CC Minutes 5-26-09
Chanhassen City Council - May 26, 2009
I don’t have much more to comment. Like I said Councilmember McDonald laid it out pretty
well so.
Councilwoman Ernst: The only thing now that we’ve come up with this other option I would
totally consider, encourage you to at least talk with staff about that option and I would actually
go along with Councilman Litsey and Councilman McDonald with what we have in front of us
today. But again taking a look at those options.
Deputy Mayor Tjornhom: Thank you. Yeah I’m going to go back to actually what the request
is tonight because we’ve been talking about a lot of different things and so just for clarity so we
all know what we’re voting on and what’s being discussed. The applicant is requesting that, let’s
see. The applicant is appealing staff’s decision regarding multiple dwellings on a single lot on
property zoned single family residential and so that’s really what the issue is at hand. Is if we as
a council feel it is beneficial or not beneficial to the city to allow 2 dwelling spots on one lot.
And so while we’ve heard discussion about the financial problems, we all understand those at
this point. If you can figure out the market and real estate then you know I think maybe you’d
make enough money to buy all the lakeshore on Lotus Lake and live there but unfortunately you
know it’s a mystery to us all why some bankers render the decisions they do and as a council I
don’t think it’s our job or it’s in our best interest to start dealing with financial matters and so I
think it’s important to stay with the matter that’s at hand and the ordinance does state that with a
single lot there should be done dwelling and so I am going to agree with the rest of the council
members tonight that we should go along with staff’s recommendation. So do I have a motion?
Councilman Litsey: I’ll make a motion. That the City Council affirms the Planning Commission
and staff’s interpretation of Planning Case 09-05 for the property described as Lots 6 and 7,
Sunset View Addition for the regulation regarding multiple dwelling units on a single family lot
and requires the applicant to remove buildings A and B in order to build a larger dwelling unit
and combine Lots 6 and 7 into a single zoning lot.
Deputy Mayor Tjornhom: Thank you. Was there a second?
Councilman McDonald: I’ll second.
Councilman Litsey moved, Councilman McDonald seconded that the City Council affirms
the Planning Commission and staff’s interpretation of Planning Case 09-05 for the
property described as Lots 6 and 7, Sunset View Addition for the regulation regarding
multiple dwelling units on a single family lot and requires the applicant to remove
buildings A and B in order to build a larger dwelling unit and combine Lots 6 and 7 into a
single zoning lot. All voted in favor and the motion carried unanimously with a vote of 4 to
0.
POWERS CROSSING PROFESSIONAL CENTER: OUTLOT A, BUTTERNUT RIDGE
(SOUTHEAST CORNER OF POWERS BOULEVARD AND HIGHWAY 212);
APPLICANTS: UNITED PROPERTIES, LLC/TIMOTHY AND DAWNE ERHART.
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Chanhassen City Council - May 26, 2009
?
REQUEST FOR A CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT WITH VARIANCES FOR
DEVELOPMENT IN THE BLUFF CREEK CORRIDOR;
?
SUBDIVISION INTO ONE LOT, OUTLOTS AND DEDICATION OF PUBLIC
RIGHT-OF-WAY;
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REZONING FROM AGRICULTURAL ESTATE (A2) TO OFFICE/
INSTITUTIONAL (OI);
?
SITE PLAN REVIEW WITH VARIANCES FOR A TWO-PHASE, THREE-
STORY, 160,000 SQUARE FOOT PROFESSIONAL CENTER; UP TO A 731
STALL, FIVE LEVEL PARKING RAMP; AND SIGNAGE.
Kate Aanenson: Thank you. This item has numerous requests before you tonight. The Powers
Office Professional Center is located off of the new 212 interchange and Powers Boulevard. The
applicant is requesting to rezone Lot 1, Block 1, also a conditional use permit, subdivision, site
plan with variances and a variance to the sign request. This property has been under
consideration for a number of years. When we did the comp plan we actually went out and
looked at this. We worked with SRF to envision Mr. Erhart’s property. How that would best lay
out and continuation of the street between 101, which is tied into the alignment of the new 101
alignment. That access point touch down by Bandimere Park and then the access point onto Mr.
Erhart’s property onto Powers Boulevard so in the future that will be a through street but we’re
not reviewing all that right now but this connection with this project will provide the opportunity
to connect that street into the future. So in looking at this property we contemplated some office.
Since this drawing was done the, the size of the office park that we envisioned there moved from
3 to 4 acres to the 10 that we’re looking at today. So again this is…as I stated. The conditional
use with variance for development within the Bluff Creek. The rezoning consistent with the
comprehensive plan. Subdivision of one lot and two outlots and dedication of public right-of-
way. The site plan with variances for the two phased, three story office building. Professional
office building. In the future a five level parking ramp and then the sign variance. And again
when we looked at the zoning for this property there was a number of choices. Office
institutional or office industrial and the staff had recommended at this time, based on the
neighboring uses there, there is a significant neighborhood to the south of this that we
recommended the pure office zoning district. With that, in order to accommodate some of the
uses on this is why there’s variances, but again we wanted to go with the office zoning in the fact
that it limited. If it was industrial type or kind of the uses that may have more truck activity or
just traffic…we thought the office would be more compatible with the residential that was
developed in the rest of the area. Again in this district the principle structure is two stories and
the accessory structure is one story so herein lies the rub with the ordinance. We could have
done a PUD and in looking at this we felt that in measuring that that it’d be more appropriate just
to go with the straight OI zoning district and then allow for the variance. So in this property is
showing the overlay district. This is one of the requests right here. The Bluff Creek Overlay
District which runs through this property going all the way up to Lyman Boulevard on the north
and going all the way down to Pioneer Trail on the south, and the red is the larger portion of Mr.
