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Planning Commission Meeting Minutes – Wednesday, February 04, 2009 Page 10 Ms. Bloom noted that the distance between Midland Grove and Cleveland was not 438 standard roadway construction based on today’s design standards, but that it was what it 439 was. 440 Art Mueller, Developer 441 Mr. Mueller addressed the setbacks mentioned; noting that the map, to scale, indicated 442 that the house was 96’, not 30’ from Mr. Stenson’s home, with two stories on the Fenton R 443 road side. 444 Mr. Mueller addressed the original size of Mr. Weyer’s property, and Mr. Mueller’s original 445 building of Midland Grove Condominiums; and the need to relocate the originally-planned 446 road from County B to Highway 36 after construction had started, per Ramsey County 447 requirements due to cars stacking on the highway. Mr. Mueller advised that he had 448 moved the road back 150’ and purchased a piece of property from Mrs. Gibloski; and then 449 when MnDOT came in, they took everything on the one side and County Road B 450 accessed additional right-of-way. Mr. Mueller noted that, so as not to land lock the 451 Midland Grove property, the piece on the curve was arrived at, limiting the amount of 452 property left for the Weyer’s to sell, due to the easements. 453 Chair Bakeman refocused discussion on land use, not financial viability; noting that the 454 City Council would probably seek additional discussion on that component. 455 Dick Brownlee, Station 19 Architects 456 Mr. Brownlee expressed the applicant’s willingness to work with staff in making the 457 building mass and height more acceptable to neighboring properties; and looked forward 458 to creative and effective ways to accomplish that. 459 Chair Bakeman closed the Public Hearing at 9:16 p.m. 460 Commissioner Doherty spoke in opposition to the proposal; opining that, as public officials 461 there was the implied need to support existing residential zoning codes. Commissioner 462 Doherty opined that this was a significant change, noting that the zoning was independent 463 of this project, and he’d have to see extraordinary mitigating circumstances to support 464 going from low to high density. Commissioner Doherty advised that he’d even need to 465 see significant mitigation to go from low to medium density; but expressed his discomfort 466 in changing zoning to high density in the midst of some single-family zoned residents. 467 Commissioner Boerigter advised that he was not sure if he would support the project in its 468 current format; however, he disagreed with Commissioner Doherty on zoning, based on 469 its proximity to existing condominiums and townhomes next to Cleveland Avenue and 470 County Road B. Commissioner Boerigter opined that, from his perspective, this was the 471 exact property that should be zoned higher than current land use designation, based on 472 the Comprehensive Plan process for higher and better use; this property was one of 473 those. Commissioner Boerigter opined that this property should be zoned medium or high 474 density, clearly no residential. Commissioner Boerigter noted that he was not entirely 475 comfortable with the aspects of the proposal, including the mass of the project among 476 others; however, he noted that the City had a mandate from the Metropolitan Council to 477 increase density to accommodate additional residents in Roseville, and opined that this 478 was how it was going to need to be accomplished. 479 Commissioner Martinson opined that, while the City was looking for potential areas for 480 development, in other areas of Roseville, consideration was given to a bridge between 481 residential and higher density; and this project didn’t seem to be a modulated bridge, 482 opining that it was too big of a development for that piece of land at this time. 483 Commissioner Martinson recognized that property owners had the right to develop their 484 land; but coupling this current plan and a PUD, it became an area of concern, and the City 485 could end up with an even larger project based on zoning amendments. 486