02-3-93 Agenda and Packet FILE
5:30 P.M. JOINT MEETING WITH PARK AND RECREATION COMMLSSIUri
AGENDA
CHANHASSEN PLANNING COMMISSION
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1993, 7:30 P.M.
CHANHASSEN CITY HALL, 690 COULTER DRIVE
CALL TO ORDER
PUBLIC HEARINGS
1. Subdivision of 36 acres of property into 33 single family lots located on property zoned
RSF, Residential Single Family and located on the west side of Minnewashta Parkway,
north of Hwy. 5 and south of Lake St. Joe, Boley Property, Lundgren Brothers
Construction.
OLD BUSINESS
2. Preliminary plat to subdivide approximately 60 acres into 4 lots on property zoned IOP,
Industrial Office Park, located south of Hwy. 5 and east of Dell Road, Sunlink Addition,
Sunlink Corporation.
_ 3. Subdivision and Planned Unit Development Ordinance Amendment regarding
requirements of cul-de-sac lengths.
NEW BUSINESS
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
CITY COUNCIL UPDATE
ONGOING ITEMS
ADMINISTRATIVE APPROVALS
OPEN DISCUSSION
4. Planning Commission Goals
ADJOURNMENT
CITY OF
, ‘
CHANHASSEN
\ - 690 COULTER DRIVE • P.O. BOX 147 • CHANHASSEN, MINNESOTA 55317
(612) 937-1900 • FAX (612) 937-5739
MEMORANDUM
TO: Paul Krauss, Planning Director
FROM: Todd Hoffman, Park and Recreation Director
DATE: January 27, 1993
SUBJ: Comprehensive Plan Amendment, Recreation Section
As you are aware, the Park and Recreation Commission will be amending the Recreation Section
of the City's Comprehensive Plan over the next six months. The major impetus for this action
is the desire to adopt a Comprehensive Park Plan. Numerous general housekeeping items will
also be completed in this process. Attached you find a report presented to the Park and
Recreation Commission on January 26 in this regard. An article which will appear in the city's
spring newsletter is also attached.
Please inform me of the Planning Commission's desires in becoming involved in this process and
appropriate measures to accommodate them will be taken. This may include, but is not limited
to, a joint meeting of the two commissions and/or the assignment of a Planning Department staff
member to attend Park and Recreation Commission discussions in this regard.
pc: Don Ashworth, City Manager
�4.1 PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER
CITY OF
CHANHASSEN
--
390 COULTER DRIVE • P.O. BOX 147 • CHANHASSEN, MINNESOTA 55317
�r (612) 937-1900 • FAX (612) 937-5739
!%
MEMORANDUM
TO: Park and Recreation Commission
FROM: Todd Hoffman, Park and Recreation Coordinator
DATE: January 20, 1993
SUBJ: Comprehensive Plan Amendment, Recreation Section
The Recreation Section of the City's Comprehensive Plan is in need of updating and revision.
To accomplish this, will require a great deal of effort by both the commission and staff, with
assistance from the consulting firm of Hoisington-Koegler Group, Inc. The driving force behind
this update is the desire to add a Comprehensive Park Plan to the Recreation Section. Upon
doing so, it is also necessary to amend the park and trail dedication section of the City Code.
This amendment would require that when a proposed park,playground,recreational area, or other
public ground has been indicated on the city's official map or Comprehensive Plan, and is located
in whole or in part within a proposed subdivision, it shall be designated as such on the plat and
shall be conveyed to the city. This work effort affords us the opportunity to do much more as
well (see letter from Mark Koegler dated January 18, 1993).
At this time, it is my desire to provide the commission with the materials needed to begin this
process. Attached you will find a copy of the Recreation Section of the City's Comprehensive
Plan, a copy of the city's zoning and land use maps, and a letter from Mark Koegler of
Hoisington-Koegler Group, Inc., concerning an initial meeting we had in this regard. If you
desire a complete copy of the City's Comprehensive Plan to assist you in this process, please
advise me and a copy will be made available to you. Upon setting the stage for this process, I
have invited Mr. Koegler to attend your February 23 Park and Recreation Commission meeting.
At that time the commission, staff, and our consultant(s) will move forward in a more definitive
manner ensuring that this update be successfully completed. Mr. Koegler will be introducing
other members of the staff at Hoisington-Koegler Group, Inc., who will be working on this
project either in person or by name on the 23rd.
pc: Paul Krauss, Planning Director
Mark Koegler, Hoisington-Koegler Group, Inc.
�4: PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER
Hoisington Koegler Group Inc.
HB
g
January 18, 1993
Mr. Todd Hoffman
Park and Recreation Coordinator
City of Chanhassen
690 Coulter Drive
P.O. Box 147
Chanhassen, Minnesota 55317
Dear Todd:
As a follow-up to our recent meeting, I have reviewed the existing Recreation section of the
Comprehensive Plan. It is my understanding that you and the Park and Recreation Commission
are interested in updating the existing plan with the intent of adding material specifically
recommending locations for future park sites. This information would clearly portray the City's
park needs and plans. As such, it would simplify the park review process since developers and
land owners would know the City's intent in advance of initiating their own site planning
activities.
In order to accurately reflect future park needs, the Recreation section of the Comprehensive
Plan needs to be coordinated closely with the Plan's Land Use section. In Chanhassen's case,
planned land use is fairly well defined within the current MUSA line and less defined outside
of the urban service area. In the General Rural Use Area (outside existing MUSA), a number
of large scale uses exist such as the Arboretum and Bluff Creek Golf Course. These uses
significantly reduce the amount of "urban" development likely to occur in these areas thereby
making the task of projecting future uses somewhat easier.
The following is a list of initial comments pertaining to the plan update:
• The existing plan's text and graphics should be reviewed and updated as necessary.
Specifically, have any changes in goals and policies occurred? The narrative on existing
parks should be amended to show improvements that have occurred over the past three
years. Park standards should also be critiqued. Do the population ratio and facility
standards identified in the plan need any modification?
• Proposed land uses within the existing MUSA line need to be analyzed. The
development pattern shown on the future land use plan needs to be combined with the
densities projected in the plan to project the number of anticipated park users within
areas that are presently undeveloped. Population ratio standards and facility standards
land Use/Environmental • Planning/Design
7300 Metro Boulevard/Suite 525 • Minneapolis,Minnesota 55439 • (612)835-9960 • Fax:(612)835-3160
Mr. Todd Hoffman
January 18, 1993
Page Two
can be applied to this projected park user base to determine the amount of future park
land that will be needed as well as its preferred geographic location. This analysis effort
should also include anticipated expansions of the City's commercial and industrial uses
to accurately account for their future recreational needs.
• If Chanhassen desires to examine detailed future park needs on a city-wide basis, it will
be necessary to review future land use in the General Rural Use Area. In order to
accomplish this task, it will be necessary to project future land uses. This effort will
require the involvement of the City's planning department and Planning Commission.
Any decisions pertaining to future land uses in this area would have no formal status in
the eyes of the Metropolitan Council. As such, these projections may at best serve as
an indicator of possible uses rather than a definitive statement of future policy.
Therefore, park recommendations for this area would be considered preliminary and
would need to be further refined in the future as the MUSA line is extended.
• Expanding the scope of the current Recreation section of the Comprehensive Plan to
include specific park site recommendations sets the stage for subsequent modifications
of the City's park dedication ordinance. The ordinance could be structured to
specifically recognize the sites identified in the Comprehensive Plan, thereby providing
a clear indication of the properties that Chanhassen intends to acquire through the land
dedication process.
The material presented herein is intended only as a general framework for the updating of the
Recreation section of the Comprehensive Plan. If the Park and Recreation Commission concurs
with the need to identify future specific park sites, a more detailed program outlining the specific
tasks that need to be accomplished can be easily developed. It will also be necessary at the
initiation of the updating process to decide whether or not to include the General Rural Use Area
in preliminary form or to exclude this area at the present time and defer all park decisions until
such time as the MUSA line is amended.
If I can answer any questions on this material or if you have any additional comments, please
feel free to contact me.
Sincerely,
1 -te- c�
R. Mark Koegler, RLA
Vice President
RMK:dbm
UPDATE OF THE RECREATION SECTION OF THE CITY'S COMPREHENSIVE PLAN TO
BE UNDERTAKEN
Parks—a vital component of all communities. How should their acquisition be planned for? The
city's current Comprehensive Plan identifies "park deficiency" areas. When a proposal for land
development is submitted, and that land lies within a park deficient area, the task of negotiating
either the acquisition of parkland, or in lieu of this, the acceptance of cash in the form of park
dedication fees is begun. Difficulties in this process often arise since the precise parcels of land
which will satisfy the park deficiency were not previously identified.
Thus, the primary focus, along with the some general housekeeping, of this update will be the
development of a Comprehensive Park Plan—that is, specific parcels of land in park deficient
areas (primarily undeveloped areas of the city) will be identified and mapped for the purpose of
communicating the city's intention of acquiring those parcels as development progresses. Upon
doing so, land which has been identified on this official Comprehensive Park Plan map and is
located within a proposed subdivision, shall be designated as park on any future plats and shall
be conveyed to the city.
Landowner concerns and curiosities over this process are natural. Designation of a portion of
your land as future park is not a detriment in the eyes of a prospective developer, but an asset.
Homeowners wishing to reside adjacent to parks and open spaces will pay a premium for lots
which afford this luxury. Thus, in addition to being compensated by the city for the designated
parkland, developers/landowners also realize higher profits on lots adjacent to parks and open
spaces. The Comprehensive Plan update will take approximately six months to complete. The
Park and Recreation Commission, Planning Commission, their staff representatives, and the
consulting firm of Hoisington-Koegler Group, Inc., will be administrating this process. As a
resident and/or landowner, you are encouraged to participate in this process. Public input is vital
and will be accepted throughout this process. It is anticipated that final public meetings will be
held by the City Council this coming summer, concluding with the City Council taking action
on this item.
If you have questions in this regard, please contact Todd Hoffman, Park and Recreation Director
at 937-1900.
C I TY O F PC DATE: 2/3/93
, C fl A fl A E CC DATE: 2/22/93
` • SSN
� CASE #: 93-1 SUB
— By: Aanenson/v
STAFF REPORT
PROPOSAL: Subdivide 36 Acres into 33 Single Family Lots with 3 Outlots
(Boley Property)
Z
Q LOCATION: 7340 Minnewashta Parkway
V
_
0. APPLICANT: Lundgren Bros. Construction
Q 935 East Wayzata Boulevard
Wayzata, MN 55391
PRESENT ZONING: RSF, Residential Single Family
ACREAGE: 36 acres
DENSITY: gross .91 u/a net 1.37 u/a
ADJACENT ZONING
AND LAND USE: N - RSF; single family
S - Victoria - residential
E - RSF; single family
Q W - Victoria - residential
QWATER AND SEWER: Available to the site.
W PHYSICAL CHARACTER.: Rolling terrain, Lake St. Joe is in the northern portion of the
subdivision. There is a wetland adjacent to Lake St. Joe and
another wetland found in the southwest corner of the site
am=
2000 LAND USE PLAN: Low Density Residential
Boley Property/Lundgren Bros.
February 3, 1993
Page 2
PROPOSAL SUMMARY
Terry Forbord, representing Lundgren Brothers Development, is requesting subdivision approval
for 33 single family homes. This property is 36 acres and is currently zoned RSF, Residential
Single Family. This property is a part of a larger piece of property owned by Howard Boley.
The southern portion of Mr. Boley's property is located in Victoria. The applicant has ghost
platted this property to show how this property could be developed. Approval of this subdivision
is required by the City of Victoria. —
This proposal has a gross density of .91 units an acre and 1.37 units an acre net, this includes
11.54 acres of wetland and .4 acres of road. Lake St. Joe borders the northern portion of the —
subdivision, this lake has a substantial wetland area around it. The city has classified this
wetland as a natural wetland. The other wetland on the property was not reviewed as a part of
the city's wetland inventory. The analysis of this wetland needs to occur before the plat receives —
final approval.
This property is being proposed for development under the standard subdivision review process;
the property is currently zoned RSF. Lake St. Joe, which is on the northern portion of the
subdivision, calls for compliance with the shoreland regulations. There is a wetland adjacent to
Lake St. Joe which is in the southwest corner of the site. Compliance with the wetland
regulations is also required.
Assess to this site is from Minnewashta Parkway. The orientation of the subdivision is towards —
Chanhassen, mainly because access is gained only through Chanhassen. At this time, access to
Victoria is proposed via a stub street to the south. The westerly edge of this subdivision is in
the city of Victoria. The city limit is located at the most westerly 90 feet of the subdivision —
running the length of the plat of 1315 feet Approval of the subdivision is therefore required by
the City of Victoria, before the city can grant final approval.
The staff feels that this subdivision is well conceived, but the issue of Victoria's jurisdiction over
part of the site raises some concern if they are unwilling to approve it. The subdivision as —
proposed meets all of the standards of the RSF zone. The applicants are requesting variances
from the lot width requirements of the Shoreland Regulations.
SITE ANALYSIS
There is an existing home on the property, the Howard Boley residence. This home will have —
to be removed with the development of the subdivision. There are three existing homes just to
south of the subdivision. The homes are exempted from the subdivision. Further south along
Minnewashta Parkway is the Alt property which has horses and a stable on it. This property is
also an exemption. All of these properties are in the city of Victoria.
Boley Property/Lundgren Bros.
February 3, 1993
Page 3
This site has a rolling topography, the high point is over 1000 feet, where you can see all the
way to Lake Minnetonka. The lowest elevation is the ordinary high water mark at 945.2'. The
site has three areas of trees. It appears that the trees are on Lots 4, 5, and part of 6, Block 1
which will be lost due to grading of the site.
The other groups of trees on the site including Lots 1, 12, 13, and 10-25, Block 1 should submit
a home placement plans showing the existing trees and how they will be saved. Staff believes
that except for Lots 12 and 13 there should be minimal tree loss.
This proposal calls for grading the high point of the Block 2 area and placing this fill in the
Block 1 area of Lots 2-9. At first blush, staff had some concern about fill being placed so close
to the edge of the wetland at the 950' elevation. Upon further investigation is was determined
that the site has been farmed right up to the edge of the wetland. In order for the home along
the north portion of the site adjacent to the wetland to remain above the grade of the street, fill
is required in this area. The developer has shown a cross section of how this lot would look, and
this proposal shows an approximate 1% grade from the home to the street (see Attachment #4).
Staff believes that it is desirable to have the homes above the street grade to provide lot drainage
to the street so storm water can be pre-treated before entering the wetlands.
Outlot C is not being platted at this time. The ghost plat for the southern portion of the site
shows Outlot C being platted via a road from the city of Victoria. Staff believes that this makes
good planning sense because this area is the high point of the property and access from the south
will minimize grading and tree loss.
There are four storm water retention ponds proposed for the subdivision. They are located on
Outlots A and B and on Lots 12, 13, 22, and 23 of Block 1. Access to the ponds will be gained
from the road on Outlots A and B but an easement will be required for access for the other two
ponds. A stone wall is shown between the ponds on Outlots A and B. More design details about
the wall are required before it can be built. Streetscape is also required along Minnewashta
Parkway as per the Landscaping Ordinance.
Victoria City Line
The westerly 90 feet of this subdivision is in the city of Victoria. Prior to final approval of this
subdivision, approval by the city of Victoria is required. The property in Victoria is a strip of
90 feet wide and 1315.16 feet long. The Boley property is also divided north and south between
the city of Victoria and Chanhassen. A ghost plat was shown as to how this property in Victoria
_ could be developed. Topography, access and availability of utilities dictate that this area be
serviced by Chanhassen. The applicant would like the city to consider annexation of this area.
City staff believes this is a reasonable outcome.
Boley Property/Lundgren Bros. —
February 3, 1993
Page 4
On Friday, January 22, 1993, Don Ashworth, Roger Knutson and myself met with the Victoria
City Manager Miriam Porter and City Planner Bill Thilbalt regarding the development of the
Boley property. Victoria's preference is to have the subdivision moved to the east so that the —
city lines do not dissect the lots. While the city lines divide Lots 13 through 21, Block 1, the
homes as proposed on the home placement are shown in the City of Chanhassen. Leaving this
narrow strip would provide an unbuildable lot with no access to it. Providing a stub street to the —
west from this subdivision should be considered. Victoria needs to make comprehensive study
as to how this area can be served. Chanhassen will be working with Victoria to resolve this
issue.
Currently, there are four homes and a church on the east side of Minnewashta Parkway that are _
in the city of Victoria but have Chanhassen services. These homes are part of the Trolls Glen
3rd Addition and the church is part of the Cedar Crest Subdivision. Circumstances like this
where properties are in other cities and yet serviced by Chanhassen exist elsewhere through the _
city. In similar circumstances, the city has worked on a service agreement with the appropriate
jurisdiction. However, no such agreement exists for these parcels and they too have no physical
connection to Victoria in any substantive manner. Staff is recommending that the portion of this _
subdivision that is in Victoria be platted and not left as a lot remanent.
Shoreland Regulations _
Lake St. Joe is classified by the DNR as a Natural Environment Lake. Compliance with the
shoreland regulations includes all property within 1000 feet of the shoreline. In the case the _
entire this subdivision, falls within 1000 feet of the lake. The minimum standards are as follows:
LAKESHORE NON-LAKESHORE
LOT WIDTH LOT AREA STRUCTURE IMPACT LOT WIDTH LOT _
(sq. ft.) ZONE AREA
125 feet 40,000 150 feet 75 feet 125 feet 20,000
All of the lots abutting the lake meet the 40,000 square foot minimum requirement. The
remaining lots meet the 20,000 square foot minimum. Not all of the lots meet the 125 foot lot _
width requirement. Staff has measured the setback from 30 feet back line and found that the
total number of lots that are under the 125 minimum is 16. Staff is recommending that variances
be given on these lots (Lots 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25 and 27, Block —
1). The intent of the shoreland regulations is to minimize the shoreland impact. Staff is of the
opinion that making the lots conform to the 125 foot lot width will not affect the density of the
project. In addition, 12 of the lots that do not meet the lot width requirements are not adjacent —
to the lake. We note that this is a problem that directly stems from the MnDNR's Shoreland
Boley Property/Lundgren Bros.
February 3, 1993
Page 5
Regulations that we intend to rectify with a revised ordinance. It was drafted to cover the entire
state and is very inappropriate in the metro area. For example, much of south Minneapolis is
located within the shoreland districts surrounding Lakes Calhoun, Harriet, Isles and Nokomis.
Obviously, this is inconsistent with the state guidelines. In past discussions with the DNR, they
have agreed that the manner in which we propose to regulate the shoreland on the Boley parcel
is acceptable.
Wetland Regulations
There are two wetlands on the property. One wetland is adjacent to Lake St. Joe and the other
is in the southwest corner of the proposed plat.
The Lake St. Joe wetland was inventoried this summer and was determined to have a natural
classification as per the city's new Wetland Ordinance (see attachment #3). This development
proposes 13 lots adjacent to the Lake St. Joe wetland. The setback requirement for a natural
classification wetland is 40 feet plus an additional 10 to 30 feet (20' average) native vegetation
strip. Lots 1-13 in Block 1 all meet the wetland setback requirement (see attached compliance
table). The Wetland Ordinance also states that a monument is required for each 300 feet of
wetland edge.
One concern of the staff is the amount of fill being proposed adjacent to the wetland. Fill is
proposed at a 3:1 slope which is fairly steep immediately adjacent to the wetland. The area
adjacent to the wetland has been farmed in the past so there is no native vegetation established,
staff's main concern is erosion control. Staff is recommending that the Best Management
Practices for Erosion and Sediment Control Handbook be used to ensure erosion control
measures are taken. Also see the grading section for more discussion of this issue.
The second wetland is found in the northwest corner of the property. This is a very small part
of a very large wetland that is adjacent to Tamarack Lake. This wetland was not identified
during the inventory this past summer. Ron Peterson, a wetland specialist working for Lundgren
Brothers, felt that although this wetland has been altered, the property to the west is used for
cattle grazing and a road has been built through the wetland, it could be improved. Regardless
of the function at this point the homes on Lots 20 and 21, Block 1 propose a 120 foot and 80
foot setback from the edge of the wetland. Even if this wetland is determined to be classified
as a natural or ag/urban, adequate buffering is being provided. An inventory of this wetland is
necessary to determine the amount of buffer strip and native vegetation required before this plat
is given final approval.
The city has not yet established a species list for the re-establishment of native vegetation but
will have to do so before this plat can be given final approval.
Boley Property/Lundgren Bros.
February 3, 1993
Page 6
GRADING AND DRAINAGE
The site consists of generally rolling terrain devoid of trees/wooded areas except for a few areas
along Lake St. Joe. The property is currently utilized for agricultural purposes. The preliminary
grading plan proposes extensive site grading to accommodate proposed building house pads and
maintaining street grades within the City's guidelines (0.50% to 7.0%). According to Minnehaha
Creek Watershed District's 509 Plan, the 100-year flood elevation for Lake St. Joe is at 949.5'.
Fill placement proposed along Lots 6 through 9, Block 1, appears to be encroaching into the
Watershed District's 100-year flood boundary. Placement of fill material on these lots should
be limited to areas outside the 100-year flood boundary. Side slopes adjacent to Lake St. Joe are
proposed at 3:1 which are fairly steep but not excessive. Site restoration, vegetative cover and
erosion control efforts should follow the City's recently adopted Best Management Practices for
Erosion and Sediment Control Handbook (BMPH). Type III erosion control fence should be
employed at the toe of slope adjacent to Lake St. Joe. In some instances where side slopes
exceed 200 feet in depth, an additional row of Type I silt fence should be installed 200 feet
upstream of the toe of slope. All access points from the construction site should be surfaced and
maintained with a crushed rock base in accordance with the City's BMPH (Attachment No. 1).
Storm water runoff from the development is proposed to maintain the existing drainage pattern.
The majority of the overall site drains towards Lake St. Joe. The southwesterly corner of the
property drains westerly towards a wetland basin in Victoria. The majority of the storm water
generated from the development is proposed to be carried via storm sewer system and discharged
into water treatment/retention ponds prior to discharging into Lake St. Joe or the wetlands in —
Victoria. Mr. Ismael Martinez with the City's storm water consultant, Bonestroo and Associates,
has reviewed this development proposal and has recommended minimum ponding capacities and
characteristics for the proposed water quality ponds (Attachment No. 2). In an effort to help
reduce future City maintenance of these water quality ponds, staff recommends the applicant look
at consolidating the ponds proposed on Outlots A and B; either on one of the outlots or on Lots
1 and 2, Block 1, outside the wetlands.
Prior to final plat approval, detailed storm sewer and ponding design calculations shall be
submitted to the City's Engineering Department for review and approval. The storm sewer
system shall be designed for a 10-year storm event. The ponding areas shall meet or exceed the
City's water quality standards (NURP) and retention requirements for a 100-year, 24-hour storm
event. Discharge from the site shall be maintained at predeveloped runoff conditions. Access
to the water quality/retention ponds for maintenance purposes shall be provided by an easement
dedicated on the final plat. All easements shall be a minimum of 20 feet wide. Side slopes on
the maintenance access routes shall be a minimum of 4:1 slope. Drainage and utility easements
shall be dedicated over all wetlands and water quality/retention ponds on the final plat. Upon
final construction plan submittal, a development plan shall be included on the final grading plan
denoting the house type and proposed lowest floor and garage slab elevations. In addition, all
Boley Property/Lundgren Bros.
February 3, 1993
Page 7
proposed lot corner elevations shall be shown. Plans shall be submitted to the City's Engineering
Department for review and approval.
UTILITIES
The plans propose extending municipal utilities from Minnewashta Parkway into the site.
Municipal sanitary sewer and water lines in Minnewashta Parkway are adequately sized to
accommodate this development proposal. The applicant's engineer has also designed the utilities
to serve a future phase to the south which is in the City of Victoria. Final placement of fire
hydrants shall be in accordance with the Fire Marshal's recommendations. Construction of all
municipal utilities shall be in accordance with the City's 1993 Standard Specifications and detail
plates. Detailed construction plans and specifications shall be submitted to the City's Engineering
Department for review and final approval by the City Council.
STREETS
The street plans propose on extending a public street westerly from Minnewashta Parkway just
south of Minnewashta Court. A public street extension is also proposed to the south for future
service to Victoria which will eventually loop back into Minnewashta Parkway. Sight lines at
the proposed intersection is fairly good considering the speed limit on Minnewashta Parkway.
_ Although a future or concept looped street to the south through Victoria and back out to
Minnewashta Parkway with the next phase will have to be carefully studied. Sight lines are poor
due to roadway geometries on Minnewashta Parkway. Ideally, future street extensions through
Victoria should line up perpendicular to Minnewashta Parkway preferably across from one of the
existing intersections at either Hawthorne Circle or 77th Street. A sign indicating "THIS
STREET WILL BE EXTENDED IN THE FUTURE" should be placed on one of the barricades
at the end of the proposed south street. The applicant and staff from both Victoria and
Chanhassen should explore the potential for a future street extension to the west to Victoria
through this phase or the next phase. With the topographic constraints around this parcel, it may
not be feasible; however, it should still be reviewed.
Street grades proposed are between 0.75% and 6.0% which are within the City's current
standards. The applicant has proposed a 60-foot wide right-of-way with a 31-foot wide street
(back-of-curb to back-of-curb) which is also within the City's guidelines. All street intersections
should be perpendicular to each other. The second intersection in from Minnewashta Parkway,
at the loop, needs some minor adjusting to accomplish this. Construction of the public street
improvements shall be in accordance with the City's 1993 Standard Specifications and Detail
Plates. Detailed street construction plans shall be submitted to the City's Engineering Department
for review and formal approval by the City Council.
As you are aware, the City is currently undergoing an improvement project to upgrade
Minnewashta Parkway (Project No. 90-15). The Minnewashta Parkway project proposes to assess
Boley Property/Lundgren Bros.
February 3, 1993
Page 8 _
this parcel a portion of the project costs. The feasibility study for the Minnewashta Parkway
project estimated 39 assessable units for this parcel. The City Council approved a rate per unit _
of $760 and equates to a pending assessment of $29,640. The assessment hearing for the
Minnewashta Parkway project is not proposed until early fall of 1993.
COMPLIANCE TABLE See Attachment # 1
PARK AND RECREATION —
The Chanhassen Park and Recreation Commission reviewed the application by Lundgren Brothers
Construction to subdivide the aforementioned property on January 26, 1993. The staff report —
presented to the commission that evening is attached. Ms. Brenda Roy, a resident adjoining the
proposed subdivision, addressed the commission that evening asking that she be designated as
the owner of the property listed under the name Richard Fedtke. Mr. Terry Forbord, representing
the applicant, was present at the meeting as well.
Upon conclusion of discussion that evening, the Park and Recreation Commission made the
following recommendations:
Parkland: It is recommended that the City Council accept park fees in lieu of land
dedication as a condition of approval of the Boley property plat. These fees to be paid
on a per lot basis at the rate in force upon building permit application. The current
residential park fee for single family dwellings is $500.00 per unit.
Trails: It is recommended that the City Council accept full trail dedication fees in lieu
of trail easement dedication or construction as a condition of approval of the Boley
property plat. These fees to be paid on a per lot basis at the rate in force upon building
permit application. The current residential trail fee for single family dwellings is $167.00
per unit.
Home placement plans shall be required to ensure the preservation of the trees on the site.
Streetscape landscaping is required along Minnewashta Parkway. Plans should be submitted for
staff review prior to submittal of the final plat. A requirement of one tree per lot will also be
enforced as part of the building permit process.
Boley Property/Lundgren Bros.
February 3, 1993
Page 9
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the Planning Commission adopt the following motion:
"The Planning Commission recommends approval of the preliminary plat #93-1 for the
subdivision of 36 acres into 33 single family lots and 3 outlots subject to the plans dated January
5, 1993, with variances and the following conditions:
1. The applicant shall enter into a development contract with the City and provide the
necessary financial security to guarantee the installation of the public improvements.
2. The applicant shall construct public utility and street improvements in accordance with
the City's 1993 Standard Specifications and Detail Plates. Detailed construction plans and
specifications shall be submitted to the City's Engineering Department for review and
formal approval by the City Council.
3. The applicant shall obtain all necessary permits from the Watershed District, DNR, Army
Corps of Engineers, MPCA, Health Department and MWCC.
4. The applicant shall provide the City's Engineering Department with storm sewer
calculations designed for a 10-year storm event and ponding calculations that show that
the ponds will retain a 100-year storm event, 24-hour duration, and will discharge at the
predeveloped runoff rate. In addition, the ponds shall be designed and constructed to
NURP standards and data showing the nutrient removal capacity of all ponds. The
applicant shall not place fill material below the 100-year flood elevation of Lake St. Joe
which the Watershed District currently determines at 949.5. The applicant's engineer
shall review the possibility of consolidating the two storm water retention ponds located
on Outlots A and B to consolidate into one ponding area. The ponding area may be
_ established on either outlot or on Lots 1 or 2, Block 1 outside the wetlands. All storm
water retention ponds shall be designed and constructed in accordance with the
recommendations provided by the City's storm water management consultant, Mr. Ismael
Martinez, is outlined in his memo dated January 15, 1993.
5. Site restoration, vegetative cover and erosion control efforts shall follow the City's Best
Management Practices Handbook for erosion and sediment control. Type III erosion
control fence shall be installed at the toe of slope adjacent to Lake St. Joe. In cases
where the side slopes exceed 200 feet in depth from the toe of slope, an additional row
of Type I silt fence should be installed. All areas disturbed during site grading shall be
immediately restored with seed and disc-mulched or wood-fiber blanket within two weeks
of completing site grading, except for areas where utility construction will immediately
commence. All access points from the construction site to a hard-surface road shall be
Boley Property/Lundgren Bros. —
February 3, 1993
Page 10
surfaced with crushed rock in accordance with the City's Best Management Practices
Handbook.
6. All access points to the water retention ponds should be dedicated on the final plat as 20-
foot wide drainage and utility easements. The access points for maintenance purposes
shall be a minimum of 4:1 slopes. Drainage and utility easements shall be dedicated over —
all wetlands and water quality/retention ponds on the final plat.
7. The applicant shall place a sign on a barrier at the end of the southerly street extension —
indicating "THIS STREET SHALL BE EXTENDED IN THE FUTURE". Notice of the
extension shall be placed in the chain-of-title of each lot. All street intersections should
be aligned perpendicular to each other. —
8. The applicant and staff from Victoria and Chanhassen should explore the potential for
future street extension to the west to serve the City of Victoria through one of the phases —
of development.
9. The pending assessments for the Minnewashta Parkway improvements(Project No. 90-15)
shall be spread equally over the number of new lots in this phase of the development.
10. Compliance with the Park and Recreation Commission's recommendations.
11. Compliance with the city's wetland regulation including permanent monumentation _
staking setbacks and native vegetation. The wetland in the southwest corner needs to be
reviewed and compliance with the wetland standards as determined by its classification.
12. Approval of the subdivision from the City of Victoria.
13. Compliance with the Fire Marshal's recommendations. —
14. Variance from the lot width requirements from the shoreland regulations be given on Lots
8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25 and 27, Block 1. —
15. Compliance with the city's landscaping plan including streetscape along Minnewashta
Parkway and the requirement of one tree per lot." —
ATTACHMENTS
1. Compliance table.
2. Application.
3. Lake St. Joe Wetland Classification. _
4. Typical cross section of adjacent to the wetland from Sathre-Bergquist.
Boley Property/Lundgren Bros.
