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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013/12/09 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study Session Iif St. Louis Park OFFICIAL MINUTES MINNESOTA CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION ST. LOUIS PARK, MINNESOTA DECEMBER 9, 2013 The meeting convened at 6:35 p.m. Councilmembers present: Mayor Pro Tern Susan Sanger, Steve Hallfin, Anne Mavity, Julia Ross (arrived at 6:39 p.m.), and Sue Santa. Councilmembers absent: Mayor Jeff Jacobs and Councilmember Jake Spano. Staff present: City Manager (Mr. Harmening), Director of Operations and Recreation (Ms. Walsh), Director of Engineering (Ms. Heiser), Director of Community Development (Mr. Locke), Planning/Zoning Supervisor (Ms. McMonigal), Organizational Development Coordinator (Ms. Gothberg), Public Works Services Manager (Mr. Merkley), Public Works Superintendent(Mr. Hanson), and Recording Secretary(Ms. Hughes). Guests: Jean Olson (Health in the Park), Gretchen Nicholls (Twin Cities LISC), and Marie Cote (SRF Consulting). 1. Future Study Session Agenda Planning—January 13, 2014 Mr. Harmening presented the proposed study session agenda for January 13, 2014. He advised that a questionnaire will be sent in the near future to obtain Council's input on the agenda and anticipated outcomes for the City Council retreat, adding it is assumed that housing will be the primary topic for the full day session. He requested guidance from Council regarding the January 13th discussion on design standards for new homes in established neighborhoods. Councilmember Mavity stated there appears to be a trend of large homes being built that do not always fit into the neighborhoods in which they are being built or on the lots. She stated that while the City wants move-up housing, she would like to understand what other communities have done to address this issue, adding that Edina and Minneapolis have some guidelines to make sure the redesign fits into the neighborhood block. Mayor Pro Tem Sanger agreed and added the City is also seeing a number of additions on houses that do not fit with the rest of the house as well as with the surrounding neighborhood. 2. Health in the Park Update Mayor Pro Tern Sanger introduced Ms. Jean Olson from the Health in the Park Team. Ms. Gothberg presented the staff report and stated the Health in the Park initiative is an exciting process that is getting people involved so that St. Louis Park can be a healthier community. Ms. Olson advised they are currently working in segments of the community to talk about what health means to community members, adding that health means different things to different people and while the City is not going to be able to fix it for everyone, it can get people engaged and talking about health. Ms. Gothberg advised the first community conversation is scheduled for Thursday, February 20, 2014, from 6:30-8:30 p.m., and a second community conversation is scheduled for Sunday, Study Session Minutes -2- December 9, 2013 March 2, 2014, from 1:30-4:30 p.m. and requested that Council spread the word among their constituents about these community meetings. Councilmember Santa requested information about the team's outreach to new immigrants. Ms. Gothberg stated that the steering committee includes a Somali immigrant and a person from Mexico; in addition, they recently spent time with immigrants that are learning to speak English and the ELL teachers have committed to keeping them on Facebook and Twitter and some of the students said they would come to the meetings. Councilmember Mavity requested that staff provide an email to Council with information about the community conversations so that the email can be forwarded on. Councilmember Ross commented that the process to date has been very thorough and was pleased to see that childcare was provided. Mayor Pro Tem Sanger asked what the team hopes to have accomplished by the end of the first year. Ms. Gothberg stated the end of the fiscal year is June 30 and they hope to have gained an understanding by that time of what people believe needs to be done to be healthier in the community. She indicated that they will be working with Blue Cross Blue Shield over the next two years to start turning what was learned into a reality. She added that Twin Cities Public Television will begin filming its half-hour documentary sometime after the first of the year and will probably select several people that will be telling their story 3. Update on Results from LISC Community Development Initiative Process (CDI) for Wooddale Station Area Ms. McMonigal presented the staff report and introduced Ms. Gretchen Nicholls from Twin Cities LISC. Ms. Nicholls distributed the Wooddale LRT Station Corridor Development Initiative Summary Report and Final Recommendations. She explained they conducted a four part senes of workshops provided through a Met Council grant to support cities in predevelopment work and they used the Wooddale station area because it represents an excellent site owned by the City and the County. She added that a publicly owned parcel is ideal for this process because of a city's