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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-28-24 WS EN HILLS Approved: November 12, 2024 CITY OF ARDEN HILLS, MINNESOTA CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION OCTOBER 28,2024 5:30 P.M. - ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, Mayor David Grant called to order the City Council Work Session at 5:30 p.m. Present: Mayor David Grant, Councilmembers Tom Fabel, Brenda Holden, Tena Monson and Emily Rousseau and Planning Commissioners Kurtis Weber, Arlene Mitchell, Brad Bjorklund, Steve Erler, and Ben Lindau Absent: None Also present: Interim City Administrator Jessica Jagoe; Public Works Director/City Engineer David Swearingen; and Assistant to the City Administrator/City Clerk Julie Hanson 1. PUBLIC INQUIRIES/INFORMATIONAL None. 2. RESPONSE TO PUBLIC INQUIRIES None. 3. AGENDA ITEMS A. Zoning and Subdivision Ordinance Review Discussion Mayor Grant introduced Jason Zimmerman and Rita Trapp, from HKGi. Jason Zimmerman also introduced Kendra Ellner and outlined that over the past five months, HKGi has been working to understand and diagnose the issues within the zoning and subdivision codes for the City of Arden Hills in advance of recommending updates to the City Council for consideration. Having completed the first two phases of the four-phase project, HKGi is prepared to share the preliminary findings with the City Council and Planning Commission in order to receive feedback on the diagnosis and discuss potential solutions. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—OCTOBER 28, 2024 2 Jason Zimmerman said as part of Phase 1, HKGi provided an introduction and overview to the City Council at a work session; met with City staff to discuss their recent experiences working with the zoning code; toured the city; and reviewed plans, studies, and documents related to zoning and development. This provided the consultants with an understanding of the structure and application of the existing zoning and subdivision regulations. In Phase 2, HGKi mapped the zoning districts to help assess their consistency with the adopted land use plan; reviewed the existing zoning code; and evaluated the overall structure and organization. Members of the City Council and Planning Commission were provided an opportunity to take an online survey to share their thoughts about the current code and issues related to development. The City of Arden Hills sought a review and update of the zoning and subdivision chapters of its City Code to remove inconsistencies, improve formatting, review standards, insert illustrative graphics, and explore new ideas and City Council priorities for inclusion. Upon evaluation, HKGi identified eight areas to be addressed as part of the update project: 1. Restructure code for better access to information. 2. Simplify code for ease of use: remove repetitive language, add illustrations, create tables in place of text, etc. 3. Address missing or dated provisions. 4. Eliminate infrequently used zoning districts and consolidate similar ones. 5. Modify site dimension standards to reduce common variance requests. 6. Add options to address a lack of missing middle housing. 7. Incorporate standards to respond to new trends and technologies such as EV charging, reduced parking requirements, sustainable and resilient design and construction, etc. 8. Streamline processes for review of land use development proposals. Kendra Ellner said the current structure of the zoning chapter has become less organized and more challenging to work with as it has been amended over time. Similar types of information are segregated into different sections of the code, and a lack of hierarchy makes finding requirements quickly difficult. An Appendix contains specific procedures and application requirements for various land use approvals. The.Subdivision Chapter contains six sections and is generally well- structured. HGKi recommends creating new sections specifically to cover Park Dedication and Definitions so that this information can be found more quickly and easily by City staff and the public. The Zoning chapter contains 16 sections, and there is a lack of organization or hierarchy. HKGi recommends rearranging the order to allow the code to logically build from the base districts up through the more detailed aspects of use and performance standards, ending with administration and procedures. Definitions should be in its own section for easier reference. The update will not address or modify the newer Section 1380, which covers the TCAAP Redevelopment Code. Throughout the subdivision and zoning chapters, language is repeated in different sections, adding to the length of the text and de-emphasizing the important information that may be buried within other standards. The codes lack simple and effective illustrations and tables that can also help reduce the amount of text used to describe various requirements. Information that is currently provided as text may be better shared through tables or charts. All these changes make the codes ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—OCTOBER 28, 2024 3 easier to access and understand by the public. There are several specific topics that should be reviewed and then potentially updated or added to reflect changes to state statutes, model ordinances, or best practices, including addressing and wireless uses. As part of the update, the code will be assessed for compliance in each of these areas. Jason Zimmerman recommended eliminating or Consolidating Zoning Districts. To gain understanding of the City's zoning