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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-11-08-WS ~ ~~HILLS Approved: August 25, 2008 CITY OF ARDEN HILLS, MINNESOTA CITY COUNCIL WORKSESSION MEETING AUGUST 11,2008 5:00 P.M. - ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Pursuant to due calland notice thereof, Mayor Stan Harpstead called to order the City Council Work Session meeting at 5:] 5 p.m. Present: Mayor Stan Harpstead; Council Members Brenda Holden and David McClung. Absent: Council Members Fran Holmes and David Grant (Excused). Also present: City Administrator Ron Moorse; Assistant City Administrator Noah Simon; Finance Director Susan Iverson; City Planner James Lehnhoff; Stacy Kvilvang, Ehlers & Associates; Rick Collins, Ryan Companies; and Tanya Spaulding, Shea. 1. AGENDA ITEMS A. Continue the Discussion on Naming the TCAAP Property City Administrator Moorse presented the City Council with an overview of the past discussion regarding the naming of the TCAAP property. He indicated Council and staff have voted on several name choices in the past week with those names being passed along to Tanya Spaulding, Shea. City Administrator Moorse stated the Council would now discuss these new names to refine the list down to several favorites. Councilmember Holden questioned who would own the name during this development process. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - AUGUST 11,2008 2 Rick Collins, Ryan Companies indicated this was a great question, and stated he feels this could be negotiated within the master development agreement to assure that the name stays with the property. Stacie Kvilvang, Ehlers & Associates added that this item could be addressed in the preliminary development agreement. stating what becomes property of the City and what becomes property of the developer. Councilmember Holden questioned if an additional logo would be used for this development or if the existing City of Arden Hills logo would be used. Tanya Spaulding, Shea indicated one logo would be used throughout the entire TCAAP development, but that didn't mean it couldn't merge with the City's existing logo. She explained this would be a decision the Council would have to make. Mayor Harpstead stated he would be in favor of making the street signs the same throughout the entire City. Councilmember McClung agreed. Tanya Spaulding, Shea reviewed the email she sent to Council and Staff regarding the new proposed TCAAP property names. She stated the top vote receivers were The Summit, Arden Crest, Capstone, The Waters, The Ridges, The Tribute and Arden Uplands. Ms. Spaulding asked that the Council hold a further discussion on the write in votes to further refine the list. Discussion ensued regarding TCAAP names and which would be the most appropriate for the property. The Council took a moment and voted again for the three names they were most in favor of. Ms. Spaulding noted The Summit was the top vote getter previously and at tonight's meeting, followed by The Meadows/Arden Meadows, Prairie Ridge and Prairie's Crown. She asked that the Council discuss each name in detail stating the pros and cons of each name. Mayor Harpstead asked that Arden Crest and Arden Creek be discussed with the list of possible names as well. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - AUGUST 11,2008 3 Councilmember Holden noted she was not in favor of Arden Creek because of the amount of water on this site. She added that she was not in favor of Arden Crest, but stated she was in favor of Prairie Crown as this site would be seen as a gem and high point within the City. Councilmember Holden indicated she was in favor with Prairie Meadow but did not like the name The Summit. Councilmember McClung indicated he was not in favor of using Arden Hills within the TCAAP property name. He suggested finding a name that will stand apart or stand alone but is a part of the larger community. Councilmember McClung noted his vote was for Arden Summit because he feels it has a connection to the community, but could stand on its own. Mayor Harpstead explained he voted for The Summit because he wants the height and elevation of this property to be taken advantage of. He indicated he was also in favor of Prairie Ridge as well. Mayor Harpstead suggested not using the name "Arden" within the name of the property because it would be too much. City Administrator Moorse indicated his first thoughts in naming this site related to the nature of this site. He was struck the most by Arden Creek, along with The Meadows or Prairie Ridge. City Administrator Moorse explained that he was not in favor of The Summit because he did not want any confusion between this development and Summit Avenue. Therefore he suggested that if "Summit" was used, Arden Summit be used for the name. Finance Director Iverson noted she was in favor of The Crest because it was a very strong name that could stand on its own. She indicated she was in favor of Prairie's Crown as well. Finance Director Iverson stated she was not in favor of The Summit because this is not unique. Assistant City Administrator Simon explained he wanted to capitalize on the height of this property. He was in favor of The Highlands or The Summit. City Planner Lehnhoff indicated he was not in favor of Arden Creek due to the fact the creek was not a dominant feature. He stated he preferred The Crest over Arden Crest. City Planner Lehnhoff added that his favorite name was Prairie Ridge because the site was a natural prairie and that this name took advantage of the height as well. He felt that Prairie's Crown was unique but that The Summit has been overused and should not be used. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - AUGUST 11, 2008 4 Ms. Spaulding stated Arden Creek had few votes along with Arden Meadows and asked if these two names could be removed [rom the list. The Council was in favor with this suggestion. Mayor Harpstead asked for comments from the audience in attendance. Mayor Harpstead questioned if this brought negative connotations to the name or confusion. Ms. Fish stated it was just confusing. Lyle Salmela noted he was in favor of Arden Crest and Prairie Ridge. Mayor Harpstead questioned which name would be easiest to market. Ms. Spaulding stated she was comfortable with Arden Crest or The Crest, along with Arden Summit, but that The Summit would compete with Summit Avenue. She indicated Prairie's Crown/Prairie Ridge would be a bit more challenging because it would not be attached to Arden Hills. Ms. Spaulding explained the more unique the name the better the marketing would be. She added that the more the name was used for the site the more identifiable it would become. Ms. Spaulding questioned if the Council was in favor of the word Prairie and the implications that came along with the use of that word. Councilmember Holden stated this was what Arden Hills was known for. Mayor Harpstead added that as people continue to move farther and farther out, having a Prairie in the City would be a draw and that he didn't see this as a negative connotation. Councilmember McClung agreed but stated this word may lead people to believe Arden Hills was farther north than they actually are. He explained that much of the prairie would be removed with the development of this site. Mayor Harpstead suggested that the Council and Staff present vote on the top four names: Arden Crest, Prairie's Ridge, Prairie's Crown or The Summit.. City Administrator Moorse stated he was still in favor of The Summit, but indicated he liked Prairie's Ridge and Prairie's Crown, minus the apostrophes. