02-5-92 Agenda and Packet -FII, —
AGENDA
CHANHASSEN PLANNING COMMISSION
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1992 , 7: 30 P.M.
CHANHASSEN CITY HALL, 690 COULTER DRIVE
CALL TO ORDER
1. Organizational Items - Election of Chair and Vice Chair for
1992 .
PUBLIC HEARINGS
2 . Wetland Alteration Permit for the realignment of Minnewashta
Parkway and the mitigation of approximately .76 acres of
wetland, City of Chanhassen, Engelhardt and Associates.
OLD BUSINESS
3 . Zoning Ordinance Amendment Concerning PUD Residential
Standards. (Note: Discussion limited to 5 minutes maximum
per Commissioner by Planning Commission resolution. )
NEW BUSINESS
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
CITY COUNCIL UPDATE
ONGOING ITEMS
ADMINISTRATIVE APPROVALS
OPEN DISCUSSION
4 . Hwy. 5 Corridor Study Update - Discussion and new direction.
ADJOURNMENT
CITY OF _i_ .
,041 CHANHASSENi
,.._
690 COULTER DRIVE • P.O. BOX 147 • CHANHASSEN, MINNESOTA 55317
(612) 937-1900 • FAX (612) 937-5739
MEMORANDUM
TO: Planning Commission
FROM: Paul Krauss, Planning Director
DATE: January 9 , 1992
SUBJ: Organizational Items
a. Election of Chair and Vice Chair
The Planning Commission should make nominations and select a
Chair and Vice Chair for 1992 .
b. Adoption of Planning Commission By-laws
The By-laws should be reviewed and adopted every year by the
- Planning Commission. The Commission should discuss any
comments or changes they feel necessary at this time.
c. Liaison Attendance at City Council Meetings
In the past, a schedule has been formulated where all the
Planning Commissioners would rotate attending the City Council
meetings. However, in 1991, Steve Emmings elected to attend
all City Council meetings. The Commission should discuss
whether or not to elect one person to attend or to schedule
_ all commissioners on a rotating basis during the year.
d. Liaison Attendance at Housing and Redevelopment Authority
Meetings
The Planning Commission has not had a person attending the HRA
meetings since the resignation of Jim Wildermuth. The
Commission should discuss whether they wish to have a person
attend these meetings.
tog, PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER
BYLAWS -
PLANNING COMMISSION
CITY OF CHANHASSEN
The following bylaws are adopted by the City Planning Commission
to facilitate the performance of its duties and the exercising of
its functions as a commission established by the City Council
pursuant to the provision of Subdivision 1 , Section 462 . 354
Minnesota State Statutes anotated .
SECTION 1 - Duties and Responsibilities - Planning Commission:
1 . 1
The Planning Commission shall serve as an advisory body to the
City Council through carrying out reviews of planning matters .
All final decisions are to be made by the City Council .
1 . 2
The Planning Commission shall prepare a Comprehensive Plan for
the future development of the City and recommend on amendments to
the plan as they arise.
1 . 3
The Planning Commission shall initiate, direct , and review the —
provisions and standards of the Zoning Ordinance and Subdivision
Regulations and report its recommendations to the City Council .
1 . 4
The Planning Commission shall review applications and proposals
for zoning ordinance amendments , subdivisions , street vacations ,
conditional use permits and site plan reviews and make their
recommendations to the City Council in accordance with the Zoning
Ordinance and Subdivision Ordinance . -
1 . 5
The Planning Commission shall hold public hearings on development
proposals as prescribed by the Zoning and Subdivision Ordinances .
1 . 6 - Establishment of Subcommittees
The Planning Commission may, as they deem appropriate , establish
special subcommittees comprised solely of their own members . _
SECTION 2 - Meetings:
2 . 1 - Time
Regular meetings of the Commission shall be held on the first and
third weeks of each month at 7 : 30 p.m. at the City Council
Chambers , 690 Coulter Drive , unless otherwise directed by the
Chairman , in which case at least 24 hours notice will be given to
all members . Regular meetings shall have a curfew of 11 : 00 p .m.
which may be waived at the discretion of the Chairman . All
unfinished business will be carried over to the next regular
Planning Commission meeting .
When the regular meeting day falls on a legal holiday, there
shall be no Planning Commission meeting.
2 . 2 - Special Meetings
Special meetings shall be held upon call by the Chairman , or in
his absence, by the Vice-Chairman or any other member with the
concurrence of four other members of the commission , and with at
least 48 hours of notice to all members . Notice of all special
meetings shall also be posted on the official City Bulletin
Board.
2 . 3 - Attendance
Planning Commission members shall attend not less than seventy-
- five ( 75% ) percent of all regular and special meetings held
during a given ( calendar) year, and shall not be absent from
three ( 3 ) consecutive meetings without prior approval of the
Chairman . Failure to meet this minimum attendance requirement
shall be cause for removal from the Commission by action of the
City Council .
SECTION 3 - Commission Composition, Terms and Vacancies :
3 . 1 - Composition
The Commission shall consist of 7 voting members . Seven members
shall be appointed by the Council and may be removed by the
Council .
3 . 2 - Terms and Vacancies
The Council shall appoint seven members to the Commission for
terms of three years. Vacancies during the term shall be filled
_ by the Council for the unexpired portion of the term. Every
appointed member shall before entering upon the charge of his
duties take an oath that he will faithfully discharge the duties
of his office. All members shall serve without compensation .
3 . 3 - Quorum
Four Planning Commission members shall constitute a quorum for
the transaction of business . Whenever a quorum is not present,
no final or official action shall be taken at such meeting.
-2-
SECTION 4 - Organization:
4 .1 - Election of Officers
At the first meeting in January of each year , the Planning
Commission shall hold an organization meeting. At this meeting,
the Comission shall elect from its membership a Chairman and
Vice-Chairman. This shall be done by secret ballot. Each member
shall cast its ballot for the member he wishes to be chosed for
Chairman. If no one receives a majority, balloting shall con-
tinue until one member receives the majority support.
Vice-Chairman shall be elected from the remaining numbers of the
same proceeding.
If the Chairman retires from the Planning Commission before the
next regular organizational meeting, the Vice-Chairman shall be
Chairman . If both Chairman and Vice-Chairman retire, new offi-
cers shall be elected at the next regular meeting. If both
Chairman and Vice-Chairman are absent from a meeting, the
Commission shall elect a temporary Chairman by voice vote .
4 . 2 - Duties of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman
The Chairman or in his absence, the Vice-Chairman, shall preside
at meetings , appoint committees from its own membership, and per-
form other such duties as ordered by the Commission .
The Chairman shall conduct the meeting so as to keep it moving
rapidly and efficiently as possible and shall remind members ,
witnesses and petitioners to preserve order and decorum and to
keep comments to the subject at hand.
The Chairman shall not move for action but may second motions .
SECTION 5 - Procedure:
5 . 1 - Parlimentary Procedure
Parlimentary Procedure governed by Roberts Rules of Order Revised
shall be followed at all regular meetings . At special work
session meetings , and when appropriate, the Commission may hold
group discussions not following any set parlimentary procedures
except when motions are before the Commission .
SECTION 6 - Public Hearings:
6 . 1 - Purpose of Hearings
The purpose of a hearing is to collect information and facts in
order for the Commission to develop a rational planning recommen-
dation for the City Council .
6 . 2 - Hearing Procedure
At hearings the following procedure shall be followed in each
case:
-3-
a . The Chairman shall state the case to be heard .
b . The Chairman shall call upon the staff to present the staff
report. Required reports from each City Department shall be
submitted to the Planning Commission before each case is
heard.
c . The Chairman shall ask the applicant to present his case .
d . Interested persons may address the Commission, giving infor-
mation regarding the particular proposal .
e . Petitioners and the public are to address the Chairman only,
not staff or other commissioners .
f . There shall be no dialogue among the Commissioners , giving
information regarding the particular proposal .
( The Planning Commission members may ask questions of persons
addressing the Commission in order to clarify a fact, but any
statement by a member for any other purpose than to question
may be ruled out of order . )
g . After all new facts and information have been brought forth ,
the hearing shall be closed and interested persons shall not
be heard again . Upon completion of the hearing on each case ,
the Planning Commission shall discuss the item at hand and
render a decision . The Planning Commission if it so desires ,
may leave the public record open for written comments for a
specified period of time.
h . The Chairman shall have the responsibility to inform all the
parties of their rights of appeal on any decision or recom-
mendation of the Planning Commission.
6 . 3 - Schedule
At meetings where more than one hearing is scheduled, every
effort shall be made to begin each case at the time set in the
agenda, but in no case may an item be called for hearing prior to
the advertised time listed on the agenda.
SECTION 7 - Miscellaneous:
7 . 1 - Planning Commission Discussion
Matters for discussion which do not appear on the agenda may be
considered and discussed by the Commission only when initiated
and presented by the staff and shall be placed at the end of the
agenda.
7 . 2 - Suspension of Rules
The Commission may suspend any of these rules by a unanimous vote
of the members present .
-4-
7 . 3 - Amendments
Amendment of these bylaws may be made at any regular or special
meeting of the Planning Commission but only if scheduled on the
meeting agenda in advance of the meeting .
7 . 4 - Review
At the first meeting in January of each year , these bylaws shall
be read and adopted by the Planning Commission.
Adopted: Date :
Chairman
s
-5-
C IT T 0 F PC DATE: 2/5/92
\ 1
CHA1UAE1 CC DATE: 2/27/92
CASE #: 92-1 WAP
By: Olsen/v
STAFF REPORT
PROPOSAL: Wetland Alteration Permit for the Construction of Storm
Water Ponds Within 200 Feet of a Class A Wetland
F-
ZLOCATION: Three ponds located on the westerly side of Minnewashta
QParkway adjacent to Lake St. Joe
APPLICANT: City of Chanhassen
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Minnewashta Parkway WAP
February 5, 1992
Page 2
PROPOSAL/SUMMARY
The city is in the process of improving Minnewashta Parkway.
Construction is scheduled to begin this spring. The street will be
slightly widened, provided with a sidewalk, have a new solid
roadbed, and incorporate safety improvements.
Included in the improvements is the provision of a storm sewer
system and storm water retention areas. Currently, Minnewashta
Parkway does not have a storm sewer system and untreated runoff
from the street goes directly into Lake St. Joe and Lake
Minnewashta. The storm sewer system will allow for the collection
and pretreatment of storm water prior to it entering Lake St. Joe
and Lake Minnewashta.
There is a total of four storm water ponds being developed as part
of the storm sewer system. Three of the most southerly ponds,
Ponds A-C, are located on the west side of Minnewashta Parkway
adjacent to Lake St. Joe. These ponds are being provided to remove
sediments prior to the storm water entering the Class A wetland
adjacent to Lake St. Joe, Lake St. Joe, and eventually entering
Lake Minnewashta. Ponds A and B are located within 200 feet of
the Class A wetland surrounding Lake St. Joe. Pond C is located on
the edge of the Class A wetland with a small portion of the pond
impacting the wetland vegetation. The Zoning Ordinance requires a
wetland alteration permit for any alteration within 200 feet of a
Class A wetland and for any alteration within a wetland. The
fourth pond, Pond D, is not within 200 feet of a Class A wetland,
nor does it impact any wetland area. Therefore, Pond D does not
require a wetland alteration permit. Attached is a memo from the
_ city' s engineering consultant which details the storm water system.
Ponds A and B have been designed to perform NURP functions to
effectively remove a large percentage of the sedimentation from the
storm water prior to it entering the wetland and Lake St. Joe.
Proposed conditions are minor due to the level of staff input in
developing the plans. However, we are recommending that the
construction plans be revised to include landscaping around the
structures and ponds to preserve the area's visual quality. The
size and location of the ponds are such that they will not impact
the existing wetland located adjacent to Lake St. Joe. Pond C has
been designed to be a larger pond than Ponds A and B to be even
more effective at removing sediment from the storm water and to
also allow it to take on more of a wetland quality. The design of
the pond is such that the southeast corner of the pond is impacting
a small portion of the edge of cattail vegetation of the Class A
wetland. The proposed new ponding area of Pond C is 5, 735 square
feet and the impacted area is 1, 355 square feet. Therefore, the
altered area is being fully mitigated.
Minnewashta Parkway WAP
February 5, 1992
Page 3
Staff has worked closely with the engineering consultant to have
the least amount of impact to the existing wetland while allowing
the storm water to be treated prior to entering Lake St. Joe and
Lake Minnewashta. The resulting ponding areas are only impacting
a small area of cattails along Lake St. Joe and the creation of the
four ponding areas greatly improves the water quality entering Lake
St. Joe and Lake Minnewashta over what exists today.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the Planning Commission adopt the following
motion:
"The Planning Commission recommends approval of Wetland Alteration
Permit #92-1 with the following conditions:
1. Type III erosion control shall be used around the construction
area of Ponds A-D.
2 . The city shall receive all permits required from the DNR and
Watershed District.
3 . Plans be revised to incorporate landscaping around the ponds
and structures. "
ATTACHMENTS
1. Memo from William Engelhardt and Associates - Details of the
storm water system.
2 . Ponds A-D.
1
MINNEWASHTA PARKWAY STORM WATER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
INTRODUCTION:
As the storm sewer system for Minnewashta Parkway was being
designed , careful consideration was given to both minimizing
the environmental effects of planned construction and
mitigation of the envi ronmentally detrimental
characteristics of the existing developed system .
Preliminary discussions with both the DNR and MCWD added to
the scope of the system and contributed significantly to the
— final system design . The system evolving from the planning
and scoping process was designed in the spirit of improving
— the water quality of three important water bodies : Lake St .
Joe , Lake Minnewashta , and Lake Virginia .
OVERALL MANAGEMENT PLAN:
As previously stated , the overall plan was to incorporate
various mechanisms by which the effect of Minnewashta
Parkway and adjacent development on Lake St . Joe , Lake
Minnewashta and Lake Virginia will be minimized. Since the
natural flow of water in this chain of lakes is from St . Joe
to Minnewashta to Virginia , it was decided to discharge the
storm sewer into Lake St . Joe where possible . In fact , four
of the six storm sewer lines discharge into St . Joe . The
remaining two lines discharge into the creek connecting
Minnewashta to Virginia . There are no direct discharge
locations into Minnewashta . Rather than discharging
directly to the receiving waters , sedimentation ponds will
be constructed at five of the six discharge points . In
addition , the final structure in each line will be a sump
structure . This structure will trap coarse sediments prior
2
to discharge into the sedimentation pond . As an added
treatment mechanism, runoff from development along West 77th
Street , Minnewashta Highlands , Maple Shores Drive , Red Cedar
Point , Stratford Lane , Stratford Ridge , Glendale Drive, and
Linden Circle will be conveyed to the treatment ponds by
storm sewer . Further , the existing discharge into
Minnewashta via the Stratford Ridge detention pond will be
removed thus eliminating the existing erosion problem. The
final treatment mechanism underlying all the aforementioned
is the installation of concrete curb and gutter on
Minnewashta Parkway . This allows runoff to be routed to the
ponds . In contrast , existing street runoff sheets directly —
into St . Joe and Minnewashta .
DESCRIPTION OF TREATMENT PROCESS:
The following narrative describes the method by which the
ponds will improve the quality of the storm runoff entering
the receiving waters . First , the storm water enters the
storm sewer line and eventually arrives at the sump —
structure . At this point , the larger gravel and rock
sediments transported , in the line , settle to the bottom of
the structure . Upon discharge into the sedimentation pond ,
the finer gravel particles and flocculated clays and silts
will settle from the water . At this point , the water passes
through a skimmer structure and into a pipe discharging into
the receiving waters . The skimmer structure is designed to
prevent oils and other floatables from entering the
receiving waters . —
The mechanism of a settle pond is simply gravity settling of
an object in a fluid media . The pond itself can be
envisioned as a bulge i.n the pipe . As water enters the
bulge , the area of flow increases . As the area increases ,
3
the flow velocity decreases . This decrease in flow velocity
provides the time necessary for a particle to settle to the
bottom of the pond and hence , be removed. Combined with the
outlet skimmer , the pond becomes an efficient means by which
to control the sediment and petroleum product load on the
_ receiving water . Removal of these constituents of storm
runoff reduces the Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) , nutrient
load and organic load transferred to the receiving waters .
WETLAND ALTERATION:
Based on the latest survey information , the only pond
requiring alteration of a wetland is Pond C. Construction
of Pond C will include placing embankment on 1 , 355 square
feet of the wetland adjacent to Lake St . Joe. To compensate
for the loss of wetland , there is an area of excavation of
5 , 375 square feet below the OHW of Lake St . Joe.
In addition , it should be noted, while the ponds encroach
upon wetlands , the nature of the pond will improve the water
quality received by St . Joe . This reason, coupled with the
difficulty of constructing an adequate storm sewer system
should be considered when reviewing the overall
environmental impact of this project .
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CITY 4F
i
, CHANHASSEN
690 COULTER DRIVE • P.O. BOX 147 • CHANHASSEN, MINNESOTA 55317
(612) 937-1900 • FAX (612) 937-5739
MEMORANDUM
TO: Planning Commission
FROM: Paul Krauss, Planning Director
DATE: December 31, 1991
SUBJ: Draft Ordinance Changes/Residential Components of the PUD
Ordinance
UPDATE
At the January 15, 1992 , meeting, the question of drafting the
section of the PUD ordinance relating to single family developments
was again reviewed. As has been the case in meetings since last
summer, the most important question being asked is, "Will
Chanhassen allow lots containing less than 15, 000 square feet under
any circumstances, and if so, how small should they be allowed to
be, and what standards should be applied?" In the materials
outlined below, staff indicates a belief that this can be done
effectively and further believes that the proposal has merit, even
has some merit if a minimum 15, 000 square foot average lot size
must be maintained. However, we do not want to beat a dead horse
and while we think this proposal has merit, if it does not have
support by the Planning Commission and City Council, we prefer to
find that out once and for all and be able to put this question to
rest. At the last meeting, there continued to be a feeling that
small lots have caused us problems in the past and there was some
indication that there was not sufficient support by the Planning
Commission to push this idea further. I related to you
conversations I have had with the Mayor and Councilman Wing
indicating that they were concerned with the proposal to lower lot
area standards and probably would not be able to support it if this
came to the City Council.
Due to the absence of two Planning Commission members who have been
some of the primary people involved in previous discussions of this
ordinance, action on this item was delayed to February 5th. The
premise under which this was done was that each Planning
Commissioner would be allowed no more than five minutes each to lay
out their position and a vote will be taken. I would encourage you
to keep to this self imposed guideline for two reasons. Other
items on the agenda are important and will take a substantial
to, PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER
Draft Residential PUD Ordinance
December 31, 1991
Page 2
amount of time and I am not at all certain that further discussions
would prove to be fruitful. In the attached memorandum, I have
repeated materials that were presented to the Planning Commission
at the last meeting, as well as minutes from the two previous
meetings for your review.
PROPOSAL/SUMMARY
At a series of meetings over the past year, staff has brought
proposed changes to the PUD ordinance before the Planning
Commission. As you will probably recall, the bulk of the PUD
ordinance which pertains to non-residential development in the
community was adopted last fall and is now in use. The ordinance
is in use as evidenced by Ryan's Chanhassen Business Center PUD.
In fact, we even used the ordinance in a residential context for
Lundgren' s Lake Lucy Road project. However, this did not involve
any lots smaller than the 15, 000 square foot RSF standard. At that
time, however, because a consensus could not be reached on
standards pertaining to residential PUDs, this section of the
ordinance was not adopted. Staff has been attempting to resolve
outstanding issues for the Planning Commission since that time.
The Planning Commission 's primary concerns stem from the use of the
PUD ordinance to allow lots smaller than 15, 000 square feet. We
have attempted to present evidence that we believe allows one to
conclude that lots smaller than 15, 000 square feet are:
1. Highly buildable.
2 . Represent the potential for high quality residential
neighborhoods. Local evidence is Lundgren's Near Mountain
project.
3 . Are cost effective. Economic result from lower land cost and
reduced costs for roads and utilities.
4 . Can be used to require higher quality, more sensitive
development. In exchange for PUD flexibility and cost
savings, the city can expect more from the developer.
5. Can be handled in such a manner as to avoid the problems that
have occurred in the past with some small lot developments in
the city. Past problems include lots poorly designed to
accommodate homes, expansions and decks within setback areas.
Staff believes this can be addressed by establishing
comprehensive development standards.
Last summer, we believed that we had reached agreement on allowing
lots down to 9 , 000 square feet under certain circumstances, as long
as there was a mix of lot sizes in the balance of the development.
When this last came before you in September, it was clear that our
belief that a consensus had been reached for 9, 000 square foot lots
was in error. This memo and the materials attached herein
represent our most recent attempts to clarify this matter so that
Draft Residential PUD Ordinance
December 31, 1991
Page 3
we may move on to other issues. We firmly believe that the PUD
ordinance offers significant advantages to the city as well as the
developer and should be used more often in the future.
We are presenting two variations of the ordinance for your review
and comment. The first is the ordinance that you reviewed at the
September meeting. It is unchanged except that the minimum lot
size has been increased from 9, 000 square feet to 10, 000 square
feet. We made this change for two reasons. It seemed more
consistent with the Planning Commission's intent. Secondly, we
recently reviewed a preliminary development concept that used the
same sized lot quite effectively. Staff supported this ordinance
in the past and we continue to do so believing that this sort of
development can be handled in an effective and sensitive manner.
The second alternative is to allow lots down to the same 10, 000
square foot minimum but require that average lot size meet or
exceed the 15, 000 square foot minimum provided in the RSF District.
We believe that this approach adds some flexibility, although not
as much as the first option. However, it does result in average
project densities that are consistent with development elsewhere in
the community. Staff has recently spoken to a potential developer
on land located near the intersection of Galpin and Lyman
Boulevard. On this project, the potential developer, Hans Hagen
Homes, would like to utilize reduced sized lots in the open field
area closest to the public boulevards. They would like to balance
this by using larger sized lots in a forested area located to the
north and west. In these areas, the larger sized lots could
receive a better price on the market and allow for a lot more
sensitivity in tree preservation and to minimize grading. We think
_ this concept has a tremendous amount of merit even though the
average lot size is still being maintained at better than 15, 000
square feet.
Staff is at a loss as to how to pursue this matter further if a
consensus is not reached on one or the other alternatives at the
next meeting. If further analysis is desired, your direction is
requested so that we may further clarify the issue. Staff is
recommending that the Planning Commission select one of the
alternatives for adoption by the City Council.
* Denotes second alternative *
CITY OF CHANHASSEN
CARVER AND HENNEPIN COUNTIES, MINNESOTA
ORDINANCE NO.
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 20 OF THE
CHANHASSEN CITY CODE, THE ZONING ORDINANCE
The City Council of the City of Chanhassen ordains:
Section 1. Article VIII, Planned Unit Development District of
the Chanhassen City Code is amended as follows:
Section 20-506. Standards and Guidelines for Single Family
Detached Residential PUD's.
a) Minimum Lot Size - The single family residential PUD allows
lot sizes down to a minimum of 10,000 square feet. The
applicant must demonstrate that there are a mix of lot sizes
consistent with local terrain conditions, preservation of
natural features and open space and that lot sizes are
consistent with average building footprints that will be
concurrently approved with the PUD. * Average lot sizes for
the project must meet or exceed 15,000 square feet. * The
applicant must demonstrate that each lot is able to
accommodate a 60 ' x 40 ' building pad and 12 ' x 12 ' deck
without intruding into any required setback area or protective
easement. Each home must also have a minimum rear yard of 30
feet deep. This area may not be encumbered by the required
home/deck pads or by wetland/drainage easements.
b) Minimum Lot Width at Building Setback - 90 feet.
c) Minimum Lot Depth - 100 feet.
d) Minimum Setbacks:
PUD Exterior - 30 feet.
Front Yard - 20 feet.
Rear Yard - 30 feet
Side Yard - 10 feet.
Accessory Buildings and Structures - located adjacent to or
behind principal structure a minimum of 10 feet from property
line.
e) The applicant must demonstrate that the flexibility provided
by the PUD is used to protect and preserve natural features
such as tree stands, wetlands, ponds, and scenic views. These
1
areas are to be permanently protected as public or private
tracts or protected by permanently recorded easements.
f) An overall landscaping plan is required. The plan shall
contain the following:
1) Boulevard Plantings - Located in front yard areas these
shall require a mix of over-story trees and other
plantings consistent with the site. Well designed
entrance monument is required. In place of mass grading
for building pads and roads, stone or decorative block
retaining walls shall be employed as required to preserve
mature trees and the site' s natural topography.
2) Exterior Landscaping and Double Fronted Lots - Landscaped
berms shall be provided to buffer the site and lots from
major roadways, railroads, and more intensive uses.
Similar measures shall be provided for double fronted
lots. Where necessary to accommodate this landscaping,
additional lot depth may be required.
3) Foundation Plantings - A minimum budget for foundation
plants shall be established and approved by the city. As
each parcel is developed in the PUD, the builder shall be
required to install plant materials meeting or exceeding
the required budget prior to issuance of certificate of
occupancy or provide financial guarantees acceptable to
the city.
4) Rear Yard - The rear yard shall contain at least two
over-story trees. Preservation of existing trees having
a diameter of at least 6 inches at 4 feet in height can
be used to satisfy this requirement of the PUD and the
plans should be developed to maximize tree preservation.
g) Architectural Standards - The applicant should demonstrate
that the PUD will provide for a high level of architectural
design and building materials. While this requirement is not
intended to minimize design flexibility, a set of
architectural standards should be prepared for city approval .
The primary purpose of this section is to assure the city that
high quality design will be employed and that home
construction can take place without variances or impact to
adjoining lots. The PUD Agreement should include the
following:
1) Standards for exterior architectural treatments.
2) Prohibition against free standing garages may be required
by the city when it is felt that unattached garages will
be difficult to accommodate due to small lot sizes. If
- an attached garage is to be converted to living space at
2
some time in the future, the applicant will have to
demonstrate that there is sufficient room to accommodate
a two car garage without variances to obtain a permit.
3) Guidelines regulating the placement of air conditioners,
dog kennels, storage buildings, and other accessory uses
that could potentially impact adjoining parcels due to
small lot sizes.
Section 20-507 . Standards and Guidelines for Single Family
Attached or Cluster-Home PUD's.
a) Single family attached, cluster, zero lot line, and similar
dwelling types shall only be allowed on sites designed for
medium or high density residential uses by the City of
Chanhassen Comprehensive Plan.
b) Minimum lot sizes. Minimum lot sizes down to 5, 000 square
feet may be allowed. However, in no case will gross density
exceed guidelines established by the City of Chanhassen
Comprehensive Plan.
c) Setback Standards/Structures and Parking:
PUD Exterior - 50 feet
Interior Public Right-of-way - 20 feet
Other setbacks - Established by PUD
Agreement
d) The applicant must demonstrate that the flexibility provided
by the PUD is used to protect and preserve natural features
such as tree stands, wetlands, ponds, and scenic views. These
areas are to be permanently protected as public or private
tracts or protected by permanently recorded easements.
e) An overall landscaping plan is required. The plan shall
contain the following:
1) Boulevard Plantings - Located in front yard areas these
shall require a mix of over-story trees and other
plantings consistent with the site. Landscaped berms
shall be provided to screen the site from major roadways,
railroads and more intensive land uses. Well designed
entrance monument is required. In place of mass grading
for building pads and roads, stone or decorative block
retaining walls shall be employed as required to preserve
mature trees and the site ' s natural topography.
2) Exterior Landscaping and Double Fronted Lots - Landscaped
berms shall be provided to buffer the site and lots from
major roadways, railroads, and more intensive uses.
Similar measures shall be provided for double fronted
3
lots. Where necessary to accommodate this landscaping,
additional lot depth may be required.
3) Foundation and Yard Plantings - A minimum budget for
foundation plants shall be established and approved by
the city. As each parcel is developed in the PUD, the
builder shall be required to install plant materials
meeting or exceeding the required budget prior to
issuance of certificate of occupancy or provide financial
guarantees acceptable to the city.
4) Tree preservation is a primary goal of the PUD. A
detailed tree survey should be prepared during the design
of the PUD and the plans should be developed to maximize
tree preservation.
f) Architectural Standards - The applicant should demonstrate
that the PUD will provide for a high level of architectural
design and building materials. While this requirement is not
intended to minimize design flexibility, a set of
architectural standards should be prepared for city approval.
The primary purpose of this section is to assure the city that
high quality design will be employed and that home
construction can take place without variances or impact to
adjoining lots. The PUD Agreement should include the
following:
1) Standards for exterior architectural treatments.
2) Prohibition against free standing garages may be required
by the city when it is felt that unattached garages will
be difficult to accommodate due to small lot sizes. If
an attached garage is to be converted to living space at
some time in the future, the applicant will have to
demonstrate that there is sufficient room to accommodate
a two car garage without variances to obtain a permit.
3) Guidelines regulating the placement of air conditioners,
- dog kennels, storage buildings, and other accessory uses
that could potentially impact adjoining parcels due to
small lot sizes.
Section 2 . Amend Section 20-505, Required General Standards,
by adding the following:
(m) Buffer yards. The City Comprehensive Plan establishes a
requirement for buffer yards. Buffer yards are to be established
in areas indicated on the Plan where higher intensity uses
interface with low density uses. In these areas, a fifty (50) foot
buffer yard is to be provided where the interface occurs along a
public street, a one hundred (100) foot buffer yard is required
where the interface occurs on internal lot lines.
4
The buffer yard is an additional setback requirement. It is to be
cumulatively calculated with the required setbacks outlined above.
The full obligation to provide the buffer yard shall be placed on
the parcel containing the higher intensity use.
The buffer yard is intended to provide additional physical
separation and screening for the higher intensity use. As such,
they will be required to be provided with a combination of berming,
landscaping and/or tree preservation to maximize the buffering
potential . To the extent deemed feasible by the city, new
plantings shall be designed to require the minimum of maintenance,
however, such maintenance as may be required to maintain
consistency with the approved plan, shall be the obligation of the
property owner.
Buffer yards shall be covered by a permanently recorded
conservation easement running favor of the city.
In instances where existing topography and/or vegetation provide
buffering satisfactory to the city, or where quality site planning
is achieved, the city may reduce buffer yard requirements by up to
50%. The applicant shall have the full burden of demonstrating
compliance with the standards herein.
5
Planning Commission Meeting
January 15 , 1992 - Page 25
supposed to be 6 slips , now because they had 14 that 's okay . Is that what
you 're saying? Because these are your neighbors . If you go back to 6
boats to what they 're supposed to have , wouldn 't that create a problem?
Emmings : You mean they ' ll burn my house down?
David Tester : You live right next to them .
Emmings: No , I know . Yeah I 'm putting all that out of my mind . I 'm not
going to sit here , I 'm sure my neighbors would hate me if I said I 'm not in
that neighborhood technically but I live right next door to a lot of them ,
I know a lot of them and they 're going to hate me for saying well back to
_ 1982 level . I have no doubt about that but that 's not going to influence
me . But maybe they hate me already for other reasons . Now they have
another one . Is there any other public comment here on this? Okay . . .and
I seconded it and just so we 're all on the same page because I forgot ,
we 're doing the version of the ordinance that uses an 1982 baseline . Is
there any discussion on this in light of the public comment? Then I 'll
call a question .
Conrad moved , Emmings seconded that the Planning Commission approval
adopting the ordinance using the baseline document of the size and extent
of the recreational beachlot in the summer of 1982 . All voted in favor and
the motion carried .
EmmingE : When will this go to the City Council?
Aanensor : The 10th .
Emmings: 5o if you 're interested in this , follow it on up .
Conrad : I think just as a footnote . When these start coming in and if
they come before us , we should know , and I think there 's some common sense
that has to guide what we do but we should have a feeling for how the
current ordinance would deal with a particular situation and I don 't know ,
which means if under the current ordinance if they have x number of boats
- or picnic tables or whatever . I 'd like to know that . And probably the
other thing is we should be looking at the site when it comes in . The idea
of the beachlot ordinance is for a lot of things . It 's called safety and
_ protecting the neighbors and some real common sense type stuff . And
sometimes you can have real unsafe situations on big lots and safe
situations on small lots . I think we have to take a look at them and again
apply some common sense stuff and I think we all hear what you 're concerned
- with . The people that are part of the association or the beachlot . I
would be fighting for my rights too just like you but I think on our side
we can apply some common sense guidelines that make it work . In some cases
it 's not going to turn out totally the way you want but I think we should
be able to reach some pretty good decisions .
ZONING ORDINANCE AMENDMENT CONCERNING PUD RESIDENTIAL STANDARDS .
Emmings : I 'm very disinclined to do this with the absence of Tim and Brian
- because they both had a lot of good things to say about this but I don 't
Planning Commission Meeting
January 15 , 1992 - Page 26 —
know if they 'd have additional things to say . Maybe we 're all kind of
talked out on this issue . I don 't know .
Ahrens: The PUD , I think so .
Emmings: But Brian and Tim have been particularly interested in this item
and I don 't know what to do . What do you want to do?
Conrad: I wouldn 't mind talking a little bit about it and then tabling it .
•
Emmings: Okay .
Ahrens: I 'd rather talk about it now or table it and talk about it later .
I mean we 've talked about this a lot .
Emmings: And have we gotten anywhere? I go round and round.
Ahrens : I mean I can talk about this forever tonight and then talk about _
it again another night because there are a lot of issues involved . . .
Conrad: I just have a real quick question basically and it will last
longer . Jeff , you go ahead . I 've talked more. —
Farmakes : What basis are we using from the 9 ,000 to the 10 ,000? What is
the basis that you picked that figure? —
Krauss: It 's highly scientific .
Farmakes: This isn 't like 3 trees is it? Because it 's more than 2? —
Emmings : Because he feels resistence at 9 ,000 .
Farmakes: Is there a financial or glass ceiling or whatever with the
developer? I need a 60 x 40 base pad and I need this much square footage .
Krauss: To be perfectly honest , Kate and I saw a concept that had been
prepared by somebody who 's thinking of proposing what is it a 160 lot
subdivision over off of Galpin near Lyman and the premise behind that was ,
it 's in the Volk . Yeah , the Volk Farm where the Cellular telephone tower —
is . And in the open areas he wanted to build a parkway with a number of
cul-de-sacs and in those areas where it 's just open field he figured that
he would put in the lowered priced home on the smaller lots and those he _
proposed at 10 ,000 square feet and when he got up into the forested hills
near Timberwood he came up with 15 ,000 to 25 ,000 . Well 25 ,000 to 30 ,000
square foot lots which fit in quite well with the terrain and the desire to
protect those trees . Because if you plowed in your normal 15 ,000 square —
foot lots on a suburban type pattern , you 're going to plow down most of
those trees . I thought the trade off made some sense . It seemed .to be
from a topological tree preservation standpoint it seemed to be an ideal —
candidate to do and that one used 10 ,000 square foot minimum lots . And the
average lot size was in excess of 15 ,000 . It seemed to be a reasonable
plan and I said well , I 've tried this 3 times before the Planning —
Commission . I 'll try another time . Now your comments about Commissioner
Batzli and Erhart are accurate . They have been somewhat the leading
Planning Commission Meeting
January 15 , 1992 - Page 27
proponents or opponents of this . I 've had some conversations since with
the Mayor and Councilman Wing . I think that they 're somewhat , well they
can speak for themselves but they 've indicated to me that they 're not in
favor of the decreasing lot sizes . We 're getting to the point where some
guidance would be nice . We 're getting asked the questions a whole lot . If
it 's 15 ,000 , it 's 15 ,000 . If you have flexibility , we do .
Farmakes : I still have just one question with the basis of understanding
this . If you don 't give up some lot size , what is the advantage to the
developer doing this?
Krauss : Well there isn 't much . If you don 't give up lot sizes you have
_ what I think is a highly unusual situation which was the Lake Lucy Road/
Lundgren proposal where it made sense to do it as a PUD because
conventionally configured lots didn 't fit because of all the wetlands .
That conventionally configured streets didn 't fit because of the wetlands
and the PUD gave us the flexibility to do that . But that average lot size ,
granted between useable and non-useable , I think it was 30 ,000 square feet
was the lot size and 18 ,000 to 20 ,000 square feet was the useable site .
- Those are pretty unusual cases . Is that ever likely to happen again , I
don 't know . Maybe .
_ 'Farmakes: Well I , in that particular development , I guess I thought it was
a nice development except for a couple of lots and those were the smaller
ones . I still , if you were looking at 10 ,000 or 12 ,000 square feet , I mean
again it seems an arbitrary number . I haven 't seen the development that
you 're talking about and I 'm having trouble understanding if you had an
attached garage with a pad that size , you 'd be looking at about a 40 x 40
house and attached garage wouldn 't you?
Krauss : We tried to define that a little bit more here .
Farmakes: A 60 x 40 building pad is , if you put an attached garage to it ,
that doesn 't leave you much left for the house .
Krauss : Well yeah , if you have a 60 x 40 pad . Each house in Chanhassen is
- required , well most houses in Chanhassen are required to have a 2 car
garage .
Farmakes: 20 feet for that and subtract that from .
Aanenson : What we 'd suggest is that you come in with some specific models
but a lot of homes have the punch out garage with the floor space behind .
Krauss : What we tried to come up with was a reasonably sized home pad plus
a reasonably sized deck plus a reasonably sized unencumbered back yard .
- You can 't play baseball in it but .
Ahrens: I think we know that they can do it . I mean they did in Near
_ Mountain and then we know that they can have decks on houses and we know
that they can have the right sized garage . I don 't think that 's really an
issue . I think the issue is just what we want .
Planning Commission Meeting
January 15 , 1992 - Page 28 --
Farmakes: What I was getting to after that would have been what percentage_
difference
ercentage—
difference do you see with a house like that next to a house on a 35 ,000
square foot lot? Percentage wise and pricing .
