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PC SUM 2008 04 01 CHANHASSEN PLANNING COMMISSION WORK SESSION SUMMARY MINUTES APRIL 1, 2008 6:00 P.M. – TOUR HISTORIC SITES Old St. Hubert Church ? A good example of challenges to preservation ? Needs a reuse study ? Chanhassen Historical Society Subdivision – Chaska Brick Houses ? A successful example of what can be done to incorporate the older property with new development Klinglehutz Farm – 6.22 acres ? Owned by Neil (Chanhassen) and Brian (Waconia) Klingelhutz- they would like to develop the property but have agreed not to proceed while Al is alive (he is 87). They hope to preserve the home (1905) and barn (1945) Straw Hill Farm ? T-Mobile cell tower ? How section 106 (historic regulations) played into the moving of the tower SHPO o Using federal funds o Federal agency o 7:15 P.M. – REGULAR MEETING, FOUNTAIN CONFERENCE ROOM MEMBERS PRESENT: Mark Undestad, Kevin Dillon, Debbie Larson, Kathleen Thomas, Denny Laufenburger and Kurt Papke. MEMBERS ABSENT: Dan Keefe. STAFF PRESENT: Kate Aanenson, Community Development Director; Sharmeen Al-Jaff, Senior Planner; Angie Auseth, Planner I; Bob Generous, Senior Planner; Terry Jeffery, Water Resources Coordinator, Joe Shamla, Project Engineer; and Alyson Fauske, Assistant City Engineer. OATHS OF OFFICE Denny Laufenburger, Kathleen Thomas and Mark Undestad each read their oath of office, which was administered by Kurt Papke, Acting Chair. Planning Commission Summary – April 1, 2008 ELECTION OF CHAIR & VICE-CHAIR By unanimous vote, the Planning Commission elected Kurt Papke as Chair and Debbie Larson as Vice-Chair of the Planning Commission. ADOPTION OF PLANNING COMMISSION BYLAWS Mark Undestad moved and Kathleen Thomas seconded a motion to adopt the Bylaws. The commission voted unanimously to adopt the motion. WORK SESSION Environmental Updates – Jill Sinclair Jill Sinclair presented the Commission with a brief overview of natural resources in Chanhassen. She covered the types of natural resources in the City, where they exist in large tracts, what is the present day ownership of these pieces and how their connection contributes a vital aspect to the quality of life in the City. Jill also talked about landscaping issues in development, specifically parking lot landscaping requirements. She suggested that a modification of the existing requirements to allow for fewer but larger planting areas might provide better long-term results for plant viability and development investment. Jill also explained the Water Wise Conservation and Education Program. The four main components of the program are the irrigation audits for high users, the residential water conservation contest, and the landscape and appliance rebate programs. Surface Water Management Work Plan For Total Maximum Daily Load (Tmdl) Implementation – Terry Jeffery Terry Jeffery, Water Resources Coordinator, introduced the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) study which is being performed by Barr Engineering and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (PCA) in partnership with the City of Chanhassen. Mr. Jeffery began by recapping the need for volume reduction which was identified in the non-degradation report presented to the Planning Commission in February. He also emphasized how the natural resources discussion led by Jill Sinclair is directly related to the non-degradation plan as well as the Bluff Creek TMDL Study. Mr. Jeffery then reviewed the 1997 Bluff Creek Corridor Feasibility study and the findings of that study. A point of emphasis from this study was the 22 known gullies or escarpments with an estimated repair cost of $4.4 million. One benefit of the TMDL study is it will make monies available to the City of Chanhassen from the Clean Water Legacy Grant funds. It was pointed out that many of the mitigative measures suggested by the Bluff Creek Corridor study have already been performed such as the re-meander of the straightened section of Bluff Creek north of Lyman Boulevard by the new high school. Mr. Jeffery discussed how much of the problems within Bluff Creek are a result of increases in pervious surfaces which cause an increase in the volume of stormwater reaching Bluff Creek as 2 Planning Commission Summary – April 1, 2008 well as an increase in the rate at which this stormwater reaches Bluff Creek. This eroded soil reaches the Highway 212 culverts and is deposited as sediment. The Minnesota Department of Transportation removes between 700 and 800 cubic yards annually from this area. Mr. Jeffery then introduced Barb Peichel, TMDL Project Manager from the PCA. She explained the rules and motivation behind the TMDL program. She then went on to discuss the assessments of the waters within the State of Minnesota as well as the types of impairments and how these relate to the designated use of the water. She then spoke of the two impairments specific to Bluff Creek. These impairments were Turbidity and Fish