Erhart’s property which we are looking at the most westerly portion for this project. So the
encroachment into the overlay district is the area shown in red and for the mitigation of that
we’re recommending a conservation easement on the top of the bluff. That would be this area
here so that would be a preserve area to mitigate the impact into the bluff itself. With the
subdivision application you can see Outlot A would be the remaining portion of the lot. Lot 1
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Chanhassen City Council - May 26, 2009
would be the professional office building and Outlot B would be where the storm water pond
would be, and there’s dedication of the right-of-way off Powers Boulevard between the two
properties. The grading plan you can see in kind of the Phase I and Phase II shown on the site
plan with the potential future parking ramp adjacent to the off ramp. The parking would be then
adjacent to Powers Boulevard. I think we probably spent the most time trying to organize what
would be the best location of the building itself. Staff wanted to build it towards the street with
the parking to the back. We went through a lot of iterations but ultimately this seemed to be
where it landed. They are going ahead with the first phase and then the second phase would
trigger the parking ramp, so you can see the blue line is where the overlay district falls in and the
grading. So you can see here the storm water pond. Mr. Oehme would you mind putting the
mouse on there? Thank you. And that’s the storm water pond in that area right there, and then
the future dedication of that public street has a cul-de-sac on the end right there and that street
will be extended in the future as I showed on that plan that we had put together with the comp
plan with SRF. That street will be extended to, ultimately all the way up to 101 but as
development occurs we’ll decide the best location for that and let development kind of drive that.
Access off of that street will be behind the office building there will be parking to get to the ramp
and then also in the front so there’s actually two access points off of that street. Public street.
And then in addition there’s turn lanes off of Powers Boulevard. We do have the traffic study
and I’ll comment on that in a minute kind of looking at the ultimate traffic study for movement
into this area. This street, private street could also be a T intersection as it provides access to the
Laurent property across the street. So this would be Phase I, and you can see the driveway’s a
little bit more clearly here, and you can see the turn, the T kind of intersection to that property,
the Laurent property across the street which is also guided for office. The building itself, I have
the materials. Maybe if somebody could hit the camera to go to the table. Thank you. Highly
articulated with very nice materials. The Planning Commission complimented on the design on
the building itself. Again meets all the design standards and when we talked about what the
presence that we wanted coming down the street, the entrance to Chanhassen, this certainly
meets the city staff’s desire to see that highly articulated building which does meet those
standards. You can go back to the power point. Thank you. The parking ramp, as shown here,
that would be with Phase II. Again uncertain on the timing on that but when that comes in, in
order to accommodate that additional square footage of parking ramp would be put in place.
And as we were talking earlier in our work session as we see some of that area down in that we
anticipate additional parking ramps to accommodate the maximum development of those
properties. So that is anticipated with Phase II. Then the sign variance itself. The office zoning
district only allows for 5 foot and we spent a lot of time talking about, you know the visual
impact of that so we did, because it is one lot, we did recommend a variance on the sign. If it
was again if it was an office industrial district it would allow an 8 foot sign so we did agree that
that seemed to make some sense to allow for the 8 foot high sign, and that would allow for the
identification of the building itself and individual tenants. They also would be allowed the wall
signs for whatever anchor tenant would be in that building also. So with that, there is some
conditions I want to modify in your staff report. For clarification. Again it does meet all the
standards of the city’s zoning ordinance so we are recommending approval of all the conditions,
and I’ll start on page 38 of 44 on our’s which would be condition number 23. The first sentence
in there should be, have a strike through the double left turn lane. What condition number 23
should state would be the developer must ensure that all traffic study data is provided to Carver
County for their review and must incorporate Carver County and MnDOT’s comments into their
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Chanhassen City Council - May 26, 2009
plan. Again access into that driveway coming off of a county road and off of State Highway
212, they would have some jurisdiction on that so they must meet their’s. I think contemplating
the original development may have required a double left lane and we’re kind of backing off
from that now and just letting the county re-evaluate that. And then the other condition that
needs modification would be number 46. In order for this project to proceed it will be before
you with the final plat for the subdivision and I’ll let the applicant speak to that. At the time of
final plat some of these conditions may be modified as the traffic study or the lift station that
needs to be built in order to accommodate that, an additional lift station to service this lower area
needs to be provided so condition number 46 says that, I’d like to modify that to say the
developer shall finance the cost or a portion of the cost of the two 2010 MUSA trunk lift station
and enter into an agreement with the City at the time of final plat. So that could be some time in
the future, a preliminary plat runs for a year so it may be a while before they come back and then
we’ll have a better idea that we’re saying do we want to modify that language. So that would be
our recommendation for approval of all those requests and if you have any questions I’d be
happy to answer them.
Deputy Mayor Tjornhom: Questions for staff. Any questions for staff?
Councilman Litsey: None here.
Deputy Mayor Tjornhom: Okay. We’ll move onto the applicant. Do you want to state your
name and address.
Bill Katter: Good evening council members and staff. Bill Katter, United Properties. How are
you? Pleasure to be here with this project. Uncertain economic times here so I wish we could
say we were ready to break ground on this project this year. That’s probably not a likelihood but
in any event let me just say a little bit about United Properties. We’ve been in the Twin Cities in
business since 1916. Have a lot of projects that we’ve developed in this town. Some of our
signature projects are Centennial Lakes Office Park in Edina and a portion of Normandale Lakes
Office Park in Bloomington so we’re very active, and particularly in the southwestern Twin
Cities and so we are very interested in doing development in Chanhassen and this new 212
corridor presented a bunch of opportunity for the development community and we’re not
exception to that so a customer of our’s, Fairview Southdale Hospitals had approached us back in
2007 to extend their reach into the lake and south lake communities out here as a feeder into their
Southdale Hospital and to provide additional services in your community. In fact I think you
may all know this. They’ve been looking in this community for some time and for a while were
fixated on some sites on Highway 5 but when the new 212 corridor opened up, this is really
where they wanted to be and through that process we identified Powers Boulevard as the primary
interchange that they would like to be located on and I mentioned this at planning commission.
