CC Minutes 04-28-2014Chanhassen City Council – April 28, 2014
Mayor Furlong: Councilwoman Ernst.
Councilwoman Ernst: I make a motion that we approve the issuance and sale of housing and health care
revenue refunding notes and authorizing the execution of documents relating thereto and including
approval of a joint powers agreement in connection with the PHS/Lake Minnetonka Campus Project.
Mayor Furlong: Thank you. Is there a second?
Councilman McDonald: I’ll second.
Mayor Furlong: Motion’s been made and seconded. Any discussion on the motion? Seeing none we’ll
proceed with the vote.
Resolution #2014-30: Councilwoman Ernst moved, Councilman McDonald seconded that the City
Council approve the issuance and sale of housing and health care revenue refunding notes and
authorizing the execution of documents relating thereto and including approval of a joint powers
agreement in connection with the PHS/Lake Minnetonka Campus Project. All voted in favor and
the motion carried unanimously with a vote of 5 to 0.
DAKOTA RETAIL, 7910 DAKOTA AVENUE AND THE ADJACENT PARCEL TO THE WEST,
APPLICANT: MOHAGEN HANSEN ARCHITECTURAL GROUP/OWNER: CENTER
COMPANIES, LLC:
A. REQUEST FOR PRELIMINARY PLAT REVIEW TO COMBINE TWO PARCELS INTO
ONE LOT OF APPROXIMATELY TWO ACRES ZONED HIGHWAY AND BUSINESS
SERVICES DISTRICT (BH); AND SITE PLAN REVIEW WITH VARIANCES FOR AN
8,000 SQ. FT. RETAIL BUILDING.
B. CONSIDER APPROVAL OF RESOLUTION OF SUPPORT FOR CONTAMINATION
CLEAN-UP APPLICATION.
C. EXTEND THE PURCHASE AGREEMENT CLOSING DATE WITH CENTER
COMPANIES, LLC.
Mayor Furlong: So let’s start with the preliminary plat and then we’ll move onto the next items as well.
Ms. Aanenson.
Kate Aanenson: Yeah, thank you Mayor, members of the City Council. As you stated there are three
actions and we’re going to try to roll those in as we get towards the end so you can make one
recommendation on all the actions. This item did appear before the Planning Commission on their April
th
15 meeting and they did recommend approval 5-0. There was quite a bit of interest during the hearing
regarding traffic issues. The subject site is located 7910 Dakota Avenue and adjacent parcel to the west
and southwest. So this parcel, this parcel and this parcel in the site. The existing conditions, it contains a
1,460 square foot retail center with 8 gas pumps. You can see right here. Currently there is numerous
access to the site. There’s two access via Dakota Avenue and then also there’s access off of Lake Drive.
The site is guided for commercial and is currently zoned commercial so there’s no rezoning that is
required for this process to go forward. So for the proposal summary the site plan is proposed to be
about 8,000 square foot multi-tenant building. The permitted use, it is permitted in the Business Highway
District which has a maximum hard surface coverage which this project does meet. There’s sidewalks
and trails to allow for connections between this property and the surrounding uses in the area. The
architecture is proposed to be constructed of high quality materials which includes stone, stucco, glass,
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Chanhassen City Council – April 28, 2014
and metal panels, and I’ve got more detail too to show you on this. All four sides of the building are
given equal consideration as far as the architecture. If I can back this out. Give you a little bit more detail
on the architecture again. Meets the city ordinance. Again giving equal consideration to all sides,
including the materials and the like. There is a proposed drive thru that would circulate around the
building. The applicant has proposed an outdoor patio. One of the things that we had talked about at the
Planning Commission was the location of the trash enclosure. Moving that so you’re not having that
close to the patio itself. The site has some challenges regarding some topographies and the grading so
we’re working with the staff. This is the preliminary plat. The site plan you are approving tonight but
we’ve put in there they give the discretion, some discretion to the city staff to work with that in order to
work through the grading to relocation of the parking. Again the staff’s original recommendation was for
the parking, the building be pushed closer to Highway 5. This does meet city ordinance and the setbacks
but we felt with that you wouldn’t be going around the entire building. You would just had, you wouldn’t
have the parking in the back. More parking towards the front of the building but this does meet city
ordinance. So this is the proposed relocation of the trash but we haven’t gone through that in the detail
yet but we’ll work through those. We’re confident there’s enough area on the site to make all that work
and fit. And we talked about the parking. The rear of it. The circulation through the site. It does meet
the parking requirements actually and so there will be some berming and additional landscaping on the
site. Right now as indicated in the previous drawing there’s 3 openings on there so now all access will be
combined at Lake Drive eliminating the wide open, kind of the porous exposure there on Dakota Avenue
and the turning movements so anybody coming in here that would make the turning movement at Dakota
Avenue. There is sidewalk being proposed. I know one of the concerns from the residents was the
crossing of Lake Drive to get over to the sidewalk. This sidewalk is being used to get over to the
pedestrian bridge to get to downtown and it’s for people in that neighborhood so that was a concern that
was expressed at the Planning Commission but that connection will be maintained again with the
controlled access at that site. Again showing the singular location. Improving the sight lines. I’m going
to let the City Engineer talk a little bit about some of the trip generation and traffic in the area.
