Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018/06/06 - ADMIN - Minutes - Planning Commission - RegularOFFICIAL MINUTES PLANNING COMMISSION ST. LOUIS PARK, MINNESOTA JUNE 6, 2018 — 6:00 p.m. COUNCIL CHAMBERS MEMBERS PRESENT: Lynne Carper, Matt Eckholm, Claudia Johnston -Madison, Jessica Kraft, Carl Robertson MEMBERS ABSENT: Lisa Peilen, Joe Tatalovich STAFF PRESENT: Meg McMonigal, Gary Morrison, Sean Walther OTHERS PRESENT: Jeff Miller, HKGi 1. Call to Order — Roll Call 2. Approval of Minutes of April 18, 2018 and May 2, 2018 Commissioner Johnston -Madison made a motion to approve the minutes of April 18, 2018 and May 2, 2018. Commissioner Carper seconded the motion, and the motion passed on a vote of 5-0. 3. Public Hearings A. Conditional Use Permit — French American School of Mpls. Location: 2220, 2211 and 2221 Florida Avenue South Applicant: French American School of Mpls. Case No.: 18 -15 -CUP Gary Morrison, Assistant Zoning Administrator, presented the staff report. The applicant is requesting a conditional use permit to operate a daycare. He reviewed the proposed use and provided an analysis of the criteria considered for conditional use permit and daycare. Mr. Morrison reviewed conditions specific to daycare in the IP Industrial Park zoning district. He stated that the north side of the outdoor play area shows a zero foot setback instead of the required 15 feet. That requirement must be met and is listed as a condition of approval. Mr. Morrison said the applicant will revise the plan to meet the requirement. Mr. Morrison reviewed the adjacent uses of the property. He said what makes this a little more complicated is that industrial uses and materials can change over time. Official Minutes Planning Commission June 6, 2018 Page 2 Mr. Morrison discussed the proposed crosswalk, parking, and the access and parking easement. He discussed additional landscaping which will be required. Commissioner Carper asked what kind of traffic might be expected near the site. Mr. Morrison described the cul-de-sac. A hockey training facility is at the north end. Its peak times are weekends and evenings. The Shotwell business, a metal fabrication industry, is just north of the daycare facility. Mr. Morrison said he received a phone call from the owner of Shotwell who said his business receives several trucks during the day, particularly in the morning. Mr. Morrison said the owner, Mike Bloomquist, expressed concern about the daycare. Mr. Morrison said it is expected the daycare will have early morning drop-offs and pick-ups at the end of the day. The building located south of the property is for sale. Commissioner Carper asked if there would be any other vehicles, such as buses, on-site transporting children. Mr. Morrison suggested directing the question to the applicant. Chair Robertson asked if the code allows the drop-off as proposed. Mr. Morrison said the intent of code is to not use the street itself for drop-off. Veronique Liebmann, applicant, spoke about her work with the French American School of Minneapolis. She said she looks forward to continuing the work she started and expanding this early childhood program in the city. She said there will not be any use of the drop-off required by the city due to the age of the children. Department of Human Services requires guardians to bring children into the building and drop them off at the classroom door. Chair Robertson opened the public hearing. Thomas Peterson said he has lived at 6625 Eliot View Rd. for 40 years. He spoke of his involvement in neighborhood planning over the years with city government including the 394 task force, a zoning task force, Comp Plan committee, Neighborhood Revitalization Committee, and cell tower activism. He said everything in this industrial park affects his home. He spoke about the evolution of neighborhoods for the good and for the bad. He said this industrial park is changing and things which aren't industrial are moving in such as the hockey training facility. He spoke about the 312 vehicle trips per day the school will produce and only one way in and one way out of the industrial park. He said with present zoning the city can't have over 1,000-1,500 feet one way in and one way out for safety reasons. At the end of the cul-de-sac all this traffic will be created. He said he worries about semis breaking down, someone getting hurt and the Official Minutes Planning Commission June 6, 2018 Page 3 ability of emergency vehicles to get in and out. He said to put this much traffic this far into the industrial park is a concern. Mr. Peterson said traffic on Cedar Lake Rd. is crazy ever since construction on Highway 100 which results in cut -through traffic in his neighborhood. He said he has concerns about adding traffic. He said it is not a bad thing for an industrial park to evolve with the needs of the community. Mr. Peterson spoke about the industrial park 35 years ago. He said the task force got the city to implement hours of operation 18 hours a day. He said later those regulations were loosened so that the 15 homes are backed up to industrial which can run 24/7. He said there is no buffer zone. He said the hockey facility and daycare will share early morning and after school traffic. Mr. Peterson said now there will be parking on Florida on the daycare side. That should be eliminated for safety so kids aren't blocked by parked cars. He said it would be smarter if drivers could do a U-turn at the turnaround and drop the child off right at the sidewalk, rather than parking and walking over with the children. He commented that there's no facility with water for plantings. All the plantings will die without watering. He said flashing lights or signage should be placed at the crosswalk. Mr. Peterson stated the rear fence to the west has deteriorated immensely and needs to be repaired for children's safety. He spoke about the asphalt playground without shade as a terrible environment for children. Mr. Peterson distributed two proposals. The first was for a city park at 6560 W. 23rd St. He said the city has taken away two parks from the neighborhood. He proposed a play area in the vacant land at 6560 W. 23rd St. The second proposal was for a designated buffer zone between R-1 Eliot View Neighborhood and Edgewood Industrial Park. He said if the industrial park behind his house is going to be intensified a buffer zone should be created. He said his house has been blighted by the industrial park for 40 years. Mike Bloomquist, owner Shotwell Co., 2200 Florida Ave. S., said the sheet metal fabricator industry is 125 years old and has been located in the industrial park for 27 years. When they first moved in they had a lot of trouble with neighbors on noise and vibration issues from their business. He said that is one of his concerns and he thinks the daycare owner should be concerned about noise and vibration issues. He invited the applicant to come over and find