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Regular Planning Commission Meeting Minutes – Wednesday, May 1, 2013 Page 18 annual work plan as anything more than a guide or outstanding items to be addressed as 861 time allows and/or as appropriate. 862 Chair Gisselquist asked if this was up to the Planning Commission to advise the City 863 Council of the Commission’s intended work plan or if was more appropriate for the City 864 Council to develop such a work plan for the Commission as part of its charge to the 865 Commission. 866 Mr. Paschke advised that it would simply indicate that the Planning Commission was 867 becoming more involved beyond applications and normal action issues; with items 868 bouncing between staff and the Commission for discussion, and simply a review by the 869 Commission of those documents being developed by staff. Mr. Paschke stated that he 870 was not looking to have the City Council dictate what the Commission should due beyond 871 the requirements of a Planning Commission under MN State Statutes; but noted that all 872 items on an agenda are intertwined and what the body should or could be doing and their 873 subsequent recommendations to the City Council will ultimately be used by the City 874 Council to their benefit as well as the overall community’s benefit, and would allow the 875 Commission to be more proactive and involved in the entire process (e.g. garage 876 placement on lots guided by the Comprehensive Plan and design standards). 877 Member Daire referenced his recent attendance for the Dale Street Redevelopment 878 Project, and expressed his fascination with the process and discussions. With several 879 Councilmembers also in attendance as well as HRA staff and members, Member Daire 880 questioned if that was the type of item coming in the future that the Commission should 881 be more involved with earlier in the process to become aware of the debate going on at 882 that level and for contributing to the discussion as a Planning Commissioner. 883 Mr. Paschke advised that individual members would need to make that determination on 884 their own; and was not interested in dictating whether or not they should be involved at 885 that point. However, Mr. Paschke advised that as a member of the community, individual 886 members could be informed and involved; but not necessarily in their role as a Planning 887 Commissioner. 888 Member Daire stated that his rationale in raising the issue was the apparent 889 encouragement of the City Council to be more proactive; and whether that was intended 890 for the body to be involved in shaping things coming forward. Member Daire questioned if 891 that was further intended for the Commission to be aware of various Commission and 892 HRA agendas and pending development. Member Daire further questioned if early 893 inquiries from other developers should be involved in the Planning Commission’s work 894 plan; or how to conceive such a proactive work plan for a volunteer body such as the 895 Planning Commission. 896 Specific to developers, Mr. Paschke responded negatively; as the Commission needed to 897 be reactive to their proposals as they came forward, including reviewing codes and 898 ordinances via staff reports and discussion. Mr. Paschke advised that individual 899 Commissioners did not have the ability to inject their preferences for a particular parcel, 900 but that it was guided by zoning and certain other standards in place; and that there was 901 very little the Commission could do in advance of an application coming forward, and 902 could possibly be deemed inappropriate for them to attempt to do so. Related to the HRA 903 and other Departments and/or Commissions, Mr. Paschke encouraged individual 904 Commissioners to review the City’s website and or attend those other meetings as they 905 felt so inclined, but questioned if the body needed to be involved until an application 906 came before it. 907 Regarding the Dale Street Project, Mr. Paschke advised that the HRA was in the process 908 of developing their own plan for that property, which included this process of taking input 909 from the citizens in an effort to meet the community’s needs to achieve the best 910 development and use of that property. However, Mr. Paschke questioned if the Planning 911 Commission actually had any role in what was being attempted to do, whether as a 912 separate body or for the entirely of the City. 913