February 3, 1993
Page 11
5. Memo from Dave Hempel dated January 26, 1993.
6. Memo from Todd Hoffman dated January 28, 1993.
7. Letter from DNR dated January 15, 1993.
8. Letter from Soil and Water Conservation District dated January 12, 1993.
9. Memo from Mark Littfin dated January 8, 1993.
_ 10 Public hearing notice.
11. Plat dated January 5, 1992.
74.4CleheXtrk4 I -
LOT STANDARDS SUMMARY TABLE
f ,�
BLOCK 1 LOT AREA LOT WIDTH AT BLDG
LOT RIPARIAN NON-RIPARIAN REQUIRED ACTUAL AREA ABOVE RDWIERED ACTUAL WETLAND
NO. LOT LOT AREA AREA WETLANDS WIDTH WIDTH SETBACK --
1
1 YES --- 40,000 SF 57,500 SF 31,000 125' 152' 100'
2 YES --- 40,000 SF 51,300 SF 30,000 125' 140' 70' -
3 --- YES 20,000 SF 30,500 SF 22,000 125' 160' 55'
4 YES --- 40,000 SF 49,400 SF 20,000 125' 135' 60'
5 --- YES 20,000 SF 31,300 SF 20,600 125' 140' 80'
6 --- YES 20,000 SF 28,200 SF 21,400 125' 150' 75'
7 YES --- 40,000 SF 50,500 SF 20,600 125' 125' 85' --
8
8 YES --- 40,000 SF 103,100 SF 25,700 125' 125' 85'
9 YES --- 40,000 SF 121,800 SF 25,100 125' 125' 100'
10 YES --- 40,000 SF 96,600 SF 24,600 125' 125' 90'
11 YES --- 40,000 SF 67,300 SF 23,600 125' 125' 90'
12 YES --- 40,000 SF 61,000 SF 31,000 125' 125' 80'
13 --- YES 20,000 SF 59,900 SF 44,800 125' (1) 125@90' 80'
14 -- YES 20,000 SF 28,700 SF 125' (2) 100' -
15 --- YES 20,000 SF 22,600 SF 125' (2) 100'
16 --- YES 20,000 SF 21,300 SF 125' (2) 100' --
17
17 --- YES 20,000 SF 20,400 SF 125' (2) 100'
18 --- YES 20,000 SF 20,100 SF 125' (2) 100'
19 -- YES 20,000 SF 21,900 SF 125' (2) 100'
20 -- YES 15,000 SF 34,100 SF 30,600 90' 100' 120'
21 --- YES 15,000 SF 42,500 SF 23,900 90' 100' ' 80'
22 --- YES 15,000 SF 20,000 SF 90' 100'
23 --- YES 20,000 SF 21,700 SF 125' (2) 100' _
24 --- YES 20,000 SF 29,100 SF 125' 148'
25 --- YES 20,000 SF 22,700 SF 125' (2).100'
26 --- YES 20,000 SF 22,000 SF 125' 130'
--- YES 20,006 SF 20,010 SF '1'.7' (21 10)0'
LOT STANDARDS SUMMARY TABLE
,LOCK 2 LOT AREA LOT WIDTH AT BLDG
LOT RIPARIAN NON-RIPARIAN REQUIRED ACTUAL REQUIRED ACTUAL
NO. LOT LOT AREA AREA WIDTH WIDTH
1 --- YES 20,000 SF 20,500 SF 125' 125'
2 --- YES 20,000 SF 20,100 SF 125' 140'
3 --- YES 20,000 SF 20,000 SF 125' 170'
4 --- YES 20,000 SF 20,000 SF 125' 175'
5 --- YES 20,000 SF 20,000 SF 125' 180'
6 --- YES 20,000 SF 20,000 SF 125' 128'
AVERAGE LOT AREA: 38,670 SQUARE FEET
VERAGE LOT WIDTH: 125.7 1 E1 (AT PROPOSED BUILDING SETBACK)
(1) PROPOSED HOUSE SETBACK FOR NECK LOT IS 90 1.E i' MINIMUM WHERE LOT WIDTH IS 125 }En .
LOT WIDTH AT 30 ri::Ei SETBACK IS 38 1r.r:i . VARIANCE REQUIRED FOR LOT WIDTH AT MINIMUM
SETBACK, FROM ZONING AND SHORELAND ORDINANCES.
_ (2) VARIANCE REQUIRED FROM SHORELAND ORDINANCE 125 1k_Er WIDTH STANDARD. NO VARIANCE NEEDED
FROM RSF ZONING DISTRICT 90 FEET WIDTH STANDARD.
trevirk0.53 SATHRE - BERGQUIST , INC .
p 150 SOUTH BROADWAY
(612) 476 6000 WAYZATA, MN 55391
�s �QFAX 476-0104
ctiFAs ? -
January 4, 1993
Mr. Paul Krauss
CITY OF CHANHASSEN
690 Coulter Drive
P.O. Box #147
Chanhassen Minnesota 55317
Subject: BOLEY Property
Lundgren Bros. Construction, Inc.
Dear Mr. Krauss:
This letter is intended as supporting documentation to the Preliminary
Plat and Variance request of Lundgren Bros. Construction, Inc. for the
BOLEY Property on Minnewashta Parkway.
Lundgren Bros. Construction, Inc. has agreed to purchase the Howard
Boley property, in both Chanhassen and Victoria, in its entirely. The
Bouncb ry Survey includes land in the City of Chanhassen, (currently
zoned RSF, and proposed for platting) and land in the City of Victoria
over which we have "ghost platted" a possible subdivision.
The subdivision requested will create 33 single family lots and 3
outlots served by public street and utility extensions from Minnewashta
Parkway.
The Chanhassen portion of the Boley property has been zoned RSF for many
years. Public utilities have been available to service the property for
years as well.
The Preliminary Plat lists the proposed lot areas. All of the
subdivided lots will be at least 20,000 square feet in area. Riparian
lots, those with Lake St. Joe shoreline, are a minimum of 49,400 square
feet.
F ZCEI VED _
JAz' 1 I. 19:3
CITY OFC:--WhASSE"J
Lake St. Joe has been classified by the Minnesota Department of Natural
resources as a Natural Environment Lake. The City of Chanhassen
Shoreland Ordinance establishes a 1000 foot zone adjacent to Lake St.
Joe's ordinary high water line (OHW) called the Shoreland Area. Within
this zone riparian (lakeshore lots) are required to be 40,000 square
feet and non-riparian lots must be 20,000 square feet.
Normal RSF zoning district standards are a minimum lot area of 15,000
square feet with minimum lot width of 90 at the building sethark.
In the Lake St. Joe Shoreland Area the ordinance requires 125 foot lot
width at the lakeshore and at the building line.
The riparian lots (and the other lots along the lake side of the
proposed street) meet the 125' width at proposed setback standards.
Lots across the street or farther from the lake are proposed to be 100
feet wide at the building line. While this 100 foot width is 10 feet
wider than the Zoning Ordinance requires it is 25 feet less than the
Shoreland Ordinance requires. Lundgren Bros. Construction, Inc.
requests variances be granted to allow these reduced lot widths.
The table attached presents the statistical lot by lot data for your
review.
The table shows that 10 lots are in need of variances. We believe the
variances are justified for the following reasons:
1 . The average lot width for all lots in the "Shoreland
District" is 125.7 feet. This exceeds the 125 feet
requirement. "Extra" lots are not being forced.
2. One purpose of the 125 foot width standard is to lessen the
pollution impacts of property development. The Preliminary
Plans show four NURP ponds which are proposed to pre-treat
the storm water from the storm sewer system. The NURP ponds
are more beneficial to the Lake and wetlands than adding 25
feet to the width of the lots proposed for variances.
3. The variances sought are dictated by the physical
constraints of the site. Strict adherence to the Shoreland
Ordinance provision of 125 feet width would necessitate
realignment of the streets proposed thus increasing the
degree of site alteration. This hardship on the land is not
warranted.
The westerly portions of Lots 13 thru 21, Block 1, actually lie in the
City of Victoria. The houses which will occupy these lots will be
entirely built within Chanhassen. We intend to seek the necessary City
of Victoria approvals to plat these lots as shown concurrently with the
Chanhassen review process.
Lundgren Bros. Construction, Inc. seeks Preliminary stage approvals at
this time. They intend to proceed with actual site development in the
late spring and summer of 1993, following Final Stage Approval.
Sincerely,
SATHRE-BERGQUIST, INC.
&/1
Richard W. Sathre, P.E.
RWS/dm
Attachment
Fav
o, City of Chanhassen
Wetland Observation Records
Wetland No.: 3 (Field Review): /_`.r1— C , (Official Map)
Location ►\v,til T; Z v.) R; 1 Section On USGS NWI: ✓ Y N
Observer Initials: Date Visited: o / / 12.
Picture Number(s)/Roll #: / Picture Nos.: I —
/9L')
Classification
Wetland Type: F W.-W. 1 L.11. (Cowardin); 3/5 /(0/7 (Circular 39)
Wetland Location:
Lakeside Streamside
Headwaters ✓ Isolated (upland)
Edge of Wetland Contour 1,4-7. S ;varies
City Class:
(P)ristine ; (N)atural ; (A)g/Urban ; (U)tilized
Watershed Characteristics
Wetland Size: acres Direct drainage area: acres
Total drainage area: acres Open water area: acres
Vegetation .e,L.{
Dominant Plant Species: , •
•S
J Reed canary grass Cattail
5 - n Z
Gj . lc►:• . • . 4 Via-'
Purple Loosestrife: (D)ominant; (A)bundant; (Sme; (I)ndividuals; (N)one
Plant Diversity: No. Species Dominant- 1; 2; 3-0
Percent open water: 70°ip
Land Use Influences
Surrounding Land Use (Percent):
5'i„ Residenti4)M, D,Rur. Commercial/Industrial _
°t Agricultural '-to i, Open Water
5 0. Wooded Institutional
Vacant Field (describe below)
Hydrology
•
Water Source: 1/ Natural; _ Stormwater; Unknown —
Inflow: Stream; Ditch; Stormsewer, t----- Surface
Outflow: ✓ Natural; Ditch; Culvert; - None
Sedimentation/Siltation: Y L.---N
Flooded-dead or dying trees: v Y N —
Drains to L) -• 54- J-at. ; (Direction;Wetland No.)
(C)ontinuouslye`. onally; (I)ntermittently; (R)arely —
Soil Classification -
Soil Type Abbv.: Soil Name:
Other _
Wildlife Observations: Pr nP '/..)•- • , General Notes/Comments: ► „t;,,,, e, e-fl-
- • ! 'i Le P%n• .I r-,C? c S ) V-11 4 11 U/P 1-1 lira e-,,....td - 1-114-4-4-0- —
'C-V F ✓(1 (X1' !i? QM--Q/1� 't—, i.L ,V)• ?/)' !- CYrtY., rte.. ,4`r t+tlwnwl1 4.wP f h.•-el ...1`-.0 .
Section No. 1 Wetland Sketch;Photo • ,.t'�4
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Not to Scale Nix
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_ 11. /7 ,--.:-
4 = -E - •
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114.14,=tNf Cuapir.
4(v:112 A
PROPOSED GRADE
MAXIMUM 3:1 SLOPE G3
- ----_- - `_ __J EXISTING GRADE 7
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illSECTION AA
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5
24
1231 \
--
CITY OF
1 ‘
CHANHASSEN
690 COULTER DRIVE • P.O. BOX 147 • CHANHASSEN, MINNESOTA 55317
r • (612) 937-1900 • FAX (612) 937-5739
MEMORANDUM
TO: Kate Aanenson, Senior Planner
FROM: Dave Hempel, Assistant City Engineer
DATE: January 26, 1993
SUBJ: Review of Preliminary Plat for the Boley Property/Lundgren Development
File No. 93-4 Land Use Review
Upon review of the preliminary plat dated December 28, 1992 and preliminary grading and
utility plans dated December 28, 1992, prepared by Sathre-Bergquist, Inc., I offer the
following comments and recommendations:
GRADING AND DRAINAGE
The site consists of generally rolling terrain devoid of trees/wooded areas except for a few
areas along Lake St. Joe. The property is currently utilized for agricultural purposes. The
preliminary grading plan proposes extensive site grading to accommodate proposed building
house pads and maintaining street grades within the City's guidelines (0.50% to 7.0%).
According to Minnehaha Creek Watershed District's 509 Plan, the 100-year flood elevation
for Lake St. Joe is at 949.5. Fill placement proposed along Lots 6 through 9, Block 1,
appears to be encroaching into the Watershed District's 100-year flood boundary.
Placement of fill material on these lots should be limited to areas outside the 100-year flood
boundary. Side slopes adjacent to Lake St. Joe are proposed at 3:1 which are fairly steep
but not excessive. Site restoration,vegetative cover and erosion control efforts should follow
the City's recently adopted Best Management Practice for Erosion and Sediment Control
Handbook (BMPH). Type III erosion control fence should be employed at the toe of slope
adjacent to Lake St. Joe. In some instances where side slopes exceed 200 feet in depth, an
additional row of Type I silt fence should be installed 200 feet upstream of the toe of slope.
All access points from the construction site should be surfaced and maintained with a
crushed rock base in accordance with the City's BMPH (Attachment No. 1).
Storm water runoff from the development is proposed to maintain the existing drainage
pattern. The majority of the overall site drains towards Lake St. Joe. The southwesterly
S�«• PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER
Kate Aanenson
January 26, 1993
Page 2
corner of the property drains westerly towards a wetland basin in Victoria. The majority
of the storm water generated from the development is proposed to be carried via storm
sewer system and discharged into water treatment/retention ponds prior to discharging into
Lake St. Joe or the wetlands in Victoria. Mr. Ismael Martinez with the City's storm water
consultant, Bonestroo and Associates, has reviewed this development proposal and has
recommended minimum ponding capacities and characteristics for the proposed water
quality ponds (Attachment No. 2). In an effort to help reduce future City maintenance of
these water quality ponds, staff recommends the applicant look at consolidating the ponds
proposed on Outlots A and B; either on one of the outlots or on Lots 1 and 2, Block 1,
outside the wetlands.
Prior to final plat approval, detailed storm sewer and ponding design calculations shall be
submitted to the City's Engineering Department for review and approval. The storm sewer
system shall be designed for a 10-year storm event. The ponding areas shall meet or exceed
the City's water quality standards (NURP) and retention requirements for a 100-year, 24-
hour storm event. Discharge from the site shall be maintained at predeveloped runoff
conditions. Access to the water quality/retention ponds for maintenance purposes shall be
provided by an easement dedicated on the final plat. All easements shall be a minimum of
20 feet wide. Side slopes on the maintenance access routes shall be a minimum of 4:1 slope.
Drainage and utility easements shall be dedicated over all wetlands and water
quality/retention ponds on the final plat. Upon final construction plan submittal, a
development plan shall be included on the final grading plan denoting the house type and
proposed lowest floor and garage slab elevations. In addition, all proposed lot corner
elevations shall be shown. Plans shall be submitted to the City's Engineering Department
for review and approval.
UTILITIES
The plans propose extending municipal utilities from Minnewashta Parkway into the site.
Municipal sanitary sewer and water lines in Minnewashta Parkway are adequately sized to
accommodate this development proposal. The applicant's engineer has also designed the
utilities to serve a future phase to the south which is in the City of Victoria. Final
placement of fire hydrants shall be in accordance with the Fire Marshal's recommendations.
Construction of all municipal utilities shall be in accordance with the City's 1993 Standard
Specifications and detail plates. Detailed construction plans and specifications shall be
submitted to the City's Engineering Department for review and final approval by the City
Council.
STREETS
Kate Aanenson
January 26, 1993
Page 3 _
The street plans propose on extending a public street westerly from Minnewashta Parkway _
just south of Minnewashta Court. A public street extension is also proposed to the south
for future service to Victoria which will eventually loop back into Minnewashta Parkway.
Sight lines at the proposed intersection is fairly good considering the speed limit on _
Minnewashta Parkway. Although a future or concept looped street to the south through
Victoria and back out to Minnewashta Parkway with the next phase will have to be carefully
studied. Sight lines are poor due to roadway geometries on Minnewashta Parkway. Ideally, _
future street extensions through Victoria should line up perpendicular to Minnewashta
Parkway preferably across from one of the existing intersections at either Hawthorne Circle
or 77th Street. A sign indicating 'THIS STREET WILL BE EXTENDED IN THE —
FUTURE" should be placed on one of the barricades at the end of the proposed south
street. The applicant and staff from both Victoria and Chanhassen should explore the
potential for a future street extension to the west to Victoria through this phase or the next —
phase. With the topographic constraints around this parcel, it may not be feasible;however,
it should still be reviewed.
Street grades proposed are between 0.75% and 6.0% which are within the City's current
standards. The applicant has proposed a 60-foot wide right-of-way with a 31-foot wide street
(back-of-curb to back-of-curb) which is also within the City's guidelines. All street —
intersections should be perpendicular to each other. The second intersection in from
Minnewashta Parkway, at the loop, needs some minor adjusting to accomplish this.
Construction of the public street improvements shall be in accordance with the City's 1993 —
Standard Specifications and Detail Plates. Detailed street construction plans shall be
submitted to the City's Engineering Department for review and formal approval by the City
Council. —
As you are aware, the City is currently undergoing an improvement project to upgrade _
Minnewashta Parkway (Project No. 90-15). The Minnewashta Parkway project proposes to
assess this parcel a portion of the project costs. The feasibility study for the Minnewashta
Parkway project estimated 39 assessable units for this parcel. The City Council approved _
a rate per unit of $760 and equates to a pending assessment of $29,640. The assessment
hearing for the Minnewashta Parkway project is not proposed until early fall of 1993.
—
MISCELLANEOUS
An existing house currently exists on proposed Lot 1, Block 1. It is assumed the applicant —
is proposing to remove the house with the subdivision construction. The applicant should
be aware they will need to apply and comply with all the local building and demolition
codes. The sanitary sewer and water service to the residence shall be abandoned and —
disconnected at the property line along Minnewashta Parkway.
Kate Aanenson
January 26, 1993
Page 4
RECOMMENDED CONDITIONS OF APPROVAL
1. The applicant shall enter into a development contract with the City and provide the
necessary financial security to guarantee the installation of the public improvements.
2. The applicant shall construct public utility and street improvements in accordance
with the City's 1993 Standard Specifications and Detail Plates. Detailed construction
plans and specifications shall be submitted to the City's Engineering Department for
review and formal approval by the City Council.
3. The applicant shall obtain all necessary permits from the Watershed District, DNR,
Army Corps of Engineers, MPCA, Health Department and MWCC.
4. The applicant shall provide the City's Engineering Department with storm sewer
calculations designed for a 10-year storm event and ponding calculations that show
that the ponds will retain a 100-year storm event, 24-hour duration, and will
discharge at the predeveloped runoff rate. In addition, the ponds shall be designed
and constructed to NURP standards and data showing the nutrient removal capacity
of all ponds.
5. The applicant shall not place fill material below the 100-year flood elevation of Lake
St. Joe which the Watershed District currently determines at 949.5.
6. Site restoration, vegetative cover and erosion control efforts shall follow the City's
Best Management Practices Handbook for erosion and sediment control. Type III
erosion control fence shall be installed at the toe of slope adjacent to Lake St. Joe.
In cases where the side slopes exceed 200 feet in depth from the toe of slope, an
additional row of Type I silt fence should be installed. All areas disturbed during
site grading shall be immediately restored with seed and disc-mulched or wood-fiber
blanket within two weeks of completing site grading, except for areas where utility
construction will immediately commence.
7. All access points from the construction site to a hard-surface road shall be surfaced
with crushed rock in accordance with the City's Best Management Practices
Handbook.
8. The applicant's engineer shall review the possibility of consolidating the two storm
water retention ponds located on Outlots A and B to consolidate into one ponding
area. The ponding area may be established on either outlot or on Lots 1 or 2, Block
1 outside the wetlands.
Kate Aanenson
January 26, 1993
Page 5 _
9. All access points to the water retention ponds should be dedicated on the final plat _
as 20-foot wide drainage and utility easements. The access points for maintenance
purposes shall be a minimum of 4:1 slopes.
10. Drainage and utility easements shall be dedicated over all wetlands and water
quality/retention ponds on the final plat.
11. The applicant shall place a sign at the end of the southerly street extension indicating
"THIS STREET SHALL BE EXTENDED IN THE FUTURE".
12. All street intersections should be aligned perpendicular to each other.
13. The applicant and staff from both Victoria and Chanhassen should explore the —
potential for future street extension to the west to serve the City of Victoria through
one of the phases of development.
14. All storm water retention ponds shall be designed and constructed in accordance with
the recommendations provided by the City's storm water management consultant,Mr.
Ismael Martinez, is outlined in his memo dated January 15, 1993. _
15. The pending assessments for the Minnewashta Parkway improvements (Project No.
90-15) shall be spread equally over the number of new lots in this phase of the --
development.
ktm
Attachments: 1. Detail on temporary rock construction entrance. _
2. Letter from Ismael Martinez dated January 15, 1993.
c: Charles Folch, City Engineer _
convenient and effective. The wash rack would consist of a heavy grating over a lowered
area in the construction entrance. The grating may be a prefabricated rack such as a cattle
guard, or it may be constructed on-site of structural steel. In any case, the wash rack must
be strong enough to support the vehicles that will cross it. Figure 15.2 shows a typical wash
rack installation.
MAINTENANCE
The rock pad needs occasional maintenance to prevent tracking of mud onto paved
roads. This may require periodic top dressing with additional rock or removal and
reinstallation of the pad.
Hard surface
public road
•-•• 50' minimum
111100
6" minimum -::r•�!;16.��:• ;01.0:.
1'-2'washed rock
FIGURE 15.1: Rock Construction Entrance. Source: MPCA's BMP Handbook
39304pt3
ATTACHMENT 1
01-16-1993 09:19 612 636 1311 BONESTROO & ASSC. P.01
Oen G Ionadoca PEMOward 114 MR
A Unto. 044,P au.PE MRS I Jensen Fl
Bonestroo "°°M W Rosana PE. Kerr A.Goroan PE AQ'+et M Ea A.ICI L.Pti4 Grave iv.Pl.
JohC.Anomic.P1. tart R.Pfeffer* PE Tec nas W Pte.PE. Oren L Wert 11.
Mann L Sorw4.PE, PIM W Fetter,PI. M .C LyneA,P.E. Gary 0.Kn>aore PE
ROsene RKPtard E Tony,►E. Deed O.Lamm.PE. /met R Maar PE F.Toa!Four PE
CM^^R.Cook.P.E. bbeR C.Bullet ALA. Jerry O.PeruKn.PE Keit+R I'M PE
Andertlk & Thorne,E.ND/et AE Jerry A.buroor.PE. Kervner•.P.Andersen.PE. Shawn D Gularson,PE
�}
B `-r
oDert Q k -tM PF MPk A.Manson..PE. Mark R Ron FE, CecLlo Dimer FE.
Associates Suss,.M Ebe^,n.CPA Mor/Nae T Rausmann.PJ:. Mark A.Sec PE Chanel A.Erickson
*Sew Cantatanr Teo K.Feld PE. Gary W Morten.FE. Leo M P.*taEy
Thprrtat R Madan A.!A Dank1 J Evertor,P.E. Harlin M.canon
Engineers & Architects Donab C Roark►.E Day!K Kaschenman,PL, AIMS P EnQe1tarde
Thenyl E ANA P.E. PhMO1 CaSwt.PE.
%rn/er U1 rrEL FE Met D Wiad,FE.
MEMO
TO: David Hampel, City of Chanhassen Fax No. 937-5739
FROM: Ismael Martinez
DATE: January 15, 1993
RE: Boley Property Development FILE NO.: 3930en
Stormwater Review
Hi Dave !
INTRODUCTION
We have performed a stormwater and water quality review of the proposed development, Boley
Property Development. Our review was based on the proposed development characteristics
shown in the Preliminary Grading Plan dated December 28, 1992.
As a result of our review we recommend the following capacities and characteristics for the
proposed water quality ponds:
Pond A Pond B Pond C Pond D
Wet Volume AT 0.3 0 .17 *0 .24 0.16
Mean Depth Ft 2 . 7 2 . 0 2 .2 2 . 0
* This wet volume for Pond C assumes the existence of pond D downstream.
OBSERVATIONS
The proposed development is located in the Southwest corner of Lake St. Joe West of
Minnewa,shta Parkway in the NE 1/4 of Section 7, T 116 N, R 23 W, in the City of
Chanhassen. -
ATTACHMENT 2
01-18-1993 09:19 612 636 1311 BONESTROO & ASSC. P.02
The proposed development drains naturally to two existing natural wetlands, Lake St Joe to the
north and a southerly wetland. Lake St Joe is classified as a Palustrine Lake, with Emergent
Vegetation in the surroundings•tlassified as a natural+ wetland in the City's wetland
inventory.
The stormsewer system for the proposed development contains four water quality treatment
ponds. We have assigned names to these ponds as follows:
Pond A - Located in lot 11, drains directly into Lk, St Joe
Pond B - Located in lot 21, drains into a wetland in the City of Victoria
Pond C - Located in outlot A, drains into Pond D
Pond D • Located at the corner of Minnewashta Pkwy and the entrance of the proposed
development, drains into Lake St Joe
The drainage system shown in sheet 2 of 4 follows the natural topography and most of it drains
directly into the wetlands.
RESULTS
The proposed development will have to meet basic water quality treatment of the runoff collected
by the stormsewers. Special considerations were made regarding this development as part of our
modeling to estimate practical pollutant concentrations due to the low traffic volume anticipated
and the local topography.
As a result of our review we recommend the following improvements:
Pond A Pond B Pond C Pond D
Wet Volume AF 0.3 0 .17 *0 .24 0 . 16
Mean Depth Ft 2 . 7 2 . 0 2 .2 2 . 0
* This wet volume for Pond C assumes the existence of pond D downstream.
COMMENTS
The proposed water quality ponds should meet or exceed the wet volume and the mean depth.
The mean depth is particularly important due to the size of the ponds.
Pond A should be protected against the erosion that can result from overtoping.
Special attention should be paid to the erosion control measures and best management practices
for this development. The topography and the grading proposed in the plans can result in impacts
to the wetlands that could exceed the performance of the ponds in many years.
If you have any comments please call me at 636-4600.
Have a nice day 1
CITYOF
CHANHASSEN\ - 690 COULTER DRIVE • P.O. BOX 147 • CHANHASSEN, MINNESOTA 55317
(612) 937-1900 • FAX (612) 937-5739
MEMORANDUM
TO: Kate Aanenson, Senior Planner
FROM: Todd Hoffman, Park and Recreation Director
DATE: January 28, 1993
SUBJ: Boley Property Preliminary Plat
The Chanhassen Park and Recreation Commission reviewed the application by Lundgren Brothers
Construction to subdivide the aforementioned property on January 26, 1993. The staff report
presented to the commission that evening is attached. Ms. Brenda Roy, a resident adjoining the
proposed subdivision, addressed the commission that evening asking that she be designated as
the owner of the property listed under the name Richard Fedtke. Mr. Terry Forbord, representing
the applicant, was present at the meeting as well.
Upon conclusion of discussion that evening, the Park and Recreation Commission made the
following recommendations:
Parkland: It is recommended that the City Council accept park fees in lieu of land
dedication as a condition of approval of the Boley property plat. These fees to be paid _
on a per lot basis at the rate in force upon building permit application. The current
residential park fee for single family dwellings is $500.00 per unit.
Trails: It is recommended that the City Council accept full trail dedication fees in lieu
of trail easement dedication or construction as a condition of approval of the Boley
property plat. These fees to be paid on a per lot basis at the rate in force upon building —
permit application. The current residential trail fee for single family dwellings is $167.00
per unit.
I'f
t4, PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER
PRC DATE: Jan. 26, 1993
CITY OF
CIIAA! E CC DATE:
HOFFMAN:k
STAFF REPORT
PROPOSAL: Preliminary Plat to subdivide 36 acres into 33 single family homes on property
zoned RSF
LOCATION: Located southeast of Lake St. Joe, east of Minnewashta Parkway, and north of
Z Highway 5 (see attached location map--Attachment A)
1J APPLICANT: Lundgren Brothers Construction
935 East Wayzata Blvd.
Wayzata, MN 55391
PRESENT ZONING: RSF, Residential Single Family
ADJACENT ZONING
AND LAND USE: N - RSF, Residential Single Family
S - City of Victoria
E - RSF, Residential Single Family
W - City of Victoria
< COMPREHENSIVE PLAN: The Recreation Section of the City's Comprehensive Plan identifies the
area of the city which this proposed plat lies in as park deficient. This is no surprise to the commission,
1.4
. staff, the applicant, and the residents of Chanhassen living west of Lake Minnewashta. There is no park
of any kind, public open space, playground, or other recreation area located west of Lake Minnewashta
between Highway 5 and Highway 7. The Minnewashta Parkway "neighborhoods" represent a large and
ww increasing population of the city. The city has initiated steps to eliminate this park deficiency. First,
a park acquisition and development fund reserve specifically for the purchase of land west of Lake
(n Minnewashta was established. Secondly, contacts inquiring about the purchase of property in this area
have been made. Some commissioners may recall that Mr. Terry Forbord of Lundgren Brothers
Construction spoke to the commission in September of 1990 during the review of a separate issue;
however, he referenced the possible development of the Boley property. A great deal of discussion that
Park and Recreation Commission
January 21, 1993
Page 2
evening centered upon the designation of the land around Lake St. Joe with the exception of the
Malinowski property as park/open space on the city's land use plan (Attachment B). This
designation will be honored under this current proposal. This is not due to any effort by the
developer as the property is a designated wetland and is protected as such. This designated open
space, although of tremendous value, does not lessen the need for a park in this region of the
city, however.
The question then remains, is the Boley property the appropriate site for a park of at least ten
acres in size west of Lake Minnewashta? I do not believe so for three reasons:
1. The topographic constraints confronted on this site would make development of a park,
even one with a high percentage of passive area, difficult.
2. The site is removed from the center of the west Lake Minnewashta region. Property
north of this site would be more appropriate for use as a park.
3. The site borders the City of Victoria on two sides. As you can see from the preliminary
plat, the entirety of this proposed development includes some 20 lots in Victoria in
addition to the 33 proposed in Chanhassen. Recent negotiations over ownership and
operation responsibilities of Cathcart Park with the City of Shorewood exemplify the
difficulties which can arise from the acquisition of a second "border" park.
RECOMMENDATION
Upon consideration of these findings, it is recommended that the Park and Recreation
Commission recommend the City Council accept park fees in lieu of land dedication as a
condition of approval of the Boley property. These fees to be paid on a per lot basis at the rate
in force upon building permit application. The current residential park fee for single family
dwellings is $500 per unit.
COMPREHENSIVE TRAIL PLAN
The Comprehensive Trail Plan identifies two trail segments on or adjacent to this proposed
development. I will address them separately.
Minnewashta Parkway: An 8-ft. bituminous trail is being constructed along Minnewashta
Parkway in conjunction with the upgrade of the parkway itself. In the area of this
development, the trail is on the east side of the parkway. The construction of this trail
satisfies the designation on the Comprehensive Plan for a trail adjacent to the easterly
border of the applicant's property.
Park and Recreation Commission
January 21, 1993
Page 3
Nature Trail Around Lake St. Joe: The Comprehensive Trail Plan identifies a nature trail
around Lake St. Joe. A discussion with Mr. Mark Koegler of Hoisington-Koegler Group
confirmed my assumption that the purpose of this designation was to provide public
access to the unique open space around Lake St. Joe, particularly to its west.
