PC Minutes 04-07-2015Chanhassen Planning Commission – April 7, 2015
Aller: I have a motion. Do I have a second?
Weick: Second.
Aller: Having a motion by Commissioner Undestad and a second by Commissioner Weick, I
would offer any further discussion.
Undestad moved, Weick seconded that the Planning Commission acting as the Chanhassen
Board of Appeals and Adjustments approves a 15 foot setback variance from the 75 foot
shoreline setback to expand a 13 foot by 12 foot section of the existing deck subject to the
following conditions:
1. The applicant shall reduce the hard surface coverage of the property to not exceed 25
percent.
2. The building expansion does not encroach farther than 15 feet into the 75 foot shoreline
setback.
3. The applicant must apply for and receive a building permit from the City.
All voted in favor and the motion carried unanimously with a vote of 5 to 0.
PUBLIC HEARING:
REDSTONE RIDGE, PLANNING CASE 2015-08: REQUEST FOR SUBDIVISION
WITH VARIANCES OF 2.74 ACRES INTO FOUR LOTS ON PROPERTY ZONED
SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL (RSF) AND LOCATED AT 6341 AND 6400 TETON
LANE-REDSTONE RIDGE. APPLICANT/OWNER: CHRIS MAY/CITY OF
CHANHASSEN.
Aanenson: Thank you Chairman, members of the Planning Commission. This is an application
from Chris May. Again this is scheduled to go to the City Council. The application is for a
subdivision. This is located on lots 6341 and 6400 Teton Lane. Approximately 2.74 acres are
included in this 4 lot. The property is zoned Residential Single Family and the site contains 2
existing single family homes which will remain. Access is gained to the site via Bretton Way
and Teton Lane and again there’s 2 existing homes. Ultimately 2 other homes will be created.
So this looks a little catty whompis here but there’s a couple of different things going on.
There’s an excess right-of-way that’s on this northern piece right here that needs to be attached.
It’s actually part of a street right-of-way and that will be public hearing for vacation of right-of-
way will be held at the City Council meeting and that will be attached. That’s what this red
arrow is to show you that it will be attached to this lot and then there’s another portion of this lot
here that is owned by this property so the assemblence of those two, with these existing homes is
what makes up the requirement for the subdivision. So as I just mentioned this is the right-of-
way vacation. Again this item will go to the City Council but we wanted to show you that it is
included in the actual application for the subdivision. So as we always do when we do a
subdivision, before we look at any variances because this application does have a variance for a
flag lot, is to look at what would the implications of doing a public street and looking at how that
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Chanhassen Planning Commission – April 7, 2015
would service 4 homes on the site and it would mass grade the site. You can see down here it’s
pretty steep on the bottom part of the lots and also wrapping around so in looking at that it really
took out quite a bit of vegetation so in looking at the other position which would be to use the
existing access to the site and see how that would lay out. So using the existing infrastructure in
place which would be Teton and Bretton Way was how we looked at providing those additional
lots. So you can see the existing home. 3 and 4 and then Lots 1 and 2 would then be the new
lots so again that’s picking up the reconfiguration of this excess here and the street right-of-way.
But what that does is that it creates number 3 would then have a flag lot so that’s what we’re
doing for the variance. In the past when we’ve looked at flag lots sometimes the orientation of
the house sometimes doesn’t kind of match the neighborhood. That maybe you might have
someone, instead of having side yards next to each other you have someone that’s front yard
facing them but in this circumstance you’ve got the separation is such that it lays out pretty well
as far as the access to this lot. The existing garage. The front of the lots facing kind of the side
or portion of the back of Lot 2 so we believe that it, with the variance, saving some of those
natural features there makes sense so we would recommend the variance in this layout. Again
not putting additional road right-of-way in an area that we were talking about kind of at our work
session earlier. Talking about how you manage stormwater issues on these sites where you have
existing lots of record and maybe not as much space. Preserving those trees. Providing for
extraction for some of that stormwater we think makes a lot of sense. All these lots do meet the
requirements of the 15,000 square feet and actually one of the lots is significantly larger and that
would be Lot 3 with existing home. Again all these lots then do meet all the other requirements
of the RSF zoning district. So with that with a variance we do have the criteria for the variance
in your staff report. If you have questions on that I’d be happy to go through that with you but
based on the topography and the likes we do support that variance and so we are recommending
approval for the combination and then re-subdivision for a preliminary plat for the 4.74 acres for
the property zoned Residential Single Family at 6341 and 6400 Teton Lane and then adoption of
the Findings of Fact. I’d be happy to answer any questions you have.
