Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-02-07-WS ~ ~~HILLS Approved: January 14, 2008 CITY OF ARDEN HILLS, MINNESOTA SPECIAL WORKSESSION/MINI-RETREAT JUNE 2, 2007; 7:30 AM ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, Mayor Stan Harpstead called to order the special City Council Worksession/Mini-Retreat at 7:46 a.m. Present: Mayor Stan Harpstead, Councilmember Fran Homes, Councilmember Brenda Holden, Councilmember David McClung, Councilmember David Grant, City Administrator Michelle Wolfe Absent: None. DISCUSSION The first item of business was approval of the agenda. The following topics were identified for the agenda: 1. Definition of Profit for TCAAP 2. Public Financing 3. TCAAP Project Management/Role of Community Development Director 4. Dilution of Council's role/TCAAP master Planning Process 5. Negotiation Tools - TCAAP - Role of Attorney 6. Policy to Conclude City meetings at 10:00 7. Specialization on Subject Matter 8. Highway 10 & 96 9. Council Goals for 2007 10. Prioritization ofIssues/Impacts on Current Residents It was stated that the goal was to conclude today's meeting by 10:00 a.m. The first topic discussed was #4, Council's role/TCAAP Master Planning Process. The Mayor noted that there seemed to be a sense that Council's role is being diluted. As an example is the topic of single family housing on TCAAP. ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CC WORKSESSION/MINI-RETREAT - JUNE 2,2007 2 The Mayor asked, would Council like to see a higher percentage of single family detached housing on TCAAP? All four Councilmembers responded that they would like to see a higher percentage. The Mayor responded that he is comfortable with the current levels being discussed. The Mayor next asked what they would consider as a tradeoff to accommodate more units. Some of the possible tradeoffs discussed included public financing, office showroom, higher density residential such as apartments or condominiums. The Mayor next asked if the Council was comfortable with the estimated number of workers and residents contemplated for TCAAP. Council discussed comfort with approximately 7500 workers, but desired a low number of residents (range discussed was from 3000 to 5000.) The Mayor asked about different types of housing and Council reactions. He listed several types of housing for discussion purposes: 1. Housing for families with school-age children 2. Seniors 3. Young professionals/entry homes 4. High value homes 5. Percentage of owner occupied vs. rental 6. Affordable Councilmember Holden indicated that senior housing was a concern, with so much currently being built. She also stated that if we build it, we need to also add senior services. She stated that people want their own green space, and that she prefers owner occupied. She would like to see affordable housing included, and would consider subsidized housing programs. She would like to seem some high value homes; we should maximize our sites for those homes. She discussed the difference (if any) between entry homes, homes for families with young children, and affordable homes. Councilmember Holmes indicated she would like to see rental homes limited. Councilmember McClung said he thinks "McMansions" and million dollar homes are ok if they are on enough land and not on small lots. He stated there is a wide range of senior housing alternatives and we need to offer several aspects of it. He mentioned a preference for owner- occupied, but acknowledged there would need to be some rental. Overall, he felt there is a need for a broad range from affordable to high value homes. Councilmember Grant stated that in terms of homes to attract families with youth for our school, he acknowledged that the school district has room to grow. In terms of senior housing, he stated we need to have it, and it should include a range including assisted living. He stated that there are some unique concepts out there that we could explore. In terms of entry level homes, he thinks we need some, but it's important to do it right, and not over-emphasize. He said we need to include housing for people who work here in the City, some of which will need to be higher ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CC WORKSESSION/MINI-RETREAT - JUNE 2,2007 3 value. In terms of high value, he thinks $500,000 and above is high. In terms of affordable housing, we need to have some, but need to do it right, it should be owner occupied, and it needs to look good. He indicated that the quality of building materials is very important (brick, glass, stone. ) Mayor Harpstead indicated that in regards to apartments, they should be high quality. In terms of housing, he'd like to see housing types interspersed, blending together different types. He likes the idea of cottage homes for seniors. He stated a dislike for big block houses with no trees, green space, etc. The Mayor noted that there seems to have been a lack of discussion about content regarding the master plan, especially about housing, and we need to have those discussions. He then asked for feedback from Council on the topic of building height. The Council expressed opinions ranging from a maximum ofthree-five floors, to no height restrictions. The Council next discussed the master planning process. In terms of the joint meetings with the Planning Commission, Mayor Harpstead indicated he is comfortable with those meetings. Councilmember McClung stated he thinks there is a need for separate Council time. There was a discussion about the need to change the facilitator of the meeting (MDAG and joint CC/PC). There was a concern stated about too much presentation and not enough feedback at these meetings. It was agreed that Mayor Harpstead and Administrator Wolfe would discuss this topic with Bruce Chamberlain ofHKGi and address these concerns with him for future meetings. Three additional topics were identified for