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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-18-18-WS.ARq,N,HILLS July 9,2018 CITY OF ARDEN HILLS, MINNESOTA CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION JUNE 18,2018 5:00 P.M. - ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS CALL TO ORDERiROLL CALL Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, Mayor Grant called to order the City Council Work Session at 5:00 p.m. Present: Mayor David Grant, Councilmembers Brenda Holden, Dave McClung, Fran Holmes and Steve Scott Also present: City Administrator Dave Perrault, Public Works Director/City Engineer Sue Polka, City Planner Matthew Bachler, Deputy Clerk Jolene Trauba, Communications Coordinator Dawn Skelly, Ramsey County Deputy Mike Casey, and Public Storage Site Acquisitions Manager Matt Toussaint Mayor David Grant suggested moving Item lH after lC and adding Item lI for a discussion regarding TCAAP. 1. AGENDA ITEMS A. State Fair Parking Public Works Director/City Engineer Sue Polka stated that she met with Ramsey County Sheriff staffto discuss the no parking areas for the State Fair. They made four suggestions: put more signs that are similar to what Shoreview uses in the no parking areas and place them approximately 10-15 feet apart, add additional no parking signs on Pine Tree Drive south of County Road E, paint curbs at all of the intersections yellow (that recommendation was tabled due to many areas not having curbs), and the Sheriff s office will inspect sign placement so staffcan make adjustments as necessary. Public Works Director/City Engineer Polka noted that "no parking from here to corner" will not be used because the new signs will be spaced in such a way that the other signs will not be necessary. Mayor Grant asked if there could be no parking signs on both sides of Benton Way near Pine Tree Drive. ARDEN HILLS CITY COLTNCIL WORK SESSION _ JT]NE 18, 2OI8 Ramsey County Deputy Mike Casey said the no parking areas should be overly marked this year. Councilmember Brenda Holden asked if residents should call 9l I if people are violating the signs. Deputy Mike Casey said all calls are coded for severity so residents should call 911 to report offenders. B. Concept Plan Review - 1155 Red Fox Road - Public Storage City planner Matthew Bachler noted that Public Storage has requested a Concept Plan Review for a proposed self-storage facility at 1155 and 1143 Red Fox Road. The proposal would require a zoningctde amendment to create a new land use category for self-storage facilities and to allow that as a conditional use in the B-3 District. A PUD application would also be require{. public Storage Site Acquisitions Manager Matt Toussaint gave a presentation highlighting the benefits of modern storage facilities. Areas where flexibility would be needed include building materials, transparency, brand signage and color, along with a reduction in landscape requirements. T-he facility would be three stories, climate controlled and consist of 800-900 units ranging in size from 50 square feet to 300 square feet. Councilmember Holden asked how they determine there is a shortage of storage. Mr. Toussaint replied that they look at the population in a three mile radius from the facility and how many storage units are available in that area. Discussion ensued regarding tree caliper inches, sidewalks and signage. Councilmember Holden noted that she would not be in favor of a zoning change. Mr. Toussaint stated that if the Council was okay with the zoning change, Public Storage would find a way to design the project to conform to the zoning code requirements. Mayor Grant said he wasn't sure that he was good with the zoning change, and he wasn't convinced that this was the type of business that the B-3 Zoning District was created for even if the variances could be adjusted. Councilmember Steve Scott said he would be prefer it to be deeper into the industrial area, and he,S concerned about the site lines from the new Marriott hotel. Councilmember Dave McClung thought it was a nice plan, but would like it to be located somewhere else within the City. He didn't believe it fit into the B-3 zone. Mayor Grant stated that he liked the plan and concept but not in that zoningdistrict. City planner Bachler noted that this would be creating a new land use category, not changing the zoning of the proPertY. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - JUNE 18, 2OI8 Mayor Grant noted the applicant would most likely not have enough Council support to move forward. C. Communications Content Communications Coordinator Dawn Skelly gave a presentation on communications content that included where content and ideas come from, planned and unplanned content, the types of content and channels, the editorial calendar, challenges that are faced and potential next steps. She also asked for the Council's input on a Communication and Information Survey to potentially send to residents. The survey would be used to help determine what channels and types of news residents are using and would like to receive. Discussion ensued to decide if a survey should be sent and on the best way to distribute a survey to residents. It was decided to send the survey in the next utility bill mailing and by email to those residents that get their bill electronically. The survey questions were discussed and staff was directed to make changes before sending to residents. Councilmember McClung was temporarily excused from the meeting at 6:25 p.m. H. Council Tracker UPdate City Administrator Perrault handed out the most recent Council tracker, noting