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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018/04/04 - ADMIN - Minutes - Planning Commission - Study SessionOFFICIAL MINUTES PLANNING COMMISSION STUDY SESSION with Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission and Environment and Sustainability Commission St. Louis Park, Minnesota April 4, 2018 6 p.m. Council Chambers Planning Commission Members present: Lynne Carper, Claudia Johnston -Madison, Carl Robertson, Joe Tatalovich Torrey Kanne, Lisa Peilen, Richard Person, Planning Commission Members absent: Ethan Rickert (youth member) (unexcused) Park and Recreation Advisory Commission Members present: Rich Bluma, Bruce Cantor, Elizabeth Griffin, George Hagemann, Tiffany Bushland Park and Recreation Advisory Commission Members absent: George Foulkes, Peter May, Rachel Salzer Environment and Sustainability Commission Members present: Susan Bloyer, Nicole Ciulla, Stefan Collinet, Terry Gips, Ryan Griffin, Claire Lukens, Bridget Rathsack, Lukas Wrede, Katherine Christiansen Environment and Sustainability Commission Members absent: Julie Rappaport, Keir Stiegler Staff present: Sean Walther, Meg McMonigal, Jacquelyn Kramer, Cindy Walsh, Jim Vaughan, Shannon Pinc, Jason West, Mark Oestreich, Kala Fisher, Jennifer Monson, Jason West, Xinci Tan Comprehensive Plan Discussion A. Welcome and Introductions Meg McMonigal, Principal Planner, welcomed commissioners and introduced Carl Robertson, Planning Commission Chair. Commissioners from the three commissions introduced themselves. Official Minutes Planning Commission April 4, 2018 Page 2 B. Westwood Nature Center Jason West, Recreation Superintendent, and Mark Oestreich, Nature Center Manager, gave a presentation on the concept plans for the Westwood Nature Center expansion. Commissioner Peilen asked if the funding has been approved for the project. Mr. West responded it has not yet been approved. City Council is tentatively scheduled to consider approval on May 7. Commissioner Peilen said she supports the expansion. Commissioner Carper asked about projected operating costs for the new building. Mr. West responded that staffing and programming will be very similar, but will be done in a more efficient space. The facility will be larger. Commissioner Carper asked about the function of the solar panels. Mr. Oestreich said solar panels will be used for power generation. It will not be used for water heating. Commissioner Carper asked if there would be changes to paid staff and using more volunteers. Mr. West spoke about the great existing volunteer group. The city is now looking at the future staffing model. Mr. Oestreich stated the center has 35 adult volunteers. In the summer months they have 65 middle school and high school volunteers. The school program of volunteer naturalists could grow with the new facility. He said the programming won't triple but it will be more efficient. The city will be looking at maintenance staff needs as the building will be larger. Commissioner Gips asked if the projected per household cost of $37/year is for the $12 million portion of the project or the $9 million portion. Mr. West responded that projection per household is for the $12 million portion. Commissioner Gips asked how many trees will need to be removed for the project. Official Minutes Planning Commission April 4, 2018 Page 3 Mr. West stated a lot of trees will not be removed as the project site is currently a parking lot. There will be some disturbance on the sides and back of the building site. Jim Vaughan, Natural Resources Coordinator, said the largest trees to be removed are 6-8 cottonwoods. Some lower condition trees include box elder and Siberian elms. He said staff can provide total number of trees to be removed. Commissioner Gips asked how many trees will be removed for solar access. Mr. West said he thought zero because of the open parking lot location. He added that a tree survey and tree study have taken place as part of this project. Chair Robertson added that the butterfly roof puts the solar gain on the opposite side and you already have a clear area in the front. Commissioner Gips asked if the $12 million expenditure will prevent other environmental sustainability projects and capital investment efforts, including Climate Action Plan, from going forward. Shannon Pinc, Environment and Sustainability Coordinator, stated she believed this would not preclude any other projects from going forward, and in fact, it is the one opportunity to build a demonstration project as an example of what can be done, as there aren't any other buildings the city will be building in the near future. Commissioner Gips asked about the full life cycle costs of taking down the building and constructing the new building. He asked if there were numbers about projected revenue rentals and possible sponsorships yet. Mr. West said that would be part of the cost analysis to be discussed with City Council at its upcoming study session. Ryan Griffin, ESC Chair, said he is also concerned about tree removal and offsetting that impact. He said the ESC has suggested implementing the inch per inch public tree replacement policy that commercial contractors are held to. Sean Walter, Planning and Zoning Supervisor, said the nature center project is subject to that regulation. Commissioner Gips said the last question the ESC has regards social equity such as where the center is located, who lives around it, what happens in terms of current usage, future usage and socioeconomic factors. He asked if the center would really be as accessible to lower income people in the community. Official Minutes Planning Commission April 4, 2018 Page 4 Mr. Oestreich said the building and programming will be accessible to everyone. He said currently they have the issue of accessibility from the parking lot. There is a whole population that can't even find the building. They come to parking lot, see the picnic shelter which is closed and they leave. Being able to see the raptor cages from an ADA perspective will be another improvement. Mr. Oestreich said staff is meeting with city schools to ask what the barriers are and figure