Unfortunately, this designation was made without close consideration being given to the
difficulty of traversing this area. A trail around Lake St. Joe would require the dedication
of a rear yard easements above the edge of the wetland on Lots 1-13, Block 1. The fact
that this designation would not be favored by the applicant is of no concern to me. What
does concern me is the lack of justification for the investment which would be necessary
to construct and maintain a boardwalk leading north of the proposed development. If this
trail was to be located in a large city or regional park, the unique experience offered by
a boardwalk entering such an area would be welcomed. In a neighborhood setting,
however, this type of trail is not justifiable.
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the Park and Recreation Commission recommend the City Council accept
full trail dedication fees in lieu of trail easement dedication or construction as a condition of
approval of the Boley property plat. These fees to be paid on a per lot basis at the rate in force
upon building permit application. The current residential trail fee for single family dwellings is
$167.00 per unit.
As explained, this recommendation is in direct conflict with the city's Comprehensive Plan. If
the commission is uncomfortable with this recommendation, a recommendation should be given
to the city council requiring a trail easement be granted by the applicant on Lots 1-13, Block 1.
1
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Park and Rec Commission Meeting
September 25 , 1990 - Page 8
Hoffman: Only a portion of that $18 ,000 .00 is coming from this block
grant . Another half or two-thirds of that funding for that pier is comirg
from another sourcec hrough Paul and the Planning Department • .
Erhart : Do we lose t at then?
Hoffman: Yeah , we 'd to a that . . .
•
Schroers: Actually what e 'd be losing is a tota fishing pier at Lake
Susan . Just because it 's esignated handicap, ' 's for everyone .
Mady: So we 're losing $9 ,00 .da is what we e losing . We 're ultimately
going to be putting in a fish • pier in our own expense then.
Hoffman: Not the City . . .
Mady: Bottom line .
Schroers: Alright , if x.hat 's he caste would we like to.
Lash: I 'd like to make a otion on this •ne . I would move that we
recommend to City Counc' that the City Ce -ter Park be the site for the
funding for the handi - p accessible playgro d in the amount of $5 ,898..00 .
Is that all I need • do? _
Mady: I 'll seco • . .
Lash moved , =dy seconded that the Park and Recrea on Commission recommend
to the Cit Council that the City Center Park be th- site for the funding
for the - ndicap accessible playground equipment in t •e amount of
$5,898 . .0c All voted in favor and the motion carried . nanimously.
REVIEW SECTION OF COMPREHENSIVE PLAN IDENTIFYING PARKLAND NEAR LAKE ST .
JOE .
Public Present:
}
Name Address
Mark Malinowski 7250 Minnewashta Parkway
Terry Forbord Lundgren Bros . , 935 E. Wayzata Blvd. , Wayzata
Richard Wing 3481 Shore Drive
Hoffman: Mark was unable to attend tonight. . . As you can see , the . . .
comprehensive plan folks came in and said look at the area around Lake St . -
Joe that is designated as park or open space , had concern with how that
would affect their . . .property in that area . Mark Malinowski is in the
audience here tonight . He is the particular property owner that contacted
the city in this regard . As you can see by Mark 's report , the property ,
the Malinowski property is east of Lake St . Joe . . . The upcoming look at
Minnewashta Parkway , it will be upgrading that road and the addition of a
trail in that area . There is supposed to be a trail in that area along
Minnewashta Parkway whether it be on the east side of the road or the west
Park and Rec Commission Meeting
September 25 , 1990 - Page 9
side of the road , is not known at this time . But that as well . . .taking not
designating the Malinowski property as open space and designated parkland
for future use or something of that nature . As it states in Mark 's report ,
it still would be possible . . .trail loop around Lake St . Joe and . . .
Schroers: So that would be kind of just a horseshoe shaped loop around the
lake?
Hoffman: Correct . I believe Larry . . . , and you 're probably the person most
familiar with that area . . .nature trail back in that area . And again , the
comprehensive plan is just a tool . We 're not talking about particular
trail segments in this area . . .
Mady: I guess I 'd prefer the Comprehensive Plan being more of a verbal
document stating that we need property , open space property in an area .
Until we actually we do site plans and go out and walk spaces and have an
opportunity to obtain specific sites , it 's very difficult for us to
designate some individual 's property as a site . By the same token , I hate
to rule somebody else 's site out because we 're not in the position now to
buy anything or to get anything but if we open right now and say okay ,
because this individual doesn 't want his site to be part of the selection
process , that 's fine for him but then what do we do with the other 11 .000
people in this city who own property and come in front of us and say , I
don 't want you to take my property. All of a sudden we have 12, 25 , 150
different sites that we 're not supposed to look at . I think what happens
is we all of a sudden have a problem . Right now we don 't have a problem .
The situation is we 're probably never going to take this site . Although we
need an area in Minnewashta Parkway badly, we need an open ballfield . Your
site isn 't probably conducive to doing that . By stepping in now with the
very first one saying this site we 're not going to ever take and we 're
going to say that right on the plan , we 're going to have more and more
people coming in here saying I want you to take my property off the plan .
Then all of a sudden we do have a problem I think . I would rather us not
get site specific , either pro or con in the plan if we can help it .
Hoffman: To address your first comment about just being verbage and not
being a piece of paper . As you may recall , in looking different segments
of the comprehensive plan as Mark is doing , he has . . .visual aid more or
less than the last comprehensive plan was developed in 1980 and prior to
that time . . .just use those as visual aids in that document and realize
that . . . They 're trying to look into the future but the comments are very
valid . We don 't want to start picking apart the comprehensive plan . . .
Schroers: I agree with that statement Todd and also with what Jim has
said . Setting a precedent could cause acquisition problems for us down the
road . What I see here with the 6 .5 acres that Mr . Malinowski 's property ,
the portion of it that we could acquire for park dedication wouldn't help
us in that area anyway . It 's not large enough. So I think in that , Mr .
Malinowski could have some reassurance that we wouldn 't be considering his
property for parkland .
Erhart : Is there also mature woods on that site Todd?
Hoffman: On this site?
Park and Rec Commission Meeting
September 25 , 1990 - Page 10
Erhart : Yeah , on the 6 .5 acres of your property . Is it very wooded?
( The answer could not be heard on the tape .
Hoffman: As stated in Mark 's report , the house on that would be real close
to the lake . . . I guess Mark 's interpretation is the original intent of
acquiring some parkland in this area . . .natural setting that was there . . .
Mady: We did about a year and a half ago or there abouts , Carol Watson was
still on the panel at that time , look at the area on the back side of Lake
St . Joe . There was someone who was looking to subdivide and at that time
we looked real closely and determined that the marsh area was simply too
dense and too wet . Too soft to even really consider putting a nature trail-
in at that time so if I remember correctly , we were thinking more on the
nature of Lake St . Joe 's a nice item and these would be wonderful in the
future but we 're not going to be able to go in some areas real close to it
anyL..ay so it 's just more when it gets developed , maybe we can put a path
around the outside edge of it possibly but an active use through the area
is going to be very difficult anyway so it probably wasn 't smart so I don 't
know . Unless something changes drastically between now and then , I don 't
know how that 's going to happen . I just don 't foresee anything if it
happens .
Hoffman: . . .Mark to look at the natural area in there . More so it 'd be
the acquisition of some land . . .taking a look at the parkland and
distribution . . .there 's a real void there . The only think we could come up )
with is a small neighborhood park on the south side . . .real small area .
Schroers: If we decide not to designate this property as single family
residential , will that impair Mr . Malinowski 's ability to obtain a buildinc—
permit?
Hoffman: That 's currently what it is . It 's just a single family
residFntial that 's unplatted .
Schroers: Oh , it 's unplatted . I thought reading this it seemed to me like
it indicated that it was designated park and open space .
Hoffman: It 's designated as a potential site on the comprehensive plan
for .
Schroers: Oh , but it 's not zoned that way?
Hoffman: If Mr . Malinowski decided to subdivide , at that time you 'd take
it with the tools that we use in our department , we take a look at
comprehensive plan to see , is there anything designated in this area which
we could take a look at . And yes , there is , under the current plan, that -
is park and open space . Then it would come back to the commission and
start taking a look at . . .area similar to what we were doing tonight and
really all we 're doing this evening is pre-determining that even if that
area is subdivided . . .
Schroers: Are you looking for some kind of a motion on this?
Park and Rec Commission Meeting
September 25 , 1990 - Page 11
Hoffman: Correct . A motion to approve Mark 's recommendations . . .that that
property be dropped from the comprehensive plan .
Andrews : Could I ask an odd question? Is the reason why we 're dropping
this from the Plan because it 's not suitable to be• developed as an active
park? Is that why we 're making this request or decision?
Hoffman : That would be one of the main . . .
Andrews: My point would be , why is that every park that we look at has to
be considered as an active park . Currently we do not have any , or very
little wild , natural areas in the city and I have been to one park where an
elevated wood walkway was built over a marshy area and it 's a very
beautiful way to walk through a marshy area . I guess I 'm hesitant to say
that this is unuseable land . Maybe unuseable as a ballfield or a tennis
court but I Guess I look at natural wild spaces as having a value on their
own .
Schroers: I don 't think that this is too much of a , I agree with what you
say Jim but I think this particular property is not a real natural area and
wild spaces . He stated there 's already a house sitting on it and there 's
neighborhoods . It 's all residential in that area .
Andrews: How many acres is Lake St . Joe?
( Hoffman: 33 .
Andrews: 33?
Lash: I think this is kind of a , this is more of a two fold item in the
fact that Mr . Malinowski brought it to our attention but then Mark gave it
his attention and I think from his , looking at his opinion , it isn't
something that would suit our needs in that particular area and then the
ether half , I mean although I agree that you don't like to set a precedent
on these kinds of things and I also agree that maybe instead of being so
specific we should just sort of in the plan say in a certain area , you know
near Lake St . Joe we 're looking for park property or something instead of
designating . If I looked at a map and on top of my house I saw that the
city had stamped it park/open space , it would make me real nervous that
something was going on that I didn't know about so I think this is kind of
two fold . I wasn 't aware of the fact that there was a home there and I
can 't imagine that we 'd ever go in and bulldoze down somebody 's house and
condemn their property and take it for a natural park . That just doesn 't
even make sense so you know Mark is recommending it 's not , it doesn 't fill
our needs out there . There 's a home there . It 's creating anxiety for the
property owner and you put it altogether and I guess I just think we need
to reword or redesignate our site and maybe just put it in , like Jim said ,
in the verbage that in the Lake St . Joe area and then any time something
comes , a large scale development or something in that area , we 'd be able
to . Can we do that or not? Do we have to pick a specific site?
Hoffman : Again , we can put in the verbage but then the map or the diagram
is juFt put in there as an aid . If the comprehensive plan was all words ,
it 's fairly dry so . . .show the intent . •
Park and Rec Commission Meeting
September 25 , 1990 - Page 12
lash: Or are you going to be specific , as specific as Mark was in saying
that the northwest area or the southern area didn 't he , would be the two
prime? I can 't remember where he had that now .
Mady: I think you 've missed the point though . Lake St . Joe area was put
in the map as a possible open space area by the Park Commission long before -
I was here , back when they were very natural area oriented . The reason was
Lake St . Joe was a very natural type of setting , especially the back side
of it . This area is no different than what we 're trying to do , like
putting in the comp plan that we 'd like to gain all the property around
Lake Ann . There 's absolutely no difference between this and that . And we
all know that with Prince living there , it 's probably going to be , that
might be a pipe dream but it 's still nice to leave it in the plan , in the
comp plan as a potential so it 's always there . So we always know about
it . Whether it happens or not in 20 years , we won 't know that but at least
we hc.ve designated the areas as natural areas that should be looked at and
reviewed and this is an area that should be looked at and reviewed .
There 's no one saying we 're going to bulldoze the house and buy the
Property but it 's still , an opportunity comes in that we should be aware of_
it and future commissions should be aware of it and future staff should be
aware of it because as we 've seen , commission changes from year to year .
Staff changes and we 're not going to be here maybe 10 years from now to '
remember that maybe that was the way it should have been .
Lash: So you 're saying that you think our goal would be to someday
eventually acquire all of the property . I mean all of this area that 's
sh-'nwn around here on the map?
Mady: I don 't know if it 's a goal . I think it 's just something that we
should , it 's been designated as something we should be looking at if an
opportunity presents itself . That 's all it is . I guess I 'm on the nature
• that we haven 't done anything at this point in time . Taken no steps to
doing anything and until the owner or a developer comes in and does
somFthing , we 're not going to be taking steps on it because we just simply
don 't do it that way .
Hoffman: we have somebody here that would like to give us an insight on
that issue .
Terry Forbord: I think I can answer a lot of your questions or at least
give you some insight . My name is Terry Forbord . I 'm Vice President of
Lundgren Bros . and this is kind of a hasty appearance for me because I just
found out you were meeting today when I met with Mr . Koegler . We own about
100 acres of land around Lake St . Joe , or we have the option to secure the
property for 3 years . We have met informally with city staff oh , probably
2-3 times about properties that we do control in the area . We began the
assembly of some of these parcels about 2 years ago . We tend to try to
work as quietly as possible for a number of reasons but for those of you
who are familiar with the area , this is really one of the toughest areas
that I 've ever , ever tried to assemble land because from a land use
standpoint , there 's really a mish mash of development and small , really
oddly configured parcels and physical constraints that are very difficult
to work with from purely just a planning perspective . By physical
constraints I mean topography , wetlands . Now our company , maybe we 're
masticistic but we tend to look for sites like that . The workload is twice
•
Park and Pec Commission Meeting
September 25 , 1990 - Page 13
as much , sometimes 3 or 4 times as much because of all the governmental
agencies you need to work with but we find that it 's a successful formula
for us in what we try to do so we look for sites like that . The problem in
_ this area with trying to make all this work from a master planning
standpoint , is the economics . Because there are so many small little
parcels and structures on them , the economics become almost impossible from
a development standpoint . Remember structures are a liability when it
comes to land development from an economic standpoint . Raw land is much
more easy to deal with but when somebody 's home in on there , they have a
value in that home whether it be emotional or physical or whatever and so
when you try to master plan an area , 100 , 200 acres or whatever , obviously
we 're trying to make it make economic sense first to determine if it 's even
workable . Then try to work with the city to meet the city 's goals and
objectives as well . Now I 've been following the Comp Plan process . It 's
been underway off and on for 3 years , or even longer than that I guess but
we 've been following it and watching and in the last year it 's really
stepped up and I 've been in contact with the consultants and city staff and
to let them know informally because we haven 't made a formal application .
But informally that we will be making a formal application for this area
for part of it in the very , very near future . But because it 's a shoreland
district and there are certain guidelines that one has to operate in that ,
it affects property within 1 ,000 feet of an environmental lake which Lake
St . Joe is and we 're totally cognizant of the fact that the consultant and
the City would like to see some type of park , active in that area . What
= I 'd ask you to do tonight , being that all of this is kind of in the process
and it has been in the process for some time . We haven't completed the
land assembly . We 're attempting to and we don't know if we will be able
to . As I said , because of the configuration of the parcels and the value
that. some of the parcels have affixed to them from a sale standpoint , it
really makes it . When you add all these things together and you figure can
I subdivide and can anybody even afford to buy the lots because the raw
land price was so high , and that 's what we 're working on now . If a
particular parcel or a certain acreage was designated well this is where
the park 's going to be , that could skew the master planning for that whole
area . what we 're trying to do , like I say, is master plan the entire area
which is a benefit to the City . Benefit to the County . Benefit for what
you 're attempting to do and it 's certainly a benefit for the people who end
- up living there and building their homes there . So if we could just kind
of , we know there needs to be a park there . We won 't know where it best
works until we 're done doing what needs to be done there . And hopefully
that sheds a little bit of light on what you 're trying to do. The way we
envision it . I 've walked every inch of the land there so I 'm real familiar
with it . The physical constraints there with the wetland areas is a real
sensitive area and it needs to be dealt with accordingly . I guess what we
envision ideally , and unfortunately it never works out that way but ideally
where you could have a passive and an active area somewhat hopefully
contiguous with one another so maybe you have some of your active areas
over here or maybe you have some soccer fields or whatever and then you
have some nature trails that you could walk off into. Now that 's ideal and
all of that obviously is dictated by how you 're able to put the correct
Parcels together . So maybe that will give you a little insight of what 's
- occurring in the area . There will be some type of park in the area and
where exactly it ends up , we don't know yet . But hopefully within the next
6 months I 'll have a much , much clearer idea of what 's occuring . we
- probably will be submitting a conceptual plat to staff for at least part of
Park and Rec Commission Meeting
September 25 , 1990 - Page 14
the area oh I would imagine for sure within the next 3 months or so but we
have the property on the south side and some property on the north side .
So there 's about 100 acres total . —
Hoffman: Could you expand just a little bit, or explain to us on the south
side of the area?
Terry Forbord: Well it used to be referred to as the Bollie property for
those of you who are familiar with the city. If you look at your map , all
of the land that 's on the very south side of Lake St. Joe, all the way dowi
to TH 5 and part of that land is in the city of Victoria.
Schroers: It 's a low area in the corner there right? —
Terry Forbord: In the northwest corner of the property, I can't remember
rr;r>e of it . Mrs . Brickley told me the name of that lake. It escapes —
m.-, but there 's .
Schroers: No, right down by TH 5.
Terry Forbord: Oh , correct . That 's correct. Right down by TH 5 there is
a wetland area that goes northwest over towards Lake, is it Wasserman?
Over in Victoria , is that the name of it? —
Hc;ffman: Not this particular one.
Schroers: No , that would be Steiger but there's another little lake back —1
behind St . Joe called Tamarack and it would be going up to the farm.
TowarelsI think that was.
Terry Forbord: Mr . Thomas' farm. It goes all the way up towards Mr .
Thomas ' farm . That little lake behind it. Some people call it the Swiss
Mountain Farm on 13 there. —
Schroers: Yeah .
Terry Forbord: Yeah, that wetland you 're correct, it does go northwesterlj
all the way up to that lake . I guess is that Tamarack?
Schroers: Tamarack. The railroad tracks run along the side of it. —
Terry Forbord: But it's just a very, very special area and we've spent a
lot of time .
Schroers: How much of that property are you looking at now? From TH 5,
how far west do you go?
Terry Forbord: To the city limits.
Schroers: Isn 't that Victoria right there? —
Terry Forbord: That 's correct. To the city limits.
•
Hoffman: Do you have your map. . .?
Park and Rec Commission Meeting
Septc , '_,er 25 , 1990 - Page 15
Schroers: Yeah .
Lash: Put TH 5 is below that . Is that what you 're thinking Larry?
— r
Schroers : Well there 's quite a bit of agricultural land up in there isn 't
there?
Terry Forbord: In which part?
Schroers: It would be in the south part from TH 5 .
Hoffman: This area contains agricultural , wooded and lowland wetlands .
Terry Forbord: Yeah . It 's a real mix of different vegetation types .
There 's a lot of Army Corps , DNR regulated wetlands in there . That 's
abundant with it . And I 've already met with both agencies or we deal with
thcni � 11 the time anyway so they know us real well but , they 're all aware
of what we 're doing . But like I say , the only reason I wanted to get UP
and jest let you know , because I could tell it was a concern for you and it
should be . I mean that 's what your charge is and it 's certainly a concern
to us because we want to make any neighborhood , community that we create we
want the people who live there to be able to have access to all the things
thAt anybody that lives in the city should and that area is in need of some
t•'-•oe of area because they have to go up to Minnewashta Shores I believe now
is th? closest park . The difficulty with this is trying to make it work
economically because the land value that the people have set on their
properties in that area , and I don't know if any of you have looked, is
just phenomenal . It almost is to the point where that even if one was able
to subdivide , even if we are able to pull this off and who knows . Maybe we
won 't be able to , that who 'd be able to buy homes in there? I mean the
lots may end up being $75 ,000 .00-680 ,000 .00 lots and that certainly isn't
the real world for everybody . What we 're trying to do is make some sense
out of it so that 's where , we 're fully cognizant of the fact that a park is
guided to be in that area .
-h: Can you provide Todd with a map or a little more defined area of the
property that you are working with?
Terry Forbord: . . .going to develop within 12 months. The earliest we 'd be
in there on the first phase would be probably the spring of 1991 .
Hoffman: 1992 .
_ Terry Forbord: My , it 's going by awfully fast isn 't it? But and that
would be for , or we tend to do small phases . We don 't just go in and blow
everything . We 're not like that so.
Lash: There 's no sewer and water out there is there?
Terry Forbord: There is sewer and water in Minnewashta Parkway. And there
is enough capacity , the preliminary estimates and until you actually get
into the hard , hard , hard work , the technical detail , the preliminary
estimates are there 's plenty of capacity there to service the area but I
mean I ray be speaking a little too soon to guarantee that .
Park and Rec Commission Meeting
September 25 , 1990 - Page 16
Lash: Do you have any idea on how many homes you 're thinking of?
Terry Forbord: No .
Lash: Or is this hard ;to say?
Terry Forbord: We tend to be a very low density builder . We 're probably
the least dense developer in the city . At least that 's what they tell us .
Pemrick: What would the approximate size of the lot be?
Terry Forbord: That 's too early to say . It 's real tough . The Shoreland
District has certain requirements and the City's adopted the DNR regs for
that area . The DNR regulations but the DNR 's in the process of changing
that because it was , what happens a lot of times is they pass regulations
and they find out the regulations don 't work so they end up taking a look
atit again and that 's what they 're doing now . It 's too early to say .
Mady: Are you looking at any property north of King 's Road? You don 't
have to tell me if you 're not , if you 're in the middle of something I can
understand your situation but .
Terry Forbord: We do own property , we have an option on property north
of King 's Road .
Mady: I just wanted to get a feel for how far north we 're looking .
Terry Forbord: Yeah it goes , like I say , I think there 's 40 acres north of
King 's Road and there 's 67 acres south and around Lake St . Joe .
Schroers: From what we 've looked at before as a commission . the area nort-f
of King 's Road would probably lend itself better as an active park area .
Terry Forbord: From a physical standpoint , I mean a site standpoint ,
that 's correct . From an economic standpoint , I don't know if it does and
so what we 're trying , and we 're cognizant of that . What we 're trying to
figure out is how do we deliver to the City and the future neighborhood
that will exist there and the residents that live there , how do we deliver
to them what they need and still make it affordable . That's always the
biggest challenge on our park. I mean how do you do it? When you 're
paying , I mean if the people realize what the raw land prices were , I mean
it 's impossible to just give land away for parks . It just doesn 't work .
No matter would it be Lundgren Bros . or anybody else . They'd walk away
just because the numbers don 't work so we 're trying to figure out a way anc
we 're not quite there yet , to try to make this all work . But we 've done it
before . Hopefully it will work .
Hoffman: The commission did take a look at -that piece north of King 's Roa:
so they are aware of it . . .
Mady: Yeah , and the price .
Schroers: From our point of view what you're telling us tonight , or what
I 'm reading into it anyway , is that now there is at least a glimmer of hop!!
of acquiring some parkland in that area . You know we know that there is a
•
Park and Rec Commission Meeting
September 25 , 1990 - Page 17
large chunk proposed to be developed and we should be able to get some
parkland . Before tonight the way it was looking , there were so many
smaller parcels owners that wanted to subdivide and these properties just
did not , according to the formula that we used to acquire parkland , we just
wouldn 't be able to get enough parkland to accommodate our needs out there
so it 's definitely some encouragement and we hope that you find a way to
make it work .
Terry Forbord: There are two things that , we're basically , what we 're
going to be doing as a city , we want to provide that too . I mean it helps
us . I mean the parks , we don't look at them as a negative . The key
driving force though is the economics . I mean if the numbers don't work ,
it doesn 't work for you or us or the future people that live there so what
we 're going to be trying to do , there 's a couple sites that it would be
ideal for . If you 're familiar with the topography in the area , one of the
things that 's sensitive about this area , you don 't want to just go in and
pick any site and then just grade it flat like a pancake because then
you 're wrecking the land and the land 's beautiful just the way it is . You
try to leave it as much as possible just the way it is but there is a
couple specific sites where a 3 acre play area would work just perfectly .
Just perfectly and then there 's some passive area adjacent to it that would
accommodate what you were talking about Jim , the type of trails where one
can just walk through and enjoy it the way it is . Our studies , we find
that there 's more people that prefer that than people would realize . A lot
of people just like parks , just the raw land the way it is so what we 're
going to be doing is bringing something forward to the city and to you
folks and trying to get your help in helping us solve this problem as well
because we 're trying to deliver what the city needs at the same time . So
if you could just bear with us here for the next few months and just
realize that there will be a park . That we 're trying to figure the best
place to put it and we 're trying to accommodate all those needs . We just
don 't have our homework all done yet . Thank you .
Schroers: Thank you for your information . Okay , we need to get back to
Mr . Malinowski here . On his property and from what Todd said , that this is
going to have to come back to us again in the future at the time of
development , I don 't really see that we 're gaining anything at this point
in time to designate it as the park and open space or single family because
we 're going to have to address the whole issue again .
Andrews: I guess I feel that the appropriate thing to do would be to defer
any action whatsoever until Lundgren Bros . has a chance to be successful or
unsuccessful in their whole planning. This present parkland may be
totally , could be totally released if Lundgren were to provide us with what
we needed but their plan could still totally collapse if the economics
aren 't there and I would hate to take an action based on a possible outcome
rather than , and I 'd prefer to wait on something that was definite.
Mady: Todd , we obviously have a lot of work to do on the Comp Plan so this
maybe is more appropriately dealt with in a final form with the whole comp
plan instead of doing it on a hodge podge style. This little site now and
then do the rest of it later .
Mark Malinowski : My concern initially when I called the city because I
read in the paper , there was need for parkland west of Lake Minnewashta .
Park and Rec Commission Meeting
September 25 , 1990 - Page 18
I looked at myself and said , my land sits right in there . I wonder what 's
on their mind and I called and I asked if there was any parklands anywhere
I was told no . They really didn 't have much. They might like to buy soRe -
land around Lake St . Joe but that 's no big deal to them . Then I came into
the planning meeting and looked at the land use plan and my God, I see all
of my land is in green . I said what does that mean? Mark Koegler who sat _
over there at the time , well he explained that means parks and open space .
That 's when my concern became real . What I would like to see I guess is
with the new comprehensive land use plan comes out , that my property be
shown like it is which is single family residential . The rest of the
property around the lake , in the colored portion of the map , it shows it t4
be like blue trees or whatever , around the perimeter of the lake . Then
where the actual lot is where the house would sit , would be yellow . That 'F-
where I have a concern . Something like this could affect the property
value . Very real concern. My personal intention is I love open space . My
intention , I don 't have any plans right now other than to live comfortably _
on that property just as it is . I might want to add on to my house or
maybe build a new house there but my intention is not to cut down all the
timber or bulldoze the land flat . I have a real love for open space and
that 's why I bought that property .
•
Schroers: You don 't have plans to develop it at some point in time?
Mark Malinowski : No . I don 't have any plans like that . I can't say
they 're not going to change at some point . I 'm very happy in Chanhassen
and I 'm not a developer . I came from a farm background and when I looked
around at the city and all the small lots , I finally found a place where
really and truly could live in and that 's what the 6 1/2 acres around Lake
St . Joe , I 'm very comfortable there . I might want to add one thing . Have
any of walked down by Lake St . Joe? What you 're going to do if you put a
trail through there , you 're going to move that wildlife right out of that
area . Right now there is deer around . I have deer tracks in my yard .
There are green herons that rest on my pier . There 's a wonderful natural
area . If you put a trail through that marshland , you 're going to move that
wildlife right . I guess I have no other comments other than that .
Mady: I guess no one else has maybe been through it but I 'll disagree witt
you a little bit there . If your comment were true then the DNR would have
a real problem . Nature trails do impact a nature area . Obviously they do
that but they don 't become super highways in any stretch of the
imagination . Those deer are going to be there until something drastically
happens to the deer population in the whole state or until Victoria
develops to the extent of what is now an Edina . You 're still going to have
a large deer population there.
Schroers: I work for Hennepin Parks and we have an extensive trail system .
It 's very common to see a deer on the trail . There are times when the
geese and other wildlife on the trail are almost a hazard to the people
that are using the trail so it 's hard to say that it 's going to displace
the wildlife if you build a proper nature trail .
Mark Malinowski : I agree the deer can live anywhere . Deer is easily
adaptable . There 's no more loons on Lake St . Joe and if you talk to Mr .
Bollie , there used to be . The wildlife 's moving out . . .and I 'm sure that -
everybody . . .no more green herons . Rest assured . I really don 't have a
Park and Rec Commissi Meeting
September 25 , 1990 - Page 19
problem with a trail . That 's not a problem . That 's what I 'm saying
because . . . All I 'm saying is I would prefer to see my property as it
really is , it 's single family residential shown on the comprehensive plan .
Lash: I think the information we got tonight sheds some new light on this
whole thing and if we 've got all the area around Lake St . Joe designated as
park property , the way I understand it , if anything happens there . Anyone
comes in and chooses to develop it , at that point in time we have the
option to buy it . Is that right? No?
Hoffman: No . We would just .
Lash: I thought we had first crack at it but if we couldn't afford it ,
then they could do it .
Schroers: That was just on that one particular parcel that was for sale at
that time . That 8 . whatever acres . The people wanted to give us first
option on purchase of that particular property and to be perfectly honest ,
I don 't remember exactly what happened with that . I think we just decided
that we couldn 't afford to outright purchase that property . But it wasn 't
all the way around Lake St . Joe . I think that that would be just part of
the normal dedication process like anything else .
Lash: I mean anything on the comprehensive plan . I 'm sure that Lori tried
to explain to me one time when something is designated, it gives us first
dibs at it doesn 't it?
Hoffman: No . It 's designated an area , we 'd have to be heads up enough to
catch wind that the area is for sale for a developer to come in here and
develop it and take a look at outright acquisition as well . Of if a large
development were to take place in this area , we would just have the right
to require as much land as we can by city code under that current ordinance
. . .Klingelhutz addition and then after that we would have to look at
outright purchase of the land for the value. That type of thing . If it 's
designated and the Commission and the Council feels strongly enough that
land was up for development and we wanted it as parkland and we weren't
willing to purchase it , we wouldn 't have any specific right to it . We 'd
have to go through condemnation proceedings. It really doesn't give us any
special , what it is is it 's a planning tool and as eluded to earlier . . . use
that comprehensive plan in planning for future parks and open spaces in the
city .
Schroers: It just says that that's a potential place for a park but it 's
not designated as park property .
Andrews: I think we need to make a motion to go one way or the other here
although I don 't have that motion .
Schroers: I think that what we should do is vote on the recommendation as
stated here by staff and if that passes , so be it and if it doesn 't pass ,
then we 're going to have to, we 'll make a different recommendation.
Robinson: Yeah , by staff it 's Mark 's recommendation and I just wanted to
say , based on what I heard here tonight and the respect I have for Mark 's
recommendation , I would support Mark 's recommendation.
Park and Rec Commissiun Meeting
September 25 , 1990 - Page 20
Schroers: I do too . I don 't think that Mark has shown us anything in the
past that would make me want to question his judgment . He 's been very
thorough .
Lash: So is that a motion Curt?
Robinson: Sure . I ' ll recommend that the Malinowski property be designates
as single family residential rather than park/open space and that the
remainder of Lake St . Joe area now shown as park/open space remain as park/
open space .
Erhart: I 'll second that .
Robinson moved, Erhart seconded that the Park and Recreation Commission
recommend that the Malinowski property be designated as single family
residential rather than park/open space and the remainder of the Lake
St . Joe area remain as park/open space on the Comprehensive Plan. All
voted in favor except Jim Mady and Jim Andrews who opposed and the motion
carried with a vote of 5 to 2.