This Powers Boulevard is very important because it’s a connection all the way up to South Lake
Minnetonka and then down into Pioneer Trail and serves as a feeder road into this new freeway
system through really the entire southwest communities here so we’re very excited about having
an arrangement with Mr. Erhart to develop this property. Worked with Fairview very closely for
the last year to make this a reality and bring this project forward to you and then as soon as that
happened the economy fell apart so we don’t have a project we’re ready to break ground on yet
and Fairview has put us on hold but we anticipate they’ll come back to the table. You know in
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Chanhassen City Council - May 26, 2009
the long run they do want to be out here and so I think patience here will reward all of us, and if
you were to approve this project we would hope to bring something forward here within the next
year. So if not, if Fairview for some reason doesn’t come back to the plate, this site plan and the
project has enough flexibility to service a professional or office setting. We think would be very
attractive to a number of corporate users in this area. You know significant names out in this
area. Emerson, Super Valu, major employers who may have an interest in expanding on this site,
so that’s what we do is we work to attract these big corporations to site and this is a real high
quality site here with a great natural setting and great access to the freeway so. With that I guess
I won’t go into much of the architectural and civil comments. I think I will say this has been a
very complicated application. Staff has shown a great deal of flexibility in working with us.
There were some difficult issues to get to the point we’re at tonight and I think we’ve read all
these conditions and we’re in agreement with them and we’re just hoping that we can get an
economy back here and a tenant to make the project a reality so with that I’ll open myself up to
questions.
Deputy Mayor Tjornhom: Mr. McDonald.
Councilman McDonald: I have a question for you. Okay, at this point then I take it you’re not
building it for a client, which would have been the hospital. You say that you know maybe it
becomes viable for a corporate headquarters. If that were the case would you look at developing
more of the land besides just the two buildings you’ve shown us at this point?
Bill Katter: The request on this application is just for the 10 acres and the two buildings so I
think the maximum density is what’s represented here.
Councilman McDonald: Okay.
Bill Katter: Just a quick note. If it went to corporate office instead of more of a medical focus,
we probably wouldn’t need as much parking and our site plan shows the parking deck with Phase
II is a 5 level deck, but 3 of those 5 levels, or 2 of the 5 levels at the top are proof of parking and
I would guess if we went more to a corporate use we wouldn’t need the proof of parking levels at
all to meet city codes.
Kate Aanenson: That’s correct.
Councilman McDonald: Okay. That’s mine.
Councilman Litsey: Well I don’t know, maybe more, this is more of a question for Kate but I’m
still a little concerned about the mitigation plan for the Bluff Creek Overlay and how that’s going
to accommodate the storm water runoff.
Kate Aanenson: Sure. I think we’ve walked the site. The Planning Commission walked the site.
I think we really have accomplished what our goal is and that is preservation of some areas. The
Planning Commission did spend some time and they’re aware of it, regarding a little bit of
drainage that runs on the MnDOT right-of-way but I think we’ve got that resolved. We had time
to work through that. The other issue is just…planning real quick. Again we’re feeling pretty
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Chanhassen City Council - May 26, 2009
comfortable about that lower, or the upper level draining to the back of those walls and how they
accommodate that and through the engineering, engineering staff’s confident that they can make
that happen too, but getting the trade off for that preservation area to the north, making that
transition. Actually butts up against some city property. Makes a nice open corridor and
ultimately when the sewer line gets put through that area going up to the trunk, that will be a trail
through that area tying into the city’s property so if you go back to…go back to that original.
You can see where our park property is and then if you go behind that, right in that triangle, you
can see that trail going through the preserve area. That goes back up into the city park which
will be a really nice amenity, even for the corporate people that are there to get out and walk on
the trails so I think we’ve accomplished that. I think the Planning Commission was surprised at
the little amount of comment, as Mr. Katter testified. There was a lot of teeth gnashing a lot of
that we worked to get a really good project so by the time it got to this, all the hard work was
done. We spent a lot of time working through all these issues so I think the Planning
Commission was pleasantly surprised that there was a lack of disagreement but I think we had all
those worked out. And we did modify some of the conditions. We met after the Planning
Commission to get, do some word smithing of things that were ambiguous to the applicant so
they can put it out in the marketplace and so I think we clarified that.
Councilman Litsey: No, it’s a neat piece of property and a lot of it is preserved here. I just want
to make sure you feel comfortable. There’s enough flexibility in there that you can deal with that
mitigation plan?
Kate Aanenson: Yes.
Councilman Litsey: Okay. Thanks.
Deputy Mayor Tjornhom: One of the things that I think I’d like to address from either Kate or
the applicant is the conditional use permit and the statement that the developer is encouraged to
meet design and construction standards that would lead to, at a minimum, certification by the
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. Green building rating systems. Can we talk a
little bit about that because I think that’s kind of a new thing that we’re trying to do or.
Kate Aanenson: And there’s different ways. With LEED’s there’s different criteria. Some of it
could be the lighting. We talked about that with LED. The storm water management. The type
of construction so we’ve talked to them about that. It’s not going to be mandatory but depending
on their client, we would certainly encourage them to have that discussion. We thought certainly
if it was busy that they might consider that as a model prototype but the goal is to encourage
them to use some of those standards.
