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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-21-17-WS'It EN HILLS Approved: September 25, 2017 CITY OF ARDEN HILLS, MINNESOTA CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION AUGUST 21, 2017 5:00 P.M. - ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, Mayor Grant called to order the City Council Work Session at 5:02 p.m. Present: Mayor David Grant, Councilmembers Brenda Holden, Dave McClung, Fran Holmes and Steve Scott Absent: None Also present: City Administrator William Joynes, Public Works Director/City Engineer Sue Polka, Interim Director of Finance and Admin Services Dave Perrault, Senior Planner Matthew Bachler, Public Works Superintendent Jeff Frid, Deputy Clerk Jolene Trauba, Communications Coordinator Alexandria Olson, WSB Senior Planner Eric Zweber, Director of Land Planning and Entitlement at Pulte Group, Paul Heuer, Associate at Alliant Engineering, Mark Rausch, and Heartland Gun Club and Range Partners Pat Egan and Greg Moore City Administrator William Joynes introduced Communications Coordinator Alexandria Olson. 1. AGENDA ITEMS A. CIVIL DEFENSE SIRENS Public Works Superintendent Jeff Frid stated that the City currently has four outdated sirens that are 30+ years old. Ramsey County is upgrading their triggering system and we are being required to update ours as well. He pointed out the current sirens and decibel levels that are in place in the City as shown on Attachment B. The minimum we need to do to meet Ramsey County requirements is put new controllers in the current sirens. However, if we purchase the proposed new sirens but keep the current sites the City would be covered with only two of the new sirens. Mayor David Grant directed Staff to bring the item forward to the next Council meeting. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — AUGUST 21, 2017 2 B. CONCEPT PLAN REVIEW — PULTE HOMES — PARKSHORE DRIVE PROPERTIES Senior Planner Matthew Bachler gave an overview of the Concept Plan Review being requested by Pulte Homes. In 1989, the City approved a Final Plat and Planned Unit Development for the same property which would have consisted of 4 buildings of 16 units each. That development was never constructed and the PUD expired in 1992. The property was rezoned to R-4, but the zoning has reverted back to R-1 due to the expiration of the PUD. There is an apartment building at the end of Parkshore Drive and there is a townhome development along Brueberry Lane. There is also a single family residential home on the southeast corner of the site, with access on to Old Hwy 10. The parcel to the west is City owned land and is listed in the Comprehensive Plan as future parks and open space. Zoning and future land use maps were reviewed, as well as the conceptual site plan. There are 11 separate buildings proposed with a total of 59 units. There would be a private access road to provide access to the rear loaded garages. A central gathering space would include a fire pit and seating. The set back from Parkshore Drive would be less than the current requirement due to the rear loaded garages. The conceptual site plan shows a pond that would be located on the adjacent City owned property. A Comprehensive Plan Amendment would be needed and the properties would need to be rezoned to R-3. The City may also require a traffic study with the application. Councilmember Fran Holmes arrived at 5:30 p.m. Director of Land Planning and Entitlement at Pulte Group, Paul Heuer showed slides and provided more information regarding the proposed application. He pointed out the goals of providing an attractive neighborhood, a sense of community and to be sensitive to the neighbors. They plan to individualize and stylize the townhomes, have plenty of guest parking and no long dead end streets, along with a common gathering place. He also noted they would like to have a storm water pond in the low area that is on City property. The square footage of the units will vary with options from 3-5 bedrooms, and there will be 2 and 3 car garages and an option for a rooftop terrace or a bonus room. He explained their plans for storm water reuse. Mayor Grant asked if they were proposing private roads. Mr. Heuer responded that the roads would be private with public utilities. Mayor Grant felt the pond on the east side should be moved back onto the property. He also wondered about the storm water reuse and asked for clarification of their plans. Associate at Alliant Engineering, Mark Rausch explained how they would grade the property to work efficiently. Councilmember Brenda Holden said the park dedication fee will still need to be paid. She questioned having a storm water pond on City property. She felt the only green space on the property was the fire pit area and it would be important to have more. Mr. Heuer stated they could put some playground equipment on the City land next door. Councilmember Fran Holmes felt there are too many buildings on the property. She wasn't concerned about the pond on City property. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — AUGUST 21, 2017 3 Mayor Grant questioned existing zoning and how many units are allowed. Senior Planner Bachler responded that current zoning, R-1, allows for a density of up to three units per acre. He clarified that the Comprehensive Plan guides the property for medium density of six to nine units per acre. So, based on current zoning, the property could support approximately 15 units, based on the Comprehensive Plan it would be approximately 47. Mayor Grant felt bringing the density down and providing more green space would be a positive. He asked for more information about the proposed retaining wall between the property and the Winiecki property. Mr. Heuer responded that they only build boulder walls. The wall could be up to 10 feet tall. Mr. Rausch explained that the wall would be seen from the townhome side, with a berm effect for the Winiecki's. Councilmember Steve Scott stated his primary concern is impervious surface coverage and water quality. Mr. Rausch said they had a good meeting with the Rice Creek Watershed District the previous week and they were happy to hear about the plans to reuse the storm water. Councilmember Holden asked for staff's opinion about putting a holding pond on City property. Public Works Director/City Engineer Sue Polka said it would be a policy issue. If the Council wanted the pond on City property there would have to be maintenance agreements put in place. The roadway location would need to be looked at also. Councilmember Dave McClung was concerned about the precedence set by using use of City land for their pond. He would consider it only if it were a major win for the City. He felt the plan was too dense compared to other townhome developments in the City. He also felt there should not be a pond off of Old Hwy 10 in the Ramsey County right-of-way and that it should be on site. He was concerned about the number of deviations required from our ordinances and stated that he couldn't support the proposal as it stands. Mayor Grant discussed how much additional traffic the units would generate and felt the City should look at the transportation impacts. Councilmember Holden would like to see sidewalks added to the proposal. She stated the proposed plan is too dense and she doesn't want the water on City property. Councilmember Holmes would like to see if staff could find out more about the park dedication fee as the City green space isn't being used and possibly the builder could buy the property from the City and use it as part of the green space in the development. Mr. Rausch stated they would be willing to commit to a tot -lot type amenity on the City property if the City lowered the park dedication fees. They would also consider building a city sidewalk to the park. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — AUGUST 21, 2017 4 Mayor Grant suggested that Pulte Homes consider bringing the density down to meet the zoning requirements or the Comprehensive Plan. He also reminded them it takes four votes to change the Comprehensive Plan. Mr. Rausch thanked the Council for their input and said this was the input they needed at this point of the planning stage. C. CONCEPT PLAN REVIEW — HEARTLAND GUN CLUB AND RANGE Senior Planner Bachler explained that Heartland Gun Club is looking at three different properties in the city for an indoor gun range. The properties are 1155 Red Fox Road, 1235 Red Fox Road and 4444 Round Lake Road. Total facility size would be approximately 14,000 square feet including the firing range, classroom space, retail store and storage space. He reviewed photos of Heartland's facility located in Chanhassen. He also discussed the zoning districts of the properties being considered, as well as Zoning Code Amendments that would need to be addressed and the possibility of creating a new land use category for this type of use. Councilmember Holden wondered how many members come to the facility. Heartland Gun Club and Range Partner Greg Moore responded that they were looking at two levels of memberships. There would be a VIP membership of about 150 members, and approximately 1500 "Patriot" memberships that would give patrons two weeks of range reservations, along with public walk-in shooting. Heartland Gun Club and Range Partner Pat Egan said they would also work with law enforcement to train at the facility and they would be doing outreach to youth and women shooters. Mr. Moore passed out more information that included artists renderings. He noted the facility would be top of the line. Customers would be able to come in for training, gun rental and shooting. They would also be able to purchase guns, accessories and gun safes from the retail store. They plan to market to customers requesting upscale facilities. He also mentioned MN Statues 87A which dictates range design and noise levels. EPA, OSHA, ATF, FBI also regulate gun ranges. Events could be held at the facility as well, using the break room as a warming kitchen and the classrooms and patio as gathering spaces. They would not be applying for liquor or food licenses. Councilmember Holmes asked if they could give more information on the 3 properties they are considering. Senior Planner Bachler noted that it is unusual for multiple properties to be considered but because of the possible zoning changes, Heartland wanted to get the Council's feedback before pursuing any one of the properties. Mr. Egan said he preferred the Round Lake Road property because it is larger than the others. They would plan to update the front of the building and do more landscaping. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — AUGUST 21, 2017 Councilmember Holden asked how many employees would be hired. Mr. Egan responded that they would have six or seven full time employees with potentially more during peak times of fall, winter and weekends. Councilmember Holden stated that she is not interested to change zoning and has concerns about the small number of employees that would be hired. Councilmember Dave McClung stated that he would not entertain code or zoning changes to accommodate the facility. Councilmember Holmes felt the gun club would be like a sport or fitness club and even though there would be zoning changes she has no issues with the gun club. Councilmember Scott would support them moving forward. Mayor Grant stated that zoning code changes take 3/5 of the Council's approval, and at this time they would only have 2/5 in support. D. COMMERCIAL, INDUSTRIAL AND HIGHER EDUCATION STUDY WSB Senior Planner Eric Zweber gave background on the study and the components that were looked at. He noted that two additional components were added to the study based on discussion at previous meetings of the Planning Commission, Economic Development Commission and the City Council: College and University Enrollment by Community, and Property Taxes Paid by Commercial and Industrial Properties. The study found that Arden Hills has a ratio of about 1:1 student enrollment versus the number of residents. There is no other community that has a ratio this high, the next closest is 2:1. He discussed property taxes and the value of individual commercial and industrial properties. Arden Hills receives approximately $3.45 per $1000 of property valuation. There are four proposed zoning code amendments, the first two are to make definitions of Higher Education Campus and Higher Education Classroom/Office. Higher Education Classroom/Office would need to have criteria created to evaluate whether a Conditional Use Permit would make sense on a site. And lastly creating the Institutional Zoning District that Bethel University and the University of Northwestern would be added into. WSB Senior Planner Zweber explained that Higher Education Classroom/Office would have three criteria they would need to meet in the B-2 District: A. No more than 25% of the total building area within the B-2 zoning district shall be occupied by Higher Education, Classroom/Office uses. B. Any Higher Education, Classroom/Office use shall provide benefits and have impacts to the B-2 district similar to an office use. C. The Higher Education, Classroom/Office use shall not generate any hazardous wastes, shall not result in any outdoor storage, and shall not require any mechanical or HVAC equipment that would not typically be required by a traditional office building. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — AUGUST 21, 2017 6 Councilmember McClung suggested they clarify the definition of hazardous waste and that the language in item A could state "no more than 25% of the total building would be used for classrooms, laboratories and other higher education office functions". WSB Senior Planner Zweber suggested creating two laboratory definitions, describing the differences between them. Mayor Grant felt classrooms should go under Institutional and offices could go under B-2. Further discussion centered around the Comprehensive Plan, Zoning districts and definitions. Senior Planner Bachler suggested not rezoning the Anderson Center at this time; if Bethel University requests changes to the Conditional Use Permit the City would be evaluating it based on the Institutional Zoning District which allows for more campus uses than originally envisioned for the property. Senior Planner Bachler asked if there was a consensus to remove the "or similar uses" in item A and word it to say Classroom/Offices is limited to classrooms and administrative offices. Councilmember Holmes stated that she thinks Classroom/Office should be the only higher education use allowed in Zone B-2. She felt Higher Education Classroom/Office allows you to define what type of classroom labs you can have. Certain labs fit within the Classroom/Office designation, and if a classroom included these types of labs, they would be limited to the 25%.. Councilmember