Paul Oehme: City Council, Mayor. Staff did look at the trip generations or the traffic potentially that the
new development would have. We looked at basically what the current traffic counts are today and
estimated what the future traffic counts are based upon the new office and retail, coffee shop type of
usage for the new site so based upon that information we used, based upon what the square footage is for
each of those units or each of those uses we used the Institute of Engineering Trip Generation Manual
which is more or less the national standard model that we use that most people use for estimating trips for
this type of usage. Based upon that information we did or are predicting a slight increase for the overall
weekday trip generations in and out of the site at this location and about maybe another 125 trips per day
for a.m. and then slightly less for the p.m. peaks as well so a little bit more than what we’re seeing today
but based upon the collector roadway infrastructure that we have out here with the, with closing of the
access points at Dakota, I think the traffic generation and the circulation in this area, especially in the
intersection of Dakota and Lake would improve with where the access point is going to be, proposed to be
located. So if there are any questions at this time with trips or traffic, I’d be more than happy to try to
answer them.
Mayor Furlong: Okay. Do you want to take questions now on everything or Kate do you have.
Paul Oehme: Or keep going.
Kate Aanenson: Sure, I have a few more things if you want, if that’s alright.
Mayor Furlong: …why don’t we go and then we can…
Kate Aanenson: Circle back to that.
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Chanhassen City Council – April 28, 2014
Mayor Furlong: Thank you Mr. Oehme.
Kate Aanenson: So we talked about the site plan review in the previous so in your staff report there’s a
compliance table. It does meet all the city requirements. It exceeds the parking. Again as we know once
we put a drive thru in that does, you know right now it’s being proposed as coffee. Doesn’t mean it can’t
change. Typically when people to interior remodels then they would come through the building permit
then we would verify to make sure that it’s staying within the parking regulations because the tenant mix
they have now meets those and we would ensure that as it moves forward that whatever uses would come
and go, which may happen over time, that they would still be compliant with that but again they’re over
the parking requirements and meet all the requirements of the site plan itself. So that’s the site plan. So
then the second part of this would then be the subdivision or the replatting. So it includes the 3 parcels.
The existing Sinclair site and then this parcel from the City so those 3 parcels. So we have a Lot 1, Block
1 and then Outlot 1 so that would combine to make the subdivision moving forward. With that
subdivision the property that would be combined would be City property so within that, the two of the
staff reports are supporting contamination clean-up so in that report it goes through the redevelopment
summary that you know the clean-up is for redevelopment of property to enhance that to provide
employment that’s going through DEED. Department of Economic Employment so by redeveloping this
property, getting the site contamination clean-up here, you’re providing an opportunity for development
improving a site and hiring more people. And then the third action item then as a part of this would be
the extension of the purchase agreement and in that staff report we talk about, there was a previous
purchase agreement and so we wanted to extend that through December to allow for, this coming
December of 2014 to allow for the applicant to work through these issues including working through the
contamination so with all the findings in your staff report, recommendations of approval, staff is
supporting it as did the Planning Commission so those are the three motions are all on one
recommendation there but as the City Engineer said we’d be happy to answer any questions that you
have.
Mayor Furlong: Thank you. Let’s start with some questions for staff.
Todd Gerhardt: Mayor, council. Just to add a couple of things.
Mayor Furlong: Yep.
Todd Gerhardt: The resolution of support for the contamination, this will assist the applicant in receiving
a positive view from the local jurisdiction as a part of their application so that’s why he’s requesting that
resolution of support. And as to the purchase agreement, we are extending that 6 months. Again because
of the deadline for the DEED application, award is expected later in June and also to give the applicant
additional time to negotiate and finalize leases so staff is recommending a 6 month extension to the
current purchase agreement.
Mayor Furlong: Okay, thank you. Questions for staff? I can start with a couple. Mr. Gerhardt just to
follow up, the purchase agreement, Ms. Aanenson if you can bring up the combined replat. The purchase
agreement, no. Go back to the big yellow boxes. Thank you. The purchase agreement only relates to Lot
1, Block 1 property is that correct?
Todd Gerhardt: That’s correct.
Mayor Furlong: Or whatever the City’s portion is within the Lot 1, Block 1.
Todd Gerhardt: That is correct.
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Chanhassen City Council – April 28, 2014
Mayor Furlong: The other, the Outlot 1 will remain City owned property.
Todd Gerhardt: That is correct.
Mayor Furlong: With this action. Thank you.
Todd Gerhardt: Planners have indicated that he does have enough green space to accommodate the 8,000
square foot development and you know, so there’s no reason to sell the small outlot that doesn’t benefit
the development.
Mayor Furlong: Yeah, okay. Alright. I have some more. Does anybody else have questions?
Councilman Laufenburger: I do.
Mayor Furlong: Mr. Laufenburger, go ahead.
Councilman Laufenburger: Thank you. Kate, can you go back to the comments from the public at the
Planning Commission. There were some comments regarding just traffic and safety at this intersection
right. Can you summarize the public’s comments on that as best you can?
Kate Aanenson: Sure. It’s, there’s a stop condition on Lake Drive and not on Dakota so.
Councilman Laufenburger: Okay, the stop is.
Kate Aanenson: At this location. At this location. So it’s going east to west, not north south.
Councilman Laufenburger: Okay.
Kate Aanenson: So the concern was people exiting the neighborhood, making sure.
Councilman Laufenburger: Going north.
Kate Aanenson: Going north, yep. And again their opportunity to go north and to come downtown.
Whether it’s biking, walking, and just the safety of that condition. Getting in and out of their
neighborhood.
Councilman Laufenburger: Alright. How long has McDonald’s been there?
Audience: 1985.
Councilman Laufenburger: Thank you very much Kate.
Mayor Furlong: So I’m told.
Councilman Laufenburger: Rumor has it.
Mayor Furlong: Rumor has it.
Councilman Laufenburger: Have, what kind of incidents have we had over the last 10 years of any kind
of problems either pedestrians, cars, things like that? Mr. Oehme.
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Chanhassen City Council – April 28, 2014
Paul Oehme: Yeah so staff did look at accident history of this intersection and from 2007 to 2012, the
last data that we have, there’s been 5 crashes. No major.
