Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/15/1995 CITY OF APPLE VALLEY PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES February 15, 1995 1. CALL TO ORDER The City of Apple Valley Planning Commission meeting was called to order at 7:01 p.m. by Chairman Alan Felkner. Members Present: Alan Felkner, Paul Oberg, Mazcia Dowling, Kazen Edgeton and Frank Blundetto. Members Absent: James Cady. Staff Present: Rick Kelley, Kathy Bodmer, Mike Dougherty and Keith Gordon. Others Present: See the sign-in sheet. 2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Chair Felkner asked Staff and the Commission members if there were any proposed changes to the draft agenda. Mr. Kelley stated that Item SB, the public hearing for the Cooperative Power Switching Station; should be removed from the agenda at the request of the petitioner. The Commissioners have before them a letter from the petitioner stating that this proposed development will be moved a few hundred feet to the east. This means that a new public hearing will have to be advertised at a subsequent Planning Commission meeting. There were. no other proposed changes to the agenda. MOTION: Member Dowling moved, seconded by Member Blundetto, to approve the draft agenda with the deletion of Item SB: The motion carried 5 - 0. 3. APPROVAL OF FEBRUARY 1,.1995 MINUTES Chair Felkner asked Staff and the other Commission members if they had any changes to the draft set of minutes included in the packet. There being none, he called for their approval. MOTION: Member Dowling moved, seconded by Member Oberg, to approve the minutes of February 1, 1995 as submitted. The motion carried 4 - 0, with one abstention (Blundetto). 4. CONSENT ITEMS - None - Planning Commission Minutes February 15, 1995 Page 2 5. PUBLIC HEARINGS A. Hyland Pointe Townhomes Chair Felkner opened the public hearing with the standard remazks. Assistant Planner Kathy Bodmer presented the item and noted its location by displaying a series of overhead transparencies. The property is located on the northwest corner of County Road 46 and Crardenview Drive. This property is designated on the Comprehensive Plan for low density multiple residential uses at a density of 3 to 6 units per acre, but is currently zoned for agricultural purposes. The public hearing is to consider rezoning the property to an "M-3" category, which would be in conformance with the Comprehensive Plan designation. The performance category of the "M-3"zoning designation (B or C) has yet to be determined. The property to the west and north of the proposed development site is zoned under Planned Unit Development 444, providing for small lot single family units at a maximum of 6 units per acre, and townhomes at a maximum of 6 to 8 units per acre. The overall density as developed in this planned development is 3:89 units per acre. To the east is a single family neighborhood zoned "R-3", which is the standazd residential development zone in the community providing for minimum lot azeas of 11,000 square feet. South. across County Road 46 in the City of Lakeville is an existing single family neighborhood., also zoned for 11.,000 square foot minimum lot sizes. Chair Felkner asked if the Commission members had any further questions of Staff concerning. this preliminary introduction. There being none, the presentation was turned over to Bill Diedrich of Diedrich Builders Inc. Mr. Diedrich presented the first site plan which illustrated 23 townhome units designed to meet the "M-3B" performance standards: This creates a very straight and linear layout of the row design townhomes. He then illustrated a site plan meeting. the "M-3C" standards that has a lesser setback to County Road 46, which allows some road curvature and some varying setbacks of the townhomes to both the private and public roadways on the north and south. In both cases a minimum 40 foot setback to the Hyland Pointe Court public street on the north is maintained. Both of these layouts illustrated a single private road connection to Hyland Pointe Court in the northwest corner of the site. Mr: Diedrich then presented a perspective drawing ofhow the units would look from the southwest of the property. He noted that these latest layouts were in response to comments he had received at a neighborhood meeting he had hosted at his model at the Foxmoore Ridge R townhome development. These changes include: A) A change in the location of the private drive access point from Crardenview Drive to Hyland Pointe Court. Planning Commission Minutes February 15, 1995 Page 3 B) A rearrangement of the dwelling unit locations to provide more green space along the north side adjacent to Hyland Pointe Court. C) A staggered alignment of the buildings along Hyland Pointe Court. D) The addition of a storm water holding and filtration pond. E) Addition of some brick on the rear of the buildings, adjacent to Hyland Pointe Court. Chair Felkner asked what the actual density of the proposal is now. Mr. Diedrich responded that the density is 5.96 dwelling units per acre. He stated that he needs to have the 23 dwelling. units in order to make the project work financially. Commissioner Gowling asked what the percentage of green space was. Mr. Diedrich responded that it was 62 percent. There was a general discussion of the amount and location of the green space in the development proposal. It was noted that the relocation of some of