Biological Integrity. Then she discussed the TMDL process and how the Total Maximum Daily Load which can be discharged to an impaired water is calculated. Ms. Peichel closed her discussion by telling the Commission what this means to the City of Chanhassen. Her two main points were that Chanhassen will need to review their Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) to meet the TMDL within 18 months of the TMDL completion and that it provides funding opportunities for the City of Chanhassen to implement these best management practices within their SWPPP. Mr. Jeffery stated that many of the changes the City will need to incorporate for their non-degradation plan will also apply to the Bluff Creek TMDL. Ms. Peichel fielded questions from the Commissioners before thanking the Planning Commission and yielding the floor. Code Updates: Discuss Recommendations To City Council Based On The Updated Comprehensive Plan – Angie Auseth/Robert Generous Bob Generous presented a slide presentation on upcoming City Code Amendments. The first item of discussion regards the additional requirement of buffer yards in PUDs in addition to the requirement for setbacks. Such requirements are onerous and create situations that virtually “take” a properties ability to be developed. This requirement was also incorporated in all the commercial and industrial districts leading to undevelopable property. Staff is looking at somehow incorporating the buffer yard standard in the landscaping code to create appropriate screening between uses. Staff is also looking in to revising and amending the commercial district regulations: In some instances, to implement the comprehensive plan; and In others, to create distinct and separate use categories. In the Neighborhood Commercial (BN) District, some uses customarily have drive thru facilities, e.g., banks, fast food restaurants and pharmacies. The drive thrus for banks and restaurants require conditional use permits, CUP, but the pharmacy does not. Staff is proposing that we develop standards for drive thrus and allow the uses without a conditional use permit, since it is the drive thru for which the CUP is really directed. This is also true in the Central Business District (CBD) where stand alone fast food restaurants require a CUP. Not because of the use, but because, staff believes, of the drive thru. 3 Planning Commission Summary – April 1, 2008 City Code also does not address drive in restaurants, such as Sonics, where people park at stalls and have their orders taken at their car and delivered to their car, where they then eat. Staff will be looking at this issue. The building height in the BN District is limited to one story. However, homes in the Single- Family Residential, RSF, District are permitted up to three stories and 35 feet. From a practical standpoint, staff believes that the regulations should be the same. The park Nicollet Clinic required a variance to permit it to go to three stories, even though it provides a screen for the neighborhood to the south from the noise and traffic on Highway 5. The Highway and Business Services (BH) District was next addressed. This district provides uses which are vehicle oriented included auto repair and gas stations. The area extends along Highway 5 from Great Plains Boulevard east into Hennepin County. Staff is proposing combining the CBD and the General Business (BG) District into one district, the CBD. This district extends from Powers Boulevard to Great Plains Boulevard along West th 78 Street. In the CBD, stand alone restaurants require CUPs. Staff is proposing that the use be permitted in the CBD. The example of the recent Jimmy John’s restaurant was mentioned. Again, staff believes the CUP was required was due to the concern about drive thru facilities, rather than the restaurant use, which is encouraged in the downtown. As part of the Comprehensive Plan update, staff is recommending the expansion of the downtown area through the designation of properties bounded by Highway 5 on the north, the railroad on the south and Park Drive on the west for continued office/industrial use or for commercial use. This area, if redeveloped, would be our Community Commercial (CC) District, which would permit “big box” type uses. As part of the regulations, there would be a minimum business and building size as well as a maximum business size. As a start, staff is contemplating 20,000 square feet as a minimum and between 60,000 and 100,000 square feet as the maximum business size. A second potential new zoning district would be the Regional Commercial (RC) District. The City is proposing re-guiding the properties south of Lyman Boulevard, west of Powers Boulevard and north of the new Highway 312 for either office or commercial use. If an appropriate commercial development came in, they could use the RC district to create a pedestrian friendly district, which is envisioned to be anchored by two department stores with a mix of