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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021/06/16 - ADMIN - Minutes - Planning Commission - Regular Meeting: City council Meeting date: August 16, 2021 Consent agenda item: 4Ž Official minutes Planning commission June 16, 2021 – 6:00 p.m. Members present: Jim Beneke, Matt Eckholm, Courtney Erwin, Jessica Kraft, Sam Tift, Tom Weber, Joffrey Wilson Members absent: Imran Dagane Staff present: Jacquelyn Kramer, Jennifer Monson, Gary Morrison, Sean Walther Guests: none 1. Call to order – roll call 2. Approval of minutes – June 2, 2021 Commissioner Beneke made a motion, and Commissioner Kraft seconded, to approve the minutes of June 2, 2021, as presented. The motion passed 6-0. 3. Hearings 3a. Zoning ordinance amendment pertaining to home occupations Applicant: City of St. Louis Park Case No: 21-24-ZA Mr. Morrison presented the report. Commissioner Wilson asked if there has been demand for operating businesses out of homes historically in the city. Mr. Morrison stated there has not been a request for home salon or barber but it was brought up as an equity issue. He stated this is most likely the primary drive for that. Commissioner Kraft stated the planning commission has been looking at home occupations for a while and salons and barbers were not allowed initially as a home occupation. It came forward as an item for further discussion. Commissioner Beneke asked if when the council discussed this, did accessory dwelling units come up specifically. Mr. Morrison stated yes. The concern comes with potential nuisance in accessory buildings such as garages, so they continue to be excluded from being used for home occupations. At this time, only occupants of an accessory dwelling units are allowed to conduct a home occupation in the accessory dwelling unit within the proposed ordinance. Chair Eckholm opened the public hearing. Page 2 City council meeting of August 16, 2021 (Item No. 4Ž) Title: Planning commission meeting minutes June 16, 2021 There were no callers on the line. Chair Eckholm closed the public hearing. Chair Eckholm stated the work staff did to update this ordinance has been very good and this brings the ordinance more in line with what the average person likely assumes to be allowed. He will support this. Commissioner Beneke stated he also supports the ordinance, adding the ordinance offers more equitable opportunities. Commissioner Beneke made a motion, and Commissioner Weber seconded, to accept the zoning ordinance amendment pertaining to home occupations. The motion passed 6-0. 4. Other Business - none 5. Communications Mr. Walther noted the commission will have a study session immediately following adjourning the regular meeting. The topics to be discussed include daycare regulations, an introduction of a development proposal anticipated for the site north of the future Beltline Blvd. Light Rail Transit Station, and a discussion about the joint study session commissioners had with the city council regarding the 2021 work plan. He stated the July 7 planning commission meeting is cancelled and the next regular meeting will be July 21. 6. Adjournment – 6:18 p.m. Study session The study session commenced at 6:19 p.m. 1. Daycare ordinance introduction Mr. Morrison presented the report. Commissioner Wilson stated there are some great parks in the city and leveraging those, while lessening barriers to childcare, is worthwhile pursuing. Commissioner Kraft stated she would hate to lose a dedicated park space at daycares. Also, she stated there are peak times for drop off/pick up and parents are stuck circling; she cautioned on parking reduction. Chair Eckholm stated possibly incorporating a parking management plan would be in order especially during peak times. He added traffic flow and parking needs to be safe with children coming in and out. Page 3 City council meeting of August 16, 2021 (Item No. 4Ž) Title: Planning commission meeting minutes June 16, 2021 Chair Eckholm asked why the ordinance is so stringent in various areas. Mr. Morrison stated it hasn’t been reviewed in many years and may be outdated. Chair Eckholm stated he supports urban designs with rooftop play areas. He would want to support that especially if there are no parks nearby. Commissioner Weber agreed. He stated the ordinance should make it as easy as possible for daycares and would defer to the state on regulation here. Commissioner Tift also agreed. He asked if in the past when setting up daycares near a highway and what are the safety standards that are looked at. Mr. Morrison stated in the one near Highway 100, the highway is elevated so there is a concrete barrier; it was determined to be safe there. He noted fences and barriers would help with safety issues. Commissioner Weber asked if