out ways the center can be a teaching tool. He said the city school population is very diverse and far different from a weekend population or a summer camp. There have been discussions about having the building sustainability, resiliency and green technology be a part of middle school and high school programming. Mr. Oestreich spoke about the bike lane coming to the center. He said additional connections and relationships will occur through outreach. Commissioner Gips asked if it's possible to have some goals in terms of diversity. Mr. Oestreich said the city's racial equity coordinator is part of the planning team. Staff are also participants in the city's Race Equity program. C. Solid Waste Section Kala Fisher, Solid Waste Program Coordinator, gave a presentation. Commissioner Person asked what is known about commercial and multi -family garbage and recycling amounts. Ms. Fisher responded since those buildings contract outside of the city staff does not have data on their recycling rates. She said most of the larger buildings are in compliance, but the actual numbers are harder to determine. Commissioner Johnston -Madison asked what other cities are doing regarding commercial/multi-family solid waste. Ms. Fisher said throughout the metro area different cities have a varying degree of outreach. For the most part the connection comes at the county level. She said she is not aware of cities that have a solid waste ordinance in place for businesses. Official Minutes Planning Commission April 4, 2018 Page 5 D. Parks, Open Space and Natural Resources Jennifer Monson, Planner, gave a presentation. Commissioner Johnston -Madison said she would like to add the possibility of affordable housing at the 40th and France property, as well as parks and single family residential. Commissioner Gips spoke about Minnehaha Creek and asked how surface water runoff and pollution is covered in the Comp Plan. Ms. Monson responded that there is a separate component of the plan dealing with surface water management. Commissioner Person asked if the paved trails are the same as the regional trails. Ms. Monson said the city has its own system. She showed city trails and regional trails on the map. She said the Mobility chapter will cover the Connect the Park trail network. In response to a question about park sidewalks, Ms. Monson said those are also part of the Mobility chapter and will be discussed at a later date. A question was asked about community gardens and equity. Mr. Vaughn stated a community garden has just been added to Shelard Park which is high density housing. There is one near TexaTonka. He said the gardens are scattered around the city and are within walking distance. The city is also looking at additional locations. A comment was made that the executive director of STEP would be a good connection for staff to make regarding opportunities for people in affordable housing to have access to community gardens. Ms. Monson said the proposed comprehensive plan language looks at this holistically; such as the city will add additional community gardens if the need arises and there is community input. She said other policies say capital improvements will be looked at through a racial equity lens to make sure city investment dollars are going where they are most needed. Commissioner Griffin asked about the strategy of not adding new neighborhood parks. Official Minutes Planning Commission April 4, 2018 Page 6 Ms. Monson said that comes as kind of a policy from the Parks & Recreation Advisory Commission. Instead of new, publicly maintained and owned parks, one of the strategies the city has employed is working with developers to provide privately owned and maintained park space which is also open to the public. An example is in the West End development area. She also said that expansion of existing parks and improving connectivity between parks would be considered as opportunities arise. Commissioner Griffin asked if urban micro parks have been considered which would decrease the average walk to green space. Ms. Monson said that is a good questions for the Parks and Recreation Commission. She said that can be discussed at one of the Park & Rec commission future meetings. She added that park/sidewalk/trail connections will be discussed at a future meeting. E. Climate Action and Energy Conservation Shannon Pine, Environmental and Sustainability Coordinator, gave a presentation. Commissioner Peilen asked if electric vehicles are still the wave of the future. She commented that their growth seems to have slowed. Ms. Pine said that it is always ever changing. She said the demand is still increasing for electric and hybrid vehicles and tax incentives still exist. She said part of the city's planning includes supplying the charging stations at public facilities. In response to Commissioner Peilen's question about renewable electricity, Ms. Pine said renewable electricity is sourced from renewable resources such as wind, solar or geothermal rather than finite resources such as coal, oil, and natural gas. Commissioner Johnston -Madison asked about the thermal energy grid. Ms. Pine stated that is a district heating system that produces energy. It is cheaper, more efficient and less polluting. An example is St. Paul District Heating which burns waste wood. Another example would be the use of solar storage. Commissioner Carper spoke about carbon capture and burning materials for energy. Official Minutes Planning Commission April 4, 2018 Page 7 There was a discussion about the Minneapolis Green Business Solar Project. Ms. Pinc said the city has been looking at this project, and many other great projects, to determine if they could work for St. Louis Park. Commissioner Bloyer asked if the comprehensive plan includes a section about food access and food security. Ms. McMonigal responded that is addressed in the health section of the comprehensive plan. 2. Wrap Up and Adjourn Commissioner Griffin said the ESC is interested in meeting together again with the opportunity for more interaction among commissioners. The meeting was adjourned at 9 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Nancy Sells Recording Secretary