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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/04/2019 MinutesCITY OF APPLE VALLEY PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES SEPTEMBER 4, 2019 1. CALL TO ORDER The City of Apple Valley Planning Commission meeting was called to order by Chair Melander at 7:00 p.m. Members Present: Tom Melander, Ken Alwin, Tim Burke, Keith Diekmann, Jodi Kurtz, Paul Scanlan and David Schindler. Members Absent: Staff Present: City Attorney Sharon Hills, City Engineer Brandon Anderson, Community Development Director Bruce Nordquist, City Planner Tom Lovelace, Planner/Economic Development Specialist Alex Sharpe and Department Assistant Joan Murphy. 2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Chair Melander asked if there were any changes to the agenda. MOTION: Commissioner Burke moved, seconded by Commissioner Diekmann, approving the agenda. Ayes - 7 - Nays - 0. 3. CONSENT ITEMS MOTION: Commissioner Burke moved, seconded by Commissioner Diekmann, approving the minutes of the meeting of August 7, 2019. Ayes - 7 - Nays - 0. 4. PUBLIC HEARINGS A. Amendments to Sections 155.075 and 155.076 of Chapter 155 of the City Code Regulating Uses in the Multiple -Family Residential Zoning Districts — PC19-14-Z Chair Melander opened the public hearing at 7:01 p.m. Planner Tom Lovelace stated for consideration are two proposed zoning amendments to Sections 155.075 (Purpose) and 155.076 (Permitted Uses) to allow townhouse dwelling units as a permitted use in the "M-7" (Multi -Family Residential/12-20 units per acre) zoning district. The zoning ordinance currently allows apartment dwellings only in the "M-7" zoning district. The proposed amendments would allow townhomes to be constructed at a density of greater than 12 units per acre. The area requirements, height regulations, building coverage and setback requirements for the "M- 7" zoning district will not change with these amendments. Any townhome development in the CITY OF APPLE VALLEY Dakota County, Minnesota Planning Commission Minutes September 4, 2019 Page 2 of 6 zoning district will be required to meet all minimum area and setback requirements, and will not be allowed to exceed the maximum height and building coverage requirements. Mr. Lovelace reviewed the acres in the city currently zoned "M-7". He said these proposed amendments are being proposed for a couple of reasons. The first is that it allows for an additional housing type in the zoning district. The second reason is to allow the Pulte Group, Inc. to construct the first phase of their Shores townhome development. This proposed development is generally located north of 157th Street West and east of Johnny Cake Ridge Road. The developer has proposed the construction of 101 townhomes on approximately 9.86 acres for a density of just over 10 units per acre. The property is currently guided a mix of "LD" (Low Density Residential/2-6 units per acre) and "HD" (High Density Residential/12+ units per acre) and is zoned "SG" (Sand and Gravel). The developer submitted an application requesting that the property be re -designated "MD" (Medium Density Residential/6-12 units per acre), rezoning from "SG" to "M -6C" (Medium Density Residential/6-12 units per acre), subdivision, conditional use permit for exterior finish materials and site plan/building permit authorization. On January 16, 2019, the Planning Commission reviewed the proposed development and recommended approval of the five items. The City Council authorized the submittal of Comprehensive Plan amendments to the Metropolitan Council at their February 14, 2019, meeting. Staff submitted the amendment request to the Metropolitan Council on February 19, 2019, who subsequently sent a letter back to the City informing that any amendments submitted after December 31, 2018, would not be considered until the City's 2040 Comprehensive Plan Update has been approved. The City continues to work with the Metropolitan Council issues with the Plan and in the meantime Pulte has not been able to begin their development project. A revised development plan has been submitted that shows the development of 45 townhomes on 3.7 acres which will have a density of 12+ units per acre making it compatible to the current "HD" Comprehensive Plan designation. Construction of the townhomes cannot commence without the proposed zoning code amendments because the zoning ordinance does not currently allow townhomes in the "M-7" zoning district and rezoning the property, as requested, to "M-6" would not be compatible to the existing "HD" designation. Chair Melander commented that allows them to get started with their project and we can catch up with anything afterwards. Mr. Lovelace said yes and added that back in January 2019 the Commission did recommend approval of all of the requests related to The Shores project: the comp plan designation, the rezoning of the property, the preliminary plat, a conditional use permit and site plan/building permit authorization. The only thing that would be modified would be the preliminary plat would be slightly scaled down. There would not be the need for the re -designation and the zoning would change slightly. It does not require the item to come back to the Planning Commission to review all those items. It is just a massaging of what was requested and recommended by the Planning Commission. CITY OF APPLE VALLEY Dakota County, Minnesota Planning Commission Minutes September 4, 2019 Page 3 of 6 Commissioner Alwin commented since this would affect the other M-7 districts in the city, he asked if Mr. Lovelace could foresee any unattended consequences. Mr. Lovelace replied he did not think so because unless there was vacant land that would be created for M-7 there may be an opportunity to do high density townhomes or apartment buildings but currently all of the land that we have that is designated M-7 is occupied with dwelling units and has already been built out. Chair Melander closed the public hearing at 7:09 p.m. MOTION: Commissioner Burke moved, seconded by Commissioner Diekmann, recommending the approval of an amendment to Section 155.075 (G) to read as follows: The M-7 districts are intended for those areas, which are designated for "high density" in the comprehensive guide plan, where a high density of townhouse and apartment dwelling units is expected. Property