Councilman Laufenburger: Fatalities.
Paul Oehme: Fatalities or major injuries. Just mainly fender benders so basically averaging one accident
per year.
Mayor Furlong: If I could interrupt Mr. Laufenburger because it was obvious reading the Minutes of the
Planning Commission that this was a major concern.
Councilman Laufenburger: Right.
Mayor Furlong: And I know Mr. Oehme, your department is gathering some traffic counts in that area
and you’re analyzing that.
Paul Oehme: Right.
Mayor Furlong: What, based on the comments made at the Planning Commission by the residents it was
my thought that once that information comes back, we will add that to a future council agenda to look at
safety. If there’s any changes needed for safety, for traffic control at this intersection. I think tonight
traffic relating to this development and the closing of the entrances along Dakota, channeling all through,
those would be appropriate discussions here but the whole intersection itself is a separate item that we
will bring up at a future council meeting.
Councilman Laufenburger: And we’ve done that in the past.
Mayor Furlong: Absolutely.
Councilman Laufenburger: Looking at.
Mayor Furlong: When these things come up.
Councilman Laufenburger: Exactly, when they come up.
Mayor Furlong: Yep, and so I think and there are probably some residents here that want to talk about
that. We’ll make sure that people know when we’ll be talking about that so that they have the
information that we have and, I don’t think it’s going to be too far into the future but I just wanted to let
people know that while we may not be talking about that intersection tonight or making any decisions on
it, we will in the future. We’ll bring it back to another council meeting and make sure that once that
information is in, we can listen to options or recommendations from staff and those of residents as well so
that if there are any changes we all know why. So but that was clearly an issue and a concern brought up.
Councilman Laufenburger: Absolutely. So let’s move onto the next question I had which was the traffic
counts. You had the show of anticipated traffic or anticipated trips. Okay, there we go. You used a, you
used a term. A 3 letter acronym for, what was that?
Paul Oehme: ITE. The Institute of Transportation Engineering. A manual.
Councilman Laufenburger: Okay so this is a calculation that they give.
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Chanhassen City Council – April 28, 2014
Paul Oehme: Correct.
Councilman Laufenburger: To say these are the trips that are likely to be generated when something like
this is put in. They don’t give any consideration for competitive, convenience stores or competitive
dentists or anything like that. They just say this is what it would be.
Paul Oehme: Typically, exactly. It’s typical office, the shops of this size will generate. If you have a
drive thru it will generate this much amount of traffic.
Councilman Laufenburger: Right. And in your opinion, does this traffic represent a traffic problem for
either exiting to Lake Street headed west or headed to Lake Street headed to east to the stop sign?
Paul Oehme: I don’t believe it does. Lake Drive is a collector.
Councilman Laufenburger: Or Lake Drive, excuse me.
Paul Oehme: Lake Drive is a collector roadway. I think there’s about 4,300 trips per day on it which is
well in reason for additional trips. It can easily accommodate additional trips. It’s wide enough. It’s
designed for these type of these trips. Like we had indicated before, the intersection of Lake Drive and
Dakota, that I think is going to help with the configuration that. The trips or the circulation of the
intersection is going to help with moving the access onto Lake Drive because it moves.
Councilman Laufenburger: It moves Dakota.
Paul Oehme: Exactly because it moves a lot of those turning movements off of Dakota and it kind of
clears up that intersection a little bit more than it is right now. It puts everybody in a stop condition at
Lake Drive and so they can access back onto Dakota, onto 5 or heading westbound or east or wherever
they’re going.
Councilman Laufenburger: Okay. And that will not be a right-in/right-out. That will be a right or left in,
right or left out.
Paul Oehme: Yeah, that’s a full access.
Councilman Laufenburger: Okay. Alright. Thank you Mr. Oehme.
Mayor Furlong: Mr. Oehme how, what’s the distance for that access to the property west of Dakota?
And you can give me feet or you can tell me about how many cars can stack up at the stop sign between,
from Dakota back to the entrance.
Paul Oehme: Yeah I believe it’s, maybe 250 feet. I don’t have that number in front of me right now but.
Mayor Furlong: But that’s quite a few vehicles.
Paul Oehme: It’s quite a few vehicles and if you look at the a.m. or p.m. peak trips, we’re not anticipating
very queuing’s onto Lake Drive.
Mayor Furlong: Okay, or back into the development.
Paul Oehme: Or backing up into the development, right.
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Chanhassen City Council – April 28, 2014
Mayor Furlong: Okay.
Paul Oehme: So the drive thru lane, we think it’s long enough to accommodate you know more the, a lot
of those trips and the circulation of the parking lot is such that I think it’s going to flow pretty well.
Mayor Furlong: Okay. Thank you. Can we talk about the drive thru lane real quick Ms. Aanenson? If
you could bring up that, maybe the.
Kate Aanenson: The which, I’m sorry.
Mayor Furlong: Just the drive thru. In one of the pictures it shows the drive thru. It looked to me like,
that would be fine. It looks to me, you’ve got some arrows there so it runs along the south and east sides
of the building. Is that correct?
Kate Aanenson: Yes, you’re going to come this way.
Mayor Furlong: Is the window for the drive thru on the east side there? There’s another picture I thought
that showed.
Kate Aanenson: Am I going wrong?
Mayor Furlong: There, that one.
Kate Aanenson: Correct. So here’s your window here.
Mayor Furlong: So that’s the window there?
Kate Aanenson: Correct, yes.
Mayor Furlong: So the one thing that always concerns me is that the drive thru is not going to, the cars
queuing up in the drive thru lane are not going to be blocking in any parked vehicles? Drive thru lane
runs along the building itself.