Hoffman: Larry , Richard Wing is in the audience . He's a resident of this
area . He just happens to also be a person running for Council who has one
comment to make on the Lake St . Joe area .
Richard Wing: I was just really here to learn tonight but being a resident
of Lake Minnewashta for a quarter of a century and being real familiar with
this area , I really appreciated your comments about why do parks always
have to be active . I think my use of them probably is more the nature pari
or the passive parks . I was sitting listening to this this evening and my
heart kind of stopped because I use that area so much, whether it 's cross
country skiing or it 's biking or it 's jogging . Whatever the case was and
in our home we have a large picture in our den with our family on our bikes
with Lake St . Joe in the background with a sunset . I just would urge you ,
as you look at this particular parcel , when you think of Lake St. Joe ,
think of the boundary waters or think of Christmas Lake . I guess all I
really intended to say standing here is that that 's a real jewel . That is,
just a one time jewel . It 's a deep lake . Very heavily , it 's not the type -
of lake you walk around . The topography of the land is low and it 's very
weedy and so on and so forth and I 've been around it. It's certainly not
accessible to the public but I just want to leave that one word with you .
If your future thoughts , that 's really a jewel .
Schroers: Thank you . ti4
RICE MARSH LAKE PARK PLAYGROUND IMPROVEMENTS.
Hoffman: Basically this item was generated from the engineering
depar - They took at look at what was occurring n our cul-de-sacs an:
some of the si .e - - s with the basketball ho.- - . . .just left and right
with the new subdivisions - ere co so they cut that sort of
activity off . Since that ti - - had some problems . . .shall remain .
That was the positio . - is somewhat di • t to enforce . . .feedback froff.
the commissio -nyway that 's the way this one - - - about because there i::
a back. : _ . and a pole in the cul-de-sac and this neighborhood. . .said if
I have to pull it out , can we have it installed in the park. . .for that type
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CITY TF
CHANHAssEN
690 COULTER DRIVE • P.O. BOX 147 • CHANHASSEN, MINNESOTA 55317
(612) 937-1900 • FAX (612) 937-5739
January 22, 1993
Dear Resident:
The Chanhassen Park and Recreation Commission will be reviewing a proposed residential plat
for the Boley property next Tuesday evening, January 26, 1993, at City Hall. The proposed plat
would subdivide 36 acres into 33 single family homes on property zoned RSF (Residential Single
Family), and is being submitted by Lundgren Brothers Construction, 935 East Wayzata
Boulevard, Wayzata, Minnesota 55391. The Park and Recreation Commission will be reviewing
this proposed plat only in the context of the city's park and trail needs. The city's Planning
Commission will review this proposal on Wednesday, February 3, 1993 (a subsequent mailing
will follow). The City Council will tentatively hold its first review of this proposal on Monday,
February 22, 1993. A copy of next Tuesday's agenda, the proposed plat, the city's
Comprehensive Trail Plan, and my report to the Park and Recreation Commission are attached
for your information. Again, next Tuesday's meeting will only address the park and trail issues
presented in the attached report. If you have comments in this regard, but are unable to attend
next Tuesday's meeting, please feel free to submit them in writing, or you may contact me by
phone or in person at Chanhassen City Hall.
Sincerely,
(17.;77A44:4:-
Todd Hoffman. `
Park and Recreation Director
TH:k
P.S. You will notice on the proposed plat that in addition to the 36 homes being proposed in
Chanhassen, this development would also include homes in the City of Victoria.
pc: Kate Aanenson, Senior Planner
Don Ashworth, City Manager
Terry Forbord, Lundgren Brothers Construction
n
t4, PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER
STATE OF
DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES
PHONE No. METRO WATERS - 1200 WARNER ROAD, ST. PAUL, MN 5519 No
772-7910
January 15, 1993
Jo Ann Olsen, Senior Planner
City of Chanhassen
690 Coulter Drive
Chanhassen, Minnesota 55317
RE: LUNDGREN BROS. , BOLEY PROPERTY, CITY #93-1 SUB, LAKE ST. JOE
(10-11P) , CITY OF CHANHASSEN, CARVER COUNTY
Dear Ms. Olsen:
We have reviewed the site plans dated December 28, 1992 (received
January 6, 1993) for the above-referenced project (S. 7, T. 116N,
R. 23W) and have the following comments to offer:
1. Public water Lake St. Joe (#10-11P) is on the proposed site.
Any activity below the ordinary high water (OHW) elevation,
which alters the course, current or cross-section of public
waters or public waters wetlands, is under the jurisdiction of
the DNR and may require a DNR protected waters permit.
2 . The OHW for Lake St. Joe is correctly shown as 945.2 ' on the
site plans.
3 . Portions of the site are within the Lake St. Joe Shoreland
District. The project must be consistent with the city' s
current shoreland ordinance standards.
Lake St. Joe has a Natural Environment shoreland
classification. Current City and state shoreland standards
require minimum lot sizes of 40, 000 square feet for riparian
lots, and 20, 000 square feet for non-riparian lots, with
minimum lot widths of 125 feet. It appears that several of
the proposed lots would not meet either the area (lots 3 , 5, &
6) , or the width (lots 15-19) standards.
4 . It appears that the intent is to route most of the stormwater
through settling basins, which is good. We would object to
having the stormwater routed directly to Lake St. Joe.
5. It appears that there are wetlands on the site that are not
under DNR jurisdiction. The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers
should be consulted regarding pertinent federal regulations
for activities in wetlands. In addition, impacts to these
RECERIED
JAN 1 1993
AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER CITY tjt
Ms. Jo Ann Olsen (Lundgren Bros. /Boley Property)
January 15, 1993
Page 2
wetlands should be evaluated by the city in accordance with
the Minnesota Wetlands Conservation Act of 1991.
6. There should be some type of dedicated easement, covenant or
deed restriction for the properties adjacent to the wetland
areas. This would help to ensure that property owners are
aware that various agencies (including the city, watershed
district, and the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers) have
jurisdiction over the areas and that the wetlands cannot be
altered without appropriate permits.
7 . Appropriate erosion control measures should be taken during
the construction period. The Minnesota Construction Site
Erosion and Sediment Control Planning Handbook (Board of Water
& Soil Resources and Association of Metropolitan Soil and
Water Conservation Districts) guidelines, or their equivalent,
should be followed.
8 . If construction involves dewatering in excess of 10, 000
gallons per day or 1 million gallons per year, a DNR
appropriations permit is required. You are advised that it
typically takes approximately 60 days to process the permit
application.
Thank you for the opportunity to comment. Please contact me at
772-7910 should you have any questions regarding these comments.
Sincerely,
Caj
Ceil Strauss
Area Hydrologist
cc: Bob Obermeyer, Riley-Purgatory-Bluff Creek WSD
Gary Elftmann, USCOE
City of Chanhassen shoreland file
CARVER SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT
219 East Frontage Road
Waconia,Minnesota 55387-1862
Telephone(612)442-5101
FAX(612)442-5102
in&MINNESOTA
SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICTS �A;.; 1 4 199:
CITY OF �;►ht�n;��:.=_.
TO: Jo Ann Olsen, Senior Planner
FROM: Chip Hentges, District Technician
DATE: January 12, 1993
RE: Review of proposed land development by Lundgren
Bros. , for Ecley Properties .
Staff from the Carver SWCD has reviewed the above referenced
project . The following comments and recommendations to
control erosion and water quality are offered for your
consideration.
1 . One cf cur main concerns is the question of the
wetland boundaries tnat were celineatec cy tr:e staff
from Sathre - Bergquist , Inc . It appears the
boundaries cf the wetland were identified cn_y by the
hydric vegetation and did not take in account the
other parameters of Delineating a wetlanc , which
irciude hycrclocy and soils . The fact that when you
look a: the gracing plan ane follow the orisir.al
contour of elevatior 950, which almost keeps in line
with the edge of the wetland as marred on the map , you
have tc wonder what factors ha'e chanced the
characteristics in lot E,7 and B to be acle to fill
down to elevation 948, is hydric vegetatio. _ soils ant
hydrology all missing an that area to be defined as
upland , and not a wetland?
2. As proposed in this preliminary review, fill is going
to be placeo along the north east wetland , in some
places as steep as 3: 1 , which in case of a storm event ,
silt fences would not be adecuate for erosion control .
Either mulch netting or straw mulch , anchored by a
mulching cis :: should be required on a majority of the
steep grades surrcuncing the s+etlanc .
Is runoff going to increase after development? will it
meet the cities policy?
AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER
4 . Are the ponds that are being proposed for storm water
detention meet the requirements of the cities policy of _
a storm event?
Any questions or comments regarding this plat review, please -
feel free to call me.
•
4
CITY OF
•
C II AN HASSEN690 COULTER DRIVE • P.O. BOX 147 • CHANHASSEN, MINNESOTA 55317
�-r (612) 937-1900 • FAX (612) 937-5739
MEMORANDUM
TO: Kate Aanenson, Planner II
FROM: Mark Littfin, Fire Marshal
DATE: January 8, 1993
SUBJ: Planning Case # 93-1 SUB. Preliminary plat to subdivide 36
acres into 33 single family homes on property zoned RSF and
located southeast of Lake St. Joe, east of Minnewashta
Parkway and north of Highway 5.
I have reviewed the site plan and have made the following
requirements:
1 . Developer must submit street names for Fire Department
approval.
2 . 10 foot clear space must be maintained around fire
hydrants, (i.e. street lamps, NSP, telephone cable boxes,
trees, plantings, etc. ) . Pursuant to City Ordinance.
3 . Add one additional fire hydrant at the corner of
Lot 1 (one) and Minnewashta Parkway.
4 . No housing construction beyond Lot 1 may start until fire
apparatus access roads are provided. These access roads
shall be designed to the City of Chanhassen Engineering
Standards and meet the approval of the Chanhassen Fire
Department. Pursuant to UFC 1988 Sec. 10.207 (f) .
t«, PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER
_ "......._ i 4 --illieZ.4 i :A 11:,...r 1A
r \ �" 4.raLm p --- ---- -,-
_
,,.... .,,,....,„.„.,. . ..„,,,...
,..,(,.,. ....e,,,,„&,,,
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING l5••o° /���t�,���_cs�zz.M��: si
'Air o = �'
PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING _. �� LAKE —
Wednesday, February 3, 1993 �" '1.0,.. ,
"") r Mir
6meac.' N / N N E W A S N T �I
7:30 P.M. «ao _
CityHall Council Chambers
goo°
690 Coulter Drive o�i�� '�+\
�t�l
Project: Boley Property i %'1 k �'' r Ai
noo .,.'t ``. r�-Woa r\\\\��\\\\
Developer: Lundgren Bros. Construction ��- �� —
Pr ,1 Are
Location: West of Minnewashta 1,00 ; �`�,, II �� —
Parkway, south of Lake St. „°° Orli 1;1 ✓^l =� !
Joe and north of Hwy. 5 -, �'
ANN.`'
T.._ FO 'AIN
lif_ a
J _
Notice: You are invited to attend a public hearing about a development proposed in
your area. Lundgren Bros. Construction proposes to subdivide 36 acres of property into 33
single family lots located on property zoned RSF, Residential Single Family and located on _
the west side of Minnewashta Parkway, north of Hwy. 5 and south of Lake St. Joe.
What Happens at the Meeting: The purpose of this public hearing is to inform —
you about the developer's request and to obtain input from the neighborhood about this
project. During the meeting, the Planning Commission Chair will lead the public hearing
through the following steps: —
1. Staff will give an over view of the proposed project.
2. The Developer will present plans on the project. —
3. Comments are received from the public.
4. Public hearing is closed and the Commission discusses project. The _
Commission will then make a recommendation to the City Council.
Questions or Comments: If you want to see the plans before the meeting, please —
stop by City Hall during office hours, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. If you
wish to talk to someone about this project, please contact Kate at 937-1900. If you choose to
submit written comments, it is helpful to have one copy to the Planning Department in —
advance of the meeting. Staff will provide copies to the Commission.
Notice of this public hearing has been published in the Chanhassen Villager on January 21, —
1993.
Daniel and Brenda Roy Timothy and Lisa Braff
7400 Minnewashta Pk-w . 7410 Minnewashta Pkwy. Lynn&Kae Hall
— Excelsior,MN 55331 Excelsior, MN 55331 3980 Hawthorne Circle
Excelsior,MN 55331
- Jerry and K. Kortgard Terrance W.Rixe David&Lori Free
3901 Glendale Drive 7456 Minnewashta Pkwy. 3921 Maple Shores
Excelsior. MN 55331 Excelsior, MN 55331 Excelsior, MN 55331
_ Mark and Donna Malinowski Jerome Tschimperle Timothy,&Laurie Jenzer
7250 Minnewashta Pkwy. 8121 Bavaria Road 3920 Maple Shores Drive
Excelsior,MN 55331 Victoria, MN 55386 Excelsior,MN 55331
Stephen& Sandra Bainbridge David and M. Boorsma Thomas&Sandra Giessen
– 7351 Minnewashta Pkwy. 185 Arboretum Boulevard 3930 Maple Shores Drive
Excelsior,MN 55331 Chaska,MN 55318 Excelsior, MN 55331
James and Frances Borchart Bryan&Melia Pike Propertele, Inc.
7331 Minnewashta Pkwy. 7411 Minnewashta Pkwy. c/o Ellie Schwaba
- Excelsior,MN 55331 Excelsior,MN 55331 3603 Red Cedar Point
Exzcelsior,MN 55331
Susan L. Jasin Oscar Anderson Robert&Shelly Lenzen
7301 Minnewashta Pkwy. 7115 Kings Road 24.63 Minnewashta Pkwy.
Excelsior,MN 55331 Excelsior, MN 55331 Excelsior, MN 55331
• Alec D. Wilson Leo Janus Mark C. Robinson
4030 Kings Road 3980 Hawthorne Circle 7371 Minnewashta Pkwy.
Excelsior. M\-, 55331 Excelsior,MN 55331 Excelsior, MN 55331
Mitchell&Brenda Miller Edward&Judith Oathout Kenneth&K. Steinmetz
- 7200 Kings Road 3940 Hawthorne Circle 3931 Minnewashta Ct.
Excelsior,MN 55331 Excelsior,MN 55331 Excelsior,MN 55331
Jerold&Jeanette Boley John&Marianne Merz David&M.A.Tester
7414 Minnewashta Pkwy. 3900 Lone Cedar Circle 3897 Lone Cedar Lane
- Excelsior, MN 55331 Chaska,MN 55318 Chaska,MN 55318
Joyce A Burau and David& Sally Peterjohn Michael Cornelison
Joanne M. Lano 3921 Hawthorne Circle 7512 77th Street W
1225 78th Street Excelsior,MN 55331 Clatiltas7d
Victoria,MN 55386 Li ho-SLS &4 0 5531
Witmer &M. Larson Craig&Pamela Lamb
7380 Minnewashta Pkwy. 7514 77th Street
Excelsior,MN 55331 Chaska,MN 55318
Levin Seacer John& Verna Peterjohn
3510 77th Street 3892 Lone Cedar Lane
C Chaska, 11,LN 55318
SS3g
Joseph&Paula Epping Nelson & Susan Odt
7508 77th Street W 7518 77th Street
Chaska,MN 55318 Chaska, MN 55318
Robert&Faye Corson Peter&Linda Fichuk
7504 77th Strete W 7513 77th Street
Chaska MN 55318 Chaska,MN 55318
Verona C. Gordon Dennis&Ronda Zattera
7511 77th Street 7515 77th Street W
Chaska,MN 55318 P. O. Box 190
Victoria,MN 55386
David& Amy Busch Geoffrey& S. Schiefelbein
7509 77th Street 3920 Hawthorne Circle
Chaska, MN 55318 Excelsior,MN 55331
Craig& Vicky Anderson David& Diane Zamjahn
7507 77th Street 7506 77th Street
Chaska,MN 55318 Chaska,MN 55318
Don and Bonnie Holman
3887 Forest Ridge Circle
Chaska,MN 55318
Willard&Rhoda Anenson
3885 Forest Ridge Circle
Chaska,MN 55318
Gregory W. Bernhardt
3883 Forest Ridge Circle
Chaska. MN 55318
C I T Y O F P.C. DATE: 2/3/93
C.C. DATE: 2/22/93
I • CHANHASSEN
CASE: 92-14 SUB
92-8 Vacation
Bv: Al-Jaff
STAFF REPORT
PROPOSAL: 1) Preliminary Plat to Subdivide 63.560 Acres into 4 Industrial lots
2) Vacation of Utility Easement and Previous Alignment of Lake
Drive East
QV LOCATION: South of Hwy. 5, east of Dell Road
APPLICANT : Mr. Randy Cadenhead
0. Sunlink Corporation
1100 Peachtree Street
Atlanta, GA 30309-4599
PRESENT ZONING: IOP, Industrial Office Park
ACREAGE: 63.560 acres
ADJACENT ZONING
AND LAND USE: N - Hwy. 5 and IOP
S - Eden Prairie and RSF
E - Eden Prairie/Dell Road/RSF
W - BH and RSF
QQ
r SEWER AND WATER: Services are available to the site.
SITE CHARACTERISTICS: The site has been extensively altered with the construction
W of Lake Drive East and the widening of Hwy. 5. Portions
of the site are covered with natural vegetation. The
Datasery building occupies the southwest portion of the site
(f) and a concrete pad occupies the northwestern portion of the
site. The concrete pad is the remains of a farm house. The
southeast corner of the site is occupied by 2 baseball fields.
2000 LAND USE PLAN: Industrial
Sunlink Subdivision
February 3, 1993
Page 2
PROPOSAL/SUMMARY
The applicant is requesting approval to subdivide a 63.560 acre site into 4 industrial lots. The
site is located south of Highway 5 and east of Dell Road. Access to the subdivision will be
provided by the existing Lake Drive East. Lot 1, Block 1 is proposed to be the future site for
a park and ride lot to be constructed by Southwest Metro Transit. Lot 2, Block 1 contains the
concrete pad from the farm house that used to occupy the northerly portion of the site and will
be reserved for future development. Lot 1, Block 2 contains an existing one story building
(Dataserv) and Lot 2, Block 2 will be reserved for future development. All of the proposed lots
meet the minimum requirements of the Zoning Ordinance. No development is being proposed
at this time, although staff is aware that Southwest Metro Transit is considering locating a park
and ride facility on one of the lots. Any development proposals will be brought back to the
Planning Commission and City Council for site plan approval.
The majority of the site has been farmed or altered through construction of Lake Drive East and
widening of Hwy. 5 and is covered with natural vegetation. There is an existing retention pond
located to the southwest corner of Lot 2, Block 2. Staff believes this plat request is a reasonable
one and is generally consistent with the guidelines established by the city's Comprehensive Plan
and Zoning Ordinance. Staff finds it to be well designed and is recommending that it be
approved with conditions outlined in the report.
PRELIMINARY PLAT
The applicant is proposing to subdivide a 63.560 acre site into 4 industrial lots. All of the lots
meet or exceed the minimum of l acre in area. Staff notes that the proposal is consistent with
the Comprehensive Plan and the Zoning Ordinance.
UTILITIES —
The parcel was recently divided with the extension of Lake Drive East from Dakota Avenue to
Dell Road. In conjunction with the street construction, municipal utilities were also extended.
Each proposed parcel has the ability to connect to municipal sanitary sewer and water lines. The
property also contains existing sanitary sewer and storm sewer easements which were previously
dedicated. It is recommended that these easements be dedicated on the final plat as drainage and
utility easements. The easements shall be 20 feet wide over each individual utility line to provide
adequate room for maintenance.
GRADING AND DRAINAGE
The parcel conveys storm water runoff overland through a couple of the proposed lots (Lot 2,
Block 1 and Lot 2, Block 2). Both drainage areas may involve alteration when the individual
lot is developed. On Lot 2, Block 1, the northwesterly corner of the parcel receives storm water _
Sunlink Subdivision
February 3, 1993
Page 3
runoff from Trunk Highway 5. The drainage follows the old roadway alignment thus, when the
roadway right-of-way is vacated, a drainage easement should be reserved. If in the future this
parcel is developed, alternative drainage modifications may be employed. At that time, the
appropriate drainage utility easements may be conveyed and the existing ones vacated.
On Lot 2, Block 2 an existing drainage ditch conveys storm water runoff from Lake Drive East
= to the wetland/retention pond on the east side of Dell Road (City of Eden Prairie). In an effort
to improve water quality from this development consistent with the City of Chanhassen's
standards, the applicant shall design and construct a storm retention pond on Lot 2, Block 2 to
intercept the storm drainage prior to discharging into Eden Prairie. The storm pond shall be
designed to NURP standards. According to the City of Eden Prairie, the treated runoff can be
discharged into the Dell Road storm sewer system at a peak rate of 38.4 cfs for a 100-year storm
event. The applicant shall be required to build the NURP pond at this time to accommodate the
future predicted runoff conditions based on land use. Drainage calculations shall be submitted
to the City for review and approval. The final plat should dedicate the appropriate drainage and
utility easement over the proposed ponding areas including access routes for maintenance.
STREETS
The site is serviced by Lake Drive East and Dell Road. Dell Road south of Lake Drive East,
however, is only partially constructed. The City of Eden Prairie has constructed their half of the
street this past year. As with other typical developments, the applicant is responsible for
constructing the public improvements associated with the overall plat development. Besides the
storm drainage retention pond, the applicant should be responsible for their share of the cost to
improve the westerly half of Dell Road lying south of Lake Drive East. It is estimated their
share of the project costs would be 20% of the total. The applicant should be required to petition
the City of Chanhassen to construct the Dell Road street improvements associated with this
subdivision. The appropriate project cost (20%) would be assessed back to the applicant. The
City will require the applicant to enter into a development contract waiving their rights to an
assessment hearing and the appeal process.
In conjunction with the platting of this development, we recommend that the applicant dedicate
the necessary right-of-way and temporary easements for the construction of Dell Road south of
Lake Drive East. According to street construction plans prepared by the City of Eden Prairie,
the applicant should dedicate the easterly 60 feet of Lot 2, Block 2 for right-of-way. This would
= also facilitate construction of a sidewalk/trail element along the west side of Dell Road to connect
with the existing sidewalk along Dell Road north of Lake Drive East.
Since this development will require public improvements (storm water pond), it is recommended
that a development contract be prepared in conjunction with this development and the applicant
provide the City with the necessary financial security to guarantee compliance with the conditions
of approval.
Sunlink Subdivision
February 3, 1993
Page 4
PARK AND RECREATION
The Park and Recreation Commission will be reviewing this application on January 26, 1993.
The Park and Recreation Coordinator has forwarded his comments in regard to this application
request, and they are as follows:
Parks: This site is on the fringe of the park service areas for South Lotus Lake Park and Rice
Marsh Lake Park. Although much of the site is park deficient, the desirability of pursuing
acquisition of a park as a part of this subdivision is not great. It should be noted, however, that
the city maintained and scheduled two ball fields on the DataSery property, now Lot 2, Block
2, for a period of years. If during the development of Lot 2 this use could be retained, it would
be of benefit to the city's park and recreation system. If the preservation of one or both of these
ball fields was realized, an appropriate reduction in park fees would be credited. If not, Lot 2,
Block 2 and Lots 1 and 2, Block 1, would be subject to full park fees at the rate in force upon
building permit application. Currently the park fee for commercial/industrial development is
$2,500 per acre.
Trails: Concrete sidewalks currently exist along the north side of Lake Drive East and on the
west side of the north half of the segment of Dell Road located in Chanhassen south of Highway —
5. An easement for trail purposes shall be obtained along the easterly border of Lot 2, Block 2
of sufficient width to allow continuation of this pedestrian route to the south, allowing for
connection to the Eden Prairie trail system. This trail segment would most likely be completed
with the construction of the Chanhassen segment of Dell Road and represents an important inter-
community connection. It will also provide direct access from the large residential area being
developed south of this site to the proposed park and ride facility at the corner of TH 5 and Dell —
Road. All vacant lots in the SunLink Addition will be subject to trail fees at the rate in force
upon building permit application. Currently the trail fee for commercial/industrial development
is $833.00 per acre.
Compliance Table
Lot Area Lot Width Lot Depth Setback —
Ordinance 1 acre 150' 200' N-30'
S-50'
E-50'
W-10'
Block 1
Lot 1 4.1 acres 395' 470'
Lot 2 15.788 acres 2,000' 470'
Sunlink Subdivision
February 3, 1993
Page 5
Lot Area Lot Width Lot Depth Setback
Block 2 21.279 acres 1,200' 850' N-110'
Lot 1 S-350'
E-450'
W-360'
Lot 2 18.789 acres 1,300' 620'
VACATION OF OLD UTILITY EASEMENT AND PREVIOUS ALIGNMENT OF LAKE
DRIVE EAST
The Planning Commission does not have to vote on the vacation, however, we are including it
as an informational item.
The applicant is requesting the vacation of the old utility easements and previous alignment of
Lake Drive East. The old alignment is reflected on proposed Lot 2, Block 1. On Lot 2, Block
1, the northwesterly corner of the parcel receives storm water runoff from Hwy. 5. The drainage
follows the old roadway alignment. Thus, a drainage easement should be reserved. If in the
future this parcel is developed, alternative drainage modifications may be employed. At that
time, the appropriate drainage utility easements may be conveyed and the existing ones vacated.
In conjunction with the city's Lake Drive East improvement project, utility lines were relocated
from the previous roadway alignment. These easements and right-of-way will be vacated in
conjunction with the final plat, with the exception of the drainage easement located within the
old 40 foot wide roadway alignment.
PRELIMINARY PLAT RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the Planning Commission adopt the following motion:
"The Planning Commission recommends approval of Preliminary Plat#92-14 creating 4 industrial
lots, Sunlink Addition, subject to the following conditions:
1. Drainage and utility easements should be shown on the final plat over all utility lines and
ponding areas outside the road right-of-way. The minimum width of the utility easements
shall be 20 feet wide.
2. The applicant shall dedicate on the final plat the easterly 60 feet of Lot 2, Block 2 for
Dell Road right-of-way and grant the City at no cost temporary construction easements
as necessary for the construction of Dell Road south of Lake Drive East.
Sunlink Subdivision
February 3, 1993
Page 6
3. The applicant shall enter a development contract and provide the City with the necessary
financial security to guarantee compliance with the conditions of approval.
4. The applicant shall construct a storm retention pond on Lot 2, Block 2 to intercept the
storm runoff from the development prior to discharging into Eden Prairie. The storm —
retention pond shall be constructed to NURP standards. Discharge into the Dell Road
storm sewer system shall be limited to 38.4 cfs for a 100-year storm event. Detailed
storm drainage calculations shall be submitted to the City Engineer for review and —
approval. A storm retention pond on Lot 2, Block 2 shall be constructed to accommodate
the development at "built out" conditions.
5. The applicant shall petition the city of Chanhassen to construct the western half of Dell
Road Street improvements, south of Lake Drive East to the southerly property line of Lot
2, Block 2. The applicant shall be assessed 20% of the project costs." —
ATTACHMENTS
1. Memo from Dave Hempel dated January 29, 1993.
2. Memo from Todd Hoffman dated December 22, 1992.
3. Letter from MnDOT dated December 30, 1992. —
4. Memo from City of Eden Prairie dated December 22, 1992.
5. Hearing notice.
01111'
• CITY a
CHANHASSEN
690 COULTER DRIVE • P.O. BOX 147 • CHANHASSEN. MINNESOTA 55317
(612) 937-1900 • FAX (612) 937-5739
MEMORANDUM
TO: Sharmin Al-Jaff, Planner I
FROM: Dave Hempel, Sr. Engineering Technician X_*74---
DATE: January 29, 1993
SUBJ: Review of Preliminary Plat for Sunlink Addition
LUR File No. 93-2
UTILITIES
The parcel was recently intersected with the extension of Lake Drive East from Dakota
Avenue to Dell Road. In conjunction with the street construction, municipal utilities were
also extended. Each proposed parcel has the ability to connect to municipal sanitary sewer
and water lines. The property also contains existing sanitary sewer and storm sewer
easements which were previously dedicated. It is recommended that these easements be
dedicated on the final plat as drainage and utility easements. The easements shall be 20
feet wide over each individual utility line to provide adequate room for maintenance.
GRADING AND DRAINAGE
The parcel conveys storm water runoff overland through a couple of the proposed lots (Lot
2, Block 1 and Lot 2, Block 2). Both drainage areas may involve alteration when the
individual lot is developed. On Lot 2, Block 1, the northwesterly corner of the parcel
receives storm water runoff from Trunk Highway 5. The drainage follows the old roadway
alignment thus, if the roadway right-of-way is vacated, a drainage easement should be
reserved. If in the future this parcel is developed, alternative drainage modifications may
be employed. At that time, the appropriate drainage utility easements may be conveyed and
the existing ones vacated.
On Lot 2, Block 2 an existing drainage ditch conveys storm water runoff from Lake Drive
East to the wetland/retention pond on the east side of Dell Road (City of Eden Prairie).
In an effort to improve water quality from this development consistent with the City of
t0, PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER
Sharmin Al-Jaff
January 29, 1993
Page 2
Chanhassen's standards, the applicant shall design and construct a storm retention pond on
Lot 2, Block 2 to intercept the storm drainage prior to discharging into Eden Prairie. The
storm pond shall be designed to NURP standards. According to the City of Eden Prairie,
the treated runoff can be discharged into the Dell Road storm sewer system at a peak rate
of 38.4 cfs for a 100-year storm event. The applicant shall be required to build the NURP
pond at this time to accommodate the future predicted runoff conditions based on land use.
Drainage calculations shall be submitted to the City for review and approval. The final plat
should dedicate the appropriate drainage and utility easement over the proposed ponding
areas including access routes for maintenance.
STREETS
The site is serviced by Lake Drive East and Dell Road. Dell Road south of Lake Drive
East, however, is only partially constructed. The City of Eden Prairie has constructed their
half of the street this past year. As with other typical developments, the applicant is
responsible for constructing the public improvements associated with the overall plat
development. Besides the storm drainage retention pond, the applicant should be
responsible for their share of the cost to improve the westerly half of Dell Road lying south
of Lake Drive East. It is estimated their share of the project costs would be 20% of the
project total. The applicant should petition the City of Chanhassen to construct the Dell
Road street improvements associated with this subdivision. The appropriate project cost
(20%) would be assessed back to the applicant. The City will require the applicant to enter
into a development contract waiving their rights to an assessment hearing and the appeal
process.
In conjunction with the platting of this development, we recommend that the applicant
dedicate the necessary right-of-way and temporary easements for the construction of Dell
Road south of Lake Drive East. According to street construction plans prepared by the City
of Eden Prairie, the applicant should dedicate the easterly 60 feet of Lot 2, Block 2 for
right-of-way. This would also facilitate construction of a sidewalk/trail element along the
west side of Dell Road to connect with the existing sidewalk along Dell Road north of Lake
Drive East.
Since this development will require public improvements (storm water pond), it is
recommended that a development contract be prepared in conjunction with this
development and the applicant provide the City with the necessary financial security to
guarantee compliance with the conditions of approval.
Sharmin Al-Jaff
January 29, 1993
Page 3
•
RECOMMENDED CONDITIONS OF APPROVAL
1. Drainage and utility easements should be shown on the final plat over all utility lines
and ponding areas outside the road right-of-way. The minimum width of the utility
easements shall be 20 feet wide.
2. The Applicant shall dedicate on the final plat the easterly 60 feet of Lot 2, Block 2
for Dell Road right-of-way and grant the City at no cost temporary construction
easements as necessary for the construction Dell Road south of Lake Drive East.