commercial, service and office uses. The district would also permit residential uses. This district is contemplated to provide uses and development that would complement the downtown area. While some uses would directly compete with the downtown, specialty retail uses, the primary focus would be on comparison shopping opportunities. It will be the job of staff and the Planning Commission with assistance from the Chamber of Commerce, area businesses and perhaps even consultants to draft the new RC district regulations. As part of the commercial to the City Code, staff has been evaluating the uses within each of the zoning districts. Colored matrices have been developed to assist in this evaluation. One part of the update will look at appropriate uses in each district and differentiating the districts. As part of the update, staff is providing greater specificity of uses, e.g., instead of Specialty Retail, we 4 Planning Commission Summary – April 1, 2008 would list bakeries, jewelry stores, gift shops, etc. The Planning Commission was requested to keep those specific sheets to review. Staff, in drafting regulations for the new RC district, is looking at elements of street to create a friendlier pedestrian environment. The elements of the street include the street wall, pedestrian realm, overhead area, vehicle realm and subsurface area. All of these are then incorporated in the desired urban scale. The street wall includes building height, building articulation, entry frequency, urban scale, windows and canopies and arcades. The pedestrian realm includes a cross section of a planting and furniture area between the road and the sidewalk, a sidewalk and a setback area of standing area or outdoor room to the building face. The recommended minimum cross section includes a pedestrian street crossing, a four foot planter/furniture area, and eight foot sidewalk and a two foot setback to the building face. This area would also have a minimum eight foot clearance to the overhead area. The overhead area consists of utilities, street trees, lighting, canopies and arcades and signs. A minimum 6.5 foot canopy area or 10 foot arcade is recommended. The vehicle realm consists of the number of lanes, on-street parking, traffic volume, lane width, traffic speed and traffic control systems. The subsurface area consists of the storm water drainage and utilities. It was pointed out that the Bluff Creek Boulevard is to be designed with a central medium strip as well as a roundabout to facilitate pedestrian movements. Urban scale references the height of the buildings to the width of the street from building face to building face. A central business district with transit uses may have a ratio of 3:2 (height:width). For a more suburban scale, the ratio goes from 1:1 to 1:2. As the volume and speed of traffic increases, the ratio moves to 1:4 or 1:5. The later ratio provides a very good environment for the movement of cars, but is not very pedestrian friendly. Staff also presented the Design reflecting context rural to urban transect. The City of Chanhassen is currently in the T2 – Suburban to T4 – General Urban transects. Staff envisions that the RC district will incorporate the T4 – General Urban to T5 – Urban Center transects. Angie Auseth presented the following regarding City Code Amendments pertaining to signage: Staff is looking to amend the temporary sign ordinance to include standards for detached temporary banner; limit the location of detached banners and portable signs to driveway entrance areas; and allow for a 30 day grand opening sign to coincide with the opening of a business for a new business, in addition to, the allowed three, ten-day display periods. 5 Planning Commission Summary – April 1, 2008 Staff is also looking to amend the permanent sign ordinance to require individual dimension lettering on wall signs with the exception of the registered trademarks with lettering less than 6 inches tall and 30% of the total sign display area, as well as the company logo; require individual dimension lettering for the center or development name on monument signs and omit that requirement from the individual tenant panel; permit signage on all buildings where the individual entrance may not front on a public street; and allow wall signage on the elevation of a buildings abutting a residential district when there is an intervening building or street. Staff is also proposing to emphasize the pre-application submittal meeting prior to formal submittals for all applications. This is currently a requirement in the Planned Unit Development Ordinance. Staff believes this will help resolve issues or concerns with a project prior to submittal, Planning Commission and City Council meeting. Comprehensive Plan Update Process Kate Aanenson led discussion on the status of historic preservation with Carver County. The meeting was adjourned at 9:15 p.m. Submitted by Kate Aanenson Community Development Director Prepared by Bob Generous 6