Todd Gerhardt: Deputy Mayor, council members. If you go to page 36 of 44, it’s stated in there
that the developer is encouraged to meet design standards so as we’ve talked in the past, we’ll
work with the developer on meeting the LEED standards. There’s huge advantages for the
developer to do that. To use the most energy efficient heating and air conditioning systems is
one of the criteria. Most contractors, building owners want to follow those conditions.
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Chanhassen City Council - May 26, 2009
Bill Katter: We just finished the development of the 8200 tower at Normandale Lake Office
Park, council members and it’s a LEED gold project so we are incorporating that LEED
sustainable design into all of our office projects these days, so I think the request here that we try
to do that is not unreasonable and we intend to do it. We recognize it’s something that you’d like
to see in return for the flexibility on the conditional use permit here.
Deputy Mayor Tjornhom: Alright, thank you. Then if there’s nothing else then I think I’ll bring
it back to council. Oh, do you have a question? Sorry.
Councilman McDonald: Public hearing, don’t.
Deputy Mayor Tjornhom: Oh, do we have a public hearing?
Kate Aanenson: It’s not a public hearing. You can open it for comments.
Deputy Mayor Tjornhom: I guess I could open it, thank you very much.
Bill Katter: Thank you.
Deputy Mayor Tjornhom: I could open it for public comments at this point. Sorry. Seeing none
I’ll bring it back to council. Council, thoughts and comments.
Councilman McDonald: Well I can start. Yeah, it looks as though it’s a good plan. It would be
nice to bring something such as this in, especially on 212. It kind of gives people a good first
impression of Chanhassen and with what we’re looking to do within that corridor, I think it’s a
very good addition. And you know it definitely helps project the image that I think we’re
looking to project for our city so I’d be in favor of you doing the project. Yeah, I understand that
economic times being what they are, this is probably a project in search of a client but I have
great faith you’ll find the client.
Deputy Mayor Tjornhom: Councilwoman Ernst.
Councilwoman Ernst: Yeah, I think it’s a great addition as well and I think not only for our
current state that we’re in but also for future development and I would totally support it.
Deputy Mayor Tjornhom: Councilmember Litsey.
Councilman Litsey: I just, could I ask one quick follow up question? In terms of you know
we’ve soften the language some from shall and encouraged in spots and if the intent is to do it,
why offer that flexibility?
Kate Aanenson: Well we talked about that too. I mean sometimes we’ve learned, if you have
shared storm water ponding, sometimes that can affect your points so if you don’t have total
control of everything so we don’t want to say that we wouldn’t approve their project if they can’t
meet all of it but it’s their intent and we have good faith that they’re going to follow through and
try to meet as many as they can, but if it doesn’t become LEED certified through some action
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Chanhassen City Council - May 26, 2009
that we don’t want to make that a default of it. But they’ve agreed that they want to do that so I
just don’t want to say that if it’s some issue that they don’t have control over.
Councilman Litsey: And you’re confident in working with them that you’ve got a good
relationship and that the intent is to follow through with that?
Kate Aanenson: That’s correct.
Councilman Litsey: Okay.
Bill Katter: Can I make a comment to that?
Councilman Litsey: Sure.
Deputy Mayor Tjornhom: Yes, please.
Bill Katter: One of the problems with that LEED process is that you don’t know if you end up
getting certification until it’s already built and so we could be in a position where we build it
thinking we are, we don’t and then we’ve got a technical default so it’s sometimes it’s
impossible to, actually it is impossible to tell you for sure we’ll meet it until the project’s already
done.
Kate Aanenson: Correct. And that’s why we didn’t want to hold them to that standard. Their
goal is to try to get there and if for some reason it doesn’t happen we don’t want to put that
project in default.
Councilman Litsey: Yeah, that makes sense.
Councilwoman Ernst: Kate one of the things.
Councilman Litsey: I’m finished.
Councilwoman Ernst: Go ahead. One of the things we talked about was, when we get these
types of projects and we get that, and the developers get that LEED certification. How can we,
how can we make that really open to the public so that they know that you know we’re doing
those sorts of things and the developer’s…
Kate Aanenson: Well I think, right. I think that’s one of the things that we talked about and
marketing some of our developers in multi family use energy star appliances and they market
those so I think that would be something that we’d certainly want to advertise and that’s
something that the Environmental Commission will certainly undertake as far as some of their
awards and that’s how we try to market, help those people market it. I think that’s something the
Environmental Commission is working on too.
Councilwoman Ernst: Right.
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Chanhassen City Council - May 26, 2009
Todd Gerhardt: And I think there’s just a huge savings for the developers in today’s market to
take advantage of these LEED opportunities and it saves money in the long run. As long as it
can show a cost benefit, that’s why if you read in the paper people are following it weekly on
these projects.
Deputy Mayor Tjornhom: Alright Vicki, and I would concur with everything. These projects
are always kind of perplexing because you can see all the work that’s been put into them and
they get to council and it kind of you know, 20 minutes later it’s done. You think boy that was
easy, but obviously there’s been a lot of work and effort put into it from everybody and so I
would thank you and this is one of the projects that as a council we talk about with our strategic
initiative. Encouraging businesses to come and looking with, that’s what’s going to make us a
viable city in the future and so I want to thank everybody for all the work they did on, with this
and welcome to Chanhassen. How should we proceed with the motion? We have a bunch of
them here.
Councilwoman Ernst: We have two amendments, right?
Todd Gerhardt: Yeah, if you would just want to read the motion’s that on the front page and
then reference staff’s proposed changes, that will be fine.
Deputy Mayor Tjornhom: Okay. Do I have someone who’s willing to start the motion?
Councilman Litsey: I did the first. That’s why I did the other one.
Councilman McDonald: I’ll do it.