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - AUGUST 11, 2008 5 Ms. Spaulding stated she would do additional research on the final four names to see what other developments have similar names and if the domain names are still available. She indicated she would then report back to the Council with this information. B. Discussion on Master Development Plan Process and Issues/Decision Points Stacie Kvilvang presented the City Council with information on the upcoming issues and decisions that needed to be addressed to reach a master development plan by December of 2008. She reviewed there were five key issues that needed to be resolved within this process, number one being the type and tenure of housing within TCAAP, addressing density and housing types, rental versus owner occupied. Councilmember Holden stated she would like to see the density modeled out before this item would be considered for approval to see how the development lays out and if the density is appropriate. Ms. Kvilvang stated that we are working to put together a computer-generated model to help visualize the development. Councilmember McClung stated the varying uses within this site would be difficult to visualize if not already present within the community. Ms. Kvilvang stated the model would assist in visualizing the transition of uses. Ms. K vilvang noted another discussion would need to center on the fact that the majority of the higher density housing was located near the wildlife corridor/open space. She asked if the Council was still in favor of this placement or if it should be disbursed. Mayor Harpstead stated the developer should be present for these discussions to add their input. Ms. Kvilvang explained the developer would be present for these discussions adding their insight. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - AUGUST 11,2008 6 Ms. Kvilvang stated an additional discussion should be held regarding the valuation of the for-sale housing and market pricing. She indicated a separate discussion would need to be held on affordable housing, how it will be mixed and the percentage that will be worked into this development. Councilmember Holden asked if the face value of each property could be evaluated during these discussions. Ms. K vilvang indicated this would be addressed as there would be tradeoffs between commercial/industrial to housing. Councilmember Holden questioned how the design standards would be addressed to have this development withstand the test of time and not be outdated in 10-20 years. Ms. K vilvang explained this would be addressed during the design standard discussions. She stated there would have to be minimum requirements setting a certain percentage of brick, etc. Councilmember McClung indicated once the design standards are set the Council would need to use great caution in allowing for variances as this would alter the visual appearance of the development. City Administrator Moorse stated retailers are in favor of developing on this site and will follow the added design standards. Mayor Harpstead suggested the design standards for the commercial and residential sites be addressed separately in the upcoming discussions. Ms. Kvilvang indicated another discussion would be held around infrastructure and streetscapes, along with the overall character of the development. Mayor Harpstead noted this was previously discussed at a community meeting, but needs further closure. Ms. K vilvang noted visual preferences within the Commercial/Industrial properties would need to be decided by the Council. She stated the Council would have to determine if these areas were one level, two level, brick or office/warehouse. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - AUGUST 11,2008 7 Mayor Harpstead stated the B2 zone may have a possible community gathering orientation or art component. Ms. Kvilvang stated this would be addressed under Item 3 when parks, open spaces and amenities would be greater defined. She indicated the water feature purpose and open space could be purposed and set as a focal point during this discussion. Mayor Harpstead asked if the Parks and Trails Committee could be involved in the park amenity discussions. Councilmember Holden stated these decisions would hinge greatly on the finances available for the parks but stated input from the City staff would be greatly appreciated. Mayor Harpstead agreed. Councilmember McClung noted they are more than welcome to attend the worksession meetings and provide input but that at this point, there was not enough time to go through the committee process. He stated he was most interested in the water feature and the gathering area surrounding it. Mayor Harpstead indicated the connectivity to the community would be important as the decisions are made for the TCAAP site. City Administrator Moorse agreed stating the residential and commercial sites within this property can build off of each other particularly with a well-conceived public gathering space. Mayor Harpstead suggested the use of grants be addressed within each of these discussion meetings. Councilmember McClung agreed. Ms. Kvilvang stated she would add this to the discussion item agendas. Mayor Harpstead questioned if there were any additional items that should be added under "Other." ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - AUGUST 11, 2008 8 Councilmember Holden asked if a pedestrian crosswalk over 96 was going to be addressed. Mayor Harpstead suggested this be added to Item 4. Councilmember McClung questioned if after the grading of this site if reseeding expenses were written into the infrastructure estimate and if not, he suggested this item be further discussed. Ms. Kvilvang indicated this was not a part of the bid at this time and could be added to the agenda for further discussion. Ms. Kvilvang indicated the first worksession meeting to address these items would be held on August 20, 2008. City Administrator Moorse suggested Council address staff prior to the worksession meetings with any questions or concerns to .allow staff time to gather information prior to the meeting. The Council thanked Ms. K vilvang for laying out the items in great depth and detail to assure that no issues are missed during the master development process. 2. COUNCIL COMMENTS AND REQUESTS There were no Council comments or requests at this time. Mayor Harpstead adjourned the City Council Work Session meeting at 6:34 p.m. Stanley D. Harpstead Mayor Ronald J. Moorse City Administrator