out if that is a concern. Some resolution occurred when the company moved to 90% laser cutting. He said they still do some shearing and punching, however. He said it doesn't make sense to have daycare in an industrial area. He said they have 30 some deliveries per day with big 18 wheeler trucks, pick-up trucks and vans. The people from the Official Minutes Planning Commission June 6, 2018 Page 4 hockey facility and his employees do drive fast on the street. He said if he had small children he wouldn't want them in daycare with a playground across the street. Parents should come and see that. He recommended that the applicant checks out the issue of vibrations from industry. Terry Gips, 9000 W. 28th St., said he was a member of the Environment and Sustainability Commission for six years, as well as serving as Chair and Vice Chair. He said his family has been connected with the French American School for 18 years. His four children went through the program. He commented that it is one of the best run child care programs anywhere. People come from all over the Twin Cities to be part of the program and it is an excellent way to raise kids. He said he thinks it is one of the great gems of St. Louis Park. He said he was on the search committee for a new location and he feels very comfortable about the site in terms of safety. Mr. Gips said he feels it would be a huge asset to keep the school in the city. Chair Robertson closed the public hearing as no one else was present wishing to speak. Commissioner Carper said the public remarks have been very interesting, but he can see no reason to prevent this request from going through. Chair Robertson said he agrees as everything from a zoning point of view has been addressed and meets all of the requirements. He said he assumes that the applicant is going into business negotiations with their eyes wide open. He sees nothing that says this isn't a good fit. Commissioner Johnston -Madison said she agreed. She said she hoped Mr. Peterson would speak to his councilmember about buffer and playground ideas. Commissioner Carper made a motion to recommend approval of the conditional use permit as recommended by staff. Commissioner Johnston -Madison seconded the motion, and the motion passed on a vote of 5-0. B. Preliminary Plat of Louisiana Alignment Second Addition Location: 7180 and 7200 Lake Street W. Applicant: Crown Castle Case No.: 18-20-5 Gary Morrison, Assistant Zoning Administrator, presented the staff report. The plat is being requested to combine two city owned lots. Crown Castle, current lease holder, intends to replace the existing communication tower, meeting city code for co -location and height. The applicant requests to combine the two properties to meet the minimum side yard requirements for the tower replacement. Official Minutes Planning Commission June 6, 2018 Page 5 The Chair opened the public hearing. The hearing was closed as no one was present wishing to speak. Commissioner Johnston -Madison made a motion recommending approval of the preliminary plat subject to conditions as recommended by staff. Commissioner Kraft seconded the motion, and the motion passed on a vote of 5-0. 4. Other Business A. Comprehensive Plan — Review Draft 2040 Comprehensive Plan Meg McMonigal, Principal Planner, provided an overview of the process and plan. She reviewed the upcoming timeline. Commissioner Ecklund made a motion recommending approval to send out the Draft 2040 Comprehensive Plan for 6 -month adjacent community review. Commissioner Johnston -Madison seconded the motion, and the motion passed on a vote of 4-1 (Carper opposed). Commissioner Carper said his concern was that the Comp Plan is moving forward for review without the Plan by Neighborhood Section and without Item 13 Appendix F Neighborhood Input. Chair Robertson commented that the draft is for review by adjacent communities. As this process moves forward the neighborhood items will be refined and added. Ms. McMonigal said templates of neighborhood plans were shared with the Commission to show what format will be used. She said the plans are not all complete and do not contain goals and strategies, which means it is not a policy document. She explained that it will contain some neighborhood priority issues. She said there is a lot more demographic data than previous plans, which was used for the neighborhood planning workshops. She said the consultant, HKGi , is finishing up the neighborhood sections. Ms. McMonigal said the Neighborhood Plan can come back to the Commission when it is complete for review. Commissioner Johnston -Madison said Ms. McMonigal's explanation was how she had understood the process and timeline for the neighborhood section of the plan. Jeff Miller, consultant, HKGi, said commissioners had seen the draft for the northeast planning area improvement priorities. He said he and staff are focusing on what was heard at the neighborhood planning workshops in November and December, the December survey, and what is learned from the current survey. Official Minutes Planning Commission June 6, 2018 Page 6 Commissioner Carper said he had no disagreement with the format. He said his concern is that there is no detail and the Commission doesn't know how representative the information that will be prepared is to the neighborhood. He said the neighborhoods need to be allowed to look at that and give some feedback on whether or not they choose to concur with it, or choose not to pay attention to it. Commissioner Carper stated he felt the vote was rushed and there was no opportunity to comment between the motions and the vote. He said he thinks it is important for other cities to see what the neighborhoods' concerns are because they may have similar concerns and they may want to comment at the neighborhood level. He said he's interested in the neighborhood concerns that would be part of Edina's Comp Plan, for example. He said he is looking forward to seeing the Plan by Neighborhood section for St. Louis Park. Ms. McMonigal stated she does expect to send it out to the adjacent communities. She said some additional steps in the process can occur. It can be discussed at Planning Commission meetings and we can find a way to try to gain some more public input on it, including putting it online on notices through social media. She said that can be accomplished this summer. Commissioner Carper said that sounded reasonable. B. Election of Vice Chair Chair Robertson made a motion recommending Claudia Johnston -Madison as Vice Chair. The motion passed on a vote of 5-0. 5. Communications Sean Walther, Planning and Zoning Supervisor, spoke about the items to be considered at the June 20 meeting. He also noted that the July 4, 2018 Planning Commission meeting has been rescheduled to July 11, 2018. 6. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 7:15 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Nancy Sells Recording Secretary