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REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION 12/08/2014 Agenda Date: Agenda Item: 14.a Department Approval City Manager Approval Item Description: Request by the Community Development Department for direction on the creation of a formal Voluntary Environmental Assessment Worksheet (EAW) Waiver process for projects zoned Community Mixed-Use (CMU) in the Twin Lakes Redevelopment Area (. ) PROJ0032 B ACKGROUND On September 15, 2014, the Community Development Department met with the City Council to 1 discuss the existing voluntary Environmental Assessment Worksheet (EAW) and waiver process 2 that is currently required for developments in theCommunity Mixed Use District (CMU), which 3 affects the Twin Lakes Redevelopment Area. The purpose of staff’s discussion with the Council 4 was to better understand the necessity of the EAW and to determine whether a waiver process 5 should be created, and if such a process was created what its requirements might look like. 6 Staff noted that an EAW waiver process would not have to be an “all or nothing” approval and 7 that the City Council could waive the EAW but still require an applicant to submit information to 8 support areas of environmental concern applicable to a site (such as traffic impacts, water 9 quality, hazardous materials, etc.) There appeared to be some City Council consensus around 10 the approach outlined above, and it was mentioned that the goal was not to unnecessarily burden 11 applicants but to focus on the issues of concern by using a City “mini-EAW” process. 12 Staff advised the City Council that the City could take the key pieces it was considering from an 13 EAW and include them as a requirement in a waiver process. This would require a developer to 14 provide those items to demonstrate that there is no need to go further, much like the formal EAW 15 process, and it would allow staff to know of any hot-button issues. Council also discussed 16 incorporating a draft EAW as part of any waiver requirement, with approval or denial at the 17 discretion of the City Council on a case-by-case basis. 18 Over the past two months the Planning Division has reviewed the existing EAW, discussed 19 further the purpose of the EAW requirement and the desired outcome, and the potential of a 20 waiver process. 21 PEA ROPOSEDNVIRONMENTALNALYSIS 22 The Planning Division’s main suggestion is to eliminate the required voluntary EAW (not a 23 mandatory EAW as required under Chapter 4410 Minnesota Administrative Rules) for 24 development proposals within Twin Lakes. To replace this process, staff is proposing a City 25 environmental review process that is modeled on the State’s EAW process, but acknowledges 26 the understanding that was obtained in the AUAR process, focuses on the issues relevant to the 27 site, and reduces the time/expense associated with completing a full EAW. 28 PROJ0032_EAW_Waiver_RCA_120814.doc Page 1 of 6