Krauss: See I don 't think pricing is , well I wouldn 't sell this to you , in—
the past the City 's gotten burned and you got burned in the Pheasant Hills
and Foxpath and a couple of others where these things were sold on the
premise . The builder came to you and he said , let me put these things on —
9 ,000 or 10 ,000 square foot lots and I 'll give you cheaper homes . I don 't
know if they intentially lied but they weren 't cheaper homes . The homes
got bigger as the market allowed it to get bigger and the City had no
protections in there to make sure that the homes could fit and that decks _
could fit and that people had reasonable back yards . It 's a pretty tough
situation . I think some of you have gotten calls from Willard on the Board
of Adjustments and it 's because he 's seen almost monthly he sees the —
results of those PUD 's . I think you can do it without it . Now what are
the reasons people buy a somewhat smaller sized lot . There 's lots of them .
Yeah , maybe they are a little less expensive . Maybe the lot price is —
$25 ,000 .00 or $30 ,000 .00 instead of $40 ,000 .00 or $50 ,000 .00 . I can 't
guarantee it butit 's reasonable to think it might be . I know in the case
of the developer we talked to , he clearly intends to make his big ticket
purchases on the nicer lots up on the hill , which makes sense . It lays out
well . You also have people that don 't want lots that are that big . Most
people move out to this area because they have an imagine of what they want
but not everybody wants to mow a third or a half an acre or whatever every —
Saturday . They want something a little smaller . Not everybody has 3 kids .
I mean there 's a lot of reasons people do a lot of things and we 've heard
some people coming to us at Board meetings like you should have protected _
me from myself . You should never have let me buy this lot . Well , I have a
- little bit of a tough time with that . You buy what you buy because that 's
what you think you want . But having said all that , I mean I think the
flexibility from the design standpoint , the ability to save trees . The —
ability to work around water features . The ability to lay in streets
nicely . The ability to have some variety is a real big benefit . Can we
develop without that? Sure . You have in the past . You will in the
future . And we 're not here to you know , I think there 's a valid case to
be made for using PUD 's but if there 's not a comfort level with it , then
let 's move on and work with it the way we have it .
Emmings: And that 's the problem . The way I feel like , I 'd like to look at
everything as a PUD and none of them as a straight subdivision really
because you feel like you have some flexibility . I don 't know if you —
really do wind up with any but you feel like you might and at least the
potential is there . That 's why in a way I 'd just like to say we 've got net
density , or densities we want to see depending on the zoning of the
property . Design whatever you want . Just give them a density and say
here , you design whatever you want .
Conrad: That was my question. Why didn 't we go with a gross density —
versus?
Emmings: If you want to maximize creativity and give them incentive to do —
things , the trouble is Ladd I think , and maybe I 'm wrong . You can probably
answer this better than I but I 'm afraid if that developer does get
Planning Commission Meeting
January 15 , 1992 - Page 29
creative and has some 9 ,000 foot lots , he 's going to wind up bringing that
in and it 's not going to get approved because there are some people who
just plain don 't like small lots . Even though it preserves a lot of open
space . I don 't know that but I think I 've had some people call me this
week who said just that . I think Brian has argued that , whether he meant
it or not . Whether he was being a Devil 's advocate or really meant it .
Conrad : Well Brian is the advocate of protect me from myself .
- Emmings : Well a little bit but he doesn 't want a little lot , and I think
there are a lot of people who feel that way . And I wouldn 't want to dangle
that out in front of a developer . But if we want PUD 's , we 've got to offer
them something . We 've got to make it attractive to them and I think the
way we do that is by saying you 've got a density figure to work against .
We 're going to be watching you to see that you preserve things we like and
_ that you don 't destroy the natural topography and everything else . Do your
best and bring it back and take a look .
Krauss : You could work it that way . I 'd still stick in the provisions
- though where we mandate that the developer has to demonstrate to your
satisfaction or the Council 's satisfaction that every lot that 's created ,
bar none , can accommodate a reasonably sized home , deck and a back yard .
When you 're talking about some creative developers , I don 't know that
that 's the right adjective for . . .
Emmings : Well wait . What if a guy wants to do zero lot line stuff?
Krauss: Oh well , I think that 's a different . This is an animal of a
different color . We cover that in here . Zero lot line homes are certainly
- a valid housing concept . They 're in demand in a lot of areas .
Emmings: Or what if you want to do a retirement thing where you have maybe
_ 3 or 4 units that are hooked together on a cul-de-sac with a whole bunch of
open space around it . How do we encourage people to do some things like
that?
- Krauss : Well , you can encourage that and the ordinance does provide for
those to go in areas guided for medium density housing . Most communities
have trouble chewing on that kind of a concept . Being allowed to go
- anywhere in a single family neighborhood . Even though I fully agree with
you that the density cap is the same , that number of units isn 't going to
increase over the normal style . It looks like a different style of
development and a lot of people object to having that next to their single
family home . So most of the time you find that those zero lot line
developments are segregated somehow . Oftentimes they 're in a higher
density area . That 's the way it 's done in most the communities I know .
Ahrens : I think we should look at creative development . I like PUD 's and
I think there 's all sorts of advantages for cities to look at that but the
only , you know I look at the Lundgren development over in Near Mountain and
if you drive behind it in Pleasant. View , it looks okay . The houses that
sit on the little lots . But if you drive inside of it to the front of
those houses , it 's crowded in there . You just get a feeling of being
crowded in there because the houses aren 't small . The houses are nice
Planning Commission Meeting
January 15 , 1992 - Page 30
sized and you get on this little curved street and all of a sudden it 's
crowded . And there 's barely room for cars to park between . If you have , —
I mean in suburbia everybody 's has lots of cars right? Especially when you
have teenagers . There 's no room to park even between the houses let alone
on the street . It 's really small . It 's really tight in there and I think
we have to think about not only will a house fit on a lot . Well sure . You
can get a house to fit on a lot and some people don 't want to have to mow
the lawns and stuff but how does it look and how is it going to look 20
years from now when we have a lot of big houses on little lots? I don 't
know . I don 't know if aesthetically that 's going to be too great and if
it 's going to be useable for people who have more than two cars and they
can fit them nicely into their driveway. I mean it is crowded in there . I _
don 't know if you 've ever driven in there but it is . And the houses look
nice now because they 're brand new houses . I mean it looks okay now . I
don 't know . I don 't know how it 's going to be . I think I 've changed my
position on the small lot size . I didn 't think it was a bad idea at first —
but the more I look at those lots in Lundgren , I 'm not sure that it 's the
best kind of setup for Chanhassen . I don 't think it 's so great if you have
a bunch of houses developed in just a little area and then you have a nice —
park 3 blocks away . Is that a better development than having all 15 ,000
square foot lots?
Emmings: What are you saying? That you think there should be a minimum
lot size then?
Ahrens: I do . —
Emmings : And what is your figure?
Ahrens: I think it should be 15 ,000 .
Emmings : Okay . Now if we did that , if we said we want a minimum 15 ,000
square foot lot size , would there be any incentive except for the odd piece
of property like Lundgren ran into over here . Would there be any incentive
for a developer to us a PUD? Basically he 's working in the subdivision
ordinance . —
Krauss: A PUD is a rezoning . Cities have a lot of leeway as to what kind
of conditions they apply on a rezoning action . Developers are business
people . They 're not going to plat . If the developer brings you a plat
without any variances , you 're obligated to approve it . No if 's , and's or
but 's . You can add some reasonable conditions but you can 't be arbitrary
or be creative or whatever words you want to use . The PUD opens the door —
to the city saying I want more parkland and I want you not to build where
these hills are . I 'd like you not to build where these trees are .
Whatever . —
Ahrens: You can 't say that if a developer comes in and you say , you 're
required at 15 ,000 square foot lots we can 't say you can 't build on that
crest of that hill and you can't , you have to have so much parkland . We do
that row .
Krauss: Yeah , but the suburban development pattern is an improvement over —
the grid system that you see in Minneapolis, Not much . I mean it 's 1920 's
Planning Commission Meeting
January 15 , 1992 - Page 31
technology versus 1940 's technology . You know curvalinear streets help and .
you like to think that when you have a 15 ,000 square foot lot or better
you 're able to save a few trees that you don 't have to tear down when the
house gets built but basically it 's a very land intensive and often abusive
way to develop .
Emmings: This underlines , Brian said facetiously I think . Maybe not .
Raise your minimum lot size in the subdivision ordinance to a half acre and
then we 'll have all PUD 's that we can do what we want to . That 's not a bad
idea maybe . This is like quitting smoking . You do like 100 times .
Conrad: There 's a good article in the planning , whatever the planning
magazine is that we get on this same thing . I don 't know if anybody read
it . I guess the forecast is going to , people wanting big lots in the past
and the forecast going to smaller lots and how creative PUD 's can be
handled .
Emmings: How small is small?
Conrad: I don 't know if they really said a number . Yeah , I don't know .
But it was really appropriate in light of this thing . I 've vacilated
because I 've always been a large lot proponent but on the other hand , over
_ the years I 've seen less and less advantages to the large lots . If you can
preserve some of the other stuff you get around but we 've never been able
to figure out how to preserve this other stuff . You open up some land ,
what are you going to do with it?
Farmakes : Demographics are changing and the market . We're all getting
older .
Emmings: Not all of us .
Farmakes: Well I 'm not but you guys are .
Ahrens : But is 15 ,000 square feet really that big of a lot? I mean we 're
not talking about .
Krauss: It 's a highly personal choice . I mean you know what you bought
and you know why you moved here and it was a personal decision for you and
your family to decide . I can tell you that from the metro area standpoint ,
we 've got one of the largest lot sizes in the metro area . Now Minnetonka ,
one of our neighbors , has the largest one but there 's not a home built in
Minnetonka today for under $350 ,000 .00 .
Emmings: But the reason 15 ,000 is significant only because that 's in the
subdivision ordinance . I mean that 's why you can move the numbers around
- but they are arbitrary and 15 ,000 has significance only because that 's the
number in the subdivision ordinance .
Ahrens: Right but everyone talks about 15 ,000 as a large lot .
Emmings: No , it 's only significant because it 's in the subdivision
ordinance . I think that 's the only significance of it . Big and small ,
- that 's all relative .
Planning Commission Meeting
January 15 , 1992 - Page 32 —
Farmakes: What about 12? I mean I 'm still getting back to my original
question when you picked 10 because you saw a development you 'd like . -'
Would 15? 12? Is there a commercial level where it no longer makes sense
for a developer?
Krauss: I don 't know. Maybe in fact there is . If they do their proformas
and they find out . Any decrease in lot size theoretically allows them to
save on linear street frontage . To save on linear utilities and to
theoretically , if you allow them to and we didn 't plan on it but if you
wanted to get more lots in , then they make more money . That 's the way the
developers all see it and we 've had people come in the door saying you 're
not going to let me cram 10 ,000 square foot lots on this cornfield with no —
amenities . Chaska would let me do it . We 've told them to leave because we
weren't interested in that kind of development . The only context we saw
was getting the higher quality . I don 't know what the break point is —
though . The presumption that we 've had is that the developer may in fact
get some additional lots out of it , especially when you 're at the lower end
but everytime we 've considered the lower lot sizes it 's been with added
conditions like more open space and we 're going to protect more of the —
trees and we 're going to do this and that . So it 's always been a trade
off . Developers also don 't like to have all their eggs in one basket . You
don 't like to have only 15 ,000 square foot lots to sell . You like to have —
.a variety of home sites .
Emmings: The market may change during . That makes sense . I don 't see how_
we can , it seems to me we 've got to offer them something and if it isn 't
lot size , I don 't know what it is . Otherwise I think we 're wasting our
time . On the other hand , I don't like 10 ,000 square foot lots .
Farmakes: You don 't have to accept it in the development proposal though
right? If you don 't like the way it works out in the percentage , then this
is a guide correct? —
Krauss : Well , under the PUD you have a great deal of latitude . It just
occurred to me too when you 're talking 12 ,000 square foot , the ordinance up
until the time we start tinkering with it allowed PUD 's on 12 ,000 average —
lot size?
Emmings: No , wasn 't it minimum? —
Olsen : 13 ,500 .
Emmings: Wasn 't that a minimum and they still had to maintain over 15 or
over average?
Olsen: I think it was like 13 ,500.
Krauss: And did anybody , did we determine that nobody used that? Or does
that predate Lake Susan Hills? The PUD 's that you had in town predated the_
imposition of that 13 ,500 average . I think they did in the later phases
but they predated . . .
Emmings: Lake Susan Hills was never a PUD . You 'll never convince anybody —
who was up here at the time that that was a PUD .
Planning Commission Meeting
January 15 , 1992 - Page 33
Olsen : And you didn 't pass it .
- Emmings : Planning Commission didn 't . City Council did .
Conrad : Well it 's sure sounding that there 's lots of folks that say we
_ don 't like the small lots . We 've got two people missing that we know
that 's their posture . Joan for sure . Jeff you 're sort of bordering .
Farmakes : I think it 's a dilemma for me because I think it 's a very smart
- idea to do this . However , the problem is that if you don 't offer them
something to do it , why would they do it? It makes no sense .
Conrad : That was the point of looking at the PUD ordinance . Nobody was .
doing it under the past ordinance . It was motivating nobody .
Farmakes : It could be very mutually beneficial though with certain types
of properties . And if you don 't give them that smaller lot size , again
they 're not going to do it .
- Conrad: See I persuaded myself to go along with the 15 ,000 foot on average
and the 10 ,000 minimum because the 15 protected what we 've been running
with and we 've been going a pretty good job no matter what . Sometimes
_ 'there hasn 't been a terrific amount of creativity but overall I think it 's
really not bad what 's been going up . So the 15 in my mind was to maintain
what we had . And the 10 , I think you can still do things in the future at
10 ,000 . It 's cramped . It doesn 't meet my style . I wouldn 't like it but I
- think some people would and if that 's what they would like and if I
preserve what I 'm trying to and that is the openness of Chanhassen , then
I 'm not going to get in their way of a small lot . What I was concerned
- with before , the way the ordinance is written , is we simply downsized the
lots and I felt that sooner or later becomes a standard . But now that we
have a 15 ,000 square foot average , that still may not be motivational
enough to the developer . I don 't know but it may appease me . That was
when my question came in , why don 't we play with overall density versus a
specific because the overall density has been quite nice? And I don 't care
how somebody bundles it together .
Farmakes : Have you gotten a response from any of these developers talking
about the 10 ,000 square feet?
Krauss : We haven 't really waved it around .
Ahrens : Having an average lot size , that means that you could have like 6
- huge lots and a whole bunch of little tiny ones right and still meet the?
Krauss: If by little tiny you mean 10 ,000 , yes .
Conrad : But you could solve that problem Joan in the intent statement .
The intent statement could say that Chanhassen is looking to maintain such
_ and such a character but would compromise to smaller lots . So what you 're
doing is telling a developer you 're not looking to have 3/4 of the
development and 10 ,000 square foot lot sizes balanced by 380 ,000 square
foot lots . You could communicate what you 're looking for upfront in an
Planning Commission Meeting
January 15 , 1992 - Page 34
attempt but signal the fact that we could go down in lot sizes to
accommodate .
Farmakes : Aren 't you telling them that though with the average lot size .
You 've got to be able to figure out how many units to put on that thing .
Doesn 't that determine a percentage like this?
Conrad: I 'm not sure . It probably does , yeah . —
( There was a tape change at this point in the discussion. )
Emmings: . . .all these 10 ,000 square foot lots in one area leaving .
Conrad: But you wouldn 't have a problem dealing with that if it came to
you because if the intent statement is there , we know what we 're looking
for and we all have this grandiose , cluster this over here . Open up this
space over here . We just don 't know how to get there so what I want to
make sure is that we 're communicating to the developer so he or she has a —
concept of where we 're going and we 're not leading them in the wrong
direction . They come in and say oh , that 's not what we 're looking for at
all .
Ahrens : But then we have some people saying , well I kind of like that and
I kind of like this but that 's not really my idea of what it should look
like . I mean you know it 's so subjective that way because a developer 's —
standing there saying well , we still have a 15 ,000 square foot average lot
size .
Emmings : But I think Joan, if you 'd want to take the subjective element
out , you put it on a grid and you squash the creativity . If you want to
maximize creativity but -you want to encourage some clustering and leaving
larger tracts of open space , I think you 're always going to have the —
subjective element to deal with . And I think good developers are going to
do it right and you 're going to know it when you see it .
Ahrens: True but we 're not always going to get good developers . We 're
going to get anybody who has the money to come in and develop the land .
Emmings: But on a PUD . —
Krauss: You have a lot of latitude to object . Also two other things .
First of all the intent statement , the way it 's worded right now and this —
is language I think we got from you Ladd last time it came up. The intent
statement says that the applicant must demonstrate that there are a mix of
lot sizes consistent with local terrain conditions , preservation of natural_
featuresand open space and that lot sizes are consistent with average
building footprints that will concurrently be approved with the PUD . Jo
Ann also points out that you can put a ceiling on what will be counted .
The size of the lot that will be counted towards the average . You can say —
nothing over 20 ,000 or 25,000 square feet will be counted towards your
average lot size . There 's no basis in making a one acre lot .
Farmakes: Is that buildable square footage?
Planning Commission Meeting
- January 15 , 1992 - Page 35
Krauss: Well we 've got stuff in here about that . Now maybe the way , you
know .
Farmakes : But we got into a little bit of the argument with Lundgren on
the issues of the one up on Lake Lucy Road . He had the plot marks going
out to the middle of the wetland .
- Krauss : Yeah . Your buildable square footage concern 's a valid one but
it 's not just valid in PUD 's . I think we should address that for every lot
in the city . Subdivisions , PUD 's or otherwise .
Farmakes : I agree . I agree because it 's really deceptive . I mean it may
or may not be the intent but when they 're coming up and when they did those
graphs and so on , as I said you were looking at lot lines that go down to
- the middle of something that no matter if they build it on a PUD or normal
development , that they could not build on . And it seemed to me like they
were trying to sell that in figuring out what the lot sizes really were .
Which they weren 't .
Emmings : Well they were using that two ways . On the one hand they 're
saying we 're preserving all this open space and on the other hand they 're
saying this lot has this many square feet and they 're counting some of that
open space and it just seems real contradictory to me .
— Krauss: We made Lundgren though break out , the table got quite exacting . I
mean it said this is a 30 ,000 square foot lot . 20 ,000 of it 's outside the
wetland . We figured the average both ways in fact .
Emmings : Yeah . I know you did on that one . And maybe it 's okay as long
as that puts everything right up front so there 's no deception there .
- Farmakes : On the one table I figured out , besides the wetland there 's the
setback back from the wetland plus .
- Krauss : But that 's useable back yard area .
Farmakes: Right . That 's what I 'm saying . But it 's useable , how much
_ useable square footage that lot was really. going to be and I figured , just
guesstimating that the one was under 10 ,000 feet .
Krauss : But that 's for the building footprint . But for your kids running
— around playing frisbee or whatever . Bar-be-que pit or whatever you want to
do , that 's all high dry ground .
Farmakes : Still , anything outside of that you 're going to need a variance
for it right?
Krauss : To build a structure .
Farmakes : Yeah , air conditioning unit , whatever .
— Conrad: That 's too bad Brian and Tim weren 't here because we 'll probably
repeat this same conversation .
Planning Commission Meeting
January 15 , 1992 - Page 36
Emmings : We 've done it 12 or 15 times haven 't we?
Conrad: I know .
Ahrens : Are we finished on this?
Conrad: This is going to be close . We do have to wait for them to come
back .
Farmakes: This is still , the latitude that you 're saying to reject this or
reject these plans , do you feel from a practicality standpoint that we can
basically reject just about anything?
Krauss: Unfortunately Roger was going to be here tonight . He 's stuck in
his driveway . He could answer that question more directly than I , but yes .
You 've got a great deal of latitude .
Emmings: We 're supposed to listen to a guy who gets stuck in his driveway?
Krauss: With a Volvo . —
Farmakes: If you do get a developer with a lot of integrity and really
does meet the intent of what that 's going to be , he can do something really
'nice with that and it could be very beneficial to the community . But the
thing that makes everybody nervous is how small these lots come in . If
small lots and a developer with little or no integrity is, like you said , _
you 're going to build one 35 ,000 square foot lot and the rest are all going
to be 10 ,000 .
Krauss: You 've got a great deal of latitude on rezoning actions that you —
don 't have on a subdivision approval .
Emmings: Okay . That 's important insurance . That makes me comfortable . —
Does anybody else want to beat this dead horse?
Conrad: We should do it .
Emmings: We should do what?
Conrad: Table it . —
Emmings: I like that . What a decisive person . Alright . Do we need a
motion to table it?
Krauss: No . I 'm used to it .
Ahrens: Should we save these so you don 't have to reprint all of these —
again?
Krauss: No , I 'll have to reprint anyway . - —
Mayor Chmiel : . . .Robert 's Rules of Order .
Emmings: We don 't follow Robert 's Rules of Order here .
Planning Commission Meeting
January 15 , 1992 - Page 37
Conrad: It 's Emmings ' Rules of Order .
Emmings: We permanently suspended our rules when I became Chairman . •
Krauss: It 's probably going to be a month before we bring it back on .
That 's because our next meeting we have one action item . 90% of the
meeting 's going to be devoted to the TH 5 corridor . I 've got Bill Moresch
who Steve knows from the University coming over with his folks to give you
a presentation on what that task force . . .that we 're looking at in terms of
broad concepts for TH 5 . I think this is going to become basically the
Planning Commission 's baby from here on out . We need to make some
decisions on how to structure the program . Set some goals for it and get
going on it so that will be our next meeting . The meeting after that looks
like a very heavy agenda . We 've got Rosemount is coming in for a large
- expansion . We have potentially a PUD , an industrial one . The one in front
of Timberwood . The office park . It 's looking like that 's coming in .
That 's going to be a very complex proposal . Well , that will be next week
so we 've got a few things cooking so we 'll get this back on as soon as we
can .
Farmakes: I was just wondering if you had heard how Grand Met was being
- met by McGlynn is basically the operation in Chanhassen here . How that was
going to affect their operation .
Krauss: I 'm not sure . We really need to contact them because they 're most
curious about it . They 're not going to vacate the facilities . I
understood the article is they bought the facility because it 's the most
efficient baking operation in the country . But McGlynn 's also has 35 acres
that 's been on the market and I 'm not sure if that stayed within the
McGlynn family or if Grand Met owns it and if they 're going to be more
disposed to sell it now . It 's a very important corner visually from TH 5
— standpoint .
Emmings : As far as this goes , we could maybe approach it this way . That
folks should just come in . Next time this is on the agenda , just let
people state what their positions are on it in 2 minutes or less and then
have a motion and pass or don 't pass something . But we 've talked about it
enough . So put it on and then we 'll just make sure , we 'll sit here with an
alarm clock .
Farmakes: Egg timer .
Emmings : An egg timer . That 's in Robert 's Rules of Order isn 't it , an egg
timer? Alright .
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The Minutes of the Planning Commission meeting dated
December 4 , 1991 were noted by the Chairman as presented .
- CITY COUNCIL UPDATE .
Emmings: We 've got a report from the director that says there 's nothing to
- report . Except he wants to talk about goals . Then there 's this , what 's
the map Paul? I mean I recognize it as Chanhassen but what are you showing
us?
Planning Commission Meeting
October 2 , 1991 - Page 20 —
Emmings: Ladd .
Conrad: No . •
Emmings: Annette .
Elison: No way .
Emmings : Brian .
Batzli : It should go somewhere way down the list .
Emmings: Okay , Jeff .
Farmakes : Somewhere down the list . —
Emmings : Okay , and I 'd say no . Why don 't you run that straw vote by the
City Council and see if they want us to spend time or if they want you to —
spend time on it . Then we 'll go from there .
Willard Johnson: Some gentleman mentioned 2 1/2 acres .
Erhart : That was no gentleman . That was me .
Willard Johnson: . . .when we were granting variances to the southern part —
of the city there for building . . .we pushed them to one side of the lot .
Erhart : Not anymore . It used to be that way .
Willard Johnson : We encouraged them to push to one side of the lot becaus..
some day you 're going to develop and can 't afford to keep the property .
Well this guy can decide to put another place behind him and then he sells
off the other and it could perpetuate a number of homes . Just a small
development on 2 1/2 acres . . .so I just thought I 'd throw that at you
people . I 've seen so much . Thank you . —
Emmings: Yeah , thank you .
ZONING ORDINANCE AMENDMENT CONCERNING PUD RESIDENTIAL STANDARDS.
Paul Krauss presented the staff report .
Elison: I have a question . What 's an over story tree?
Krauss: It 's a deciduous tree with a crown on it .
Ellson: Oh! I thought it was big enough to reach the topstoryof the
house or something .
Krauss: Hopefully it will be .
Erhart : Just throw these terms in once in a while to keep us jumping . —
Emmings: Yeah . What did we call those tr.ees in our landscape ordinance?
Planning Commission Meeting
— October 2 , 1991 - Page 21
Krauss: Trees .
Batzli : Trees from Catagory A?
Erhart : Canopy trees. It used to be canopy trees .
Emmings: I wondered about that .
Krauss: You can call them deciduous . I think we did call them deciduous .
Although there are deciduous trees that are , I mean a birch tree is a
deciduous tree .
Ellson: Those little poplars that are narrow and tall and skinny and stuff
wouldn 't be considered an over story one .
Emmings: Alright . I 'd like to ask you , in your Section 1 in A and also
again in another place . On page 3 at the bottom there and then in
paragraph D . It says in no instance shall project density exceed
comprehensive plan guidelines . I know the answer to this but I just want
to see if you do . What does that incorporate here? It incorporates
obviously the comprehensive plan guidelines for density but what are we
saying when we say that here?
. Krauss: For example the comprehensive plan designates the low density
-' designation as 0 to 4 units per acre . Maximum 4 units an acre . If you
used 9 ,000 square foot lots , and let me see if my math is 18 , you can
theoretically get more homes on a site than , you could have more than 4
units per acre .
Emthings: Right , but you 're not going to let them do that is what it 's
saying here .
Krauss: Right .
Ellson: Is that the answer you wanted to hear?
Emmings: Yeah .
Ellson: You passed .
Conrad: I don 't know . So the plan says 0 to 4 units .
Emmings: Is low density .
Conrad: I guess my problem with A , as soon as you say 9 ,000 square feet ,
that 's your standard .
Emmings: No . Down to a minimum of .
Conrad: I know .
Ellson: You say we 're just going to get a bunch of 9 ,000 's .
Planning Commission Meeting
October 2 , 1991 - Page 22 —
Conrad: Well and they can 't do it but it says to a developer that 's the —
potential . That 's our standard . Whereas there 's a difference . Really ou
standard is bigger than that . So my problem , our standard is typically lo,
sizes in a subdivision or whatever are coming in at 17 ,000-18 ,000 square
feet . That 's really what we 're comfortable with in Chanhassen based on —
history .
Batzli : You mean in a regular subdivision? —
Conrad: Yeah .
Emmings: In our subdivision ordinance .
Conrad: Yeah . But even a PUD . You 're coming in at , and I don 't know that
for sure but most of themare above the 15 ,000 on an average . My problem —
is the way this is worded . It says our standard is 9 ,000 . It says a
minimum and I understand that but I see no reason , you know I feel real
comfortable allowing . I feel not real comfortable . I feel comfortable —
allowing usto go down to 9 ,000 . square foot lot sizes but that is not our
standard .
Batzli : Whereas I would agree with everything you said except I 'm not —
comfortable with 9 ,000 .
Conrad: Yeah , you don 't like the 9 because that seems pretty small . See —
and again it becomes a mix and I want to give developers the opportunity t
build down to that 9 ,000 and have some open space but still the way , you
know you leave in with PUD and maybe you say minimum lot size 9 ,000 and _
that becomes what they 'll come in at 10 or 11 , although Paul is saying
comprehensive plan guidelines says 0 to 4 . I guess I 'm still a little
uncomfortable with that one .
Ellson: I think that thing is what 's going to make sure we don 't get too
many of those .
Conrad : But 0 to 4 , we 're getting what , 1 .8 units per acre?
Krauss : 1 .7 gross .
Emmings: That 's gross?
Conrad: That 's kind of what we like and I don 't see changing that . —
Ellson: Unless you know you could leave that huge area of wooded and push
a little more over here .
Conrad: Right . So that 's where I 'm still comfortable with in that mix an...,
if somebody wants to free up open space with that gross density , then I 'm
comfortable going down to that 9 ,000 . —
Emmings: Well is that part of what 's being incorporated by the saying
comprehensive plan guidelines? —
Planning Commission Meeting
October 2 , 1991 - Page 23
Krauss: Well it is but I don 't think it 's achieving what Ladd wants it to
achieve . The comprehensive plan theoretically allows up to 4 units an
acre . What Ladd is saying is right . Our average single family project is
1 .7 . We 're giving them additional latitude here to increase density .
That 's true . It could . On the other hand , the penalty or what you need to
do to achieve it increases with the increase in density in terms of the
amount of open space you have to reserve and our expectations of what kind
of a project we 're going to get out of it . PUD 's also incorporate slightly
_ greater setbacks around the perimeter of the PUD to help buffer it from
adjoining properties .
Conrad: Well I don 't understand that Paul . I guess I don't mind where
we 're going but I don 't know how we 're going to get there with this . So
the penalty for being in a PUD , and you come in with the 15 ,000 square foot
lot size , you 've got to dedicate 1 ,500 feet to open space . So in other
words , if this is the same as having a 16 ,500 square foot lot , which .we
already have bigger lot sizes in our PUD 's and subdivisions already . So
there 's not much of a , what we 're doing , instead of having a 16 ,500 square
foot lot coming in , we 're going to say no . 15 ,000 over here and then let 's
start a little kitty over here of 1 ,500 .
Emmings: Where 'd you get the 1 ,500?
Conrad: 10% of 15 ,000 square feet .
Emmings: That 's 15 ,000 though . That 's not the 9 ,000 .
Erhart : Right . But that 's my question too .
Conrad: 1 ,500 . 10% of 15 ,000 is 1 ,500 .
Erhart : But ask the same question of the bottom one . Why isn 't it , if
it 's 9 ,000 square feet average , why isn 't for every lot , why isn 't there .
6 ,000 feet set aside for open space?
Conrad: Yeah , that 's where .
Erhart : I mean that 's the big discrepancy . Why isn 't it 40% which would
be 6 ,000? Actually it 's not the 15 ,000 . It 's the bottom one . 25% . Why
isn 't it 40%? So if you take , you 've got a 15 ,000 square foot .
Krauss: You want to carry the same ratio throughout .
Erhart : No , no , no . I 'm just saying what are we trying to accomplish? If
it 's 9 ,000 square foot average . Isn 't there a goal if we have 15 ,000
square foot lots . The guy wants to make a 9 ,000 square foot lot . Then
doesn 't 6 ,000 go to some kind of open space?
Conrad: See that rationale works for me .
Emmings: Everybody here kind of likes the idea of clustering but every
time something comes in that will allow to do it , everybody gets scared .
Conrad : Because we 're trying to make sure' we know .
Planning Commission Meeting
October 2 , 1991 - Page 24 -
Emmings: Because it 's scarey . -
Conrad: Well yeah but you 've got to know how this looks .
Ellson: But don 't forget , we always get to approve these things . You 're
thinking once it 's written .
Conrad: Well you can change it but boy . But you kind of have a sense for-
what this is going to feel like or look like once it comes in . And on the
other hand , do you want to encourage developers to do this? That 's what
our last PUD ordinance didn 't do . It was not encouraging . You 've got to -
give them something to get something that we want , yet most people here it
town really aren 't crazy about smaller lot sizes . If you went out and
polled , you 're going to find very few that want to go down smaller . Very
few . You 're talking . —
Batzli : Then raise our minimum lot size to a half acre . Keep the PUD
15 ,000 and you 're set . You want them to use PUD , everybody will use PUD . -
Erhart : Average net lot size , is that net of the open space?
Krauss: Excluding designated wetland .
Erhart : And open space?
Krauss : No .
Erhart : It includes the open space? -
- Krauss : Yes . Keep in mind what qualifies as open space here is listed
in E I think . The idea with the PUD , I mean I went through what was it ,
the Saddlebrook subdivision today . We had people from Moody 's Investors -
Service here today .
Erhart : The guy 's got to have 25% open space . How can he possibly get tc-
9 ,000 square feet?
Krauss: It 's not the lot that has it . It 's the project .
Erhart : I know but if you 've got 100% and 25% of it 's open space , you 've
got 75% less . If your minimum lot size is 9 ,000 and you 've got to add
another 25% , you can 't possibly get to an average net lot size of 9 ,000 . -
Krauss: Yeah you could . You 're assuming that everything 's going to be
split up as it is in Saddlebrook in individual lots and there is no public-
or private open space in outlot designations or some other non-residential
lot .
Erhart : No , I 'm saying you can 't get down to 9 ,000 .
Krauss : Sure you could . If you have 100 acres , you can have 49 ,000 square
footlots and the rest of it open space . -
Planning Commission Meeting
October 2 , 1991 - Page 25
Erhart : But I thought you said that open space was included in the
acreage , included in the net . That 's net of the open space?
Krauss: No . The open space percentage , maybe we could clarify that . The
average net lot size is , after we exclude wetlands , what is the average lot
size they 're giving us .
Erhart : Oh okay . That 's average lot size . Okay . Alright . I was
thinking that was the density figure . Okay .
Krauss: And the open space percentage applies on the entire project area .
Erhart : So then you have 9 ,000 . Why aren 't we just taking 6 ,000 and
putting that in open space which would be 40%?
Krauss : Well , I approached it differently I guess .
Erhart : You 're saying to go to a PUD there 's going to be an inefficiency .
That inefficiency is that 15% . So in fact what we 're getting is 9 ,000
times 1 .3 so we 're really getting 12 ,000 . If you took then all 9 ,000
square foot lots , you add the 33% which yeilds 25% open space , then your
average lot size , including the open space , is 12 ,000 square feet . That 's
what you 've got .
Krauss: That 's if you , so you 're going back and you 're aggregating the
entire area?
law
Erhart : Yeah , I 'm just trying to see what our average lot size is .
Krauss: I think another way to get at this same issue and I think the one
that maybe Ladd was leading to , was when you go back into A where we say
the cap on this thing is the comp plan . What I 'm hearing you say is that
the comp plan cap which , you know the comp plan just talks about density . I
mean if you have a 100 acre tract , you can build Cedar Riverside on there
and still have the same density . Density that 's consistent with that .
Maybe you want to look at lowering the allowable densities in single family
residential PUD 's .
Erhart: No , but do you understand what I came up with? Brian?
Batzli : No .
Erhart: I 'm just trying to rationalize the 25% . If you take 9 ,000 square
feet and have a whole development and your average lot size was 9 ,000
square feet , you 'd be required to set aside 25% of the good space . Now
that 's 25% of the whole development though isn 't it?
Conrad: No .
Erhart : It 's 25% of the net .
Conrad: Of the average lot size .
Emmings: No . 25% of the whole development .
Planning Commission Meeting
October 2 , 1991 - Page 26
Erhart : Of the whole or net? Net of wetlands?
Krauss: Of the whole .
Erhart: That 25% can mean a lot from one parcel to the next because one —
parcel might be 50% wetland yet he has to provide , he gets a few lots and
still has to provide 25% of the whole parcel where the next guy may have
100% developable land and he has to provide 25% . —
Emmings: Well wait . It says wetlands and other water bodies protected by
city ordinance and permanent easement . It can also be used to satisfy up
to 25% of the standard . 25% of the 25% if we 're looking at the 9 ,000 line
Erhart : It gets very complicated .
Krauss: The idea is to crank out additional open space out of this thing .
Emmings : So we should be winding up with more than the 25% . —
Krauss: Well I think you did in the Lundgren/Lake Lucy when you went with
41% .
Erhart : Yeah but some of that , anyway .
Conrad: But how do you administer that Paul? You know the PUD comes in —
and it 's got some 9 ,000 . Some 11 ,000 . Some 12 ,000 . Some 15 ,000 and how
do you end up with an overall project open space amount? You 've got to
apply a percentage times each parcel .
Ellson : No , the average .
Krauss: You come in with 100 acres . You 've got 33 lots . The average lot—
size is 10 ,000 square feet . You owe us 22 .5 acres of open space .
Batzli : So if he doesn 't have that built into his lot already when he —
comes in . He may have to reduce lots and then that number changes again .
Erhart: I think maybe I can explain what I was trying to get to . Take the
ideal situation where 100% of the land is developable .
Emmings: No wetlands .
Erhart : No wetlands . The guy just comes in with a bunch of 9,000 square
foot lots .
Emmings: Only 9 ,000 square foot lots?
Erhart : Only 9 ,000 .
Krauss : The ordinance says you can 't .
Erhart : We can 't . Then how can you get to the average? How can you get —
the average net lot size to 9 ,000?
Planning Commission Meeting
October 2 , 1991 - Page 27
Krauss : I supposed it could be thereotically .
Ellson: It could be one . You never know .
Emmings : It can 't because on an acre we can only have , what is the comp
plan going to limit it to?
Krauss: Well the comp plan limits you to 4 so on an acre , that 's 36 .
Emmings : Thousand out of 45 ,000 square feet .
Erhart: You could be a medium density area which allows what , 6 per acre?
Emmings: Let 's talk about .
Erhart : Now you bring up a good point . Can 't you get to the average of
9 ,000?
Krauss: I don 't know . I don 't know that you theoretically can .
Erhart : Then why even have this in the table?
' Ellson: We had that thing with the church over here and they wanted to put
something in there and it was just one . It 's a possibility .