discussion: mix of neighborhoods, parking, and design standards. Councilmember Holden stated that she would like to see more of a mix of designs within neighborhoods. Councilmember Grant indicated that he would like to mix it up a little, not to a major degree (don't force it, use transitions). Councilmember Holmes would be totally against the concept of residential above retail. Councilmember McClung stated that he would like to City to encourage some variety of designs in neighborhoods. Mayor Harpstead stated that he would like to see architectural and use variety. In terms of parking, Councilmember Holden stated that she would like the City to explore two- level parking understanding that it's a fairly reasonable cost. She also stated that the City should reassess parking requirements in code. Councilmember Grant indicated that he wants to see green, not a sea of asphalt; if two level parking reduces surface parking by half, he supports that. He stated that structured parking is expensive. Mayor Harpstead and Councilmember Holmes said that they like the two-level parking idea, resulting in less surface parking. The next topic of discussion was design standards. Mayor Harpstead stated that he wants to see a mix of materials used. Councilmember McClung indicated that the City should emphasize the desire for brick and stone, and other materials that stand the test of time. Councilmember Grant stated that materials required for three-four story buildings may be different than for single family homes. In either case he noted a need to require quality materials. ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CC WORKSESSION/MINI-RETREAT - JUNE 2,2007 4 There was a consensus of the group that they would like to see two different sets of design standards: one for TCAAP, and one for the rest of the City. The Council moved on to discuss agenda item #5, Negotiation Tools. Council discussed the role of the attorney and the desire to schedule some meetings with Attorney Bubul to learn more about his background and experience relating to development. The Council discussed the upcoming negotiation of a Master Development Agreement. Mayor Harpstead stated that he foresees the need to balance risk with financial assistance and density. He discussed four MDA categories: Risk, Density/Land Use, Infrastructure/Access/Interchange, and Finance. Council discussed the agenda item "Project Management." Council reviewed the proposal submitted by Ehlers and Associates and directed City Administrator Wolfe to place this on the agenda for the next regular City Council meeting. The next agenda item discussed was Council meetings. Consensus was reached to end meetings at 10:00 p.m. It was agreed that Council would need to approve motions to continue past 10:00. The next discussion item was #8, Council remuneration. After brief discussion, City Administrator Wolfe was directed to request staff to compile additional data, forward it to the City Council, and request feedback. After feedback is received, the item should be placed on a regular City Council agenda for action. Council determined that there was not remaining time to discuss agenda item #7, Specialization on Subject matter. It was agreed that Administrator Wolfe should work with Councilmember Holden to prepare an outline of this discussion topic for a future work session. In regards to Agenda Item 310, 2007 Council Goals, it was noted that Councilmember McClung had completed writing his assigned goal. Mayor Harpstead handed out copies of the goal he was assigned. Others had not yet completed their assigned topics. The Council next addressed Agenda Item #9, Highway 10 and 96. Councilmember Holden stated that the comments by residents of Arden Manor were important. She asked about Scherer Brothers, the number of trips generated from their business and how large the frontage road needs to be. She also questioned whether the residents would want to have the trucks go through their neighborhood if there was no frontage road. She also queried about the possibility of shifting Highway 10 to the east, to lessen the impact on the triangle. She stated that the Highway 96 improvement needs to be separated from the Highway 10 improvement, in that Highway 96 is a County project. She requested to know data regarding the number of empty lots in Arden Manor, and the number of homes for sale within that development. She also asked if it would be possible to find out how many empty homes are currently on the site. Councilmember Holmes stated that we need more dialogue with the residents, and stated she will focus on this. She asked if the owner of Arden Manor, Scherer Brothers, and Mn/DOT had been ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CC WORKSESSION/MINI-RETREAT - JUNE 2, 2007 5 invited to the meeting. She indicated that there should be a focus on cost, and that we should look at the plans again to see if we can not impact the mobile home part. She said that highway 96 is less of our concern. Councilmember McClung stated he thought it was a good meeting, and that it is good that residents are engaging. He added that he does not think there's been enough consideration. He noted concern with considering impacts on local residents with an improvement to benefit new residents. Councilmember Grant stated that he wants to minimize the impact on the manufactured housing community. He also stated that he thinks the current drawing does minimize impacts. Mayor Harpstead agreed with Councilmember Grant, and added that moving Highway 10 to the east increases the cost a great amount, since the current plan can be constructed without rebuilding the road bed. He sated that he thinks it is the best "utility" plan, and that he doesn't believe an at-grade intersection will work. ADJOURNMENT arpstead adjourned the Special City Council Worksession/Mini-Retreat at 10:55 a.m. Jf~t/ Noah A. Simon Deputy Clerk