the units has moved the green space azound, but that the total amount has not changed from the initial sketch plan. Commissioner Oberg asked about the guest pazking issue that was raised during. the sketch plan. It was noted that 12 overflow guest parking stalls were required, and that 14 were being illustrated on the development plan at this time. Member Edgeton questioned the density numbers. She said that she thought that at the sketch plan it was stated 22 units would be the maximum under the "M-3" zoning. Kathy Bodmer stated that if all density bonuses aze taken, the maximum number of units is 23 on this site. She stated that at the sketch plan the precise number was not known because the amount of right-of- way taken from the northwest and northeast comers of the site for the curved portions of Hyland Pointe Court was not known. This amount ended up being very minimal. Commissioner Gowling asked City Engineer Keith Gordon if the size and location of the storm water holding pond was appropriate. Mr. Gordon stated that the pond had been designed to meet City requirements. The size is calculated based on the total amount of runoff from the hard surface of the site, and that it is designed to meet NURP standards. Chair Felkner noted that at the sketch plan the Commissioners had indicated a willingness to compromise on setbacks, using some of the "C" versus "B" performance standards in order to improve the appearance of the project by allowing a staggered buIlding alignment. He then referred to the colored overhead transparency which illustrated both tY,e site plan of the development proposal and the existing single family homes along the north side of Hyland Pointe Planning Commission Minutes February 15, 1995 Page 4 Court. For comparison purposes, he asked Staff to provide information at the next meeting about the distance between the single family homes on this plan. Commissioner Blundetto asked Staff to verify the green space calculations, illustrated on the plan, which were performed by Mr. Diedrich's engineer. Commissioner Gowling asked Mr. Diedrich to amplify on what the plan was illustrating for treatment of the hilly area along Hyland Pointe Court. She specifically wanted to know what type of landscaping or groundcover was being proposed in this location. Mr. Diedrich stated that the plan shows a series of honeysuckle bushes in a planting bed covered by a shredded wood mulch. There would be no grass in this area. He stated that this was desirable in order to minimize the amount of maintenance: He said that this. was a fairly densely planted area. Comrissioner Gowling stated that she felt that there was a potential for this wood mulch to wash out onto the roadways. Mr. Diedrich stated that there may be some of that until the landscaping actually takes hold and begins to mature. The purpose of placing the mulch is to help hold moisture over the roots of the immature plants. City Engineer Keith Gordon noted that the mulch should only be placed where there would not be any surface water running over it. He also noted that the honeysuckles being used here are the same as used by the IVTinnesota Department of Transportation on sloped azeas along highways. Chair Felkner asked Staff if there were any other outstanding items. Ms. Bodmer stated that Staff had just. received these latest plans today, and that they have not been completely reviewed. She noted that Staff still needed to receive the revised grading plan. Mr. Diedrich stated that he had just made these changes in order to try to address the neighborhood concerns. Commissioner Edgeton asked if the City's Traffic Engineer had reviewed the location of the private street access relative to other street intersections.. Keith Gordon responded that there are three possible locations for street access. 1) To the west onto Hyland Avenue. 2) To the north onto Hyland Pointe Court. 3) Onto Gazdenview Drive. He stated that in his opinion, access to the west onto Hyland Avenue is the best. The access onto Hyland Pointe Court to the north is the second best. And access to the east onto Gardenview Drive is the least desirable. The ideal situation would be to have both an access to the west and to the north. Planning Commission Minutes February 15, 1995 Page 5 Mike Dougherty from the City Attorney's office noted that in order to have access to the west to Hyland Avenue, an easement would have to be acquired over the outlot currently owned by the Hyland Pointe Shores Homeowners Association. If the City's analysis finds that this is the most desirable and feasible access point, the City does have the authority to condemn the property, with the costs associated therewith to be specially assessed back to Mr. Diedrich's development. Commissioner Blundetto asked about the chart in the packet illustrating the various density bonuses. His specific question was whether this development was receiving all density bonuses: Ms. Bodmer stated that the development as proposed receives density bonuses for sound suppression for all units, basements for one-half the units, and either a three quarter bath or a fireplace in all units. The balance of the density bonuses are not being applied in this case. Bill Diedrich distributed photographs of the development site to the Comrnissioners. Chair Felkner asked Mr. Diedrich if he had spoken with the association about access to the west. Mr. Diedrich stated that he