influence over what happens on the site. She discussed the CDI process of providing a framework for housing and mixed use development for Twin Cities neighborhoods and expressed thanks to the Advisory Group members and Technical Team members who participated in the process. She also discussed the workshops and meeting topics and indicated the block exercise was the most interesting part because it allowed the groups to test out things they would like to see on the site and how to leverage some of those things against the financial realities of the site. She also presented examples of some of the ideas that the groups were testing. Councilmember Ross noted that only one scenario appears to have included affordable housing. She stated that a lot of times the idea of affordable housing is not a popular topic and she was a bit concerned that affordable housing is not always looked at as an option for people. Study Session Minutes -3- December 9, 2013 Councilmember Hallfin stated that a panel of developers attended one of the meetings and the issue of affordable housing was discussed, including the differences between nonprofit and for profit developers, the hurdles to doing one type of housing over the other, as well as the idea of trying to bring in more mixed housing similar to the Excelsior and Grand project. Ms. Nicholls indicated that a lot depends on who is participating in the conversation and whether they have a specific housing need they want to see addressed, adding that the participants in this conversation were receptive to affordable housing. She stated there was also a lot of discussion about traffic flow, walkability, and challenges on this site. She presented the Development Objectives and Goals, stating there was a lot of emphasis on maintaining the neighborhood character, not making this area a regional destination, enhancing connections to reinforce pedestrian, bus, and bike access, and how to make this a more pedestrian friendly area. She indicated that an RFQ process might be an ideal way to get in early with a partner to go through a creative process to figure out how to maximize the site. Mayor Pro Tem Sanger felt the City should consider adding design guidelines related to architectural standards to make sure this site is visually appealing. She questioned whether the City should consider some kind of project that includes the parcel to the east of this site. Ms. McMonigal advised that staff talked to this property owner who indicated they were not interested in participating at this time. She added that the panel of developers also suggested working with that property owner to create a larger site and do a larger project. Councilmember Mavity stated the City has a lot of thriving small businesses in this area that play a big role in the community and urged caution when planning this site to make sure these small businesses are not priced out of any development. Mayor Pro Tem Sanger expressed concern about the significant traffic problems existing in this area and urged the City to think through the traffic implications of any new development before adding additional housing. Councilmember Hallfin stated he attended one of the meetings and one of the residents from the senior condominium complex expressed concern about the parcel of land directly across the street, which is now green space and the resident felt there was something the City could do to upgrade this green space and to make it more useable as a park. He indicated he wanted to make sure this resident's voice was heard and that Council discusses this at some point in the future. He felt that a company like PLACE would be a great company to talk to and encouraged the City to talk to them about this site. Mayor Pro Tern Sanger thanked Ms. Nicholls and all of the participants for their work. 4. Traffic Studies—Methodologies Ms. Heiser presented the staff report and introduced Marie Cote from SRF Consulting. Ms. Cote explained that City staff considers several factors when determining the need for a traffic impact study, including the size and type of development, changes in land use, and whether a development creates a safety concern, adding there is no guarantee that every proposed development needs a traffic impact study. She stated that a traffic impact study evaluates potential impacts for all modes of transportation and are used to assist in long term Study Session Minutes -4- December 9, 2013 planning for the growth of a transportation system. She reviewed the traffic impact study process and the elements of a traffic impact study, pointing out that they look at site access and circulation issues as well as multimodal impacts and work with City staff to determine key study intersections to consider. She also explained the data collection process that includes daily traffic volumes and peak hour turning movements, noting they also take note of any queuing problems as well as safety issues during the a.m. and p.m. peak hours. She also discussed tools used in completing a traffic impact study and the level of service rankings used, with Level of Service A being the best and Level of Service F indicating an intersection