Todd Gerhardt: It was 2 pages. I got them down to one.
s
Councilman McDonald: Okay. The Chanhassen City Council approve the, well I guess first of
all I make the motion that the Chanhassen City Council approves the Rezoning of Lot 1, Block 1,
from Agricultural Estate District, A2, to Office & Institutional District, OI. Also that the
s
Chanhassen City Council approve the Conditional Use Permit with Variancesto encroach into
the primary zone and required bufferfor development in the Bluff Creek Corridor; subject to
conditions 1 through 10 on page 36 of the staff report. Also that the Chanhassen City Council
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approve the Subdivision (Preliminary Plat) creating one lot, two outlots and dedication of public
right-of-way, plans prepared by Westwood Professional Services, Inc., dated April 1, 2009,
subject to conditions 1 through 46 on pages 37-41 of the staff report. Also that the Chanhassen
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City Council approve the Site Plan with Variancesfor building height and Bluff Creek Primary
Zone setbacks for Planning Case #09-06, for a two-phase, three-story, 160,000 square-foot
professional office center, and up to a 731-stall, five-level parking ramp on Lot 1, Block 1 of the
development, plans prepared by Pope Associates, Inc. and Westwood Professional Services, Inc.,
dated April 1, 2009, subject to conditions 1 through 29 on pages 41 through 43 of the staff
s
report. Also that the Chanhassen City Council approve a sign size variance request to permit an
eight (8) foot tall sign with up to 64 square feet of sign display area, subject to conditions 1
through 5 on page 43 of the staff’s report. And finally City Council also adopts the attached
findings of fact to the report along with the recommendations made by staff. Good enough?
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Chanhassen City Council - May 26, 2009
Deputy Mayor Tjornhom: Alright. Is there a second?
Councilwoman Ernst: Second.
Councilman McDonald moved, Councilwoman Ernst seconded that the Chanhassen City
Council approves the Rezoning of Lot 1, Block 1, from Agricultural Estate District, A2, to
Office & Institutional District, OI. All voted in favor and the motion carried unanimously
with a vote of 4 to 0.
Councilman McDonald moved, Councilwoman Ernst seconded that the Chanhassen City
Council approves the Conditional Use Permit with Variances to encroach into the primary
zone and required buffer for development in the Bluff Creek Corridor; subject to the
following conditions:
1.The property line may be revised to incorporate the reconveyed property from MnDOT to the
developer.
2.The developer is encouraged tomeet design and construction standards that would lead to, at
a minimum, certification by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)
Green Building Rating System by the U.S. Green Building Council, or comply with the
Minnesota Sustainable Building Guidelines (MSBG).
3.To mitigate for the effects of development within the primary corridor, the developer should
be encouragedto meet green construction standards for the whole site.
4.All openings created in the wooded areas on the east and south sides of the development shall
be reforested with native tree species. Planting stock sizes may be variable. Species selected
must be from the Bluff Creek Management Plan native plant list. These areas shall not be
mowed or managed as turf areas.
5.Evaluate other site designs, stormwater management techniques and low-impact development
practices for their benefit in reducing impacts to the primary and secondary zones of the
Bluff Creek Overlay District.
6.Reforest those areas disturbed to grade the site but do not have structures on them. The
reforestation should be done with deciduous tree species representative of the existing
species composition. The forested areas are dominated by bur oak.
7.Maintain the natural drainage patterns.
8.The applicant must clearly illustrate how impacts to the primary zone are to be mitigated.
This mitigation must consider all benefits derived from the primary zone as described in
Article XXXI of the Chanhassen City Code.
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Chanhassen City Council - May 26, 2009
9.The area east of Lot 1 within Outlot A within the primary corridor of Bluff Creek shall be
covered by a conservation easement. This easement shall restrict activities within the area
and prohibit any development. The City shall have final approval of the easement
restrictions. Any wetland mitigation activities that are required within this area shall have
final approval by City staff. No additional activities shall be allowed within this area and
access to the mitigation site shall be the existing path.
10.The wooded areas of Lot 1 and Outlot B within the Bluff Creek primary zone shall be
covered by a conservation easement that restricts specific activities and prohibits any further
development within the area.”
All voted in favor and the motion carried unanimously with a vote of 4 to 0.
Councilman McDonald moved, Councilwoman Ernst seconded that the Chanhassen City
Council approves the City Council approves the Subdivision Preliminary Plat creating one
lot, two outlots and dedication of public right-of-way, plans prepared by Westwood
Professional Services, Inc., dated April 1, 2009, subject to the following conditions:
1.The developer shall either dedicate/donate an Outlot or record a conservation easement
containing the Bluff Creek Primary zone north of the road right-of-way in Outlot A. This
area of Outlot A is undevelopable and the land within the conservation easement could not be
used in future phases for density transfer purposes. A conservation easement shall be
recorded over the Bluff Creek Primary zone located within Lot 1 and Outlot B. This
easement shall restrict activities within the area and prohibit any development. The City
shall have final approval of the easement restrictions. The easement shall be recorded with
the first phase of the development.
2.Submit proposed names for street labeled “Access Road” on plans for approval.
3.The drainage report and plans must be revised to address comments from MnDOT.
4.The applicant must obtain a MnDOT drainage permit.
5.The drainage report and plans must be modified so that the peak discharge rate to the off-site
wetland does not increase under fully developed conditions.
6.The plans must be revised to provide either an overland emergency overflow or an additional
outlet control structure at a higher elevation.
7.The developer must submit a letter from an engineer stating that the retaining wall east of the
building can accommodate temporary ponding behind the wall.
8.The alignment of the bypass storm sewer pipe must be redesigned to eliminate excess cover
over the pipe.
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Chanhassen City Council - May 26, 2009
9.If MnDOT allows a connection to the Highway 212 storm pipe, then show the existing pipe
on the plan sheets.
