HomeMy WebLinkAboutJune 2017The Official City Newsletter for Arden Hills Residents June 2017
Lexington Station Phase 2 ready for developmentIn the fall of 2014, Lexington
Station, a new retail develop-
ment by the Roberts Management
Group, opened with nine diverse
businesses, which have been a welcome
addition to the Arden Hills community.
That was Phase 1 of the overall plan.
Now Roberts is ready to begin Phase 2,
and the City Council considered Planning
Case 17-008 for a Master Planned Unit
Development (PUD) Amendment and Fi-
nal Planned Unit Development at 3771 and
3833 Lexington Avenue North and 1120
Red Fox Road at the April 24 meeting.
Nick Roberts was at the meeting to answer
Council’s questions.
The original plan called for renovation of
the existing building on Red Fox Road,
but the developer has amended the plan
to call for demolition of that structure and
construction of a new one. The building
of approximately 17,000 square feet will
have 12 tenant bays, with the two on the
ends slightly larger. It is expected to house
a mix of retailers, restaurants, medical of-
fices, and junior box type tenants. It will be
positioned closer to the western property
boundary, and an additional 155 parking
stalls will be constructed for a total of 230
spaces shared by the first two phases. A
drive-up window has also been added on
the south side of the building.
The appearance of the new building will be
consistent with that of the first phase build-
ing on Lexington, designed to suggest a
classic train station. Twenty-five trees will
be added as well as landscaped “islands” in
the parking lot. A free-standing monument
sign will be placed on Red Fox Road just
west of the main entrance.
The timeline calls for demolition and site
preparation to begin in June. Grading
and parking lot work will also take place
in 2017, which will bring some needed
parking relief to the tenants in Phase 1.
Construction of the Phase 2 building will
begin in 2018 with tenancy projected for
late summer or early fall of next year.
Following discussion and the addition of
one condition to the 16 set by the Planning
Commission, the City Council unanimous-
ly approved the PUDs, which also included
some changes to Phase 3, tentatively
scheduled to occur between 2021 and
2023. Nick Roberts thanked the Council
and City staff for their contributions and
told them that it is a goal of his team “to be
incredibly conscientious of doing right by
the communities we’re a part of.” Mayor
Grant said that the new development will
be a great asset to the City, as Phase 1 has
been, and that he has received many posi-
tive comments from residents to that effect.
An artist’s rendering of Phases 1 and 2 of Lexington Station
Arden Hills Service Directory
1245 West Highway 96
Arden Hills, MN 55112-5734
www.cityofardenhills.org
651-792-7800
Summer Office Hours
Monday through Thursday
7:30 am-5 pm
Friday
7:30-11:30 am
Sheriff and Fire
911
Water and Sewer Problems
(During non-business hours)
651-767-0640
Mayor:
David Grant 651-538-0747
dgrant@cityofardenhills.org
Councilmembers:
Brenda Holden 651-636-2987
bholden@cityofardenhills.org
Fran Holmes 651-631-1866
fholmes@cityofardenhills.org
Dave McClung 651-332-0352
davemcclung@comcast.net
Steve Scott 651-604-0919
sscott@cityofardenhills.org
City Administrator:
Bill Joynes 651-792-7810
wjoynes@cityofardenhills.org
Communications Committee
Editor/writer/photographer:
Susan Cathey
Council Liaison: Steve Scott
Staff Liaison: Julie Hanson
Desktop Publisher: Mary Nosek
Council meetings are held at City Hall
on the second and fourth Mondays
of the month at 7 p.m. Meetings are
televised live on Cable Channel 16.
Meetings of the Planning Commission
are televised as well. Visit www.cityo-
fardenhills.org for information about
archived meeting playbacks.
Arden Hills Notes is the official news-
letter of the City of Arden Hills, an
equal-opportunity employer.
2
Planning a garage sale? Don’t forget that a permit from City Hall is required. Go to
the City website and enter “Garage Sales” in the search window. Your sale must be
no more than three days, and you may have no more than two sales in a year.