there has been the same type of issues with people wanting to do in-home day care in St. Louis Park and not being able to because of commercial day cares. Mr. Morrison stated in-home daycares operate under a different set of city, state, and county rules. He had not heard of any barriers to in-home day care in the city. Chair Eckholm stated Highway 7, 100 and 169 used to be surface highways, so perhaps in the past the fences and barriers were needed since there was no grade or setback. He added with the way highways are constructed now, there are barriers in place and more fully developed. He stated possibly setback is not needed but only fencing would be used if needed. Commissioner Kraft noted most play areas are fenced in so this is probably not asking something daycares do not already do. Mr. Morrison stated the fencing or barrier will be needed for safety reasons regardless of the location. Commissioner Weber asked if there are playgrounds in nearby schools and if daycares would be able to utilize those assets as well as park playgrounds. Commissioner Kraft stated she feels it is important that a daycare not share a park and have a dedicated play area within its property. She stated she is concerned about there not being a dedicated space located right at the daycare itself. She asked if the state requires a dedicated play area. Mr. Morrison stated the state allows local parks as a substitute to the required on-site play area. Chair Eckholm stated he is not comfortable asking a daycare to use a certain park and not also have a dedicated on-site play space. Commissioner Weber added he did not intend that the city’s ordinance would need to follow all of the state regulations. Page 4 City council meeting of August 16, 2021 (Item No. 4Ž) Title: Planning commission meeting minutes June 16, 2021 Mr. Walther stated Commissioner Beneke serves as the school board liaison on the commission and asked him if there are any shared aspects of this with schools. Commissioner Beneke stated the schools are limited in the number of preschool programs they can run but he was not sure about sharing the playgrounds. He added there might be rules of not bringing outside groups to play at school playgrounds during the day but noted he would check into this. 2. Sherman Associates proposed Beltline Boulevard Station Redevelopment Ms. Monson presented the report. Chair Eckholm stated the unit count is set on the development. He asked when they go ahead with phase 2, would additional units be able to be added? Ms. Monson stated the developer is locked into their unit mix for the most part. She stated the site plan is still at five to six stories; one building will be at seven stories. Commissioner Weber asked if the developer is in talks with a grocer. Ms. Monson stated yes. Commissioner Beneke asked if there is a park and ride included in the development. Ms. Monson stated the hope was to have a lower amount of cars allowed at the park and ride at 268 parking slots and up to 98 for resident use. Mr. Walther added this one will be a park and ride and there is also another at Louisiana Avenue as well. Commissioner Beneke asked if the EAW is worrisome at all. Ms. Monson stated there are some soil problems, but it is nothing out of the ordinary for St. Louis Park. She noted issues that came up in the area have been solved and the developer will be applying for grants to help. Commissioner Weber asked if phase 1 happens and then in phase 2 the affordable gets cancelled, does the city have safeguards in place on this? Ms. Monson stated yes and that will all be included in the contracts. She also noted there will TIF applied for by the developer as well, to help with this. Mr. Walther stated typically the financing takes about two years to set up in a development like this. Commissioner Wilson asked if there will be infrastructure provided in the development, so it is not more expensive to add this in the future. Ms. Monson stated yes, noting there will be conduit and EV chargers included in the development. Commissioner Kraft asked for the timeline for phase 2 being built and what it will look like before phase 2 is built. Ms. Monson stated she knows the park and ride will have to be set before light rail begins operation. Phase 2 should be completed then or shortly thereafter, as the developer will have their tax credits by then. Page 5 City council meeting of August 16, 2021 (Item No. 4Ž) Title: Planning commission meeting minutes June 16, 2021 Chair Eckholm asked if there is pressure from the grocer for surface parking. He stated he sees a lot of parking in the development and would like to see it broken up a bit, such as 90-degree parking or parallel parking in the actual implementation. Commissioner Beneke noted the water quality in Bass Lake, noting the development might be able to help the water quality there as well, when following all the requirements. Ms. Monson stated this is correct. Ms. Walther added some of the water management issues have already been addressed following the watershed requirements. Chair Eckholm asked what the vision is related to retail at the development. Ms. Monson stated the city is working to keep that in there and the developer is looking at a coffee shop. Commissioner Weber stated but Nordicware has a coffee shop right across the street already. Ms. Monson stated that is correct, adding the city only wants something there and does not have a preference as to what it is. 3. 