where demand exceeds capacity. Levels of Service A through D are considered acceptable. Cote pointed out that a traffic study will provide an overall level of service that is the average delay of every vehicle in the a.m. and p.m. peak hour and there could be concerns with a particular turning movement, e.g., westbound 36th to go north on Wooddale, and a traffic study can look at that approach to determine the Level of Service for those vehicles in that particular area. She stated it is not uncommon to see a lot of unacceptable results and the first step is to identify mitigation measures, e.g., changing the signal timing, and then determining if further improvements are needed to reach an acceptable Level of Service. She stated there could be a situation where there is a Level of Service F for unsignalized intersections such as Cedar Lake Road near Eliot School. The overall operations of a high volume main line such as Cedar Lake Road could be at an acceptable Level of Service but the side streets being used to get out onto Cedar Lake Road could reach a Level of Service F. That does not mean that a particular project will not work and a traffic study will look at whether there is another location where drivers can get out onto the roadway. She then presented information about wait times for signalized and unsignalized intersections based on the average delay per vehicle. Councilmember Ross expressed concern about the upcoming upgrade of Highway 100 and the impact of people cutting through the neighborhoods to avoid the construction. She asked what SRF Consulting has done in the past to address these impacts on communities and to alleviate pressure on the neighborhoods. Ms. Cote stated that SRF Consulting is not currently working on that area in particular and acknowledged this is going to be a challenge. Mayor Pro Tem Sanger asked if City staff was working on a plan to develop alternative routes to accommodate traffic in the neighborhoods during construction. Mr. Harmening replied in the affirmative and stated the largest impact will likely be when Mn/DOT shuts down the Highway 7 Bridge and Minnetonka Boulevard that will require significant detours. Mayor Pro Tern Sanger suggested that the City consider banning parking on some streets during the Highway 100 construction project. Councilmember Hallfin expressed frustration that an area might already be a Level of Service F and a traffic impact study prompted by a proposed redevelopment might indicate that the proposed development is not going to affect traffic because it is already bad so the development can proceed. He indicated that the intersection of Wooddale and Excelsior is a Level of Service F and felt it was the worst intersection in the City with wait times approaching 4-5 minutes, yet the traffic study indicated the intersection was fine. Study Session Minutes -5- December 9, 2013 Ms. Cote stated this intersection is difficult, with a County road and Highway 100 at this intersection. The only time signals can be optimized is usually if it is a long term fix, and those improvements need to be discussed with the County. She added there are times where they will say in the traffic impact study that overall the intersection is operating at an acceptable level and the overall average of all vehicles could be acceptable, however, they do add a statement that indicates the queues are significant and intersections are being blocked. Ms. McMonigal stated that there are a number of things the traffic study indicated that the City could do with the County at this location and staff is pursuing those ideas, including optimizing the signals and changing some movements. The traffic study stated that this level of service exists regardless of the proposed redevelopment and the project itself is not causing these issues. Councilmember Hallfin stated it seems that whenever Council reviews a development proposal, the traffic impact study always seems to indicate that traffic will be fine. Ms. McMonigal pointed out that a development proposal will not be presented to Council if a traffic impact study indicates the traffic will not be okay with the proposed development, and City staff would continue to work with a developer to make changes, e.g., reducing the number of units, changing the housing mix, and/or changing access. Councilmember Hallfin requested a copy of Ms. Cote's PowerPoint presentation. Councilmember Mavity requested that the presentation be placed on the City's website, as well as the Wooddale LRT Station LISC presentation. 