You can put up signs to advertise your garage sale if your follow these regulations.
On your property:
• Limit total signage to eight square feet.
• Each sign must be six square feet or less.
• Stay back five feet from property lines.
• Sign cannot be illuminated.
In your neighborhood (on either private or City property)
• Size is limited to four square feet.
• Height is limited to four feet.
• Signs must be at least five feet from the edge of the road.
• Only five signs are allowed.
• Signs must be freestanding and unlit.
•Signs are limited to three consecutive days in any seven day-period.
•You must have permission from the property owner where the sign is placed or from
the adjoining property owner if in a right-of-way.
When you’re planning that summer garage sale...
Lake Johanna Fire Station decommissioned
Lake Johanna Fire Station One was decomimissioned during a ceremony on May 1.
The station has been declared surplus property. Photo by Steve Scott.
• Penny Carnival – Perry Park – Friday, July 28, 1:00-3:00 p.m.
• Bark & Rec Day – Perry Park Dog Park – Saturday, July 29, 1:00-3:00 p.m.
Summer events for your calendar:
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April 24, 2017
The following were all approved by a 5-0
vote:
• Appointed David Williams as a new
Public Works Maintenance Worker
employee.
• Appointed Brendan O’Meara to the
Economic Development Commission
for a term expiring Dec 2019.
• Approved purchase of a Brush Bandit
brush chipper by the Public Works
Department for $36,909 to replace a
1996 Vermeer brush chipper.
• Approved purchase and installation of
playground equipment for Perry and
Hazelnut Parks for $139,128.
Benchmarks--a review of City Council action
• Approved Planning Case 16-032
Ordinance 2016-013 to amend City
Code Chapter 7, Section 700.06 which
establishes a Slow-No Wake Speed
Restriction on Lake Johanna during
specified high water periods.
• Approved Planning Case 17-007 for
a front yard setback variance at 3517
Siems Court.
• Approved Planning Case 17-008 for
Lexington Station Phase 2 by Roberts
Management Group.
It was not that long ago that TCAAP
was known for its environmental
challenges as a brownfield, the largest
Superfund site in Minnesota. Yet much has
changed today as the site is poised to come
back to life.
Recently, the project received the 2017
award from the Environmental Initiative in
the natural resources category. Environ-
mental Initiative is a nonprofit organization
that builds partnerships to develop collab-
orative solutions to Minnesota’s environ-
mental problems. The award itself rec-
ognizes “innovative projects that achieve
extraordinary environmental results by
harnessing the power of partnership.”
To understand the award, it is important to
review how much has already happened
since Ramsey County bought the site in
2013. The abandoned buildings are gone,
along with more than 400,000 tons of
concrete and asphalt. Nearly 10,000 tons
of PCB hazardous waste, more than 7,000
tons of asbestos-containing soil waste and
nearly 100,000 tons of non-hazardous
impacted soil were removed.
The team that completed this work
included Ramsey County, the City of
Arden Hills, Alatus LLC, Inland Develop-
ment Partners and Tradition, Development
Corporation, Minnesota Pollution Control
Agency, U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, Rice Creek Watershed District,
Carl Bolander & Sons, Wenck Associates,
Inc., and Bay West LLC.
The Environmental Initiative award
highlights a key element in the project.
“Collaboration and cooperation among the
public and private sectors is critical to the
success of brownfield redevelopment. The
scope of the partnerships between local,
county, state, and federal elected officials
and government agencies working in
tandem with private sector firms to develop
land of this scale in a major metropolitan
region is very rare, if not unprecedented,”
according to the Environmental Initiative’s
award materials.
TCAAP project honored
Arden Hills
welcomed new
Public Works mainte-
nance employee Dave
Williams in May.
Dave began his career
in Oakdale and has 22
years of Public Works
experience between
that community and the city of Scandia.
He has already noticed a difference that
he appreciates in his Arden Hills job, the
opportunity to perform all the functions of
a City employee in more than one isolated
department. He finds the job anything but
routine as each day brings something a bit
different to work on. Dave finds his new
work environment is a good one, partly
because the size of the crew contributes to
a pleasing camaraderie.