2021 Work Plan Mr. Walther stated this portion of the meeting is for the commission to make comments related to the work plan and councils debrief. He added if there was specific direction for staff, they would also appreciate that feedback as well. Chair Eckholm asked about the council’s stance on the analysis of build size for residential buildings and putting that on the back burner. Mr. Walther stated that is correct, adding there were only two councilmembers in support of the amendment provided by staff. He noted council will further discuss this and come back to the commission with more direction. Commissioner Beneke asked if the concern was the size of single-family homes. Mr. Walther stated yes and noted there were several proposals on how to address this but the council did not support the items brought forth by staff. Commissioner Beneke asked if this relates at all to the percentage of rentals vs. owner occupied units. Mr. Walther stated there was some conversation around two-family dwellings in lower density areas and identify areas where three and four-plex’s might be appropriate. This item may be another area the council will look into to help support first-time home ownership. Chair Eckholm asked if there is any way to look at having more owner-occupied multifamily housing. Mr. Walther stated there are some issues with state regulations on this type of building not moving ahead in the state. Mr. Walther stated condos are currently not being pursued at all in the state. Commissioner Wilson agreed there is opportunity with condos, but challenges to get there. Page 6 City council meeting of August 16, 2021 (Item No. 4Ž) Title: Planning commission meeting minutes June 16, 2021 Mr. Walther added there are also different construction requirements when converting apartments to condos, and in building condos. Chair Eckholm asked if these discussions related to triplexes and quads would be worthwhile to include in the work plan as there seems to be interest by the council on this. He added also that the council was interested in early discussions on neighborhood commercial uses within residential neighborhoods. He noted this might be related to food security and having grocery stores close by in neighborhoods. Mr. Walther stated there are two paths to look at multiple items: bring individual items to the commission and council over a year or two or to look at everything at once and pursue a more sweeping amendment that takes in all these topics. Chair Eckholm stated this is helpful to hear and a good concept. Commissioner Beneke stated this would be a way to work out any issues over two years vs. rushing in and doing everything at once. Mr. Walther agreed. Commissioner Wilson agreed there is benefit in taking things one at a time and being mindful that all things are interconnected. Mr. Walther stated that there may be room to add to the work plan list but stated it is a large list at this point. He added the transit-oriented development district zoning code amendment is a huge topic for staff and a consultant may be brought in to help on this item. Mr. Walther noted the city hall HVAC equipment has all been updated and has been used at city council meetings. He noted the city council chambers also have dividers that can be used at the dais and if the commission is interested in utilizing these, they are available. He added all are welcome to use masks as they so choose to. He noted the public will now be invited to all future meetings and the commissioners can also be seated six feet apart if so desired. Mr. Walther stated he will work with facilities on the commission’s requests for the in- person meeting space. He added there will no longer be Webex meetings and no longer a call-in number to listen to meetings, although there will still be a call-in number for public hearings. He also added if residents want to participate in study sessions, they will have to be at the meeting in person. 4. Adjournment – 7:50 p.m. Sean Walther Matt Eckholm ______________________________________ ______________________________________ Sean Walther, liaison Matt Eckholm, chair member