Kate Aanenson: That’s correct. So you have a free lane that would be on the outside to come through.
Mayor Furlong: So that’s, okay. Okay.
Kate Aanenson: Yep.
Mayor Furlong: So there’s going to be no queuing of cars in the drive thru lane blocking in anybody that
might?
Kate Aanenson: No. Engineering doubled, you know we had a concern regarding this turn and the
radius on this so you can see that’s where the template is on this for the larger vehicle. A van or
something like that, larger van to be able to make that turn movement coming in so that does meet the
requirements for that turn movement.
Mayor Furlong: And then I think currently the business mix is modeled with a coffee shop.
Kate Aanenson: Restaurant.
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Chanhassen City Council – April 28, 2014
Mayor Furlong: Restaurant and then.
Kate Aanenson: And an office. Dental office.
Mayor Furlong: A dental office. And we’ve modeled it, or the traffic was modeled with a coffee shop as
the drive thru, is that correct?
Kate Aanenson: Yes.
Paul Oehme: Right.
Kate Aanenson: That’s correct.
Mayor Furlong: Now all three of those uses are valid uses within the current zoning?
Kate Aanenson: That’s correct.
Mayor Furlong: So that would also tell me that a current use within the zoning would be a restaurant with
a drive thru window as opposed to a coffee shop, is that correct?
Kate Aanenson: Could one go in there?
Mayor Furlong: Yes.
Kate Aanenson: Yes.
Mayor Furlong: Okay. So that’s, even though we’re looking at it with a coffee shop, somewhere down
the road or sooner or later that could be a restaurant as well?
Kate Aanenson: Yes.
Mayor Furlong: But, and I think you mentioned this in your report. Based upon the build-out’s, the
tenants typically have to come in for building permits and at that point we would verify with the property
owner that the current mix, or the proposed mix, if it’s a new tenant, that there’s enough parking to
support those, that mix of businesses.
Kate Aanenson: That’s.
Mayor Furlong: Assuming that all the businesses are allowed in the zoning.
Kate Aanenson: That’s correct so while the business might be permitted, what’s the driving factor on this
is whether or not they can support that much parking because if there’s not enough parking there we
wouldn’t sign off on that. We would say it doesn’t meet the zoning requirements.
Mayor Furlong: And the key there is we don’t want cars to start parking on Lake Drive or on Dakota
back in the neighborhood or something like that.
Kate Aanenson: No.
Mayor Furlong: Or across the street.
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Chanhassen City Council – April 28, 2014
Kate Aanenson: We have had interest in types of fast food ones that we believe would cause that kind of
problem and we discouraged them from that location so.
Mayor Furlong: Understand. But in terms of this proposal, the mix may not follow the exact model that
we’ve looked at for traffic but you’re comfortable that there’s plenty of parking for some flexibility as
well going forward?
Kate Aanenson: Yes.
Mayor Furlong: Okay. Okay, Mr. Gerhardt on the resolution supporting the grant application. Just to
clarify, is there any financial obligation on the part of the City that’s associated with that? This is a
resolution of support and encouragement for the grant to be.
Todd Gerhardt: Yeah, there’s a private equity contribution to match the 25% and the developer’s making
that.
Mayor Furlong: Okay. Alright. Thank you. Any other questions anybody has at this point? The
developer’s here. Or representative of the applicant. If you’d like to address the council on anything?
Good evening.
Ben Merriman: Good evening Mr. Mayor, council. My name’s Ben Merriman. I’m the owner of Center
Companies and I’m the developer and owner of, future owner of the property. I’d be happy to answer any
questions. It’s been a very challenging site. We have pollution. We have horrific soils. The conditions
of the soils there are very poor and then we have a very large easement by Xcel that runs around, over the
top and that runs right along Highway 5 and that’s the big power lines. So it’s a complicated site. I think
we’ve got a design that works very well. I think it’s an attractive building. We’ve put a lot of time and
energy into it. I don’t even know how many different renderings and different times we’ve redesigned the
building to be quite honest and I think we have a tenant mix that works quite well. And with that I’d be
happy to answer any questions.
Mayor Furlong: Thank you Mr. Merriman. Any questions? I think it is a good looking design and you
probably don’t want to know how many renditions you had of it I guess. Accountant could probably tell
you.
Kate Aanenson: I will say this isn’t the first iteration. We worked through a lot of different designs.
Mayor Furlong: Okay, thank you. There was a public hearing held at the Planning Commission. Some
of the residents here might have attended that. We did see the comments. Ms. Aanenson, were there
material changes or anything that occurred between the Planning Commission and what they said and
what’s before us tonight?
Kate Aanenson: No. I don’t think. I think Paul, the City Engineer kind of elaborated a little bit more
detail on some of those but I think that’s.
Mayor Furlong: Okay. Alright. If there’s desire for public comment, we always will accept public
comment but again what I would ask is, is we don’t necessarily repeat what was said at the Planning
Commission because we do have the verbatim Minutes that we’ve looked at but if there’s something that
has come up since or is a concern that you’d like the council to hear first hand, we’d be happy to listen to
comments as well. So at this point I would certainly welcome any public comments.