practices, HKGi examined the 17 base zoning districts, as well as the Planned Unit Development overlay district. At 17, Arden Hills has considerably more base districts than many peer communities in the Twin Cities metro area. At least two base districts are so little utilized that they could be eliminated with very little code adjustment. Two other districts are similar in their function and location, and there is considerable overlap in the purpose statements for both. This suggests that they could potentially be combined, allowed for a more clearly defined use and further reducing the large number of base districts. Regardless, the purpose statements for all of the districts should be revisited and adjusted to ensure clarity and alignment with current usage. Note that the newer zoning districts created as part of the TCAAP Redevelopment Code are not included in the update project and therefore were not evaluated. The zoning chapter contains a detailed District Requirements Chart that documents a wide range of standards for all the base zoning districts. City staff have indicated that there have been numerous variance requests related to the Side Yard Corner setbacks for single family homes, and that modifications to this standard should be considered. HKGi will work to determine if other yard requirements should be updated. In addition, there are a few overlapping standards that either conflict or create potential redundancies in what they purport to control. One example is Floor Area Ratio (FAR), which limits the amount of a building's total floor area in relation to the lot on which it is built. The same restrictions can be achieved through a combination of setbacks, height limits, and maximum lot coverage. A second example is the use of a maximum density figure (which is also established in the Comprehensive Plan). This standard is also regulated through minimum lot width and depth, minimum lot area, and minimum lot area per dwelling unit. Using these standards sets up the potential for competing calculations and additional challenges for those trying to understand and apply the City's regulations. Kendra Elmer said Arden Hills is facing pressures around housing and the lack of options in housing types, including affordable options. At least three goals from two chapters of the 2040 Comprehensive Plan call out the need for new approaches to housing. The existing Land Use Chart is limited in the types of housing that are defined and permitted. It also limits the districts in which housing that is more intense than one- or two-family dwellings is allowed. Expanding the number of housing types and the districts in which they are permitted would help address this issue, as identified in some responses to the survey taken by members of the City Council and Planning Commission. As part of the request for proposals for the code update project, the City's asked for recommendations on land use or development standards that are missing from the current ordinances or that should be modernized to reflect new market trends and technologies. Items such as planning for electric vehicles, revisiting existing minimum parking requirements, considering complete streets policies, and embracing sustainable/green construction practices have been identified. HKGi is looking to the City for direction on prioritization and the addition of any other topics for investigation. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—OCTOBER 28, 2024 4 Jason Zimmerman said Arden Hills utilizes a Land Use Chart to document which uses are allowed in each zoning district, and to indicated if they are permitted by right, permitted conditionally through a Conditional Use Permit(CUP), permitted through a Planned Unit Development(PUD)process, permitted on an interim basis, or prohibited. A high number of uses (58%) are only allowed after they have received a CUP. In addition to creating barriers to development by adding time, money, and procedures to the approval process,the potential to have the City deny a CUP request upon the conclusion of the process may make some applicants reluctant to seek approval, thereby stifling investment. Adjusting the way in which uses are permitted—moving from "permitted conditionally"to "permitted with standards" or even simply to "permitted"—would help streamline the process for those seeking permits, for City staff, and for the members of the Planning Commission and City Council. To further complicate matters, the specific special requirements for up to ten zoning districts require land use applications for many uses to be reviewed through a CUP or PUD process (or both), even though the Land Use Chart indicates many uses are permitted by right. The discrepancies between the text and the chart should be rectified for the sake of clarity and, if possible, the additional layers of review and approval reduced for many of the reasons noted above. For many types of land use applications,the City follows a review process that involves a required public hearing with the Planning Commission and provides an option to hold a second public hearing with the City Council. This is inconsistent with most communities in the Twin Cities which only hold one public hearing (usually with the Planning Commission). The optional second hearing can add time and cost for the applicant, City staff, and elected officials— especially if it is used frequently. A more efficient and common approach would be to limit the public hearing to the Planning Commission only and rely on that testimony, findings, and recommendations when the City Council considers approval. The