Holden noted that with the changes there will only be the Institutional Zone and B-2 Zone that will allow Higher Education Classroom/Office. WSB Senior Planner Zweber posed the question: Is the Council comfortable with classrooms in the B-2 Zone or not? Councilmember Holmes questioned with those changes going forward, what is the effect for the Anderson Center based upon the CUP? Is what is grandfathered in allowed to stay, but no new classrooms or labs be allowed in the Anderson Center, which is in the B-2 Zone? WSB Senior Planner Zweber clarified that the Anderson Center would be grandfathered in with the existing Conditional Use Permit, but would not be able to ask for an amendment to that permit. Councilmember McClung gave the example that five years from now Bethel could say they want to get rid of the Conditional Use Permit and if the City has the area zoned Institutional they could want to do all the things that are allowed in Institutional. Councilmember Holmes felt there was not an issue with that. Councilmember Holden said she was most eye-opening thing for her in the report was the number of residents to students in Arden Hills. WSB Senior Planner Zweber stated the high ratio of residents to students is a reason why Arden Hills would want to have limitations that other communities would not. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — AUGUST 21, 2017 7 Councilmember Holmes wondered how much space does the Anderson Center takes up in the B- 2 district. WSB Senior Planner Zweber responded that the entire Anderson Center takes up 23% of the 13- 2. If it were 100% Higher Education Classroom/Office, that would leave about 20,000 square feet. Because Bethel University has an approved Conditional Use Permit for the full occupation of the building, it has to be assumed it will be fully occupied. Councilmember McClung said he thought we should include labs in classroom and if the lab is needed for successful completion of the course, that could be considered classroom time. He felt those labs should be included in the definition of classroom. Senior Planner Bachler asked if the Council wanted to continue with the combined Classroom/Office definition, or did they wish to separate it out and define classroom and allow administrative offices. WSB Senior Planner Zweber noted that in discussions with Bethel University, they wanted the language in Criterion "C" to mean they can have a medical laboratory. Northwestern University wants to be able to have the S.T.E.M. facility. After discussion, WSB Senior Planner Zweber stated the Council's direction was to add laboratories to the definition of Classroom/Office. Councilmember McClung further added that work should be done on the definition of what a hard lab is so that it would exclude specialized labs that would have a detrimental impact on the other uses in the B-2 zone. E. 2040 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN UPDATE Senior Planner Bachler noted that staff has been working with WSB & Associates on completing the update to the 2040 Comprehensive Plan, and this discussion will focus on the Housing and Land Use chapters. WSB Senior Planner Zweber stated that a large portion of the Comprehensive Plan is up to date. The Met Council requirements need to be met, which includes incorporating the recommendations from the Commercial and Industrial Higher Education Study and would likely be complete by the first quarter of 2018. The changes to the Housing Chapter will be to meet new requirements that weren't in existence for the 2030 Comprehensive Plan, the majority of the changes to the Land Use Chapter are updating what has happened in the last ten years or the recommendations of the Commercial and Industrial Study. WSB Senior Planner Zweber noted that affordable housing now needs to be addressed in three bands. A band of 30% AMI or below needs to be met, that band requires resources beyond what the City can do on it's own. The 31% - 50% AMI band are things that cities can achieve on their own. The 51% — 80% AMI is providing affordable ownership options. Through 2030, Arden Hills has to have land available to accommodate 373 total units. If there are land uses with a minimum of 12 units per acre or higher, you can count that towards everything at 50% AMI or below. In the current Comprehensive Plan, the only area that has a minimum of 12 or more is the ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — AUGUST 21, 2017 8 Town Center in TCAAP. In the 51% - 80% AMI band, you can only count land uses that have a minimum of six units or more. There is currently not enough land available to accommodate that band. WSB Senior Planner Zweber said staff is proposing amendments to the Future Land Use map, and the Planning Commission has reviewed them. Some of the requirement for the 51% - 80% AMI band could be accommodated if the old City Hall/Public Works site was redesignated from Neighborhood Business to Medium Density Residential, and