Tietz: Kate about the building, designated building sites for Lots 1 and 2. How were those
determined and how will those be controlled because it looks like the grading was done for a
specific building pad.
Aanenson: Yes.
Tietz: Yet there’s no architecture for that pad.
Aanenson: Yeah that’s a good question. When we look at the grading plan, and actually I do
have it here at the end of the report. What we do when we look at the grading plan is we do an
elevation so it’s a little difficult to see on here but that’s something that engineering reviews.
Tietz: Right.
Aanenson: And we mark on that whether it can be a lookout or walkout so when the plans come
in they have to match that. And what we do is with the building plans we show approximate
location of where that building should be sited in there. That doesn’t give a lot of deviation from
that with staying with the grading plan. What we’ve learned historically and we’ve gotten better
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Chanhassen Planning Commission – April 7, 2015
at is not allowing that change because then it causes excessive grading and what we envision for
controlling the water. If someone goes in and does excessive grading will change the drainage
pattern in the neighborhood so that is the intended approximate location of the building pad.
Tietz: Okay.
Aanenson: And then driveway orientation again and then the plans will call out whether it can
be lookout, walkout, or just a full basement.
Tietz: Yeah because the site, building pad number 1 looks more flexible depending upon, you
know how the property sits today.
Aanenson: I would agree, it’s the flattest.
Tietz: That’s the flattest.
Aanenson: Correct.
Tietz: And then number 2 it starts to go up in the back side of the property.
Aanenson: Correct. Correct.
Tietz: So there would be some latitude if a contractor, developer, architect wanted to come in
and push that building pad back as long as they deal with the stormwater runoff?
Aanenson: Correct. Or if there’s tree preservation in that area. There’s also, let me go to the,
there’s a tree preservation. So this is the area we’ve identified that most of the trees will be in
that shaded green area.
Tietz: Right.
Aanenson: So the existing trees as I mentioned, where it’s steeper on the backs of lots, most of
those is where we’d want the trees to be saved but you can see on the back of Lot 2 there is still
some area that we would preserve some of those. You know most of this is not much vegetation
so to get access to lots is mostly in the front. It’d be an area then for replanting or buffer.
Tietz: Okay, thank you.
Aller: Any additional questions of staff? Seeing none we’ll have, open the public hearing
portion. Is the applicant present?
Chris May: Hi. My name is Chris May. I own the property at 6400 Teton Lane. Just want to
introduce myself and.
Aller: Welcome Mr. May.
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Chanhassen Planning Commission – April 7, 2015
Chris May: Thank you. Yeah just asking for you to consider this proposal with the flag pole lot.
I think it fits best with the neighborhood not having to have another cul-de-sac or street coming
into the property and it gives the best options. And also looking at the house pads, you know for
Lot 2 they’re, we tried to keep the setbacks so that that house could still even be moved towards
the back of the lot as well so it’s just where it might finally end up could be different from where
it’s shown on that picture but still sticking within the setbacks and variances there. I’ve owned
the house for about 4 years now and you know just kind of looking at developing the front 2 lots.
Probably just market it and see what the options are. Whether it be you know a custom build or
maybe even trying to build a house on my own on one of the lots too so. And the plan too would
be you know custom homes but keeping it consistent with the other sizes of the homes in the
neighborhood and hopefully it works out. Thank you.
Aller: Great. Just the packet for those of you who are here haven’t seen it or those at home and
haven’t checked the website, you just talked about taking a look at other options. We did look at
the public way option which would have been a cul-de-sac but that would have been a detriment
with regard to the water and access for purposes of the homes and setbacks correct?
Chris May: I agree. Yes. Especially I mean seeing the slope of the hill and trying to cut a road
in there and now all of a sudden the houses would be pretty well set up. Otherwise you’re going
to have a real steep kind of street going in there so it’s kind of, I think for grading issues and
everything just you know being able to do the flag pole lot would kind of be the best for the
existing.
