HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014/07/14 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study Session f�fSt. Louis Park OFFICIAL MINUTES
MINNESOTA CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION
ST. LOUIS PARK,MINNESOTA
JULY 14,2014
The meeting convened at 5:30 p.m.
Councilmembers present: Mayor Jeff Jacobs, Tim Brausen, Steve Hallfin, Gregg Lindberg,
Anne Mavity, Susan Sanger, and Jake Spano.
Councilmembers absent: None.
Staff present: City Manager(Mr. Harmening), Director of Engineering(Ms. Heiser), Director of
Community Development (Mr. Locke), Planning and Zoning Supervisor (Ms. McMonigal),
Economic Development Coordinator (Mr. Hunt), Senior Engineering Project Manager (Mr.
Elkin), Associate Planner (Mr. Kelley), Housing Supervisor(Ms. Schnitker), Communications &
Marketing Coordinator(Mr. Zwilling), and Recording Secretary(Ms. Hughes).
Guests: Mark Fuhrmann and Jim Alexander (Met Council Southwest LRT Project Office) and
Rachel Harris, Terry Gips, Ryan Griffen, Tom Hillstrom, and Cindy Larson O'Neil,
(Environment& Sustainability Commission: Sustainable SLP Commission Members).
1. Update on Southwest LRT
Mr. Locke presented the staff report and reported that the City of Minneapolis and Met Council
released a joint press release last week regarding the tentative agreement reached and Met
Council has approved the changes to the Southwest LRT plans and the MOU with the City of
Minneapolis. He stated that Hennepin County also approved the Southwest LRT plans with the
exception of the Minneapolis section and both Met Council and Hennepin County have
scheduled hearings to consider the Southwest LRT plan changes in August and Minneapolis is
scheduled to take action on municipal consent on August 29. He noted that all of these actions
are scheduled to occur within the time frame that meets the FTA deadlines on the project. He
presented the proposed Municipal Consent Resolution and MOU and indicated that no changes
have been made to the Municipal Consent Resolution. He reviewed the suggested revision to the
sixth "WHEREAS" clause of the MOU and explained that because the environmental work on
Southwest LRT is still in progress and the final EIS has not been completed, this clause has been
revised to reflect that no further study will be undertaken except as required for any continuing
environmental review. He stated that the list of Locally Requested Capital Investments under
paragraph A has also been revised to clarify that a structured park and ride at the Beltline Station
and a joint development project at Beltline Station, including a structured park and nde, are
desired by the City.
Councilmember Hallfin expressed concern about the sixth "WHEREAS" clause indicating that
no further study will be undertaken except as required for any continuing environmental review
and stated he would like Council to further revise the statement so that it is clear that after the
FEIS is issued, there will be no further study of rerouting freight rail to St. Louis Park.
Mr. Fuhrmann, with the SWLRT Project Office (SPO), advised that this "WHEREAS" clause
was crafted to alert the City that there is continuing conversation about the Federal
environmental review process related to relocation and co-location, which began during the
DEIS process and will continue to be referred to in the Supplemental DEIS scheduled to be
published at the beginning of 2015. He pointed out that environmental review of Southwest LRT
does not close until the Federal government issues its record of decision and Met Council has to
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make sure it does not prejudice the current environmental process until such time as all
environmental review is complete and the Federal government issues its record of decision,
which is expected in late 2015.
Councilmember Sanger suggested that this clause be further revised to add the words "of the
Southwest LRT project" at the end of the sentence to make it clear that no further study of
rerouting freight traffic will be undertaken except as required for any continuing environmental
review related to the Southwest LRT project.
Mr. Fuhrmann stated he was comfortable with the revision suggested by Councilmember Sanger.
It was the consensus of the City Council to revise the sixth "WHEREAS" clause of the MOU to
state "WHEREAS, given that the current Plans are based on co-location, it is the City's and the
Council's understanding that no further study of the feasibility of rerouting freight traffic to the
MN&S Route in St. Louis Park will be undertaken, except as required for any continuing
environmental review of the Southwest LRT Project."
Councilmember Mavity requested that paragraph A of the MOU be revised by removing the
word "potential"before "additional components" and stated that these components represent the
City's top priorities that the City believes are required to make this project work in St. Louis
Park for the next 100 years.
Mr. Fuhrmann agreed to removing the word "potential" before "additional components" in
paragraph A of the MOU.
Mayor Jacobs thanked Mr. Fuhrmann and Mr. Alexander as well as Chair Haigh and the Met
Council Board for all their work and stated their persistence and professionalism have been a
model for others and they deserve an enormous amount of credit.