Erhart : Where does it say you can 't get to 9 ,000 . What 's the role I 'm
missing here?
Krauss: A requires that you give us a mix of lot sizes so even if you come
. in with 9 ,000 , they 're going to have to come in with something else .
Emmings: They can 't just come in with 9 ,000 .
Ellson: It says right there . There are a mix of lot sizes .
Erhart : Which line?
Ellson: A . The third line down .
_ Erhart : Okay , but we don 't really define mix so if they came in with one
9 ,500 then .
Krauss: But you can throw it out . You can do whatever you want to in a
PUD .
Erhart : Okay , let 's assume they are all 9 ,000 100% developable . Then what
you get is on an average over . that 100% developable area a 12 ,000 square
foot average lot size when you add back in the 25% open space . Then the
question is , does that seem right? That goes back to our old ordinance . I
guess maybe the number where we got that number was the old ordinance
allowed us to go to 12 ,000 square foot minimum lot size right?
Krauss: I could lie and say that . . .
Planning Commission Meeting
October 2 , 1991 - Page 28
Erhart : That you figured that all out right?
Krauss : That 's a lucky one there . —
Erhart : Well that 's a . . .does that seem right to us? I don 't know .
Emmings: That doesn 't talk about roads or anything else . That doesn 't
seem like you 're accomplishing any one thing to me . But I don 't think
that 's what 's going on here either .
Erhart : Well what 's going on here is you 're not going to have 9 ,000 and
maybe you 're going to have 11 ,000 average but then you 're only going to
yeild 20% . So when you take 11 ,000 times 1 .25 and your average lot size —
now is 13 ,750 when you add that back in .
Krauss : But I think one point we keep overlooking is the one that you _
touched on about the advantages of clustering . In a straight subdivision
that 's all roped off and fenced off into people 's backyards . There 's no
public good . There was no ability to preserve stands of trees . There 's no
ability to preserve promontory . . This gives you flexibilty to rope off 22%—
of the site or whatever ratio it is and do good things with it . And still
keep the densities relatively low .
Conrad: But higher overall than what we 've been used to .
Ellson : And that 's the carrot that you get them to use . We talked about
it before . —
Conrad: So you don 't mind Annette , instead of coming in at .2 units per
acre , which has been our standard . You don 't mind coming in at 2 1/2 unit..
or 3 units per acre?
Ellson: Well number one I 'll be able to see it . Although probably not me_
but the idea behind a PUD is they don 't tell you I 've met everything . You
have to take it no matter what we choose which is the problem with .
Conrad: They 're going to come in and say I met your standards .
Ellson: But at the PUD , we 're the ones who decide if we like it or not .
We don 't have that choice in some other things . —
Batzli : But then they 'll say fine . We'll do it under your regular
ordinance and tough luck .
Emmings: Then we say fine .
Ellson: Then we 'll say fine . Then we 'll get what we wanted possibly —
instead but we have a chance to deny it if we think they 're trying to rape
the system or use it in a way we don 't like it . We get that shot .
Conrad : I tell you Annette . I ' ll play the record . They 'll look at the
ordinance and say the ordinance allows it and you 're within the guidelines
of the ordinance and we 'll say go ahead .
Planning Commission Meeting
— October 2 , 1991 - Page 29
Ellson: But Paul will be looking at it and he 'll say , this isn 't what we
want out PUD 's . We wanted that nice wetland and that nice view . Why don 't
you clear up that space and do whatever . He 'll see it first and make that
recommendation . •
Batzli : Let me make a general point here as a person who lives in a PUD .
We 're talking about very lofty , fine goals here .
Conrad: It doesn 't give you any more credibility .
Batzli : It doesn 't but just let me express :
Conrad: You 're an outcast in that group anyway . I 've talked to your
neighbors .
Emmings: I don 't even want to sit next to him .
Batzli : Let me just express , we have very lofty goals here and we think
we 're: doing public good but I think if you wandered into a PUD and asked
the people in the PUD what do you want . They 'd look at you and say , I want
bigger lots so I can do the regular stuff that everybody else in the whole ,
pardon my french , damn city can do on their lot .
Erhart : What don 't you buy a different lot then?
Batzli : Well but they don 't know .
Ellson: Whit about the people who say I want a 5 minute front lawn?
Batzli : They don 't know . People moving in to these lots are typically ,
and I 'll gross over generalization and simplification . These lots are
typically cheaper . Maybe Lundgren Bros . builds high priced lots but the
other people can come in here and they build starter homes on some of these
things . In a lot of cases . They don 't know any better . Even .somebody
such ae myself who probably should have known better didn 't know any
better . I didn 't realize what the difference between a PUD and a regular
lot size was . They don 't recognize the fact . You know you 're looking at a
9 ,000 square foot lot and if that 's a corner lot , you 've got about 2 ,000
square feet to do something on and that includes putting your house and
driveway and everything else on there which leaves barely any room on it at
all . And before you start talking about global good and wonderful open
• spaces and everything else , consider that the people that move in don 't
give a rip if there 's a park there because they expect a park there whether
they 've got a regular lot size or a small lot size . They don 't care . They
don 't want to hear that well we 've got a park for you . They 're going to
say yeah , and you gave me this dinky lot that I can 't do anything on and
you should have given me a park anyway . If we keep on saying Chanhassen is
supposed to be good and wonderful , make them put in normal sized lots and
get the park in addition . That 's my final and only comment on this . I
can 't believe we 're thinking of going down to any 9 ,000 square foot lots .
Erhart : Do you have 9 ,000 square foot lots in your PUD Brian?
Batzli : I don 't know how big they are .
Planning Commission Meeting
October 2 , 1991 - Page 30
Emmings : Just his .
Batzli : Just mine . I got the corner lot . I got the corner lot and I 'm —
stuck with it . No but seriously . I do think that if we do this , and you
know something 's going to happen and I can see it coming down the tracks
like a train just about to run me over here . But I would like to propose —
that at least we require the developers that are putting these in to tell
people what they 're getting . They have to tell them what the square
footage of the lot is and what the setbacks are on the sides of the homes ._
Give them a sheet . I don 't care . Informed consent . I think we should dc
that much for some of these people .
Erhart : Let me ask you . Let me clarify what you said . Are you saying wE-
should never allow 9 ,000 square foot lots or an average of 9 ,000 square
foot lots?
Eatzli : I wouldn 't allow any .
Erhart : Any at all .
Conrad: What 's your minimum? What lot size would you go down to?
Ellson : He just said the half acre . —
Eatzli : Whatever the smallest lot size is in the city now , there 's a
reason for that .
Emmings: Yeah , there 's a reason .
Batzli : Whatever the reason is that we 've chosen that . —
Erhart : Throw a dart at a board .
Batzli : Okay , then we should throw the same dart at the board for the PUC
My recommendation is , if you want control over developments , you increase
the minimum lot size and you put the minimum on that you would otherwise
have expected as the minimum in the PUD. Don 't be compromising your —
standards to get a little bit of clustering and a park that you should hay
gotten anyway . That irritates me .
Emmings: If we did what Brian is proposing and raised this to our
subdivision standards of 15 ,000 square feet , would we ever see a PUD?
Krauss: You just did .
Emmings: Right . That 's right . Lundgren Bros . Well maybe Brian 's . I was
kind of liking this until Brian .
Erhart : We were sold on the 9 ,000 square foot lots because we got a few of
them up there in Near Mountain and I -don 't know . I guess I haven 't
personally gone and looked at them'. You 've got a few slides and you can 't
tell much from that but staff seemed to think they were okay .
Ellson: And I really believe that the market is going to . . .
Planning Commission Meeting
October 2 , 1991 - Page 31
•
Erhart : There 's a big difference between having a few 9 ,000 square foot
lots and having a development where the average lot size is 11 ,000 square
foot in my mind .
Emmings: But if you say I 've got 100 acres and I 'm going to put 10 lots ,
ten 9 ,000 square foot lots and leave the rest empty , I take if you have no
objection to that .
Erhart : No , but that 's not what you 're saying .
Emmings: No , I know it 's not but it isn 't the lot size . It 's the ratio to
open space per lot size . I can see , we all like clustering . At least we
all talk about it . We don 't really know what it is but .
Erhart : I 'm not sure if you get 100 9 ,000 square foot lots all together
and then you 've got another 25 acres sitting or 50 acres sitting someplace
off to the side .
Emmings: We 'd never approve that though . Now you 're painting a picture .
Ellson: A worst case scenario .
Emmings: No , not even a worst case scenario . It can 't happen because it
would run afoul of our comprehensive plan and it would run afoul of the
intent that we have in having a PUD ordinance .
Batzli : Okay , so make them all 11 ,000 square feet .
Erhart : I just wonder if we shouldn 't delete some of those lines down
there like 9 and 10 and maybe even 11 and give us another , raise our
basement line a little .bit here . In other words , yeah you can have some
9 ,000 square- foot lots but don 't even think about coming in here with a
9 ,000 average . Maybe we set a 12 ,000 average . See what. I 'm saying? We 're
kind of inviting a lot of 9 ,000 square foot lots the way we have this table
here .
Conrad: I 'd sure try to do .
Emmings: You 'd never have an average 9 ,000 though . We keep coming back
around to that . It can 't happen . Only if they came in with only 9 ,000
- square footlots could you ever have that .
Conrad: So let 's take that worst case scenario because we will see it .
Emmings: It isn 't possible .
Conrad: Why not? Okay , let 's take it . Let 's take -the 10 ,000 .
Emmings: Do you agree?
Krauss : I agree that it 's not possible .
Conrad: Then we shouldn 't have it there .
Planning Commission Meeting
October 2 , 1991 - Page 32
Krauss: But you know I keep going back to the fact that we had an
ordinance on the books for years that said there 's an average lot size of
12 ,500 square feet . Nobody used it because . —
Conrad: That was a minimum . That was a minimum lot size .
Krauss: No it was an average wasn 't it?
Conrad: No , minimum .
Emmings: That was a minimum .
Conrad: We 're talking here now . I get real concerned when we talk averag
versus minimum . I am real comfortable allowing some smaller lot sizes but
boy that 's not the average . That 's the average , I really don 't want to
compromise the average . _
Emmings: But again , maybe we 're getting too specific here . Shouldn 't we
be saying to people look . Here 's our subdivision ordinance . Here 's what
you can do . An option you 've got is the PUD ordinance . Under the PUD
ordinance you 've can do a whole bunch of things . One of the things you ca
do is have lots that are smaller than what is required under the
subdivision ordinance but if you come in under that , expect to have open —
space requirements that are going to go up as fast as your lot sizes go
down and don 't really expect to have a smaller or a greater gross density .
Batzli : Well you wouldn 't be able to have a larger gross density because
of the comp plan right?
Emmings: Right . Well tell them right up front . Don 't expect to get a
larger gross density . And if you 're going to come in below what our
subdivision ordinance allows for lot sizes , then as that goes down , the
open space requirement 's going to go up . And don 't put the numbers in —
there . Then let them figure out how they 're going to cluster and bring us
a plan to look at .
Krauss: So now put in new criteria?
Emmings: Yeah . Then if they want to go with zero lot line or if they want
to go with a small lots with detached houses or whatever they want to do , —
let them figure that out .
Batzli : We 're going to be arbitrary and capricious . _
Emmings: Yeah but within the PUD I think you can .
Erhart : It sure helps the process to have some guidelines .
Ellson : Yeah , I like Paul 's thing . Plus people come and go reading this .
Emmings: You don 't really like it because you want to erase a lot of
things .
Planning Commission Meeting
October 2 , 1991 - Page 33
Erhart : I just don 't think we should think about less than 12 . I don 't
know why I 'm picking 12 . I guess because it 's the old number . I would
never think about having average lot size of less than 12 ,000 .
Emmings : But this really stiffles . These charts to me kind of stiffle the
creativity that you might allow somebody to have. Why not let them figure
it out?
Conrad: Let 's just remember . I 'm speaking out of both sides of my mouth
but that 12 ,500 minimum didn 't encourage anything in our old PUD ordinance .
It did not motivate anybody so I think Paul 's putting out a carrot here to
say hey , let 's motivate them to do this . I 'm just wanting to make sure
that we motivate them but we 're not giving away the integrity of the
community . And I can 't understand what we are getting . I guess what I 'd
like to see is some sketches of what this does . I 'd like to see somebody
lay out how this would be applied and that doesn 't mean we hire a designer
but I need to see what this might look like if somebody came in . And we
haven 't , you know Tim 's point is still on the table . It 's still valid .
He 's saying to go down to 9 ,000 square feet , we 're giving up 6 ,000 square
feet below a standard that we 've set for a subdivision but we 're only
getting 2 ,250 feet out of it in open space . Is that the lure? Is that
— 3 ,500 foot , the developer has a net gain on that one of 3 ,500 square feet .
Is that what it takes to get a PUD? And then the question is have we
gained anything with that PUD? What have we really gotten . I 'm throwing
those things out but I guess I still have a tough time visualizing what
this formula does for us . I don 't want to kick it out yet . I 'd rather
have it in there because it might be a good guideline but on the other hand
I want to know what it does before I approve it . I want to know how it ,
I 've got to see it and feel it and I can 't right here .
Krauss: Well we can sure take a crack at doing that . I guess a couple
things have happened too . I think we 're talking about a couple different
goals for the use of the PUD . I think in the Lundgren proposal we saw that
there was a rationale and a benefit to coming to using the PUD ordinance
_. for a subdivision whose lots averaged 31 ,000 square feet .
•
Erhart : Hold it there . 31 ,000 square feet included a lot of water .
Krauss : Yeah . Well and that 's why I threw in the language here excluding
designated wetlands because there was an issue with that in the average lot
size .
Erhart : Average real lot size is dinky .
Krauss : But that 's normal . You look at subdivisions around Chanhassen ,
they 're all like that .
Bat-in : Yeah , I know . That 's what I was saying earlier . I don 't like it .
Krauss: I think one of the things I 've been tossing over is maybe we need
a minimum net buildable standard for all lots in the city . I mean you
could have a 100 ,000 square foot lot if you can 't accommodate a 5 ,000 foot
square foot building area , it 's no good . We might want to consider that as
an ordinance amendment in the bigger picture . I think it 's certainly
Planning Commission Meeting
October 2 , 1991 - Page 34
warranted . That 's why we started giving you tables and we can 't do
anything about it except give it to you but giving you tables now where we—
say here , it 's a 18 ,000 square foot lot . 5 ,000 square foot of it is
wetlands . In fact it was one of the things you requested in Lundgren but
we 're starting to do that in everything .
Farmakes: If you did that though , wouldn 't you eliminate about 3 of those
lots that they were proposing there?
Krauss: Well again , against what standards Jeff because the lots that are
in there are bigger than we normally get and everywhere you go in
Chanhassen we have wetlands . That 's a very common situation . —
Farmakes: But what Tim said though , a majority of those lots , at least
some of those lots were wetland . Standing water and he made a point when
he was here arguing that you had to look at the lot all the way out to the
lot point in the middle of the skunk pond which I didn 't understand . Why?
Krauss: Because you 've done it in every other subdivision in the city .
Batzli : So Paul says develop a new one that says you need at least a
certain minimum area where you can put some building on it or something . —
Krauss : And not come back , doesn 't say it needs variances because you
can 't put a house on it . Now we 've tried to do that . We 've gone through
in the last couple years and we 've tried to figure out what we think a —
buildable size is and tell the builder that that 's not legitimate but we
have no guidelines to do it . If it doesn 't look right , we try to make them
fix it . But I think it 's appropriate to , I mean we can do some research
you like and come back to you but I think an ordinance amendment and it
would apply to any lots created in the RSF , RR or A-2 and PUD have to
contain a minimum buildable area regardless of how big they are . —
Farmakes: I think you would avoid what a person is designing that out .
There would always be 2 or 3 lots and that many homes that you 're going to
have to force just as a matter of economics that you 're going to try to ge
in there on whatever 's left over . When I look at that Lundgren , you can
almost pick them out with looking at it for 10 minutes as to which ones
were , what they had left over and what they were going to try to make a lot-
out of .
Krauss: Yeah I know what you 're speaking to but every lot in there has a _
legitimate building site to the extent that we know what legitimate
building sites are and we don 't have a criteria . I know that the building
sites that are on those lots , even though some of them have quite extensive
wetlands , are bigger than we find on a lot of other lots in regular RSF
subdivisions .
Farmakes : Most of them did . There were a few that seemed to me as far as_
useable space were on the bottom end of this list here .
Krauss: They were tighter and will probably require designed home to fit .
So as far as this , I mean I have now become a believer that there 's some —
Planning Commission Meeting
October 2 , 1991 - Page 35
use for PUD 's , residential PUD 's that don 't lower our average lot size at
all . •
Erhart : That was the question I had . Why , if• a guy has a 15 ,000 square
foot average , why are we making him set aside any open space? The only
reason would be if , yeah I mean why?
Conrad: That 's true . A subdivision we 're penalizing so anything 15 ,000
and under however I think we should be getting something in return . That 's
where we 're bending our standards .
Erhart: Yeah , I always thought that we were taking 15 ,000 square foot
let 's say , this idealized lot and if a guy wanted to make it 9 , the city
gets 6 for open space and there 's no inefficiency . Right now we 've got a
lot of inefficiency .
Batzli : What 's the developer 's advantage to doing that rather than they
might have shorter stubs?
Conrad: Clustering utilities .
Erhart : Clustering . Make them more creative . You might want to get rid
of , like up here we let them use less than the standard setbacks . That was
a major thing for that . I remember that presentation . That was a big deal
that he wanted those houses 20 feet from the street . And so he got that .
Emmings: Another flexibility .
Krauss: Well and we 're working with Lundgren now on that Johnson-Delache
piece between TH 41 and Galpin . There you 're talking 90 or 100 acres . I
don 't know what it is and if we look to that .
Emmings : Would you do it as a PUD?
Krauss: Yeah . Now maybe as a PUD in there , it 's big enough that Lundgren
will probably try to market to different prices of homes . Maybe they will
have a bunch of 11 ,000 square foot lots . Further on where the land gets a
little nicer and more rolling , they may have a bunch of 30 ,000 square foot
lots . And your average lot size will probably still come out to be better
than 15 ,000 . At that point you don 't look at varying your standard at all .
You maintain your average lot size .
Emmings: So then you don 't get any .
Erhart : So that 's why you 're saying at 15 we should still take 10 because
there 's going to be bigger lots that 's going to offset smaller . Okay , now
I understand that .
Batzli : Would all the open space may be on the larger sized lot end of the
development too and then you 've clustered , for the sake of clustering the
smaller homes .
Emmings: Yeah , do we want to do that? Should they have to have open . If
they 're going to have 11 ,000 square foot lots , even though they 've got a
Planning Commission Meeting
October 2 , 1991 - Page 36
bunch of 30 ,000 to offset it , bring the average to 16 or 17 . If they 're
going to have those 11 's , do you want to have to create open space that —
isn 't owned by another lot .
Krauss: Well we said they were willing to accept . Keep in mind when we 're
saying open space , the way this ordinance is structured , that 's not soccer
fields . I mean if the city wants a park , a percentage of that area can be
used to qualify .
Emmings: What are we talking about when we say open space?
Krauss: You may be talking about .
Emmings: Places where there aren 't houses .
Krauss : Yeah but it could be portions of somebody 's lot . On the Lundgren
deal that 's going to Council in 2 weeks , the tree preservation areas where
we 've said there 's no cutting and we 're going to take a conservation
easement , that 's all on what will be private property but it 's protected b--
a permanent easement . We said that qualifies .
Emmings: Yeah , and you 're going to have that same opportunity on the new _
one because that all butts up against a wetland too on the south side .
Batzli : I just think it 's small comfort for a person on an 11 ,000 square
foot lot to know that a quarter of a mile away they preserved a stand of —
trees on somebody elses private property . Now that person may walk into
that knowing full well what they 're purchasing . Maybe they do , maybe they
don 't . Maybe as a city we don 't care . I 'd like to take a little bit more—
paternalistic attitude .
Krause: I don 't know where you want to draw the line . I mean somebody _
walks into a Chevy dealer , they don 't expect to walk out with an Oldsmobil
you know . Someplace people have to understand what the limitations are .
Clearly in the past .
Batzli : We 're looking at the ordinance and we don 't understand it . Do yo
expect somebody to come into the city buying a lot and say well , I 'm
purchasing a PUD . Explain to me all the rules and regs . Would you have _
the time and effort to explain it .
Emmings: No , but I think Paul is saying if you 're buying a lot you ought
to know the size of it . —
Batzli : I understand that but .
Krauss : Also in the past I think there 's been almost total , I mean these
things haven 't been done . Nobody 's done a residential PUD here in 5 years .
We still have one building built out but you have a very comprehensive _
PUD ordinance now where a lot of things have to be demonstrated and filed
with property and made clear and we 're going the extra step like in the
Lundgren thing where we 're requiring monumentation of the wetland setback
areas and things like that . We can do a lot that puts the owner on notice
Now if the owner chooses not to read anything or not to call , then we have
Planning Commission Meeting
October 2 , 1991 - Page 37
a concern . Now I know the issue Brian that you gave us the letter on the
deck . Under the ordinance now as this is written , that wouldn 't have
happened .
Batzli : Yeah , I understand that . I still have a problem with corner lots ,
their ability to be 9 ,000 square feet and then you 're looking at , like I
said , you 're looking at 2 ,000 square feet potentially of space on the lot
other than the setback . I guess I understand buyer beware but after having
lived in the community now of 100 homes in my little PUD and talking to
most of them and it 's their fault . They don 't read the local paper.. They
don 't care . They don 't know . They don 't want to know but the minute they
want to do something with their property , then suddenly they get into it
and the question is , do you want to protect these people or not . Is the
dam City getting something and is what the City 's getting worth raising the
eyre of a lot of people moving into the community . Maybe they should have
known better but I guarantee you less than 1% will find out that they 're
living on a substandard lot that the City things they got a tree preserved
a quarter of a mile away in exchange for their substandard lot . That 's my
point .
Conrad: Those people are happy to move into a 10 ,000 square foot lot .
Ellson: Who are we to tell them?
Erhart : I think if they don 't like it they can always sell it and move to
a bigger lot .
Ellson: They 've got the choice going in .
Erhart : It 's not like they don 't have options and I realize it 's
inefficient .
Ellson: If something has to be marked off for them or some sort of
_ notification that a lot of people don 't realize they 're within the setback
of the wetland and all these other kinds of things and too many come forth
and say oh , I didn 't know . That 's why I filled it all in . That kind of
thing . They 'll ignore that anyway even though they 'll still say they never
heard about it . If they want to do it , they 're going to do it . And you
having easements on those protected things is mightly strong now versus a
convenant in the past which were worthless in protecting .
Krauss: That happens on 2 acre lots too . I think you 're going to have to
answer the fundamental question , because I 'm not sure . Do you want , I mean
I think we 've demonstrated that the PUD has some validity beyond allowing
undersized lots . Now you may well want to allow some freedome for
undersized lots instead of minimum but require that the average is
consistent with other city neighborhoods . Is there a desire to grant
flexibility below the 15 ,000 square foot average or ' should we structure
this so that doesn 't happen?
Conrad: When you say average , the 15 ,000 square foot average . That 's the
minimum so I 'm not sure what you 're saying Paul .
Planning Commission Meeting
October 2 , 1991 - Page 38 —
Krauss: What I 'm saying is you could 'change this around so that you might_
have a 9 ,000 or a 10 ,000 or 11 ,000 . Whatever you want to set as the
minimum lot area that you allow in a PUD . That will give a developer.
flexibility to put in some smaller lots where those are appropriate . But
require that the average lot size meet or exceed 15 ,000 square feet .
Erhart : That 's our old ordinance .
Krauss: Yeah and before we had the Lundgren thing come down , I wasn 't toc
sure that anybody , nobody had used the old ordinance . Now the old
ordinance was a bad deal for everybody . It was a bad deal for the buyers ._
It was a bad deal for the city and the city never got what the developers
promised which was more affordable housing . There were no guidelines and
no standards . But in an area like this Johnson-Delache piece the
flexibility that the PUD may give a developer to take like the open —
cornfield area and do the smaller lots and preserve the larger wooded
hilltops for the larger lots and average it out , maybe that 's a worthwhile
exchange . I don 't know .
Conrad: Let me interrupt you . I know you 've got a thought maybe .
Batzli : Which is new . —
Conrad: But it 's real easy to agree with Tim 's comment . I can understand
what Tim is saying because it makes real good mathematical sense . If we —
have a 15 ,000 square foot subdivision minimum , now we 're going to break
that rule for a PUD . You can go underneath that down to a minimum lot size
of what we ever agree . Whatever Brian feels comfortable with but then you
take the difference between the 15 ,000 minimum and what they just went doi
to and you plop that into open space .
Emmings : Not on somebody else 's lot .
Conrad: No . See all of a sudden , now I 've solved my density . My concern
about increased density for the overall deal because I 've allocated that —
same 15 ,000 . It 's either going to be there in a subdivision or a PUD but
I 've allowed the developer to go down and cluster some utilities and save
some money but the difference is I 've taken what he 's saved landwise and _
I 've put it in our little bank over to the side called open space . Now
that one I can visualize and feel comfortable with . But I can 't , I still
have a tough time with our formula that we 've got because I can 't tell
what 's going to happen . I don 't know if it 's , I just don't know. Now —
Paul 's comment could be , hey that 's not going to motivate the developer tc
do it and that 's a valid . That would be a real valid .
Erhart : Yeah , because I think the incentive is still there because he get
to put some 9 ,000 square foot lots .
Conrad: See I would too but I don 't know that . —
Erhart : I think it 's very hard to get the average down below 14 ,000 or
13 ,000 . I think it 's more likely you 're going to see the averages above —
15 ,000 , even despite the fact that you may have some 9 's and 12 's in there
Planning Commission Meeting
October 2 , 1991 - Page 39
Conrad: See the word average bothers me . Again I 'm talking about minimum
and going below a minimum . We 're not talking about , well .
Emmings: That is a problem because if your average gets over 15 ,000 , now
there 's no requirement to set aside any open space .
Erhart : Well that 's the question I 've got . Now hang on . That 's not the
way I read this . I read this as any time you go in a PUD you 've got to put
10% open space period . Is that what I 'm reading?
Krauss: Well , we just changed that to 15 ,000 square feet or above .
Erhart : So then anytime you have a PUD you have to put aside 10% open
space . Is that what you 're saying? Is that what we want?
Elison: No . I want a lot more than that .
Erhart : I mean if a guy comes in at 16 ,000 or 17 ,000 square foot , should
we require them to set aside 10%? •
Krauss : What are you requiring of the individual who does a straight
subdivision?
Ellson: You 're getting at least .
Krauss: No , unless the city wants a park there which is the 10% , they give
nothing .
Erhart : You don 't have to have park fees or parks with the PUD?
— Krauss: Yes you do .
Erhart : Maybe I misunderstand your question . If a guy comes in with a PUD
because he wants to have some setbacks , special setbacks for something . Who
knows whatbut yet his average lot size is 20 ,000 square feet , we 're still
going to make him provide 10% open space? Is that what we want?
Krauss: I think that 's the theory that we 're getting to here but you 've
got to ask yourselves , what if Orrin Thompson wants to do a 1950
subdivision here and the city doesn 't want a park on the property? He 's
not giving you a square inch .
Batzli : Giving you pretty good fees but you 're right , no square inch of
open space .
Erhart: Do a 1950 's what?
Elison: Cracker box , cracker box .
Krauss: Yeah , your usual suburban subdivision . Straight subdivision .
Straight platting . Unless the park board says they need park space there ,
you don 't have a single foot of open space .
Erhart : No , but they 've got to pay a fee .
Planning Commission Meeting
October 2 , 1991 - Page 40
Krauss: Right . Well so these people are paying fees too . They 're paying
identical fees . —
Batzli : You know how these problems are solved? We just move the minimum
lot size in R5F to 20 ,000 square feet . Done deal . Everybody just smirks
when I say that . I don 't understand why it 's such a sacred cow .
Emmings : Well , it isn 't .
Conrad: It costs a lot of money .
Batzli : People will come in and do PUD 's then . If you want PUD 's , that 's—
the way to get them to do PUD 's . But we can 't even decide what we want th
PUD to bc .
Conrad: This is not easy.
Ellson : Where do we go from here?
Erhart : I 'm still trying to understand why , if a guy comes in with an
18 ,000 foot average . The big question is , why might he want a PUD?
Krauss: For the reason we found on the Lundgren proposal is that if you
throw 30 foot front yards and 75 foot rear yards and 50 foot or 60 foot
rights-of-way at them , you have a very difficult time making a legitimate
development out of that thing . He got the flexibility . —
Erhart : The price you pay then for that is a 10% of it goes to open space .
Krauss: And in his case it 's 40% of open space .
Batzli : Not under the ' new formula .
Krauss : No , I haven 't applied the formula . Of the 12 . something acres of
open space , 8 of it 's wetland . So you would give them 2 acres of that .
Batzli : Get 2 acres , yeah .
Emmings: I tell you , well . You guys are always arguing for specifics in —
ordinances and I 'm always arguing to keep them vague but all the problems
are created by trying to come up with a formula and I don 't know why we
can 't just avoid it . I don 't know why you would want to .
Ellson: You 're saying spell the intent out clear enough .
Batzli : But if we can 't decide on what 's fair now , how are we ever going —
to decide the minute a developer walks in unless you have at least an
"acceptable range" . You will be expected to provide within this range for
open space . 10% to 20% .
Emmings : I could go along with that .
Batzli : Yeah , I could go along with that . —
Planning Commission Meeting
October 2 , 1991 - Page 41
Emmings: A statement in a range I could live with very easily .
Batzli : The developer will be expected to provide between 10% and 20% open
space . End of it .
Emmings: Another statement . If you go below 15,000 feet , expect to have a
greater requirement . To the extent you have lots below 15 ,000 square feet ,
_ expect to have greater requirements for open space .
Krauss: For individual lots or average density below that?
Emmings: See I tend to go to the individual lots .
Conrad: Individual lots .
Emmings: Because otherwise I don 't want to see , you know he 's got prime
land over here and he 's got 1 acre lots and he 's got a whole bunch of
little houses down here where Brian lives . Those are 10 ,000 square feet .
Those ,people are getting screwed . To me . I agree with Brian . It 's no
comfort . There may be a certain market for people who want to live in
those houses .
Krauss: Well but face it . These people probably paid $30 ,000 .00 for the
lot when the guy up on the hill paid $80 ,000 .00 . I mean you 're getting
something different for a difference in price .
Emmings : Yeah , I don 't know . I guess I don 't find comfort in that but
I guess I could be persuaded if there 's a market . Maybe there are empty
nesters who want a small place and don 't want to spend their time taking
care of a yard . We have people starting out who want to get into a house
like that .
Batzli : See but most people , and I 'll say this and you don 't have to give
me sympathy but this is the reason . Most people move in and they expect
the community to have minimum standards . Most people don 't understand what
PUD is . They don 't understand that what they 're getting is below the
minimum community standards in other parts of the city . They don 't
understand that .
Conrad: But they know what they 're getting .
Emmings: They know what they 're getting .
Batzli : No they don't . Okay they know they 're getting a 12 ,000 square
_ foot lot . They don 't know that the minimum throughout the rest of the
entire city is 15 ,000 .
Emmings: Why do they care?
Batzli : Well the question is , why should the city relax the standard?
Emmings: To provide that person with something that he wants and can
afford .
Planning Commission Meeting —
October 2 , 1991 - Page 42
Batzli : I don 't buy that that house is any cheaper than the 15 ,000 square
foot lot . I don 't buy that the PUD is necessarily providing that but
that 's just me .
Emmings: I think that 's the reason the person bought it . I mean they 're
dissatisfied with their house because they moved into a 12 ,000 square foot
lotand find out most other people in regular subdivisions have 15 ,000
square foot lots?
Batzli : No , they are . Well , I don 't know how to say this but they move —
in . It 's a substandard size lot . It 's not necessarily , and under this ne
subdivision things are changed a little bit but they still have setbacks
and things applied against them and they don 't understand the nuances of
the PUD . That 's my only point that they 're getting a smaller sized lot an_
they 're not necessarily gaining any benefits from it and I 'm not convinced
necessarily that the city got anything so I 'm looking at it from a lose
lose perspective . The people that are moving in . They don 't understand —
that they 're going to have a strike against them the minute they try to do
something on the lot . The City 's really not gaining anything . My question
is , who 's getting something other than the developer who had relaxed the —
standards to do the development . Now if you can convince me that we 're
providina a different housing market and people are getting cheaper houses
and that 's why we 're doing that , then that 's a good enough rationale but I
don 't know that that 's why we 're doing it here tonight . —
Emmings: Now presumably a builder won 't build a house unless he can sell
it . There 's got to be a market or he 's not going to sell the house . —
Batzli : Right , but the question is , who 's winning with this ordinance? I%s
the City winning? Are the people moving into the city winning , which is , _
you know when we 're looking at it I think we have to look at it from two
points of view . Is the City getting something like open space or a park o
helping to preserve additional wetlands other than what our ordinance
alread;' does . It does comfort me at all that Lundgren preserved wetlands —
that were already preserved . I mean that just really irritated me . That
yeah , we get to count the whole wetlands here as open space . Well you had
to do that anyway . I don 't give a rip . You know , so the City doesn 't —
really win under that scenario . The people if it 's a , and again don 't fee
sympathy but people moving in I don 't think feel they win . So you 've got
the people moving in . They 're unhappy usually with the city because they
go to the city . The city says you can 't do anything with your lot so —
they 're unhappy . The city didn 't get anything . Who won? The developer .
My question is , let 's build an ordinance . Make sure we have an ordinance
where the people moving in win. The City wins and the developer gets a —
fair shake and I don 't think that 's happening under this one .
Emmings: You know one way maybe to avoid this problem of a developer
putting up , having a bunch of big lots in one area and a bunch of little
ones in another area which scares me about this . Would be to put somethin,
in here that they 're going to have to mix their lots to some extent . And
what are you going to do , set up a formula for that? I don 't even know ho—
you do i t .
Planning Commission Meeting
October 2 , 1991 - Page 43
Conrad: I go back to the overall . Just real simply , I don 't have a
problem . Let 's take a 100 acre parcel . Based on today 's development
pattern , on a 100 acres . Somebody could probably put in 200 units on 100
acres . I don 't have any problem taking those 200 units and putting on half
of the property and leaving the other half open . Taking the minimum lot
._ size down to 4 units , you know putting it up to 4 units per acre . That 's
fine because what I 've done there is we 've got open space and we 've kept
the standard that we 've been kind of floating along with . 2 units per
acre , even though comprehensive plan says 0 to 4 , practicality has dictated
we 're coming in around 2 .
Emmings: Or 1 .7 .
Conrad: Or 1 .7 so that 's why I want to be able to get .
Emmings : I think everybody here would agree with that .
Conrad: But I 'm not sure I know how to get there .
Emmin ;z : Paul won 't . He flexed his eyebrows .
Krauss : No , I see . . .45 minutes ago .
Conrad: Well we 're missing things .
Emmingz. : But what 's the difference between what Ladd 's saying and what
we 're doing here?
Krauss : Because what we 're doing here would allow densities in excess of
what we normally experience .
Emmings: Does anybody want that?
•
Ellson: I think I could be won over if I looked at it .
Erhart : In excess of what?
Emmings : In excess of the 1 .7 . What we 've historically done with
subdivisions . That 's why I asked right off the bat , it says in no instance
shall the project density exceed comprehensive plan guidelines . I wonder
if we were incorporating that 1 .7 right there .
• Krauss : No .
Emmings: Well I wonder if we want to .
Krauss : Well you might .
_ Conrad: That would make me feel comfortable . That- one , and Paul mentioned
it before , average consistent with other subdivisions . That one -statement.
gives me the leverage to talk to a developer and then I can throw
everything else out . But that one statement gives me something to say , hey
I don 't like it because it 's not meeting what we 've seen in 'the past in the
overall design of the subdivision .
Planning Commission Meeting —
October 2 , 1991 - Page 44
Emmings: And then could you throw out this open space table? Couldn 't yo
get rid of all that?
Krauss: You could , well .
Conrad: I 'd like to give them a way to .
Emmings: To what?
Conrad: I 'd like to force the open space . —
Emmings: But if you 've got your gross density set . If he wants to
cluster , you 're going to wind up with open space . You 've set the gross _
density for the whole project .
Conrad: Yeah . It could still end up looking like a PUD . Or like a
subdivision . End up looking like a subdivision though .
Emmings : But then if it is a subdivision , he goes under the subdivision
ordinance . We don 't care if he. does because we think we have one that 's —
okay .
Erhart : You can cluster . You can still cluster and use the 9 ,000 square
foot lots . Overall density is .
Emmings: Is 1 .7 .
Erhart : For the low density is one number . Medium density is another
number and high density is another number .
Emmincs: Right . Here 's the framework . You 're stuck with .
Erhart : That would really serve the same purpose as this .
Emc:ings: Do what you want . Bring it in and we 'll take a look at it .
Batzli : But they wouldn 't have to necessarily provide open space . They —
could just make bigger lots .
Emmings : But if they want that approach Brian , why wouldn 't they do a
subdivision?
Batzli : No , if they could put a couple 9 ,000 square foot lots in there and
just put 37 ,000 and end up with the right density . They wouldn 't have —
provided any open space that isn 't privately owned .'
Emmings : Okay , would that bother anybody? —
Erhart : That 's what you 've got here too. I mean this open space is based
on average .
Batzli : That 's right .
Erhart : So you can do the same thing with this . —
Planning Commission Meeting
October 2 , 1991 - Page 45
_ Batzli : Right . I understand that . Well I don 't like that aspect of this
either . I mean that 's why I 'm viewing this as the developer wins . The
city loses . The people that move in lose except for the people on the
37 ,000 square foot lots and they didn 't have to move into a PUD anyway if
they didn 't want to .