3. The applicant shall enter a development contract and provide the City with the
necessary financial security to guarantee compliance with the conditions of approval.
4. The applicant shall construct a storm retention pond on Lot 2, Block 2 to intercept
the storm runoff from the development prior to discharging into Eden Prairie. The
storm retention pond shall be constructed to NURP standards. Discharge into the
_ Dell Road storm sewer system shall be limited to 38.4 cfs for a 100-year storm event.
Detailed storm drainage calculations shall be submitted to the City Engineer for
review and approval. A storm retention pond on Lot 2, Block 2 shall be constructed
to accommodate the development at "built out" conditions.
5. The applicant shall petition the City of Chanhassen to construct the westerly half of
Dell Road street improvements south of Lake Drive East to the southerly property
line of Lot 2, Block 2. The applicant shall be assessed 20% of the project costs.
jms/ktm
c: Charles Folch, City Engineer
CITY OF
i ‘
CHANHASSEN
690 COULTER DRIVE • P.O. BOX 147 • CHANHASSEN, MINNESOTA 55317
, (612) 937-1900 • FAX (612) 937-5739
MEMORANDUM
TO: Sharmin Al-Jaff, Planner I
FROM: Todd Hoffman, Park and Recreation Coordinator
DATE: December 22, 1992
SUBJ: Sun Link Addition
The preliminary plat to subdivide approximately 60 acres into the Sun Link Addition will be
reviewed by the Park and Recreation Commission on January 26, 1993. However, to
accommodate your review schedule, I am forwarding the following comments in regard to parks,
trails, and recreation.
Parks: This site is on the fringe of the park service areas for South Lotus Lake Park and Rice
Marsh Lake Park. Although much of the site is park deficient, the desirability of pursuing
acquisition of a park as a part of this subdivision is not great. It should be noted, however, that
the city maintained and scheduled two ballfields on the DataSery property, now Lot 2, Block 2,
for a period of years. If during the development of Lot 2 this use could be retained, it would be
of benefit to the city's park and recreation system. If the preservation of one or both of these
ballfields was realized, an appropriate reduction in park fees would be credited. If not, Lot 2,
Block 2 and Lots 1 and 2, Block 1, would be subject to full park fees at the rate in force upon
building permit application. Currently the park fee for commercial/industrial development is
$2,500 per acre.
Trails: Concrete sidewalks currently exist along the north side of Lake Drive East and on the
west side of the north half of the segment of Dell Road located in Chanhassen south of Highway
5. An easement for trail purposes shall be obtained along the easterly border of Lot 2, Block 2
of sufficient width to allow continuation of this pedestrian route to the south, allowing for
connection to the Eden Prairie trail system. This trail segment would most likely be completed
with the construction of the Chanhassen segment of Dell Road and represents an important inter-
community connection. It will also provide direct access from the large residential area being
developed south of this site to the proposed park and ride facility at the corner of TH 5 and Dell
Road. All vacant lots in the SunLink Addition will be subject to trail fees at the rate in force
upon building permit application. Currently the trail fee for commercial/industrial development
is $833.00 per acre.
•Or PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER
11,,\NNES07:1 Minnesota Department of Transportation
—
Metropolitan Division
Transportation Building
5Q° St. Paul, Minnesota 55155
OF TRPC�
Oakdale Office,3485 Hadley Avenue North, Oakdale, Minnesota 55128
Golden Valley Office,2055 North Lilac Drive, Golden Valley, Minnesota 55422
Reply to
Telephone No. 593-8533
December 30, 1992
Jo Ann Olsen
Senior Planner
City of Chanhassen
690 Coulter Drive, P.O. Box 147
Chanhassen, MN 55317
In Reply refer to: TH 5
C.S. 2701
Sunlink Addition
Lake Dr./Dell Rd.
Chanhassen
Dear Ms. Olsen:
We are in receipt of the above referenced plat for our review in accordance with Minnesota
Statutes 505.02 and 505.03 Plats and Surveys. We find this plat acceptable for development
with consideration of the following comments:
• No direct access to TH 5 will be allowed. TH 5 has been upgraded in this area and
Mn/DOT has no plans for further improvements to accomodate additional direct
access at this time.
• Current drainage patterns and rates of runoff should be maintained.
If you have any other questions please feel free to call me at 593-8533.
Sincerely,
1464%01-‘ OS(AtK4'
William A. Sirois
Senior Transportation Planner
cc: Dotty Rietow, Metropolitan Council RECEIVED
— Roger Gustafson, Carver Co. Engineer
John Freemyer, Carver Co. Surveyor DEC 3 1 1992
CITY OF CHANHASSEN
Au Equal Opportunity Employer
DEC 22 '92 11:06 TO:9-9375739 FROM:CITY OF EDEN PRAIRIE T-226 P. 01
Post-It"'brand fax transmittal memo 7671 'of payee
- MEMORA igatasirsffea Ear . ue
FELe asAas � co.0/. a tee, rrtiri
Dem. Phone g
TO: Mike Franzen, Senior Planner
THROUGH: Alan D. Gray, City Engineer
FROM: Rodney W. Rue, Assistant City Engineer GtJ
DATE: December 22, 1992
SUBJECT: Comments on City of Chanhassen's Sunlink Addition
The following are our comments regarding the preliminary plat of the Sunlink Addition in the
City of Chanhassen.
• We recognize that the City of Chanhassen has an excellent water quality program that
we are confident will provide the necessary facilities to ensure quality storm water
entering Eden Prairie. However, we should remind them about a couple of items that
were discussed at the time of the Multi-Site Drainage Study (Jamestown, Shores of
Mitchell. Lake and Windfield);
1. All drainage from this site needs to be directed and routed through a pond
designed to NURP standards (as required by the City of Chanhassen).
2. This treated water can be discharged into the Dell Road storm sewer system at
a peak rate of 38.4 CFS for a 100-year storm. This rate is equivalent to the pre-
development runoff rate. (See attachments from Multi-Site Drainage Study,
including letter from OSM)
• We would encourage that the proposed pond near Dell Road be constructed as soon as
possible. This would provide both a quantity and quality control system during
development of this 60 acre site. We would request that grading and ponding plans
adjacent to Dell Road be forwarded to the Engineering Division for review and comment.
• This plat needs to dedicate 60 feet of right-of-way for Dell Road together with a 10-foot
drainage and utility easement along Dell Road between Lake Drive East and
Chanhassen's southern border. Temporary easements will also be needed on this
property in order to complete the construction of Dell Road and the appropriate storm
sewer improvements.
• With the dedicated right-of-way as proposed, the City of Chanhassen needs to commit
to building the western half of Dell Road (between Lake Drive East and Chanhassen's
southern border) in 1993 in order to provide a complete road section through this area.
RWR:ssa
Dsk:RR.SUNI_rNK
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING ,10
006
/,
PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING ,
��►• t ;�► 4115,/ •/
Wednesday, January6, 1993 - 7:30 „TA ••••/.
_ ,
111
s ti PP
P.M. :�►�� Q' ?/ Q ��
City Hall Council Chambers ' 77►h ST•EET
2 690 Coulter Drive 1
W :TH ST
Project: Sunlink Addition
Developer: Sunlink Corporationr , •,. A:
Location: South of Hwy. 5 and East of or Nr HANHASS N " /
Dell Road .� w�W4 RENr f NA AR /
Notice: You are invited to attend a public hearing about a development proposed in
your area. Sunlink Corporation proposes to subdivide approximately 60 acres into 4 lots on
property zoned IOP, Industrial Office Park, located south of Hwy. 5 and east of Dell Road.
What Happens at the Meeting: The purpose of this public hearing is to inform
you about the developer's request and to obtain input from the neighborhood about this
project. During the meeting, the Planning Commission Chair will lead the public hearing
through the following steps:
1. Staff will give an over view of the proposed project.
2. The Developer will present plans on the project.
3. Comments are received from the public.
4. Public hearing is closed and the Commission discusses project. The
Commission will then make a recommendation to the City Council.
Questions or Comments: If you want to see the plans before the meeting, please
stop by City Hall during office hours, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. If you
wish to talk to someone about this project, please contact Sharmin at 937-1900. If you
choose to submit written comments, it is helpful to have one copy to the Planning Department
in advance of the meeting. Staff will provide copies to the Commission.
Notice of this public hearing has been published in the Chanhassen Villager on December 24,
1992.
P/.23/f: , .
Chanhassen Holding Company McDonald's Corp (22-146) Systems Control, Inc.
14201 Excelsior Blvd. AMF O'Hare 755 Mary Avenue No.
Minnetonka, MN 55343 P. O. Box 66207 Sunnyvale, CA 94086
Chicago, IL 60666
Walter & Kathleen Schollman Ramond & Mary Ann Jezierski Eugene & N. L. Gagner
8011 Dakota Avenue 8013 Dakota Circle 8025 Dakota Avenue
Chanhassen, MN 55317 Chanhassen, MN 55317 Chanhassen, MN 55317
Richard & Mary Dorfner Michael W. Farrell Robert & Barbara Armbrust
8026 Cheyenne Avenue 8024 Cheyenne Avenue 8022 Cheyenne Avenue
Chanhassen, MN 55317 Chanhassen, MN 55317 Chanhassen, MN 55317
Douglas & Kathleen Bagley George & A. Jennings N. Einar & Valborg Swedberg _
8020 Cheyenne Avenue 8018 Cheyenne Avenue Co-Trustees
Chanhassen, MN 55317 Chanhassen, MN 55317 8016 Cheyenne Avenue
Chanhassen, MN 55317
Daniel & Linda Robinson Mitchell T. Lebens Richard & B. Frasch
8014 Cheyenne Avenue 8012 Cheyenne Avenue 8010 Cheyenne Avenue
Chanhassen, MN 55317 Chanhassen, MN 55317 Chanhassen, MN 55317
Michael & Cynthia Koenig Gerard & Lindsay Amadeo Alex & Marilyn Krengel
8005 Cheyenne Avenue 8007 Cheyenne Avenue 8009 Cheyenne Avenue
Chanhassen, MN 55317 Chanhassen, MN 55317 Chanhassen, MN 55317
Alice L. Sieren Stephen & Joann MacDonald Russell & V. Hamilton
8011 Cheyenne Avenue 8017 Cheyenne Spur 8019 Cheyenne Avenue
Chanhassen, MN 55317 Chanhassen, MN 55317 Chanhassen, MN 55317
Glenn & Bonnie Hageman Thomas & Joy Eastman Craig & Kathryn Humason
8021 Cheyenne Spur 8023 Cheyenne Spur 8025 Cheyenne Spur
Chanhassen, MN 55317 Chanhassen, MN 55317 Chanhassen, MN 55317
Alois & M. Stumpfl George & Theresa Thomas Robert Seward
8027 Cheyenne Avenue 8029 Cheyenne Avenue 8031 Cheyenne Avenue
Chanhassen, MN 55317 Chanhassen, MN 55317 Chanhassen, MN 55317
Conrad & L. Fiskness Mary Ann Wallin Michael & Marie Kraus
8033 Cheyenne Avenue 8035 Cheyenne Avenue 8037 Cheyenne Avenue
Chanhassen, MN 55317 Chanhassen, MN 55317 Chanhassen, MN 55317
(18210 W. 78th Street
Lotus Lake Garden Center, Inc. Frank Beddor, Jr.)
78 West 78th Street 5317 Eden Prairie Assembly God Church
Chanhassen, MN 16591 Duck Lake Trail
Eden Prairie, MN 55346-1298
Terry & Margaret Lewis
8013 Cheyenne Avenue (18556 Wynnfield Rd.)
Chanhassen, MN 55317 Lundgren Bros. Construction
935 East Wayzata Blvd.
Wayzata, MN 55391
Vernon & Barbara Husemoen
8015 Cheyenne Avenue Thomas & Patricia Redmond
Chanhassen, MN 55317 c/c Redmond Products, Inc.
18930 West 78th Street
Chanhassen, MN 55317
Lyman Lumber
P 0 Box 40
Excelsior, MN 55331
Chanhassen Center Partners
c/o Builders Development
Randal & Cynthia Bottelson P 0 Box 637
8084 Crescent Court Wayzata, MN 55391
Eden Prairie, MN 55347
T & P. Redmond Tandem Properties
c/o Pat Webber 2765 Casco Point Road
17429 Valley Road Wayzata, MN 55391
Eden Prairie, MN 55344
Windfield Ltd. Partnership
c/o Pemtom Land Co.
8200 Humboldt Avenue S.
Bloomington, MN 55431
The Press, Inc.
18780 West 78th Street
Chanhassen, MN 55317
CITYOF
CHANHASSEN
690 COULTER DRIVE • P.O. BOX 147 • CHANHASSEN, MINNESOTA 55317
(612) 937-1900 • FAX (612) 937-5739
MEMORANDUM
TO: Planning Commission
FROM: Jo Ann Olsen, Senior Planner .)
DATE: January 12, 1993
SUBJ: City Code Amendment to the Subdivision and PUD Ordinance Regarding
Cul-de-sac Lengths
Background
Currently, the Subdivision Ordinance (Article III, Section 18-57 [k)) states that "the maximum
length of a street terminating in a cul-de-sac shall be determined as a function of the expected
development density along the street, measured from the centerline of the street of origin to the
end of the right-of-way." This design standard is vague at best, has been very difficult to
interpret, and has been difficult to enforce to require connection of cul-de-sacs where staff felt
appropriate. There have been proposals in the past where an applicant provided cul-de-sacs
instead of through streets. In many of these cases, the cul-de-sacs could easily be connected to
provide a through street, which are preferred by the Planning, Engineering and Public Safety
Staff. Staff does not deny the attractiveness of cul-de-sacs for a homeowner. Unlike several
other communities, we are not proposing to ban them or place some sort of cap on the number
within a plat. Rather we are proposing to place limits on their connection when appropriate for
public safety and reasonable access.
The Planning Commission directed Planning Staff to review the standards for cul-de-sacs and to
provide a maximum distance permitted for a cul-de-sac. On November 18, 1992, the Planning
Commission discussed standards for cul-de-sacs and recommended that a maximum length of 600
feet be enforced unless there were some unusual circumstances which warranted a longer cul-de-
-
sac (such as topography, wetlands, etc.).
Staff is recommending that the attached ordinance be adopted. These standards are taken from
the Minnetonka code and provides what the Planning Commission requested (a maximum length
and exceptions).
7.0 PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER
Planning Commission
January 12, 1993
Page 2 —
PLANNING COMMISSION UPDATE
On January 20, 1993,the Planning Commission tabled action on the cul-de-sac amendments until
staff could prepare an intent statement and make some changes proposed by the Planning
Commission.
Staff has added an intent statement to the proposed amendment and has made changes suggested
by the Planning Commission (see attached ordinance). —
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the Planning Commission recommend approval of the attached ordinance
amending Section 18-57(k) concerning lengths of cul-de-sacs.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Ordinance Amendment.
2. Planning Commission minutes dated November 18, 1992.
3. Planning Commission minutes dated January 20, 1993.
CITY OF CHANHASSEN
CARVER AND HENNEPIN COUNTIES. MINNESOTA
• ORDINANCE NO.
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 18
OF THE CHANHASSEN CITY CODE CONCERNING CUL-DE-SAC LENGTHS
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CHANHASSEN ORDAINS:
Section 1. Article III, Design Standards, Section 18-57(k) of the Chanhassen City Code
is hereby amended to read:
18-57(k) Although cul-de-sacs may provide a more private setting and feeling of security,
if they exceed a certain length, the resulting issues outweigh the aesthetics. Excessively long cul-
- de-sacs can result in a community isolated into pockets rather than one of neighborhoods in the
traditional sense. They make the provision of emergency services more difficult and have a
higher probability of loss of access due to emergencies such as water main breaks and storm
damage. They also increase the length of trips and reliance on the automobile, while making use
of transit, bike trails and sidewalks more difficult. Long cul-de-sacs create problems and excess
costs for the provision of services such as school buses, sewer and water, etc. Therefore, the city
will allow the construction of cul-de-sacs only if they do not exceed a certain length as
determined by the city.
1. Cul-de-sac streets shall be measured along the center line of the street from the
intersection of origin to the end of the cul-de-sac right-of-way. For cul-de-sacs that
terminate in loop streets as opposed to cul-de-sac bubbles, the length shall be measured
from the intersection of origin to the point on the loop located farthest from the point of
origin. The design standard for cul-de-sac streets are as follows:
a. Each cul-de-sac shall have a terminus in the form of a street loop or of a bubble
of nearly circular shape unless modified by the City with a minimum right-of-way
diameter of 120 feet and a minimum pavement diameter of 91 feet to the back of
curb for an urban residential street; 96 feet to the back of curb for
commercial/industrial streets; and for a rural cul-de-sac, 120 diameter right-of-
_ way, an 85 foot diameter pavement section with a 6 foot wide gravel shoulder
b. The property line at the intersection of the bubble and the straight portion of the
street shall be rounded at a radius of not less than 30 feet.
c. Center islands, within cul-de-sac bubbles shall be prohibited unless they meet the
following standards:
1) The center island is intended for residential application.
2) The center island will preserve natural features.
3) The urban design shall consist of a minimum 48 foot diameter island with
an outside curb diameter of 91 feet.
4) The center islands shall be privately maintained by a homeowner's
association. Responsibility for maintenance would be clearly established _
in the chain-of-title.
d. Cul-de-sac streets may not be longer than 600' unless a majority of the City _
Council permits a longer length based upon the following conditions:
1) Severe topography: The cul-de-sac would preserve the physical character _
of the property or adjacent properties, whereas, an extension of the street
would severely impact the site due to excessive grading.
2) Significant vegetation and sensitive features: The cul-de-sac would
preserve mature trees and sensitive features on the property that will not
otherwise be removed due to development, whereas an extension of _
through street would cause their destruction.
3) Existing development: The pattern of existing development requires that —
the only practical public access is a long cul-de-sac.
4) Temporary cul-de-sac: The cul-de-sac is temporary and designed to be —
extended to provide access to an adjacent property that has not undergone
development.
Section 2. This ordinance shall be effective immediately upon its passage and publication.
PASSED AND ADOPTED by the Chanhassen City Council this day of —
1993.
ATTEST:
Don Ashworth, Clerk/Manager Donald J. Chmiel, Mayor _
2 —
CHANHASSEN PLANNING COMMISSION
REGULAR MEETING
JANUARY 20, 1993
Chairman Batzli called the meeting to order at 7:40 p .m .
MEMBERS PRESENT: Diane Harberts , Ladd Conrad , Joe Scott , Brian Batzli ,
Jeff Farmakes , Nancy Mancino , and Matt Ledvina
STAFF PRESENT: Kate Aanenson , Planner II
PUBLIC HEARING
SUBDIVISION AND PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT ORDINANCE AMENDMENT REGARDING
REQUIREMENTS OF CUL-DE-SAC LENGTHS.
Kate Aanenson presented the staff report on this item . Chairman Batzli
called the public hearing to order .
Ledvina moved, Farmakes seconded to close the public hearing. All voted in
favor and the motion carried. The public hearing was closed.
Batzli : The record should show that there 's no one in the crowd really .
Normally , for those of you who are new to the Planning Commission , after we
close the public hearing , go around. Get comments from the individual
commissioners and we 'll do that in order , normally starting from one side
or the other . Tonight I 'm going to start with Ladd , just so that I don't
have to put anybody on the spot . But don 't be bashful about asking
questions or raising issues or asking why we 're even doing this. So having
said that , Ladd . Do you have any comments on this?
Conrad: I like cul-de-sacs . I like islands in cul-de-sacs . Cul-de-sacs
can be a real benefit and amenity . I don 't have a problem with the
ordinance but I just want everybody to think . One thing , did we rob this
literally word for word from Minnetonka? Did we add anything other than
600 feet?
Aanenson: Yeah , because they have 500 feet. So yeah.
Conrad: Okay , so we said 600 but the rest is their 's . It 's a real
technical type of ordinance . It really doesn 't talk to you about the
purposes and why we 're doing it . It says , here 's the technical stuff so I
don 't like how it is but I 'm not going to belabor it . It doesn't say , you
know the big deal about a cul-de-sac is the situation case of emergency .
So we haven 't changed any specs . -In terms of a wider street or whatever .
We 're just saying emergency vehicles . There 's only 12 houses down there so
no big deal . I guess again , we 've put the technical things down and I
think 600 feet is okay . That 's going to solve my ideal . I just want
everybody to know that when the wording says center islands within
cul-de-sacs shall be prohibited , that 's basically what it means . It says
unless , but basically we 're , the engineer 's going to recommend against them
all the time . Nothing more .
• Batzli : Would you prefer to see ( a ) an intent section, and ( b ) , that we
define what sort of center islands would be appropriate?
Planning Commission Meeting
January 20 , 1993 - Page 2
Conrad: Brian , I just don 't like the ordinance because of all the
technical stuff . Do I want that? Do I want it to have an intent?
Cul-de-sac intent? We haven 't given any , you know if we 're going to have ,
unless a design is approved by the City Engineer , it basically takes us
out . You know point number 3 , we are not part of the decision making
process . You should know that based on the . . . It 's not allowed . The Cit
Engineer could allow it . If we think it 's a valid use , and there are
problems with center islands . You 've got maintenance problems and you 've
got snow plowing problems and there 's no doubt . They just happen, when
they 're done right and somebody maintains them , they 're really pretty and
they really make that cul-de-sac in that neighborhood a real nice area . So
it 's a compromise between making it a nice little community , a nice little
area street versus allowing for emergency vehicles to go all the way
through . I 'm not going to make an issue . No , I don 't like what I see
here . I 'm not making an issue out of it .
Batzli : Well see , we scheduled the discussion , just a little bit of
history . I think you probably , the new people got a flavor of why we 're
looking at this but with a recent proposal of the Lundgren development ove
at TH 5 and TH 41 . The Planning Commission reversed itself at the last
minute by putting through what had been two cul-de-sacs and requesting that
it be changed into a thru street . Based on that , I requested that staff -
bring it up as an item for discussion as to whether or not we like
cul-de-sacs and to look at it from a planning perspective as opposed to a
safety perspective because I thought we weren't getting the complete
picture of what and why we were recommending for or against these
cul-de-sacs . We 've heard and the staff report makes it very ,clear that a
litany is becoming somewhat repetitious . Well that 's putting it nicely .
We 've heard repeatedly that these are safety concerns , safety issues for
fire trucks going down cul-de-sacs . Turning onto a wrong one . Not being
able to turn around . If for example the entrance gets flooded , which is
what happened down in Fox Hollow several years ago when we had the 13 incl
rain , can you get out a separate way . We 've heard the safety concerns an:
what I wanted to hear last time was , that 's fine but from a , not from a
safety standard but from a neighborhood development , sense of community ,
those types of issues , what are we doing by constructing a lot of
cul-de-sacs . And we addressed that a little bit last time . I was kind of
disappointed . I think we ended up talking about it late at night so those
concerns were sort of glossed over . But what I 'm hearing tonight from La(: i
at least initially is that he likes them . He thinks they 're valuable in
certain aspects . A feeling of security. Crime . Those kinds of issues
that weren 't really , I don 't think fully flushed out the first time , the
last time that we talked about it . And if other commissioners have those
concerns , I don 't want to blindly adopt the ordinance if we 're not really
sure why we 're doing it or maybe we should adopt it from the standpoint of_
safety and then re-evaluate it if it is a concern that there 's going to be
a lot of development coming in and we want to limit it . We would rather
limit it and then go back and look at it as opposed to not having any
limitations on it , or very few limitations on it , while we 're studying it .-
I mean we can look at it one of two ways but , said that . Matt , do you ha% ,
comments?
Ledvina: Just a couple of things again that , the topic of discussion that
was batted around last time was the length and we talked about 500 feet at
Planning Commission Meeting
January 20 , 1993 - Page 3
750 feet and the 600 foot distance is fine . I guess I would , I think that
some of the things that you said Brian could be flushed out in an intent
statement , which could b2 you know a header to this thing and discussing
some of the safety concerns in the community , etc . I think we could change
item 3 to read , taking into consideration what Ladd said . Center islands
with cul-de-sac bubbles shall be allowed subject to design approval by the
City Engineer , Fire Department , etc , etc . I think that accomplishes the
same thing and it 's not a negative thing. It 's a more positive thing . And
it 's just saying we want to make sure they 're done right . I guess I think
we can cover that by just changing that to the positive . But other than
that , it would be good for the developer to have some guidance on this
thing and we kicked it around and I kind of felt sorry for Lundgren , the
way they had to work through this thing . If they would have had this
ordinance , I think it would have been a little smoother process for them .
So I 'm in favor of the ordinance I guess , and I don 't know if we can just
direct staff to include an intent statement and then send it off , you know
with this other change , or if we need to see it again . I don 't know about
that .
Aanenson: I think we 're clear as to what you 're looking for . The
community issues . Crime .
Ledvina: I think the verbage that would go in there is all contained it
Paul 's report here . It would just have to be distilled and just hit the
right spots I think and I think it's ready to go .
Batzli : So you would propose that we just proceed by giving it to staff to
draft an intent section?
Ledvina : I think that would be appropriate . I 'm comfortable with that . I
think they understand what the issues are and if they review the Minutes
and include some of your discussion , I think as it relates to the
cul-de-sac as part of the community and how it effects the community . I
think developers will get the idea that they 'll touch on it . They 'll think
about it , maybe if they hadn't before and as they see necessary , they 'll
incorporate that criteria into their decision on whether they will develop
with them or not .
Batzli : I guess I 'm not sure what my goals are in putting in cul-de-sacs
or not putting them in . So I don't know that I 'm comfortable letting staff
do that . I 'm not sure what my goals are yet . For example , it 's a dumb
example but my particular development , Fox Hollow , could be considered a
huge cul-de-sac if you chopped off the emergency exit which is now becoming
a regular thoroughfare through North Lotus Park . Huge cul-de-sac with many
different little cul-de-sacs in the interior . However it has a main loop .
And in the summer it 's quite an extraordinary event that everyone in the
neighborhood walks around the block with their little kids , and it 's fun
and it brings you closer to everyone in your neighborhood . And the issue
in my mind is , if you have a cul-de-sac , that 's a long cul-de-sac , you
probably , you may get some movement up and down that but it 's kind of a
phenomenon in some of these newer developments that you see people walking
around . Now if you promote something like we did in the Lundgren
development where you have cul-de-sacs and there is no promenade , are you
eliminating this sense of small little communities within a bigger
Planning Commission Meeting
January 20 , 1993 - Page 4
community? And I don 't know that staff has answers to that and I don 't -
know whether we want to encourage that or not , but it seems to me that kir I
of discussion , you know should we be promoting these or shouldn 't we be , 1
think maybe we want to think about it . But I don 't know if we should or
not . I don 't know .
Conrad: There 's not a real clear answer . We 're weighing safety versus
some neighborhood thing . Continuity so it 's , I think the 600 foot is
reasonable . What we want to do is give a developer the opportunity to us(
their land and not abuse the land and cul-de-sacs many times can do that . I
really didn 't like changing the Lundgren thing . I wasn 't here for that
decision . But I didn 't like that . I thought the cul-de-sacs .
Batzli : I was the only one that voted against it by the way .
Conrad: My congratulations Brian .
Ledvina : It 's not like we trashed all the cul-de-sacs . We just . . .that or -3
street . There was 4 other cul-de-sacs I believe so they had both things
that development .
Conrad: Well they really give the developer some opportunities to do
different things that are just not a grid street system and they can
incorporate the lay of the land a little bit . I 'm not uncomfortable with
what the wording of our point number 4 . And we don 't want to encourage
long cul-de-sacs . There 's just no point . I think some of them have been
huge , and I don 't think we need that . So again my comment is , I like them
but we don 't need excessive cul-de-sacs . I think some of it 's just the
mechanics of how we want to express ourselves in an ordinance .
Ledvina: Well I live on a 900 foot cul-de-sac and I 've never seen a police
car in my cul-de-sac so that concerns me .
Batzli : Well I don 't know , I grew up in Tonka Bay where it seems every
road is a cul-de-sac . Long cul-de-sac going out on little isthmus or
penninsulas or what have you and there was never any problem so I don 't
understand .
Ledvina: Not that that is a problem but you know, in 5 years you 'd like
see one police car .
Batzli : When they deliver your packet .
Mancino : I have a question . Matthew , you said that you lived on a 900
foot cul-de-sac?
Ledvina: Right .
Mancino: Did it help give you a sense of intimacy , neighborhood?
Ledvina: Well , I like it alot . We see our neighbors a lot and I don 't
know , there 's just a , it 's true. I don't interact with the neighbors
behind me because they never come around so I think it does tend to isola'
people into smaller groups .
Planning Commission Meeting
January 20 , 1993 - Page 5
Farmakes: So if the road was connected 9 houses down , do you feel that you
would be any less intimate with your neighbors next door?
Ledvina : Yeah I would . Actually I 'm right at the end of the cul-de-sac so
they would connect that around but those other people that live in back of
me would most likely use my street mo e . I don 't know . They wouldn 't
necessarily have a reason to but they might walk around the block a little
more . I don 't know.
Conrad: The people who live in cul-de-sacs love them . Everybody in this
Council chamber . . .they love cul-de-sacs .
Batzli : I bought my house because I thought I was on a cul-de-sac .
Farmakes : You thought you were?
Batzli : Well yeah , they put it through with the park but I bought it
because I thought I was on a cul-de-sac.
Mancino: I have another question . I don 't live on a cul-de-sac but I live
at the end of a private road and I like it for the safety purposes . The
other thing is , if you also like it because of the privacy it gives you , do
you feel that it gives you more privacy than you normally would get with a
thru street?
Conrad: People who live on them like that aspect , yeah .
Mancino: Okay. So we have privacy and we have security , safe .
Batzli : I think they like it if they have children as well because they
feel it gets much less traffic . So their kids can play in the road and
they don 't have to be worried that they're going to have cars zipping
through the neighborhood using it as a thoroughfare .
Scott: But unless a developer has a long recentangular property , they're
probably not going to have one cul-de-sac with stuff on the side . I mean
- they tend to have , at least in our neighborhood, we have the promenade
situation with cul-de-sacs off the outside and then kind of a , not a common
area but where all the lots come together and I think the intent is just to
minimize the length of the cul-de-sac and what ultimately determines how
somebody determines how something develops is the shape of the land . I
mean they 're going to try to maximize the number of lots that they can get
on the property and depending on the topography and the shape of the
property , is probably the major determining factor .
Batzli : Matt , did you have anything else?
Ledvina: No .
Batzli : Okay . Joe , why don 't you go ahead and complete your comment
there .
Scott: My soliloquy . My personal opinion is , I tend to agree with. I mean
you talked about safety and so forth but the sense of , one of my priorities
Planning Commission Meeting
January 20 , 1993 - Page 6
is the sense of community and having the ability for people in a particular
neighborhood , not only to interact with themselves but other neighbors bum
then also with adjacent neighborhoods . And obviously because of the
climate we have here , that that 's going to happen more often at certain
times of the year . But from reading through this and talking to neighbcrs
and people on cul-de-sacs and not on cul-de-sacs , and in talking to a
couple of developers , this is really not onerous . I don 't think it reall•,
compromises a developer 's ability to get their job done to make the kind of
return they need . But the thing I keep coming back to is the safety issu .