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Chanhassen City Council – April 28, 2014
Lynne Pilgrim: Good evening. My name is Lynne Pilgrim. I live at 8026 Dakota Avenue and I’m
representing the neighborhood. Yes, we are concerned about the safety but I have one fact that I’d like to
make straight from our neighborhood. It’s not the Dakota Avenue exit off Ivan’s that bothers us. It’s
Lake Drive. The Dakota Avenue exit off of Ivan’s has never been a problem. It’s Lake Drive and the
back part of Ivan’s where Ivan’s has an entrance now off Lake Drive is not a problem. People only use
that to go fill their propane tanks. It’s just kind of where you go to take your trash. It’s not an entrance or
exit. Our concerns have been Lake Drive. We heard that there were only approximately 1 accident a year
on Lake Drive. How many of us have very, very close calls? How many of us have had minor accidents
that you don’t report to your insurance company? How many of us have been blown off and things like
that? At this time our request is that the developer consider doing something for us in the way of a stop,
octagon stop sign with solar lights or something in place of having to do green space like he would have
to do for a housing development. This is all we’re asking for. We’re just asking for something that could
be, that could help us out. For many, many years we’ve approached this and we’ve gone through all the
proper channels. We’ve done this at Nights Out and everything else. This is our final cry and we’re just
asking, could you please help us? Could the developer help us? Is there a chance that he could do
something on that corner to make it safe? The trees. The shrubbery, everything is blocked. When people
come down Lake Drive they’re going rapidly. They want to cut across. They’re missing 3 lights so they
can come down, and they cut down Lake Drive every morning and after work too, they cut down to avoid
3 lights on 5 to pick up 212 or to pick up Dell. The other end comes in from McDonalds and they’re
coming out of McDonalds with one hand on their coffee cup, one hand on the cell phone, the child in the
back seat screaming. We’re done for. You know we can’t leave and in 1985 McDonalds was put in. Our
neighborhood in the 19, approximately 1981 helped pay for the semaphore to go on Highway 5 to make
our neighborhood safe so we could get in and out. Then Lake Drive was built. McDonalds went in and
we were told there’d be 800 cars a day. There’s a big different between what you’re telling us now and
800 cars a day. Please, do something for us.
Mayor Furlong: And, thank you Ms. Pilgrim. Appreciate that comment. What I tried to emphasize a
little bit earlier is with the information that the engineering department is gathering, we’re going to take a
look at that intersection and evaluate what needs to be done. I think from my standpoint, and I’d certainly
listen to the council as well, imposing a cost on the developer here for improvements that need to be made
on the public street, public intersection which isn’t necessarily caused by the developer, probably isn’t
appropriate or fair. What we’re saying and what I’m saying is, and I’ve asked the City Manager once
they get the information back, we’re going to have at a future council meeting an item to discuss the
intersection and what improvement changes need to be made based upon the public use of that
intersection, not necessarily this development going in, or the redevelopment of Ivan’s. If that makes,
does that make sense?
Lynne Pilgrim: It makes sense but we’re seeing that another entrance is going to be there off of Lake
Drive and that’s going to put traffic going in and out.
Mayor Furlong: Absolutely and.
Lynne Pilgrim: And we don’t even have a crosswalk for kids that want to go to St. Hubert’s or go to
Chapel Hill to walk across Lake Drive. We have nothing. So.
Mayor Furlong: And that was brought up at the Planning Commission I saw and that to me is something
that we’ll be discussing at the same time.
Lynne Pilgrim: You know I.
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Chanhassen City Council – April 28, 2014
Mayor Furlong: You know pedestrian movements. People were concerned about bikes. Pedestrians and
cars obviously using that intersection. Whether they’re coming from the neighborhood, along Lake Drive
or coming off 5 along Dakota and there are some things, and Mr. Oehme, I know that there’s some plans
to improve acceleration lanes on Highway 5 and Dakota so we can include that in discussions so people
know what the plans are there coming up, and that’s a year or two off but we’re working with MnDOT on
that.
Lynne Pilgrim: But Highway 5 is not the problem. It’s Dakota and Lake Drive.
Mayor Furlong: I understand.
Lynne Pilgrim: And that’s what we’re talking about. And once that Super Valu building is, gets what do
you want to put it?
Mayor Furlong: Released. Yep, leased.
Lynne Pilgrim: A new lease.
Mayor Furlong: Yep, a new tenant.
Lynne Pilgrim: And new tenants we’re going to have more.
Mayor Furlong: Right, new business. Absolutely. Absolutely.
Lynne Pilgrim: And so it’s going to be increased and I just don’t want to see something happen that’s
going to make, we’re lucky. We’re very lucky so far we have not had anyone killed. And I have seen
some very, very close calls. I’ve been hit. I’ve seen many of my other neighbors hit. People don’t report
that when it’s a minor injury. I mean you don’t turn it in because you know we all have these deductibles
but think about it.
Mayor Furlong: Okay. We will certainly let the neighborhood know.
Lynne Pilgrim: Thank you.
Mayor Furlong: And I assume Mr. Gerhardt we’ve got contact information with some of the neighbors
that organize the National Night Out group.
Todd Gerhardt: Yes.
Mayor Furlong: So we’ll be able to let people know. Is there anybody else that would like to provide
comments with regard to the development?
Lois Fiskness: Yes, I’m Lois Fiskness. I’ve lived in the neighborhood for many, many years. I think we
were the fourth homeowner in that neighborhood so we have been there a long time. I would like to ask
some question about the little triangular outlot piece that’s shown and I’m wondering if some
consideration could be given to that too. I don’t mean to make it into a park. I don’t know who owns it.
If it’s the City or the developer but at this time of the development if they could come in and cut out some
of the dead trees and do some trimming.
Mayor Furlong: Are you talking about the.
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Chanhassen City Council – April 28, 2014
Lois Fiskness: That little triangle.
Mayor Furlong: Little triangle south of Lake Drive.
Lois Fiskness: Right.
Mayor Furlong: Yep, that’s currently, it’s an outlot right now and the City owns that.