has spoken with them, but at this point negotiations have been broken off since the neighborhood association had requested that he reduce the number of dwelling units from 23 to 19 as a condition of the sale of the access to Mr. Diedrich. Chair Felkner requested that Staff compute the actual density of the existing single family units on the. north side of Hyland Pointe Court; across from Mr. Diedrich's property, in order to compare relative densities in this area Chair Felkner then opened the public hearing for comments from the floor. Rich Plendel, 15980 Hyland Pointe Court, stated that he had a concern over traffic safety at the proposed private street intersection. He also noted that storm water runoff on the steep north. side of the property, adjacent to Hyland Pointe Court, was an issue. He said that storm water and erosion from the site aze currently being dischazged into Lac Lavon through the storm sewer system. He said that in order to reduce this the association appears to be willing to allow a retention pond to be placed on their outlot to the west, if Mr. Diedrich modifies his development proposal in accordance with the association's wishes. Gary Shade, 15989 Gardenview Drive; displayed an overhead transparency that listed his concerns over the project. He noted that Mr. Diedrich's latest proposal incorporates some changes that addresses some, but not all of these issues. He stated that the curve on Gazdenview Drive causes many more traffic accidents or incidents than are reported to the police. He is acutely aware of the number of cars that run offthe road at this location. He said that whatever is developed on this property should meet all of the City's performance standards without any variances being approved unless a severe hazdship can be demonstrated by the developer. He said that in order to protect Lac Lavon from increased runoff and phosphate levels, a storm water Planning Commission Minutes February 15,1995 Page 6 holding and filtration pond is necessary for this development. Also, since phosphate levels in runoff have a direct correlation to the amount of impervious surface and roof tops, he would like to see the density decreased somewhat in order to further reduce these levels. Bobby Jensen, 15941 Hyland Pointe Court, stated that he is the president of the Hyland Pointe Shores Homeowners Association. He stated that in their negotiations with the developer, they have asked Mr. Diedrich to reduce the density on his development in exchange for having a road access across their outlot to the west. He also believes that the developer should consider a series of stepped retaining walls along Hyland Pointe Court in order to better hold the soil and limit the amount of erosion, since it will take quite some time for his proposed honeysuckle plantings to mature enough to the point of holding back all of the sediment. In terms of density and building setbacks, he stated that he lives in one of the townhouse duplexes in Hyland Pointe Shores that has reduced setbacks approved as part of the planned development. In his opinion, these reduced setbacks decrease the livability of the environment, and hopes that the City does not approve similar reduced setbacks in this project. David Gorman; 15988 Hyland Pointe Court, believes that the proposed intersection would create a bottleneck for vehicles wishing to enter Gardenview Drive. He stated that there are currently 20 mature trees on the site around the area of the old farmstead, and he hopes that some or all of them could be preserved. He also stated that the dwelling units on the north side of the project should be equipped with storm water gutters on the roof tops in order to divert water back to the south. toward the storm water holding pond, rather than running down to Hyland Pointe Court. He said ha was concerned over the barracks look of the row home arrangement of the units and wished to see more staggering of their setbacks. He noted that the low area of Hyland Pointe Court tends to collect snow and ice and is not an appropriate safe location for the private drive intersection. He displayed a series of transparency photographs illustrating. the site as viewed from several different angles, as well as the surrounding roadways. He then displayed a copy of a site layout which. he had drawn, which showed a reduced number of units and a double access to Gardenview Drive, one for an entrance and one for an exit. He said that in his opinion this would be a safer and superior development layout. Mark Fibbs, 15978 Hyland Pointe Court; noted that prior to the development of the Hyland Pointe Court area, this part of the City had been designated for apartments. As the area along Gazdenview Drive adjacent to Lac Lauon developed as single family homes, the City recognized that the neighborhood had changed and consequently removed the apartment designation, replacing it with the small lot single family of the Hyland Pointe area. He believes that in the same fashion this area previously designated for townhomes should be changed to single family, to be more consistent with the adjacent Hyland Pointe neighborhood. He also stated that he and his family moved to Apple Valley because Apple Valley was known as a community of very high standards. He said this development appears to be meeting only the Planning Commission Minutes February 15, 1995 Page 7 bazest minimum requirements of