City Council can still accept public testimony if it chose at the public meeting. Jason Zimmerman outlined next steps. Following the Joint Meeting, work will begin on more closely examining and drafting new sections of code. Three work sessions with the Planning Commission are scheduled for the first half of 2025. At each, HKGi will share specific questions and work through potential changes to the code language. HKGi will provide updates to the City Council after each meeting. Initially, City staff had expressed interest in pursuing a set of"minor updates"to the code that would address inconsistencies and organization during the first half of the project. While HKGi has identified many of these issues and can point to how they will be resolved, the time and effort needed to bring these items forward for review and approval would likely be an inefficient use of resources—especially considering that the adjustments needed to address the "major updates"that have been identified would require many of these same parts of code to be modified again later in the year. Therefore, HKGi recommends identifying these minor updates but waiting to implement them in conjunction with the other code amendments HKGi will present details related to the information above at the Joint Meeting and then look for confirmation from the City Council and Planning Commission regarding the issues that should be addressed as part of the project. Any topics that the City feels should not be addressed—or any that HKGi has missed and should be included—will be discussed. Councilmember Holden referenced a slide for residential units. She thought some apartments were missing ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—OCTOBER 28, 2024 5 Jason Zimmerman said it could be a different zoning category. It could be a residential use but is not zoned that way. Interim City Administrator Jagoe said she verified that Park Shore should have been R-4 and there may be an error on the GSI file. She explained that New Perspectives and E Street Flats fall under the commercial zoning district which allows high density residential through CUP. Councilmember Holden said it would be nice to know. She wondered if they should be in a different zone. Interim City Administrator Jagoe said she will find a way to identify those that fall under a commercial zone but have a residential piece. Jason Zimmerman said there is a difference between being zoned as residential and being used for residential. He will find a way to demonstrate both. Councilmember Holden said she heard during the presentation there is a lot of open space. She wondered if we know how much of that belongs to the city, the county or the state. Jason Zimmerman said he can pull that information. Councilmember Holden asked if residential facilities is considered group homes. Jason Zimmerman confirmed. She wondered if it matters how many people live in the home. She knows the state has certain criteria. Jason Zimmerman said it's either allowed by right or by conditional use permit and depends on zone. That is one of the things that will be reviewed. They will make sure that what is in code matches State statute. Councilmember Holden asked how much land in Arden Hills is open and is developable. Jason Zimmerman doesn't remember seeing anything on vacant land. Parcels wouldn't be zoned vacant. Interim City Administrator Jagoe said there is a chart in the Comprehensive Plan that show the undeveloped land acreage. Councilmember Holden said the civic area was written that way with the intent of the National Guard to purchase it. They own it for 99 years. The idea is to use the Ben Franklin Center for civic uses. Commissioner Mitchell said there is a difference between 20 undeveloped acres and a single infill lot. She asked if the inventory will include all development opportunities. Mayor Grant said some of that will be harder to delineate. Commissioner Mitchell thinks the empty infill lots should be included. She said looking at the county tax records, a developed lot has a land value and building value. If there is no building value, that implies an undeveloped parcel. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—OCTOBER 28, 2024 6 Rita Trapp said it's interesting information that would go beyond the scope of what their focus is. Mayor Grant said there isn't a lot of undeveloped land, with the obvious exception of TCAAP. He sees people wanting to add a stall on the garage, add a deck or expand the house. Those are the types of projects that go before the planning commission. Simplifying that process and the code will make things easier. He likes the idea of creating tables to replace lengthy text. He thinks it will simplify the process. It will make things easier for staff and developers. Ben Lindau asked if there are any sections in the Comprehensive Plan that guide the land use for the overall zoning that should be looked at. Jason Zimmerman said they mapped the land use in the comp plan compared to zoning to see if there were any discrepancies. There are a handful of them. Those are the areas they will be looking at to determine why there is a mis-match. Ben Lindau asked when the comp plan will be reviewed again. Jason Zimmerman said five years; it is a 10 year window but we're halfway through. Interim City Administrator Jagoe said discussions will probably start in 2027 for a renewal in 2028. Councilmember Rousseau thought the information was good. These are things residents have said they were looking for. She is happy Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) are in there. She asked if short