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Home My WebLink About2002/02/11 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study Session ST.CITY LOUOIF S OFFICIAL MINUTES PARK CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION Minutes of February 11, 2002 The meeting convened at 7:00 p.m. Present at the meeting were Councilmembers Jim Brimeyer, Ron Latz, Chris Nelson, Susan Santa, and Mayor Jeff Jacobs Staff present: City Manager (Mr. Meyer), City Attorney (Mr. Scott), City Engineer(Mr. Moore), Director of Finance (Ms. McGann), Director of Community Development (Mr Harmening), Planning and Zoning Supervisor(Ms. Jeremiah), Planning Coordinator(Ms Erickson), Housing Supervisor (Ms Schnitker), Housing Programs Coordinator(Ms. Larsen), and City Clerk (Ms. Reichert). 1. Elmwood Study Consultant Ms. Erickson stated that Hennepin County and city staff have proposed to proceed with SRF Consulting Group for the Elmwood study and would like to introduce the team to the City Council. She introduced Monique MacKensie, the project manager, and Barry Warner. A representative of Hennepin County was also in attendance at the meeting. Mr. Warner described the study area for Elmwood study as well as the team they have put together. He mentioned the talents each person has and how those will be applied to the study. Ms. MacKensie spoke briefly on how SRF plans to move through the process, the anticipated timeframe of the study, and how they plan to arrange stakeholder participation. Councilmember Latz suggested including the Sorenson neighborhood in the citizen task force. Mr Harmening stated that it is important to consider that the purpose of the study is to develop long-term strategies and to build flexibility into the plan as future development and re- development occurs Councilmember Brimeyer inquired about Hennepin County's expectations are in regards of the study The representative from Hennepin County replied that they were hoping to integrate transit into the development plans in the area and to build a model for the future. Ms. Jeremiah stated that Hennepin County may not want to fund the public/stakeholder process and the city may have to fund that portion of the study. Mr. Harmening stated that Hennepin County has agreed to fund $100,000 of the study. He added that the City may have to supplement any otional tasks that are suggested by SRF, such as a detailed traffic study and the Highway100/36` St interchange. 2. Ensuring Compliance with Comprehensive Plan Development Guidelines (Beltline) Ms. Jeremiah updated Council on the request from Beltline Industrial Park. She stated that staff felt it is important to consider a change in policy in the context of the larger community and not solely based on the Beltline site in question. Mr. Scott would prefer to see a CUP process for the restricted uses as well as conformation with the Comprehensive Plan. Study Session Minutes -2- February 11, 2002 Mr. Harmening suggested that the policy should apply broadly to the city as a whole. Mr. Harmening would like to proceed with action that would allow the application for Beltline Industnal Park to move forward. Council agreed that they did not want to hold up the Beltline application. Staff agreed to move forward with changes to the ordinance at a future date. 3. Detached Garages Greg Ingraham, Planning Consultant, was present at the meeting. He reported his findings to the City Council and felt that the biggest concerns are two-story garages and garages with windows near and overlooking neighboring properties. He recommended simplifying garage height measurements and to look at other building components such as living space, mass, and windows. Councilmember Latz felt that it is important to allow residents to get the most use out of their space as possible and garage space can provide that opportunity. Council discussed whether windows should be allowed in garages. The Council agreed that plumbing should not be allowed in garages. Council decided to simplify the height requirements and to allow a sliding scale of allowed height based on principal structure setbacks. 4. West Suburban Housing Partners Private Activity Revenue Bonds Council raised several questions about the bonds rating of"A-". Ms. McGann informed Council that Mr. Bubul, Kennedy & Graven, Chartered, felt that the rating was acceptable but were looking for a "Aal" rating. She added that Mr. Bubul discouraged staff from accepting anything less than the "A-" rating. Todd Urness, West Suburban Housing Partners, requested more time to seek other financing with a better bond rating. The Council agreed to the delay. Council discussed the affordable units that are to be in the development and how they are going to distributed Mr. Urness stated that they had reduced the number of affordable housing units to gain the Council's approval. Councilmember Latz expressed his concern about the reduction in the number of units of affordable housing. Councilmember Nelson stated that he was comfortable with the number as presented. Councilmember Latz voiced his strong opinion for the need of affordable housing in the metropolitan area and how these units are not being built fast enough. Councilmember Santa agreed with Councilmember Latz about the need for affordable housing but was concerned about concentrating the housing in one area. Mayor Jacobs felt that the higher number of affordable housing units was better. Mr. Meyer inquired whether financing for the development would be easier to find if there was a higher number of affordable units. Mr. Urness stated that financing would be easier if that was the case. Councilmember Latz would like to see if they can increase the number of two and three bedroom units. Mr. Meyer reminded the Council that six affirmative votes are needed for the bonds to be issued. Study Session Minutes -3- February 11, 2002 5. Community Development Block Grant Funds for 2002 Ms. Schnitker outlined the allocation proposal for the 2002 Community Development Block Grant funds, stating that the allocations would be disbursed towards home renewal, blight removal, the emergency repair program, Wayside House improvements, and to build a park shelter at the Meadowbrook apartment complex. Ms. Schnitker added that a reallocation from 2001 is proposed to assist Vail Place in the construction of seven unit building for low income, mentally disabled adults. Council approved the proposal and encouraged staff to move forward to obtain the funding from Hennepin County. 6. Excelsior Boulevard Streetscape from Quentin Ave. to Monterey Ave.—Proj. 99-05 A representative from SRF Consulting Group was in attendance at the meeting and gave a presentation on the streetscape plans and project schedule. Council inquired about the use of pavers to delineate the crosswalks and the style of lights at these points The representative from SRF stated that Hennepin County would not allow pavers to be used on Excelsior Blvd as delineation for crosswalks Council considered the possibility of accidents at Excelsior and Grand Avenues and considered installing an additional nght turn lane from Excelsior Boulevard to Grand Ave They were concerned that the pedestrian crosswalk would stop traffic causing cars behind to swerve into traffic. Mr Meyer stated that the design intended to slow traffic in that area and that the traffic engineers had specifically designed the plan to slow traffic and allow for safe pedestrian crossing. Ms. Hagen stated that Hennepin County did not raise any issues about the nght turn lane. Councilmember Nelson felt that if there is a warrant for nght turn lane then they should build it, but felt that traffic engineenng should be left to the engineers. Mr. Harmening reported that the proposed Special Service District#3 was well received by the affected property owners. 7. Joint Powers Agreement for Taxi Licensing Mayor Jacobs thanked Mr. Hoffman for his good work on this item. Mr Hoffman explained the Joint Powers Agreement that would govern over taxi licensing in the cities who participated. The agreement would create a board with rulemaking powers and the power to issue taxi vehicle and taxi driver licenses to allow operation in the member cities and the airport. Council agreed that it was a good idea Councilmember Latz would like to see the police enforce the policy that only taxis licensed horn the board would be allowed to operate within city limits. 8. Communications Mayor Jacobs asked Council if they supported the idea of a task force to consider nonsmokers' nghts in the community. He would like to have the issue resolved by the general community rather than have local government force any regulations. r i � Study Session Minutes -4- February 11, 2002 Councilmember Nelson felt there was not a need for this but would stand by if it proceeded. Council agreed that they should present an open dialog but should set a time limit to the task force. Council wanted to make sure that a desired outcome was not dictated to the task force. 9. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 10.12 p.m. 1 ty Clerk Mayer