2014_05_07_PC_Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

Regular Planning Commission Meeting Minutes – Wednesday, May 7, 2014 Page 8 address in the future. At this point, Member Murphy stated that he supported designating 354 “not permitted” in CMU areas, as proposed by staff in their report. 355 Mr. Paschke advised that he would look into the background and report back to the 356 Planning Commission at a future meeting. 357 Member Boguszewski expressed appreciation to staff; noting his desire to incorporate 358 small schools into neighborhood designs, not necessarily a 14-acre school, but reiterated 359 that those concerns would not impact his decision on this request tonight, but opined that 360 it needed to be addressed in case a change was indicated in the future. 361 Chair Gisselquist opined that he could envision a small charter school or start up school 362 in a CMU District. 363 From his personal perspective, Member Daire suggested that in staff’s follow-through on 364 Member Boguszewski’s requested information, it would serve to get everyone on the 365 same page versus challenging staff’s wisdom in suggesting the proposed changes, to 366 which Member Boguszewski concurred. 367 Chair Gisselquist noted that the meeting minutes and video tape would duly reflect the 368 concerns expressed by the Planning Commission about this particular designation; and 369 as noted previously by the City Council, they did follow the meeting discussion of the 370 Commission that served to inform their discussions. 371 Applicant Representatives: Land Use Attorney Jay Lindgren with the law firm of 372 Dorsey and Whitney, 50 S Sixth Street, Mpls., MN AND CFO and Director of 373 Business Affairs with the University of Northwestern Doug Schroeder 374 Mr. Lindgren advised that he was present tonight to support the application and staff 375 recommendations. Mr. Lindgren advised that their objective was to finalize the purchase 376 and conversion of the hotel into student housing. Mr. Lindgren expressed appreciation to 377 staff for their productive discussions over the last few months in processing this issue. 378 Mr. Lindgren noted that, it was staff’s determination that the neither the comprehensive 379 plan nor zoning code for this particular parcel in Roseville provided a good designation to 380 utilize the existing college designation in a CMU District. Therefore, Mr. Lindgren noted 381 that several options were considered: amendment to the comprehensive plan and zoning 382 code, or re-designation of the zoning to Regional Business to allow college use and 383 related facilities in that area. Mr. Lindgren advised that it was Mr. Paschke and Planning 384 staff that came up with the idea that they wanted in particular to deal with what a 385 “dormitory” was and assure the building was put to its true use, with the eventual 386 proposal for “student housing” designation as a permitted use. 387 Mr. Lindgren advised that the applicant was supportive of staff’s recommendation and 388 had resubmitted their application accordingly. Mr. Lindgren respectfully asked for 389 approval by the Planning Commission, thus moving the process to the City Council at 390 their June 9, 2014 meeting; allowing completion of the application and permitting process 391 to have student housing available for the next school year. 392 Chair Gisselquist asked the applicant if this expansion was due to increased enrollment 393 or because it was hard for students to find nearby housing. 394 Mr. Schroeder responded that, during his 14-year tenure with the college and continued 395 growth, there had been an inconsistency between housing and academic space, never 396 truly aligned. Mr. Schroeder advised that this would accomplish that alignment. Mr. 397 Schroeder advised that as a residential college, one of their strategic goals had been to 398 keep residential housing at approximately 67%, with the remaining students in the 399 “commuter” category; but that currently those numbers had dipped to below 60% 400 available for residential housing. 401 Mr. Schroeder noted that the college had gone through this process once before, 402 collaborating with the City of Arden Hills, when the college entered into a three-year lease 403 for the former Holiday Inn on County Road E, retrofitting it into student housing. However, 404