5. Update on Solid Waste Program Mr. Merkley presented the staff report and advised the City is happy with how well residents have received the program changes and the City's recycling has gone up during the first two months of the program. He stated that only 3.5% residents have requested a smaller size recycling cart and over 1,150 residents have signed up for organic waste collection. He indicated that starting January 1st, a new 20-gallon garbage service level will be available and a number of people have already signed up for this service. He advised that the City has planned some upcoming program education and will host two open houses in January and February to continue to promote organics and answer any questions. He announced that the City plans to introduce new recycling/waste stations at the Rec Center that will include a recycling container, an organics container, and a waste container, adding that additional recycling/waste stations will be installed at other City facilities by mid-2014. Councilmember Ross stated she has seen an increase in recycling at her townhome association since the new single sort system was implemented and they may need to add more recycling containers. She asked what the City is doing to encourage businesses to recycle and participate in organic recycling, adding she recently attended an event at West End and was told that they do not have recycling for things like plastic water bottles. She asked about having recycling containers on the street or using recycling/waste stations at West End. She also urged the City to incorporate recycling/waste stations at the light rail stations. Mr. Merkley stated that working to increase recycling and organic collection for multi-family and commercial properties is something that staff is planning to do. In addition, Public Works staff will work with the Community Development Department to make sure they are involved in Study Session Minutes -6- December 9, 2013 the design process for new development as it relates to appropriate locations for recycling and garbage collection. He added that the street collection is difficult because of contamination and that the City has experienced contamination issues with recycling in the parks and will continue to work to minimize the contamination. Councilmember Santa indicated that the feedback she has received thus far has been positive, adding that one resident stated she would use the 90-gallon container in the summer but felt it was a waste of resources to have the 90 gallon container in the winter and questioned why she could not have a smaller container during the winter. She stated the single sort recycling appears to be wildly popular and she has had people ask if they can have their recycling picked up every week because they are quickly filling up their 90-gallon containers. Ms. Walsh stated that the industry standard for single sort recycling pick-up is every two weeks and agreed to check on whether the pick-up can be done every week. Mr. Merkley indicated that the City received a bid from only one provider for single sort recycling pick-up every week and the cost was very high. He stated residents can request another recycling cart or they could use their old recycling bins for overflow. Councilmember Hallfin pointed out if residents have extra recycling that will not fit in the container, they can place the recycling next to the container and the hauler will take it at no charge. He stated that Council directed staff to come up with an enhanced recycling and garbage collection program and tasked City staff to make St. Louis Park#1 in the area, adding he felt the City has accomplished that and congratulated staff for their hard work. He advised he recently toured two stadiums in Seattle and heard a presentation from the Green Sports Alliance. He stated that the Seahawks stadium is a zero waste facility that uses only compostable materials. He suggested that the City consider incorporating some of the Green Sports Alliance ideas in the City, perhaps starting at the Rec Center, adding that every single cup going out of the concession stand could be compostable and he felt there was always more the City could do., Councilmember Mavity requested that Council acknowledge Ms. Judy Voigt from the Environment and Sustainability Commission. Mayor Pro Tem Sanger asked if the City has any data about contamination rates with single sort recycling. Mr. Merkley replied that the contamination rate with the dual sort system was about 1% and with single sort recycling the contamination rate is about 5%, adding that staff knew the contamination rate would increase. He added the City does not yet have information about the contamination rate for organics but staff will be tracking that as well. Mayor Pro Tern Sanger commended Mr. Merkley and his staff and stated the rollout went really well. It was the consensus of the City Council to continue to expand the solid waste program to multi- family and commercial properties and to pursue zero waste recycling. Mayor Pro Tern Sanger requested that the solid waste program be expanded to all City parks. Study Session Minutes -7- December 9, 2013 Councilmember Santa stated that staff has done some wonderful things within the City structure that led the way and those efforts have made the program changes more acceptable, adding that City staff have shown real leadership with this program. Communications/Meeting Check-In (Verbal) None. The meeting adjourned at 9:02 p.m. Written Reports provided and documented for recording purposes only: 6. South Side of East Excelsior Boulevard Design Guidelines Process 7. Highway 100 Project Update 8. Bylaws of the Environment and Sustainability Commission: Sustainable SLP dip.€ Nancy Sti , City Clerk Susan Sanger, ayor Pro Tem