term rentals would be included in this scope. Jason Zimmerman said short term rentals is a use and cities determine how they want to regulate it. It gets into licensing issues and zoning regulations. That is a topic they have tackled in other cities. Rita Trapp said it would be helpful to know if the preference is to allow it or prohibit. They have done it both ways for other cities. Councilmember Rousseau said she would like to encourage home ownership, and not allow someone to purchase a.bunch of properties for short term rentals. Councilmember Rousseau asked about HOAs. She has heard excessive restrictive fines that could push people out of their homes. She also hears there could be opportunities where finance companies are coming in and sell your home for unpaid dues. She wonders if that is inside the scope of this review. Jason Zimmerman said that is not typically a zoning issue. It's a private issue. Rita Trapp said HOAs are private and you enter into it so it's not something cities typically get involved with. They could be part of a PUD where the city says there must be one as part of a development. Cities don't typically limit what can be in there. It's something to discuss with the City Attorney. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—OCTOBER 28, 2024 7 Councilmember Rousseau would be interested in the City Attorney opinion on if it's something we should stay out of completely or if it's something to learn a little more about it. Councilmember Monson said she agrees with HKGi's diagnosis. She supports the suggestions to simplify the code and reduce the districts and reducing CUPs. She asked how you change the zoning that was maybe used in the 1950s. What are you looking for? Jason Zimmerman said the B-2 district is a good example. It has evolved. It started out being a business district and the last comp plan has is more like a mixed-use district. He thinks changing that to a mixed-use district would allow residential and commercial. It gives flexibility. Rita Trapp said traditional uses had a structure that outlined the district, the intent and all the uses that were allowed. Cities are moving towards less focus on the actual district and using use- specific standards. Increasing the number of uses allowed in a district is one way other communities have been modernizing their districts. It is unique to each community. Councilmember Monson is looking forward to the conversation. She understands the use doesn't' always match the zoning. She has questions about standards on home improvements.Not just variances, but she wonders why certain improvements require a licensed electrician. She wondered if they will be looking at that. Jason Zimmerman thinks that is building code. He said they are going to be looking at things to ask if they make sense. It's rare to have fewer regulations. So taking a pause and asking if there is a reason for the items that are in there. And if not, asking how to scale back to make it easier. Rita Trapp said some of the things they are looking at are asking if the building code addresses something. If it does, does it really need to be addressed in the zoning? They are learning where the standards exist and asking if it still makes sense. Commissioner Bjorklund asked about a slide that showed additional housing options. He asked what the word"typology"means. Kendra Ellner said the word means "options" or the "types" of housing. Commissioner Bjorklund thinks more things should be literally spelled out, instead of using abbreviations. He thinks members of the public won't understand. Councilmember Holden said a lot of work went into the TCAAP zoning to avoid issues. She wonders how neighborhoods will be maintained. She wants to make sure the standards used for that review are met with this review. She wants people to be looking forward to see their neighbors. Jason Zimmerman said that's a good point. If the City knows that is the goal, then it makes sense to structure the code as such. The code can be written so that it is clear what the standards are. Councilmember Fabel is curious how the Arden Hills code can be modified to address the missing middle housing. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—OCTOBER 28, 2024 8 Kendra Ellner said they are looking at the land use table and the conversations will continue. She gave some examples of how the evaluation will help expand the housing options. Councilmember Fabel read that in California the bulk of new residential construction is additional homes on existing large lots. He wonders if that is something that would be possible in Minnesota. Jason Zimmerman said that is common where Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) are allowed. It lets people add extra units. Several communities HKGi works with want to have the option for additional units. It doesn't make sense in every district. There is a way to allow that on a lot of a certain size that won't disrupt the community. Rita Trapp noted that in California, it's a state mandate that every city has to allow them. They are called Junior Suites. The price of land is so high that the economics make sense. In Minnesota, it's not the same. It is a nice option for Minnesota but it isn't driven by the economics like it is in California. Mayor Grant wondered if town homes are included in that missing middle. Rita Trapp confirmed. He pointed out Arden Hills has a lot of cul-de-sacs. He thinks corner lot issues come up quite often. Commissioner Lindau thinks the highest impact will be changing a single family home to something else like townhomes. He recommends we get