if the properties south of the existing multi -tenant office building on Cleveland Avenue near the interchange of County Road E2 and I35W were changed from Neighborhood Business to Medium Density Residential. Both of those changes would still leave the City approximately 29 units short of the requirement. However, if the Community Mixed Use units per acre were increased the minimum density to six units per acre, it would only take 5% of that area redeveloped into residential to meet the entirety of the 144 units required. WSB Senior Planner Zweber explained that the Metropolitan Council modified different communities' bands depending on how much affordable housing they have. This requirement is for new units, not existing. And the bands are based on density, not value. Councilmember Holden asked why some of the townhouses in the Hill neighborhood in TCAAP aren't being counted. Senior Planner Bachler explained that they don't count because when the Metropolitan Council was making the determination they are looking at the minimum density required, not the maximum density allowed. In the Hill neighborhood the maximum density is 6.75 units per acre, but the minimum density is less than six units per acre. WSB Senior Planner Zweber asked the Council to look at the Future Land Use Classifications on page 6-9 of the Comprehensive Plan. He noted that all of the residential in TCAAP is Neighborhood Residential (NR). The minimum density is 1.5. So to count the townhomes in the Hill neighborhood, they would have to amend the TCAAP portion of the Comprehensive Plan to break Neighborhood Residential into different types of land use categories. Senior Planner Bachler suggested that they could look at the Community Mixed Use which only allows multi -family residential and possibly increase the minimum density requirement in that zone. WSB Senior Planner Zweber suggested the table would be modified to remove the old City Hall/Public Works property and properties north of Cottage Villa, but leave the Parkshore Driven properties as Medium Density Residential, and add into the table verbiage to match the higher density townhomes that are in TCAAP Redevelopment Code. WSB Senior Planner Zweber stated the next component is Tools. There are five tools that Arden Hills would administer: Development Authorities, Tax Abatement, Tax Increment Financing, Fee Waivers and Adjustments, and Zoning and Subdivision Policies. It was decided to leave the existing language as is. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — AUGUST 21, 2017 9 Councilmember Holden noted there is no difference between Workforce and Affordable Housing and asked that it not be listed twice. WSB Senior Planner Zweber commented that these two components are needed to meet the Metropolitan Council requirements: enough land at the right densities and tools identified as available to achieve the goals. Staff will strike the changes to the Medium Density on the table and talk about TCAAP, "and increasing" will be left in the first goal, and eliminate "Workforce" from the second goal. Senior Planner Bachler said staff would like the Council to look at possible changes to the Land Use Classification in the B-4 district along Dunlap Street. WSB Senior Planner Zweber stated the last topic for discussion is Employment Zones versus Consumer Zones. A lot of uses are allowed in all commercial and industrial zones and staff would like Council to look at which uses are appropriate in the different zoning districts in order to implement the goal of high wage, high employment uses and have businesses that would allow those employees to spend money in the community. Senior Planner Bachler explained the difference between the designations on the Future Land Use Map from the Comprehensive Plan which guides the future use of land out to 2040. The Zoning Code is how the Future Land Use Map is implemented. WSB Senior Planner Zweber noted that the Planning Commission will review the implementation of the CIP in November, the City Council will see a draft of the Comprehensive Plan in November, and the Public Hearing will be in January 2018. F. STATE OF THE CITY UPDATE Senior Planner Bachler requested feedback on the presentation topics. Councilmember Holden commented that she felt she didn't like advertising what the new textile recycling company was doing. Mayor Grant stated that he didn't think they were disingenuous with what they presented. Councilmember Holden asked if they could be taken off the State of the City. Councilmember Holmes asked to add Green Steps Cities. She would like to present that topic. Councilmember Holden asked if they could include the new Highway 10 project, as well as the dog parks and new playground equipment. 2. COUNCIL/STAFF COMMENTS NONE ADJOURN ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — AUGUST 21, 2017 10 Mayor Grant adjourned the City Council Work Session at 8:55 p.m. 81'k— A( jj� � I qol Trauba David Grant Deputy Clerk Mayor