Dave and his wife Donna, a teacher, have
lived in Stillwater for 25 years. They have
sons living in Florida and St. Paul. Their
youngest son is a junior at Stillwater High
School. Dave likes to ride his motorcycle.
The family also enjoys every opportunity
for boating and swimming. Spending time
together, including their two dogs, is what
he likes best.
Dave Williams joins City staff
Drizzly conditions didn’t dampen enthusiasm at the start of the Scoops for Troops
5K race held April 30 at the Arden Hills Army Training Site. This annual event
raises scholarship money for the Fallen Heroes Fund. Photo by Steve Scott.
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Arden Hills, MN . 55112-5734 ECR-WSS
PRST STD
U.S. Postage Paid
Twin Cities, MN
Permit #1962
Postal Customer
One part of being a coun-
cil member is talking with
residents and listening to their
concerns. The complaints I
hear about are ones that affect residents’
quality of life. The number one problem is
dogs barking for lengthy periods of time.
It’s hard to enjoy your back yard if a dog
is barking continuously. City ordinance
420.01 subdivision 4 states that owners
shall prevent dogs from barking, crying,
howling, or baying for more than five
continuous minutes or intermittently for
an unreasonable length of time. So please
monitor your dog.
The City recognizes that many times a
resident may not be aware that Arden
Hills has regulations that are designed to
protect neighborhoods and their quality of
life. Everyone is encouraged to be a good
neighbor and to take responsibility for
maintaining their properties and homes in
good condition. Unsightly yards, homes in
disrepair, and old vehicles and equipment
stored on-site not only negatively impact
the value of that particular property, but
also can create a negative impact on adja-
cent properties and the community.
The other top code violations complaints
reported to the City are:
• Parking issues on residential prop-
erty. Ordinance 1325.06 subd. 3, C, 8
prohibits parking except on driveways
or parking lots. In addition, no more
than four vehicles can be parked on
the driveway.
• Plant growth. Ordinance 602.02
subd. 6 limits height of weeds and
grass. It also places the responsibility
for removal of noxious weeds on the
owner of the property.
• Nuisances, debris and garbage. Or-
dinance 602.02 subd. 9 prohibits the
accumulation of tree branches, grass
clippings, bottles, rubbish, trash, junk,
and any abandoned materials.
• Location of refuse containers. Ordi-
nance 660.05 subd. 1-A prohibits cans
from being in front of the house or
forward of the primary structure.
• Signs in the right-of-way (ROW). Or-
dinance 1220.06 subd. 3, C, 8 prohib-
its signs from being placed on public
property, public easement, or ROW.
Talking with your neighbors about issues
can be more successful than City involve-
ment. Many properties have some City
violation (peeling paint, a weedy garden,
driveways in disrepair, etc.) Reporting
problems can help the City offer resources
to property owners. But being good stew-
ards makes our City a quality place to live.
Have a wonderful summer.
Brenda Holden, City Council member
From the City Council
Lexington Station--Phase 2
Planning a garage sale?
Fire station retired
TCAAP project wins award
Scoops for Troops
New LED shoebox lights on the County Road E
bridge over Snelling Avenue provide
illumination in accordance with standards for
sidewalks in commercial areas.
Lighting the bridge!
Include juice boxes and milk, broth
and wine cartons in the recycling bin.
Cartons are primarily made from paper
with a thin layer of plastic or aluminum
lining. The cartons are recyclable and will
be turned into
products like
paper towels
and building
materials.
Please do
not flatten your cartons. At the recycling
center, cartons are sorted out separately
from paper due to the lining. Optic sorters
used at the recycling sorting center have a
higher chance of recognizing cartons for
proper sorting when they retain their 3D
shape. When the cartons are flattened they
can end up in the paper stream instead of
the carton stream.
Learn more about carton recycling at
www.recyclecartons.com/learn.
Add cartons to your recycling