more comparable community information on that. Rita Trapp said usually the changes are very incremental. This is a conversation. Typically R-1 will have a few changes and R-2 and R-3 change a little more. Recognizing the single family neighborhood. Mayor Grant said we aren't talking about knocking down a single family home and building a multi-plex in an R-1 zone. Maybe a duplex but he thinks the City is pretty built out. Rita Trapp said they will be providing more background. Even if it is duplexes, what does that mean?They have asked how many lots there are of different sizes. That helps understand is it even possible. Mayor Grant said something else to keep in mind is Arden Hills, has hills. There are wetlands, railroads, highways and a lot of irregular shaped lots. An acre lot may not have an acre of buildable land. Councilmember Holden said the City has worked hard to get our roads in excellent condition. The ADUs have to be hooked up to sewer and water. She wondered how we learn if we have the capacity to sustain that. How much damage will be done to the pipes and the roads. How will that change the sight lines? Jason Zimmerman said one city they worked with require ADU plumbing to go through the main house so it doesn't affect the streets. When it comes to sight lines. People often think of ADUs as a separate structure. It can be part of the main structure. It doesn't have to be a new structure. The standards can be built in however the City decides to do it. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—OCTOBER 28, 2024 9 Councilmember Monson thinks the ADU discussion may be it's own project. She hopes it is clear to the public how these will work. Jason Zimmerman said space can be created to leave room for further discussion on that topic. Councilmember Holden said there are a number of houses that share the same sewer line. That didn't change until the 80s. That would further complicate shoving another unit on a property. Mayor Grant said a good portion of Arden Hills was built before the 80s. There was a building boom in Arden Hills from the 80s forward. Councilmember Holden said she shares a sewer line and it's not pleasant. She can't imagine adding another household to that. Interim City Administrator Jagoe summarized that Council would like to see some of the data and look at getting public feedback regarding ADUs and discuss where that might fit in the code. That is a discussion that Council can come back to. She wondered if these standards should be a part of this discussion. Jason Zimmerman said it doesn't hurt to ask the question as they are doing outreach. They can gauge the level of interest without getting into all the details right now. Councilmember Holden would like Council to discuss it first. Councilmember Monson thinks getting information is fine knowing Council will talk about it. She thinks HKGi has done this enough that they can help guide the discussion. Councilmember Rousseau is interested in getting more information. She likes the idea of residents being able to do it as an extension of their house. She is apprehensive about putting them in the front yard. Kendra Ellner said there is a lot of information out there. The Pacific Northwest has been doing these for a while. AARP has done a lot of great work to create a draft ordinance. They can go through and identify some of the areas where it might be applicable for Arden Hills. Jason Zimmerman said he has a lot of information he can pass on to Interim City Administrator Jagoe she can pass the information on to Council. Councilmember Holden would like to see the state laws. B. Rice Creek Commons/TCAAP Discussion This item will be discussed at the November 7th Special Work Session. Staff has requested the developer Alatus to redline the 2022 term sheet. The draft agreements will be discussed at the November 7th meeting. Mayor Grant asked if the Council will still meet if we have not heard back from the developer. It would be a difficult meeting without that information. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—OCTOBER 28, 2024 10 Interim City Administrator Jagoe said in talking with Stacie Kvilvang, she thought she would have something this week. Councilmember Rousseau said even if there is nothing from the developer, she would like to meet and discuss the civic site and the park spaces. She wonders if everything can get done in one meeting. Mayor Grant said there is some value in discussing the water features and discuss expectations that aren't in that term sheet. Councilmember Monson agrees holding the meeting on November 7th. If the developer doesn't get back to Staff before that meeting, there are items to be discussed. Councilmember Holden said Council needs to look at the parks plan. We have added 500 units with no park in that area. Things are going to have to change. Even if he still accepts the parks memo, it's been changed. We aren't keeping pace with the changes. Mayor Grant said we established what we wanted for a number of parks in exchange for park dedication fees. Since that time the value of the project has gone up. He wonders if the value of the park agreement should go up, too. C. Agenda Planning Mayor Grant said Staff put together a list. The upcoming work session is pretty well planned. Councilmember Rousseau said she would like some time to discuss PTRC 2025 goals. She also wants to discuss potential park adoption programs. 4. COUNCIL COMMENTS AND STAFF UPDATES This item was not discussed ADJOURN Mayor Grant adjourned the City Council Work Session at 6:48 p.m. LA,kL171— Jenn' Estling David Grant Dep ty Clerk Mayor