the City Codes, and that the developer should be required to improve the project so it becomes above average, or in essence, like the rest of Apple Valley. Rose Marie Fedder, 15845 Hyland Pointe Court, said that there aze already a lot of children living in the Hyland Pointe area, and that it was her belief that a townhome proposal of this density would also generate more children. She does not believe the developer who states that the primary occupants of these townhomes would be "empty nesters." Glen Demerol, 15996 Hyland Pointe Court, stated that the proposed private street intersection. onto Hyland Pointe Court would result in an unsafe traffic situation. He displayed his own set of overheads, illustrating the distance of this proposed intersection from the Gazdenview Drive and Hyland Pointe Court intersection. He stated that the combined curvature and grade of Hyland Point Court is not conducive to a safe access, and that in addition, cars are typically parked along the north side of Hyland Pointe Court. He also noted that the grade of the road causes it to collect a large amount of sand and salt, which is kicked up onto the adjacent lawns by traffiq and that additional traffic created by this development would exacerbate this problem. Chair Felkner asked that both the Police and Fire Departments review the proposed road alignments to determine their relative safety. Joe Hensel, 15972 Hyland Pointe Court, said that he believes there is as much. traffic. on Hyland Avenue on the west side as there is along Gardenview Drive on the east side. He also noted that the approximate location of a private drive intersection that might come onto either of these roads is similar. He said that the homes on the north side of Hyland Pointe Court would have to look at the backside of an entire row of townhomes, and he believes that this is the only situation in Apple Valley where this occurs: He also expressed concern that the increased amount of storm water runoff would increase the level of Lac Lavon and could potentially flood homes located near the high water mark. It was noted that there are three houses in the Hyland Pointe Shores area that were constructed slightly below the City's standard requirement of three feet above the ordinary high water mark of Lac Lauon. George Iiankerson, 15974 Hyland Pointe Court, stated that the appearance of the rear of the units facing Hyland Pointe Court left a lot to be desired. Dave Harley, 15955 Hyland Pointe Court, said that Hyland Avenue on the west side is a relatively short street, and that if the roadway from the townhomes intersected Hyland Avenue, there would not be much stacking space left before the intersection of County Road 46 was reached. He also expressed a concern over the effects of storm water runoff onto Lac Lavon. Jack Phillips, 15965 Gardenview Drive, said that he is concerned over the issue of traffic safety, particularly if the private roadway comes out onto Gazdenview Drive. He said that cars Planning Commission Minutes February 15, 1995 Page 8 are constantly over running this curve, and he was afraid that if townhomes were built in this azea, the cazs might actually hit the townhomes. Gary Shade, 15989 Gardenview Drive, questioned whether a hammerhead turnaround was being provided for emergency vehicles. The location of this hammerhead azea was pointed out on the plan. Mr. Shade also stated that with the number of children in the area, sidewalks should be considered for safety purposes. There being no further public comment, Chair Felkner closed the public hearing. Chair Felkner then explained the hearing and decision making process of the Commission. There would be no decision made this evening, and the item would appear on the next Planning Commission agenda in two weeks. If additional information has been prepazed, the Commission would then make a recommendation at this meeting. If not, it could be held over for an additional two or three meetings. Once the. Commission does make its recommendation, it would appear on a City Council agenda for final action. Chair Felkner then called a recess at 8:30 p:m. The meeting reconvened at 8:40 p.m. SB. Cooperative Power Switching Station This item has been withdrawn at the request of the petitioner. 6. LAND USE/ACTION ITEMS - None - DISCUSSION ITEMS A. Sketch Plan for Zoogate Townhomes Community Development Director Rick Kelley presented this item. The property is located on the northwest corner of Johnny Cake Ridge Road and County Road 38. This azea is currently designated on the Comprehensive Plan for visitor business uses, and is zoned under a Planned Unit Development for limited commercial and visitor business uses. This planned development was established prior to the construction of the Minnesota Zoological Garden. At that time, it was anticipated that the visitor traffic to the Zoo would be able to support a variety of visitor business and light commercial uses. Since the opening of the Zoo, however, it became evident that the amount and nature of the visitor traffic to the Zoo was not sufficient to support any type of commercial use. Planning Commission Minutes February 15, 1995 Page 9 Consequently, the City has recognized for some period of time that some other use would be more appropriate for this property then a visitor business use. While no specific use had been advanced, it was always expected that some type of residential,. either