Lois Fiskness: Because some tree trimming would be very appropriate in there. I see leaf bags show up
there in November. Christmas trees in December. Occasionally an upholstered sofa or a chair shows up
in it. There’s been a boat parked there from time to time. Perhaps we could plant some native grasses or
some variegated dogwood or something of that sort in there and do a little tree trimming and it would
make it less desirable to be just kind of a drop off site. And it’s part of the development. If the new
entrance in and out of the development moves a little farther up the street it’s going to be more visible for
everybody coming in and out of there so please give some consideration to the outlot too.
Mayor Furlong: Okay.
Lois Fiskness: Thank you.
Mayor Furlong: Thank you.
Todd Gerhardt: Mayor and council, staff did have some discussions on the outlot and it’s excess right-of-
way and typically when you have that excess right-of-way you look at you know going back and vacating
it to the benefitting properties so one of the alternatives would be to come in and vacate it to the adjacent
property owners who are going to have probably the most interest in making sure that it’s kept up.
Mayor Furlong: Okay, thank you. Good evening.
Theresa Thomas: Good evening. I have two general questions.
Mayor Furlong: If you could.
Theresa Thomas: My name is Theresa Thomas.
Mayor Furlong: Thank you Mrs. Thomas.
Theresa Thomas: And I live, I live back there almost 40 years. My question is when you decontaminate.
Mayor Furlong: I’m sorry Ms. Thomas, if you could state your address please for the record.
Theresa Thomas: 8029 Cheyenne Avenue.
Mayor Furlong: Thank you very much. Go ahead.
Theresa Thomas: If you, when they talk about decontamination, does that mean excavating all of those
tanks that are underneath those pumps?
Mayor Furlong: Yep, Mr. Oehme. Would you like to refer to that?
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Chanhassen City Council – April 28, 2014
Paul Oehme: Yep, so it includes removal of the tanks and then any contaminated fluids that are in the
soils, it includes removal of those soils as well. Or treatment of the soils.
Theresa Thomas: And then, so then the developer pays for that?
Paul Oehme: Correct.
Theresa Thomas: That’s how that’s taken care of.
Paul Oehme: Or through a grant or some other funding mechanism. Not through the City though.
Theresa Thomas: Okay. The other question I have is, there is only going to be one establishment that is
going to be allowed to have a drive thru, is that correct?
Mayor Furlong: Ms. Aanenson.
Kate Aanenson: That’s how it’s shown on the site plan right now so if there’s some modification of that
because of the circulation, more than likely it would have to come back. I’m not sure how you could do
two driveways. I just don’t know how that would work.
Mayor Furlong: Yeah the plans before us tonight have only one drive thru window. Or one drive thru so
one business of the three, or of the building, one business could have a drive thru.
Theresa Thomas: Okay so, if the coffee shop has it, the restaurant doesn’t?
Mayor Furlong: That would be.
Kate Aanenson: That’s how it’s set up today.
Mayor Furlong: That’s how it’s set up today but it could be a restaurant having the drive thru instead of.
Theresa Thomas: The coffee shop.
Mayor Furlong: A coffee shop, right.
Theresa Thomas: Alright, thank you.
Mayor Furlong: You’re welcome. Anyone else? Comments about the development. Okay, thank you
very much. Appreciate your participation, not only this evening but at the Planning Commission as well
and we will see each other again when we get more information about current and projected traffic and
other safety improvements at the Dakota/Lake Drive intersection. City Council members why don’t we,
I’d be interested in thoughts and comments regarding the proposal before us. Councilman McDonald.
Councilman McDonald: If I could.
Mayor Furlong: Oh I’m sorry, ma’am. What’s this regarding?
Mary Stumpfl: My name is Mary Stumpfl. I live at 8027 Cheyenne Avenue. The one thing that you
need to know about our neighborhood is that is the only entrance and exit we have.
Mayor Furlong: I understand.
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Chanhassen City Council – April 28, 2014
Mary Stumpfl: Out to Highway 5. We have to go through, across Lake Drive and out to 5. We don’t
have another way to go.
Mayor Furlong: Okay.
Mary Stumpfl: So I think you need to keep that into consideration. I am one of the people who got hit.
Mayor Furlong: Okay. One of the 5. I’m glad you’re here to be able to tell us about it.
Mary Stumpfl: Yes I am. I was very lucky.
Mayor Furlong: I’m sure you’re glad you’re here too.
Mary Stumpfl: It was somebody coming on Lake Drive and didn’t stop and that’s the biggest problem we
have.
Mayor Furlong: Understand. And we will, we will make sure that we have plenty of time to talk about
this when we bring it back.
Mary Stumpfl: Thank you.
Mayor Furlong: Thank you. Councilman McDonald.
Councilman McDonald: Well what I was going to say was, in listening to this and also having been over
there many times and I’ve seen what the traffic is like at that particular corner I guess one of the things,
you know I realize that maybe I should have asked this sooner but it was just listening to all of this. I’d
like to know what the effect would be of moving the entrance further to the west to again do some things
about calming traffic, especially on Lake Drive East. I’d like to know if that’s been looked at and if that
would have any effect. I realize that that may necessitate a re-drawing but if that improves safety I’d like
to have it considered. The other thing, and I know Mr. Mayor you talked about the intersection. We’ll
talk about it later and that’s fine but I think one of the things right now in preparation for that, I would
like city staff to look at the possibility of a warrant for a light at that particular intersection and then when
we have that discussion I’d like for that to be known so that we can evaluate what would be the safest
thing for that intersection.
Mayor Furlong: Yeah, if I could respond to that. Mr. Oehme, I think Mr. Oehme, the data you’re
collecting, the analysis of the uses and including properties along Lake Drive. Whether they’re currently
fully rented or not, such as the former Super Valu, that’s all going to be considered and then we’re going
to look at the warrants from a traffic standpoint and safety standpoint, correct?