Conrad: I don 't perceive it that way .
Ellson: I don 't either .
Batzli : I know but I 'm just , somebody 's got to argue against it because
otherwise this whole commission . . .
Ellson: Were you here the night they gave that presentation of all the
different ones? There were a lot of win situations there .
Batzli : I gave you Tootsie Pops to soften you up but it didn 't work .
Emming.s: Order in the court . Jeff , you haven 't said anything .
Farmakes: I think it should be 1 .7 and I think that that point was made
quite a while ago .
Conrad: The rest of us missed it .
Farmakes : It 's still going to become quite cloudy whether or not it 's in ,
it seems to nye that the advantage of a PUD is financial anyway . One way or
_ the other for the developer . Why would a developer develop a piece of
property if it wasn 't in their financial interest?
Emrriings : They wouldn 't unless they 're stupid .
Farmakes : Going on that basis , I think if 1 .7 is the average size , if
that 's what it works out to , I think that still gives them the leverage .
That still gives them the leverage to utilize pieces of property . Because
of the terrain , will develop otherwise .
Emmings: What would be the gross density on the Lundgren one that we just
went through here?
Krauss: 1 .4 units an acre .
Erhart : Why don 't we just ask them to go back and look at that . We 've
spent a lot of time discussing this . We 're obviously not going to pass
anything tonight . Look at that approach versus this approach .
Krauss : Would you like me to get , you only heard from one developer .
There 's a lot of them out there who have worked in this community . Should
we get a panel of them together? I mean we can get real assenteric and dig
this thing real deep and come up with an ordinance that makes absolutely no
sense to somebody working out in the field . If they 're not going to do it ,
we ought to know about it and just drop it .
Planning Commissi'on Meeting
October 2 , 1991 - Page 46
Emmings: But wouldn 't they want , you know if I 'm a developer and I come to
you and I say , how can I develop and you show me a subdivision ordinance . _
I say okay , I don 't like it . What alternatives do I have? You say okay
well you can develop it the same density but we can give you lots of
flexibility in your road construction and your setbacks and your ability to
cluster , you can develop your property any way you want to as long as you
don 't exceed this number and as long as we like your plan . It makes sense
for the property and we can protect some trees and things like that .
Wouldn 't a developer be interested in that? —
Ellson: How 's that different than our own?
Emmings: If it was that vague?
Krauss: A developer like Lundgren that 's fairly perceptive and understands
that and is design oriented , yeah they will . But you 've got to realize —
when you 're going through a PUD you 're asking a guy to go through a
rezoning which they really wouldn 't have to do . It exposes them to any
3/5ths . They need a super majority to approve the rezoning . They only —
need a simple majority to approve a plat . It 's a lot more work for them t
come up with all this stuff . I don 't know if it 's worth it for them .
I honestly don 't .
Emmings : Why don 't you ask? Rather than getting a panel of them together
why don 't you just run the ideas past them some and tell us what they say .
I think . I don 't know , what do you think? You 're talking about another —
presentation here otherwise?
Krauss: No . You 've had the presentation . I think come up with a version
of this ordinance or leave it the way it is and tell them what other thins
you 're thinking about and say the Planning Commission would like to hear
front you . Your reaction to this . I mean clearly if the idea is just to
motivate , is the motivation that we had with the earlier PUD 's which was —
crank out more lots . People get less building space . The City gets
absolutely nothing out of it and with a vague promise that it 's going to
lower the price of housing when obviously it didn 't , who cares . We don 't —
need to do anything . But I found going through that one with the Lake Luc
Road one , a rather unique experience because it really proved where the PUu
was completely valid when it didn 't in any way encourage undersized lots .
Emmings: Okay . We 're going to table this .
Erhart : There 's some other things here though. I 've got a question here ,—
moving right along here . Your computer printed out some double sentences .
Did you notice that? Bottom of the page . ( e ) , bottom of page 1 . You 've
got some repeats of sentences and lines . Okay , then on ( f ) . We go to 1 , —
boulevard plantings . Is this on top of our new ordinance for landscaping'?
I mean all of a sudden I 'm reading this and all of a sudden we 're requires .
Krauss: No , it 's not on top of it . Your new ordinance for landscaping —
applies in subdivisions . It doesn 't apply in PUD 's .
Erhart : It doesn 't apply in PUD 's. So we 're requiring . —
Planning Commission Meeting
October 2 , 1991 - Page 47
— Krause;: Well I guess maybe it is redundant because you have to come
through with a plat with the PUD .
Emmings: Well shouldn 't it apply?
Krauss : Well definitely it should . I put it in here to make sure , I
wasn 't double hitting . It was to make sure it applied .
Erhart : You 've got a lot of requirements here . Your rear yard shall
contain at least 2 over story trees . That 's not even in our landscaping .
Emmings : Foundation plantings . I don 't remember there being requirements
for foundation plantings .
Erhart : Where 's this landscaping?
Kraus: That 's new .
Bitz2 i : We talked about this .
Ellen : We talked about this though . I remember .
Batzli : Us PUD dwellers talked about it at , well it was meetings and
meetings ago now but it seems like yesterday . _
Ellson : I remember too a budget or something was going to come out but
yeah , we wanted it to apply to that sort of thing .
Batzli : These were some of the things that we were going to get from
having a PUD in there . It wasn 't going to be a one to one transference of
open span to 15 ,000 square feet . The kind of a deal like you were saying .
We were talking about amenities in the PUD .
Emmings: Maybe this section Paul , the overall landscaping plan. Maybe you
ought to incorporate our other landscaping plan and then add anything we 're
going to add like foundation plantings .
Krauss: Yeah , keep in mind too that this was originally drafted in the
spring and we 've since gone on and the landscaping stuff has jumped ahead
of this and we 've finally got that figured out so there 's a lack of
consistency for that .
Erhart : I guess the whole thing hits me here is that the whole idea of the
PUD was to allow creativity and now all of a sudden , bam . We 're going to
have 2 over story trees in the rear yard and we 're going to have boom .
We 're going to have foundation plantings . We 're going to have boulevard
plantings . All of a sudden we 're getting real specific .
Batzli : But we didn 't get any creativity . We haven 't got any . -
Erhart : Well we haven 't done any . I don 't know .
Batzli : Yeah but nobody wants to do them .
Planning Commission Meeting
October 2 , 1991 - Page 48
Erhart : I 'm just surprised . I was surprised when I read this .
Batzli : I agree . I think it should be creative . I mean I think this
should be win for people who move in . Win for the city . The developer . I
should be attractive to them and I don 't see that we 're doing that yet .
Erhart : And then beyond that .
Batzli : The only people that ever do them are Lundgren . I mean you know —
and they do it for a different reason .
Erhart : Maybe I missed the meeting on this . I was just really surprised .
Gee we get the architectural standards . I don 't remember talking about . —
must have missed that meeting . Is that what we said at a meeting we want
architectural standards , and again we don 't even , we 're talking about lots
here . We 're not talking about site plans . —
Ellson: The.se are the things that . . .remember this exactly . For this
reason they could have the street signs could be a tad different and all _
these . . .They were going to get bushes when they moved in . Just a bare
minimum .
Erhart : Let me go on here for a minute . Again , if this goes as a PUD
we 're going to put guidelines on placement of air conditioners? Do you se
the contrast of how it jumps from what concept of creativity to all of a
sudden man we 're dictating specifics . The whole thing just hit me like —
what are we doing?
Yraucs. : Yeah , but are we talking about 9 ,000 square foot lots or are we
talking about 30 ,000 square foot lots? —
EmmingE : Right . And we 're also talking about maybe some zero lot lines or
some , or even some 5 ,000 square foot lots . —
Erhart : But that 's in another section which that also confused me . Now
all of a sudden we go to Section 20-507 . Now we 're back to the minimum 251.
gross area . Am I reading this right? Plus those two pages don 't , page 3
doesn 't go to page , let 's see . Bottom of page 2 does not fit with the top •
of page 3 . There 's something . There 's at least 6 inches at 4 feet in '
height can of the PUD , the plan should be developed . There 's something —
wrong here . A typo . Am I the only guy who saw this?
Conrad: Yeah , you 're the only one . I read it and it sounded right .
Erhart : Well anyway , it 's confusing to me .
Elison : Brian 's usually the one that finds those . —
•
Batzli : I didn 't get past A . •
Erhart : In Section 20-507 relates to these zero lot line things? Is that
it?
Krauss : Yes .
Planning Commission Meeting
October 2 , 1991 - Page 49
Erhart : Okay . And those you 're suggesting that we maintain just this 25%
gross area of the PUD to be set aside in these protected areas . Am I
reading that?
Krauss: Yes . We 're talking about fairly intensive . . .
Erhart : Oh , I understand . Well because the pages didn 't meet , maybe I
thought there was an extra page in there . I 'm just checking . Okay , I 'll
stop .
Emmings: Are we kind of worn out on this for tonight?
Conrad : Yeah .
Emmings: What can we do?
Ellson : I like his idea . Ask some of the developers .
Emmings: Do you think you can make anything out of the pages and pages of
comments you 're going to have in the Minutes?
Krauss: I can make a lot out of it . The question is , will that bring it
to resolution the next time . I still don 't understand if there 's a desire
to allow individually or collectively lots below 15 ,000 square feet .
Emmings : Yeah .
Conrad: Yes .
Emmings : I have no problem with that .
Kraus:: Brian you still do?
Batzli : I don 't if that 's average .
ErhLrt : If 15 's average?
Batzli : Yeah .
Emmings: Alright , if I have 100 acres and I 'm putting on four 9 ,000 square
_. . foot lots , you 're against that?
Batzli : That 's it? That 's all you 're doing on 100 acres? What else , the
rest an outlot?
Emming: My average lot size is 9 ,000 square feet so I don't think you mean
what you say is what I 'm saying .
Batzli : Well that 'd be wonderful I suppose if they did that .
Emmings : It 's silly obviously but I don 't think you mean that you 're
against an average of 9 ,000 . Under certain circumstances it could be
alright . It 's not what we want . It 's not what 's going to happen but it 's
Planning Commission Meeting
October 2 , 1991 - Page 50
not , we shouldn 't just throw it out I -don 't think . I think we should leave
it up to the developer . I really do . -'
Elison: Yep , I do too . Let us see it . We know what we like when we see
it . -
Batzli : But under this current one .
Conrad: But that 's unfair to the developer .
Emmings: No it 's not .
Conrad: Yeah it is . If we say we like an average 9 ,000 square foot lot
size .
Batzli He 'll bring it in .
Conrad: Nobody here would really like to see that .
Emmings: Don 't say it .
Batzli : If for example they did a single road in . They had a little -
• cul-de-sac in the middle , which would probably be against our rules becaus
it 'd be over 1 ,500 feet or something , but they have a little cul-de-sac .
They 've got four 9 ,000 square foot lots and the rest of it is an outlot alL
the way around it , would any of us really be that against it?
Emmings : No .
E1_ 1Cn: Nice secluded little thing .
Emmings : That 's clustering . _
Batzli : That 'd be great . But who in the world is going to do that? Well
Lundgren could because each one of those 9 ,000 square foot lots would be _
worth about TlOOK and they 'd just say , well it 's all fair .
Elison: The deer farm that 's behind here .
Farmakes : Centex did that in Eden Prairie .. They call them Village Homes .
Emmings : How did it work out?
Farmakes: Just what you described . They offered a variation in price of
about 25% from the smaller lot single family homes . Basically they 're a
retirement house . You wouldn 't have to mow more than about 5 feet around -
the house .
Elison: Yeah , and I think that 's a viable option . . .Brian that there are -
people that don 't want the bigger lot .
Emmings: Sounds great to me . Alright , now you asked a question .
Planning Commission Meeting
October 2 , 1991 - Page 51
— Krauss: I think you 're saying that you are willing to consider lots below
15 ,000 .
Non Emmings: We 'll consider anything . We 'll consider zero lot lines . We 'll
consider 5 ,000 . 9 ,000 .
Krauss: But do you still want to put a ceiling in what you could see?
Emmings: Yeah .
Erhart: In terms of density?
Krauss: Yeah .
Emmings: That 's what I want to do .
Conrad: Yeah .
Patzli : I would say , if you put density limitations on there , I would also
like to see open space that isn 't privately owned . I would like to see
that which I don 't think is part of your density scenario .
Emmings: Who owns it? If it 's not privately owned , who owns it?
Batzli : Outlot .
_ Krauss: But who 's going to take care of . . .?
Emmings: Who 's going to take care of it? Who 's responsible for it?
Batzli : Well that 's never bothered us before . Why are you going to start
now? Do you really think these people in the Lundgren lots are going to be
out there fixing their monuments? Get real . Grow up . Come on .
Emmings: Brian , I want you to put both feet back on the floor . You jumped
from outlet to monuments somehow and that was quite a leap .
Batzli : That 's what they used to do. I mean basically my development has
an outlet with a monument on it that 's owned by some guy that lives in Cuba
or something . It 's not going to be taken care of . So Lundgren comes in
and says we 'll fix that . We 'll make it part of this guy 's lot and he 's got
a covenant to fix the monument . Come on . We 've done it in the past . Why
are we worried about it all of a sudden right now?
Emmings: Let 's please not talk about monuments. That 's a different
problem .
Batzli : It 's part of their open space .
Krauss: But if there 's a need for public open space , shouldn 't that have
been . . .
Emmings: That 's park . That 's got nothing to do with what we 're talking
about here . That 's separate .
Planning Commission Meeting
October 2 , 1991 - Page 52
Batzli : Okay , then make all the open space park . Then I 'd be happy with
that . —
Emmings: And now it 's the citizens responsibility to take care of it . The.
we 're not going to like that .
Batzli : Why?
Ellson: What about that same . . .that was behind the people? —
Batzli : Well all they do is , then don 't grow any grass . Put some trees on
it and let it grow .
Krauss : That 's not the way it works .
Batzli : Why? —
Krauss: You get demands for totlots . You get demands to cut the weeds .
You get demands to pick up the garbage . —
Emmings: Right . No , I don 't think we want . If it 's not parkland and it 's
not privately owned in part of the lots , what then?
Conrad: I think it 's the Emmings Foundation .
Batzli : Then make it a requirement that there 's a neighborhood associatio
and it 's owned to all the units in the lots . Commonly owned . Let them
take care of it . But give them a vehicle to take care of it by requiring
the association .
Erhart : I think the problem is when you 've got this privately owned wooden
area that you 're preserving , if it 's privately owned the guy can post
things and nobody can walk in it . —
Batzli : That 's right . I mean what 's the good of , well open space is good
visually . Preserve it but it would be better I think if it was useable —
because they 're basically and again you guys don 't like this but they 're
giving up lot size to get it .
Emmings: They 're not .
Batzli : Well I view it differently because I live in one . You view it as
a detached commissioner not living in one of them . I 'm saying this is wha
the people in them view it as , and you can accept it or reject it . You
guys all clearly reject it but that 's how they view it .
Emmings: It sounds like a detached retina .
Conrad: I like the detached chairman .
Ellson: I think another night with the Planning .
Batzli : I 'd simmer down by then . —
Planning Commission Meeting •
October 2 , 1991 - Page 53
Emmings: Yeah , can we talk about this another night when Brian 's not here?
Ellson: Yeah , special meeting . Don 't let him know .
Emmings: Well . I don 't know .
Conrad: They 're really good comments .
Emmings: No, I think we 're talking about a lot of important stuff but I
think we 've worn ourselves out for tonight .
Batzli : Thanks for making me feel good .
Emmings : Brian , you 're responsible for bringing up all of the most
important things that we talked about . Not let 's see . Minutes . Oh , we 're
going to table this and you 're going to figure out .
Krauss: Exactly what you said .
Emmings : Do it . Just do it .
Erhart : This is your commission .
Krauss : Well Steve , isn 't this one of the places where you jump in and
volunteer?
Emmings: I 'll rewrite the ordinance tomorrow afternoon.
Conrad: You could make it pretty vague I have a feeling . But I think this
would be a case where the Planning Director and the Chairman of the
Planning Commission might just get together .
Emmings: You never did .
Conrad: I know .
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The Minutes of the Planning Commission meeting dated
September 4 , 1991 were so noted as presented .
CITY COUNCIL UPDATE:
Emmings: Let 's see now . Lundgren they put off deciding it . Surface Water
Management . Is there any of these anybody wants to talk about? I 'm glad
they 're going on the grandfathered recreational beachlots . And you see ,
Comrade Farmakes has been appointed to the sign ordinance task force . That
actually exists at this point in time?
Krauss: It will , yes . It does .
Emmings: They will be starting to meet . That 's going to be tough .
MEW Farmakes: New signs are going up I noticed .
Krauss: Oh , on the building? Yeah , they are .
CHANHASSEN PLANNING COMMISSION
REGULAR MEETING
JANUARY 15, 1992
Chairman Emmings called the meeting to order at 7:40 p .m . .
MEMBERS PRESENT: Ladd Conrad , Steve Emmings , Jeff Farmakes , Joan Ahrens
and Matt Ledvina
- MEMBERS ABSENT: Tim Erhart and Brian Batzli
STAFF PRESENT: Paul Krauss , Planning Director ; Jo Ann Olsen , Senior
Planner ; and Kate Aanenson , Planner II
Emmings: We 're going to save item number one until the end of the meeting .
Those are all basically organizational items and we 'll get right onto the
public hearing .
- PUBLIC HEARING:
ZONING ORDINANCE AMENDMENT AND INTERIM USE PERMIT FOR SCREENED OUTSIDE
STORAGE ON PROPERTY ZONED BF , FRINGE BUSINESS DISTRICT FOR PROGRESS VALLEY
- STORAGE , LOCATED AT 1900 STOUGHTON AVENUE, GARY BROWN AND GARY DUNGEY .
JoAnn Olsen presented the staff report on this item . Chairman Emmings
called the public hearing to order .
Emmings: Gary , do you have anything to add?
- Gary Brown: No . That 's fine . If we go with outside storage , you want it
screened? Is that correct? If we do not go with the outside storage , the
same with the truck rentals , do you still want the screening?
Olsen: We 're just asking for the additional landscaping . There is no
specific requirement for , as part of the conditional use permit for truck
and trailer rental , there 's no specific requirement that it has to be
completely screened . We are asking for additional screening from the
residential for the truck and trailer rental and complete screening for any
other outdoor storage .
Gary Brown: Now , the only question I guess I would ask then is , are you
going to make the parking lot owner across the street here , the hardware
store , are you going to make him screen that all the way around?
Emmings: We 're not looking at that . We don 't have to answer that . Here ,
Gary I 've got one question for you .
Gary Brown: Sure .
- Emmings: Last time you were here you mentioned to me that as far as the
truck and trailer rental goes , that you could live with a limit on the
number of trucks and trailers . 20 trucks , 4 trailers and no trucks over 26
feet or something like that .
Gary Brown: I 've got no problem with that at all Steve .
Planning Commission Meeting
January 15 , 1992 - Page 2
Emmings: Okay , that didn 't get in here and I guess I 'll just throw it out —
for consideration . If some people think there ought to be a limit and the
other thing is if your business expanded and you wanted those limits
changed , we could look at it again . But anyway , okay . The reason I 'm not —
going to have the staff address the parking lot across the street . That 's
not your property and we 're here tonight to talk about your property . I
think we all know there 's something going on in that parking lot that 's not
allowed by ordinance . That doesn 't mean we should allow that to happen
someplace else . So that 's the short answer to that and we 're not going to
talk about it anymore .
Gary Brown: That 's fine .
Emmings: Okay . Anything else?
Gary Brown: The only other thing I 'd like to ask is , on number 3 here it
says that we shall have a letter of credit to be submitted to cover the
cost of material installation for a year . Does that mean you 're going to —
want to hold that letter for a year? Okay . And how much do you ask for
that?
Olsen: 110% of the cost . That 's typical for what we do with any site
improvement .
Gary Brown: Okay . I don 't think I 've got any problem with that .
Emmings : Okay . So as far as the conditions go on all three of these
items , it 's okay with you? Is that right? —
Gary Brown: Yeah . . .
Emmings: Alright . This is a public hearing . Is there anybody else here
that wants to address any of these issues? Is there a motion to close the
public hearing?
Conrad moved, Ahrens seconded to close the public hearing. All voted in
favor and the motion carried. The public hearing was closed.
Ahrens: In practical terms , does it really make that much of a difference
if these , the screening requirement . If he 's going to have 20 trucks .
What did we talk about? 20 trucks , 4 trailers .
Emmings: Maximum yeah .
Ahrens: If that 's visible to the outside neighborhood and from the street , —
is that any different from having other kinds of storage visible from the
street really? Are we nitpicking here or is this a significant difference?
Olsen: We discussed the last time that the truck and trailer , those are
actually outdoor storage and how do we treat that . The way that we looked
at it was that the ordinance specifically designates truck and trailer
rental as a conditional use permit and doesn 't require that it has to be
completely screened . That other miscellaneous outside storage does and
that 's just to be consistent with what we do throughout the other
Planning Commission Meeting
January 15 , 1992 - Page 3
districts . It 's a difficult one yeah because . . .naturally screened .
Ahrens: We 're just trying to fit this into our current ordinances?
Olsen: Trying to be consistent as best possible .
Ahrens: But in practical terms it really didn 't make much of a difference .
I remember when we went through this last fall . I guess I don 't have any ,
I 'm going to go along with the staff recommendation on this . I think that
- the request is reasonable and the conditions are reasonable .
Emmings: Okay , Jeff .
Farmakes: I 'm going to go along with staff on this . I think we 've
discussed it enough .
Emmings: Do you want to get your feet wet?
Ledvina : Sure . I had a question as to the Phase III . It says here that
the outdoor storage will be removed when Phase III is completed . Is there
a time line for that?
Gary Brown: When we need to put Phase III in . I 'm hoping in the next 2
years . We 're just constructing our fifth building down there right now so
there 's room for 3 more buildings . And if things keep going good , yeah . . .
next few years will build out .
Ledvina: Okay . Otherwise it looks reasonable .
- Emmings: Alright , Ladd .
•
Conrad: Everybody 's so brief . That 's just terrific . My intent at the
last meeting was to challenge staff and say what does outdoor truck rental
look like . And as I read my Minutes , I couldn't tell what I said . But I 'm
still , truck rental and trailer rental is something that you have outdoors
and people pass it and it sort of stimulates that 's where it is . I guess I
- kind of thought we were going to look at that to decide if we had the right
parameters for truck and trailer rental in terms of our ordinance . And
based on what the staff report came back and said is , we don 't have any
guidelines and therefore we 're going to , we don 't have any guidelines right
now . My point last time we talked about this was , should there be? Are we
trying to screen truck and trailer rental and I never thought it should be
_ personally but we didn 't have a reaction from staff on those points and I
don 't know if we all thought about it but my posture was that if there 's a
place in Chanhassen for this kind of operation , it 's down where Gary has
his operation . A specific question that I couldn 't tell based from the
- staff report , and JoAnn maybe you can tell me , you 've got the truck and
trailer rental screened in the southwest corner and that is from a
neighborhood standpoint?
Olsen: From the residences .
Conrad: So I guess the question that I pose to the Commission is , that 's
sort of a token type of thing and I don 't know how much , that 's not a
Planning Commission Meeting _
January 15 , 1992 - Page 4
significant screening effort is it? What 's your perception of what that
would take?
Olsen: To screen it?
Conrad: To screen it on the southwest corner . We 're talking evergreens
over 6 feet and we 're talking 10 evergreens or any idea JoAnn?
Olsen: There 's some existing landscaping there now . We just wanted them
to add to it . It is going to take the evergreens . My intent I don 't know
that we could possibly have it totally screened , even from the residential —
side . The way it 's located and the fact that it 's in the middle of a large
open site and the site has just the chainlinked fence at this time . So the
existing conditions really kind of limit how far we can go . —
Conrad: So we screened it to a degree from the one or two neighbors . There
aren 't many neighbors down there . Residences but still , and then one
happens to be one of the owners .
Gary Brown: I was going to say . The part that we 're screening is where my
partner lives . —
Conrad: He could sell his house .
Gary Brown: I guess now that we talked about this , it kind of refreshes my
memory too . I would like to ask one thing . When we planted all the
evergreens the first time , we planted I don 't know a dozen or 15 six
footers which we were able to save one out of all . We planted 50 or 60-3 —
footers and we never lost one .
Emmings: What year? _
Gary Brown: We put them in 1987 .
Emmings: So that was the dry years , '87 and '88 that you had the problems?
Gary Brown: Yeah , we replanted a couple of the 6 footers the following
year . We couldn 't keep enough water for them because it 's all sand down —
there .
Emmings: Yeah . We talked about that last time you were here . —
Gary Brown: Yeah . We 'll do our best to make them grow but we could have a
little problem there making those 6 footers .
Ahrens: I think we should be more flexible .
Emmings: Yeah . —
Gary Brown: 3 footers I know we can make grow .
Emmings : Well and this doesn 't specify . It specifies that you have to
have a landscaping plan that 's acceptable and I guess if you make that
point at the time you make your landscaping plan , I think people will be
Planning Commission Meeting
January 15 , 1992 - Page 5
reasonable about that . If you had luck with that soil with 3 footers and
not 6 footers , it 's kind of dumb to have you plant 6 footers . But anyway ,
go ahead Ladd .
Conrad: Is our posture in the city that if you have a truck rental or
• trailer rental operation , that it should be screened? Is that what we 're
going to do with a car lot? We 'll screen the cars? When a new dealership
comes into town , same thing . They 're selling cars . Primarily they 're
going to be inside , if there is one coming in . I don 't really know if
that 's happening anymore . Same operation . I guess it 's a little bit
dissimilar but is our posture to screen?
▪ Emmings: Isn 't it to screen to the extent necessary depending on the site?
Isn 't that what we 're doing here? That 's what I thought .
Conrad: I think the policy to screen from the neighborhood is just
absolutely right on . Even though it 's one of the owners , I think if we do
a little bit of screening , I think that makes a lot of sense . My question
is , right now in general , and it doesn 't really pertain specifically .
• Well , in general what 's our philosophy on screening truck and trailer
rentals? The ordinance says screen them all the way around .
- Emmings: No it doesn 't .
Olsen: That 's outdoor .
Conrad: Well you classified this as outdoor storage though .
Emmings: No . No we 're not .
Ahrens: No . That 's what I don 't understand .
— Emmings: I think what we 're saying here is this is more like a retail
service .
Conrad: Right . It should be .
am
Emmings: It 's not like , even though you 're storing big items , this is not
outdoor storage . It 's a retail service and since it 's a conditional use ,
we 're always going to have an opportunity to look at it and screen it to
the extent that 's necessary depending on the site . That 's the way I 'm
looking at it . Now I don 't know if that makes sense . It 's a pretty fine
line between a truck as some kind of retail service .
Conrad: But wouldn 't you want to have an ordinance that would tell you how
to treat truck and trailer rental in terms of .
Farmakes: How 's it any different than a new car parking lot? New car lot .
- Conrad: Jeff , yeah . I don 't know .
Emmings : Here 's the thing though . If we 've got , if we know there 's going
_ to be some screening associated with these when they come in as a
conditional use . Now we 're back to our old. argument that we get into every
Planning Commission Meeting —
January 15 , 1992 - Page 6
time . Some people want things very specific and itemized in the Statute
and some of us like them very vague so we can deal with the problem that
arises . I always tend to like the vague better . That 's why I want a
principle . Principle is , if you 're going to have this kind of retail
service and we 're not going to call it outdoor storage and not make you
completely screen it , then I want to have the ability to tell you how much
you 've got to screen it depending on the site . _
Conrad : So you don 't like standards associated with truck and trailer
rental?
Emmings: Yeah .
Conrad: There are no standards? —
Emmings: The standard is , it 's a conditional use and it 's going to be
screened to some extent but the extent will depend on the site . That 's the _
way I like it . If you 've got residential all around you , well you 're
probably not going to be able to have it at all but if you did across the
road or whatever , we might want to screen that completely , at least on 3
sides . But I think down where Gary is , it just doesn 't matter that much . I
think it 's a good idea to beef up the screening a little bit . Just on
general principles but I don 't think you have to do anymore than that .
Conrad: I think the staff report for this particular application is
acceptable .
Emmings: Are you afraid it 's going to limit us in the future?
Conrad: It 's just sort of willy nilly .
Emmings: Maybe it 's site dependent .
Conrad: I don 't know . Why? Retail stores are not , they have standards _
for retail , commercial . Here 's another application for a retail use .
Emmings: Where else can we have truck and trailer rental?
Olsen: I think it 's just the BF .
Emmings: BF . —
Paul Krauss: It also must be the BG . In fact Market Square , when they go
over , they 're going to be bringing their rental but it 's conditioned in the _
PUD agreement that it be in a masonry enclosure behind the building .
Emmings: What?
Paul Krauss: The rental business .
Conrad: So we have no ordinance , no standards that might govern something —
that 's happening down the block?
Planning Commission Meeting
January 15 , 1992 - Page 7
Paul Krauss: If I could interject something . I think Comissioner Ladd has
a point . We have a number of conditional use permits that ideally when you
review a conditional use permit , you want to review it against some kind of
coherent standard and then when you flip the ordinance to refer to a
standard it 's blank . And you just have the mom and apple pie stuff and the
general guidelines to go by . All the conditional use permits that we 've ,
we haven 't done that many but the IUP 's and CUP's that we 've done over the
last couple of years have very specific standards attached to them . That
would be my preference in the future . Yes , we do exercise control in the
site plan too . We sure do .
Emmings: If you could write a standard for a truck and trailer rental
service dealing with screening , what would you say?
Conrad: Generally they could be very ugly and generally .
Emmings: Screen as appropriate depending on the site and can 't we do that
now?
Conrad: I don 't know .
Ahrens : Isn 't that what it is now?
Conrad : Yeah .
Emmings: I 'm comfortable with that but I don 't think you are . But I don 't
know how else you 'd say it .
Ahrens: We either have to go with total screening .
Conrad: You could have different landscaping requirements . You can have
minimums . You know you 're talking about minimums and maximums or how many
._ trucks that could be parked in one spot . I think there are some things
that might be different than we 're used to . I guess what I 'd like to do ,
again I think what the staff has designed here Gary is probably appropriate
for your facility . I don 't think it 's detrimental to your operation
financially as I looked at it . I think it 's probably some common sense
stuff so I think to get off the dying here , I think what I 'd like to do or
I agree with the staff report but I would like to have the Planning
-- Commission spend a few seconds one night discussing whether we should take
a look at any kind of guidelines for truck and trailer rental later on .
Emmings: Why don 't we just do that .
Krauss: Add it to the list?
Emmings: Yeah . I think we should . If it causes us to talk about it this
much , than it 's worth talking about it and getting it settled .
Conrad: Everybody else was so brief , I had to .
Emmings: I don 't have anything more to add . I would like , under the truck
and trailer rental thing , to put down a fourth condition . That there will
be no more than 20 trucks or 4 trailers and no trucks exceeding 26 feet as
Planning Commission Meeting
January 15 , 1992 - Page 8
a condition of that approval . Otherwise I don 't have anything else . —
Conrad : And you like that because why? Just because if the operation
expanded you 'd like to take another look at it?
Emmings: Yeah . And we might want to do more screening then . If it 's
going to be bigger . Size changes the character of things to me . This is
something kind of new to me and I feel more comfortable having some kind of
a limit . I don 't even know if it 's a reasonable limit but it 's not going
to cramp his style , it gives us some kind of a limit so it doesn 't become
trucks from one end to the other . Alright , is there any more discussion on
this? If not , is there a motion?
Ahrens: I 'll move that the Planning Commission recommend approval of _
Conditional Use Permit #87-2 for the rental of trucks and trailers with the
conditions listed in the staff report plus a condition number 4 limiting
the trucks to 20 and trailers to 4 and that no trucks be larger than 26
feet . Is that what you said Steve? —
Emmings: Yeah . I 'll second it . Is there any discussion on this one?
Conrad: Joan , you mentioned you didn 't like the 6 foot high evergreens .
You 're leaving that in?
Ahrens: Well it says a landscaping plan acceptable to the Planning —
Commission . I assume that you 're not going to hold him to the 6 feet?
Olsen: It 's still in condition number 1 but we should . . . —
Ahrens: Oh I see . Yeah , I 'd go along .with taking that out . Do you want
to just say a landscape screen with evergreens? Okay , anything else on _
this?
Ahrens moved, Emmings seconded that the Planning Commission recommend
approval of Conditional Use Permit #87-2 for the rental of trucks and
trailers with the following conditions=
1 . The applicant shall provide a landscaped screen with evergreens along —
the fence line at the southwest corner of the site .
2 . The storage of the trucks and trailers shall be confined to the area as
shown on the site plan and the area shall have a gravel surface .
3 . The applicant shall provide a landscaping plan acceptable to the
Planning Commission and a letter of credit shall be submitted to cover —
the cost of material installation and one year warranty .
4. There shall be no more than 20 trucks and 4 trailers and no trucks can —
exceed 26 feet in length .
All voted in favor and the motion carried_
Emmings: We 'll go onto the Zoning Ordinance Amendment . Is there a motion?
Planning Commission Meeting
January 15 , 1992 - Page 9
Ahrens: I 'll move that the Planning Commission recommend the approval of
Zoning Ordinance Amendment #92-1 to add Article XX , BF , Fringe Business
District , the following to Section 2( 775 , Interim Uses as it reads in the
staff report .
- Conrad: I 'll second that .
Emmings: Okay . Also under that on Joan there 's an amendment to Division
4 . You 're moving for everything that 's in the staff report there under
that recommendation?
Ahrens: As Steve says .
Emmings: Well I ' ll second that .
Ahrens moved , Conrad seconded that the Planning Commission recommend
approval of Zoning Ordinance Amendment #92-1 to add Article XX, BF , Fringe
Business District, the following to Section 20-775, Interim Uses:
( 3 ) Screened outdoor storage .
Amend Division 4 , Standards for Business, Office , Institutional and
- Industrial Districts by adding the following:
Section 20-294 . Screened outdoor storage .
The following applies to screened outdoor storage:
' ( 1 ) All outdoor storage must be completely screened with 100% opaque
— fence or landscaped screen .
All voted in favor and the motion carried.
Emmings: One more item here and that 's the Interim Use Permit for screened
outdoor storage . Is there a motion?
- Conrad: I move the Planning Commission recommend approval of the Interim
Use Permit #92-1 to permit outdoor storage with the conditions as listed on
the staff report .
Emmings: I 'll second it . Any discussion?
Conrad moved, Emmings seconded that the Planning Commission recommend
approval of Interim Use Permit #92-1 to permit outdoor storage with the
following conditions:
1 . The outdoor storage shall be completely screened by a 100% opaque fence
or landscaped screen .
-- 2 . The area for screened outdoor storage shall be improved with a gravel
surface .
_ 3 . The outdoor storage will be removed from the site upon completion of
phase 3 of the mini-storage facility .
Planning Commission Meeting
January 15 , 1992 - Page 10
4 . The applicant shall provide a landscaping plan acceptable to the
Planning Commission and a letter of credit shall be submitted to cover
the cost of material installation and one year warranty .
All voted in favor and the motion carried.
Emmings: This goes to City Council on February 10th .
ZONING ORDINANCE AMENDMENT CONCERNING NON-CONFORMING RECREATIONAL BEACHLOTS
AND TO RECEIVE A NON-CONFORMING USE PERMIT . —
Kate Aanenson presented the staff report on this item .
Emmings : This is not a public hearing or was there a public hearing on
this before?
Aanenson: You had the public hearing and the hearing was closed . Just the —
ordinance itself , the passage was tabled .
Emmings: Alright and now though you 're recommending this alternative —
ordinance and was there ever a public , is this the first time this has come
before us? I missed the last meeting .
Krauss: No , it was published and had a public hearing that you opened in
December I think it was .
Aanenson: December 4th , yes .
Krauss : The alternative is a modification of the original . The public
notice would be no different . We also did take great pains to notify _
everybody . We sent copies of both ordinances to all homeowners
associations .
Emmings: Okay . So the only difference between the one that you 're —
recommending now and the one that was on the table before is using 1991 as
a baseline instead of 1982?
Aanenson: Correct .
Emmings: That shouldn 't hurt anybody . That will make them happier than
anything I assume .
Krauss: We should also add Commissioner Emmings that we did make a lot of
modifications to the ordinance itself based upon comments we received but —
that 's in either alternative .
Emmings : Okay . I was wondering if there were any , do you feel that you —
have to do the same thing for each beachlot? They 're all going to have to
have a baseline of the same year?
Krauss: Yeah , I think equity demands that you do .
Ahrens: What were you thinking?
Planning Commission Meeting
January 15 , 1992 - Page 11
Emmings: I just wondered if there were any beachlots for which you felt
you had good information , whether it was from 1982 , 1985 or 1988 , why
• wouldn 't we use that information? •
Olsen: We discussed doing that because there are a couple of cases where
▪ we do have the documentation but again Roger was saying it is difficult to
treat them differently . He just felt it would be difficult to do . . .choice
do you have? That was one of the things that we discussed of being able to
do .
Emmings: Okay . So it 's just kind of out of some sense of fairness .
Aanenson: Yeah , equity .
Emmings: Is there anybody that has any comments on this? Is there any
discussion on this?
Conrad: I do . Because I don 't know what we 're , as we changed that date ,
on the surface it seems something that we have a better grasp of so
.1 understand staff 's comments . Yet on the other hand , I don't know what
that does . If I 'm voting to allow a use that I think is real inappropriate
then I 'd feel real uncomfortable doing that . If on one particular day we
▪ surveyed a beachlot that had 8 boats on it and it was appropriate for 4 or
whatever and beachlots that had come under the ordinance and met those
standards over the last 10 years , or whatever the number is . I have a hard
_ time grandfathering in something that wasn 't appropriate for that lot so on
one hand I like the idea of having something more substantial to document
it . On the other hand , I don 't know what we 're doing . So before I could
vote for this , I would have to know what I 'm sanctioning .