Aller: This way we can maintain a lot more trees.
Chris May: Yes. I mean it’s.
Aller: Preserve.
Chris May: And again a lot of the tree coverages in the back behind the house along the bluff,
towards the park and all that will be left undisturbed. And then along the fence line to the east,
you know there’s some nice trees that are along that way and that all remains not to be taken out
so.
Aller: Great. Any additional questions? Mr. Weick.
Weick: Just is existing house 4 included because you needed a little bit, did you redraw the
property on that?
Chris May: Yes.
Weick: Just to gauge.
Chris May: If you can see the original property lines, so that 6341 I worked with the neighbor to
do a lot line transfer. They owned the whole frontage along Teton and I needed that frontage to
allow my driveway accesses for Lots 2 and 3.\\
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Chanhassen Planning Commission – April 7, 2015
Weick: Oh it went that way. Oh I got you.
Chris May: Yeah, you see he owned that whole frontage there so I.
Weick: Yep. Yep, understood.
Aanenson: Can I just add, with any infill development there’s challenges, yeah. So obviously he
worked with staff. With Sharmeen who actually put, did the staff report to try to figure out a
way to accomplish that and then even vacating the street to get that little remnant piece attached
to this so a little bit more. And back to the cul-de-sac issue, and maybe Stephanie had some
additional comments on just the implications of trying to address additional stormwater and the
like.
Bartels: As I think has been mentioned it does a service to keep the trees and the existing tree
coverage where it is. As far as keeping additional water flowing down there. Keeping all the
sediment that’s already there. The soils that are there in place with those tree roots and with that
tree coverage. It’s to the benefit of the stormwater in the area to keep that there if possible.
Weick: Because it’s a significant drop. I’m horrible with directions. That way you know off.
Bartels: Yeah you can see right here.
Chris May: In the back yeah down to the park it’s.
Weick: Well the other one too. There’s houses right back.
Chris May: On the east side as well it drops off that way but it’s pretty level to the west.
Weick: So we certainly don’t want to create anything that pushes stormwater that way.
Aanenson: Yeah, right.
Weick: Okay.
Aller: Great, thank you.
Chris May: Thank you.
Aanenson: And I just want to point out too, I think which was mentioned that there is trees up in
this area so if you push that house back you could put a driveway through that might minimize
some of those trees and preserve. I think so too yeah. So we would work on that because these
are custom homes we’d work on that with the future buyer. I’m assuming that someone buying
it may want to consider that too.
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Chanhassen Planning Commission – April 7, 2015
Aller: When they come in to do a final. With that I’ll open up the public hearing portion. Any
individual wishing to speak either for or against the item before us can come forward and do so
at this time. Sir if you come forward and state your name and address for the record that would
be great.
Daniel Fuller: Daniel Fuller, 6430 Bretton Way. So I’m 2 doors down to the east on the corner
on Bretton Way. Overall I’m fine with this. I think it will look nice. You know have the lots be
similar with the rest of the neighborhood. My only concern is because you know it was
mentioned before that to the east there is a very steep hill and I’m at the bottom of the hill along
with some of my neighbors. Our yards are pretty much unusable from March until June because
of the snow melt and the rainfall so anything we can do to make sure all these houses, their
stormwater goes west instead of down the hill that would be great. Thanks.
Aller: Thank you.
Bartels: And if I can address that.
Aller: Please do.
Bartels: Yeah. Taking a look at the grading for the proposed site, you can see that it keeps the
existing drainage pattern of the area. It’s continuing to drain mostly towards Bretton Way and
towards Teton Lane and it’s not creating additional grading that would, that would be sending
extra water down that hill towards those homes.
Aller: Any additional comments, questions? Any other individual wishing to come forward to
speak for or against the item or comment on the item. Seeing no one come forward I’m closing
the public hearing and opening it up for commissioner discussion. I think it’s preliminary plat.
What we’re trying to do here is give a good starting point. It will be finalized in the fine tuning
and the drainage, final drainage issues will be resolved at that time and certainly part of the
record and staff is aware of our concerns and as a City we’ve always been concerned with our
waste water management and our management system so based on the report and the comments
as provided I would support a motion.