The time you need an emergency vehicle and they can 't get down there ,
that 's part of it too . But I 'm primarily concerned about the community
aspect of it and I think it's a Lundgren development where there 's , I
believe it 's a connection between Timberwood and the Lundgren development
You know what I 'm talking about . I think that sort of thing should be
encouraged because when you think about the traffic . I mean it 's one thing
when you talk about Frontier Trail connecting through Novak-Fleck and
coming back in that way . That 's a thoroughfare situation but I think
because of the railroad tracks and because of the way those two adjacent
developments were set up , I don 't really see that being a thoroughfare
because I think both , going through Timberwood , if you 're coming off Galp i
and you would go through Timberwood south and then you 'd come back out on
Galpin again . So in that particular situation , I don 't think you 'd have A-
thoroughfare there . That would just be something that would be utilized I
the residents . But I 'm also familiar with , Brian with your area where
that 's a neat way to get from CR 17 to TH 101 is to go Pleasant View and go
right through your neighborhood . So I think it 's important to determine ,
is it going to become a thoroughfare or is it just something that 's going
to be utilized by the residents .
Batzli : Well staff assured us when they connected the road that it would
never be used as a thoroughfare . Not this particular staff .
Scott : Alright , I have no more comment on that.
Batzli : Okay , Jeff .
Farmakes: I have no problems against cul-de-sacs . I think our discussio
may be discussing the merits of cul-de-sacs . I think what we're discussing
here is a reasonable solution to a conflict , different conflicts of
interest . We have one that's profit motivated . We have one where it 's
consumer driven and we have others such as Fed Ex or Hanus Bus Company or
police , a whole slew of issues that service a community that are hampered
by not having a connection from neighborhood to neighborhood . What this s
asking for and suggesting to a developer , as far as I can -see , is a
reasonable amount of length going to a cul-de-sac . We don 't have a long
cul-de-sac and I would like to see an intent statement where , or reason f,
this because it seems like in the past we did have this ordinance and it
sort of got fuzzy . And some of that was our interpretation and also I
think some of these larger developments that meander over large , difficult
type topography , seem to lend themselves to these 18 houses down on a
private road turning into a cul-de-sac and coming back . I 'm not sure abok1:.
4 . When your comments on 4 Ladd , did you . You know on 4 . Did you feel
that that was necessary or omit it?
Planning Commission Meeting
January 20 , 1993 - Page 7
Conrad: No . I think it make sense so you can have a cul-de-sac . You
can 't go longer than 600 feet but if you have to hear the criteria , I like
that .
Farmakes: So you like them listed out rather than just ask for a variance?
Conrad: It tells a developer exactly what they can and can 't do . Why they
can propose something longer . That 's exactly what we want . We didn 't do
that very well in point number 3 . It just says it 's prohibited period .
And point number 3 is saying , if we like them , and there are real problems
with islands . There really are but .
Ledvina: But the main two issues are safety and maintenance .
Farmakes: It still doesn 't stop them from coming forward with PUD and
asking for a long cul-de-sac correct?
Aanenson: Right , that 's correct . And as a staff we may encourage in some
situations that we 'd want them longer to save vegetation or .
Farmakes : Okay , so that opening is there . I 'm going back to some of the ,
we 're cutting down on some of the discussion on some of these site plan
reviews . This would go a long way in doing that . It gives a reasonable
intent of what the design is . Telling developers , hey if you 're going to
design this , design this knowing that we would like a modification of a
reasonable cul-de-sac arrangement so we don 't have these long extensive
private roads . And it seems , not reinventing the wheel but the rest of the
communities around who are older , as far as cosmopolitan age , are following
a standard anywhere from 500 to 1 ,000 . So it seems like 600 or , 600 is
what it used to be correct?
Ledvina: No , 500 .
Farmakes: It used to be 500? Okay , so we came up with 600 for whatever
reason . It seems like that would be a reasonable amount of homes I guess
to the access road . And I would support that . As to the actual numbers
that are up on the top there , I 'm going to trust our engineer on that and
my comments on the island I still , aesthetically , I have no problems with
islands . As I have no problems with cul-de-sacs . Just again , that they 're
not over used .
Conrad: Right . Right , but you know staff 's point and it 's real valid , is
maintenance . It 's real valid . There's no doubt about that but boy are
they pretty and do they take a circular area that 's bigger . You 've got
this big circular area that 's kind of ugly and you put an island in it , all
of a sudden it 's pretty . So it 's a real neat amenity if we can justify the
maintenance and stuff . If we can 't justify it .
Mancino: I saw one last Sunday night in an Edina . . .Edina suburb and it was
an island which I hadn 't seen too many of them . I don 't think , are there
any in Chanhassen right now?
Scott : Is it Hesse Farms or Hesse Farms? I know the large lot on the
bluff , there 's a couple of them up there that look kind of tear dropped
Planning Commission Meeting
January 20 , 1993 - Page 8
shape but it 's like , they 're not standard width streets . I think actually
it 's a private road .
Batzli : There 's one on the end of , going into Lotus off of TH 101 . The
whatever Estates there . The big huge houses out on the point of Lotus .
There 's a tear dropped shape one there . I mean that thing is probably
older than the hills .
Mancino: Well this one was round and there are oaks in the neighborhood
and then they had 2 or 3 oaks and that was about it. I mean it wasn 't
really landscaped . There were 3 just very natural big , huge oak trees that
were in the center island . Visually it was very nice and it broke up aga.
the pavement that was in the circular area .
Scott: I wonder if that 's something , because we 're talking about an
exception to cul-de-sac length . Talking about significant vegetation . :I
mean perhaps if there is significant vegetation , i .e . mature trees that
could be saved by using a bubble or whatever , an island . Maybe that 's one_
of the things that if you 're talking about Ladd , if you 're talking about
adding ( a ) , ( b ) , ( c ) and ( d ) to number 3 , perhaps some of these may apply .
Points for 4 it might apply and 3 as well .
Ledvina : You might even adjust the alignment your street to center those
or 3 oaks in that one spot .
Scott: It 's certainly not being lost on the commercial side of it . Then
that would be an enhancement to the lots . The value of the lots that would
be on that particular cul-de-sac as well so I would think the developer
would keep them in . . .
Farmakes: I 'd just sum up my comments in saying that again , I support
limiting this and I would support the 600 square feet . And I 'm open to
modifications but I think that the intent that we 're talking about here I
think is important .
Batzli : Okay . Nancy .
Mancino: Well , I don 't think I have anything new to add to what Jeff just
said . An intent statement I think would be helpful . I am very much pro
cul-de-sacs for the security , the privacy , the environmental rasons that
we 've stated . The feeling of intimacy of neighborhoods that one can gain .
And I don 't think it necessarily has to detract from a sense of community
I don 't think that your intimacy in your neighborhood takes away from you)
feeling of a larger thought of community. In fact I think it can add to
instead of detract . So I don 't think it 's one thing or another . I think
it 's part of the whole sense of community . Having neighborhoods and havii )
them very intimate and people being close with each other and then bringikj
that into a bigger picture . I support the guidelines for developers for
600 feet and would like to see , as Matthew brought up , the center islands -
changed to a more positive statement that center islands shall be allowed
subject to the approval of the City Engineer and Fire Department . And
maybe we can add to that also .
Batzli : Okay , is that it? Diane .
Planning Commission Meeting
January 20 , 1993 - Page 9
Harberts: I guess I 'm
just going to add that I just had difficulty with
cul-de-sacs with regard to the center landscaping because it 's purely from
the cost factor of streets , maintenance , snow removal . So I guess I can
support the ordinance but I have trouble with allowing any type of center
but I guess I appreciate the significant vegetation , trees , etc that would
be saved as a result of allowing such . From a cost perspective , from
safety , from getting the vehicles in there to do their job , especially from
a safety issue , it 's usually very time related . You don 't want to be
caught going down the wrong street . That 's what it gets down to when it
comes down to safety . That 's all I have to add .
Batzli : Okay . Kate , I 've got a couple of questions on the wording . On
paragraph 3 where we talk about center islands shall be prohibited , blah ,
blah , blah and privately maintained . I assume we 're talking about the
center islands shall be privately maintained .
Aanenson: Correct .
Batzli : I think we need to add the words , and shall be privately
maintained to there . But more troublesome in that sentence is the , we can
change it but regardless of how we change it , they may be allowed you know
if the design is approved by the City Engineering and Fire Departments . We
don 't really give them any guidance and I guess this is where the intent
comes in maybe as to why we 're trying to allow them , or what types of
designs might be found allowable . I think you 're setting yourself up to be
arbitrary and capricious and all those other good things by just saying , we
might allow it . We might not . If we don't want them , clearly if we 're
trying to discourage them , we should clearly leave it prohibited . If we 're
trying to get them , maybe we soften it . We 're going to allow a couple . It
will be interesting to see how they work out . By encouraging them , we may
get a lot of them and find out that they 're a problem . I don 't know . I 'd
rather almost do a test pilot and discourage them unless we get positive
results . But the other question I had was in 4( a ). Where it says the
resulting street grade would be more than 7% or the connecting segment or
substantial grading is required. What does that mean?
Aanenson: What we 're trying to say is you may need to go longer in order
to reduce the severe slope . If you can make it go longer and balance the
grade , maybe that will reduce the slope . So maybe it needs to go to 700
feet to make the grade .
Batzli : Oh, is that what that means? Well , connecting segment . I thought
that meant , if you were going to connect it and that would require
substantial grading .
Aanenson: It should be additional length or something . Maybe that would
be worded better .
Batzli : But the resulting street grade would be more than 7% of the
connecting segment?
Aanenson: I would say , yeah .
Batzli : Is that what that means?
Planning Commission Meeting
January 20 , 1993 - Page 10
Aanenson: Yeah . The additional segment . The additional length , maybe is
more clear .
Batzli : I understood the substantial grading part but I didn't understand
whether we were talking about additional length , like you just said , or wE
are talking about if we connected it somewhere else , that would be severe
For example , look at up on the Summit . There were some real severe grades
up there and we ended up putting in an emergency access road but we didn 't-
put in something else because I think in part because of the severe slope
coming back down that and we didn 't want to have people going up and down
that in the winter . So I guess what I would prefer to see on this
particular ordinance is staff to take another whack at it . By putting in
an intent section , maybe clarifying what 4( a ) means for us and we should ,
if we decide to do something like that , give them some guidance on whether
we want them to change paragraph 3 .
Harberts: I have a question with regard to paragraph 3 . It talks about
establishing the chain of title . How is that exactly done? You know I 'm
sure it 's something within the .
Aanenson: It 's recorded with the plat .
Harberts: But what 's the mechanism to force them to maintain it? You kn( j
if you have 12 houses and number 9 and 8 does not want to participate , I
mean are they going to be in front of the Council?
Scott : Or does that set up a neighborhood association type situation?
Batzli : You could either make that lot part of another lot I suppose , so
that one person has responsibility , or require that they have a homeowners
association that owns it jointly .
Harberts: Well that 's what I 'm wondering .
Aanenson: Right . Well I guess that 's the intent is that there will be
some , either be assigned to a lot or these total lots abutting that . But
you 're right though, there still could be a problem with that .
Farmakes : Are you saying to reword 3 to the extent that that 's achieved c
do you get rid of it and deal with it in the intent statement? I 'm not
following you on 3 . What you 're suggesting for 3 other than the shall be .
Batzli : I wasn 't suggesting that we do anything . I would like to leave :
this way until we find out how they work in the Lundgren development . I
would prefer that we prohibit them and if we decide that we like them and
they work out , then we encourage them . Personally .
Harberts: Who 's responsible for any liability that occurs?
Mancino: So there are going to be some in the Lundgren development?
Batzli : Yeah , they passed didn 't they in the Lundgren development?
Aanenson: I believe so .
Planning Commission Meeting
January 20 , 1993 - Page 11
Conrad : I didn 't see any .
Aanenson: The two that they had them on we connected.
Batzli : Did they get knocked out?
Conrad: I thought they got cut but I don 't know . Matt was there . I would
swear they were taken out but I don 't know . I guess reinforcing what Brian
just said . I think there 's some valid issues on both sides of the islands .
I think they should be not allowed unless they meet certain standards . So
I guess I 'm comfortable being negative on this one . Saying they are not
allowed unless they protect trees . Unless there is a clear way for
somebody to maintain them . Unless they meet certain specifications . Maybe
they have to be 20 feet in width or circumferenc or diameter . Maybe they
have to have certain vegetation on them . I don 't want a little mound out
there . So again , I 'd say don 't allow them unless the developer can show us
they 're really an amenity and then so , if we have the standards , then we
can say yeah , that meets the standards and yeah you can have them . So
that 's my .
Ledvina: So take number 3 and flush it out with those . . .?
Conrad: Right .
Scott: And also , the responsibility for maintenance and liability
insurance would really be a standard .
Conrad: Yeah , absolutely. Because we don 't want to maintain it . The
point is , if a developer thinks it 's an amenity , then he has to figure out
or she has to figure out how to .
Batzli : Well I would discourage us putting liability insurance in there
only from the standpoint that we have many , many outlots in cities that are
the responsibility of homeowners associations to maintain and we 've never
required them to purchase liability insurance for those outlots .
Scott : So that could be a precedent .
Batzli : That would be huge .
Farmakes: But if that 's part of the purchase , when you purchase your
property and it 's required that you 're part of this homeowners association ,
how does the city deal with that then if they 're not taking care of the
lot? Do they , does the City then proceed to maintain the lot? Send the
bill to the homeowners?
Aanenson : It 's a possibility .
Scott: Kind of like weed ordinance approach .
Aanenson: The City could pass an ordinance to do that .
Batzli : Okay . Is there any other discussion? Does anyone have a motion
on this issue?
Planning Commission Meeting
January 20 , 1993 - Page 12
I
Conrad: I would move that we table this until staff can put an intent -
statement in and revise points number 3 , that based on our comments .
Anything else?
Batzli : I 'd like 4( a ) clarified .
Conrad: And with 4( a ) reworded .
Batzli : Is there a second to the motion?
Ledvina: Second .
Batzli : Is there discussion?
Conrad moved, Ledvina seconded that the Planning Commission table the
Subdivision and Planned Unit Development Ordinance Amendment regarding
requirements of cul-de-sac lengths for staff to include an intent
statement , revise number 3 and clarify number 4(a). All voted in favor area
the motion carried.
PUBLIC HEARING:
INTERIM USE PERMIT FOR A SALES TRAILER FOR THE OAK PONDS/OAK HILL PROJECT _
LOCATED NORTH OF WEST 78TH STREET BETWEEN KERBER AND POWERS BOULEVARDS.
LOTUS REALTY .
Kate Aanenson presented the staff report on this item . Chairman Batzli
called the public hearing to order .
Brad Johnson: Mr . Chairman , members of the Commission . The purpose of
this , as Kate has stated , is that in order to get financing on a multiple
family project today , you have to have significant pre-sales . And this is
about 109 units so we 're going to need at least probably somewhere betwee'
8 and 16 pre-sold before the first building can be constructed based upon
the requirements of the financial institutions . So we really have no
choice in the case of this type of unit but to request the temporary sale!
trailer . I think the layout is there . The lighting question , I doubt if
this would be open at night but if it is , I 'm sure there 'd be lighting so J
think that would be reasonable . It 's more of a daytime sort of an
activity . There will be electricity to it and there will be a Satellite .
We don 't have that in there but most of these don 't have Satellites so we
have an exterior Satellite . And if you remember when Rottlund was buildii
some units over here , that 's kind of what they operated out of for a year
was about , I think it was a sales trailer . It will be skirted . I don 't
know if there 's enough time to do any landscaping because we 'll hopefully -
be out of this by June or July . Although we 've asked for a full year , th4
hope is that we could start construction and be into the models by mid-
summer so I don 't know if the landscaping thing is there . I think on the _
other hand , they want it to look as pleasant as possible on a temporary
basis to attract people to come in and do it . It is , it 's not a metal
sided trailer . It 's wood sided and we don 't have a picture of exactly what
it would look like but you can envision a - wood , sort of small mobile home -
Very small . That 's about what it is , with a skirt on it . It 's temporary
Probably looks a little better than our construction trailers that you have
CHANHASSEN PLANNING COMMISSION
REGULAR MEETING
JANUARY 20, 1993
Chairman Batzli called the meeting to order at 7 :40 p .m .
MEMBERS PRESENT: Diane Harberts , Ladd Conrad , Joe Scott , Brian Batzli ,
Jeff Farmakes , Nancy Mancino , and Matt Ledvina
STAFF PRESENT: Kate Aanenson , Planner II
PUBLIC HEARING
SUBDIVISION AND PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT ORDINANCE AMENDMENT REGARDING
REQUIREMENTS OF CUL-DE-SAC LENGTHS .
Kate Aanenson presented the staff report on this item . Chairman Batzli
called the public hearing to order .
Ledvina moved, Farmakes seconded to close the public hearing. All voted in
favor and the motion carried. The public hearing was closed.
Batzli : The record should show that there 's no one in the crowd really .
Normally , for those of you who are new to the Planning Commission , after we
close the public hearing , go around . Get comments from the individual
commissioners and we 'll do that in order , normally starting from one side
or the other . Tonight I 'm going to start with Ladd , just so that I don 't
have to put anybody on the spot . But don 't be bashful about asking
questions or raising issues or asking why we 're even doing this . So having
said that , Ladd . Do you have any comments on this?
Conrad: I like cul-de-sacs . I like islands in cul-de-sacs . Cul-de-sacs
can be a real benefit and amenity . I don 't have a problem with the
ordinance but I just want everybody to think . One thing , did we rob this
literally word for word from Minnetonka? Did we add anything other than
600 feet?
Aanenson: Yeah , because they have 500 feet . So yeah .
Conrad : Okay , so we said 600 but the rest is their 's . It 's a real
technical type of ordinance . It really doesn 't talk to you about the
purposes and why we 're doing it . It says , here 's the technical stuff so I
don 't like how it is but I 'm not going to belabor it . It doesn 't say , you
know the big deal about a cul-de-sac is the situation case of emergency .
So we haven 't changed any specs . In terms of a wider street or whatever .
We 're just saying emergency vehicles . There 's only 12 houses down there so
no big deal . I guess again , we 've put the technical things down and I
think 600 feet is okay . That 's going to solve my ideal . I just want
everybody to know that when the wording says center islands within
cul-de-sacs shall be prohibited , that 's basically what it means . It says
unless , but basically we 're , the engineer 's going to recommend against them
all the time . Nothing more .
Batzli : Would you prefer to see ( a ) an intent section , and ( b ) , that we
define what sort of center islands would be appropriate?
Planning Commission Meeting
January 20 , 1993 - Page 2
Conrad: Brian , I just don 't like the ordinance because of all the -
technical stuff . Do I want that? Do I want it to have an intent?
Cul-de-sac intent? We haven 't given any , you know if we 're going to have ,
unless a design is approved by the City Engineer , it basically takes us
out . You know point number 3 , we are not part of the decision making
process . You should know that based on the . . . It 's not allowed . The Cit,
Engineer could allow it . If we think it 's a valid use , and there are
problems with center islands . You 've got maintenance problems and you 've -
got snow plowing problems and there 's no doubt . They just happen , when
they 're done right and somebody maintains them , they 're really pretty and
they really make that cul-de-sac in that neighborhood a real nice area . So
it 's a compromise between making it a nice little community , a nice little
area street versus allowing for emergency vehicles to go all the way
through . I 'm not going to make an issue . No , I don 't like what I see
here . I 'm not making an issue out of it .
Batzli : Well see , we scheduled the discussion , just a little bit of
history . I think you probably , the new people got a flavor of why we 're
looking at this but with a recent proposal of the Lundgren development ove
at TH 5 and TH 41 . The Planning Commission reversed itself at the last
minute by putting through what had been two cul-de-sacs and requesting that
it be changed into a thru street . Based on that , I requested that staff
bring it up as an item for discussion as to whether or not we like
cul-de-sacs and to look at it from a planning perspective as opposed to a
safety perspective because I thought we weren 't getting the complete
picture of what and why we were recommending for or against these
cul-de-sacs . We 've heard and the staff report makes it very clear that a
litany is becoming somewhat repetitious . Well that 's putting it nicely .
We 've heard repeatedly that these are safety concerns , safety issues for
fire trucks going down cul-de-sacs . Turning onto a wrong one . Not being
able to turn around . If for example the entrance gets flooded , which is
what happened down in Fox Hollow several years ago when we had the 13 incl.
rain , can you get out a separate way . We 've heard the safety concerns anc
what I wanted to hear last time was , that 's fine but from a , not from a
safety standard but from a neighborhood development , sense of community , -
those types of issues , what are we doing by constructing a lot of
cul-de-sacs . And we addressed that a little bit last time . I was kind of
disappointed . I think we ended up talking about it late at night so those
concerns were sort of glossed over . But what I 'm hearing tonight from Lac
at least initially is that he likes them . He thinks they 're valuable in
certain aspects . A feeling of security . Crime . Those kinds of issues
that weren 't really , I don 't think fully flushed out the first time , the
last time that we talked about it . And if other commissioners have those
concerns , I don 't want to blindly adopt the ordinance if we 're not really
sure why we 're doing it or maybe we should adopt it from the standpoint of-
safety and then re-evaluate it if it is a concern that there 's going to be
a lot of development coming in and we want to limit it . We would rather
limit it and then go back and look at it as opposed to not having any
limitations on it , or very few limitations on it , while we 're studying it .
I mean we can look at it one of two ways but , said that . Matt , do you ha\
comments?
Ledvina: Just a couple of things again that , the topic of discussion that
was batted around last time was the length and we talked about 500 feet and
Planning Commission Meeting
January 20 , 1993 - Page 3
750 feet and the 600 foot distance is fine . I guess I would , I think that
some of the things that you said Brian could be flushed out in an intent
statement , which could be you know a header to this thing and discussing
some of the safety concerns in the community , etc . I think we could change
item 3 to read , taking into consideration what Ladd said . Center islands
with cul-de-sac bubbles shall be allowed subject to design approval by the
City Engineer , Fire Department , etc , etc . I think that accomplishes the
same thing and it 's not a negative thing . It 's a more positive thing . And
it 's just saying we want to make sure they 're done right . I guess I think
- we can cover that by just changing that to the positive . But other than
that , it would be good for the developer to have some guidance on this
thing and we kicked it around and I kind of felt sorry for Lundgren , the
way they had to work through this thing . If they would have had this
ordinance , I think it would have been a little smoother process for them .
So I 'm in favor of the ordinance I guess , and I don 't know if we can just
direct staff to include an intent statement and then send it off , you know
with this other change , or if we need to see it again . I don 't know about
that .
Aanenson: I think we 're clear as to what you 're looking for . The
community issues . Crime .
Ledvina : I think the verbage that would go in there is all contained in
Paul 's report here . It would just have to be distilled and just hit the
right spots I think and I think it 's ready to go .
Batzli : So you would propose that we just proceed by giving it to staff to
draft an intent section?
Ledvina : I think that would be appropriate . I 'm comfortable with that . I
think they understand what the issues are and if they review the Minutes
and include some of your discussion , I think as it relates to the
cul-de-sac as part of the community and how it effects the community . I
think developers will get the idea that they 'll touch on it . They 'll think
about it , maybe if they hadn 't before and as they see necessary , they 'll
incorporate that criteria into their decision on whether they will develop
with them or not .
Batzli : I guess I 'm not sure what my goals are in putting in cul-de-sacs
or not putting them in . So I don 't know that I 'm comfortable letting staff
do that . I 'm not sure what my goals are yet . For example , it 's a dumb
example but my particular development , Fox Hollow , could be considered a
huge cul-de-sac if you chopped off the emergency exit which is now becoming
a regular thoroughfare through North Lotus Park . Huge cul-de-sac with many
different little cul-de-sacs in the interior . However it has a main loop .
And in the summer it 's quite an extraordinary event that everyone in the
neighborhood walks around the block with their little kids , and it 's fun
and it brings you closer to everyone in your neighborhood . And the issue
in my mind is , if you have a cul-de-sac , that 's a long cul-de-sac , you
probably , you may get some movement up and down that but it 's kind of a
phenomenon in some of these newer developments that you see people walking
around . Now if you promote something like we did in the Lundgren
development where you have cul-de-sacs and there is no promenade , are you
eliminating this sense of small little communities within a bigger
Planning Commission Meeting
January 20 , 1993 - Page 4
community? And I don 't know that staff has answers to that and I don 't _
know whether we want to encourage that or not , but it seems to me that kir I
of discussion , you know should we be promoting these or shouldn 't we be ,
think maybe we want to think about it . But I don 't know if we should or
not . I don 't know .
Conrad: There 's not a real clear answer . We 're weighing safety versus
some neighborhood thing . Continuity so it 's , I think the 600 foot is -
reasonable . What we want to do is give a developer the opportunity to us(
their land and not abuse the land and cul-de-sacs many times can do that .
really didn 't like changing the Lundgren thing . I wasn 't here for that
decision . But I didn 't like that . I thought the cul-de-sacs .
Batzli : I was the only one that voted against it by the way .
Conrad: My congratulations Brian .
Ledvina: It 's not like we trashed all the cul-de-sacs . We just . . .that one
street . There was 4 other cul-de-sacs I believe so they had both things :
that development .
Conrad: Well they really give the developer some opportunities to do
different things that are just not a grid street system and they can
incorporate the lay of the land a little bit . I 'm not uncomfortable with
what the wording of our point number 4 . And we don 't want to encourage
long cul-de-sacs . There 's just no point . I think some of them have been
huge , and I don 't think we need that . So again my comment is , I like them
but we don 't need excessive cul-de-sacs . I think some of it 's just the
mechanics of how we want to express ourselves in an ordinance .
Ledvina : Well I live on a 900 foot cul-de-sac and I 've never seen a police
car in my cul-de-sac so that concerns me .
Batzli : Well I don 't know , I grew up in Tonka Bay where it seems every
road is a cul-de-sac . Long cul-de-sac going out on little isthmus or
penninsulas or what have you and there was never any problem so I don 't
understand .
Ledvina: Not that that is a problem but you know , in 5 years you 'd like I )
see one police car .
Batzli : When they deliver your packet .
Mancino : I have a question . Matthew , you said that you lived on a 900
foot cul-de-sac?
Ledvina: Right .
Mancino: Did it help give you a sense of intimacy , neighborhood?
Ledvina : Well , I like it alot . We see our neighbors a lot and I don 't
know , there 's just a , it 's true . I don 't interact with the neighbors
behind me because they never come around so I think it does tend to isola•
people into smaller groups .
Planning Commission Meeting
January 20 , 1993 - Page 5
Farmakes: So if the road was connected 9 houses down , do you feel that you
would be any less intimate with your neighbors next door?
Ledvina : Yeah I would . Actually I 'm right at the end of the cul-de-sac so
they would connect that around but those other people that live in back of
me would most likely use my street more . I don 't know . They wouldn 't
necessarily have a reason to but they might walk around the block a little
more . I don 't know .
Conrad: The people who live in cul-de-sacs love them . Everybody in this
Council chamber . . .they love cul-de-sacs .
Batzli : I bought my house because I thought I was on a cul-de-sac .
Farmakes: You thought you were?
Batzli : Well yeah , they put it through with the park but I bought it
because I thought I was on a cul-de-sac .
Mancino: I have another question . I don't live on a cul-de-sac but I live
at the end of a private road and I like it for the safety purposes . The
other thing is , if you also like it because of the privacy it gives you , do
you feel that it gives you more privacy than you normally would get with a
thru street?
Conrad: People who live on them like that aspect , yeah .
Mancino: Okay . So we have privacy and we have security , safe .
Batzli : I think they like it if they have children as well because they
feel it gets much less traffic . So their kids can play in the road and
they don 't have to be worried that they 're going to have cars zipping
through the neighborhood using it as a thoroughfare .
Scott: But unless a developer has a long recentangular property , they 're
probably not going to have one cul-de-sac with stuff on the side . I mean
they tend to have , at least in our neighborhood , we have the promenade
situation with cul-de-sacs off the outside and then kind of a , not a common
area but where all the lots come together and I think the intent is just to
minimize the length of the cul-de-sac and what ultimately determines how
somebody determines how something develops is the shape of the land . I
mean they 're going to try to maximize the number of lots that they can get
on the property and depending on the topography and the shape of the
property , is probably the major determining factor .
Batzli : Matt , did you have anything else?
Ledvina: No .
Batzli : Okay . Joe , why don 't you go ahead and complete your comment
there .
Scott : My soliloquy . My personal opinion is , I tend to agree with , I mean
you talked about safety and so forth but the sense of , one of my priorities
Planning Commission Meeting
January 20 , 1993 - Page 6
is the sense of community and having the ability for people in a particular
neighborhood , not only to interact with themselves but other neighbors but
then also with adjacent neighborhoods . And obviously because of the
climate we have here , that that 's going to happen more often at certain
times of the year . But from reading through this and talking to neighbors
and people on cul-de-sacs and not on cul-de-sacs , and in talking to a
couple of developers , this is really not onerous . I don 't think it really
compromises a developer 's ability to get their job done to make the kind c-
return they need . But the thing I keep coming back to is the safety issuE
The time you need an emergency vehicle and they can 't get down there ,
that 's part of it too . But I 'm primarily concerned about the community
aspect of it and I think it 's a Lundgren development where there 's , I
believe it 's a connection between Timberwood and the Lundgren development .
You know what I 'm talking about . I think that sort of thing should be
encouraged because when you think about the traffic . I mean it 's one thir-
when you talk about Frontier Trail connecting through Novak-Fleck and
coming back in that way . That 's a thoroughfare situation but I think
because of the railroad tracks and because of the way those two adjacent -
developments were set up , I don 't really see that being a thoroughfare
because I think both , going through Timberwood , if you 're coming off Galpin
and you would go through Timberwood south and then you 'd come back out on -
Galpin again . So in that particular situation , I don 't think you 'd have a
thoroughfare there . That would just be something that would be utilized k .
the residents . But I 'm also familiar with , Brian with your area where
that 's a neat way to get from CR 17 to TH 101 is to go Pleasant View and c
right through your neighborhood . So I think it 's important to determine ,
is it going to become a thoroughfare or is it just something that 's going
to be utilized by the residents .
Batzli : Well staff assured us when they connected the road that it would
never be used as a thoroughfare . Not this particular staff .
Scott: Alright , I have no more comment on that .
Batzli : Okay , Jeff .
Farmakes: I have no problems against cul-de-sacs . I think our discussion
may be discussing the merits of cul-de-sacs . I think what we 're discussing
here is a reasonable solution to a conflict , different conflicts of
interest . We have one that 's profit motivated . We have one where it 's
consumer driven and we have others such as Fed Ex or Hanus Bus Company or
police , a whole slew of issues that service a community that are hampered -
by not having a connection from neighborhood to neighborhood . What this i
asking for and suggesting to a developer , as far as I can see , is a
reasonable amount of length going to a cul-de-sac . We don ''_ have a long -
cul-de-sac and I would like to see an intent statement where , or reason fc
this because it seems like in the past we did have this ordinance and it
sort of got fuzzy . And some of that was our interpretation and also I
think some of these larger developments that meander over large , difficult
type topography , seem to lend themselves to these 18 houses down on a
private road turning into a cul-de-sac and coming back . I 'm not sure about
4 . When your comments on 4 Ladd , did you . You know on 4 . Did you feel -
that that was necessary or omit it?
Planning Commission Meeting
January 20 , 1993 - Page 7
Conrad: No . I think it make sense so you can have a cul-de-sac . You
can 't go longer than 600 feet but if you have to hear the criteria , I like
that .
Farmakes : So you like them listed out rather than just ask for a variance?
Conrad: It tells a developer exactly what they can and can 't do . Why they
can propose something longer . That 's exactly what we want . We didn 't do
that very well in point number 3 . It just says it 's prohibited period .
And point number 3 is saying , if we like them , and there are real problems
with islands . There really are but .