Mayor Jacobs recessed the study session at 5:49 p.m. in order to convene the Special City
Council meeting.
Mayor Pro Tern Mavity reconvened the study session at 7:09 p.m. and presided over the
remainder of the study session in Mayor Jacobs's absence.
2. Future Study Session Agenda Planning—July 21 and 28, 2014
Mr. Harmening presented the proposed special study session agenda for July 21St and the
proposed study session agenda for July 28th and advised that an additional item has been added
to the July 28u1 study session agenda related to the possible redevelopment of the Bally's site.
3. Update from the Environment& Sustainability Commission: Sustainable SLP
Ms. Rachel Harris explained that the Commission currently has five active workgroups and the
leaders of the work groups will provide an update on their activities and discuss any challenges
or obstacles. She introduced Cindy Larson O'Neil, Terry Gips, Ryan Griffen, and Tom
Hillstrom.
Ms. Larson O'Neil stated she is the energy work group lead focusing on energy conservation and
alternative energy opportunities and they have spent a lot of time meeting with staff to
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understand what has happened inside the City and studying best practice cities. She distributed
an action plan framework and advised that they plan to have lead people from their work group
take ownership of the areas outlined in the action plan to bring more people in, identify
champions, and get the work done. She stated their immediate work is to finalize the action plan
framework with the goal of having benchmarks in place within six months and to be able to
demonstrate concrete gains in the areas of conservation and alternative energy within one year.
Mr. Terry Gips stated he is the education and behavior change work group lead and they have
been working on developing a citizen survey to be part of the City's survey. He stated they have
also done a lot of work with Minnesota Energy Challenge and have also been talking to the
Alliance for Sustainability about possible funding opportunities. He advised that he is the
President of the Alliance for Sustainability and this represents a conflict of interest for him
because of his role as President of the Alliance. He stated the Alliance for Sustainability
conducted training for all commissioners about sustainability and the Natural Step process and
would like to offer this to other commissions, the City Council, business leaders, and others in
the community, recognizing that this is also a conflict of interest for him. He stated they would
like to do some activities with the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts and would like to bring a program
here called Empower Sustainability Champions to get businesses and other organizations to
make a commitment to reduce energy. He stated their current obstacle relates to potential
collaboration with the Alliance for Sustainability and his conflict of interest.
Mr. Ryan Griffen stated he is the environmentally preferred purchasing work group lead and
their goal is to look at key areas in the City's purchasing practices to see if the City is making the
most sustainable choices and finding ways to improve those practices. He stated they have
reviewed purchasing policies from other cities across the country, including Minneapolis, and
have decided to focus on paper, office supplies and ink, IT devices, and green cleaning. He
added they hope to have a draft policy prepared for Council approval by the end of the year.
Mr. Tom Hillstrom stated he is the branding and PR work group lead and they have started
working with staff on a communications plan to use to communicate the Commission's ideas and
get the message out to the community, including attending events, using the website, using Ideas
in the Park, using email lists, doing an email newsletter, using social media, neighborhood
newsletters, Park Perspective, as well as brochures and decals or t-shirts. He stated they are
currently working on a logo that symbolizes the Commission as well as developing content for
distribution that is interesting and attracts people to the work of the Commission and they are
most interested in using marketing to make people aware of the cause and change behaviors.
Mr. Terry Gips stated he is also the Green Step Cities work group lead and they have been
reviewing the Green Step Cities work done by staff and stated they will look at ways to move to
the next level of Green Step. He stated it is clear there has been a lot of work done by staff but
staff has indicated concern that they do not have sufficient staff available and noted that many
cities have a sustainability coordinator whose time is allocated to working on sustainability and
providing support to commissions. He also mentioned that the Commission's work groups are
running into Minnesota open meeting laws and this has presented a challenge to them, adding
that they feel the work groups are separate from the Commission and have no other
responsibilities than to give ideas to the Commission and stated they will discuss this further
with the City Attorney.
Councilmember Brausen thanked the Commission for all its hard work and stated he appreciated
their enthusiasm. He requested further information about the conflict of interest issue and asked
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if the City has a policy that prohibits the City from engaging in any type of relationship with the
Alliance for Sustainability and asked if the Commission wanted to enter into a fee for service
arrangement with the Alliance for Sustainability.
Mr. Harmening stated the City has a policy that commissioners who are appointed and who are
serving as paid consultants to the City represents a conflict of interest.