Olsen: Well yeah . We got that documentation . . .the expansion of the
beachlot . . .
Emmings: It 's sort of my impression that the situation is what we 're ,
we 're getting a handle on it as soon as we can but what I hear them saying
is we can 't go back . If there was a level of use that would be
inappropriate under the Statute today , and that level of use was there in
1982 , there 'd be nothing we could do about it . Is that right?
Aanenson: Yes .
Emmings: But I think what Ladd is saying , if the level of use would even
be appropriate under the Statutue in 1982 but since then has grown to a
level that 's inappropriate , it doesn 't seem fair to those that have come
under the Statute and complied to allow this one to come in that now has
built itself up to a level that isn't appropriate . That 's why I was
asking , that was part of the reason I asked questions in the beginning . If
there was data that showed , if we had good data for a level that was there
in 1986 , I 'm just picking a number out of the air . I don 't see why we
couldn 't use it because the principle again is getting your hands around it
as early in time as you can .
Ahrens: I agree . Why do we have data on some and not on others?
Planning Commission Meeting
January 15 , 1992 - Page 12
Aanenson : Have what? - —
Ahrens: Why is the data incomplete from 1982?
Aanenson: It 's not that it 's incomplete . It 's just that it was field 's
checked on that one specific day and we can 't guarantee that all the boats
were in the slips the day that someone went out and field checked it . So
the process is they come in and say this is what we say and the staff says —
this is what we have inventoried and then we listen to who 's information is
better on each one .
Emmings: Why doesn 't that same argument apply to 1991?
Aanenson : Because we 're assuming that almost all of these have increased
at least a little bit so we 're giving them the benefit of the doubt .
Allowing them to maybe slightly increase and therefore there should be less
argument .
Emmings: But you sat down with all of them .
Aanenson : We 've met with each of the homeowners associations and passed _
out the information as to what we had in 1982 , 1986 and 1991 .
Emmings: Do they agree with the numbers? They all agree with the numbers
you have for 1991 .
Olsen: What they were going to do is send us back that form with what
they . . .what is out there . So it 'd be kind of . . .the data but also from what—
they documented they had . . . So it still is kind of .
Aanenson: To answer your question , no they haven 't commented on that . We
haven 't heard whether or not they agree with that information .
Emmings : Do they have , when will that?
Aanenson: That 's the process of meeting with each individual association .
Emmings: And presumable will we get to the heart of that through the —
application process?
Aanenson: Right . After we adopt the ordinance . Amended the ordinance .
Olsen : And there 's only one beachlot that we do have good information on
and . . .
Emmings: That 's on Trolls Glen .
Olsen: Yes . And all the other ones , no . It 's just one . . .
Emmings: Let 's take depositions of all of them .
Olsen : But that 's the only one we have good information on . The rest
are . . .
Planning Commission Meeting
January 15 , 1992 - Page 13
Conrad: Well I 'd like to see , before I could vote on this , I guess I 'd
like to see what the non-conforming lots would be allowed to have .
Emmings: On each one?
Conrad : On each one .
Emmings: But what is it , you want to see the number of boats?
Conrad : Whatever it would be that they would be , that would be going over
our beachlot ordinance requirements . I need to know what that is . In
other words , if the beachlot ordinance under today 's rules it says you can
•_ have 4 boats docked in a day and they 're coming in at 12 , I would feel real
uncomfortable that I could allow that . Because of 1991 data . I don 't
think I could go along with that .
Emmings : And what would be the alternative?
Conrad: The alternative is as we 've discussed it in the past . Here 's what
we believe . Here 's what 's grandfathered in as of 1982 . You have to prove
to us that it was really something different and it was up to them to
prove . If they can 't prove it , then it would be our best records .
Emmings: Do you have the overhead projector down here so we can all look
at that at once?
Olsen: We can make transparencies .
Aanenson: I could make copies really quick .
Olsen: Another concern we 've got is requiring them to prove what was
there . I think the burden comes down to us to prove it . We 're just
admitting that we really don 't have the documentation to really have a good
case .
Conrad: So for something to be grandfathered in is our proof?
Krauss : We 're the enforcing agency . If we issue citations . If we took
them to Court , we 'd have to make the case . Now we 're not unwilling to try .
Our data may be as good as anybody else 's . Maybe it 's not .
Conrad: See I don 't know what we 're talking . I really don 't know . At
_ this point in time I don 't have a clue if we have a problem out there . We
have a problem on a couple beachlots probably and most of them are being
handled quite well but on those couple , I just don 't have a clue what we 're
saying here .
Krauss: The fundamental data we have here is 9 years old and it was based
upon a one time survey that was never opened to scrutiny . It was just done
and put into the files is my understanding .
Conrad: For the 2 or 3 beachlots that we have a problem with , I don 't
really have a problem bringing them in . I don 't know . Maybe we do have a
problem proving something . I 've sat through some cases on Lotus Lake where
Planning Commission Meeting —
January 15 , 1992 - Page 14
people were proving they had docks and they had , but in that case the
burden of proof was always on them . I didn 't recall the City proving that
it wasn 't there so I guess I 'm amiss in not understanding how something
gets grandfathered in . But you know Steve , I don 't know how you want to --
handle this . My preference would be to have staff point out , we could do
it now or we could table the thing and go through it after we took a look
at the specifics and they 're right here . But I hesitate to go through
something while the meeting 's open that we haven 't looked at before .
Emmings: Let me ask this . In 1982 somebody did a survey and in 1991 there
was a survey done . —
Olsen: And in 1986 .
Emmings: '86? What was done on that occasion?
Olsen: Same thing . . .
Emmings: And is the problem with the 1982 and 1986 data , is that the same?
You 're not willing to rely on it . What makes it different than the 1991
data? I know you now have videotapes but apart from that , what makes that —
information any more suspect than what you 've got?
Olsen: Again I don 't think we 're just , I think we 're saying that that data
is the same . That we were going to be as part of the application . . .what is
listed in 1991 . So it wasn 't necessary . . . What we 've got from 1991 but
we 're still going to work with them to come up with a compromise and agree .
If they say that they 've got 14 boats out there now and we saw 13 or —
whatever , we 'll . . .the 14 .
Krauss: But we will be able to , and we 'll probably ask them to provide us —
written verification from everybody that was out there . This is not 9 or
10 years ago . This is today and these people who have had docks there and
boats there are presumably available and are going to be able to
demonstrate somehow that those are the ones that we saw out there .
Emmings : Can you tell me off-hand , what 's the greatest number of boats
that any one of these non-conforming?
Aanenson: It 's like 16 at one of the Minnewashta .
Emmings: Is that the Minnewashta Heights?
Aanenson: Yeah .
Emmings: I 've lived next to that one since 1983 and I know it 's grown . I 'm
3 houses away from it and it 's obviously grown but I have no idea how much .
Olsen: That 's one that 's 3 times as big .
Ahrens: And we 're going to say that 's okay? I mean is that what we 're _
being asked to do? If they had 16 boats in 1991?
Planning Commission Meeting
January 15 , 1992 - Page 15
Olsen: That 's a case where they agree that they 've expanded so . . .pull them
back to what they were .
Ahrens: Which is?
Aanenson: Six . Six dock slips .
Conrad: Well there are 2 or 3 in here that I just don 't see acceptable . I
just have a terrific difficulty in accepting that until I 've heard what 's
going on , compared it to the land that it was being done on . I know a
couple of the cases and it just doesn 't seem like appropriate use of the
land .
Mow
Emmings: Minnewashta Heights is the example of that Ladd . I don 't know
how wide the lot is but I think it 's 25 feet of lakeshore . But I don 't
know that . I could be wrong .
Aanenson: It 's 50 .
▪ Emmings: Oh is it 50? With 14 boats in front of it so I don 't know .
Ahrens: But they 're saying that 's unacceptable . That they have to go back
▪ to the original 6 that they agreed on .
Emmings: The other thing we could do here I suppose is , if people are
interested in the alternative ordinance that uses 1982 as the baseline ,
then we have , we go through the application process and do the negotiating
on the number of boats that will be there and if we 've got good information
on some of them , we can stick to it and if we don 't , maybe we have to
• compromise . The question of whether you want to start with the 1991 data
or start with the 1982 data , is that a fair way to look at it?
Krauss: That 's basically it . But you almost need to make that decision
before we can bring anybody in here . We 're asking people to apply for a
permit that doesn 't exist until you process the ordinance .
Emmings : Right but there are two ordinances here in my packet . One uses
1991 and one uses 1982 and that 's what we 're talking about .
Krauss: One thing we should also add , and it might complicate things too
much , is that the Council approved an ordinance that came through the
Planning Commission last fall for water surface use . Councilman Wing
advocated , there was always a dock setback area . That now applies to
moored boats as well so if you have an exceedingly narrow beachlot , the
extended property lines of that beachlot out into the water , there can 't be
any dock or boat moored within that 10 foot setback on either side of the
property line . Now somebody 's really pushing it if they 're in front of
somebody else 's property with a dock or overhang that area . That 's another
problem that they 'll have to face . And that isn't related directly to this
ordinance at all . That 's a separately enforceable standard .
Emmings: And there 's also limits on the length of the dock . But is there
_ a limit on the length of a dock on a beachlot? Sure . Sure there is isn 't
there? Wouldn 't the dock ordinance apply to a beachlot as well as any
Planning Commission Meeting
January 15 , 1992 - Page 16
other property on the lake? Out to 4 feet . A certain number of feet in —
length or out to 4 feet , whatever is necessary . Okay . So those , on narrow
ones , the side yard setbacks as it were or the dock ordinance is going to
limit them to some extent . Okay , you 've still got the floor believe it or
not .
Conrad: I don 't want it anymore . Just the last comment . There aren 't
that many problems here . There are only a couple .
Emmings: Yeah, right . Matt .
Ledvina: Nothing .
Emmings: Okay , Jeff .
Farmakes: No comments .
Emmings: Joan . -
Ahrens: Well to tell you the truth , I 'm kind of confused as to whether
there 's a problem or not . I mean I really don 't have any idea . Ladd seems_
to think there 's a problem . I don 't know what that 's based on . I don 't
know how inaccurate the information is from 1982 . To tell you the truth , I
wouldn 't have a problem going back to the 1982 standard if anybody feels
more strongly about that . Feels more comfortable about that . I guess I 'm —
vacilating this issue because I don 't know if there 's a problem or not . I
don 't know .
Farmakes: Isn't there some question as to how reliable your 1982
information is? I mean that 's just what you said . Somebody filled out a
card and put it in a drawer somewhere . Nobody knows who and the City 's
willing to back that up .
Ahrens: But I don 't know if that 's for 2 of the beachlots or 3 . . .
Farmakes : Or is that just the problem lots?
Olsen: It 's all the same for all the surveys were the same for . . .whatever —
happened to be out at that time we marked down . Boats that were being
moored there . . .so it 's the same for each . All three different surveys .
Ahrens: The information is the same for all three? —
Aanenson: I think she 's saying the margin of error is probably the same .
Because you did a one day check and the boats may or may not have been —
moored at the dock .
Ahrens: So you 're saying the 1992 information is probably as inaccurate as_
the 1982?
Aanenson: Except that the time lapse isn 't so great so there might be more
personal recordation . Like Paul 's saying you can verify who had their boat
in last summer and get them to give us a written letter or whatever . People
may not have moved and that sort of thing .
Planning Commission Meeting
January 15 , 1992 - Page 17
Emmings: But you 've also got a video tape and the video tape is going to
show somebody 's gone with their boat during the time the person 's there ,
you 're going to see an empty slip . Or something like that . Or a space
anyway where a boat would go . But I think that 's probably a little better
information .
Farmakes: It 's based on a slip correct? Not the fact that there happens
to be a boat parked in it .
Aanenson: No , it 's just how many boats are there is what we counted . We
measured the docks . It 's hard to tell how people are tying up their
boats . The fishing boats , people just tie them up on the side of the
docks . People have slips if it 's a motor boat . And then there 's canoe
racks and sailboats and all that sort of thing too . It 's hard to tell
whether or not there 's actually a sailboat that 's being .
.� Emmings: It looks to me like we have two ways to go on this . Or three
maybe . I 'd be inclined to say , if we 've got data from 1982 , and if that 's
when the grandfathering takes place , I don 't know why we 'd ignore it .
I realize that bothers people that 's come to town since and have a boat .
But still just from looking at the problem and that seems , and then as
we 're looking at each one separately under the application process , if we
feel that our information isn 't good , we may have to compromise and go with
the 1986 data or even the 1991 data . But I don 't know why we wouldn 't
start with the 1982 data . Ignoring what we have doesn 't seem to accomplish
much to me . But one thing we could do here was to distribute the
information that we have . Show us what information we have for 1982 , 1986
and 1991 . Now is that what 's here?
Aanenson: Yes .
Emmings: If anybody thinks that will change the way they 're thinking about
this , we could table this and look at that data for the next meeting and
look at it then . My personal preference would be to take some action on
this . This is one of those decisions that has a lot of political kind of
overtones to it and may be better handled at the City Council on that
decision but we can tell them what we think about it . The City Council ,
I can imagine there will be some people who for sure will want to have it
at the 1991 levels because they 're higher . But I don 't know . Let me just
WIMP ask , is there a motion?
Conrad: I would make one Steve . The only motion I would make is that we
use 1982 data to establish the criteria for grandfathering . Other than
that , I 'm trying to figure out which .
Emmings : That would be the second one of the two?
Conrad: Yeah , that would be my motion . That the ordinance be updated for
non-conforming beachlots per the second example we have in our kit .
Emmings: Okay , I 'm going to second the motion and I guess the way I would
see this working . The second is with the understanding and I don 't know if
_ you see this the same way . That we 'd start with the 1982 baseline and if
we felt that , as each one of these comes . Each one of these is going to
Planning Commission Meeting . `
January 15 , 1992 - Page 18
come before us , is that right? With the application and at that time we
can negotiate anything that we want to based on how sound. we feel our
information is . Is that right?
Krauss : That 's true . Just as a point of order . You technically held the
public hearing on this in December but , and the ordinance is somewhat
different but I know there are a number of people who came tonight probably_
wanting to comment on this . They haven 't been able to yet .
Emmings: Well , it 's not a public hearing . Do you think it 'd be
appropriate?
Krauss: I would think from a more technical . Yeah , technically I think
you 've continued the public hearing . _
Emmings: Oh did we?
Ahrens: I don 't think so .
Krauss: You closed it fully?
Ahrens : Yeah .
Conrad: You might want to take a few brief comments . . .
Emmings: Let 's do this . I 'll open it up for public comment . I think it 's
a good thing to do . If people would just state their position . I think
you can see what the issue is and why don 't you give us , come up here and
give us your name and your address . If you 're a member of a beachlot , I 'd
like to know which one . Tell us that and then let us know what you think .
Does anybody want to do that? _
Peter Warhol : My name is Peter Warhol and I live in Pleasant Acres . I
guess my question is , some of these docks that are out , new properties or _
new developments weren 't here in 1982 . Does that mean they don 't get
anything? And as far as we are , we expanded and we 'd like to go with the
1991 .
Emmings: Sure . Now when you say there are docks that weren 't there in
1982 .
Peter Warhol : Like Stratford Ridge you know . There wasn 't any houses
there in 1982 and there wasn 't any docks and now there 's about 4 or 5 boats
on the dock there . I 'm just wondering what happens to those people .
Emmings: Okay , let 's just talk about that one . Stratford Ridge , do they
have a beachlot?
Aanenson: Yeah .
Emmings: And they came in under the new ordinance .
Olsen : They got a conditional use permit . . . They 're not grandfathered in ,
they 've got a permit .
Planning Commission Meeting
January 15 , 1992 - Page 1
Peter Warhol : And we 've got 150 feet of lakeshore and we have like 16 I
think , boats there .
Emmings: And under the present ordinance , you 'd have to have 200 feet of
lakeshore and you 'd get one dock and 3 boats .
Peter Warhol : I mean we were grandfathered in . I don 't know what the
grandfathering was back in 1982 or 1986 . I didn 't live here then but I do
have a boat down there . I 'd be anxious to know what 's going to happen . I
Imm
mean it 's a pontoon boat and it 's not one that I , that you take in and out
each time . So if it isn 't tied up on the dock , then it 's probably not , I 'm
not going to have it . There 's a couple others that probably won 't have one
either . It 's too big to monkey with . But I mean that 's my comment .
Emmings : Thank you . Anybody else? Yes sir .
John Merz : My name is John Merz and I live at 3900 Cedar Lane . I am a
member of the Trolls Glen Homeowners Association . I also own property
adjacent to my house which is on Hawthorne Circle so I have the unique
position of being able to address this issue from both a riparian and a
non-riparian position . I strongly urge , and I won't go into the lengthy . . .
that I wanted to but I strongly urge the adherence to the 1982 baseline .
I 'm a member of the Homeowners Association and as such I have the same
rights as all the members of the Association . It would be an injustice in
this case to deviate from the 1982 baseline . It 's clearly documented by a
_ lengthy court process which we endured last year and the 1982 baseline
would say that we have one dock and 2 boats at that time . I happened to be
present when the 1981 survey . It was done in 1981 by Scott Martin . I
happened to be there when Scott did that survey . When that survey was done
on Trolls Glen there were no boats and no docks . I happened to own a boat
at the time I moved into Trolls Glen and I chose not to put one there and
shortly thereafter my neighbor , Dr . Tester and I purchased the property on
- Hawthorne Circle . So from one perspective I would look at it in saying
that yes , I would love to have boat rights at Trolls Glen Association . I
personally don 't think that that 'd be the case . It 's far from being
conforming . It 's only 65 feet wide . It 's got tapered property lines which
come out at a point of 200 feet from the departure of the high water mark .
There 's no property left because they tapered in and this particular case
if we went to the 1991 baseline , would be an injustice from the standpoint
- of safety of use of this piece of property . Environmentally it 's not only
am I concerning with Lake Minnewashta but I was here in these chambers when
the ordinance was passed on the park and believe that was a long and
arduous discussion heated from both the lakeowners and non-lakeowners . The
people involved with the park as to the water useage . Quite truthfully on
Lake Minnewashta we have a 650 acre lake which under the DNR guidelines
calls for 1 non-riparian boatslip for every 20 acres of water . Simple
mathematics tells you that 's down to 32 I believe and in the park presently
we originally under the park ordinance , conditional use permit it was
issued for 10 boats on the upper parking lot and 25 in the new lot . Since
- that time it 's my understanding that that 's been increased to 50 . For the
lakeowners on Lake Minnewashta , and I wish I could address this for not
just Lake Minnewashta . I wish I could address it for all lakes because
_ it 's environmentally a very important concern to all of us . I 'm certain
that the condition on most of the other lakes in the city of Chanhassen is
Planning Commission Meeting _
January 15 , 1992 - Page 20
similar to the Minnewashta case . The growth since 1982 has been
significant . We 've all seen it . We can all turn our heads and hide from
it but the intent of those long and lengthy debates in these fair chambers
were that we 'd stop it in 1982 and it 's grown beyond it 's bounds . It 's not
just for the John Merz ' or the people of this generation but we as a
planning committee and body have to look out beyond our own personal needs
and say hey , this is for we have a beautiful little lake in Lake
Minnewashta and I wish I could address the rest of them in Chanhassen but
it 's a jewel . It 's a jewel in Minnesota . It 's a jewel in the whole world .
To go beyond what it 's technical limits and capacity of holding boats but
expanding these beachlots and abandoning what people in 1982 fought long
and hard for , to my position would be a terrible injustice and I 'll cut my
comments short at that . Thank you very much for your time .
Ann Cathcart : I 'm Ann Cathcart . I 'm the president of Trolls Glen . Live
at 3895 Lone Cedar . We bought the lot in 1985 . Built in 1986 . Moved in
in 1987 . We bought the lot because we knew expressly that we could dock a
boat . There was a dock there . There were 2 boats there . There was room —
for more boats . It was a quirk of fate that the people who owned the lot
before we bought it didn 't have a boat there . I think they lived in
Tennesee or they lived somewhere else or they had their boat on another --
lake or something . So I look at it that way . Just fate that there wasn't
a boat , 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 boats there in 1982 because all the lots
weren 't built even though it stated specifically in our Covenants that we _
had rights to more boats . It 's part of our deed . It goes along with our
property values . Mortgage companies know this value . So it 's expressly
indicated in our mortgages and our values and in our deed that we have the
right to moor . I know for a fact that we couldn 't moor a 50 foot yatch . We
can 't have six 30 foot boats . Speed boats . We can 't have 10 boats .
There 's not room . We have what , 69 feet of lakeshore so there is
specifically only a certainly amount of room . We as an association have _
goverened ourselves I think very well over the past , well since I 've lived
there anyway . We 've kept up the beach . We haven 't had accidents . We 've
used our boats prudently . There are small children so safety is a great
concern . I think the 1991 ruling I feel is more equitable basically —
because the lake has grown in population . It is now fairly stable ,
especially with the recession going on . There isn 't a lot of building .
The planning is done . We know what 's going to be there . What 's going to —
be for sale as farmland on the western side of Minnewashta Parkway has been
up for sale . We know what kind of beach is going to come up there . If it
would be conforming or non-conforming . This is a specific non-conforming _
beach and it was sanctioned by the City in 1977 . The covenants were and it
was subdivided to the point where there were 12 association members . 5 are
on the lake and 7 are not . It said specifically that we do have a right to
moor our boat and that is our goal . Thank you .
Emmings: Okay , thank you .
Bernie Schneider : I 'm Bernie Schneider . I live at 7501 West 77th Street
in the Trolls Glen Addition . It has always been my understanding that when
the city of Chanhassen approved the Trolls Glen subdivision in 1975 , they
also approved the Declarations of Covenants and Conditions . And with that
we were granted boating rights . Mooring rights . So whether we are
grandfathered in or not , this is a right under the Abstract . That 's what I
Planning Commission Meeting
January 15 , 1992 - Page 21
believe should be considered . It 's admirable that John Merz is concerned
about the ecology but he also has 3 boats on his dock and I think if any
boats should be removed then possibly he should start thinking about
cleaning up his own act . We have a letter here to the Planning Commission
stating our position and I will leave that with you so you can take this
into consideration at the time we apply for the permit . But again we have
7 people that have need for a lake access and mooring rights . Not all of
them want it but at the same time , it 's still their right to moor the boats
there . I have one question also on the hearing that states that property
owners on the lake be notified in writing of proposed hearing on the
ordinance .
Emmings: Bernie , tell me what page you 're looking at? What are you
looking at?
Bernie Schneider : I 'm looking at .
Emmings: Hold it up so we can identify what you 're looking at .
Bernie Schneider : I don 't have it with me but on the notice of the
ordinance here it 's stated that notice shall be mailed to all property
owners on the lake and this was a considerable expense . As I understand
it , there 's over 2 ,000 property owners and if everybody has to be notified
of a Trolls Glen hearing , the expense is going to be in excess of what ,
$400 .00? $500 .00?
Emmings: Who does that notice? Is it required of the applicant? And is
it notice to everybody on the lake?
— • Krauss: Well , what we normally do is we require the applicant to give us a
list of names and addresses and we send them out . But there 's only 5 ,000
properties in the entire city . We 're not talking anywhere near that kind
of number .
Bernie Schneider : Well I don 't know . It says property owners on the lake
so I have no idea .
Krauss : On that specific lake .
- Bernie Schneider : Yeah . A figure was tossed out that it was 2 ,000 . Over
2 ,000 .
Emmings: Paul 's point is that if there are 5 ,000 lots in the city , 2 ,000
of them are not on Lake Minnewashta . It 's probably a substantial smaller
number . I 'm sure it is .
�- Bernie Schneider : I should also mention that in 1981 the Trolls Glen
Association passed a resolution authorizing 4 boats to be moored at the
dock . The Association dock . This resolution was passed and so prior to
- your City ordinance , one year prior to the ordinance we already had
authorized the 4 boats . If additional boats would be required in the
future we would make provision for that but this is on record prior to the
1982 ordinance or the amendment now . So I will leave this with the .
Planning Commission Meeting
January 15 , 1992 - Page 22
Emmings: Sure , just give it to staff . Thank you Bernie . Anybody else?
Ivan Underdahl : Ivan Underdahl , 7502 West 77th Street . I 've had a cold
and have somewhat of a voice problem but I do wish to add a little _
something . One is I think when John Merz was up here stating that he has
rights within the Trolls Glen Association the same as the other members ,
that is technically not correct because at the moment he doesn 't have any
rights . He doesn 't have any voting rights . He doesn 't have any right to
the outlot at all because of not having paid assessments that were assessed
quite some time ago . He was the one who initiated the lawsuit and we
encountered a lot of expense in fighting that lawsuit and succeeded in
having it thrown out . So when he speaks of having those rights , he doesn 't
have them . I have lived at 7502 since 1977 . The lake outlot wasn 't really
prepared for use until some years later . It was just kind of wild . _
Eventually it was cleared and I think from the time we put a dock there in
1981 and put boats alongside , I don 't think anyone has spent any more time
in keeping up that outlot than I have . We did have this rule established
in 1981 and that 's part of the Declaration of Covenants that was accepted —
and we were to regulate our own outlot so that becomes a part of our
governing documents and to comply with that this past summer there were 5
people who had boats and would have wished to have them at the dock . I
kept my boat in storage all last summer so we would abide by our own
regulations . And I feel I probably have as much entitlement to a boat at
that dock as anybody . However I relinquished by position for the other 4 _
people who chose to have their boats there . I personally don 't feel either
that the 1982 is a fair and equitable allotment for our association because
again as Ann stated too , not all of the lots were built upon . It was
everyone 's understanding when they did build that they would have the right—
to have a boat there and that was definitely my purpose in purchasing that
lot in the first place and I 'm sure it was with most of the rest of them . I
think we would be unfairly penalized if we were to be restricted to the —
1982 allocation that was there at that time . Thank you .
Emmings : Thank you .
Terry Johnson: My name is Terry Johnson and I 'm also part of the Trolls
Glen Association . I live at 3898 Lone Cedar . I would agree that the 1982
should be the baseline . At our association we have good documentation to —
show that there were 2 boats at the time . I guess my point would be that
it was non-conforming at the time for what the city thought was safe and to
expand upon that to the 4 or 5 or 6 or 12 boats that the association or _
some of the members of the association would like to me would be very
unfair and unsafe . To me that is the main issue is the safety of it . It 's
a 60 some foot lot and when you start adding 3 , 4 , 5 boats there and
they 've got water skiers coming in there and of course there 's a lot more —
boats in there on Saturdays and Sundays , weekends and people are wanting to
drop off their skiers on that 60 some foot lot , it 's a very , very unsafe
situation . I border the lot on one side and there have been numerous —
situations pertaining to me and my wife and my children and I know of other
situations with other neighbors where it 's been very unsafe and very
hazardous . Some of them have dealt with some of the individuals that have
just talked to you that managed to ignore to tell you about that . But
I understand that they want more boats there . I understand that every
association is going to want to have more boats there . Mainly even if
Planning Commission Meeting
January 15 , 1992 - Page 23
they 're not using the boats , if they go to sell their homes it increases
their value . Some people have said it 's worth $40 ,000 .00 or $50 ,000 .00 to
- the value of their home . I understand that and- I hate to be the one to try
to deprive them of that and I know it 's a tough question that you 're having
to deal with . But two of the individuals that have been up here already
have stated that they plan on leaving . Moving their homes as soon as this
ordinance is passed . It 's telling me that they don 't want this
non-conforming issue expanded for their own use . It 's for the sale to
increase the value of their home . And I guess because of that and the fact.
that it is non-conforming , it seems unfair to the rest of the property
owners on the lake . Thank you .
- Emmings : Thank you .
David Tester : I 'd just like to speak to the issue .
Emmings: And what 's your name?
David Tester : David Tester . I 'm in the Trolls Glen Association and I 've
been there since 1976 . I moved in in 1977 and I was a joint owner in that
lot with John but we had an uncomfortable situation in the neighborhood .
There 's been a lot of acrimony because of the lot but really actually the
beachlot doesn 't get used an awful lot . I don 't think I saw water skiers
down there maybe once or twice last year on the beachlot . It 's not a high
traffic area . The people who use it are considerate of the people around .
I think it 's not that we 're trying to increase the value . We 're trying to
maintain what we have . I mean we feel like something 's being taken away if
we 're not given this because it 's really something that 's subtracting . It 's
not that we 're trying to maintain this . I know before Terry moved in ,
- Terry moved in in 1985 but in Terry 's present house Chuck Crompton was a
. member of the association . He was secretary of the association before he
moved to Indiana and there wasn 't a lot of problems there but I think
recently since there 's been the last lots have been built on , that 's maybe
created the feeling that where 's it going to stop and these people are
maybe expecting more boats but we tried to govern it . I think the most
boats that have been there have been 4 . And if I understood your saying
before that Minnewashta Heights has 50 feet and they 've got 8 or 6 slips .
Well we 've got 70 foot of frontage or 69 .5 foot of frontage and it 's always
been , it hasn 't been overused . I mean there 's not a lot of activity down
- there . I just guess I would think it would be sad if we had this taken
away from us because it 's something that 's on our title and our abstract
and it 's not something we want given to us . We just don 't want it taken
away because we feel that we were in the right .
Emmings: That 's obviously the issue . Going back to 1982 levels is going
to feel like the City is taking something away from people that they
presently have . But if you turn that around and look through it from the
other end , when something is grandfathered in it 's grandfathered in at the
level of use at the time of the grandfathering . So to the extent that
- there 's been expansion of the use over the level at the time of the
grandfathering , you 're taking something in a sense that you didn 't have a
right to . So like I say , you look in one end and something 's being taken
_ away . You look in the other end and you 're taking something you weren 't
entitled to and that 's , for that reason it 's a very , very difficult issue .
Planning Commission Meeting
January 15 , 1992 - Page 24
I don 't think the City wants to take anything away . I think the comments —
about , I know on Minnewashta , I don 't know if it 's happened on other lakes .
John mentioned the fact that the DNR did a study of the lake in deciding
how many boats were going to be allowed in at the Regional Park . They
looked at the level of the use of the lake and said we 're going to restrict
the number of slips because the lake can 't handle more so allowing
• beachlots to increase is also overloading that lake in a sense . And I live
on that lake too so it 's particularly near and dear to my heart in a —
personal sense . And I have to also say we 've got a number of beachlots on
our lake and even at their present level I don 't thinkthey cause problems.
on the lake . I live within 3 houses of one that 's very over developed in a_
sense . 50 feet with 16 boats or whatever it is and it doesn 't bother me .
But that 's not the issue . The issue I think , well . The City has to decide
whether it wants to preserve what exists today or whether it wants to go _
back and enforce what existed at that time of the grandfathering . And from
my part here I 'm going to say we should go back to the time of the
grandfathering but I can well see the City Council may feel differently
about it . But anyway , is there anybody else that wants to talk . —
Ivan Underdahl : When the application is made for the permit and there
could be negotiating at that point but are you implying that it cannot be —
in negotiating above what it was in 1982?
Emmings : No . I guess when I say that I 'm thinking that if there 's data
from 1982 that 's very sound . That we 're very comfortable with , I guess —
there 'd be less inclination to compromise . If we don 't think that our data
is good or our homeowners association could show us that it was inaccurate
for some reason , then we might compromise going up . I guess from the —
City 's point of view it seems to me that we want to put some of the burden
on the recreational beachlot owners to get us to have an upward departure
rather than starting high and trying to get people down lower . We 're going_
to
oing—
to have a lot less luck with that I 'm sure . But I think it should be done
on an individual basis . I think we have to look at each one of these .
Ivan Underdahl : . . .negotiating from a standpoint of what is equitable for —
that situation .
Emmings: Don 't know . Probably . I mean when it seems equitable , how can I
say no to that? You 're putting me in a position where I 'm going to say I
want to do something that 's unfair . I guess you can either take a very
legalistic point of view and say if 2 is what you had in 1982 , that 's what
you get . Unless you want to come in under the new ordinance . If you have
enough land and everything else to come in under the new ordinance , maybe
you can get 3 but sure . You want to do something that 's fair but I don 't
think , if you 're going to treat everybody the same , then you 've got to —
approach them all the same . And it wouldn 't be fair to say well , we like
you better so we 're going to give you more boats or you 've got more land so
we 're going to give you more boats . I don 't know that we 'd want to get _
into that . I don 't know .
David Tester : I just wanted to say , you talked about Minnewashta Heights .
If they had 6 slips at that point in time that they were supposed to be —
using it , if they were down to have 6 and at the time it was done there 's
14 boats there but now because in 1982 there 's 14 boats there and there was
Planning Commission Meeting
January 15 , 1992 - Page 25
supposed to be 6 slips , now because they had 14 that 's okay . Is that what
you 're saying? Because these are your. neighbors . If you go back to 6
boats to what they 're supposed to have , wouldn 't that create a problem?
Emmings: You mean they 'll burn my house down?
David Tester : You live right next to them .
Emmings: No , I know . Yeah I 'm putting all that out of my mind . I 'm not
going to sit here , I 'm sure my neighbors would hate me if I said I 'm not in
that neighborhood technically but I live right next door to a lot of them ,
I know a lot of them and they 're going to hate me fqr saying well back to
1982 level . I have no doubt about that but that 's not going to influence
me . But maybe they hate me already for other reasons . Now they have
another one . Is there any other public comment here on this? Okay . . .and
I seconded it and just so we 're all on the same page because I forgot ,
we 're doing the version of the ordinance that uses an 1982 baseline . Is
there any discussion on this in light of the public comment? Then I 'll
call a question .
Conrad moved, Emmings seconded that the Planning Commission approval
adopting the ordinance using the baseline document of the size and extent
of the recreational beachlot in the summer of 1982. All voted in favor and
the motion carried .
Emmings: When will this go to the City Council?
Aanenson: The 10th .
Emmings: So if you 're interested in this , follow it on up .
Conrad : I think just as a footnote . When these start coming in and if
they come before us , we should know , and I think there 's some common sense
that has to guide what we do but we should have a feeling for how the
current ordinance would deal with a particular situation and I don 't know ,
_ which means if under the current ordinance if they have x number of boats
or picnic tables or whatever . I 'd like to know that . And probably the
other thing is we should be looking at the site when it comes in . The idea
of the beachlot ordinance is for a lot of things . It 's called safety and
protecting the neighbors and some real common sense type stuff . And
sometimes you can have real unsafe situations on big lots and safe
situations on small lots . I think we have to take a look at them and again
apply some common sense stuff and I think we all hear what you 're concerned
with . The people that are part of the association or the beachlot . I
would be fighting for my rights too just like you but I think on our side
we can apply some common sense guidelines that make it work . In some cases
it 's not going to turn out totally the way you want but I think we should
be able to reach some pretty good decisions .
ZONING ORDINANCE AMENDMENT CONCERNING PUD RESIDENTIAL STANDARDS.
Emmings: I 'm very disinclined to do this with the absence of Tim and Brian
because they both had a lot of good things to say about this but I don 't
Planning Commission Meeting
January 15 , 1992 - Page 26 —
i
know if they 'd have additional things to say . Maybe we 're all kind of —
talked out on this issue . I don 't know .
Ahrens: The PUD , I think so .
Emmings: But Brian and Tim have been particularly interested in this item
and I don 't know what to do . What do you want to do?
Conrad: I wouldn 't mind talking a little bit about it and then tabling it .
Emmings : Okay . —
Ahrens: I 'd rather talk about it now or table it and talk about it later .
I mean we 've talked about this a lot .
Emmings: And have we gotten anywhere? I go round and round .
Ahrens: I mean I can talk about this forever tonight and then talk about
it again another night because there are a lot of issues involved . . .
Conrad: I just have a real quick question basically and it will last —
longer . Jeff , you go ahead . I 've talked more .
Farmakes: What basis are we using from the 9 ,000 to the 10 ,000? What is
the basis that you picked that figure? —
Krauss: It 's highly scientific .
Farmakes: This isn 't like 3 trees is it? Because it 's more than 2?
Emmings: Because he feels resistence at 9 ,000 .
Farmakes: Is there a financial or glass ceiling or whatever with the
developer? I need a 60 x 40 base pad and I need this much square footage .
Krauss: To be perfectly honest , Kate and I saw a concept that had been
prepared by somebody who 's thinking of proposing what is it a 160 lot
subdivision over off of Galpin near Lyman and the premise behind that was , —
it 's in the Volk . Yeah , the Volk Farm where the Cellular telephone tower
is . And in the open areas he wanted to build a parkway with a number of
cul-de-sacs and in those areas where it 's just open field he figured that
he would put in the lowered priced home on the smaller lots and those he
proposed at 10 ,000 square feet and when he got up into the forested hills
near Timberwood he came up with 15 ,000 to 25 ,000 . Well 25 ,000 to 30 ,000
square foot lots which fit in quite well with the terrain and the desire to —
protect those trees . Because if you plowed in your normal 15 ,000 square
foot lots on a suburban type pattern , you 're going to plow down most of
those trees . I thought the trade off made some sense . It seemed to be _
from a topological tree preservation standpoint it seemed to be an ideal
candidate to do and that one used 10 ,000 square foot minimum lots . And the
average lot size was in excess of 15 ,000 . It seemed to be a reasonable
plan and I said well , I 've tried this 3 times before the Planning —
Commission . I 'll try another time . Now your comments about Commissioner
Batzli and Erhart are accurate . They have been somewhat the leading
Planning Commission Meeting
January 15 , 1992 - Page 27
proponents or opponents of this . I 've had some conversations since with
the Mayor and Councilman Wing . I think that they 're somewhat , well they
can speak for themselves but they 've indicated to me that they 're not in
favor of the decreasing lot sizes . We 're getting to the point where some
guidance would be nice . We 're getting asked the questions a whole lot . If
it 's 15 ,000 , it 's 15 ,000 . If you have flexibility , we do .