Ledvina: But the main two issues are safety and maintenance .
Farmakes : It still doesn 't stop them from coming forward with PUD and
asking for a long cul-de-sac correct?
Aanenson : Right , that 's correct . And as a staff we may encourage in some
situations that we 'd want them longer to save vegetation or .
Farmakes : Okay , so that opening is there . I 'm going back to some of the ,
we 're cutting down on some of the discussion on some of these site plan
reviews . This would go a long way in doing that . It gives a reasonable
intent of what the design is . Telling developers , hey if you 're going to
design this , design this knowing that we would like a modification of a
reasonable cul-de-sac arrangement so we don 't have these long extensive
private roads . And it seems , not reinventing the wheel but the rest of the
communities around who are older , as far as cosmopolitan age , are following
a standard anywhere from 500 to 1 ,000 . So it seems like 600 or , 600 is
what it used to be correct?
Ledvina: No , 500 .
Farmakes: It used to be 500? Okay , so we came up with 600 for whatever
reason . It seems like that would be a reasonable amount of homes I guess
to the access road . And I would support that . As to the actual numbers
that are up on the top there , I 'm going to trust our engineer on that and
my comments on the island I still , aesthetically , I have no problems with
islands . As I have no problems with cul-de-sacs . Just again , that they 're
not over used .
Conrad: Right . Right , but you know staff 's point and it 's real valid , is
maintenance . It 's real valid . There 's no doubt about that but boy are
they pretty and do they take a circular area that 's bigger . You 've got
this big circular area that 's kind of ugly and you put an island in it , all
of a sudden it 's pretty . So it 's a real neat amenity if we can justify the
maintenance and stuff . If we can 't justify it .
Mancino: I saw one last Sunday night in an Edina . . .Edina suburb and it was
an island which I hadn 't seen too many of them . I don 't think , are there
any in Chanhassen right now?
Scott : Is it Hesse Farms or Hesse Farms? I know the large lot on the
bluff , there 's a couple of them up there that look kind of tear dropped
Planning Commission Meeting
January 20 , 1993 - Page 8
shape but it 's like , they 're not standard width streets . I think actually_
it 's a private road .
Batzli : There 's one on the end of , going into Lotus off of TH 101 . The
whatever Estates there . The big huge houses out on the pcint of Lotus .
There 's a tear dropped shape one there . I mean that thine is probably
older than the hills .
Mancino: Well this one was round and there are oaks in the neighborhood
and then they had 2 or 3 oaks and that was about it . I mean it wasn 't
really landscaped . There were 3 just very natural big , huge oak trees that
were in the center island . Visually it was very nice and it broke up agai
the pavement that was in the circular area .
Scott: I wonder if that 's something , because we 're talking about an
exception to cul-de-sac length . Talking about significant vegetation . I
mean perhaps if there is significant vegetation , i .e . mature trees that
could be saved by using a bubble or whatever , an island . Maybe that 's one_
of the things that if you 're talking about Ladd , if you 're talking about
adding ( a ) , ( b ) , ( c ) and ( d ) to number 3 , perhaps some of these may apply .
Points for 4 it might apply and 3 as well .
Ledvina : You might even adjust the alignment your street to center those
or 3 oaks in that one spot .
Scott: It 's certainly not being lost on the commercial side of it . Then
that would be an enhancement to the lots . The value of the lots that would
be on that particular cul-de-sac as well so I would think the developer
would keep them in . . .
Farmakes: I 'd just sum up my comments in saying that again , I support
limiting this and I would support the 600 square feet . And I 'm open to
modifications but I think that the intent that we 're talking about here I
think is important .
Batzli : Okay . Nancy .
Mancino: Well , I don 't think I have anything new to add to what Jeff just_
said . An intent statement I think would be helpful . I am very much pro
cul-de-sacs for the security , the privacy , the environmental rasons that
we 've stated . The feeling of intimacy of neighborhoods that one can gain .
And I don 't think it necessarily has to detract from a sense of community ,-
I don 't think that your intimacy in your neighborhood takes away from your
feeling of a larger thought of community . In fact I think it can add to
instead of detract . So I don 't think it 's one thing or another . I think
it 's part of the whole sense of community . Having neighborhoods and haviri
them very intimate and people being close with each other and then bringing
that into a bigger picture . I support the guidelines for developers for
600 feet and would like to see , as Matthew brought up , the center islands -
changed to a more positive statement that center islands shall be allowed
subject to the approval of the City Engineer and Fire Department . And
maybe we can add to that also .
Batzli : Okay , is that it? Diane .
Planning Commission Meeting
January 20 , 1993 - Page 9
Harberts : I guess I 'm just going to add that I just had difficulty with
cul-de-sacs with regard to the center landscaping because it 's purely from
the cost factor of streets , maintenance , snow removal . So I guess I can
support the ordinance but I have trouble with allowing any type of center
but I guess I appreciate the significant vegetation , trees , etc that would
be saved as a result of allowing such . From a cost perspective , from
safety , from getting the vehicles in there to do their job , especially from
a safety issue , it 's usually very time related . You don 't want to be
caught going down the wrong street . That 's what it gets down to when it
comes down to safety . That 's all I have to add .
Batzli : Okay . Kate , I 've got a couple of questions on the wording . On
paragraph 3 where we talk about center islands shall be prohibited , blah ,
blah , blah and privately maintained . I assume we 're talking about the
center islands shall be privately maintained .
Aanenson: Correct .
Batzli : I think we need to add the words , and shall be privately
maintained to there . But more troublesome in that sentence is the , we can
change it but regardless of how we change it , they may be allowed you know
if the design is approved by the City Engineering and Fire Departments . We
don 't really give them any guidance and I guess this is where the intent
comes in maybe as to why we 're trying to allow them , or what types of
designs might be found allowable . I think you 're setting yourself up to be
arbitrary and capricious and all those other good things by just saying , we
might allow it . We might not . If we don 't want them , clearly if we 're
trying to discourage them , we should clearly leave it prohibited . If we 're
trying to get them , maybe we soften it . We 're going to allow a couple . It
will be interesting to see how they work out . By encouraging them , we may
get a lot of them and find out that they 're a problem . I don 't know . I 'd
rather almost do a test pilot and discourage them unless we get positive
results . But the other question I had was in 4( a ) . Where it says the
resulting street grade would be more than 7% or the connecting segment or
substantial grading is required . What does that mean?
Aanenson: What we 're trying to say is you may need to go longer in order
to reduce the severe slope . If you can make it go longer and balance the
grade , maybe that will reduce the slope . So maybe it needs to go to 700
feet to make the grade .
Batzli : Oh , is that what that means? Well , connecting segment . I thought
that meant , if you were going to connect it and that would require
substantial grading .
Aanenson: It should be additional length or something . Maybe that would
be worded better .
Batzli : But the resulting street grade would be more than 7% of the
connecting segment?
Aanenson: I would say , yeah .
Batzli : Is that what that means?
Planning Commission Meeting
January 20 , 1993 - Page 10 -
Aanenson: Yeah . The additional segment . The additional length , maybe is_
more clear .
Batzli : I understood the substantial grading part but I didn 't understand
whether we were talking about additional length , like you just said , or we--
are talking about if we connected it somewhere else , that would be severe .
For example , look at up on the Summit . There were some real severe grades
up there and we ended up putting in an emergency access road but we didn 't
put in something else because I think in part because of the severe slope
coming back down that and we didn 't want to have people going up and down
that in the winter . So I guess what I would prefer to see on this
particular ordinance is staff to take another whack at it . By putting in -
an intent section , maybe clarifying what 4( a ) means for us and we should ,
if we decide to do something like that , give them some guidance on whether
we want them to change paragraph 3 .
Harberts: I have a question with regard to paragraph 3 . It talks about
establishing the chain of title . How is that exactly done? You know I 'm
sure it 's something within the .
Aanenson : It 's recorded with the plat .
Harberts: But what 's the mechanism to force them to maintain it? You knc
if you have 12 houses and number 9 and 8 does not want to participate , I
mean are they going to be in front of the Council?
Scott : Or does that set up a neighborhood association type situation?
Batzli : You could either make that lot part of another lot I suppose , so
that one person has responsibility , or require that they have a homeowners
association that owns it jointly .
Harberts: Well that 's what I 'm wondering .
Aanenson: Right . Well I guess that 's the intent is that there will be
some , either be assigned to a lot or these total lots abutting that . But
you 're right though, there still could be a problem with that .
Farmakes: Are you saying to reword 3 to the extent that that 's achieved c
do you get rid of it and deal with it in the intent statement? I 'm not
following you on 3 . What you 're suggesting for 3 other than the shall be .
Batzli : I wasn 't suggesting that we do anything . I would like to leave i
this way until we find out how they work in the Lundgren development . I
would prefer that we prohibit them and if we decide that we like them and _
they work out , then we encourage them . Personally .
Harberts: Who 's responsible for any liability that occurs?
Mancino: So there are going to be some in the Lundgren development?
Batzli : Yeah , they passed didn 't they in the Lundgren development?
Aanenson: I believe so .
Planning Commission Meeting
January 20 , 1993 - Page 11
Conrad : I didn 't see any .
Aanenson: The two that they had them on we connected .
Batzli : Did they get knocked out?
Conrad: I thought they got cut but I don 't know . Matt was there . I would
swear they were taken out but I don 't know . I guess reinforcing what Brian
just said . I think there 's some valid issues on both sides of the islands .
I think they should be not allowed unless they meet certain standards . So
I guess I 'm comfortable being negative on this one . Saying they are not
allowed unless they protect trees . Unless there is a clear way for
somebody to maintain them . Unless they meet certain specifications . Maybe
they have to be 20 feet in width or circumferenc or diameter . Maybe they
have to have certain vegetation on them . I don 't want a little mound out
there . So again , I 'd say don 't allow them unless the developer can show us
they 're really an amenity and then so , if we have the standards , then we
can say yeah , that meets the standards and yeah you can have them . So
that 's my .
Ledvina : So take number 3 and flush it out with those . . .?
Conrad : Right .
Scott : And also , the responsibility for maintenance and liability
insurance would really be a standard .
Conrad: Yeah , absolutely . Because we don 't want to maintain it . The
point is , if a developer thinks it 's an amenity , then he has to figure out
or she has to figure out how to .
Batzli : Well I would discourage us putting liability insurance in there
only from the standpoint that we have many , many outlots in cities that are
the responsibility of homeowners associations to maintain and we 've never
required them to purchase liability insurance for those outlots .
Scott : So that could be a precedent .
Batzli : That would be huge .
Farmakes : But if that 's part of the purchase , when you purchase your
property and it 's required that you 're part of this homeowners association ,
how does the city deal with that then if they 're not taking care of the
lot? Do they , does the City then proceed to maintain the lot? Send the
bill to the homeowners?
Aanenson: It 's a possibility .
Scott : Kind of like weed ordinance approach .
Aanenson: The City could pass an ordinance to do that .
Batzli : Okay . Is there any other discussion? Does anyone have a motion
on this issue?
Planning Commission Meeting
January 20 , 1993 - Page 12 -
Conrad: I would move that we table this until staff can put an intent
statement in and revise points number 3 , that based on our comments .
Anything else?
Batzli : I 'd like 4( a ) clarified .
Conrad: And with 4( a ) reworded .
Batzli : Is there a second to the motion?
Ledvina : Second .
Batzli : Is there discussion?
Conrad moved, Ledvina seconded that the Planning Commission table the
Subdivision and Planned Unit Development Ordinance Amendment regarding
requirements of cul-de-sac lengths for staff to include an intent
statement , revise number 3 and clarify number 4(a ). All voted in favor and
the motion carried.
PUBLIC HEARING:
INTERIM USE PERMIT FOR A SALES TRAILER FOR THE OAK PONDS/OAK HILL PROJECT
LOCATED NORTH OF WEST 78TH STREET BETWEEN KERBER AND POWERS BOULEVARDS ,
LOTUS REALTY .
Kate Aanenson presented the staff report on this item . Chairman Batzli
called the public hearing to order .
Brad Johnson: Mr . Chairman , members of the Commission . The purpose of
this , as Kate has stated , is that in order to get financing on a multiple
family project today , you have to have significant pre-sales . And this iE
about 109 units so we 're going to need at least probably somewhere betweer
8 and 16 pre-sold before the first building can be constructed based upon
the requirements of the financial institutions . So we really have no
choice in the case of this type of unit but to request the temporary saleE
trailer . I think the layout is there . The lighting question , I doubt if
this would be open at night but if it is , I 'm sure there 'd be lighting so I
think that would be reasonable . It 's more of a daytime sort of an
activity . There will be electricity to it and there will be a Satellite .
We don 't have that in there but most of these don 't have Satellites so we
have an exterior Satellite . And if you remember when Rottlund was buildir
some units over here , that 's kind of what they operated out of for a year
was about , I think it was a sales trailer . It will be skirted . I don 't
know if there 's enough time to do any landscaping because we 'll hopefully
be out of this by June or July . Although we 've asked for a full year , the
hope is that we could start construction and be into the models by mid-
summer so I don 't know if the landscaping thing is there . I think on the
other hand , they want it to look as pleasant as possible on a temporary
basis to attract people to come in and do it . It is , it 's not a metal
sided trailer . It 's wood sided and we don 't have a picture of exactly what
it would look like but you can envision a wood , sort of small mobile home -
Very small . That 's about what it is , with a skirt on it . It 's temporary
Probably looks a little better than our construction trailers that you have
Planning Commission Meeting
January 20 , 1993 - Page 13
around here . I have some pictures of some but I don 't think . . . As far as
the $1 ,000 .00 . I think all of us in the development business , we 'd just as
soon not have money sitting here at the City if we can use it someplace
else . In addition to that , this is a rented trailer so it costs so much
per month to have it there so there 's sort of an encouragement to get it
out of there if you 're not using it . And also , as part of the site permit ,
the grading permit , we were required to put $250 .00 sort of as a , to assure
us that we 'd return the site to it 's previous type . So there 's already
$250 .00 on deposit here in the city for that . There was a $400 .00
application fee to just process this and so we 's really like to have a
significant reduction on the $1 ,000 .00 or have it just go away . The
ordinance does not require anything like that . As I said , we 're already
paying money for the trailer , and that 's fine with that . If you 've got any
questions , it 's something we have to go through in order to accomplish
anything over there . Do you have any questions of me?
Ledvina: How are you going to excavate the frozen soils?
Brad Johnson: With a large backhoe .
Ledvina : Okay , so you 're going to break through the frost?
Brad Johnson: Yes .
Ledvina: And what are you going to be doing with the soils that are taken
out of here?
Brad Johnson: I imagine they 'll be moved to the side or put in some
place . . . The process we 're going through this will probably be in place
sometime in March so the weather will be warmer .
Ledvina: I 'm sorry .
Brad Johnson: We 'll be into this in March probably by the time the backhoe
is in place . So there will probably be a couple of weeks where you will
have some things piled up but we ' ll take care of it . Again , it 's our
intent , the site has to look good or we 're not going to attract anybody .
The backhoes can go through just about anything so .
Mancino: What year is the trailer? Is it a new one?
Brad Johnson: It 's relatively brand new . It 's a trailer and it looks a
little bit like a house but it 's not a true house .
Batzli : We might have some more questions as we go here . Thank you . This
is a public hearing . Is there anyone else that would like to address the
Commission? If not , is there a motion to close the public hearing?
Farmakes moved, Mancino seconded to close the public hearing . All voted in
favor and the motion carried . The public hearing was closed.
Batzli : Nancy , we 're going to start on your end .
Brad Johnson: I might mention also it does have a deck .
Planning Commission Meeting
January 20 , 1993 - Page 14
Batzli : With decorative rope around the deck . Go ahead . _
Mancino: Gosh , I don 't have too many questions . What are the business
hours that are permitted when you have something like that going on?
Aanenson: As far as a residential zone?
Mancino: Yeah .
Aanenson: It would fall under the conditional use that 's normally
associated with that . I would think in other models . Now if there was
something in a building itself where it 's lit and there 's restroom
facilities . Under this circumstance , like Brad mentioned , I don 't see
people going there when there 's not a lot of facility space past 9:00 at
night but I think that 's something if you have concerns about , that you ma
want to attach . The reason why I didn 't specifically address it in the
report is that I felt it 's topographic and kind of isolated from everything
else in that area . I 'm not sure how much of an intrusion it would be but
if that is a concern .
Mancino: . . .concern at all?
Aanenson: No , they felt it was far enough away . There really isn 't
anything else right there . I mean it 's mostly commercial that you can see
but if that 's something that you 're concerned about , you may want to put x-
9:00 , 10:00 .
Batzli : Don 't we have limitations in our ordinances as to the amount of
light spilling off of a?
Aanenson: Correct . Half a candle at the property line .
Batzli : Right , and so what would we be limiting?
Aanenson: The hours .
Batzli : The noise? I mean this thing isn 't going to make noise .
Aanenson: That 's why I 'm saying . That 's why I didn 't specifically addreE
it but if the lighting is a concern .
Batzli : Well they 're going to want some security lighting there on all
night .
Aanenson: Right .
Mancino: So there will be some lighting probably attached to the outside
of the trailer?
Brad Johnson: Or a pole at the corner . . .the only neighbor that can see u=
is Eckankar across the street . . .
Mancino: Those are the only questions I have .
Planning Commission Meeting
January 20 , 1993 - Page 15
Batzli : Okay , Jeff .
Farmakes: I have a few questions in regard to staff . Temporary signs with
a temporary building , how is that effected with the signage permit? Are we
talking about signs on the building or would they be off the building?
Aanenson: Well the project itself would be allowed two development signs
identifying the project . Up to 64 square feet . I 'm assuming that they 'd
put one on Kerber and one on Powers . Then there 's distances that they can
be to houses but again , this is such a large area that there 's significant
area to work with that . And then a directional sign that would be allowed .
Farmakes: Brad , do you intend on lighting these signs for night display?
Brad Johnson : Yeah . I don 't think that you have . . .
Farmakes: Banners , that sort of thing?
Brad Johnson: This whole project falls under the sign ordinance and I
think there 's just called temporary sign and we follow those regulations . . .
Farmakes: So that 's how you envision it? Okay .
Brad Johnson: . . .without a permit . Correct?
Aanenson : Correct .
Batzli : Banners were for temporary .
Farmakes: Yeah , but they 're a temporary useage . I 'm just wondering , that
would not last out the year so .
Brad Johnson: Everything we 're doing is temporary . I know banners are
permitted but I think you have to . . .
Farmakes: As they stand right now in the ordinance , I think they 're
limited to , as far as days , there 's a time .
Aanenson : Right . Ten consecutive days , 3 times a year and I think that 's
a little bit different circumstances . There 's specific ones for , this is
under residential development and this is different . I think the other 's
more geared towards commercial . Grand openings . Those sort of things .
Farmakes: I want to comment the developer on working with the neighborhood
on this development . It seems to me you really bent over backwards to make
that work . When you were discussing that with the neighbors , considering
where the ordinance sat and what your property was zoned , I 'm really glad
to see that . I thought in some cases they were being , pushing the envelope
and I thought that it was good to see that type of problem worked out
before it got to Council . The other issue that I want to touch on . For
more than decade I 've been driving down CR 17 . The deer in our area use
that ravine for a crossing between Kerber and the wild land , or the wetland
area on the other side and cutting across CR 17 . They constantly come up
and go across into the Eckankar property from there . When we develop this
Planning Commission Meeting
January 20 , 1993 - Page 16
property , the ridge up there and so on , it will confine them even more into
that crossing area and I 'm wondering , has DNR made any comments of our
wildlife? As we develop further and continue to expand , we will confine
more and more the wildlife transportation corridors into narrower and _
narrower bands . Do we have warning signs at all anticipated for these
types of problems or do you wait until you 've hit so many deer?
Aanenson: Frankly I haven 't thought about that . That 's something we can --
look into . What their policy is on that . I can give you a report back .
Farmakes : Because I can tell you from experience that that 's where they _
cross . And they go through there every day as a part of their route , or
rounds or whatever they do to make a living .
Batzli : Having just hit one on Thanksgiving Day I can tell you , you don 't-
want to do that .
Farmakes: So you had venison .
Batzli : No . It was too late at night . I didn 't go back . I let the
Sheriff pick him up .
Farmakes: That 's the extent of my comments .
Batzli : Okay . Joe .
Scott: Brad , what is that just roughly? What does a trailer go for every
month? What 's the rental on that trailer every month?
Brad Johnson: About $250 .00 .
Scott : $250 .00 a month . On the $1 ,000 .00 surety , just my personal
experience with Brad and some of the projects he 's involved with . I third
there 's plenty of motivation to have that trailer out of there as soon as
possible and I just don 't see that baby sitting around . So my personal —
opinion is that that should be significantly reduced or eliminated but yo.
guys can sanity test it because I 'm not an expert on this stuff .
Batzli : Well my initial sentiment is , this is a big project worth a lot c
money . This is $1 ,000 .00 they 're going to get back . I don 't , I mean that
was my initial reaction . Now Brad made me think about it again but that
was my initial reaction .
Scott : Okay . I don 't have any further comments .
Batzli : Matt .
Ledvina : Just initially had a couple of questions for staff . One of the
things that I looked back in some of the attachments to this . It says , ar
I think this is the grading permit . It relates to the , in the conditions
is the final plat approval for the Oaks shall be granted by the City
Council . When does staff anticipate that final plat approval to be gainec"'
Planning Commission Meeting
January 20 , 1993 - Page 17
Aanenson : Well it 's our understanding , as soon as he has some pre-sold
units that he wants to final it out .
Ledvina: I 'm sorry .
Aanenson: That as soon as he gets some pre-sold units , then he will be
finaling out the project . I think that 's probably better directed towards
Brad but , he only has one year . That 's the ordinance . He has one year .
The preliminary plat approval is good for one year . It 's our understanding
that he 's shooting to do that in June .
Ledvina: So it 'd be the end of June . That 's when you anticipate that
final plat approval will be received?
Brad Johnson: At the present time , the process of getting plat approval is
hung up in trying to decide whether it should be public road or a private
road . . .the final plat would be filed . . . Normally they 're filed formally at
the time you get your final . You kind of wait until then . Part of the
financing .
Ledvina : Well okay . If that 's the case , we 've got the cart before the
horse a little bit here . That doesn 't jive with the timing that 's
discussed in the grading permit , which is attached here . If you look at
item 12( c ) , it says no sales trailer shall be placed on the site until
final plat approval for the Oaks has been granted by the City Council .
Aanenson: Let me give some clarification on that . Because this doesn 't
require , the grading permit is not before you tonight and except for the
fact that he needs a trailer . The reason why the trailer , the grading
permit wasn 't issued is the staff didn 't want to issue the grading permit
until we knew that we at least had preliminary approval by the Council . He
came in on December 2nd , before the date the Council approved it . The
staff wouldn 't sign off on it . Engineering was ready to give it to them
but we felt , we didn 't want to give him a grading permit . Have him go up
there and disturb the site unless we knew the project was at least a go on
a preliminary basis .
Ledvina: Okay , so this grading permit is not valid?
Aanenson: No it is . But it 's got a date that 's significantly ahead of
the , a good month ahead of what he applied for the trailer permit . Again ,
because he 's just working under one acre , the grading permit 's
administratively . He comes in , posts the surety . He signs a letter
agreeing to the conditions that the engineering lays out . But when the
engineering department reviewed it with myself , I felt uncomfortable
allowing them to grade when we didn 't know for sure the project , just the
sensitivity to the neighbors and we didn 't want to go in there and have
them disturb the soil and say , you 're letting them go ahead and we don 't
even know if this project 's been approved . So we asked them to wait until
we knew the project had been approved . As you recall , we only had one
Planning Commission meeting in December and then to get this into the next
docket . So it was more administrative .
Planning Commission Meeting
January 20 , 1993 - Page 18
Batzli : Sorry to interrupt . Brad raised a point that he 's posting money —
under that permit to restore apparently , getting rid of the gravel or
whatever .
Aanenson : Right .
Batzli : Will it really cost $1 ,000 .00 to , if we have money to restore the
site , meaning get rid of the gravel and that kind of crud already under a -
different permit , why is it going to cost $1 ,000 .00 to haul the trailer
off? Who 's going to collect it?
Aanenson: I 'm just trying to , engineering gave me these dollar figures .
Now again , the $250 .00 is just for the grading itself , and the grading
includes , as you brought up , how were they going to grade and where is that
excess soil going to be? That $250 .00 includes erosion control measures
and the like , okay . Just the strict grading , okay . Now when he asks for
the trailer permit , that 's when he comes and says , okay now I want to put
gravel on there and now I want to put the trailer on there .
Batzli : This doesn 't get rid of the gravel?
Aanenson: We haul the gravel off . Restore the site . Reseed it . Some of
this may , I 'm uncomfortable telling you that that 's a $1 ,000 .00 . If you
want the staff to look at that and then have engineering comment on it , I 'm
just going by the figures they gave me . I think I concur with what you 're-
saying . That $250 .00 , if he 's paying that a month rent , there is some
incentive for him to return the trailer and maybe that 's too high but I
think that 's something we may want to have engineering comment on .
Scott: . . .part of that $1 ,000 .00 is also site restoration?
Aanenson: I think part of it is , yes . Some of it 's just , they do overlaF
a little bit but I 'm not sure what . It may be can be reduced . I think
that 's something we can look at .
Ledvina : And the other thing I wanted to find out this , you indicated thz
it 's less than 1 ,000 cubic yards . Has the staff calculated , done the
calculations?
Aanenson: Yes . Engineering has .
Ledvina : Okay . Because I look at this grading plan and first of all , the
grading plan is not complete in terms of the contours on the cut along the
east side . There 's another 8 feet of cut that should be shown if you 're
going to maintain that slope that 's indicated on that plan . Which shows , -
which would result in about an 18 foot cut . And if you have a 30 x 50 foc
area at 18 feet , you have 1 ,000 yards . So I don 't know , I 'm uncomfortable
with that . Just looking at the grading plan right now and saying that
that 's less than 1 ,000 yards . Will there be a culvert at the driveway for
Powers Blvd . there?
Aanenson: For the storm drain later? —
Ledvina : Well for this entrance off of Powers .
Planning Commission Meeting
January 20 , 1993 - Page 19
Aanenson: You mean the curb cut?
Ledvina : No , a culvert for the ditch there .
Batzli : A culvert under the temporary gravel road or something .
Aanenson: I 'm not sure on that . I don 't believe so . Dave didn 't put it
in his . . .application . Oh , it did say that under the Carver County . It
says a culvert is required , 15 inch minimum . That 's a requirement of the
County then . Do you want to turn to the last page of the report . Two
conditions by the County . One is a culvert . It 's just a catch all that
says they 're required , they 're bound by all of our conditions .
Ledvina: And then I guess the silt fence , there 's no indication on the map
as a part of this report that there 's a silt fence to be placed and where
it 's going to be placed and if there 's going to be stockpile . Soil
stockpile . I definitely want to see a silt fence around that . I know
these are .
Aanenson: There is one on this , they 've indicated Type I . We can
certainly have engineering look at it again . I 'm just going by Dave 's
recommendation on this .
Batzli : You mean you didn 't double check Dave 's calculations? Okay .
Ledvina : There 's more cut to the east here than what 's indicated and if
that slope is maintained .
Aanenson: Just for clarification . I didn't look at this as far as the
specific engineering . I relied on our engineering department but I 'm
assuming that this is a representation of the final grading and the
trailer , how they 're throwing the trailer on there . I 'm not sure they 're
grading . You know Dave sat down and met with them and reviewed exactly the
portion so I 'm assuming that it 's under the 1 ,000 square feet but I
understand what the concerns are .
Ledvina: Okay .
Aanenson: This is a representation of the final grading plan so it 's
larger . But it was helpful to show exactly , shading exactly would have
been a better representation .
Ledvina : Yeah , which area is actually disturbed .
Aanenson: Right , and maybe we should do that when we issue the permit .
Ledvina : The timing . So they 're looking at actually doing this grading in
March , is that correct?
Brad Johnson: Well the permit will not be granted until . . .
Aanenson: Well it has to go to Council . The grading for this?
Ledvina: Yes .
Planning Commission Meeting
January 20 , 1993 - Page 20
Brad Johnson: February-March , somewhere in there .
Ledvina : Okay . That 's all I have .
Batzli : Thanks . Ladd .
Conrad: I don 't have any problems with this . I guess I 'd like to see
point number 4 . If we can change a few words in point number 4 , I could -
reduce the surety amount . You know if we said the rental trailer will be
skirted , wood sided and well maintained , that would give me the feeling
that it is a rental trailer and there 's motivation to get it off site . So
I could reduce the $1 ,000 .00 by whatever staff would recommend . I don 't
have any other concerns .
Batzli : Okay , thank you . Diane .
Harberts: I really don 't have any additional comments . I guess I
appreciate the last comments added . I guess I would support just a
$1 ,000 .00 surety bond just in the sense of it covers the city in case
something does happen that hasn 't been planned for .
Batzli : Okay . I don 't have any additional comments . I appreciate Matt ':
comments regarding the grading . That your review went above and beyond tt
call of duty on that . Seriously . I appreciate that . Does someone have a
motion?
Conrad: Is 1 ,000 yards a key part of this?
Batzli : It 's just going to be handled administratively .
Aanenson: If it 's under 1 ,000 it can be handled administratively . . .and
I trust Dave 's judgment that it 's under 1 ,000 . I think it would have beet-
helpful , as Matt pointed out , to shade exactly what that area was because
we show . . . I will certainly , when it goes to Council , we will clarify that
and shade that area . I think that 's helpful .
Conrad : See under the recommendations Kate , we haven 't said we recommend
approval for grading under 1 ,000 yards . That 's not a part of what we 're
saying .
Aanenson: What you said is your number 3 , it says they 're complying with
the city grading permit and we can only administer those if they are under
1 ,000 square yards . I think that 's what we were trying to say .
Conrad: Ah okay .
Batzli : Is there a motion? Would someone like to make a motion that the
Planning Commission recommends approval of Interim Use Permit #93-1 for a
temporary sales trailer for the Oaks Development with the conditions liste7
in the staff report and number 4 modified to read , the rental trailer will
be skirted , wood sided and well maintained . I would welcome such a motion .
Conrad : So moved .
Planning Commission Meeting
January 20 , 1993 - Page 21
Batzli : Is there a second?
Farmakes: I 'll second it .
Batzli : It 's been moved and seconded . Is there any discussion?
Conrad moved, Farmakes seconded that the Planning Commission recommend
approval of Interim Use Permit *93-1 for a temporary sales trailer at the
Oaks Development with the following conditions:
1 . Any proposed signs will require a separate permit .
2 . Surety of $1 ,000 .00 for removal of the trailer and restoration of the
site .
3 . Compliance with the grading permit and Carver County Temporary
Access Permit and the city grading permit .
4 . The rental trailer will be skirted , wood sided and well maintained.
5 . The sales trailer will be allowed for one year from the date of
issuance or until the first 8 unit townhouse is built , which ever comes
first .
All voted in favor , except Matt Ledvina who opposed and the motion carried
with a vote of 6 to 1 .
Batzli : And your reasons?
Ledvina: I 'm not comfortable that this represents a detailed enough site
plan for the staff to take it from here . I think there 's probably more
than 1 ,000 cubic yards of grading involved and I 'd like to see the silt
fence shown around stockpiling and such . I 'm sure there 's , you know these
things you 're going to take care of but just in the future , if it could be
a little more detailed and have a little more review of something like
this . I 'd appreciate it .
Batzli : I think with your objections to the motion and those comments , I 'm
sure that staff will take a look at that now . Thank you . And this goes to
City Council when?