Paul Oehme: Correct, yep. So we’ll look back you know in history. We had traffic data 10 years ago so
we’re going to look back at what it was as far back as we can and look at what it is today and then project
forward again so, and look at what’s vacant and what’s not out there.
Councilman McDonald: Right, I’d like you to be able to include Super Valu which at one point what was
a big contributor.
Paul Oehme: Yep.
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Chanhassen City Council – April 28, 2014
Mayor Furlong: And that traffic obviously went out to Dell Road and came this way too so you know,
but that will all be considered.
Paul Oehme: Right, that’s all. We’ll look at signals. We’ll look at a 4 way stop conditions. We’ll look
at roundabouts. We’ll look at other signage as well.
Councilman McDonald: Okay. That’s all I have.
Mayor Furlong: Okay, any comments or thoughts on the development? With regard to the location of
that, the entrance into the development. I mean just looking at this, you’re going to get squeezed just by
the angle of the property pretty quickly.
Kate Aanenson: Plus you’re fighting grade. This is going up.
Mayor Furlong: I’m sorry?
Kate Aanenson: You’re fighting grade. So you’re going to have a retaining wall which reduces your
sight lines coming into the property too because you’re going to have to.
Councilman McDonald: So it’s probably the furthest west it can really go based upon the grade there.
Kate Aanenson: Maybe a little.
Paul Oehme: We’ve looked at access points and how to configure that building on site to give us the best
traffic mobility around the site as well and how to get it as far away from the intersection as we can so
we’ve looked at it. We’ll look at it again though with the developer and see if we can come up with
anything else.
Councilman McDonald: Okay. Well commenting on just the development and everything, I mean I’m all
in favor of the project. I think that it’s an improvement to the corner. I think the issues of safety and
those things need to be taken into consideration and at this point I want to thank staff and the developer. I
mean I think you’ve done that. It’s just I think there’s a few other things that maybe we could look at but
other than that, no. I think it would be a good development for that corner. It’s a good use of the property
and it will probably benefit the city to have a development there, especially another restaurant. Well there
aren’t that many in downtown Chanhassen. Your choices are limited if you don’t like fast food.
Mayor Furlong: But they’re all good.
Councilman McDonald: No, there’s no doubt about that they’re all good. It’s just looking for a little
variety. So I think overall it’s a well thought out plan and again it’s a good use and I support it.
Mayor Furlong: Thank you Mr. McDonald. Other thoughts of the council? Councilwoman Tjornhom.
Councilwoman Tjornhom: Yeah, I think I just would echo what Jerry said. Or Councilman McDonald
said. It was always, this intersection has always, I think it’s always been kind of a puzzle. A tough piece
to fit into the puzzle of planning downtown because of it’s location and just the lot size in itself and what
can really go in there and so I was always kind of concerned about what would eventually happen to this
parcel because this really is, as people are coming into Chanhassen, you know something that they will
definitely see as they’re first driving into town and so I think the building looks nice and so I think the
developer did a good job of putting, putting a good business in a tough spot and still making it look like
something that we would all be proud of so thank you for doing that and yeah, I have no problems with it.
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Chanhassen City Council – April 28, 2014
Mayor Furlong: Thank you. Councilwoman Ernst.
Councilwoman Ernst: Sure. Yeah I think it will be a great addition to the city. I do have some concerns
with the safety issues that were mentioned and I like the idea that, it sounds like Paul you’re already
working on some of those ideas and I’ll be interested in hearing what some of those ideas are for solutions
so I support the project.
Mayor Furlong: Thank you. Mr. Laufenburger.
Councilman Laufenburger: I would echo what’s been said already plus what Mr. Merriman said about we
don’t think about it very much but that easement that Xcel Energy has on the north end of his property,
that really puts a big restriction on what he can do so I think he’s been very creative so congratulations
Mr. Merriman. Nice job.
Mayor Furlong: Thank you and I would echo that. Thank you for your efforts. This is a challenge. Any
time you’re redeveloping, especially a gas station there are issues and here we had topography. We’ve
got traffic obviously. We’ll be working with that and addressing that because when we look at the traffic
being generated by this development, it is a little bit more but it’s not substantially more than what’s
already being generated according to the information but again I think I’m very comfortable going
forward with this tonight knowing that we’re going to take a look at some of the safety concerns and
some options with regard to the intersection there. But again Mr. Merriman and everyone on your team,
thank you for your work. To city staff, Mr. Gerhardt, Ms. Aanenson, Mr. Oehme, thank you for your
hard work and everyone that’s been involved in the city staff too. This has been a long time coming. I’m
glad we’re here and hopefully the resolution of support will help and we’ll get some grant money to help
you with the clean-up and we can see this moving forward quickly so we’re happy to move forward.
And as far as taking a little more time to get this done, we’re happy to do that because I think it’s a
worthwhile project to support. So with that we have 3 actions associated with this proposal and they’re
up on the screen and I would certainly welcome a motion. Mr. McDonald.
Councilman McDonald: I’ll make the motion. I make a motion that the preliminary plat to replat 1.7
acres into one lot and one outlot, site plan for the construction of an 8,000 square foot single level retail
center, and adoption of the attached Findings of Fact and Recommendation. Also a resolution of support
for a contamination clean-up grant application that the City will create and put forward. Also an
extension of the purchase agreement, changing the closing date with Center Companies, LLC out 6
months.
Mayor Furlong: Thank you. Is there a second?
Councilwoman Tjornhom: Second.
Mayor Furlong: Motion’s been made and seconded. Any discussion on the motion? Hearing none let’s
proceed with the vote.