Mr. Gips stated he was not asking for any compensation from the City. He stated the City
Attorney felt that if he, as President of the Alliance, was doing a presentation to the Commission,
that that in itself represents a conflict of interest.
Mr. Harmening agreed to further discuss this issue with the City Attorney.
Ms. Harris advised that the Commission currently has one vacancy and in another month there
will be two youth member vacancies.
Mayor Pro Tem Mavity thanked the Commission members for all their hard work.
4. Future Redevelopment of Northeast Corner of Excelsior Boulevard & Monterey
Drive
Mr. Hunt presented the staff report and stated that Bridgewater Bank has plans to redevelop the
north corner of Excelsior Boulevard and Monterey Drive and introduced Mr. Jerry Baack,
President of Bridgewater Bank, Mary Jayne Crocker, Executive Vice President of Bridgewater
Bank, and consultant Wally Johnson.
Mr. Baack advised that Bridgewater Bank has applied for a building permit for phase 1 of the
bank in the 4406 Excelsior Boulevard building and plans to invest approximately $500,000
worth of leasehold improvements into the building. It expects to partner with a developer for the
rest of the site. He stated that long term, the bank wants to be on the corner with the bank or
another group controlling the commercial/retail uses and proposed housing above.
Mr. Hunt pointed out that the City has not yet received a development proposal for the site and
Bridgewater Bank is working with three potential developers.
Mr. Johnson stated that the vision for the site is to have the bank situated on the corner across
from Trader Joe's and the conceptual design includes 170 units of apartments and provides an
outdoor recreation area that meets the City's open space requirements. He stated the design
includes two stories of parking ramp and provides 84 parking spaces for the bank and retail
customers. He also discussed points of ingress and egress off Excelsior Boulevard and one
across from Park Commons Drive. He advised they have had some preliminary meetings with
City staff and they have requested proposals from developers by the middle of August.
Mr. Baack requested input from the City about an affordability component and whether the City
was open to TIF assistance. He stated they would need a commitment from the City that it is
willing to sell the EDA parcel. He also asked if the City would allow the building to be six
stories in height.
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Mr. Kelley advised that the site is zoned and guided Commercial and any of the concepts
reviewed by staff would call for re-guidance of the Comprehensive Plan to mixed use and would
require rezoning through a PUD process to a mixed use district.
Councilmember Sanger stated she would be willing to sell the EDA parcel and was fine with the
concept of a five or six story building. She stated she did not want to see a lot of one-bedroom
apartments on this site and wanted to see larger units. She wanted to know who was going to be
responsible for owning and maintaining the apartment building and how the retail and residential
uses would work together, adding that she was fine with rezoning the site. She stated she was
willing to consider some TIF assistance and would need to learn more about the affordability
component and how any ongoing rent subsidy would be paid.
Mr. Johnson stated they have been involved in several projects that included retail or commercial
on the first floor and housing above and advised that they would have a joint maintenance
agreement in place. He stated that one option for affordable housing mcludes asking the City to
sell taxable bonds and having 20%of the units maintained at 50% affordability.
Councilmember Brausen asked about the market value of the EDA parcel.
Mr. Hunt replied that the appraised market value of the parcel when assembled with the other
parcels is approximately $500,000 and noted that if the EDA parcel were to be redeveloped on
its own, the value of the EDA parcel would be approximately half that amount.
Councilmember Brausen stated he was willing to consider selling the EDA parcel at less than
fair market value if that is a quid pro quo for including affordable housing. He stated he would
like to see 20% affordable housing and agreed with the need for bigger units. He stated if the
City is providing TIF assistance, he wanted to see affordable housing at 50% AMI with perhaps
a small portion at 30%AMI.
Councilmember Spano supported selling the EDA parcel and was willing to consider the
affordability component.
Mayor Pro Tern Mavity stated she would withhold judgment on the proposed height of the
building until plans are presented. She stated that the City is trying to promote walkability and
was concerned about the number of driveways presenting safety concerns for pedestrians and
urged the developers to reduce the number of pedestrian/vehicle interactions to the extent
possible. She stated the City has a lot of locally run businesses in this area and did not want to
see a big box retailer in this area and wanted to make sure this development provides
opportunities for small local businesses to continue thriving in the City.
Councilmember Sanger requested that the developer put some thought into the architecture of the
exterior of the building.
It was the consensus of the City Council to direct staff to continue to work with Bridgewater
Bank-on the proposed redevelopment of the site.