Farmakes: I still have just one question with the basis of understanding
this . If you don 't give up some lot size , what is the advantage to the
developer doing this?
Krauss : Well there isn 't much . If you don 't give up lot sizes you have
▪ what I think is a highly unusual situation which was the Lake Lucy Road/
Lundgren proposal where it made sense to do it as a PUD because
conventionally configured lots didn 't fit because of all the wetlands .
_ That conventionally configured streets didn 't fit because of the wetlands
and the PUD gave us the flexibility to do that . But that average lot size ,
granted between useable and non-useable , I think it was 30 ,000 square feet
was the lot size and 18 ,000 to 20 ,000 square feet was the useable site .
Those are pretty unusual cases . Is that ever likely to happen again , I
don 't know . Maybe .
▪ Farmakes: Well I , in that particular development , I guess I thought it was
a nice development except for a couple of lots and those were the smaller
ones . I still , if you were looking at 10 ,000 or 12 ,000 square feet , I mean
again it seems an arbitrary number . I haven 't seen the development that
you 're talking about and I 'm having trouble understanding if you had an
attached garage with a pad that size , you 'd be looking at about a 40 x 40
house and attached garage wouldn 't you?
Krauss : We tried to define that a little bit more here .
• Farmakes : A 60 x 40 building pad is , if you put an attached garage to it ,
that doesn 't leave you much left for the house .
Krauss: Well yeah , if you have a 60 x 40 pad . Each house in Chanhassen is
required , well most houses in Chanhassen are required to have a 2 car
garage .
Farmakes: 20 feet for that and subtract that from .
Aanenson: What we 'd suggest is that you come in with some specific models
but a lot of homes have the punch out garage with the floor space behind .
Krauss : What we tried to come up with was a reasonably sized home pad plus
a reasonably sized deck plus a reasonably sized unencumbered back yard .
You can 't play baseball in it but .
Ahrens: I think we know that they can do it . I mean they did in Near
Mountain and then we know that they can have decks on houses and we know
that they can have the right sized garage . I don 't think that 's really an
issue . I think the issue is just what we want .
Planning Commission Meeting _
January 15 , 1992 - Page 28
Farmakes: What I was getting to after that would have been what percentage—
difference do you see with a house like that next to a house on a 35 ,000
square foot lot? Percentage wise and pricing .
Krauss : See I don 't think pricing is , well I wouldn 't sell this to you , in
the past the City 's gotten burned and you got burned in the Pheasant Hills
and Foxpath and a couple of others where these things were sold on the
premise . The builder came to you and he said , let me put these things on —
9 ,000 or 10 ,000 square foot lots and I 'll give you cheaper homes . I don 't
know if they intentially lied but they weren 't cheaper homes . The homes
got bigger as the market allowed it to get bigger and the City had no —
protections in there to make sure that the homes could fit and that decks
could fit and that people had reasonable back yards . It 's a pretty tough
situation . I think some of you have gotten calls from Willard on the Board_
of Adjustments and it 's because he 's seen almost monthly he sees the
results of those PUD 's . I think you can do it without it . Now what are
the reasons people buy a somewhat smaller sized lot . There 's lots of them .
Yeah , maybe they are a little less expensive . Maybe the lot price is —
$25 ,000 .00 or $30 ,000 .00 instead of $40 ,000 .00 or $50 ,000 .00 . I can 't
guarantee it but it 's reasonable to think it might be . I know in the case
of the developer we talked to , he clearly intends to make his big ticket
purchases on the nicer lots up on the hill , which makes sense . It lays out
well . You also have people that don 't want lots that are that big . Most
people move out to this area because they have an imagine of what they want
but not everybody wants to mow a third or a half an acre or whatever every —
Saturday . They want something a little smaller . Not everybody has 3 kids .
I mean there 's a lot of reasons people do a lot of things and we 've heard
some people coming to us at Board meetings like you should have protected —
me from myself . You should never have let me buy this lot . Well , I have a
little bit of a tough time with that . You buy what you buy because that 's
what you think you want . But having said all that , I mean I think the _
flexibility from the design standpoint , the ability to save trees . The
ability to work around water features . The ability to lay in streets
nicely . The ability to have some variety is a real big benefit . Can we
develop without that? Sure . You have in the past . You will in the
future . And we 're not here to you know , I think there 's a valid case to
be made for using PUD 's but if there 's not a comfort level with it , then
let 's move on and work with it the way we have it . _
Emmings : And that 's the problem . The way I feel like , I 'd like to look at
everything as a PUD and none of them as a straight subdivision really
because you feel like you have some flexibility . I don 't know if you
really do wind up with any but you feel like you might and at least the
potential is there . That 's why in a way I 'd just like to say we 've got net
density , or densities we want to see depending on the zoning of the —
property . Design whatever you want . Just give them a density and say
here , you design whatever you want .
Conrad : That was my question . Why didn 't we go with a gross density
versus?
Emmings: If you want to maximize creativity and give them incentive to do —
things , the trouble is Ladd I think , and maybe I 'm wrong . You can probably
answer this better than I but I 'm afraid if that developer does get
Planning Commission Meeting
January 15 , 1992 - Page 29
creative and has some 9 ,000 foot lots , he 's going to wind up bringing that
in and it 's not going to get approved because there are some people who
'WI just plain don 't like small lots . Even though it preserves a lot of open
space . I don 't know that but I think I 've had some people call me this
week who said just that . I think Brian has argued that , whether he meant
MEV it or not . Whether he was being a Devil 's advocate or really meant it .
Conrad: Well Brian is the advocate of protect me from myself .
Emmings : Well a little bit but he doesn 't want a little lot , and I think
there are a lot of people who feel that way . And I wouldn 't want to dangle
that out in front of a developer . But if we want PUD 's , we 've got to offer
them something . We 've got to make it attractive to them and I think the
way we do that is by saying you 've got a density figure to work against .
We 're going to be watching you to see that you preserve things we like and
that you don 't destroy the natural topography and everything else . Do your
bestand bring it back and take a look .
Krauss: You could work it that way . I 'd still stick in the provisions
though where we mandate that the developer has to demonstrate to your
satisfaction or the Council 's satisfaction that every lot that 's created ,
bar none , can accommodate a reasonably sized home , deck and a back yard .
When you 're talking about some creative developers , I don 't know that
that 's the right adjective for . . .
Emmings: Well wait . What if a guy wants to do zero lot line stuff?
Krauss: Oh well , I think that 's a different . This is an animal of a
different color . We cover that in here . Zero lot line homes are certainly
a valid housing concept . They 're in demand in a lot of areas .
Emmings : Or what if you want to do a retirement thing where you have maybe
3 or 4 units that are hooked together on a cul-de-sac with a whole bunch of
open space around it . How do we encourage people to do some things like
that?
Krauss: Well , you can encourage that and the ordinance does provide for
those to go in areas guided for medium density housing . Most communities
have trouble chewing on that kind of a concept . Being allowed to go
anywhere in a single family neighborhood . Even though I fully agree with
you that the density cap is the same , that number of units isn 't going to
increase over the normal style . It looks like a different style of
development and a lot of people object to having that next to their single
family home . So most of the time you find that those zero lot line
developments are segregated somehow . Oftentimes they 're in a higher
density area . That 's the way it 's done in most the communities I know .
Ahrens: I think we should look at creative development . I like PUD 's and
I think there 's all sorts of advantages for cities to look at that but the
-- only , you know I look at the Lundgren development over in Near Mountain and
if you drive behind it in Pleasant View , it looks okay . The houses that
sit on the little lots . But if you drive inside of it to the front of
those houses , it 's crowded in there . You just get a feeling of being
crowded in there because the houses aren 't small . The houses are nice
Planning Commission Meeting.
January 15 , 1992 - Page 30
sized and you get on this little curved street and all of a sudden it 's
crowded . And there 's barely room for cars to park between . If you have ,
I mean in suburbia everybody 's has lots of cars right? Especially when you
have teenagers . There 's no room to park even between the houses let alone
on the street . It 's really small . It 's really tight in there and I think
we have to think about not only will a house fit on a lot . Well sure . You
can get a house to fit on a lot and some people don 't want to have to mow _
the lawns and stuff but how does it look and how is it going to look 20
years from now when we have a lot of big houses on little lots? I don 't
know . I don 't know if aesthetically that 's going to be too great and if
it 's going to be useable for people who have more than two cars and they
can fit them nicely into their driveway . I mean it is crowded in there . I
don 't know if you 've ever driven in there but it is . And the houses look
nice now because they 're brand new houses . I mean it looks okay now . I —
don 't know . I don 't know how it 's going to be . I think I 've changed my
position on the small lot size . I didn 't think it was a bad idea at first
but the more I look at those lots in Lundgren , I 'm not sure that it 's the
best kind of setup for Chanhassen . I don 't think it 's so great if you have
a bunch of houses developed in just a little area and then you have a nice
park 3 blocks away . Is that a better development than having all 15 ,000
square foot lots? —
Emmings: What are you saying? That you think there should be a minimum
lot size then?
Ahrens: I do .
Emmings: And what is your figure? —
Ahrens : I think it should be 15 ,000.
Emmings : Okay . Now if we did that , if we said we want a minimum 15 ,000
square foot lot size , would there be any incentive except for the odd piece
of property like Lundgren ran into over here . Would there be any incentive
for a developer to us a PUD? Basically he 's working in the subdivision
ordinance .
Krauss: A PUD is a rezoning . Cities have a lot of leeway as to what kind —
of conditions they apply on a rezoning action . Developers are business
people . They 're not going to plat . If the developer brings you a plat
without any variances , you 're obligated to approve it . No if 's , and 's or _
but 's . You can add some reasonable conditions but you can 't be arbitrary
or be creative or whatever words you want to use . The PUD opens the door
to the city saying I want more parkland and I want you not to build where
these hills are . I 'd like you not to build where these trees are . —
Whatever .
Ahrens : You can 't say that if a developer comes in and you say , you 're --
required at 15 ,000 square foot lots we can 't say you can 't build on that
crest of that hill and you can't , you have to have so much parkland . We do
that now .
Krauss: Yeah , but the suburban development pattern is an improvement over
the grid system that you see in Minneapolis . Not much . I mean it 's 1920 's
Planning Commission Meeting
January 15 , 1992 - Page 31
technology versus 1940 's technology . You know curvalinear streets help and
you like to think that when you have a 15 ,000 square foot lot or better
you 're able to save a few trees that you don 't have to tear down when the
house gets built but basically it 's a very land intensive and often abusive
way to develop .
Emmings: This underlines , Brian said facetiously I think . Maybe not .
Raise your minimum lot size in the subdivision ordinance to a half acre and
then we 'll have all PUD 's that we can do what we want to . That 's not a bad
idea maybe . This is like quitting smoking . You do like 100 times .
Conrad: There 's a good article in the planning , whatever the planning
▪ magazine is that we get on this same thing . I don 't know if anybody read
it . I guess the forecast is going to , people wanting big lots in the past
and the forecast going to smaller lots and how creative PUD 's can be
handled .
Emmings: How small is small?
Conrad: I don 't know if they really said a number . Yeah , I don 't know .
But it was really appropriate in light of this thing . I 've vacilated
because I 've always been a large lot proponent but on the other hand , over
the years I 've seen less and less advantages to the large lots . If you can
preserve some of the other stuff you get around but we 've never been able
to figure out how to preserve this other stuff . You open up some land ,
MINDwhat are you going to do with it?
Farmakes : Demographics are changing and the market . We 're all getting
older .
Emmings: Not all of us .'
▪ Farmakes: Well I 'm not but you guys are .
Ahrens: But is 15 ,000 square feet really that big of a lot? I mean we 're
not talking about .
Krauss: It 's a highly personal choice . I mean you know what you bought
and you know why you moved here and it was a personal decision for you and
▪ your family to decide . I can tell you that from the metro area standpoint ,
we 've got one of the largest lot sizes in the metro area . Now Minnetonka ,
one of our neighbors , has the largest one but there 's not a home built in
Minnetonka today for under $350 ,000 .00 .
Emmings: But the reason 15 ,000 is significant only because that 's in the
subdivision ordinance . I mean that 's why you can move the numbers around
but they are arbitrary and 15 ,000 has significance only because that 's the
number in the subdivision ordinance .
Ahrens : Right but everyone talks about 15 ,000 as a large lot .
Emmings: No , it 's only significant because it 's in the subdivision
_ ordinance . I think that 's the only significance of it . Big and small ,
that 's all relative .
Planning Commission Meeting _
January 15 , 1992 - Page 32
Farmakes: What about. 12? I mean I 'm still getting back to my original
question when you picked 10 because you saw a development you 'd like .
Would 15? 12? Is there a commercial level where it no longer makes sense
for a developer?
Krauss : I don 't know . Maybe in fact there is . If they do their proformas
and they find out . Any decrease in lot size theoretically allows them to
save on linear street frontage . To save on linear utilities and to
theoretically , if you allow them to and we didn 't plan on it but if you
wanted to get more lots in , then they make more money . That 's the way the
developers all see it and we 've had people come in the door saying you 're —
not going to let me cram 10 ,000 square foot lots on this cornfield with no
amenities . Chaska would let me do it . We 've told them to leave because we
weren 't interested in that kind of development . The only context we saw
was getting the higher quality . I don 't know what the break point is
though . The presumption that we 've had is that the developer may in fact
get some additional lots out of it , especially when you 're at the lower end
but everytime we 've considered the lower lot sizes it 's been with added —
conditions like more open space and we 're going to protect more of the
trees and we 're going to do this and that . So it 's always been a trade
off . Developers also don 't like to have all their eggs in one basket . You
don 't like to have only 15 ,000 square foot lots to sell . You like to have
a variety of home sites .
Emmings: The market may change during . That makes sense . I don 't see how
we can , it seems to me we 've got to offer them something and if it isn 't
lot size , I don 't know what it is . Otherwise I think we 're wasting our
time . On the other hand , I don 't like 10 ,000 square foot lots .
Farmakes: You don 't have to accept it . in the development proposal though
right? If you don 't like the way it works out in the percentage , then this_
is a guide correct?
Krauss : Well , under the PUD you have a great deal of latitude . It just
occurred to me too when you 're talking 12 ,000 square foot , the ordinance up
until the time we start tinkering with it allowed PUD 's on 12 ,000 average
lot size?
Emmings: No , wasn 't it minimum?
Olsen : 13 ,500 .
Emmings : Wasn 't that a minimum and they still had to maintain over 15 or
over average?
Olsen: I think it was like 13 ,500 .
Krauss : And did anybody , did we determine that nobody used that? Or does _
that predate Lake Susan Hills? The PUD 's that you had in town predated the
imposition of that 13 ,500 average . I think they did in the later phases
but they predated . . .
Emmings: Lake Susan Hills was never a PUD . You 'll never convince anybody
who was up here at the time that that was a PUD .
Planning Commission Meeting
January 15 , 1992 - Page 33
Olsen : And you didn 't pass it .
Emmings: Planning Commission didn 't . City Council did .
Conrad: Well it 's sure sounding that there 's lots of folks that say we
don 't like the small lots . We 've got two people missing that we know
that 's their posture . Joan for sure . Jeff you 're sort of bordering .
Farmakes: I think it 's a dilemma for me because I think it 's a very smart
idea to do this . However , the problem is that if you don 't offer them
something to do it , why would they do it? It makes no sense .
• Conrad: That was the point of looking at the PUD ordinance . Nobody was
doing it under the past ordinance . It was motivating nobody .
_ Farmakes : It could be very mutually beneficial though with certain types
of properties . And if you don 't give them that smaller lot size , again
they 're not going to do it .
▪ Conrad: See I persuaded myself to go along with the 15 ,000 foot on average
and the 10 ,000 minimum because the 15 protected what we 've been running
with and we 've been going a pretty good job no matter what . Sometimes
• there hasn 't been a terrific amount of creativity but overall I think it 's
really not bad what 's been going up . So the 15 in my mind was to maintain
what we had . And the 10 , I think you can still do things in the future at
10 ,000 . It 's cramped . It doesn 't meet my style . I wouldn 't like it but I
think some people would and if that 's what they would like and if I
preserve what I 'm trying to and that is the openness of Chanhassen , then
I 'm not going to get in their way of a small lot . What I was concerned
— - with before , the way the ordinance is written , is we simply downsized the
lots and I felt that sooner or later becomes a standard . But now that we
have a 15 ,000 square foot average , that still may not be motivational
enough to the developer . I don 't know but it may appease me . That was
when my question came in , why don 't we play with overall density versus a
specific because the overall density has been quite nice? And I don 't care
how somebody bundles it together .
Farmakes: Have you gotten a response from any of these developers talking
about the 10 ,000 square feet?
Krauss : We haven 't really waved it around .
_ Ahrens: Having an average lot size , that means that you could have like 6
huge lots and a whole bunch of little tiny ones right and stillmeet the?
Krauss: If by little tiny you mean 10 ,000 , yes .
Conrad: But you could solve that problem. Joan in the intent statement .
The intent statement could say that Chanhassen is looking to maintain such
- and such a character but would compromise to smaller lots . So what you 're
doing is telling a developer you 're not looking to have 3/4 of the
development and 10 ,000 square foot lot sizes balanced by 380 ,000 square
foot. lots . You could communicate what you 're looking for upfront in an
Planning Commission Meeting
January 15 , 1992 - Page 34
attempt but signal the fact that we could go down in lot sizes to —
accommodate .
Farmakes: Aren 't you telling them that though with the average lot size . —
You 've got to be able to figure out how many units to put on that thing .
Doesn 't that determine a percentage like this?
Conrad: I 'm not sure . It probably does , yeah .
( There was a tape change at this point in the discussion . )
Emmings: . . .all these 10 ,000 square foot lots in one area leaving .
Conrad: But you wouldn 't have a problem dealing with that if it came to
you because if the intent statement is there , we know what we 're looking
for and we all have this grandiose , cluster this over here . Open up this
space over here . We just don 't know how to get there so what I want to
make sure is that we 're communicating to the developer so he or she has a —
concept of where we 're going and we 're not leading them in the wrong
direction . They come in and say oh , that 's not what we 're looking for at
all . —
Ahrens: But then we have some people saying , well I kind of like that and
I kind of like this but that 's not really my idea of what it should look _
like . I mean you know it 's so subjective that way because a developer 's
standing there saying well , we still have a 15 ,000 square foot average lot
size .
Emmings: But I think Joan , if you 'd want to take the subjective element
out , you put it on a grid and you squash the creativity . If you want to
maximize creativity but you want to encourage some clustering and leaving —
larger tracts of open space , I think you 're always going to have the
subjective element to deal with . And I think good developers are going to
do it right and you 're going to know it when you see it .
Ahrens: True but we 're not always going to get good developers . We 're
going to get anybody who has the money to come in and develop the land .
Emmings: But on a PUD .
Krauss : You have a lot of latitude to object . Also two other things .
First of all the intent statement , the way it 's worded right now and this
is language I think we got from you Ladd last time it came up . The intent
statement says that the applicant must demonstrate that there are a mix of
lot sizes consistent with local terrain conditions , preservation of natural
features and open space and that lot sizes are consistent with average
building footprints that will concurrently be approved with the PUD . Jo
Ann also points out that you can put a ceiling on what will be counted .
The size of the lot that will be counted towards the average . You can say
nothing over 20 ,000 or 25 ,000 square feet will be counted towards your
average lot size . There 's no basis in making a one acre lot .
Farmakes : Is that buildable square footage?
Planning Commission Meeting
January 15 , 1992 - Page 35
Krauss: Well we 've got stuff in here about that . Now maybe the way , you
know .
Farmakes: But we got into a little bit of the argument with Lundgren on
the issues of the one up on Lake Lucy Road . He had the plot marks going
out to the middle of the wetland .
Krauss : Yeah . Your buildable square footage concern 's a valid one but
it 's not just valid in PUD 's . I think we should address that for every lot
in the city . Subdivisions , PUD 's or otherwise .
Farmakes: I agree . I agree because it 's really deceptive . I mean it may
or may not be the intent but when they 're coming up and when they did those
graphs and so on, as I said you were looking at lot lines that go down to
the middle of something that no matter if they build it on a PUD or normal
development , that they could not build on . And it seemed to me like they
were trying to sell that in figuring out what the lot sizes really were .
Which they weren 't .
Emmings: Well they were using that two ways . On the one hand they 're
saying we 're preserving all this open space and on the other hand they 're
saying this lot has this many square feet and they 're counting some of that
open space and it just seems real contradictory to me .
Krauss: We made Lundgren though break out , the table got quite exacting . I
mean it said this is a 30 ,000 square foot lot . 20 ,000 of it 's outside the
wetland . We figured the average both ways in fact .
Emmings: Yeah . I know you did on that one . And maybe it 's okay as long
as that puts everything right up front so there 's no deception there .
Farmakes : On the one table I figured out , besides the wetland there 's the
setback back from the wetland plus .
Krauss: But that 's useable back yard area .
Farmakes: Right . That 's what I 'm saying . But it 's useable , how much
useable square footage that lot was really. going to be and I figured , just
guesstimating that the one was under 10 ,000 feet .
- Krauss: But that 's for the building footprint . But for your kids running
around playing frisbee or whatever . Bar-be-que pit or whatever you want to
do , that 's all high dry ground .
Farmakes: Still , anything outside of that you 're going to need a variance
for it right?
Krayss: To build a structure .
Farmakes: Yeah , air conditioning unit , whatever .
Conrad: That 's too bad Brian and Tim weren 't here because we 'll probably
repeat this same conversation .
Planning Commission Meeting
January 15 , 1992 - Page 36
Emmings: We 've done it 12 or 15 times haven 't we?
Conrad: I know .
Ahrens : Are we finished on this?
Conrad: This is going to be close . We do have to wait for them to come
back .
Farmakes: This is still , the latitude that you 're saying to reject this or
reject these plans , do you feel from a practicality standpoint that we can
basically reject just about anything?
Krauss: Unfortunately Roger was going to be here tonight . He 's stuck in
his driveway . He could answer that question more directly than I , but yes .
You 've got a great deal of latitude . —
Emmings: We 're supposed to listen to a guy who gets stuck in his driveway?
Krauss : With a Volvo .
Farmakes: If you do get a developer with a lot of integrity and really
does meet the intent of what that 's going to be , he can do something really
nice with that and it could be very beneficial to the community . But the
thing that makes everybody nervous is how small these lots come in . If
small lots and a developer with little or no integrity is , like you said , —
you 're going to build one 35 ,000 square foot lot and the rest are all going
to be 10 ,000 .
Krauss: You 've got a great deal of latitude on rezoning actions that you
don 't have on a subdivision approval .
Emmings: Okay . That 's important insurance . That makes me comfortable . —
Does anybody else want to beat this dead horse?
Conrad: We should do it .
Emmings: We should do what?
Conrad: Table it . —
Emmings: I like that . What a decisive person . Alright . Do we need a
motion to table it?
Krauss : No . I 'm used to it .
Ahrens : Should we save these so you don 't have to reprint all of these
again?
Krauss: No , I 'll have to reprint anyway .
Mayor Chmiel : . . .Robert 's Rules of Order .
Emmings: We don 't follow Robert 's Rules of Order here .
- Planning Commission Meeting
January 15 , 1992 - Page 37
Conrad: It 's Emmings ' Rules of Order .
Emmings: We permanently suspended our rules when I became Chairman .
Krauss: It 's probably going to be a month before we bring it back on .
That 's because our next meeting we have one action item . 90% of the
• meeting 's going to be devoted to the TH 5 corridor . I 've got Bill Moresch
who Steve knows from the University coming over with his folks to give you
a presentation on what that task force . . .that we 're looking at in terms of
broad concepts for TH 5 . I think this is going to become basically the
▪ Planning Commission 's baby from here on out . We need to make some
decisions on how to structure the program . Set some goals for it and get
going on it so that will be our next meeting . The meeting after that looks
- like a very heavy agenda . We 've got Rosemount is coming in for a large
expansion . We have potentially a PUD , an industrial one . The one in front
of Timberwood . The office park . It 's looking like that 's coming in .
That 's going to be a very complex proposal . Well , that will be next week
so we 've got a few things cooking so we 'll get this back on as soon as we
can .
▪ Farmakes: I was just wondering if you had heard how Grand Met was being
met by McGlynn is basically the operation in Chanhassen here . How that was
going to affect their operation .
Krauss: I 'm not sure . We really need to contact them because they 're most
curious about it . They 're not going to vacate the facilities . I
understood the article is they bought the facility because it 's the most
_
efficient baking operation in the country . But McGlynn 's also has 35 acres
that 's been on the market and I 'm not sure if that stayed within the
McGlynn family or if Grand Met owns it and if they 're going to be more
disposed to sell it now . It 's a very important corner visually from TH 5
standpoint .
Emmings: As far as this goes , we could maybe approach it this way . That
folks should just come in . Next time this is on the agenda , just let
people state what their positions are on it in 2 minutes or less and then
have a motion and pass or don 't pass something . But we 've talked about it
enough . So put it on and then we 'll just make sure , we 'll sit here with an
alarm clock .
Farmakes: Egg timer .
Emmings: An egg timer . That 's in Robert 's Rules of Order isn 't it , an egg
timer? Alright .
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The Minutes of the Planning Commission meeting dated
December 4 , 1991 were noted by the Chairman as presented .
CITY COUNCIL UPDATE .
Emmings: We 've got a report from the director that says there 's nothing to
report . Except he wants to talk about goals . Then there 's this , what 's
the map Paul? I mean I recognize it as Chanhassen but what are you showing
us?
Planning Commission Meeting
January 15 , 1992 - Page 38
Krauss : I was trying to scare you actually .
Emmings: Have those properties disappeared?
Krauss: No . What I wanted to do , for the entire time we 've been doing the _
Comprehensive Plan , since then I 've been telling you that you 're going to
get confronted with a whole lot of stuff in the very near future . . . The
properties that I outlined in black are those which people have been
talking to us about developing . Either we 've seen a development proposal —
or we 've approved one or we 've started talking to people in-house or they
petitioned the City Council for an extension of utilities . Now that 's not
to say everything is going to happen in 1992 but it 's looking like a good
bit of it may .
Ahrens: Where is that map?
Krauss: It 's attached on the back page of the Report from the Director .
Emmings: It 's a lot of important property . What do you want to do on —
this?
Krauss: I guess I felt rather good writing this thing . I was able to
spout off a paragraph about all the stuff we 've accomplished in the last
couple years and it 's been quite a bit . I seriously do believe that you 've
got to be proud of yourselves because we 've used the last couple years ,
which have been slower in terms of new development , to the city 's best
advantage . I mean this is not the community it was in terms of planning .
It 's not the community it was in terms of the goals that the Planning
Commission , the Council and the HRA had for the city anymore . The —
expectations are raised and our ability to regulate developments- is greatly
improved . But as the last page indicates , it 's coming . It 's going to be
taking a lot more of your time to work -with that kind of stuff over the
next year . In terms of goals for the year , we do have our ongoing issues —
list . If that suffices as what you 'd like us to be doing for the coming
year , I 'm just asking you to re-examine that . That 's fine . We 'll try to
work on these . —
Emmings: What we 've done in the past I know is put together a list and
then send it to the City Council for their reaction to see if there are _
things they 'd like added to the list or whatever . I don 't see why we can 't
do that with our ongoing issues list . If anybody else has any issues , we
can add it to there . Send it up to them saying here 's our ongoing work
list . If there are things that should be moved up in priority , let us —
know . What do you think Ladd?
Conrad: That 's fine . I don 't have anything . I think we 're working on the
rightstuff . And it 's listed .
Emmings: Is that alright?
Krauss: Yep .
Ledvina: Does the order represent* a priority? —
Planning Commission Meeting
January 15 , 1992 - Page 39
▪ Emmings: No . Except maybe , well up here . Those Comprehensive Plan
issues , at least number one is a high priority item and some of the rest of
those are done . I don 't know why they don 't get off there . I hate seeing
things on a list that are already done .
Krauss: We knock them off every month or two .
▪ DISCUSSION OF SIGN ORDINANCE ISSUES.
Emmings: Next thing I 've got here is an issue paper on the sign ordinance .
Aanenson: I was just going to make a couple comments to that . We were
supposed to start meeting in November . Unfortunately we didn 't get this to
_ you until this agenda . What I 've done is just outline some of the major
issues that we 'll be looking at Ohen the committee gets together . I know
Jeff 's on that committee . Some of the major issues that we 're going to be
looking at is what 's currently in place . There 's no , as far as the
• acreage , the size of the parcel . No compatibility with the size of the
sign . That 's a big issue and that needs to be addressed . Also for like a
plan center or multi-tenant building , there 's no regulation as far as
compatibility of the signs . Whether they all go to chain letters or if
they go with box style so it 's kind of a compatibility . And they come in
with a sign package . We 're looking at them now when we do a PUD like we
did with Ryan on that industrial park . That they come in with a sign
package . You have to have it uniform so when you come into a plan center
or industrial park you know that they all belong in the same area . The
other thing we 'll be looking at is some of the new technology . Canopies ,
neon lighting , windows and that sort of thing . And then also just our own
administrative policy . The way that we 've been reviewing signs in house .
So this is for you just to review some of the issues we 'll be looking at if
_ you have some comments . Some areas of concern that you wanted the
committee to be looking at . I 'd like people 's comments .
Emmings: It looks like you 've done a lot of work . . . .a very cursory
reading I 'll admit . I didn 't study it in detail but it looks like you 've
done a lot of work thinking about this and it looks like these are , this
like lot sizes will just go round and round about . I just wish you good
▪ luck . It 's tough . I 'm glad Jeff 's on the committee and not me .
Conrad: Are there any problems with temporary signs in Chanhassen? I
_ haven 't heard many .
Aanenson: I don 't know if we 've had too many . What we 're looking at is
trying to limit those to like Grand Openings because they do serve a
- function . Special event kind of things .
Krauss: The way that it 's handled now it 's tough to administer and it
becomes quasi-permanent . If my memory serves , each tenant in. a
multi-tenant building is entitled to it for a certain period of weeks every
year .
- Aanenson: 3 weeks I believe .
Planning Commission Meeting
January 15 , 1992 - Page 40
Krauss: So Joe gets it these 2 weeks . Mel gets it those 2 weeks . The
flower shop gets it and Ahn-Le gets it and then let 's go back through the
list again and it 's there all year you know . That 's not the idea . They 're
ugly and sometimes you 've got to get after them because they pull it out
onto a sidewalk and that kind of stuff . Then you 've got temporary signs
hung on the rental trucks in front of Merlyn 's .
Farmakes: You have the inflatable signs that are sometimes multi stories
tall . —
Aanenson: That goes back to the center concept . I think what we 'd like to
go with more of a plan center .
Ahrens: . . .What did I tell you? First we talked about having the big ear
on the building and now it 's the vein on the building . I knew it would be
all downhill . —
Farmakes: One of the things I 'd like to discuss when we get into this is
not only the signs themselves but how many . How many is necessary . —
Aanenson: Yeah , I talked a little bit about that too .
Farmakes: If you get signs for each story , you 've got 40 stories , you 've —
got a lot of . . .with plexiglass sitting around . The question is how many
sight rates do you really need and how many sight lines do you really have
to look for to be a competent business presentation to identify a store . —
Krauss: I think we 've also been talking a lot about a downtown image .
Does the downtown have a special sign criteria? Another question that _
we 've come up with is , do we all agree with Brad Johnson that an office
building is so many retail tenants waiting to be seen .
Ahrens : No . - —
Farmakes: It depends on where the market is at the time . How they want to
sell it .
Ahrens: Speaking of Brad Johnson , when 's the ground breaking for the?
Krauss: You know , it 's getting awfully close .
Ahrens: I find that hard to believe .
Krauss: We all have but the bank , they 're supposed to have started closing
procedures today . On the loan which means they could break ground in
several weeks . Except I have to finish writing the sign covenants . It 's
on my desk .
Conrad: What 's the concern with a sign communicating to TH. 5 traffic the
next turn is downtown Chanhassen? We have the Chamber of Commerce sign out
there with all their little listings which is pretty bad . But do we have a
Chanhassen sign and is that governed by our sign ordinance?
Planning Commission Meeting
January 15 , 1992 - Page 41
Krauss: Well the HRA has an ongoing program that next summer you 'll see
it . In conjunction with TH 5 improvements , all the major entrances into
the community are going to be landscaped , monumented and signed and it 's
going to say Chanhassen. It 's not going to say., Joe 's Mighty Fine
Snowblowers you know . The importance here is that you 're coming into
Chanhassen 's downtown and you should know you 're arriving and you should
know where to go .
Farmakes : They touched on that on the TH 5 proposal a little bit didn 't
they?
Krauss: Right . Barry Warner from Barton-Aschman was the fellow who
designed the work and the features , common elements . Silhouettes of the
towers . The same kind of stone work that you see in other parts of town
that they sometimes where there 's room they have landscape amenities with
benches where you can sit . I think one has a fountain . It 's going to be
quite nice .
Conrad: Jeff , monument signs are neat if we do them right . We don 't have
anything in town , we don 't have anything that looks good saying here 's
Chanhassen so maybe this is solving the problem . My concern was that our
ordinance allows it . It did save a little bit of stuff we 've got to
prevent but it 's like Lundgren coming in and their comment is real valid .
make a statement with a sign . They like to cluster their stuff and make
things look big and impressive and there is something to that philosophy .
If you don 't do it with signage , especially with the Chamber of Commerce
sign , that 's not helping Chanhassen and it 's not helping the businesses
either . That 's a waste of their money .
Farmakes: I think it touches on a really important point . One as I said
- before , there 's a difference between identification and advertising . I
don 't know if we 've really discussed that maybe with some of the business
people here in town because there 's differences of opinions there as to
where your best buck lies . And as to where you 're going to get your most
effective use . Same thing with these boats . You 're going to be hitting
there what 's in their interest as best as they can . That 's understandable .
I would too . You 're going to want to advertise , if you 're competing in the
market you 're going to want to advertise anyway you can . Just what is
reasonable and have a goal in mind rather than just plaster up as many
signs as you can get .
Conrad: Well the point on TH 5 is to have a foot high sign for traffic
going 50 mph . And they 're charging the members for that? What we want to
do is say , Here 's Chanhassen . Come on in .
Krauss: You may well want to prohibit , I don 't know . . .pylon signs on TH 5 .
Every property owner is going to make an argument as to why they need a 25
- foot high pylon sign that says whatever and it 's going to be bigger or
placed so the next one down doesn 't cover it up and you wind up with one of
those University Avenue types of vistas . That 's everything we don 't want
- to have happen here . When I look at the sites that you have in downtown
Chanhassen from the time that you hit the garden center going through past
Holiday and everything that 's going to happen in that area . Around past a
new shopping center now out to Burdick 's where Burdick has 12 lots there .
Planning Commission Meeting
January 15 , 1992 - Page 42
Every one of those develops and every one wants their own pylon sign
bordering on Th 5 . That 's a real visual impact .
Ahrens: Speaking of visual impacts . Is the landscaping done on the Rapid
Oil Change building? Is that what it 's called? —
Olsen: Valvoline?
Krauss : Valvoline , yeah .
Ahrens: It is done? You know I was just laughing to myself as I was
driving by the other day . We spent so much time on the landscaping plan
for that building . I don 't know if you 've noticed it but it sits way up on
a hill and the plantings all look like they 're 2 1/2 inches high . It looks
like it 's going to be 50 years . It looks ridiculous . I mean it really —
does . It looks like , we thought this was going to be some great
landscaping design that we worked so hard on .
Emmings: The City Council beefed up the landscaping .
Farmakes: If you go back to the Minutes , his response to questions about
hanging banners , that they wouldn 't be putting any up . They 've been opened
now for a while . Those banners have been up . They 'll be there for a year .
Krauss: There shouldn 't be any .
Farmakes : I think that 's a mode -of operation for them because they use it
in their other franchises . They open up those bays and in there is sitting
those big hanging banners . Same effect .
Ahrens : . . .the Valvoline shop on the hill . It 's like .
Krauss: What made that site look a lot tougher too , or it really changed
the perspective is when they sliced into the hill for the new lanes for the
highway . Also their grading plan turned out to be in error . They put the _
building in where it was supposed to be and then they found they had to
build a retaining wall against the west side . A stone retaining wall there
and that wasn 't on the original plans . I think the building turned out to
be 3 feet higher or something like that than it was supposed to be . —
Ahrens : Well it 's bad anyway right at the entrance of Chanhassen . It
looks really tacky . —
Conrad: Yeah , it 's not a pretty picture . But we allowed them , we did it .
Ahrens : Yeah we did it .
Farmakes: Visually that may change or soften up a bit when that
development comes in farther down . I think the natural area it seems to
enter Chanhassen will be there .
Krauss : Well the Red-E-Mix and Taco , are coming down this spring and —
there 's going to be a lot of open space and plazas as you approach that .
There 's also a very good chance that we ' ll be able to get some improvements
Planning Commission Meeting
January 15 , 1992 - Page 43
- hopefully to the facade , certainly to the landscaping on the Hanus building
which really dominants the thing . And the building behind that . Then on
the corner by Amoco/Holiday there is one of those entrance features .
Ahrens: It 's going to be a plaza where the Taco Shop is?
_ Krauss: There 's a lot of open space there where , actually where Taco is
it 's going to be a road .
Ahrens: Yeah , that 's what I thought .
Krauss: But just beyond that , the road kind of hooks and turns this way
and there 's a big open space . It will be a big open , publically owned area
for landscaping . In fact there 's several of them around that intersection .
