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08-12-2024 City Council Work Session Minutes1 CHANHASSEN CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MINUTES August 12, 2024 Mayor Ryan called the work session to order at 5:30 p.m. COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: Mayor Ryan, Councilmember Schubert, Councilmember Kimber, and Councilmember McDonald COUNCIL MEMBERS ABSENT: Councilmember von Oven STAFF PRESENT: Laurie Hokkanen, City Manager; Charlie Howley, Public Works Director/City Engineer; Jerry Ruegemer, Parks Director; Eric Maass, Planning Director; George Bender, Assistant City Engineer; Matt Unmacht, Assistant City Manager; Samantha DiMaggio, Economic Development Manager, Jenny Potter, City Clerk PUBLIC PRESENT: Tyler Stevens, Clover Investments Interview Youth Applicants for Park & Recreation and Environmental Commissions The City Council interviewed Clara Christenson, Aayan Shrestha, and Rylee Roemer for youth commission positions on the Park & Recreation and Environmental Commissions. Chanhassen Bluffs Community Center: Ballot Question Councilmember Kimber stated that he is hearing from residents that a pool is very important to them to have as a part of the Chanhassen Bluffs Community Center. He brought forward language to include two questions for the ballot. Question one would be regarding the Local Option Sales Tax and if question one passed, question two would be should a pool be included in the plan. Councilmember McDonald said that he liked including the question about the pool. Councilmember Schubert said she was still not comfortable with including the pool because the long - term costs would be so high. Mayor Ryan would like to keep just the first question because she is not ready to support the cost of a pool. Councilmember McDonald said that the public has asked for a pool and if residents have been educated about the costs of a pool, then we should put the question on the ballot because the residents are the ones that should make the decision. Councilmember Kimber said that the residents should decide. He suggested putting both questions on the ballot and communicating the costs to let the residents have a stay. He then said that he has heard from residents that they don’t like to go to the neighboring pools in the area and pay non -resident prices. He asked if there was a way to negotiate reciprocity with another city to get the costs down. Laurie Hokkanen, City Manager reported that the city has not yet explored that option but that there could be negotiations to provide reciprocity for lower costs to access other pools in the area. The council members discussed the wording of the questions. It was decided that the ballot question would be just one question regarding the sales tax. City Council Work Session Minutes – August 12, 2024 2 Minnewashta Parkway Traffic Workshop Follow-Up Discussion Mayor Ryan reported that city staff had hosted a neighborhood meeting to get input from residents about the Minnewashta Parkway Traffic changes. There was good attendance at the meeting and staff received a lot of feedback. There is an item on the agenda for the council meeting that addresses a stop sign at Kings Road that neighbors have requested. Charlie Howley, Public Works Director/City Engineer, told the council that at the neighborhood meeting residents brought up a safe crossing at Kings Road, lowering the speed limit on Minnewashta Parkway, increased enforcement of the speed limit, directing traffic to different routes, Landscape Arboretum helping to beautify the parkway, and a right-in/right-out option to the intersection at Highway 5. Councilmember Schubert asked if the Arboretum was planning on still having the exit to the Arboretum where the current entrance is located since the entrance is being moved to Minnewashta Parkway. Mr. Howley responded that the Arboretum was planning on having people enter off Highway 5 at the light on Minnewashta and then pay on exit at the east road that is currently the entrance. Discussion was had about a stop sign at Kings Road and if that was the best option for safely crossing. Councilmember McDonald said he would prefer a pedestrian light crossing at Kings Road instead of a stop sign. He was concerned that a stop sign was not as safe as a flashing pedestrian crossing. Mayor Ryan asked for more details from Engineering about a stop sign to determine if that was the best option or may a pedestrian crossing be safer, Mr. Howley responded that the data came back, and it shows that there aren’t enough pedestrians using the intersection to meet the qualifications of a stop sign. However, residents are requesting a stop sign and it is reasonable that one be put up. He said that the cost of a flashing light pedestrian crossing would be approximately $35,000-$40,000. Placing a stop sign at the Kings Road crossing would be approximately $148. It was decided to table the Kings Road stop sign item from the City Council agenda and get more detail from staff to decide on a stop sign versus a flashing light pedestrian crossing. The discussion was paused for the City Council meeting. Mayor Ryan recessed the work session at 6:55 Mayor Ryan reconvened the work session at 7:36 Minnewashta Parkway Traffic Workshop Follow-Up Discussion - Continued Mayor Ryan reconvened the conversation starting with the question of how best to get people safely across the street. Councilmember McDonald agreed that addressing safety concerns and cost to find the best solution. Mr. Howley started the discussion by asking if there was any interest in a mini roundabout. It accomplishes many goals. The cost of that would be approximately $700,000. City Council Work Session Minutes – August 12, 2024 3 Councilmember Schubert asked if there was more development in the area, how would that affect the crossing and what are the long-term goals? Mayor Ryan asked for more information on short-term, mid-term, and long-term goals for the road. She said that the money for a mini round about doesn’t currently exist. Mr. Howley said that he would come back to a future meeting with a memo on solutions for the area including cost and the best option for safely crossing, as safety was the most important to the councilmembers. Mayor Ryan then brought up speed control in the area and the possibility of reducing the speed limit. Mr. Howley said that there had been discussions in the past about lowering the speed limit within city limits. He said that the city needs to be consistent with speeds and that lowering a speed on one road means that other roads may need to have a lower speed limit as well. He said that lowering the speed limit city wide would be easier. Mayor Ryan said she was in support of changing the city speed limit to 25 MPH and then have increased enforcement. Discussion was then regarding a right-in/right-out intersection at Minnewashta and Highway 5. The council decided that was not a good decision for the intersection. Mayor Ryan brought up the resident’s suggestion of having the Arboretum beautify the Parkway and all agreed that was not the Arboretum’s responsibility. Mr. Howley agreed. The requested information will be added to the August 26 work session to review. Discuss Comprehensive Plan Land Use and Zoning District Designation at 6440 Hazeltine Blvd Eric Maass, Planning Director, introduced Tyler Stevens, Clover Investments. Tyler is looking to develop land at 6440 Hazeltine Boulevard and has put in a request to change the zoning of the property to appeal to possible investors. The property has 5.5 acres of land and a large elevation change of approximately 60 feet. It is located next to the planned roundabout across from Minnetona Middle School West. Mr. Maass said that the land is currently zoned Medium Density. Mr. Stevens is looking to change to High Density to appeal to an apartment building and homes. There were two possible rough drafts of development that were shown but neither one was a finished product. They show possible development that would need work before a development application was submitted. Councilmember Schubert asked how many stories the proposed apartment building would have. Mr. Maass replied that base zoning allows for three stories because of the drop in the land. Mayor Ryan, Councilmember McDonald, and Councilmember Kimber all said they would like more of an understanding of what would be built there to help guide them in changing the zoning. Mr. Stevens said that the roundabout has changed how they can develop the land and to market it there needs to be a change in zoning to let developers know what is possible. City Council Work Session Minutes – August 12, 2024 4 Mayor Ryan said she can appreciate that, but the City Council would need to see more specific plans to help them determine the appropriate zoning and impact of the development. Mayor Ryan adjourned the meeting at 8:36 p.m. Submitted by Laurie Hokkanen City Manager Prepared by Jenny Potter City Clerk