Undestad: I’ll jump in again here.
Aller: Commissioner Undestad.
Undestad: I recommend that the Chanhassen Planning Commission recommends the City
Council approve preliminary plat with variances to replat of 2.74 acres into 4 lots, Redstone
Ridge on property zoned single family residential (RSF) and located at 6341 and 6400 Teton
Lane and adoption of the attached Findings of Fact and Recommendation.
Aller: I have a motion. Do I have a second?
Madsen: Second.
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Chanhassen Planning Commission – April 7, 2015
Aller: Okay, I have a motion by Commissioner Undestad and seconded by Commissioner
Madsen. Any further discussion?
Undestad moved, Madsen seconded that the Chanhassen Planning Commission
recommends that the City Council approve Preliminary Plat with a Variance for the use of
a neck lot, to replat 2.74 acres into four lots, Redstone Ridge as shown in plans dated
received February 14, 2015, including the attached Findings of Fact and Recommendation,
subject to the following conditions:
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 Redstone Ridge for the two new housing units only.
The park fees will be collected in full at the rate in force upon final plat submission and
approval. Based upon the city’s 2015 single-family park fee of $5,800 per unit, the total park
fees for Redstone Ridge would be $11,600.
Engineering Conditions:
1.The plans shall show the first-floor elevations of existing buildings on adjacent properties.
2.The grading plans shall be revised to show the proposed elevations at each lot corner and at
the corners of the proposed structures.
3.Draintile service must be provided for Lots 1 and 2 where runoff will flow from the back to
the front of the lot.
4.A soils report is required indicating soil conditions, permeability, slope and water level if
detected.
5.The plan must indicate that all swales discharging off site are to have the final 200 feet
stabilized and the method to be used.
6.The silt fence must comply with City Detail 5300 which requires the use of metal tee-posts.
7.The silt fence shown across Lots 3 and 4 must be placed twenty (20) feet from the top of the
bluff to ensure that entire bluff impact zone is protected.
8.Inlet protection shall be shown on all existing catch basins with the potential to receive
runoff from the site or tracked material.
9.Plan must demonstrate the placement of a rock construction entrance and include a detail.
10.A note shall be made that no less than six (6) inches of topsoil, meeting the MnDOT
specifications for 3877.2 Loam Topsoil Borrow must be placed to achieve the final grade and
prior to the placement of any sod.
11.The plan must show a stockpile area for stripped topsoil.
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Chanhassen Planning Commission – April 7, 2015
12.The erosion escrow shall be required reflecting the quantity of topsoil necessary to place six
(6) inches over Lots 1 and 2 excluding the 25% hardcover allowed with the Development
Contract.
13.The grading plan shall label the elevation at the centerline of the proposed driveways.
14.The plan must label the proposed grade of the new driveway for the home on Lot 3.
15.The new driveway pavement being installed at Lot 3 may not exceed a width of 50 feet.
16.Escrow for the construction of the new sanitary sewer and water services and the associated
restoration of part of Teton Lane will be collected with the Development Contract.
17.Surface Water Management Utility fees totaling $6,025.80 shall be due at final plat.
18.Partial water and sewer hookup fees will be due at the time of final plat; the remaining hook-
up fees will be due with the building permit. The fees will be assessed at the rate in effect at
that time.
Environmental Resource Conditions:
1.Tree protection fencing will be required at the edge of grading limits near any preserved
trees. It shall be installed prior to grading.
2.Each lot will be required to have a minimum of one tree in the front yard.
Planning Conditions:
1.Approval of the subdivision is contingent on approval of the right-of-way vacation.
2.All lots must maintain a maximum hard surface coverage of 25%.
All voted in favor and the motion carried unanimously with a vote of 5 to 0.
Aller: Okay going back to new business.
ADOPTION OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION BYLAWS.
Aller: Under the present Bylaws 7.4 review, we do an annual review of the Bylaws. Has
everyone had an opportunity to read and review the Bylaws that are in draft form before us?
Any comments? Recommended changes. Hearing none I’ll take a motion to adopt the Bylaws.
Undestad: Motion to approve.
Aller: I have a motion. Do I have a second?
Weick: Second.
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