Ahrens: Okay . I don 't have anything else to say .
Conrad : We can move the old City Hall down there .
Emmings: Turn it crooked . I should talk . I can 't talk about that thing
because I turned my house crooked on my lot . Sort of like they did to that
thing . Okay . The last thing we 've got here is organizational items .
ELECTION OF CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR FOR 1992.
Emmings: I 'm a little disturbed about this . Again without Tim and Brian
being here because in my mind there 's a logical new Chairman and Vice
- Chairman between the two of them . So I don 't know what to do .
Conrad: Steve , we 've all fetl comfortable with your leadership so I 'm
going to , no I 'm not .
•
Emmings: I 'll gavel you down . Directly to your forehead .
Conrad: Publically I think you 've just done an outstanding job over the
last year .
Ahrens: I think you did a really good job too .
Conrad: For the 3 people who are watching , I 'd like to applaud Mr .
Emmings .
Emmings: And I 'd like to sing a song .
- Conrad: But no , just a fine job and would be comfortable if you led the
Commission another year . However as we 've talked , I think it 's always a
good opportunity for other people to lead .
Emmings: I would like that to happen .
_ Conrad: But I say that and then the 2 people who are probably the ones
that might be next who I still feel are competent in leading the Commission
are not here so I guess the debate is , shall we do something without them
or defer? We more than likely could take it up as a first item on the
Planning Commission Meeting
January 15 , 1992 - Page 44
agenda at the next meeting if those two are here and solve it at that time .
Emmings: Is that agreeable with everybody?
Ahrens: That 's fine .
Emmings: The way I 'm thinking about this is , I think it ought to be passed
on . I think it 's something that 's worthwhile doing after you 've been here
a while . I think everybody ought to do it and I would sort of like to —
advocate a system of you know Tim is Vice Chair . He 's been Vice Chair for
2 years . If he does have some time constraints and maybe doesn 't want to
be Chair for that reason but that aside , if he does , I would just assume
see Tim be Chair and maybe Brian be Vice Chair and the next year have Brian
be Chair . I don 't know if we want to go to that system . I lot of
organizations do it that way . We can do whatever we want .
Conrad : There 's some real logic to what you 're saying . On the other hand ,
if I guess we don 't feel the commitment by those other two members to be
here Steve , I would sure hope that you would consider taking the Chairman . —
Emmings: Or you .
Conrad: No . I 've had my time . But I think you would , I 'm very —
comfortable with you leading us so I guess they 're not shoe in 's right now .
They kind of have to sell me that they can do the job . They 're going to be
here . And if they can 't , then I 'd like to think that you could still —
manage the group .
Emmings: Okay , we 'll take it up next time when we come .
Conrad moved, Emmings seconded to adjourn the meeting. All voted in favor
and the motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 10:05 p.m. .
Submitted by Paul Krauss
Planning Director
Prepared by Nann Opheim
CITY OF
CHANHASSEN
690 COULTER DRIVE • P.O. BOX 147 • CHANHASSEN, MINNESOTA 55317
(612) 937-1900 • FAX (612) 937-5739
MEMORANDUM
TO: Planning Commission
FROM: Paul Krauss, Planning Director
DATE: January 29 , 1992
SUBJ: Report from Director
At the City Council meeting of January 27 , 1992 , the following
actions were taken:
1. The City Council approved staff's proposal to revise the
official fee schedule to allow the city to bill developers for
consultant time related to water quality reviews. During
reviews of developments over the past year, the city has
become much more aware of and sensitive to the needs to
maintain and improve water quality. As you are aware, we are
using the firm of Bonestroo and Associates to work with us on
our surface water program. Recently, we have begun a fairly
regular procedure wherein Bonestroo staff is consulted to
review water quality proposals made by developers. In the
instance with the Lundgren/Ortenblad/Ersbo proposal, this
review was quite extensive and resulted in incorporation of a
series of modifications. What we requested, and got approval
for, was the ability to charge back this time to the developer
rather than ask city tax payers as a whole to bear this burden
since it is directly related to the development proposal.
2 . The City Council approved a resolution calling for a public
hearing on modification to Redevelopment Plan No. 11, and to
the plan for Economic Development District No. 2 , which would
allow the city to acquire the middle school site at Hwy. 5 and
Galpin Boulevard for the Chaska School District. As the
Planning Commission is aware, development of a school on this
site is an intrinsic part of the recently adopted
Comprehensive Plan. City staff is represented on a work
group, established by Superintendent Dave Clough, to develop
a plan for the future for the school district. This plan is
to include an accurate forecast of the school expansion needs.
In addition, we are also working with a developer who is
proposing an office industrial park in the area between
Timberwood Estates and Hwy. 5. Although the Comprehensive
n
�01? PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER
Planning Commission
January 29, 1992
Page 2
Plan shows this area as low density residential, the City
Council incorporated language that would allow for the
inclusion of an extremely high quality office park in this
location contingent upon several things, one of which is
preservation of a school site. Ryan Development is currently
preparing and refining plans for this proposal. We are
working with the school district' s architect to further refine
their school site needs and ensure that it can be accommodated
in this area. We will keep you informed as to the status of
this effort.
3 . The Mayor requested reconsideration of ordinance amendments
that were recently adopted dealing with the mooring of
watercraft. This ordinance had been approved by the City
Council and was actually published, but has not been signed by
the Mayor. Questions have arisen regarding several aspects of
the ordinance including the ability of a homeowner with lake
frontage to allow friends and family to utilize his or her
dock as long as the allowable number of watercraft is not
exceeded. The way the ordinance is currently drafted, it
would appear that this would be precluded. Discussion will be
raised regarding this matter at the next City Council meeting.
4 . Planning Commission goals. It has become regular practice for
me to submit your list of ongoing items to the City Council
for review and comment. This was done at the January 27th
meeting. The Council made several suggestions on this list.
The list currently incorporates a proposal that our group home
ordinances be re-evaluated in light of changes in legal status
and recent court rulings. The Council indicated a desire that
this be done. The Council also requested that ordinances
pertaining to sexually oriented businesses be evaluated. I
have taken the opportunity to add this to your list. The
annual City Council goals setting meeting has been established
for Saturday, February 29, 1992 . No doubt these and other
matters will be discussed in more detail at that time.
5. Councilman Wing requested that the City Attorney prepare an
overview of the potential of placing a development moratorium
along Hwy. 5. Councilman Wing has been a leading proponent
for the undertaking of a corridor study to ensure higher
quality development along the Hwy. 5 corridor. He is
concerned that the pace at which the city is receiving
development proposals along the highway has been rapidly
accelerating and consideration of a moratorium may be
warranted in light of this fact. The City Attorney prepared
a memorandum with the City Manager to respond to this request.
In citing a recent court ruling on a case in Woodbury, the
manager and City Attorney suggested a moratorium may be
difficult to uphold and may result in financial damages to the
city. In any event, upon further discussion, the Council as
a whole did not seem highly interested in pursuing this matter
further.
S
CITY OF
CHANHASSEN690 COULTER DRIVE • P.O. BOX 147 • CHANHASSEN, MINNESOTA 55317
(612) 937-1900 • FAX (612) 937-5739
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Don Ashworth, City Manager
DATE: January 27, 1992
SUBJ: Moratorium, Highway 5 Corridor
Councilman Wing asked that this item be placed on to this City
Council agenda. It is my belief that Councilman Wing' s primary
concern is that premature development may occur along the corridor
prior to our having in place ordinances/overlay zones to control
that development.
The City Attorney, Roger Knutson, is recommending that the city not
use a "moratorium" as a means to control premature development. As
can be seen from the attached court decision, Woodbury will pay a
very high price as a result of making that same decision
approximately 4 years ago. In essence, the court ruled that the
city' s moratorium was in fact a "taking" for which the owners
should be compensated. This decision does not include the city's
legal expenses, which probably totaled $10, 000 to $20, 000, nor does
it include costs of an appeal . By contrast, Roger noted that
virtually all of the properties along Highway 5 between Lake Ann
and the Arboretum will require:
- Replatting,
- - Extension of municipal sewer and water,
- Approval of interior streets, and
- Subdivision/site plan approval.
Although some of the approvals noted above would be difficult to
deny if the other approvals had been received, i.e. site plan
approval, generally each of the approvals, if given, are a
"privilege" rather than a "God-given right. " Accordingly, the city
has significant discretion in terms of whether it wishes to see
phased extensions of sewer and water, phased rezoning of properties
to ensure orderly growth in conjunction with the Land Use Plan,
etc. The best advice from the City Attorney is to use these tools
as a means to ensure that premature development does not occur
within the corridor.
t PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER
Mayor and City Council
January 27, 1992
Page 2
[Note: For those not able to attend the Highway 5 Task Force
meeting in December, I would strongly recommend that you attend the
Planning Commission meeting on February 5. Bill Morrish and Lance
Neckar of the University of Minnesota have nearly completed the
initial concept plans for the Highway 5 Corridor. The concept plan
developed has considered input from the Task Force during the
series of meetings held during 1991. To state that I am excited
about the concepts presented in that plan would be an
understatement. I truly believe that this document will mature
into a vision for Chanhassen's future, and lay the foundation for
specific ordinances and overlay zones to be developed by the
Planning Commission, which will ensure that future development
meets our long range goals. ]
CAMPBELL , KNUTSON , SCOTT & FUCHS , P .A Jan 22 ,92 12 : 10 No .007 P .02
.
STATE OF MINNES TA DISTRICT COURT
COUNTI. Olr' WASHINGTON TENTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT
Woodbury Place Partnere, a Minnesota
general partner hip, ,JUDGMENT
Plaintiff,
FILMO. CO-38-3249
Vs. F Why-I►wOt; F
•;1 , • ."-
City
.
City of Woodbu , Minnesota, a
municipal corpo ation, 1991 t,
Defendant
r:JUir', J'd�.,j,Y i
D Ar
,!1. 0
rosy
The above- ntitled matter came on for trial before the honorable
J.C. Cass , Judg of District Court, on September 27 , 1991, at the
Washington Coun y Government Center, Stillwater, Minnesota.
Anthony J. Oleekel, Esq. and Christopher Penwell, Esq. , appeared
on behalf of th Flaintiff. Pierre N. Regnier, Esq, , and James G.
Colembeck, Eaq. i appeared on behalf of the Defendant. .
Based upon . the files, records , the argument$ of counsel and the
memoranda subm1 ted, and the proceedings herein, the Court made ft$
' Findings Of Pao , Conclusions Of Law, Order and Order For..Judgment ,
Now, There ore, Pursuant to said Findings Of Fact, Conclusions
• Of Lair and Order For Judgment;
t '
IT IS BERRY ,ADJIJDGSD; DETERMINED AND DECRELDs.
1. That a !peremptory Writ of Mandamus shall issue directing
Defendant City of Woodbury to commence condeciation proceedings
a ain't PlaintiAV
riijuj PIM Mai
CAMPBELL , KNUTSON , SCOTT & FUCHS , P .A Jan 22 .92 12 : 11 No .007 P .03
2. That Plaintiff is awarded costs and disbursements in the
mount of , to be hereafter taxed, allowed and
inserted, makin a total judgment amount of
DATE!: Decemb 18, 1991
BY THE COURT
Marie Sunlitis
1 .Court Administrator
•
peptic,'•
--
•
• -
CAMPBELL , KNUTSON, SCOTT 8 FUCHS, P.R Jan 22.92 12:11 No .007 P.04
STATE OP XINNE O A DISTRICT COURT
Co 'wTY OF WASH GTON 'TEXTS JUDICIAL DISTRICT
Woodbury Place artaere, a ,INDINCB OX PACT
Minnesota general partnership, CONCLDa;ONs OF LI►W
tinralin
Plaintiff, 22OR FOR Manta
Va. Pile 1a. 00-e0-324I
•
City of Woodbury, Xiaaeaota, , •
a munioipel oorporatioa,
L DEC 1 1991
Defendant. r.
•
^tl
The above-entitled matter came on for trial before the
undersigned, tre Honorable J. E. Cass, Judge of the above-named
Court, at the Washington County Government center, Stillwater,
Xirn•sote, on September 17, 1991.
Anthony J. oleekel and Christopher Penwell appeared on behalf
of Plaintiff. Pierre N. R•gnier and James G. Golembeck appeared on
behalf of Defendant.
- • The Court, after considering the arguments of counsel and the
menoranda submitted, and based upon all of the files, records, and
proceedings her in, makes the following;
?rNDIWGB _0F !ACT
- s 1. The parties submitted the matter to the Court upon two
{ sets of stipulated facts. Each party agreed as to the accuracy of
*etch ••t of felts, but objected to the opposing party's set on
grounds of releiancy.
_ 2. Plaintiff'• set of stipulated facts focus on the tact that
Plaint; t I llIll" Aw.ml.,r• s- n• aw III1
. . ... .k4 • •yet
•
•
•
i •
from March 23, 966 to March 23, 1990, as the result of the City of
Woodbury's ens tment of a moratorium.
3. Deft dant's set of stipulated facts focus on the
reasonableness of the moratorium enacted by the City of• Woodbury.
The Court fins the reaeonablenes8 of the moratorium to be
I
irrelevant.
4. Plain iff's version of the Stipulated Findings of Fact,
attached, is incorporated herein by reference.
5. Plaintiff has not 'unreasonably delayed asserting a known
right to the prejudice of others.
Based on a foregoing, the Court makes the following:
CONCLae!o G b!LAMLA!
1. P1aintiff's 'alaim is not barred by the doctrine of laches.
2. The mo atorium effected a oompansable temporary taking of
Plaintiff's lend from March 23, 1989 to March 23, 1990.
1
Based on t e foregoing, the Court makes the following:
OM,
1. A peremptory Writ of Mandamus shall issue directing
Defendant City of Woodbury to oomMence condemnation proceedings
against Plainti f's property involved herein.
1
2. Plaintiff is awarded its Costs and disbursements. '
3. Robert Beedle,' C.J. Kabis, and Timothy J. McKenzie, With
James L. Currel_ and Robert Lafayette as alternates in that order,
each of whom is a disinterested person and resident of Washington
County, Minnesota, are hereby appointed as Commissioners to
i
ascertain and report the amount of damages that were sustained by
Plaintiff as a ,result of one temporary taking desorlbeQ hQxBTh,
The first meetngof said Commissioners shall be held in the
2
CAMPBELL , KNUTSON , SCOTT & FUCHS , P .A Jan 22 .92 12 : 12 No .007 P .05
MORAXIUM- Re; !Qvdbypy ? acejrtnefs y. city _of Woodbury
Court Tile )o, Coss-324'
Plaintiff wns property located within the City of Woodbury
(the City) . P1 intiff submitted an application for a Special Use
Permit, approve of preliminary plat, and site plan review to the
••
City on Tabruary 16, 1988. The application complied with all
applicable aoniiltg and subdivision ordinances, but was inconsistent
with proposed r clsdway improvements. The application was revised to
. 1
be consistent i 1th these improvements and submitted to the City
f
prior to March 3, 1988 . The City Council, pursuant to Minn. Stat.
*462.355, eubd. 4, on March 23, 1988 adopted a moratorium
restricting development within a certain area, including
Plaintiff's property. Although the moratorium provided for
variances, Plaintiff was twice denied a variance from the
moratorium. Thl moratorium expired on March 23, 1990. Plaintiff
commenced this otion on August 1, 1968. The only remaining claim
is that the mor torium effscted•a temporary--taking of Plaintiff's
property, regui ins compensation. The parties have stipulated that
i Plaintiff was d Hied all economically viable use of the property
from March 23, 1988 to March 23, 1990, as a result of the
moratorium. Th parties have also stipulated that the moratorium
was reasonable ind neoesaary to protect the planning process and
- the health, sat ty, and welfare of the city's citizens.
Th. United States Constitution, Amendment S, ana Minn. Const.
I
- Art. 3., 113, state that private property shall not be taken for
public use without lust oompenaatiQn. A government re dation
which works a telporary taking upon property is treated the same as
Jan 22 ,92 12 13 No .007 P .06 _
CAMPBELL , KNUTSON , SCOTT & FUCHS , P .
I
if it had been) a permanent taking; the landowner is entitled to
compensation 'ftpr his loss of use during the temporary taking.
F st 4ya
English na u at ch ar - 1 Las to .,
rr..«h ' 482 U.S.
304, 91$ (198 ) . riret Egg tch involved a situation Where a
building moratrium was imposed due to flooding. The court held
that, assuming the moratorium worked a taking upon the land,
plaintiff was entitled to compensation for that temporary taking.
IA. et 322.
The feats f ftrAt English ere very similar to those presented
here, and plat tiff is entitled to compensation if the moratorium
Constitutes a taking. There are two situations in which a general
I
zoning law Can! effect a taking: 1) it the ordinance does not
substantially advance legitimatestate interests; or 2) if
application of the ordinance denies the owner economically viable
use of his la 'd. Agins., v, Tikurvu, 447 U.S. 255, 260 (1990) ;
;arrant, . _ .
_ • - - r •. , 425 N.W.2d 585, 590 (Minn.
ct. App. 1988) J Ths parties have stipulated that the mo t'lttorium I'• —
denied Plaintiiff all economically viable use of the land.
Therefore, under ACina and ?irst ED.g .br the moratorium worked a
temporary taki of the land for which compensation is Owed.
Defendant argues that there can be no taking since the
i moratorium was implemented under the City's police power and was
reasonable in purpose, duration, end scope. It is true that the
1
exercise of a city's police power can properly limit the Uses to
which property Tan be put, but it ie also true that the
exercise of
such police power constitutes a Compensable takin5 if
it deprives
the Property ofi611 reasonable use.
MCSY GfFAYtY 1hata♦t
292 H.W.ad 253, 257 Minn. 1950) , siting
.xea2ty
2
CAMPBELL , KNUTSON , SCOTT & FUCHS , P .A Jan 22 ,92 12 : 13 No .007 P.07
•
,C.Q" 272 U.B. 365 (1926) ; ThOmn®on y i�_ty r Ren Wj g
455 N.W.2d
512, 516 (Minn. Ct. App. 1990) . Constitutional rotaCtiona
_ p were .
designed to cora111
ensete landowners for otherwise proper interference
' with their land; which amounted to a taking. 7J. ; Eegliah at 315.
The moratoria 1er°, although reasonable deprived p Plaintiff of the
use of its Zane), for which - int - con - ionally required
to be Compensa d.
AI
Dated; 11 "fi S. 4ei i i
Ilir • E. Cass
Judge of District Court
r
_
•
•
_ 1 .
•t
.
•
•
•
' 3
I i)
C I TY OF
--
4
,..
iolor ,
CHANHASSEN'
690 COULTER DRIVE • P.O. BOX 147 • CHANHASSEN, MINNESOTA 55317
(612) 937-1900 • FAX (612) 937-5739
e ✓ Aw A
MEMORANDUM
TO: Don Ashworth, City Manager
—
FROM: Charles Folch, City Engineer V
1 -a1-qz
DATE: January 22 , 1992
SUBJ: Establish Fee Schedule for In-House Engineering
Information Services and Private Development Surface
Water Management Program Review Services
In May of 1991, staff received notification from Carver County of
their newly established fee schedule for over-the-phone lot size
and fax copy requests (see attachment) . It is my understanding
that this fee schedule resulted from an increased demand for these
services for which associated staff time and reproduction costs
were reaching a significant level .
In discussing this matter with my staff, it is apparent that the
City Engineering Department receives a sizable number of these
types of requests which require staff personnel time and
reproduction costs on the part of the City. Therefore, it would
seem appropriate for the City of Chanhassen to also establish a fee
schedule similar to that of Carver County to recover costs that are
incurred in providing this service.
The following is a proposed fee schedule for Engineering
Information Services:
1. Plats and Registered Land Surveys (RLS) -
A. 81/2x11 to 11x17 plat and RLS, $2 . 00 per page for a non-
certified copy.
B. Full-scale 22x34 non-certified plat or RLS, $5. 00 per
copy.
2 . Fax Copies - Flat charge of $5. 00 plus the copy cost of the
copies.
IS
t li, PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER
Don Ashworth
January 22 , 1992
Page 2
3 . Lot Size Requests - Over the phone lot size requests will be
charged a flat fee of $2 . 00 per lot. When a phone request is
made the caller will be asked to provide the company' s name
for billing purposes along with the individual ' s name
requesting the lot size. At the end of the month each company
(or individual) will receive one invoice listing of all
requests made. If an individual wishes to visit City Hall to
acquire the information, the only costs incurred would be the
standard duplicating costs per page for copying services.
4 . Lot Releases - Flat fee of $10. 00 per lot.
Postage and mailing costs will also be billed. All requests for
any of the above services will be denied if all invoices are not
paid in a timely manner. - I would propose that the Engineering
Department will keep track of all the information to the requests
and services provided during the month and submit a monthly
tabulation of billings to the Finance Department for invoicing.
Water Quality Plan Review Fees, Planning Director
Last year there was a significant revamping of developer fees that
was adopted by the City Council. At that time, the fee structure
that was adopted had a flat fee for each request, such as a
variance or rezoning. We also added in fees for work completed by
the City Attorney relative to the filing of documents related to
the development. You may recall that in the past the city lost
control over the official filing process of documents with the
county, and as a result, a number of conditions of development were
either missed or deliberately avoided. In having the City Attorney
responsible for this, we have start to end control over the entire
process. You agreed to have Roger's time billed on an hourly basis
to the particular applicant.
Since that time, we have become more involved in water quality
improvement programs. As they have become developed, we have often
sought assistance from Bonestroo Engineering, the city's consultant
on our water management program. They have provided highly useful
input into several projects. However, the time involved in
preparing their input is not covered by their on-going consulting
contract with the city, and is billed on an hourly basis. I do not
believe that this work, which is related to a specific development
request, should result in the entire Surface Water Utility Program
being billed, but rather would recommend that we be in a position
to place these costs back on the particular development request.
Therefore, I am asking the City Council to approve a modification
in the fee structure that would allow staff to bill consultant time
for surface water management issues on an hourly basis against the
project. If you agree, we will modify the fee schedule accordingly
Don Ashworth
January 22 , 1992
Page 3
as well as our application form. We will attempt to make a
practice of getting a written estimate of the costs of the work,
plus the approval of the particular applicant prior to having the
work undertaken.
Recommendation
It is therefore recommended that the aforementioned fee schedule be
approved effective January 1, 1992 .
ktm
Attachments: 1. Carver County letter dated May 17, 1991 from
Carl W. Hanson, Jr.
2 . Memo from Dan Remer dated January 21, 1992 .
c: Jean Meuwissen, Treasurer
Dan Remer, Engineering Technician
DEVELOPMENT FEE SCHEDULE
1. Comprehensive Plan Amendment
a. $500
b. $100 Minor MUSA One for failing on-site sewers
2. Conditional Use Permit
a. RSF uses - $75
b. All others - $400
3. Grading Permits
a. Under 50 cubic yards $0
b. 50-1000 cubic yards $50
c. Over 1000 cubic yards - processed
as IUP-use UBC
4. Interim Use Permit
a. RSF uses - $75
b. All Others - $400
5. Notification Signs
$50 rental
$100 damage deposit
6. Planned Unit Development
a. Concept Plan
b. Preliminary Development
Plan
c. Final Development Plan $750 (a-c)
d. Amendment
Minor Amendment - $100
Major Amendment - Same As PUD
7. Rezoning - $500
8. Sign Permit
a. Temporary - $35
b. Permanent - $50
9. Sign Plan Review $150
(if separate from site plan)
10. She Plan Review
a. $250 + $10 per 1000 sq.ft. of building
area for commercial and industrial districts + $5 per dwelling unit in residential districts
b. Administrative Site Plan $100
11. Subdivision Ordinance
a. Create less than 3 lots $150
b. Create over 3 lots - $400 + $15/lot
c. Final Plat - Included in one time fee
d. Metes and Bounds Division $150 + $50/lot over 3 lots
e. Consolidate lots - $100
12. Vacation of ROW/Easements $100
13. Variance - $75
14. Wetland Alteration Permit
a. Single Family Residence - $75
b. All other uses - $200
15. Zoning Appeal - $0
16. Zoning Ordinance Amendment - $0
17. Filing Fees/Attorney Costs
a. Recording Documents $10 + County Fees
b. Recording Plats & Related Documents
1) 1-3 lots $100 + County Fee
2) 4-10 lots $125 + County Fee
3) 11-30 lots $200 + County Fee
4) 31 + lots $350 + County Fee
Attorney's time to ensure
proper drafting & documentation
18. Consultant Fees
Consultants required by the Cost will be billed to developer
City to review development
proposals including but not
limited to traffic and water
management issues
— � -K c'or,4,
— CARVER COUNTY COURTHOUSE
Office of
1
COUNTY RECORDER'REGISTRAR OF TITLES ` 600 EAST 4TH
Carl W (Kelly) Hanson Jr. ��N c:' POCHASBOX
KA,157
MINNESOTA 55318
Phone 448-1205
Fax 448-1206 COUNTY OF C1QVEQ RECEIVED
MAY ? 0 1991
C17 r yr chANMASSEP
TO: All Customers
FROM: Carl W. (Kelly) Hanson Jr. , County Recorder
DATE: May 17, 1991
SUBJECT: Fees for Lot Size Requests and Fax Copies
Please pass the following on to all members of your company or
firm. Effective June 1st fees for lot sizes requests and fax
copies will be as follows:
1 . LOT SIZE REOUESTS: A $2 . 00 fee per lot will be charged
for phone requests on lot sizes. When a phone request
is made, you will be asked to provide the company' s
name for billing purposes along with the individuals
name requesting the lot size. At the end of the month,
each company (or individual) will receive one invoice
listing all requests made.
2 . FAX COPIES: A flat $5. 00 charge plus the copy cost of
_ the copies will be the new fee for fax copies. For
regular users and upon request, we will bill you once a
month again listing each fax request. Otherwise
separate invoices will be mailed within 24 hours of the
fax.
All requests for either of the above will be denied if all
invoice ' s are not paid in a timely manner.
Should you have any questions, please call Debbie Bergstrom at
612-448-1205.
Affirmatne Aarn/Equal Opportunity Emploier
Printed on Ret rled Paper
CITY OF
,_
oili ,
01P4 ,
CHANHASSEN
690 COULTER DRIVE • P.O. BOX 147 • CHANHASSEN, MINNESOTA 55317
(612) 937-1900 • FAX (612) 937-5739
N
MEMORANDUM
TO: Charles Folch, City Engineer
FROM: Dan Remer, Engineering Technician
DATE: January 21, 1992
SUBJ: Fees for Lot Size, Plats and Registered Land Surveys
I have put together the following fee schedule for the various
items we handle through our office using Carver County's fee
schedule as a guide.
1 . Plat and Registered Land Survey (RLS) copies:
$2 . 00 per page (82)(11 to 11x17) for a non-certified xerox
portion of a plat or RLS
$5. 00 per plat or RLS (22x34) for a scaled, non-certified copy
2 . Lot Size Requests - A $2 . 00* fee per lot will be charged for
phone requests on lot sizes. When a phone request is made,
the caller will be asked to provide the company's name for
billing purposes along with the individual 's name requesting
the lot size. At the end of the month, each company (or
individual) will receive one invoice listing all requests
made.
*I think this should be raised to $5. 00 to cover time and
materials.
All requests for either of the above will be denied if all invoices
are not paid in a timely manner.
If you have any comments or would like to discuss this further,
please let me know.
ktm
Attachment: Carver County fee schedules.
iv Orr PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER
REVISED JANUARY, 1992
ONGOING ISSUES STATUS
Comprehensive Plan Issues
1. * 1995 Study Area (North) Several meetings held with task
and Hwy. 5 Corridor Study force. U of M Program to wrap
up by January 1. Working to
structure more in depth
corridor study to begin in
February. Presentation to PC on
February 5.
2 . 1995 Study Area (South) Assigned to Planning Commission
staff. Work to be initiated as
time commitments allow.
OTHER ITEMS
1. Rezoning BF Dist. to A2 Staff preparing updated
information for Planning
Commission direction.
2 . * Sign Ordinance Work group established. Issues
paper reviewd by PC January 15,
1991. First meeting in
February.
3 . Tree Protection Ordinance MnDNR completed mapping program
Mapping of significant and will work with city to
vegetative areas develop. New ordinance to be
developed in 1992 .
4 . Wetland Ordinance/Surface First meeting held October 7.
Water Management Program Video surveys of lake bottoms
Task Force established. underway. Application
submitted to MnPCA for Clean
Water Action Grant for Lotus
Lake.
5. Shoreland Ordinance In January we received
notification from the MnDNR
that we are a priority
community with a 2 year
deadline.
6. Group home ordinance 1991/inactive/CC indicated
desire to pursue.
7. Rural Area Policies Approval granted by Metro
Council. Ordinance revisions
required.
8 . * PUD Ordinance Residential PUD standards to PC
on January 15, 1992 . Future
meetings required.
9. PC input in Downtown 1991/ongoing
Planning and Traffic Study
10. Review of Architectural 1992
Standards to Promote High
Quality Design
11. Bluff Creek Corridor With adoption of Bluff Line
Greenway Preservation ordinance, CC
referred item to Park and
Recreation Commission. Staff
working with Riley Purgatory
Bluff Creek Watershed District
to develop joint Bluff Creek
corridor program.
12 . * Modifications to beachiot Ordinance passed by PC on
ordinance - Re: Non- January 15, 1992. Send to CC
conforming beachiots on 2/10. Scheduled for 12/4/91
agenda.
13 . Ordinance amendment to PC approved. City Attorney to
Non-conforming use section redraft.
to clarify ordinance.
14 . Temporary uses, sales - Guidelines memo reviewed by PC
new ordinance. and scheduled for CC. Ordinance
revisions to follow.
15. Truck and trailer rental Request by PC.
standards.
16. Sexually oriented Review requested by CC.
businesses
* Change in status since last
report
-10i1-
� CITY OF
CHANHASSEN
t i
690 COULTER DRIVE • P.O. BOX 147 • AN AS 5E39MINNESOTA 55317
(612) 937 1900 FAX 6
MEMORANDUM
TO: Planning Commission
FROM: Paul Krauss, Planning Director
DATE:
January 31, 1992
SUBJ: Highway 5 Corridor Study
Backgro ndiOverview
1992 , meeting, Bill Morrish and Lance Neckar,
A
the February 5, 5 corridor.
from the University of Minnesota' s Urban Design Center,
e
work undertaken by their group on the Hwy. corridorr
presentingwtemporary This work was undertaken in conjunction with a temp
group
HRA, wtk Council,
established by the City Council. Members of the
stud
HRA, City Council, as well as Steve Emmings and Jeff FarmakeTo put
from
the Planning Commission, were represented in this group.
their work into context, it may be useful to first step back
understand why this work was undertaken and what lead up
i .
In the spring of 1991, the Chanhassen Comprehensive Plan was
finally adopted after years of effort.aAsna condition
nd City Counappro al,
at the request of the Planning
work
was to proceed to define uses for the two 1995 Study Areas which
were identified onthe
Comprehensive
MUSA butlan. These representedstheynextas were
likely
pansd outsideofthem The Comprehensive Plan left these
expansions of the community. to be designed
areas blank, and this program was essentially going
to fill in the blanks.
At the same time, it was evident that there would be growing
pressure for development along Hwy. 5 and there was increasing
concern among members of the City Council and other groups lead by
Councilman Richard Wing, to make sure that what happens on the
corridor is of the highest possible quality. Councilman Wing had
contacted the University' s Urban Design Center for advice. At the
same time, Planning staff organized a bus tour of the corridor.
Growing out of this mix of issues, the HRA retained the
University' s Urban Design Center to do a conceptual corridor report
to better define peoples interests and establish goals. This work
was completed late last year and was presented to the task force
and is now being presented to the Planning Commission. The purpose
4, PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER
1116
Highway 5 Corridor Study
January 31, 1992 1
Page 6
time, I do not believe that this is something they can competently
fulfill all the required tasks in-house. _
As to the time question, it depends on the exact work plan that is
selected and the motivation that is put to this. Time periods
anywhere from six months to eighteen months would be reasonable in -
this regard. At the same time, we should recognize that demands,
not only on our staff time but on yourselves, have also grown
considerably in recent months. Many of you are serving along with
members of the City Council, on the Surface Water Management Task
Force, or on the Sign Ordinance Work Group, or the Wetland
Ordinance Work Group established by the Surface Water Management
Task Force. Before selecting a time frame to complete this task,
should you decide to pursue it, you should take your ability to
take on extra meetings into account.
In any event, we are looking for your guidance and input on this
matter. I expect several members of the City Council to be present
and certainly would expect to take your recommendation to them for
formal action.
CITY TF
CHANHASSEN
690 COULTER DRIVE • P.O. BOX 147 • CHANHASSEN, MINNESOTA 55317
(612) 937-1900 • FAX (612) 937-5739
January 16, 1992
Mr. Greg Larson, Administrator
Wetlands Section
_ MN Board of Water & Soil Resources
Southbridge Office Building
Suite 104
155 South Wabasha Street
St. Paul, MN 55107
Dear Mr. Larson:
In response to your letter of January 14, 1992 , I wish to have
myself listed as the official local contact person on the wetland
program. Please direct all correspondence to me at the above
listed address. In addition, when you establish the Technical
Advisory Committee for the wetland program, I am requesting that
either myself or Jo Ann Olsen, Senior Planner on my staff who is
highly knowledgeable on wetland issues, be appointed to the
committee if possible. Your assistance in this matter is
appreciated.
We look forward to working with you in the future.
Sincerely,
g
Paul Krauss, AICP
Planning Director
PK:v
pc: Surface Water Management Task Force
Planning Commission
City Council
1
Is
t4, PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER
r j
ff
Min to •
Board ot January 14, 1992
ter&Soil
rces
smortoomokork
Southbridge Office Building Mr. Paul Krauss, AICP
155 South Wabasha St.,Suite 104 Planning Director
St. Paul, Minnesota 55107
City of Chanhassen
(612)296-3767 690 Coulter Drive
fax(612)297-5615
PO Box 147
Chanhassen, MN 55317
Dear Mr. Krauss:
Regional Offices
Northwest Region The Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) recently received a letter indicating
1106 Paul Bunyan Drive,NE
Bemidji,MN 56601 your acceptance of responsibility for the interim program provisions of the Wetland
218-755-3963 Conservation Act of 1991. There was, however, no mention of a local contact
Northeast Region person_ Please provide the name, address and phone number of the contact person
394 South Lake Avenue
Room 403 for your local governmental unit to BWSR at the following address:
Duluth.MN 55802
218-723-4752
The Board of Water and Soil Resources
Wiest Central Region
503 Washington Street 155 South Wabasha Street
Brainerd,MN 56401 Suite 104
218-828-2604
South Central Region St. Paul, Minnesota 55107
Box 756
New Ulm,MN 56073 All correspondence will be sent to that person. Thank you.
507-359-6074
Southeast Region
Friedell Bldg..Room 100
1200 S.Broadway Sincerely,
Rochester,MN 55904
507-285-7458
Southwest Region
Box 267 4 ,
1400Lyon Street
Mars
Marshaa 5
ll,MN 56258 �507-537-6060
East Central Region Greg Larson, Administrator
Southbridge Office Building Wetlands Section
155 South Wabasha St.,Suite 104
St.Paul,MN 55107
612-296-3767 G L/lm
RECEIVE
JAN 151992
An Equal CITY OF 1;n.11rnH��►I�
Opportunity Employer
114 ) 5 ,-
l may =
AIAMETROPOLITAN COUNCIL
Mears Park Centre, 230 East Fifth Street. St. Paul, MV 55101-1634 612 291-6359 FAX 612 291-6550 TTY 611 191-0904
December 31, 1991
Dear Government Official:
The 1989 Minnesota legislature has directed the Metropolitan Council to adopt a water quality plan for the
Metropolitan Area. The plan is to include management objectives and target pollution loads for all
watersheds. The purpose of the plan is to meet federal and state water quality standards by cleaning up
nonpoint pollution in the runoff from urban and agricultural land uses, and thereby avoid unnecessary
investments in advanced wastewater treatment. Local governments will have an important role in the planning
because of their role in local water resource and land use planning.
As part of the plan development process,the Council is undertaking a number of technical studies. The initial
focus of these studies is on the Lower Minnesota River basin because of an EPAIMPCA mandate to reduce
nonpoint pollution loads in the river by 40 percent by 1996. The Mississippi River and St. Croix basins will
— be addressed later in the process. The studies include monitoring the quality of streams entering the river,
inventorying of land use, modelling of stormwater runoff quality and an evaluation of alternative stormwater
management methods/practices.
An evaluation of current local water planning and management, including local land use controls, is also one
of the technical studies. The purpose of the study is to assess the status of current land use controls and other
_ programs in managing the quality of urban and agricultural runoff. A survey is being sent to all local
governments,watershed planning organizations and soil and water conservation districts to determine the types
of controls and other management programs in effect,the types of pollutants addressed,the standards applied,
who is responsible for implementation, and the level of financial resources being allocated to stormwater
quality management. Representatives of a limited number of these organizations will be interviewed in the
next phase of the project to ensure that the Council has a thorough understanding of the role these local
government organizations play in managing the quality of runoff.
— The enclosed survey is designed to gather information appropriate to each organization's role in water quality
planning and management. Watershed management organizations are receiving a slightly different survey than
counties, cities and townships because their roles differ. For example,cities and townships play a major role
— in land use controls in many parts of the Metropolitan Area, whereas most watershed management
organizations do not.
_ If more than one department or person is involved in water quality planning and management,the survey form
or a photocopy should be completed by all appropriate departments before it is returned.
In order to complete the survey in a timely manner, the Council asks that you return the survey by January
—
17, 1992. The more returns, the more accurate the results and the Council's conclusions.