5. City Housing Goals: Continued Discussion
Ms. Schnitker presented the staff report and advised that the changes to the Housing Goals
previously requested by Council have been made and pointed out that the "Affordable Housing"
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section states that the City is committed to promoting affordable housing and was not changed to
state the City requires affordable housing. She stated this keeps the affordable housing goal
broader by promoting affordable housing and the way to promote affordable housing is by
adopting strategies and implementing policies.
Councilmember Lindberg stated he was fine with the amended City Housing Goals as presented.
Councilmember Sanger stated she continued to believe the City already has a high percentage of
affordable housing and was not interested in promoting or paying for a lot more affordable
housing until there was evidence that other communities were catching up on the amount of
affordable housing available in their communities. She agreed there were places where
affordable housing was appropriate but did not want to be committed to promoting affordable
housing in every development that comes into the City and would prefer if the policy focused on
single family owner occupied housing because the City has so little of this type of housing
relative to rental housing and affordable units.
Councilmember Brausen stated he was fine with the amended City Housing Goals as presented.
Councilmember Hallfin stated that he would like to see more move-up housing in the City and
would like the City to require that a developer include affordable housing in any project where
the City is providing financial assistance.
It was the consensus of the City Council to direct staff to present the City Housing Goals to the
City Council for approval at an upcoming meeting.
Ms. Schnitker stated it was the City Attorney's opinion that the City could require a developer to
include affordable units if the City is providing financial assistance. She indicated that
inclusionary zoning has not been tested in Minnesota and staff would need to do more research
on that issue. She advised that Council discussed the idea of requiring a percentage of affordable
housing at a certain affordability level if a developer is asking for TIF and staff would like to do
more research on that strategy and come back to Council with ideas on criteria and percentages
as well as what type of monitoring procedures would need to be developed. She noted that the
strategies could include a waiver so that a developer could pay a fee instead of including
affordable units that would be put into a fund to create affordable housing units elsewhere.
Councilmember Lindberg stated he was open to the idea of tying financial assistance to
affordable housing, but wanted staff's perspective on the percentages and thresholds, as well as
further information about the monetary impact.
Councilmember Brausen felt the City should require that if any TIF dollars are used, the project
has to include affordable housing and would recommend a requirement of 15% of units be
affordable. He expressed support for the other strategies and tools presented by staff and was
also supportive of density bonuses.
Councilmember Spano questioned whether the City would see situations similar to Eliot School
if using density bonuses.
Councilmember Lindberg agreed and questioned whether the City would be inherently
promoting developers to present projects with higher density and smaller units.
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Mr. Harmening suggested that Council have a future discussion about housing demands in light
of the Met Council study that shaped the "Thrive MSP" framework plan that says housing
demands over the next 10-30 years will be for one bedroom units.
Councilmember Spano suggested using an affordable housing fund to create a low interest loan
program for property owners interested in doing maintenance type improvements.
Mayor Pro Tern Mavity stated she was fine with the use of TIF and local financing. She stated
she had some concerns about inclusionary zoning as well as concerns about a density bonus but
if the bonus was targeted to specific locations she was okay with it. She also expressed support
for providing project based rent subsidies.
Mr. Harmening stated that staff would develop further strategies and tools for presentation to
Council at a future study session.
6. 2015 Metro Cities Legislative Policies
Mayor Pro Tern Mavity requested input on any policy issues Council would like advanced as
part of the Metro Cities annual legislative policy setting process.
Councilmember Spano suggested encouraging Metro Cities to work with neighbonng
communities and Hennepin County to adopt affordable housing policies.
Councilmember Sanger advised that she has proposed that Metro Cities adopt a policy related to
transportation funding and whether a different mechanism is needed for collecting monies for
transportation so that people driving hybrid or electric cars pay their fair share of road
maintenance costs. She stated she also requested that Metro Cities eliminate any support for
lifting the ban on studying the Dan Patch commuter line and instead to ask for a study on the
impact of increased freight rail traffic. She stated she also raised the issue about Comcast
turning over its franchise to a company to be named later.
Communications/Meeting Check-In (Verbal)
Mr. Harmening congratulated Council on approving the Municipal Consent Resolution. He
discussed the conflict of interest issue with the Alliance for Sustainability and potential grant
monies received by the Environment & Sustainability Commission. He also discussed the Open
Meeting Law issue with the Environment& Sustainability Commission work groups.
The meeting adjourned at 9:43 p.m.
Written reports provided and documented for recording purposes only:
7. Update on Pilot Program with Park Nicollet
8. Highway 7 and Louisiana Avenue Update
9. Update on SWLRT Station Area Form-Ba'ed S ode
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Nancy Stroth, 6ity Clerk Jeff Ja o ayor