10.Building permits are required for retaining walls four feet tall or higher and must be designed
by a Structural Engineer registered in the State of Minnesota.
11.A manhole must be installed at the terminus of the sanitary sewer.
12.All sanitary sewer and watermain within Lot 1, Block 1 shall be privately owned and
maintained.
13.The storm sewer that will convey runoff from the drainageway to the east of the property
shall also be privately owned and maintained, including those portions that lie within public
right-of-way and the City owned outlot.
14.The 20-foot wide drainage and utility easement shown on the preliminary plat over this storm
sewer must be deleted.
15.Delete the 20-foot wide drainage and utility easement for the future watermain.
16.Provide a temporary blanket drainage and utility easement – or similar mechanism acceptable
-
to the Cityover the proposed forcemain corridor. The temporary easement shall not
encroach into the building envelope as shown on the site plan.
17.A permanent 20-foot wide easement will be required over the final forcemain alignment.
18.Each new lot will be subject to the sanitary sewer and water hookup charges. These fees will
be collected with the building permit, subject to the rates in effect at the time of building
permit, and shall be based on the Metropolitan Council Environmental Services’ SAC unit
determination.
19.All of the utility improvements are required to be constructed in accordance with the City's
latest edition of Standard Specifications and Detail Plates. The applicant is also required to
enter into a development contract with the City and supply the necessary financial security in
the form of a letter of credit or cash escrow to guarantee installation of the improvements and
the conditions of final plat approval.
20.All public utility improvements will require a preconstruction meeting before building permit
issuance. Permits from the appropriate regulatory agencies will be required, including the
MPCA, Department of Health, Carver County and Watershed District.
21.Upon project completion as-built drawings must be submitted for the private utilities.
22.The developer must ensure that all traffic study data is provided to Carver County for their
review and must incorporate Carver County and MnDOT’s comments into the plan.
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Chanhassen City Council - May 26, 2009
23. An updated traffic study must be submitted with Phase 2 improvements. Powers Crossing’s
financial obligations with respect to the signal installation will be determined at that time and
incorporated into the Site Plan Agreement for Phase 2.
24.A temporary roadway, drainage and utility easement must be provided over the cul-de-sac at
the east end of the access road.
25.This property is subject to the Arterial Collector Fee which is $3,600 per developable acre.
The acreage used in this calculation shall include the right-of-way turnback from both
Highway 212 and Powers Boulevard. This fee shall be paid in cash with the final plat
26.The RIM and Flowage Easements need to be indicated on the plat. This should include the
document number 10-05-87-1.
27.The wetland mitigation area in Outlot A needs to be created. A Declaration of Restrictions
and Covenants needs to be executed and recorded with Carver County. This document
number needs to be included on the plat.
28.The remaining conditions of approval for WAP #2006-32 need to be met:
a.The plans shall be revised to show how M-1 will be accessed. The access route shall be
stable, shall avoid damage to significant trees (greater than 10” DBH) and shall avoid
impacts to natural drainageways and any jurisdictional wetlands that may exist on site
that were not delineated by Westwood Professional Services in August 2006.
b.A planting plan for M-1, including invasive vegetation management techniques, species
to be planted, proposed planting rates, and the approach to upland buffer restoration, shall
be submitted prior to final City Council approval.
c.The applicant shall submit a letter of credit equal to 110% of the cost of the wetland
creation (including grading and seeding) to ensure the design standards for the
replacement wetland are met. The letter of credit shall be effective for no less than five
years from the date of final plat approval. The applicant shall submit a cost estimate for
wetland creation (including grading and seeding) so the City can calculate the amount of
the wetland creation letter of credit.
d.A five-year wetland replacement monitoring plan shall be submitted. The replacement
monitoring plan shall include a detailed management plan for invasive non-native
species, particularly hybrid cattail, purple loosestrife and reed canary grass. The plans
shall show fixed photo monitoring points for the replacement wetland. The applicant
shall provide proof of recording of a Declaration of Restrictions and Covenants for
Replacement Wetland.
29.The legal wetland boundary of the RIM wetland was not delineated in the Westwood
Wetland Delineation Report dated August of 2006. This boundary must be delineated and
wetland impacts avoided where possible.
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Chanhassen City Council - May 26, 2009
30.Because of the perpetual RIM and flowage easements the plans must be provided to the
Natural Resources Conservation Service for review and comment. Any comments from the
NRCS must be made available to the City.
31.Drainage to the RIM wetland from the south flows through a defined swale. The conveyance
of this flow must be maintained under the proposed road extension.
32.Erosion Control plan needs to be updated per the July comments:
a.Show a 75-foot rock construction entrance.
b.Show rounding of corners for proposed grades.
c.Erosion control blanket shall be shown on all slopes east of the proposed building and
adjacent to the pond.
d.An NPDES permit must be obtained prior to any site grading and a SWPPP must be
provided to the City for review and comment.
e.Replace MnDOT 340 mix with a modified BWSR U7 seed mix.
33.Estimated SWMP fees due at the time of final plat are $271,506.20.
34.The development must comply with Carver Soil and Water Conservation District comments.
35.All openings created in the wooded areas on the east and south sides of the development shall
be reforested with native tree species. Planting stock sizes may be variable. Species selected
must be from the Bluff Creek Management Plan native plant list. These areas shall not be
mowed or managed as turf areas.
36.The following practices are required in order to insure the best chance of survival for the
highlighted oaks to be preserved along the east side of the development:
a.Understory trees near the oaks shall be preserved.
b.Roots at the grading limits shall be cut cleanly with a trencher or vibratory plow.
c.Tree preservation fencing shall be installed prior to any grading.
d.Trees shall be thoroughly watered during dry periods.