that Council should review and decide which items could be removed. After discussion the following items were removed from the list: Leaf Pick Up, Potholes on Stowe Avenue, and Green Core Program Intern D. B-2 District Setbacks City Planner Bachler stated that the memo focuses on the setback requirements for buildings and purling areas in the B-2 district. The minimum setback from the street is 20 feet which is less tt u, *t ut is generally seen in commercial and industrial districts in Arden Hills. There is a requirement inthe design standards for the B-2 district that at least 50% of the largest building on a site must be set atthe 20 foot setback line. Councilmember Holden felt a20 foot setback is too little' Councilmember Holmes said the backs of the buildings to the street so parking was hidden doesn't seem welcoming. City Planner Bachler said that when staff reviews development proposals in the district, they refer back to the B-2 District Guiding Plan, but generally everything in the Guiding Plan was incorporated into the zoning. If the Council would like to move away from that development paffern then changes can be made to the building and parking setback requirements. He reminded ^Council that if they make changes the next wave of redevelopment will not be consistent with the most recent projects. If the Council wished to move forward with changes, he recommended removing the requirement that 50o/o of the largest building on the site be constructed at the front ARDEN HILLS CITY COLINCIL WORK SESSION _ JUNE 18, 2018 setback line. They could also strike the provision that parking between the building and the street right of way is discouraged. City Planner Bachler asked if there were other things within Council may want to look at or possibly change. Councilmember McClung returned to the meeting at7:07 p.m. Councilmember Holmes thought they could look at residential district. the design standards that the requirements within the B-2 Councilmember Holden would like to see something in the standards regarding window dressing. E. State of the City City Planner Bachler asked for direction to start planning the State of the City event. Councilmember Holden asked how many people attended last year's events were from Arden Hills. City Planner Bachler said there were approximately 50 Arden Hills residents and business owners at the morning event and the evening event may have included some elected officials. Councilmember Holden felt it was a waste of time to have the evening event for 20 people. Mayor Grant agreed and said a fair number of the people at the evening event also went to the morning event. Councilmember Holden was in favor of sending a postcard to residents, free newspaper publicity and the morning event at the Tavern Grill. Councilmember McClung felt the evening event was necessary for residents that can't come during the day. Councilmember Holden suggested having an evening event that Council would attend and the video from the morning event would be played. Councilmember McClung noted that with everything going on with transportation there may be a lot of residents who want to come this year. The consensus of the Council was to have both a moming and evening event but play the morning video at the evening event so as to not need the speakers at both events, and have limited staff in attendance. Event dates were discussed, it was decided to have the morning event on September 27 or September 26 as an altemative date, and the evening event on October 2 or October 9. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - JLINE l8,2ql ! F. New Brighton Road Signage public Works Director/City Engineer Sue Polka stated that she spoke with Ramsey County about the playground warning signs and they no longer allow those in their right of way because studies have been done showing those types of signs are ineffective. Councilmember Holden would like to send the County Commissioner a letter suggesting that he facilitate dropping the road speed to 30 miles per hour on New Brighton Road from County Road EtoE2. Councilmember Holmes noted that there are signs that say Playground already on New Brighton Road. public Works Director/City Engineer Sue Polka will send a permit request to the County and offer to trim around the signs so they are visible. G. Minutes Contents Councilmember Holden asked if the Council wanted to continue to have all Planning Case documents included in the Council minutes. Councilmember McClung said those are the official minutes that people would go back to years later and he felt there was no harm in the documents being there. City Ptanner Bachler stated that he would like to see them remain as well' H. Council Tracker UPdate This item was discussed after Item l-C. I. TCAAP Discussion Discussion ensued regarding TCAAP negotiations with Alatus and Ramsey County. A vote was taken at 8:05 p.m. to extend the Work Session an additional 10 minutes. 2. COUNCIL COMMENTS AND STAFF UPDATES Councilmember Holden asked if staff could find out how many trees were donated from Friends of the Trees. Councilmember Scoff said he attended the deployment ceremony at the Army facility. Mayor Grant noted that Mounds View High School student Kimberly Shen was selected to be a national finalist for the USA Biology Olympiad. Only 20 out of 10,000 applicants make it into the finals. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION _ JT]NE 18, 2OI8 Staff note: Mounds View High School student Lucy Chen was also selected to attend the USA Biology Olympiad. ADJOURN Mayor Grant adjourned the City Council Work Session at 8:18 p.m.