single family or townhome, would probably be appropriate. The sketch plan being presented this evening by U.S. Home Corporation is for 38 townhomes in a two-unit building configuration to be placed on the property. This use would require both an amendment to the City Comprehensive Plan and a rezoning, in conjunction with a preliminary plat and site plan building permit approval. Lee Johnson of U. S. Home Corporation presented the plan in more detail. He stated that the plan is likely to be adjusted somewhat by shifting some units around to move them further away from the larger wetlands on the north side of the property. In order to accomplish this a small wetland on the southwest would have to be filled, which means that some mitigation would have to be provided, possibly by enhancing the larger wetland located in the Zoo boulevazd right- of-way. Mr. Johnson stated that the design and number of units that he was proposing is what he felt was most appropriate for the property. He said it is not their policy to come in with an artificially high density request to use as a negotiating tool for the City's approval. He stated that. these identical type of townhome units are currently being built by his organization in both Eden Prairie and in Plymouth. He noted that the site in Eden Prairie is very similar in that the townhome project backs up to a large ponding azea. He said that the. base price of the townhome units is expected to be azound $150;000, with additional charges for options and for lot premiums; a number of the units would be expected to top out at $200;000 a piece or more. He said that there are two unit designs, both one floor levels with full basements. The smaller of the units has. 1,600 square feet on one level and the larger unit has 1,800 square feet on the first level.. He noted that they have had a biologist delineate the boundary of the wetland area. Chair Felkner stated that Staff should have a copy of this biologist report for their review. Commissioner Edgeton asked Staff if the proposed private street access to Johnny Cake Ridge Road was appropriate. Rick Kelley noted that it would be acceptable as it was a secondary, not a primary, access. It would not be expected to be heavily used. He said that it is always better to have more than one access if at all possible into a residential area. It was noted that a public hearing for this item has been scheduled for the March 1, 1995 Planning Commission meeting. Planning Commission Minutes February 15, 1995 Page 10 8. OTHER BUSINESS A. Attendance Chair Felkner noted that Len Miller's position on the Commission was recently vacated due to the number of absences. Felkner recently received a phone call from Commissioner Jim Cady that he would be resigning because his work is taking him out of town on such a regular basis that he was unable to comrnit to the ongoing attendance at Commission meetings. Mr. Felkner noted that he has asked Staff to keep him apprised of the attendance records of the various Commissioners, and if there are more than five absences in a 12 month period, he will contact that Commissioner to let them know that there is a problem. B. Armory Site Rick Kelley presented some information to the-Commission concerning this property, which is located on the northwest corner of County Road 42 and 147th Street. This property is currently designated on the Comprehensive Plan for a civic or municipal use, and is currently zoned under a Planned Unit Development for either Administrative Municipal Buildings or an Armory. The City had previously acquired this property and transferred it to the National Guard in order to facilitate the construction of a National Guazd Armory. This occurred about 5 years ago. With resent cutbacks in the National. Guard program, the Guard has determined that there will not be a need for any additional armories to be constructed. in this. part of the metro area. Consequently, they have returned the deed to the City.. The initial acquisition of this property had been financed by an internal fund transfer by the City. This fund transfer was expected to be recovered at the time of construction. of the armory since there is a specific special levy authorized for armory construction that would have compensated the City. Since this is not going to occur, the City needs to sell the property to recover the funds that it had forwazded for its initial acquisition. At the February 9, 1995 City Council meeting, the Council directed that a public heazing be set to consider a redesignation of this property to a Limited Business use, to prepare it for sale. This public hearing has been scheduled for March 1, 1995. Commissioner Edgeton asked why the City chose to use this approach rather than simply offering it for sale and letting the tentative purchaser make the sale subject to a rezoning for some other use. Mr. Kelley responded that there had been such a discussion at the City Council level concerning the property, and that the Council determined it did not want to put itself into a position where deliberations upon a rezoning request might be colored by the need to consummate a purchase agreement. Planning Commission Minutes February 15, 1995 Page 11 9. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Member Dowling moved, seconded by Member Edgeton, to adjourn the meeting. The motion carried 5 - 0. The meeting adjourned at 9:15 p.m.