within these districts is characterized by relatively level topography, relative absence of significant mature vegetation and close proximity to arterial or community collector roads. Ayes -7 -Nays -0. MOTION: Commissioner Burke moved, seconded by Commissioner Diekmann, recommending the approval of an amendment to Section 155.076 (B) to read as follows: Townhouse dwellings, M-1, M-2, M-3, M 4, M-5, M-6 and M-7 only, provided they are serviced by public sanitary sewer and water systems and provided that no single structure contains in excess of six dwelling units in M-1 and M-2 zones or 12 dwelling units in M-3, M-4, M-5, M-6 or M-7 zones. Ayes -7 -Nays -0. B. Pennock Center — PC19-13-CVB Chair Melander opened the public hearing at 7:11 p.m. Planner/Economic Development Specialist Alex Sharpe stated Java Capital Partners, LLC, property owner, has applied for a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) for a drive-through in association with a Class III restaurant at 7668 150th street west. The site is known as Pennock Place and is located in the southeast corner of CSAH 42/150th street and Pennock Lane. In 2016 a CUP for a drive through with a Class III restaurant was granted. A condition of approval required that the permit begin use within one year from the date of approval. At that time the owner did not proceed with the approved site plan and use and thus the CUP has lapsed. CITY OF APPLE VALLEY Dakota County, Minnesota Planning Commission Minutes September 4, 2019 Page 4 of 6 The current application is for a 6,100 sq. ft. three tenant building with a drive-through for a coffee user. The other two tenants have yet to be identified. The applicant has provided information that one will be a nail salon, and the other a quick service restaurant. The current building would be demolished, and most of the existing pavement would be removed for construction of the new building. Staff has been working with the applicant for several months on site plan configurations. Several challenges impact the site, including a drainage and utility easement on the west side, an irregular lot shape, and small lot size. Due to these impacts redevelopment of the site is challenging and has taken several iterations of site plans. The current plan still has some substantial issues to address. The site is guided "C" (Commercial) and is zoned "RB" (Retail Business). A Class III Neighborhood Restaurant is consistent with the comprehensive guiding and the retail business zoning. He reviewed the site plan, required parking spaces, parking setback variances, grading plan, building elevations, landscape plans and utilities plans. Commissioner Alwin, referring to the site plan where it states "no parking" where the front door is, asked if that was to be a drive -lane. Mr. Sharpe answered it is the loading zone for the handicapped spaces. Commissioner Alwin asked if people would pull into this parking area are they expected to back out. Mr. Sharpe said if people pulled into those spaces because all spots were taken, they do not have a good way to turnaround. This has been noted by the staff. Commissioner Alwin said he had concerns if a person in a wheelchair was trying to get out of a car and another driver had to back out into an active drive -lane, the lack of flow could present problems with the one-way in. Commissioner Kurtz commented with 37 parking spots and a nail spa, where do all the employees park. Mr. Sharpe said parking is not based upon the number of employees but based upon the square footage of the unit. They need one parking space per 150 sq. ft. of floor area and that is where the 14 stalls come from. Commissioner Kurtz referred to Starbucks and asked if staff is concerned with back up into traffic. CITY OF APPLE VALLEY Dakota County, Minnesota Planning Commission Minutes September 4, 2019 Page 5 of 6 Mr. Sharpe replied that this is a very long lane for a drive-through and there are more than the 6 required stacking spaces or even 9 for a coffee shop. There is quite a distance before the shared access drive and then it would take quite a bit more to get the stacking out to the city street. He said it would be a private drive issue before it would ever become a city drive issue and he did not anticipate there would be many with that long of a drive-through. Mark Krogh, Java Properties, commented they can work with comments from the City Engineer and City staff. They could have one-way traffic. Commissioner Diekmann referred to the previous building that was approved with 5200 sq. ft. and this building is 6100 sq. ft. and asked if the other building just did not work. Mr. Krogh said it did not work primarily for the site lines. They got the biggest push back from their tenants and they corrected that with the new site layout which is a little bigger. Commissioner Diekmann asked if this project would work if there was a drive-through on the loop around the building. Mr. Krogh said it would. Chair Melander asked if they would be willing to tweak the plans and work with staff. Mr. Krogh replied yes and that they would be willing to work with staff. Chair Melander commented that Mr. Krogh has tried before on this site and a couple of awkward things happen like backing out when somebody else is pulling forward during parking. Some owners allow customers to park all day long. He encouraged Mr. Krogh to work with staff on this. Mr. Krogh said he would and will have new plans for the next meeting. MOTION: Commissioner Burke moved, seconded by Commissioner Alwin, extending the public hearing to the next meeting. Ayes - 7 - Nays - 0. 5. LAND USE/ACTION ITEMS - NONE - 6. OTHER BUSINESS A. Review of upcoming schedule and other updates. Community Development Director Bruce Nordquist stated that the next regular Planning Commission meeting would take place Wednesday, September 18, 2019, at 7:00 p.m. CITY OF APPLE VALLEY Dakota County, Minnesota Planning Commission Minutes September 4, 2019 Page 6 of 6 7. ADJOURNMENT Hearing no further comments from the Planning Staff or Planning Commission, Chair Melander asked for a motion to adjourn. MOTION: Commissioner Burke moved, seconded by Commissioner Alwin to adjourn the meeting at 7:39 p.m. Ayes - 7 - Nays - 0. Respe tfully Submitted, Jo urphy, Planning epa.rtr nt Assistant Ap roved by the pple Valley Planning Commissi on 43 g / / Tom Melander, Chair