If there are questions regarding the survey, please call Carl Schenk, Natural Resources and Parks Division at
— 291-6410. All completed surveys should be returned to him.
Sincerely,
Cs.: 4? 11 -d ..
4?:. /Mary E. Anderson, Chair r rtD
Enclosure R CEN
SAN 03199;'
• Crit/ Lr L'"14r H1v-'•
SURVEY OF LOCAL NONPOINT SOURCE POLLUTION MANAGEMENT
(Questions? Call Carl Schenk at the Metropolitan Council - 291-6410).
A. Background Data
1. Name of city, county or township: C-v\4--*etc 5 c,e kr,
2. Name(s), telephone number(s) and department(s) of person(s) completing form:
' A_LA adlAs"; .\rj-t c� ?fin el.,. q'3 7- I qop
B. Contents of Local Water Management Plan (This is not the watershed plan)
Once a watershed plan has been adopted, Minnesota statutes require each local government
in the watershed to prepare a local water management plan consistent with the watershed
plan. (If your community has completed its plan, please include a copy with the completed
survey). The following questions apply to this or other existing plans, for example,
comprehensive plan and storm drainage plan.
1. Is local water management plan adopted? Yes No If not, explain where the
community is in the rocess. r.k CAL-k r 5•4.4 c r(=> 4,%LIC rr).e)t 7 , -
2,xC e -.cJ 67,4, c. Gl`'"d�' Tta�
t,10>� vacs ;.,1¢-1 (j Lt.- `3 G` C - h a•-, 1cLt- 1`1 q l,)ee -1.47 (etc 3
2. Does the plan require the management of stormwater quality to protect lakes, streams and
rivers? ✓ Yes No Do these policies apply to residential and commercial
development? ./Yes No To agricultural activity? Yes L./No
3. Does plan require the use of detention ponds to control stormwater quality? Yes
No State the policy.l '(.l c'ec4r c,. 2- ,.cQ.
ee-&- l; o c')---(-Does he plan specify any pond design criteria? < Yes No State these.
Does the plan require on-sitepo ding as part of new subdivisions? ✓Yes No
Off-site "regional" ponding? Yes No /
Does the local water management plan identify storage areas? ✓ Yes No
4. Does the plan require the control of erosion at construction sites? /Yes No
S. Does the plan protect wetlands including filling, draining and dredging? Yes
No What type and size of wetlands are protected? C'.v 1.-.rts5ev, (nm
Has your community adopted a "nb net loss" policy for wetland protection? "Yes
No
1
6. Does the plan,policy require the rise of"best management practices" to control stormwater
quality? ✓ Yes No Describe which practices are required, for example, those
of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency or a local soil and water conservation district.
7. Does the plan ,recommend the establishment/continuation of surface water quality
monitoring? ✓ Yes No Which types of surface water bodies are to be
monitored? , V cc,__e,5
How frequently? ¢ n 6..0.1
What parameters (for example, dissolved oxygen)? t- a rp c es c
8. Does the local water plan specify the rate of runoff to be maintained? Yes
No State the rate tnt e_ 43,,,,o,,c-i n , l oC �� e.."•11- 11-
orf Skr-t,no`
9. What other plan policies address the control of stormwater quality? (summarize)
10. How and when are policies applied by the community, for example, in the review of
subdivisions? S `,.,,t i S'1zns <1-Le_ 101c.
i
Which department(s) or unit(s) is responsible for implementing these policies?
11. Does the plan address the management of stormwater quality in fully developed areas?
X Yes No Describe `the
Gre !A Y Cs r wI'tt� { 7j Sty cs..Jr' 5'?t * °
C. Land Use and Other Controls (Zoning, Subdivision Regulations, etc.) for Stormwater
Quality Management (Please submit a copy of any land use controls which ur
community administers to manage stormwater quality). T^ L aU.... aoe o.
‘.t4-i-
1. Do the current land use controls being administered specify the control of stormwater quality?
Yes 17 No What ordinance or controls contain these requirements? Specify. .
SLA
2. Do the requirements apply to agricultural activities? Yes ✓N
All new subdivision and development (residential and commercial)? Yes No
If not,what is excluded?
3. When reviewing proposed development projects, does your community evaluate the potential
impact on stormwater nd surface water quality as well as on sewer, transportation and other
public services? /Yes No
2
4. Which of the following types of requirements are included in local land use and other
controls? (Check all those which apply). For those which you have adopted, please submit
a cop with the completed survey.
/Erosion
VDetentioretention
control pond standards
/Wetland protection 4oreland management
Fertilizer control Best management practices
/Quality
of stormwater runoff /Feedlot management
Pesticide controls Limit the amount of allowable
impervious surface for certain land uses.
Submittal of a site plan incorporating a stormwater quality management plan for
proposed development.
5. Which of the following requirements are specified in your local land use and other controls?
Answer yes or no except where noted.
a. Erosion Control
Applies to all development? Or only to areas acres or larger?
Applies to public construction projects?\J eS Requires the submittal of an
erosion control plan for proposed developnlent/projects? \i,C)S
Specifies specific standards to be met? t S
7
Were the standards developed locally? c-' Do the standards incorporate or
reference those of another agency, such the local soil and water conservation
district? Specify which agenry or standards.
b. Wetland Protection
Do the standards apply to all wetlands? P s If not, specify which types and/or
sizes are protected.
Does the ordinance apply to filling? Li pc Dredging? (Draining?) %.(e S
Runoff or stormwater discharges? `(enc Does your community allow the direct
discharge of stormwater to wetlands? fl the ordinance allow for _
mitigation? • eT Explain. Oa A 422,...t...);2_ R c.,., z
\ ico st° . C\ > Cle.iei-lo,,e, ci,,n rye gar .. ) f r,,,,e..,,
Do the standards allow the restoration or creation of wetlands to mitigate for the
loss of wetlands? es Has your community incorporated a "no net loss"
requirement? Lt e
c. Fertilizer Control
If a fertilizer control ordinance has been adopted, what areas of the community are
affected? Area-wide 1,14- Shoreland areas only Does it limit the
timing of application? The amount?
3 -
d. Best Management Practices
If the use of"best management practices" is required for development, what practices
are specified? Minnesota Pollution Control Agency - Protecting Water Quality in
Urban Areas y pC Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources - Construction
Site Erosion and Sediment Control Standards- Qs Or other (specify)
e. Detention Pond Standards
If the use of detention ponds is required, what standards are to be followed?
National Urban Runoff Program (NURP)yep Or other (specify) Oar
Is on-site ponding required for all proposed development? 'Q C Or are
"regional" ponding areas require or provided to receive the runoff,From several
development areas? p‘ fie.
D. Implementation
1. Financing
How are the day-to-day costs of administering, maintaining, engineering, planning and
orating stormwater quality management financed? (check one or more)
✓ municipal stormwater utility general operating budget special tax levy
part of local utility fees private responsibility such as homeowners association
fees other(specify)
_ If your community has adopted a stormwater utility, how many dollars a year does this
generate? 4 1 coe noz /
How are capital improvements finyced? (check one or more) impact fees ✓ as
part of development costs /cV fee title dedication, for example, detgntion pond sites
special tax levy / municipal stormwater water utility other (specify)
t}5 s e 5S✓w,ts Li\ON-L— Z-4-.,
Are stormwater improvements included in the local capital improvement program? y95"
many dollars does your community spend annually on all stormwater management
activities,including operating and capital improvements? S�r9e ,r�.M i c c rte).-' Of this,
how much is related to stormwater quality concerns(estimate)?$
2. Administration/Enforcement
What department(s), unit(s) or person(s)--for example, building inspector--is responsible for
enforcing local codes/ordinances pertaining to stormwater quality management?"?k a r,n,.. /
Has this person received any specific training or education in enforcing local stormwater
quality management requirements and what to look for on the site? Specify n.o
4
What percent of this person(s) time is spent on enforcing stormwater quality management
requirements? ? % What penalties are provided to enforce these requirements?
Once a project is under construction, when is it inspected to ensure that stormwater
requirements are being met?
During/after storm events or spring snow melt? (V)
Does the community stress water quality management concerns with contractors and builders?
yC) What mechanisms does the community use to inform these groups? `20 ;
E. Other Local Management Programs (Nonregulatory)
1. Street sweeping? X Yes No Type of sweeper?
How many times per year? At what times or seasons? Lac r IGS
i t� (j't, tr-R L-0.e.v1
2. Public education? Yes No Indicate what groups or surface water quality
problems are targeted, if any such as the use of lawn fertilizers. A\\ u't.,.r o, � G h_
3. Water quality monitoring? /Yes No Do you monitor during or soon after
storm events? Yes No
4. Research/special studies of water quality problems /Yes No
5. Maintenance of stormwater ponds ✓ Yes No What administrative unit is
responsible? A4), #1 l:,
6. Construction or reconstruction/redesign of detention ponds ✓ Yes No
7. Other(specify)
F. If you have other local concerns or problems dealing with stormwater and surface water
quality that should be addressed by this study, indicate these here.
•
Completed survey forms should be returned to:
Carl Schenk, Planner
Natural Resources and Parks Division
Metropolitan Council
Mears Park Centre, 230 East Fifth Street
St. Paul, MN 55101-1634
THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION!
5
Iiniteb itatet senate
MEMORANDUM
4
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154 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING 1020 PLYMOUTH BUILDING
WASHINGTON,DC 20510-2301 12 SOUTH SIXTH STREET
(202)224-3244 MINNEAPOLIS,MN 55402
(812(370-3382
United states *mate
DAVE DURENBERGER RECEIVED
JAN 2 7 1992
C�1Y Of �r►t-onHSSEN
January 22, 1992
Kathy Svanda
Manager, Non-Point Source Section
Division of Water Quality
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
520 Lafayette Road North
Saint Paul, Minnesota 55155
Dear Kathy:
- I am writing in support of the City of Chanhassen' s
application for a Clean Water Partnership Grant.
Chanhassen has long been a leader in environmental
protection. The City' s efforts in developing a wetlands
protection program were not only innovative, but predated more
recent federal and state initiatives .
- Chanhassen' s background and current work in the area of
water quality protection make it a good candidate for the Clean
Water Partnership Grant program. Chanhassen' s demonstrated
commitment to water concerns indicate that it will complete your
program in a satisfactory manner.
I understand that the comment period for these applications
closed last October. I would, however, appreciate your placing
my letter in Chanhassen' s permanent file . Thank you for your
consideration of this request.
i -rely,
D.\ - Dur `rg er
• Un :. S •=tes Senator
DD/jlc
COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS:
FINANCE
ENVIRONMENT AND PUBUC WORKS
:. CITYOF
141,
041' CHANHASSEN
690 COULTER DRIVE • P.O. BOX 147 • CHANHASSEN, MINNESOTA 55317
(612) 937-1900 • FAX (612) 937-5739
January 28, 1992
Nick and Marcy Waritz
1271 Bluff Creek Drive
Chaska, MN 55318
Dear Nick and Marcy:
I received a copy of your utility bill where you indicated that you
were paying the Surface Water Utility charge under protest since
your property does not drain into the storm sewer. I thought I
would take an opportunity to explain where these funds are going
and hopefully, respond to some of your questions.
First of all , the funds are not in any way related to whether or
not a property drains into a storm sewer. The fees are generated
- based on the assumption that every property in the city generates
surface water runoff. This fee is further based on the fact that
properties which have more hard surface coverage, such as a factory
- with a parking lot, pay at a higher rate since they generate more
runoff. The funds are used to support a three part program. The
first part is related to the city's wetland protection efforts.
Chanhassen has been innovative in this area by becoming a no-net-
loss community over 8 years ago. This has recently been mandated
statewide by a new state law. We are looking to upgrade and
modernize our wetland protection efforts to preserve these unique
- and important environmental features as development occurs in the
future. Secondly, we are trying to develop a storm water
management plan. This plan will be used to create storm sewers,
ditches, ponding areas, and other mechanisms needed to manage storm
water. The third element is a water quality improvement program.
Many of Chanhassen's major lakes have shown a steady decline in
water quality. Water quality problems are also evident in the
Minnesota River and you have probably read about some of these
problems in articles in the Star and Tribune and other newspapers.
Most of this problem is coming from what is called non-point source
pollution. This is not an industry or a sewage treatment plant
with a pipe that you can identify and clean up, but rather it is
materials such as oils and grease from area streets, large masses
of leaves, lawn clippings and other organic material , lawn and
agricultural fertilizers and other chemicals, soil erosion, and
other items that get into our water and cause significant impacts.
PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER
Nick and Marcy Waritz
January 28, 1992
Page 2
Generally, these problems are directly tied to urban development or
agricultural use. These funds will not only be used for
development of plans and monitoring water quality, but also on an
action plan that is being developed. For example, we believe there
is a significant benefit to having the city's streets swept just
prior to spring thaw to keep organic material from flushing into
area lakes and streams. In the future, we will also be looking
into acquiring and preparing water retention and quality ponds in
strategic locations throughout the community, developing
educational efforts for homeowners designed to protect water
quality in wetlands, and a variety of related efforts that are
presently being developed. Hopefully, when this program is more
fully developed, property owners will not only understand where
their $3 . 22 per quarter is going, but also support the program.
I am enclosing a copy of our program brochure for your review.
Please feel free to contact me if you need additional information.
S . cerely,
ae..d
Paul Krauss, AICP
Planning Director
PK:}/
Enclosure
pc: City Council
Surface Water Management Task Force
Dave Hempel, Sr. Engineering Technician
Ci l t-
-
Becky Kelso ' ` '
� �r �...,,� Minnesota
State Representative
House of
District 36A -
zr Representatives
Scott and Carver Counties
Robert Vanasek,Speaker
COMMITTEES: EDUCATION,EDUCATION FINANCE DIVISION:REDISTRICTING,TRANSPORTATION;
HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES;REGULATED INDUSTRIES
January 21, 1992
Ms. Kathy Svanda
Chair, Minnesota Pollution
Control Agency
520 Lafayette Road North
St. Paul, Minnesota 55155
Dear Ms. Svanda:
The City of Chanhassen, which lies within my Legislative District,
has always been a source of pride to me in its efforts to maintain
and improve upon its environmental conscienceness. The City has
been very active for more than ten years in the preservation and
restoration of its natural resources, including the implementation
of programs to enhance wetlands management, strengthening of tree
preservation efforts, and execution of comprehensive plans to
improve water quality.
In an on-going effort to continue this investment in the community,
Chanhassen will be applying for a 50/50 matching grant, in the
amount of $67 , 000, through the Clean Water Partnership program of
the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. The funds will be used for
the study and consequent improvement of water quality in Lotus
Lake.
I urge your approval of the City of Chanhassen' s grant request. I
truly bel i eve that if all Minnesota citics do monstrated the
commitment that Chanhassen has for protection of our lakes and
natural resources, our State would be an even better place in which
to live.
I would be pleased to discuss the Application with you if you so
desire.
Very truly yours, RECEIVEC
JAN 2 8 1992
Becky Kelso
State Representative CITY ur Ln:�:vnHSEN
bc: Paul Krauss, AICP, Planning Director, City of Chanhassen
60 South Shannon Drive,Shakopee,Minnesota 55379 (612)445-6658
State Office Building,St.Paul, Minnesota 55155 House Fax(612)296-1563 (612) 296-1072
JIM RAMSTAD
THIRD DISTRICT MINNESOTA , ��� }
't, :
JUDICIARY COMMITTEE s -c7.41.., 4 WswlwG*ON O.EiCE
AIL 504 CANNON HOOSE°MCI BuILD,N
SMALL BUSINESS COMMITTEE W.s.INGTo. DC 20515-2303
-2021225-2871
SELECT COMMITTEE ON
NARCOTICS ABUSE AND CONTROL Congregt of tfje Zidniteb ii)tatt OISTLCT°MCI
DISABILITIES TASK FORCE '3 8120 PENN AVENUE SCUT. $15.
.C
COCHAIRMAN ousyJ e of �,rpre5entatibe5 BLOOMINGTON MN 55431
16121 8 8 1-46 00
agfjington, 33C 20513-2303
January 17 , 1992
Charles W. Williams
Commissioner
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
520 Lafayette Road
St. Paul, Minnesota 55155
Dear Charles :
I am writing in full support of the City of Chanhassen 's application
for a Clean Water Partnership Grant from the Minnesota Pollution
Control Agency. Few communities in our state have a greater legacy of
environmental action and innovation than Chanhassen. It' s truly
fitting the University of Minnesota chose Chanhassen for its
Landscape Arboretum!
For a decade, Chanhassen 's leaders and city staff have done
pioneering work in carrying out no-net loss wetlands and tree
preservation programs. Chanhassen's environmentally committed
residents will be devoting $1 million over the next five years to its
Surface Water Quality program.
The city is breaking new ground in our state with a highly innovative
initiative to develop coordinated, comprehensive efforts to maintain
water quality, manage storm water runoff and protect existing
wetlands.
Now Chanhassen is embarking on yet another environmental frontier
that needs your help. The 50/50, $67 , 000 matching grant would allow
Chanhassen to undertake a detailed diagnostic and feasibility study
aimed at improving the water quality of Lotus Lake, a lake which is
used heavily through public access, flows into the Minnesota River
and is a model for any effort to maintain high water quality in our
urban recreational waters.
I ask for your support of Chanhassen's efforts. Please call or write
if I may ever be of assistance on this or any other matter.
Sincerely,
JIM RAMSTAD
Member of Congress
bc: Mayor Don Chmiel •
PR,N7E[ :IN grc., i:- 1-c ctP
AAMETROPOLITAN COUNCIL
Marc Purl, Crum.. 230 Ecru' Fifth Sirrri. Sr. Paul. MX 55101-1634 612 291-6359 FAX 612 291-6550 TTY 612 291-090-1
January 17, 1992
Kathy Svanda
Division of Water Quality
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
520 Lafayette Road
St, Paul, MN 55155
Dear Ms. Svanda:
I am writing this letter in regard to the application for a Clean Water Partnership grant by the
city of Chanhassen to assist it in evaluating the water quality problems and solutions for Lotus
Lake. The city of Chanhassen is an exemplary community in the Metropolitan Area because of
its strong commitment to the development of a planning process and financing mechanism for
surface water quality protection.
As you know, the Metropolitan Council is currently undertaking the development of a plan to
reduce nonpoint pollution in the Minnesota River by 40 percent by July 1, 1996. The runoff from
Lotus Lake eventually drains to the Minnesota River. City efforts to improve and protect the
quality of the lake will assist the Council in achieving the overall goal.
The Council has monitored the quality of Lotus Lake as part of its ten-year effort to assess the
water quality changes in the region's lakes. Our surveys indicate that recreational use of the lake
is severely impaired. The city's proposal to evaluate the lake's condition and the sources of the
problem is a necessary and important first step in developing a management strategy to improve
and protect the lake.
The Council fully supports the city's application for Clean Water Partnership funds to assist it in
developing a strategy to restore and protect Lotus Lake.
Sincerely,
Ki
O/72L- .41- U
_ V/a/Liii
Mary E. Anderson, Chair
\,/ cc: Paul Krause, Director of Planning, City of Chanhassen
RECEIVED
JAN 2319,2
CITY OF CHANHASSEN
183 University Ave.East
St.Paul,MN 55101.2526 —
League of Minnesota Cities (612)227-5600(FAX:221-0986)
January 22, 1992
Mr. Paul Kraus
City Planner
690 Coulter Drive —
Chanhassen, MN 55317
Dear Paul: —
Thank you for your letter last week regarding the Lotus Lake project. Coincidentally, in
today's mail I received the MPCA staff recommendation for Clean Water Action Project —
(CWAP) funding. As you will note, the project requests far outstrip the available funds.
We will be raising this issue to the legislature during the 1992 session and while our _
chances for success are not good, I would greatly appreciate any assistance you could
provide by contracting your legislators and urging support for additional funding for
CWAP.
Also, I'll try to keep you informed of developments with the wetlands legislation. I
would appreciate it if you could let me know of any practical difficulties you encounter —
in administration of the new law.
Sincerely, _
'?1--f-----)2.--- —
oel J. Jamnik
Legislative Counsel
JJJ:mjd
Enc.
F:=CEIVED
JAN 2 4 1S92
WI Y OF CHANHASSEN -
_ MINNESOTA POLLUTION CONTROL AGENCY
Water Quality Division
Agenda Item Control Sheet
MEETING DATE: January 28, 1992 AGENDA # g,
APPEARANCE I:M: YES: X NO: SCHEDULED TIME: �I
PREPARED BY: Gaylen Reetz 1 DATE MAILED: r ( -7
TITLE: Request For Approval Of The Ranking Of Projects, Allocation Of Funds
Available For Grant Awards And The Selection Of Projects To Receive
Clean Water Partnership Grants
LOCATION:
CITY COUNTY
TYPE OF ACTION: Clean Water Partnership Grants Program
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Approval
ISSUE STATEMENT:
The Clean Water Partnership Program was established in 1987 to provide
financia echnical assistance to local units of government to lead
projects .ter quality protection and improvement. Thirty projects have
been selec‘cc to receive program assistance through three application periods.
The fourth application period closed on October 30, 1991, at which time the
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) received 13 applications for resource
investigation grants and two applications for project implementation grants.
After review, the projects were ranked according to Minn. Rules Chapter 7076.
The MPCA staff recommends that the Board approve the Clean Water Partnership
project ranking as presented, allocate $280,000 for resource investigation
grants and $300,000 for project implementation grants, and select the two
highest priority resource investigation applications (Pineland and
Jefferson/German lakes) and the one project implementation application (Lake
Bemidji) for award of grants.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. 1991 Phase I Applications
2. Clean Water Partnership Priority List
3. Clean Water Partnership Projects
4. Memorandum dated December 20, 1991, to Commissioner Williams from
John R. Velin
MINNESOTA POLLUTION CONTROL AGENCY
Water Quality Division
Nonpoint Source Section
Request For Approval Of The Ranking Of Projects, Allocation Of Funds
Available For Grant Awards And The Selection Of Projects To
Receive Clean Water Partnership Grants
January 28, 1992
ISSUE STATEMENT
The Clean Water Partnership Program was established in 1987 to provide financial
and technical assistance to local units of government to lead projects for water
quality protection and improvement. Thirty projects have been selected to
receive program assistance through three application periods. The fourth
application period closed on October 30, 1991, at which time the Minnesota
Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) received 13 applications for resource
investigation grants and two applications for project implementation grants.
After review, the projects were ranked according to Minn. Rules Chapter 7076.
The MPCA staff recommends that the Board approve the Clean Water Partnership
pro_ect ranking as presented, allocate $280,000 for resource investigation
gran :s and $300,000 for project implementation grants, and select the two
highest priority resource investigation applications (Pineland and
Jeffe:=on/German lakes) and the one project implementation application (Lake
Bemidj: for award of grants.
I. Ba _kground:
The Clean Water Partnership Program
_ean Water Partnership Program was established by Minn. Stat.
§, 103F.761. The program focus is on control of nonpoint sources of
pollution through watershed management to protect and improve surface and ground
water in Minnesota. The Clean Water Partnership Program provides financial
assistance through matching grants and technical assistance to local units of
government to lead pollution control projects. The legislature has provided the
MPCA with a total of $4,612,400 for grants to local units of government. The
MPCA has awarded $2,632,000 to 30 projects through three previous grant cycles.
The Clean Water Partnership Rules (Minn. Rules Chapter 7076 adopted in September
1988 and revised September 1991) define the criteria and procedural conditions
under which the MPCA may award grants to local governments. The rules provide
-2-
separate grants for 50 percent of the eligible costs of resource investigation
(Phase I) and project implementation (Phase II). Resource investigation grants
are provided to complete a Phase I diagnostic study and develop an
implementation plan which meet the requirements defined in the rules. Phase I
activities include water quality monitoring, identifying sources of pollution
and the combination of best management practices, activities and protective
measures that will be necessary to solve the identified problems. A Phase II
project implementation grant is provided to institute the best management
practices and carry out educational and other activities identified in the
implementation plan.
B. Current Application Cycle
In the June 24, 1991, State Register, the MPCA announced it would
accept applications for CWP grants. The application period closed on October
30, 1991. During August and September the MPCA held three application
assistance meetings in Mankato, Brainerd and St . Paul, so potential applicants
could ask questions and get assistance from staff to complete their
applications. On October 30, the MPCA received fifteen applications; thirteen
Phase I requests and two Phase II applications. All of the applications we
reviewed for eligibility requirements in accordance with Minn. Rules 7076.0130.
One of the Phase II applications was rejected because it did not have an
approved diagnostic study and implementation plan. All other applications were
accepted to be reviewed and ranked for funding. Representatives of each
applicant were offered the opportunity to meet with MPCA staff to explain their
proposed project and clarify information in the application. A list of the
applications accepted as eligible to be reviewed and ranked for funding
consideration are listed in Attachment 1.
-3-
C. Application Ranking Process
Each application has a potential score of 100 points. Fifty
points are awarded by the MPCA and 50 points by the Project Coordination Team. -
The Project Coordination Team is an interagency team made up of representatives
of Department of Natural Resources, Health, Agriculture, Transportation, State
Planning, Board of Water and Soil Resources, Metropolitan Council, U.S.
Department of Agriculture-Soil Conservation Service, U.S. Department of
Agriculture - Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife '7:r-ice, University of Minnesota Agriculture Experiment Station,
Minnesota Extension Service, Minnesota Geological Survey, Association of
Minnesota Counties, League of Minnesota Cities, Association of Townships, U. S.
Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and MPCA. Each
application is reviewed against criteria from Minn. Rules ch. 7076.0170. The
MPCA criteria for Phase I include:
1) The extent to which the proposed project demonstrates a high
potential for project success based on the level of definition of the
preliminary :=rk plan, for project goals and objectives, work activities and the
project organization and management structure.
2) The extent to which the proposed project demonstrates
effective and efficient use of state financial resources based on the proposed
budget and work plan.
3) The extent to which the water of concern is identified as a
priority in the local water plan.
4) The severity of water quality impairment or threat as compared
to expectations for the least impacted waters in the ecoregion.
5) The extent the proposed project demonstrates the likelihood of
water quality protection or improvement.
-4-
The Project Coordination Team criteria for Phase I include:
1) The extent to which the proposed project demonstrates a high
potential for project success based on community support and involvement.
2) The extent to which the proposed project includes coordination
and cooperation of federal, state, and local agencies and units of government
for water quality protection or improvement.
3) The extent to which the water of concern in the proposed
project is of state and regional significance and priority.
4) The extent the proposed project complements the existing
efforts of local, state, and federal programs.
5) The likelihood that the proposed project will serve as a
demonstration for water quality protection or improvement and provide useful
information for the geographic area.
The MPCA criteria for Phase II include:
1) The extent to which the proposed project demonstrates a high
potential for project success based on the level of definition of the work plan
for project goals and objectives, work activities, budget, and the project
organization and management structure.
2) The extent to which the proposed project employs best
management practices which provide a technically feasible means to abate or
prevent water pollution from nonpoint sources.
3) The extent to which the proposed project implementation
activities will result in water quality protection or improvement.
4) The extent to which the proposed project maximizes water
quality protection or improvement relative to the cost of project
implementation.
5) The extent to which the proposed project demonstrates a high
potential for success based on capability, organization, and authority to carry
out the identified activities.
-5-
The Project Coordination Team criteria for Phase II include:
1) The extent to which the proposed project demonstrates a high
potential for project success based on community support and involvement.
2) The extent to which the proposed project includes coordination
and cooperation of federal, state, and local agencies and units of government
f- ty protection or improvement.
3) The extent to which the water of concern in the proposed
Y_oject is of state and regional significance and priority.
4) The extent the proposed project indicates a commitment to
official controls, programs, and activities that are a long-term commitment to
water quality protection and improvement.
5) The likelihood that the proposed project will serve as a
demonstration for water quality protection or improvement and provide useful
information for the geographic area.
Staff teams met on December 9 to finalize their ranking
recommendations, and the Project Coordination Team met on December 11 to
finalize their recommendations. The combined results of the ranking process
were presented to the MPCA Board Water Quality Committee on December 16.
II. Discussion:
Minn. Rules pt. 7076.0190 requires the MPCA to make all decisions on
ranking of projects, amount of funds available for grant awards and the
selection of projects to be awarded grants at a regular or special Board
meeting.
A. Ranking of Projects
Minn. Rules pt. 7076.0170 established the criteria to be used to rank
the applications. The results of this ranking process are included in the table
titled, "Clean Water Partnership Priority List - December 1991" (Attachment 2).
-6-
The review of information from the application, project interviews and
other MPCA information allowed staff to assign 0, 2.5, 5, 7.5 or 10 points for
each of the criteria. This comparison of each project on a case-by-case basis
against the criteria insured each project was reviewed consistently.
To provide a system of checks and balances for consistency of
assigning priority points, each project was reviewed by one of seven staff teams
made up of staff from the regional and central offices, and a meeting of all
teams was held to review the consistency of scores assigned for each criterion.
This process ensured that the possible 50 points assigned by staff
were assigned on an objective and equal basis for all projects.
A simple average of the total of the individual priority points, 0,
- 2.5, 5, 7.5 or 10, assigned by each representative at the project coordination
team meeting on December 11, 1991, vas calculated for each project. The project
coordination team represents a broad perspective of resource management
interests, which provided valuable input into the ranking process.
The priority points assigned by staff and the project coordination
team were added together to provide the total score by which projects were
ranked.
In general, the quality of applications submitted during this
application period is better than those submitted in the first three rounds.
This is the result of applicant experience and knowledge of the programs and its
requirements, a revised application and other program refinements. Comparisons
should not be made between priority points assigned to projects in the current
application cycle and the first three cycles. This was expected to be the case
as noted in the Statement of Need and Reasonableness (SONAR) developed before
-7- —
Minn. Rules ch. 7076 were adopted. The SONAR states "Staff experience with
review of projects over time may result in differences in standards for each
criterion, so that the same project judged at different times might receive a
different final score. "
The scores for the project development applications ranged from 76.9
to 42.2 out of a possible 100 points. The project implementation application
received a score of 71.6. Minn. Rules pt. 7076.0190 subp. 2 states that, "A
project that receives less than 50 points will not be considered for award of
grant funds." One Phase I applicant received a score of 42.2 points and is not
eligible to be considered for funding during this application period.
B. Allocation of Funding
Through three funding cycles (88, 89, 90) the MPCA has awarded
$2,632 .000 to 30 projects. At the present time there is $1,980,000 that was
made available through the last budget session. Of the total, $1,280,000 is
from the General Fund and $700,000 is from the Minnesota Environment and Natural
Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative Commission on Minnesota
Resources. Minn. Rules pt. 7076.0180 recognizes the need to distribute funds
that are allocated to the MPCA biennially, through the annual application cycle -
of the Clean Water Partnership Program. Minn. Rules pt. 7076.0180 requires the
MPCA to identify the amount of funds to be: 1) set aside for project
continuation grant amendments; 2) available for project development and project
implementation grants; and 3) the amount available for each type of grant,
project development or project implementation.
Funds for project continuation grant amendments are reserved as
noncompetitive funding to projects that have already successfully completed at
least three years of implementation work and for which project sponsors have
-8-
demonstrated an ability to successfully manage the project. No funds for these
grant amendments are needed this year, because the one previously funded
implementation project will be able to complete their project with existing
funding.
The MPCA currently has $1,980,000 available for Clean Water
Partnership grants. In determining what amount of the Clean Water Partnership
appropriation should be available for grants in this application period, the
MPCA must consider the necessity to have money available for subsequent grant
periods and other factors relating to the MPCA's ability to ensure that money
will be available for completing existing projects.
It is anticipated that next application period will be open from July
through August of 1992, with selection of projects at the November 1992 Board
meeting. This will continue the MPCA on an annual cycle of Clean Water
Partnership application periods, which will result in awarding grants in
November and December, so project sponsors may start their diagnostic study
activities with the following spring runoff events.
It is important to look at the funding needs of the next application
cycle. There are 29 currently funded Phase I projects. Their location in the
state is shown on Attachment 3. One of the 29 projects completed their
diagnostic study and implementation plan and are applying for funds through the
current application cycle (shown as triangle on Attachment 3). It is
anticipated that between 10 and 14 of the remaining 28 projects will be
completed by June of 1992 and be prepared to request Phase II funds in the next
application cycle. The Clean Water Partnership Program is directed at water
quality improvement through implementation of nonpoint source control measures,
which occurs in Phase II of the projects. Therefore, priority should be given
to continuation of projects that have completed their Phase I work and are
applying for a Phase II implementation grant.
-9-
The issue of the amount of the current appropriation to make available
for grants this application period was discussed at the Water Quality Committee
meeting on December 16, 1991. The committee recommended reserving funds for the _
upcoming Phase II projects in the next application cycle. Reserving $1,400,000
would allow 5 Phase II's to be funded in the next cycle, assuming they have an
averce — -' =st approximate to the Phase II application received this year.
Re=:. _,400,000 for the next application cycle would allow $580,000 to be
available for grants through this application period.
As discussed previously, priority should be given to Phase II
projects, so of the $580,000, $300,000 should be available for Phase II projects
and $280,000 available for new Phase I projects.
C. Selection of Projects to be Awarded Grants
One project implementation grant application and 13 resource
investigation grant applications were ranked in order of priority. The project
implementation grant application and 12 of the resource investigation grant
applications scored above 50 points and may be considered for funding. At the
Water Quality Committee meeting on December 16, 1991, the Committee discussed
^� the Lake Bemidji Watershed Phase II project from Beltrami County at
:he two top ranked Phase I projects, Pineland Clean Water Project
from nuDoard and Becker Counties at $144,675 and the Jefferson/German Lakes
Water Quality Improvement Project from LeSueur County at $117,115.
These three projects, plus an approximate 10 percent for
contingencies, uses the $580,000 recommended to be available for award this
cycle. Applicants not funded this grant cycle may reapply in future application
periods.
D. Recommendation of the Legislative Commission on Minnesota Resources
The Clean Water Partnership Program received $700,000 from the
Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the
-10-
Legislative Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCMR) . The LCMR, in providing
the fund to the MPCA, made a statutory requirement that "grants may not be
approved until grant proposals have been submitted to the Legislative Commission
on Minnesota Resources and the Commission has either made a recommendation or
allowed 30 days to pass without making a recommendation." On December 20, 1991,
MPCA staff presented the results of the ranking process and the Water Quality
Committee discussions to the Commission. It is their recommendation to support
funding the three projects identified above (Attachment 4).
III. Recommendation
The staff recommends that the MPCA Board approve the ranking of projects
as listed on the Attachment 2, titled Clean Water Partnership Priority List -
December 1991, make $300,000 available for project implementation grants (Phase
II) and $280,000 available for resource investigation grants (Phase I) and award
grants to Lake Bemidji Watershed Phase II - Beltrami County, Pineland Clean
Water Phase I - Hubbard and Becker Counties and the Jefferson/German Lake Water
Quality Improvement Phase I - LeSueur County in accordance with Minn. Rules
ch. 7076.
SUGGESTED STAFF RESOLUTION
BE IT RESOLVED, that the MPCA approves the Clean Water Partnership
Priority List - December 1991.
BE IT RESOLVED, that $300,000 is available for project implementation
grants and $280,000 for resource investigation grants in this grant period.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Lake Bemidji Watershed Phase II -
Beltrami County be awarded a project implementation grant, that the Pineland
Clean Water Phase I - Hubbard and Becker County and the Jefferson/German Lakes
Water Quality Improvement Phase I - LeSueur County be awarded resource
investigation grants in accordance with Minn. Rules ch. 7076.
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Clean Water P
Projects
1
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29 Diagnostic Study/Implementation Plan Projects
Diagnostic
Implementation Project
January 1991
Legislative Commission on Minnesota Resources
100 CONSTTTIMON AVENUE/ROOM 651 STATE OFFICE BUILDING•ST.PAUL,MINNESOTA 55155.1201 •(612)296-2406 , 3
JOHN R. VELIN
Director
December 20 , 1991
_ _ _
Commissioner Charles W. Williams
- DEC 2 6 1991
Pollution Control Agency M.P.G A.
520 Lafayette Road
St. Paul, Minnesota 55155 Water Quality Div.
Dear Commissioner Williams:
The Legislative Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCMR) at
its December 20, 1991, meeting reviewed and is recommending
approval of the three projects as proposed by the Pollution
Control Agency.
Phase II - Lake Bemidji - Beltrami County $274,350
Phase I - Pineland Clean Water Project
Hubbard and Becker Counties 144 , 675
Phase I - Jefferson/German Lakes WQ
Project - LeSueur County 117 , 115
$536, 140
The Commission further recommends the use of the General Fund
money to support these projects, reserving the Trust Fund money for
Phase II implementation of several of the Phase I projects already
underway.
We wish you continued success with these and other projects of
mutual interest.
Sincerely,
John R. Velin,
Director, LCMR
JRV/mlk
cc: Gaylen Reetz, PCA Water Quality Division
Peggy Adelmann, Senate Finance
Jim Reinholdz, House Appropriations
Doug Watnemo, Budget Officer
Sen.Gene Merriam.Coon Rapids,Chair,Rep.Willard Munger.Duluth,Vice Chair,Sen.Earl Renneks, LeSueur,Secretary;Sena.Chanes Bary,
Choldo;Greg Dahl, Ham Lake; Dennis Frederickson, New Ulm; Bob Lessard, Intl Falls;William Luther, Brooklyn Park; Roger Moe, Ersldne;
Reps_Virgil Johnson, Caledonia; Phyllis Kahn, Minneapolis; Henry KAILL Walters Tony Kinkel, Park Rapids;Thomas Oche?, St.Paul;John
Sams, Minneapolis; Brad Stanius, While Bear Lake.
Pnrxb on Rec')cl.Q Paper