37.The applicant shall install a second tier to the retaining wall at the north end of the east side
of the development to preserve the grade surrounding the oaks proposed to be saved.
38.Tree preservation fence shall be installed at the edge of the grading limits prior to any
construction. Fencing shall be in place and maintained until all construction is completed.
39.Any trees removed in excess of proposed tree preservation plans, dated 10/06/08, will be
replaced at a ratio of 2:1 diameter inches.
40.All trees removed shall be chipped or hauled off site. No burning permits shall be issued.
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Chanhassen City Council - May 26, 2009
41.The developer shall pay the full park dedication fee in force at the time of final plat approval
and prior to recording.
42.Construction of the 10-ft. wide bituminous access road trail and the North Trail. The North
Trail plans shall be modified dedicating a permanent 20-foot wide trail easement to allow for
appropriate separation from adjoining improvements and boulevard areas for winter plowing,
snow storage and aesthetics.
43.Dedication of a permanent triangular shaped trail easement at the South East corner of Lot 1,
Block 1. The triangle shall be 50’ in length on its South side and 200’ in length on its East
side.
44.The developer shall finance the cost or a portion of the 2010 MUSA trunk lift station and
enter into an agreement with the City for repayment at the time of final plat.”
All voted in favor and the motion carried unanimously with a vote of 4 to 0.
Councilman McDonald moved, Councilwoman Ernst seconded that the City Council
approves the Site Plan with Variances for building height and Bluff Creek Primary Zone
setbacks for Planning Case #08-16, for a two-phase, three-story, 160,000 square-foot
professional office building, and up to a 731-stall, five-level parking ramp on Lot 1, Block 1
of the development, plans prepared by Pope Associates, Inc. and Westwood Professional
Services, Inc., dated April 1, 2009, subject to the following conditions:
1.The final plat for the development shall be recorded prior to the issuance of a building
permit.
2.The full buildout is predicated upon a turnback to the land owner of MnDOT right-of-way.
In the event that this turnback does not occur, the applicant may build a four-story building
totaling 112,000 square feet subject to parking compliance with City Code.
3.The developer is encouraged tomeet design and construction standards that would lead to, at
a minimum, certification by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)
Green Building Rating System by the U.S. Green Building Council, or comply with the
Minnesota Sustainable Building Guidelines, MSBG.
4.The developer shall continue the architectural detailing through the use of the three brick
colors as well as the use of stone and metal on the garage structure.
5.The developer shall provide secure bicycle racks and/or storage (within 200 yards of a
building entrance) for 5% or more of all building users (measured at peak periods), and
provide shower and changing facilities in the building. The developer should also provide
benches throughout the site as well as tables and chairs in the patio area.
6.The buildings are required to have an automatic fire extinguishing system.
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Chanhassen City Council - May 26, 2009
7.The plans must be prepared and signed by design professionals licensed in the State of
Minnesota.
8.Accessible routes must be provided between commercial building(s), parking facilities and
public transportation stops.
9.All parking areas, including parking structure, must be provided with accessible parking.
10.The developer shall comply with the minimum parking setback requirement and install
appropriate berming and or landscaping to allow the 10 feet setback.
11.Retaining walls over four feet high must be designed by a professional engineer and a permit
must be obtained prior to construction.
12.All openings created in the wooded areas on the east and south sides of the development shall
be reforested with native tree species. Planting stock sizes may be variable. Species selected
must be from the Bluff Creek Management Plan native plant list. These areas shall not be
mowed or managed as turf areas.
13.The applicant shall install a second tier to the retaining wall at the north end of the east side
of the development to preserve the grade surrounding the oaks proposed to be saved.
14.The applicant does not meet required landscape quantities for parking lot trees and
islands/peninsulas in both phases. The applicant must meet minimum requirements for
parking lot trees and landscape islands/peninsulas.
15.Phase I: The applicant does not meet minimum requirements for either of the bufferyard
areas. The applicant shall revise the landscape plan to meet minimum requirements.
16.Phase II: The applicant does not meet the minimum requirements for bufferyard areas. The
applicant shall increase the plantings to meet minimum requirements.
17.The applicant must replace the Colorado spruce with other approved species in the plant
schedule.
18.All transplanted materials must be pre-approved by the City. Transplanted trees will not be
accepted if substituted without City approval. If approved for transplanting, the material
must be warranted for a minimum of one year. If transplanted materials die, they must be
replaced with nursery stock.
19.Tree preservation fence shall be installed at the edge of the grading limits prior to any
construction. Fencing shall be in place and maintained until all construction is completed.
20.Any trees removed in excess of proposed tree preservation plans, dated 04/01/09, will be
replaced at a ratio of 2:1 diameter inches.
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Chanhassen City Council - May 26, 2009
21.All trees removed shall be chipped or hauled off site. No burning permits shall be issued.
22.The North Trail plans or parking lot design shall be modified to allow for appropriate
boulevard areas for winter plowing, snow storage and aesthetics.
23.A 3-foot clear space must be maintained around fire hydrants, and nothing shall be placed in
front of the hydrant outlets, connections, fire protection control valves that would interfere
with fire fighter operations. Section 508.5 MN. Fire Code and Sec. 508.5.4.
24.No burning permits shall be issued for trees to be removed. Trees and shrubs must be
removed or chipped on site.
25.Contact the Chanhassen Fire Marshal for locations of “No Parking Fire Lane” signage, and
locations of curbing to be painted yellow. MN Fire Code Sec. 503.3.
26.Fire apparatus access roads and water supply for fire protection is required to be installed.
Such protection shall be installed and made serviceable prior to and during the time of
construction except when approved alternate methods of protection are provided. MSFC
sec 501.4.
