HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015/04/20 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study Session IfsSt. Louis Park OFFICIAL MINUTES
MINNESOTA CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL STUDY SESSION
ST. LOUIS PARK, MINNESOTA
APRIL 20, 2015
The meeting convened at 6.49 p.m.
Councilmembers present: Mayor Pro Tern Jake Spano, Tim Brausen, Steve Hallfin, Gregg
Lindberg, Anne Mavity, and Susan Sanger.
Councilmembers absent: Mayor Jeff Jacobs.
Staff present: City Manager (Mr. Harmemng), Deputy City Manager/Director of Human
Resources (Mr. Deno), City Attorney (Mr. Mattick), Director of Operations and Recreation (Ms.
Walsh), City Clerk (Ms. Kennedy), Senior Planner (Mr. Walther), Assistant Zoning
Administrator (Mr. Momson), Westwood Hills Nature Center Manager (Mr. Oestreich),
Recreation Supenntendent (Mr. West), Economic Development Coordinator (Mr. Hunt), and
Recording Secretary(Ms Hughes).
1. Use of$250,000 Westwood Hills Nature Center Donation & Master Plan
Ms. Walsh presented the staff report.
Mr Oestreich stated that staff came up with several ideas for using the $250,000 donation,
including programming and habitat improvements, and indicated it would also be possible to use
some of the donation for the Nature Center's master plan.
Councilmember Mavity stated that because very little was known about the donor and the gift
was fairly anonymous, she suggested doing something like an "every person pond" or "every
person monument" because that honored the donor's intentions rather than specifically naming
something after her.
Ms Walsh stated a water garden was something that would be observed by everybody and felt it
was something that the donor would have liked.
Councilmember Sanger agreed with the master plan idea and was in favor of using some of the
money on something that was not onginally planned in the CIP She suggested installing a sign
that acknowledged the donation to the community as a way to honor her and to plant the idea
with other people to donate money.
Councilmember Brausen spoke in favor of the water garden and agreed with Councilmember
Sanger about the need to acknowledge this donation and inspire others to similar action.
Councilmember Hallfin agreed with his colleague's suggestions and stated he liked the idea of
having the donor's name on something such as a bench. He added he also liked the idea of using
the donation for something not already in the CIP.
Councilmember Mavity stated that Fnends of the Arts might have some creative ideas about
incorporating the donor's name.
Councilmember Sanger suggested contacting the trust attorney to ask if they had any ideas about
what might be meaningful for the donor.
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Mayor Pro Tern Spano stated he liked the idea of surveying existing Nature Center users to find
out what they would like to see augmented at the Nature Center. He agreed it was important to
acknowledge the donation and suggested having a small sign that indicated a specific program or
feature was made possible by this generous gift.
Mr. Oestreich stated staff discussed creating a nature preschool and the preschool could include a
partnership with ECFE where ECFE provides a licensed teacher for the nature preschool. He
stated that the Nature Center building opened in 1981 and they had outgrown the building
beyond its intended purpose.
Councilmember Mavity stated the Environment & Sustainability Commission would have
several ideas for a new building and suggested using part of the donation for piloting new
technologies.
Ms. Walsh advised that staff would be working on a Master Plan for the WI-INC and would
provide Council with a timeline and further details regarding the public participation process.
She added that the Parks and Recreation Commission would also be involved in the process.
Mayor Pro Tern Spano recessed the Special Study Session at 7:09 p.m. in order to convene the
Economic Development Authority and City Council meetings.
Mayor Pro Tern Spano reconvened the Special Study Session at 8:04 p.m.
2. ' Off-Sale Intoxicating Liquor Licensing Discussion
Ms. Deno presented the staff report.
Mr. Walther discussed the changes to the Zoning Ordinance related to the C-2 General
Commercial zoning distract and presented a map of existing liquor store locations and applicable
zoning. i
Councilmember Lindberg stated his earlier position had not changed and he still felt the City was
obligated to regulate the number of liquor stores in the City. He stated he continued to feel the
concentration of liquor stores in certain areas was too high and it was worth discussing further.
He added that the City had twice the per capita rate of off sale liquor licenses than Minneapolis
and he felt that Council should continue to have this conversation and/or make decisions about
capping the number of liquor licenses issued by the City.
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Councilmember Sanger stated she continued to believe there was no problem, particularly given
the Police Department's statement that it did not see a problem from a public safety perspective.
She stated there appeared to be enough demand for the product and she did not see a problem
with having a higher per capita ratio of liquor stores. She opined it made no sense to have
different classes of licenses depending on whether a liquor store was attached to a grocery store.
She added there may be a rationale for having a separate license for stores selling only wine or
beer, but she did not see any reason to make changes to the current licensing system with the
possible exception of limiting the total square footage allowed for a liquor store.
Councilmember Mavity stated this issue was getting mixed in with a larger issue, the desire to
support and provide incentives for local small businesses to come to St. Louis Park and to stay
here and thrive. She stated there were places in the City, e.g., along Excelsior Boulevard and at
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the light rail stations, where you would not want a warehouse type business and it would make
sense to limit the size of a business in these areas. She asked what tools might be available to
Council that would address some of these warehouse "big box" issues.
Mr Hunt stated there were a number of uses the City would not allow in its TIF Distncts and the
City had the ability to limit certain uses in its Redevelopment Contracts with developers.
Councilmember Hallfin was supportive of limiting the square footage of liquor stores.
Councilmember Lindberg stated residents previously expressed concerns about the Target liquor
license and its proximity to the adjacent area. He maintained that the issue was one of proximity
and tied directly into the per capita statistics.
Mayor Pro Tem Spano felt this was an issue of size rather than proximity. He stated he was less
concerned about a specific number of wine or spirits shops opening within a ten-block radius
than some big box liquor stores. He added he would rather have a larger number of small stores
than a few big box liquor stores. He indicated that small businesses create more jobs than big
box businesses and create greater tax revenue for the community
Councilmember Brausen felt that the City's current liquor stores were reasonably located and not
overly concentrated. He stated this was a legal product and there had been no demonstrable
public safety issues according to the Police Department. He felt that putting a cap on the number
of licenses would create artificial scarcity and turn liquor licenses into a valuable commodity
He felt that the City should not step in to further regulate the issue.
Council continued its discussion regarding zoning and square footage limitations.
Mayor Pro Tern Spano and Councilmembers Hallfin, Mavity, and Sanger were supportive of
further discussion regarding a limitation on square footage.
Ms. Deno advised staff would research the imposition of square footage limitations and any
corresponding legal issues and present this information to Council at a later date
Mayor Pro Tern Spano adjourned the meeting at : • p m.
Meli sa Kennedy, City Clerk %ke S 4, Mayor Pro Tern