about getting access to the land for inspection and determine if it is a hazard, as well as the steps that need to be taken. Mr. Sedlacek said the owner came to the City Council requesting to have his building permit reissued. Staff then found that the owner had conflicts with the contractor, and proceeded to backfill himself, thus cracking the foundation which caused a significant stall. The City then asked the owner to provide a structural engineering report to determine whether the foundation was safe to build upon. Since then, there has been no activity on the site and Staff has not received any feedback from the property owner. Staff understands that the property owner is having some financial difficulties. Commissioner Norton moved, seconded by Commissioner Hennes, to adjourn the meeting 7:45 pm Respectfully submitted, Rebecca Shaffer, Recording Secretary