27.Fire apparatus access roads shall be designed and maintained to support the imposed loads of
fire apparatus and shall be serviced so as to provide all-weather driving capabilities. MSFC
Sec. 503.2.3.
28.Due to the unknown timeframe associated with the signal installation, an updated traffic
study must be submitted with Phase 2 improvements. Powers Crossing’s financial
obligations with respect to the signal installation will be determined at that time and
incorporated into the Site Plan Agreement for Phase 2.”
All voted in favor and the motion carried unanimously with a vote of 4 to 0.
Councilman McDonald moved, Councilwoman Ernst seconded that the City Council
approves a sign size Variance request to permit an eight (8) foot tall sign with up to 64
square feet of sign display area, subject to the following conditions:
1.Separate sign permits shall be required for each sign.
2.The development name in the monument sign shall be individual dimensioned letters with a
minimum ½-inch projection.
3.Only one monument sign shall be permitted for the Powers Crossing Professional Center site.
4.The sign height for the directional signs shall be reduced to five feet. The display area for
sign #2 shall be reduced to four square feet.
5.The sign location shall meet all setback and site triangle requirements.”
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Chanhassen City Council - May 26, 2009
All voted in favor and the motion carried unanimously with a vote of 4 to 0.
Deputy Mayor Tjornhom: Thank you very much.
Todd Gerhardt: Deputy Mayor, council members. I just want to recognize Tim Erhart. He was
the property owner on this facility and I know it was his vision with this site for a long time.
Deputy Mayor Tjornhom: He’s leaving you.
Todd Gerhardt: I’ll give my speech Thursday so. Talking about your vision for this corner and
that you know for the past like 20 years you’ve owned the property, plus.
Tim Erhart: Yeah, 1980.
Todd Gerhardt: And this is really going to be setting the tone along 212. Tim started this
process probably 3 years in the making here and to see it come to this, it’s exciting and we’ve
talked a lot over the last couple years about the project and we’re excited. I think Tim is excited
and again it’s just going to be a fantastic project. First one along the 212 corridor of this size and
I think it’s a great stepping stone on what’s going to occur in that area.
Tim Erhart: I think Bill understated a little bit Fairview’s commitment because they’ve paid for
$250,000 worth of engineering and architectural… I think there’s a very, very strong desire and
what a great tenant for our community. I think the location just is wonderful.
Todd Gerhardt: Yeah to have Fairview out here, what always makes a city great is the medical
service that is provided in that community and having Fairview and the services that they’re
going to provide, the quality of the residents in Chanhassen is just going to go up dramatically to
have that great service so close.
Deputy Mayor Tjornhom: And also I think the employment that it will bring also for people.
Todd Gerhardt: Oh yeah.
Deputy Mayor Tjornhom: Is a big factor. Very good. Thank you.
Tim Erhart: Thanks, yeah it’s been fun. Actually it’s been fun after 29 years. It’s something to
go there and how it will work and again staff did a great, a marvelous job of seeing through with
just a lot of detailed issues and getting it to this point and it’s really, really, really exciting.
Thanks.
Todd Gerhardt: Thank you.
Deputy Mayor Tjornhom: Thank you. No cake I guess.
Councilman Litsey: Oh, we don’t have that every meeting now?
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Chanhassen City Council - May 26, 2009
Deputy Mayor Tjornhom: If I was mayor there would be.
Tim Erhart: Am I excused now Todd?
Todd Gerhardt: Yep. You’re excused. You can go now.
Deputy Mayor Tjornhom: Alright moving on now to council presentations.
COUNCIL PRESENTATIONS:
Councilman McDonald: Well if I could, I just want to say something about the Memorial Day
and one of the things that I took away from it was, it is a good example of I think what happens
when an organization works in concert with the City to basically put something in place that is of
benefit to all the residents. I just want to again thank the Legion and all their partners and
everybody that worked with the City to put this great monument in place but again it could not
have been done without the cooperation of a local group stepping forward to fill a need and to
take the kind of bull by the horns and to take the leadership position of getting this done, and
that’s not to say the City didn’t provide leadership but again our role was not so much to oversee
the project as it was to assist in getting it done and I just want to thank everybody that was
involved. I believe that you know we have something that will for generations we will be very
proud of within this city and I want to thank all the residents that participated and their time and
efforts of giving of their money and their time and resources to help get this done. I want to
thank the City and staff especially for again providing the location and kind of cutting through
the red tape to get everything put together. I’m sure you must have been violating a lot of code
and things with that crane but we won’t discuss that but yeah, I just wanted to bring that up
because again I just think that is a great example of what I have been trying to say within council
for a long time about the City is not here to really oppose things. The City is here to assist
people in their great ideas and the monument is a perfect example of that. Thanks.
Councilwoman Ernst: I concur with everything that Councilman McDonald talked about. I
mean really everyone that put so much energy and so much of their time into it. What an
awesome memorial and the dedication service was fabulous. I got there actually 5 minutes early
thinking I’d have all kinds of room to stand but there really wasn’t, and that was a good thing so,
but I think really Mark Undestad really deserves a special thank you for everything that he did
for that so. I really want to thank him.
Councilman Litsey: Yeah, I echo those same feelings. The things that have already been said.
What a truly great night and I have to say that’s one of the few things my 6 year old has actually
been kind of spellbound and sat through and listened to so it was, that’s a tribute to what a great
program they put on. It was a lot of fun. And then the picnic afterwards was a nice way for
people to kind of chat and stuff too so all the great work and everybody in the city and the
community really pulled together and made this a truly remarkable night really. I mean the
weather was, other than the wind was a little strong but it was a great night and just really made
you feel proud to be part of this whole effort and to live in such a great community.
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