City Council
Councilman McDonald moved, Councilwoman Tjornhom seconded that the
approve the preliminary plat to replat 1.7 acres into one lot and one outlot, Planning Case
2014-11 as shown in plans dated received March 14, 2014, and including the attached
Findings of Fact and Recommendation, subject to the following conditions:
Engineering Conditions
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Chanhassen City Council – April 28, 2014
1.Before the final plat is recorded the Surface Water Management fees, Park Dedication fees,
and GIS fees must be paid as well as any recording fees not collected with the final plat
application.
Park And Trail Conditions
1.Full park fees in lieu of additional parkland dedication and/or trail construction shall be
collected as a condition of approval for Dakota Retail. The park fees will be collected in full at
the rate in force upon final plat submission and approval. Based on the current proposed lot size
of 1.51 acres and the city’s 2014 commercial/industrial park fee of $12,500 per unit, the total
park fees for Dakota Retail would be $18,875.
All voted in favor and the motion carried unanimously with a vote of 5 to 0.
City Council
Councilman McDonald moved, Councilwoman Tjornhom seconded that the
approvethe site plan consisting of a 8,000 square-foot multi-tenant building, Planning Case
2014-11 as shown in plans dated received March 14, 2014, and including the attached
Findings of Fact and Recommendation, subject to the following conditions:
Environmental Resource Conditions
1.The applicant shall provide a total of 25 understory trees along the north property line.
2.All trees that fall within the utility easement along the north property line shall be ornamental
trees.
3.The final landscape shall be submitted to the city and include a plant schedule with listed
quantities.
Building Official Conditions
1.The proposed structure is required to have an automatic fire extinguishing system (MN Rule
1306).
2.All plans must be prepared and signed by design professionals licensed in the State of
Minnesota. A geotechnical (soil evaluation) report required.
3.Detailed building code-related requirements have not been reviewed; this will take place
when complete structural/architectural plans are submitted.
4.Demolition permit required (contact MPCA regarding underground, fuel storage tanks
removal requirements).
5.Retaining walls exceeding four feet in height require professional design, permits and
approvals.
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Chanhassen City Council – April 28, 2014
6.The owner and/or their representative shall meet with the Inspections Division as soon as
possible to discuss plan review and permit procedures.
Fire Marshal Conditions
1.An additional fire hydrant will be required on the south side of the property. This location
has been discussed with the Engineering Department.
2.“ No Parking Fire Lane” signs may be required. The developer must contact the Fire
Marshal for exact locations.
Engineering Conditions
1.The final plan must include proposed signage and/or pavement markings on the north side of
the building that will alert drivers to and prohibit drivers from entering the one-way traffic
associated with the drive-thru.
2.The parking stalls on the east side of the site, adjacent to the drive-thru must meet the city’s
minimum stall width, or marked as compact parking if proposed as such.
3.The “bump out” on the west side of the site must be minimum 26 feet face-of-curb to face-
of-curb.
4.Installation of the new water and sewer services must be coordinated with city staff,
including advanced notification of the partial street closure, the timing of the work to
minimize traffic disruption, and on-site inspection of the utility connection.
5.A cash escrow for the street restoration must be submitted prior to recording the final plat.
The escrow can be released after a minimum of one freeze-thaw cycle and once staff inspects
the street restoration and deems the work is satisfactory.
6.A private hydrant must be installed on the south side of the site at a location approved by the
Fire Marshal.
7.Indicate if existing private lights along the perimeter of the site are to remain or be removed.
8.The developer must provide staff with the proposed haul route for removal of the excess
material from the site before grading operations begin. The haul route is subject to staff
review and approval.
9.All improvements in the Xcel easement, including but not limited to grading, site utility
installation and landscaping must be approved by Xcel.
10.The final plans must include a note stating that the auxiliary utility pole south of the
transmission tower on the north side of the site will be relocated, or else it must be
incorporated into the plan. Any cost associated with relocating this pole shall be the
developer’s responsibility.
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Chanhassen City Council – April 28, 2014
11.The developer must coordinate the proposed grading in the northeast corner of the site with
the affected small utilities, as the plans show altering the grade in the vicinity of two small
utility pads.
12.The grading plan must be revised so that the proposed contours tie into the existing contours.
13.The storm pond must be lined to prevent potential in-situ soil contamination.
14.The developer must submit calculations verifying that the proposed storm pond meets the
city’s minimum requirements.
15.Drain tile must be installed on the south side of the site.
Planning Conditions
1.All rooftop and ground equipment must be screened from views.
2.Sign illumination and design shall comply with ordinance. Wall signs shall be limited to the
north, east and south elevations. Wall and monument signage shall comply with the sign
ordinance. All signs require a sign permit.
3.The exterior material for the trash enclosure must be of the same exterior material as the
building. Recycling space and other solid waste collection space should be contained within
the same enclosure.
4.Light levels for site lighting shall be no more than one-half foot candle at the project
perimeter property line. This does not apply to street lighting. All fixtures must be shielded.
5.Approval of the site plan is contingent upon approval of the subdivision.
6.The applicant shall work with staff on minor plan modifications.
7.
Additional architectural detailing will be required along the westerly elevation.”
All voted in favor and the motion carried unanimously with a vote of 5 to 0.
Resolution #2014-31: Councilman McDonald moved, Councilwoman Tjornhom seconded that the
City Council
approves the Resolution of Support for the Contamination Cleanup Grant
Application to DEED for the redevelopment of the Sinclair gas station site, 7910 Dakota Avenue.
All voted in favor and the motion carried unanimously with a vote of 5 to 0.
City Council
Councilman McDonald moved, Councilwoman Tjornhom seconded that the
approves extending the closing date on the purchase agreement with Center Companies,
LLC to December 31, 2014 and agrees to sell all of the excess right-of-way north of Lake
Drive for $85,000. All voted in favor and the motion carried unanimously with a vote of 5
to 0.
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