Aanenson : First meeting in February . The 8th .
Batzli : Okay , thank you for coming in . Old business . Is this another , is
this a continued public hearing?
Aanenson: Deleted . It 's been deleted for tonight .
Harberts: Did they say why they pulled it?
Aanenson: No . Sharmin may know . I 'm not aware of it .
Planning Commission Meeting
January 20 , 1993 - Page 22
ORGANIZATIONAL ITEMS .
Batzli : In particular the things we need to do are elect a Chair and Vice
Chair of the Planning Commission . Adopt our By-laws and appoint several
liason members . Normally , for the purpose of voting Chair and Vice Chair
well we 've done it several different ways . We 've done it by secret ballot
and by show of hands .
Conrad: Darts was the best time though .
Batzli : Unless people are uncomfortable , I would prefer to just do it by -
show of hands . Unless someone has an objection to that , so that we can
move along more rapidly .
Conrad: So we should make some motions for nominations .
Batzli : I think we should nominate and then if the person wants to do it ,
he or she should appropriately respond . Like no way , or okay I 'll think -
about it .
Conrad: Brian , I know you 've chaired this for a year and you 've done a
terrific job . I think you 've done , I 've seen you grow in this and I 'd lil ,
you to consider taking it for another year . With a relatively new
commission and I think we need your leadership and I think you 've handled
the public hearings very well and organized things very well . So I would
nominate you for Chairman for one more year .
Farmakes : Second .
Batzli : Well thank you and I will accept your nomination . Kind of
hesitantly in that I have a 7 week old son but I 'd like to try it for one
more year . Is there anyone else who either would like to be nominated or
are there other nominations?
Conrad: I guess it 's by decree then .
Batzli : Well , I won 't even call for a vote unless we 're forced to do so .
Vice Chair . Since we have so many new members , I know it 's difficult to _._
nominate someone so I guess , and I realize that as Ladd kind of nominated
me , if you would like to be Vice Chair . I don 't want to have to put
somebody on the spot . Nominate me . Would someone like to be Vice Chair ,
is the issue . I guess if you would let me know , otherwise Ladd has chair(-1
the Commission in the past . For years and if he would agree to do that ,
someone else does not want to be the Vice Chair , I would nominate Ladd .
Farmakes : Second .
Mancino: Third .
Batzli : Is there someone that would like to be Vice Chair? I don 't know
if Ladd is sold on wanting to be Vice Chair .
Conrad: Well it 's real clear that I don 't need to do this stuff anymore
but I will . But normally we like the Vice Chair to move up to Chairman and
Planning Commission Meeting
January 20 , 1993 - Page 23
it 's real clear that I don 't want to do that . I think it 's real , one of
the things that 's neat about being on the Planning Commission is that
different people have the opportunity to lead it and you kind of want to
wait until those people have a little bit of experience to do that . So the
only reason I would be Vice Chair is really to substitute . Simply that .
I 've run a fair number of meetings so I can do that and I wouldn 't mind
doing that . It 's okay but just so everybody 's clear . The intent is not to
move up . I think there 's other people here that will do that .
Farmakes: So don 't miss any meetings Brian .
Conrad: Please don 't miss any .
Batzli : Also in the past , if there 's no other nominations I guess we 'll
elect Ladd as Vice Chair for the upcoming year . Okay . But I would like to
express that when Ladd was Chair , it was much more democratic than my
autocratic reign and he encouraged me to chair a meeting . I don 't know
that I ever did take up his offer but if there is someone who , after a
certain number of months would like to try it and get a little bit of
experience under their belt and see whether it 's something they want to do ,
and want to do on a continuing basis , let me know and I 'd be more than
happy to let him or her chair a meeting . Preferably , you probably don 't
want to take one , your first one with irrate groups in here but from time
to time we get a little bit lighter load and that might be a good one to
try . Okay , moving right along then . By-laws need to be approved . Is
there a motion? Well , are there any changes and if not , is there a motion
to approve the By-laws?
Mancino: I just had a question when I read them . It 's 6( h ) . The Chairman
shall have the responsibility to inform all the parties of their rights of
appeal . What do they do if someone wants to appeal what we are
recommending to the City Council? What 's the process?
Batzli : Well I have taken that , and the reason that I always give my
speech up front is to let people know that what we are doing is
recommending and that the City Council makes the final decisions . And so
they need to go to the City Council to make sure that , if we reject it , the
appeal is to the City Council but the City Council 's the one making the
final decision . On the other hand , if we table things , I assume that the
City Council could suesponte if you will , determine that they will consider
it . Although I don 't know that that 's ever been done .
Scott: What is suesponte?
Batzli : On their own volition . They can just do it . So what I have
normally done is , when there are groups in here , tell them , you know be
sure to follow it to the City Council . Another thing that the Chair needs
to do is tell these people when it 's going to be on the City Council
agenda , and we do try to do that . That 's the rationale that I 've read into
that particular clause .
Aanenson: Also sign appeals or variances come before the Planning
Commission . I think that 's the only appeal that you , so you do hear those .
Variances for signs .
Planning Commission Meeting
January 20 , 1993 - Page 24 -
Batzli : See I tried to do it in the earth work permit and I think I got
that passed . I think we 're the initial body that hears that as well .
Mancino: Thank you .
Conrad: That 's interesting that Mr . Chairman , under Section 2-1 . We have
a curfew of 11 :00 . I just want to underscore that . We should underscore
that for staff also .
Scott: The Chairman can waive it though right?
Batzli : Yeah . I 've also requested for the past several years running that
this be reviewed to become gender neutral and I still know that in 2 .2
there is an occurrence of the word his . So I would appreciate staff going
through this and doing that . Okay , is there a motion to approve the
By-laws .
Conrad : So moved .
Mancino: Second .
Conrad moved, Mancino seconded that the Planning Commission approve their
By-laws for 1993 as presented. All voted in favor and the motion carried .
Batzli : Attendance at City Council meetings . We 've tried to do this one
of two ways in the past . We developed a scheduled over the course of the
year where we rotate it so that you in essence attend one out of every 7
City Council meetings , or attempt . And we 've tried to do it 'where someone
has volunteered or the Chair has volunteered to attend as many as possible
What we 've done in the past 2 years , I think Steve when he was Chair 2
years ago , Steve Emmings . One of the former Chairs of the Commission . He
attended just virtually every meeting . City Council meeting . I don 't knc-
that we had a rotation schedule that year . But that can become a large
burden on the chair and although I try to attend the meetings where we have
a big controversial issue , or other things , I don 't think I 'll be able to
make all of them . So what I would like to do , and especially with newer
people on the Commission , is get them to attend some Council meetings .
Although in this case the 3 new people probably have attended more than
their fair share of Council meetings already . But it is interesting to see
how the Council reacts to our suggestions and input or how they don 't reac
to our suggestions and input , and get a flavor for how , what our role is
and I guess I 'd encourage that .
Councilman Wing : Brian , I 'd like to give my personal opinion is , when I
was on Public Safety and we researched and I felt confident . . .and felt we _
had done the best job . Then the Council would get into their 10 minute
spiel and start tearing it to shreds and coming up with all sorts of
diverse directions that we had already put together and come up with a
decisive answer . I attended those meetings and I held my ground and I mac'
it clear that we had discussed that . I made it clear that that 's old
business and I think it 's one thing , it 's nice to have you show up but when
these issues come up , I 'd like that representative to stand up and hold the
Planning Commission 's ground because I think you have an impact and I thir
it might be very helpful to the Council in making these decisions . So if
Planning Commission Meeting
January 20 , 1993 - Page 25
you 're in the audience , it 's nice to see you but to actually stand up and
say , here 's where we went and why and this is our opinion . I think you
should represent the Commission . . .and I would urge you to be vocal .
Batzli : I would agree .
Councilman Wing: I would really welcome your comments . I think they have
a significant impact in helping us . . .
Scott : I like the idea of rotating because that gives everybody , I mean we
have two new Council people and I think we all need to , I 'd like to see a
schedule where you know far in advance when you 're supposed to be there and
then of course you 'd want to go to other ones if it 's particularly
controversial . But that 's what I 'd like to see personally .
Batzli : Okay . Why don 't we set up a schedule like that Kate .
Aanenson: Okay . We ' ll put it in your packet for next time .
- Batzli : Put it in the packet and then you can take a look at when , and
generally what happens is it 's just an additional packet that Public Safety
or the Sheriff drops off at your door several days before the Council
meeting .
Aanenson: What I would suggest too is we 'll just go ahead and put
everybody down and just rotate it around . If you do have a conflict for
that meeting , if you 'd just ask someone to switch with you or work it out .
Batzli : Can you make sure that I get a copy of the agenda and not the
packet on those weeks that I 'm not scheduled to go though .
Mancino : I 'd also like to add that those of us that are new , may want to
not only go when we 're supposed to on the rotating schedule but maybe add a
few more into that to get the flavor and to learn as part of the process .
Conrad: Richard , just out of curiousity . The reason a lot of us stopped
going was because , and this is years back . This is not recent but this is
a while back . We weren 't called upon for our input . It was uncomfortable .
So your comments tonight are , whether we 're called on or not , if we hear
the drift going the wrong way , and I 'm kind of verbalizing this for those ,
for all of us I guess . But if we 're call on or not , if we see it going a
different direction than what we felt , that we should be aggressive and
stand up .
Councilman Wing: Oh I think so . Ladd I don 't know if it 's appropriate to
call on you or not . I guess if I was the Mayor and Chairman , I would
probably specifically do that because we ask Scott Harr for his input . And
staff . I think if someone from the Commission was there , I would clearly
recognize them and as a matter of fact , I ' ll mention that to the Mayor . I
think that would be significant .
Conrad : I think when an issue is confusing , and we 've gone through it and
dissected it , and geez you know , we take hours to dissect this stuff .
Sometimes we can actually minimize the amount of time you have to go
Planning Commission Meeting
January 20 , 1993 - Page 26
through the issue again . But that 's I think , the Mayor would have to feel-
comfortable calling on somebody . If you 're representing the Planning
Commission , say what were your insights and again , the tough part is , we
all have our own opinion . But you 've got to represent 7 folks and
sometimes , typically we 've been able to send pretty clear direction here .
We negotiate . It 's not 4 to 3 votes . We 're trying to get clear directior
if possible . If not , if it 's a split issue , then that 's the way it is but
when it 's real clear , then I think City Council knows exactly where we
stand . But sometimes it 's not that way so a person standing up can
represent their own opinion but they also have to represent the balance .
Aanenson: I think some of that job is the burden of the staff too . We
always try to put a Planning Commission update and try to , if there 's
different opinions , try to shake out what those major issues were and I
think as a staff we always try to represent what the views of the Planninc
Commission were too and I think that 's some of our job . Make sure those
are carried forward .
Farmakes : I do think though that we should be aware that we 're a part of
the process and not the process . Nobody voted for us . We 're appointed .
So when they sit on the Council that 's a different realm of accountability
and even though we may all follow through and give our input , we shouldn 't
be disappointed sometimes when the Council may decide to go another way .
And we have to realize that . And I think in the past , on other Commissions
and I don 't think this Commission is guilty . I think some people have gorm
off sometimes on their own agendas when they have come to a commission or
got onto a commission . They have an agenda that they want to follow and
they sort of go off ad hoc Council , or try to create that . Where they 're _
initiating developments on their own . I think we have to be careful of
that .
Harberts : I 'd like to inquire that staff , when you put that schedule
together , if you could contact me when you put that together because I hay
conflicts . Other meetings that I 'd like to maybe just take a look at the
schedule and see if I can work out a couple meetings that will work withir-
my professional schedule .
Batzli : Okay . Very good . Liason attendance at Housing and Redevelopment_
Authority meetings .
Ledvina : Paul got this one wrong .
Batzli : Pardon me .
Ledvina: Paul got this one wrong because I have been going to the HRA -
meetings .
Conrad: We 've got a guy .
Batzli : We 've got a guy? Do you want to continue going to those meetings
Ledvina: Sure . I 'm getting a lot out of it . -
Batzli : Okay .
Planning Commission Meeting
January 20 , 1993 - Page 27
Conrad: Matt 's one of the best ones we 've ever had .
Batzli : Well I have an inkled feeling that Joe may also wish to attend
some of those meetings so if you do , obviously the more the merrier from
the Planning Commission there . If you do want to trade off or could do
something . Feel free .
Scott : Yeah , if you have a conflict or something but yeah . I 'd be
moderately interested in that sort of a thing .
Councilman Wing: Can I just interject on that?
Batzli : Sure .
Councilman Wing: If you 're going to attend those meetings , could I just
recommend that you vocalize and be aggressive because if I had my choice of
attending HRA meeting or Council meeting that would be scheduled . . .HRA has
more power than I 've got on the City Council . Be more effective there than
any place else . If you 've got good ideas and I think you ought to be . . .
there because they 're making major , major decisions . Way over my head . So
if you want to have impact , be at that meeting and speak up .
Batzli : We 've attempted in the past to get a liason to the Park and Rec
Commission . If anyone 's interested in that , I think it would be
interesting to at least have someone visit them from time to time . We make
a lot of decisions that are based on what they 're deciding and I think it
would be good from time to time to get a flavor of why they 're deciding
things . I know everytime I say this people look at me and say , okay . Fine .
Go ahead and do it Brian , so I ' ll just leave it at that for right now
before I rope myself into going to another meeting . But I think we should
consider that because we our zoning and land use issues regarding parks and
open space I think is directly impacted by these decisions they 're making
and sometimes we look at what they 've decided , we don 't need a park here .
We don 't want this . We don 't want that . And we look at it and we blankly
say , well that 's not our problem so we can 't consider it . Well , true and
not true . I 've always had a problem with that and I would like to get a
- better feel for why they 're making some of these decisions .
Aanenson: Can I just add to that Brian . They 're also undertaking doing a
comprehensive park plan and I think what you say is really true . We may
want to get someone involved in that process right now because they 're
looking at doing that .
Scott : I know in the Sunlink proposal , that we 're not going to be looking
at , I know there were a number of references to park space and how it
connected up with the trail system and that sort of thing so that was , I
was pleasantly surprised to see that so I can see where you 're coming from
on that .
Batzli : Okay . That takes care of our organizational items .
Planning Commission Meeting
January 20 , 1993 - Page 28
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
Batzli : We used to do this real formally , for those of you new to the
Commission , and we somehow or another decided that all we 've got to do is
say something like , does anybody have any changes and that 's the end of -
that . So does anyone have any changes? I would just like to once again
make of record that Ladd 's comment at the parting of Joan and Steve . And I
quote , "Well , good things to Joan . I think Steve deserves what he gets . "
I liked that . I missed that last time actually so thank you .
CITY COUNCIL UPDATE:
Batzli : Do you have an update Kate?
Aanenson: Sure . I could just go , at the last Planning Commission meetinc-
where Goodyear was on , we had a very lengthy discussion . And what it
results is the possibility of maybe putting into place a moratorium along
the Highway 5 corridor . So we 're in the process , and Council hasn 't
decided that 's the option but we 're going ahead and noticing and looking a
that issue . Again , it came back to do we have the design guidelines in
place to guarantee what 's going to happen along that corridor . So that
item was tabled for a month and we 're working on going ahead and noticing
the moratorium issue . The Gateway concept plan was also up for conceptual
approval before the City Council . It was a lengthy discussion , as it was
here at the Planning Commission . The moratorium issue came up again on
that and again , because it 's a concept . There 's so many issues that need
to be resolved from the staff level , that we 're kind of tracking along witil
the Highway 5 study . What the staff recommended and the Council went along
with , which I think makes a lot of sense , is that we said they cannot comE
back for preliminary approval for at least 8 months , which we feel gives
time to get the Highway 5 corridor study behind us , or at least into the
adoption process and give us some time to resolve some of those other
issues . At that point we feel like they 'll have alot more information the
we can do to look at how it should be designed .
Batzli : Speaking of Highway 5 team , people , project . I can 't think of tf
committee 's name .
Aanenson: Corridor study . Highway 5 corridor study .
Batzli : Okay , but who is the committee that 's looking at it?
Aanenson: Well Nancy is on the committee and Jeff 's on that .
Mancino: I 'm also on the subcommittee .
Aanenson: Yeah , and Nancy 's on the subcommittee too .
Batzli : How many people is the Planning Commission entitled to have on
that committee? Or don 't we know? Did the Mayor appoint them? Does
Council appoint them? Are we still okay , because Steve was on that
committee . Is he still going?
Planning Commission Meeting
January 20 , 1993 - Page 29
Aanenson: No , but then Nancy was appointed as a citizen and now she 's on
as Planning Commissioner too so it 's kind of two fold . If Steve wants to
still come as a resident , great . We were going to put that on but we felt
we had two . If more of you would like to come , certainly I think that 's
another interesting . A lot of work needs to be done on that . Long range
comprehensive planning issues .
Batzli : Okay . Thank you .
Aanenson: So anyway , those two issues are very timely and you 'll be seeing
a lot more on those two issues . We had the amendment on that you
recommended approval on as far as the metes and bounds . Approving those .
Actually Don Ashworth had a lot of concerns about that so we went back and
rethought that . Originally we felt it was a cost kind of issue and the
Council was kind of relunctant . They felt that maybe some more thought
should go into that . Maybe we should require platting and if we did , maybe
it could only be 25 words or less . So we 're rethinking that and doing some
more research on that issue . That 's it .
DISCUSSION OF SEPTIC ORDINANCE .
Batzli : Do you want to give us a little blurb on what this is about?
Aanenson: Sure . If you recall , we amended the ordinance to say , we had
the 2 1/2 acre minimum when we 're outside the MUSA and we went ahead and
amended that and we kind of bounced around , what should be the minimum . We
went with the 15 ,000 because that 's our existing minimum lot size . As long
as you could get the two septic sites on there . At that time we didn 't put
in a collective system and there was some issues . I know Tim had looked at
that . Maybe a collective septic site would work . I know that the nursery ,
Halla Nursery is also looking at , they 're doing some platting and using a
collective sewage system where you had the 15 ,000 square foot lots and at
such time that sewer becomes availabe , you could vacate that system and go
ahead and plat the rest of those lots out . We had some concerns about
that . Paul was on one side of this issue and he felt maybe it could work
so we brought in some experts . Namely Roger Machmeier and Jim Anderson sat
down with the staff and went through that and they really strongly advised
against doing a collective system . There 's just a lot of headaches as far
as the staff 's concerned . Liabilities if the system fails and so I think
we 're going to stick with what we originally proposed . Is that the 15 ,000
square foot lots is the minimum as long as you can provide the two septic
sites on site , and not go with the collective system .
Batzli : Okay but , help me out here . We 're allowing 15 ,000 square foot
lots then as long as you can provide a well and two septic sites .
Aanenson: Right .
Batzli : And most of the area of the city is heavy clay so that isn 't
possible .
Aanenson: Well no . What we 're talking about as far as the , what you 'd
need for the collective system is what we 're talking about . The poor soils
because you need a longer , linear , as it explains in engineering terms . You
Planning Commission Meeting
January 20 , 1993 - Page 30
need a much longer dispersion and it doesn 't work under a collective -
system . I think you 're right though . I don 't think we will see a lot of
15 ,000 square foot lots . I think it 'd probably be more closer to maybe 20
to 25 to get both thcse on there . But again , we still have the one unit _
per 10 acre density still falls into place . Okay , you still have to have
that density but what we 're saying , if you want to split off and plat the
rest of the outlot , you can chop off a smaller , half acre lot . Again , what
we 're trying to do is provide in such a way that sewer , when that does
become available , we haven 't got a large subdivision of 2 or 3 acre lots
that we 're trying to now assess for sewer and water .
Batzli : Let me ask the question again . Maybe I 'm really slow on this
issue . Collector systems were discussed because a 15 ,000 square foot lot
is not large enough to contain a building site , a well and two septic
sites . Does that mean that the two septic sites are collector systems or -
two regular septic sites?
Aanenson: That 's not why it was discussed . No , that 's not why it was
discussed . I did the original report . I 'm just reading off of Jo Ann 's .
That 's really not where it came from . It came from trying to be more
efficient in land use . I think there are some situations where the 15 ,00Q,
and Tim had looked at that in looking at some of his property and again ,
like I said , Halla Nursery had looked at doing some of that . Just trying
to be more efficient in some of the land use . I think there are some
circumstances where the 15 ,000 square foot lots will accommodate . Again ,
it 'd probably be more like 20 . The reason we were looking at it is just t
be more efficient . Maybe it makes sense , maybe every other lot . The two
lots together would use a common lot inbetween . At such time sewer become
available , you vacate the middle lot but again , the mechanics of the
engineering doesn 't pan out to make that work . That 's what the experts
have told us so , is that clear?
Batzli : So for now , what do we need to do with this?
Aanenson: Nothing . We just wanted to let you know . This really came frc-1
Tim unfortunately . Tim was the one that really wanted us to investigate
this , and unfortunately it got bogged down and so it 's really driven
because he had requested staff to investigate the possibility of using
collector system . Because we never put in the original ordinance when I
wrote it , because my original review and information I got said it doesn 't
work and Tim said , can we revisit that issue . So what we did is we hired
the consultants to revisit it and so they recommended no . It 's really not
feasible .
Conrad: But you 're still looking at it?
Aanenson: Well we 've adopted the ordinance that says , if you can get down
to 15 ,000 square feet and put two septic sites and a well , great . If you
can 't , then maybe you need a half acre , maybe you need an acre . Maybe yoi.
still need two but we will allow you to go to our minimum if you can meet
those qualifiers . That ordinance is in place .
Ledvina : Mr . Chairman , I guess I looked at this specific item and the
whole discussion centers around mound systems . And that is in truth , most
Planning Commission Meeting
January 20 , 1993 - Page 31
of the mound systems , or most of the septic systems that are going to be
placed in this area , are going to be mound systems . That might be guessing
60% to 70% , but the other 30% are not mound systems and the discussion
that 's contained , you know as the attachment here doesn 't really apply . So
just for the record , and I don 't know .
Aanenson : Are you talking about pumping or something?
Ledvina: Well no . Just the standard type of septic system . Granted there
are a lot of clay soils in Chanhassen but there are areas where there are
sandy silts and sands , and those areas are maybe , I don 't know what the
percentage but I 'd be guessing as to maybe 40% or 25% . So the discussions
is very one sided and I still don 't know how this all relates . I would
agree with the points that are made within this staff report regarding
mound systems but again , we don 't have the whole story .
Batzli : Would you like to see staff continue to investigate this?
Ledvina: I don 't know . I guess if there was a reason to believe that
collector systems are a viable alternative for development within our
borders then , you know you 've got the situation regarding mound systems
covered but are we saying that standard type collector systems are okay , or
what are we saying regarding that?
Aanenson: I 'm sorry , I didn 't follow what you were asking .
Ledvina: Well , we have the situation regarding mound systems and in the
engineering limitations of those types of things , maintenance , etc but what
about a standard type of collector system?
Aanenson : Well what we did is we looked at the general , we had the
Building Department and then we looked at what 's below the MUSA line in
those areas that we believe have a possibility of developing and we looked
at the soils and you 're right .
Ledvina : So you actually looked at the soils . . .
Aanenson: Of the areas we believe potentially , already . Exactly Halla . If
he could go forward with this system , he would be in here probably within
the next few months . So we looked at where those potentials . You 're
right . There may be some other ones but we believe that those probably
aren 't ready to develop in the immediate future and at such time that we
may be inside the MUSA anyway . So I understand what your viewpoint is .
Batzli : I 'm still struggling to know where , if we want to do something
with this . It looks like we spent some money on a consultant .
Aanenson: This was directed because again , Tim Erhart asked the staff to
revisit that issue and make sure that when we adopt the ordinance , we left
collective systems out . He wanted to revisit to see , does it make sense?
Can we do collective systems? We 're saying no , we can 't . We 're going to
leave it the way it is . We 're not going to make any modifications to the
ordinance . Right now we 're saying , they have to be on site . You cannot
have a collective system .
Planning Commission Meeting
January 20 , 1993 - Page 32
Batzli : Okay . I guess I would prefer then that the City not spend more
money on a consultant unless the Commission has a burning desire to revisi
this issue for one reason or another .
Mancino: I just want to make sure I understand this . You feel that you
have researched the universe of collective systems that would work in this
area?
Aanenson: No . No .
Mancino: But you 've given it a pretty good shot?
Aanenson: Yes . And I think the areas we feel that could develop , it 's not
going to be economically feasible . The risks as far as if it fails . The _
City 's risk . We feel at this time it 's not a prudent decision to go
forward with it and we 'd recommend that they be on site .
Scott: So this basically confirms the way the ordinance is? -
Aanenson: Exactly .
Scott: So this is informational and it 's not anything we really have to .
Aanenson: Act upon , right . And again , it was driven from Tim and I
apologize that Tim didn 't have the chance to respond . We 'd certainly let
him know .
Conrad: But staff is still working on the off site collector? The off -
site septic site , or are you not?
Batzli : I think they 're done . Kate?
Aanenson : Right .
Conrad: You 're done .
Batzli : Unless we want them to investigate further .
Conrad: Well no , Jo Ann 's note says in the last paragraph , staff is now
reviewing the possibility of allowing individual septic sites to be located
on adjacent property of that 15 ,000 square foot lot is possible .
Aanenson: They would just go with the bigger lot . I 'm sorry , where that
came from because what we said , if it needed to be bigger , then you need to
be bigger .
Batzli : See I would be totally against allowing a 15 ,000 square foot lot
and then locating the septic systems off the site . That 's totally against-
what we were trying to do.
Aanenson: That 's exactly right . That was not our intent . We said , if _
you 've got sand and it works , great . If not , then maybe you have to be a
half acre , maybe 3/4 . Whatever it takes .
Planning Commission Meeting
January 20 , 1993 - Page 33
Batzli : And that 's why I thought this sentence from Jo Ann that said , the
problem is you can 't fit all these things on there , my big comment was
going to be , then we raise the size of the lot because then the wool was
pulled over our eyes . The whole process that these things could fit on
there .
Aanenson: Right . And that was not the way it 's read . And I 'm sorry , but
this went through Paul . I didn 't have a chance to read it but I did work
on that ordinance and you 're right . That 's not what the intent was . That
was just , we said do we want a minimum . Because remember we talked about ,
I think a half acre and we said well , first of all we never had a minimum
if you recall . We never even put a minimum in there . We said if you can
even go smaller and we thought well geez , we don 't want them to go smaller
than our minimum lot size . So we said , okay . Let 's make it our minimum
lot size but the qualifier is , you had to be able to get those three things
on there . And that 's specifically written that way .
Batzli : Okay . So you 're not working on that , good .
DISCUSSION OF 1993 GOALS .
Batzli : You have in here the Planning Department goals and budget request
as always . Do you need to cover that in 30 seconds or?
Aanenson: No , and I also passed out some ongoing issues too . I guess if
you had any more direction . Paul did want me to mention to you that City
Council will be having a joint staff meeting , Council meeting , and you may
want to attend .
Batzli : I attended that last year .
Aanenson: Yeah , normally the Chairman may attend that and if you can 't
be there , you might want to delegate that somebody else but I believe it 's
February 6th and that will be a City Council goal session .
Batzli : February 6th? Saturday , yeah . Normally over at the Fire Station .
The size of the staff remains the same?
Aanenson: Yep .
Batzli : No more people for your department or anything else?
Aanenson: Planning staff , yeah . Just so everybody 's clear . I 'm not sure
everybody realizes but Jo Ann 's here 4 days and I 'm here 4 days so that 's
how we set it budget wise .
Conrad: What do you do the other day?
Aanenson: Actually I do 5 days and 4 days . I rest .
Scott: I noticed in here that it 'd like to be considered that you go from
4 days to 5 days .
Aanenson: Yeah . I had mentioned that yes .
Planning Commission Meeting
January 20 , 1993 - Page 34
Scott : Okay . So it 's nothing that 's going to be included in the '93
budget but that 's something that would be considered for '94? Is that kiii
of what? Okay .
Batzli : Normally what we do at this time of year is look at what we 've
done and what we have ongoing to determine whether there 's something that
we want to be looking at that we 're not . Or that needs to be revisited .
Kate passed out before the meeting ongoing issues and what we 've been i
trying to do by using this vehicle is to make sure that things eventually
get taken care of or that we recognize that we 're not working on something .
Kind of give ourselves a lack of progress report . And the issue , what
we 've done in the past and I don 't know if it was helpful or not . Maybe
some other commissioners want to comment on it , is to kind of force
everyone to bring to the next meeting , after this organizational one ,
things that they would like to see happen in the next year . Kind of a wi! t
list or how they would rank or prioritize the items on the ongoing issues
sheet that looks like either they 're not already taken care of or they 're
languishing . Generally over the past 2 years I think the items have slow.'--
been getting worked on and they 've been taken care of . We haven 't added
whole lot of new stuff to it I don 't think .
Aanenson: Except for the Highway 5 which kind of has a lot of sub things
underneath .
Batzli : Yeah . Ladd , do you think it 's useful to try and force people to -
bring their wish list in and talk about it next time?
Conrad : Probably should . You 've got to collect our input . You 've got to -
collect City Council 's input . See what they 're thinking .
Batzli : Yeah , because generally I think what Ladd is getting at , if we _
choose our wish list and what we 've done in the past is talked about it at i
come up with the priority of items and then sent it up to City Council so
that we weren 't wasting our time . If we 've determined that for example the
open space zoning is the most highly sought after thing that we can -
possibly think of , and they come back and say , why waste your time . We 'r(
not interested . We don 't care . If you pass it , we 'll just let it die .
Then why should we do that? That 's why I think it 's somewhat important
that we determine some sort of ranking of these things are items that we ') �
interested in trying to get accomplished in this next year and at least
send it up to them so they know what we 're trying to accomplish .
Conrad: And it forces them to think a little bit too . Like they 're
managing what we do and it 's a good exercise . Jeff , are you going to
propose review of architectural standards?
Farmakes: Be the architectural police of Chanhassen? No .
Conrad : Well it 's an interesting . I just wanted to plant that seed . We
talk about it all the time .
Farmakes: That 's been incorporated in the Highway 5 study but I think we -
have to do an educational thing to define what that is and I think some
people are confusing it with looking at a style of architecture rather than
Planning Commission Meeting
January 20 , 1993 - Page 35
principles of architecture . And that 's therein the difference . And that 's
going to take some education . The staff has a consultant and a planner and
they 're working with those issues and we 're dealing with that now in the
subcommittee of the Highway 5 corridor that is dealing with standards and
I 'm not sure how that will translate into city ordinance in general . But
it 's a good start .
Conrad: Well I know you care , that 's why I bring it up . Yeah I think we
should . I don 't know what the agenda is for next . This is nice .
Aanenson: You 're going to have another Lundgren subdivision on . You 're
going to be seeing a lot of subdivisions . The next every one . Every
meeting now .
Harberts: I 'd like to bring up a point of reference too on that . I 'm just
wondering if there 's some type of protocol with regard to one of us that
may have conflict or potential conflict of interest in projects that come
before the Commission , what the protocol is . Does that include , do we sit
through the public hearings? Do we remove ourselves entirely from the
room? What 's the protocol?
Batzli : When I 've had to remove myself on a conflict of interest , I 've
tried to announce early on in the , not the discussion but around , right
away prior to the public hearing that . I 've sat up here and just not
discussed it or voted on the issue . Other people have gotten up and gone
and sat out in the crowd so as to further distance themselves from the
decision making process .
Harberts: Has there been a legal perspective on that from the City?
Aanenson : I know the Council they have to declare that they usually do . I
can check on that for you .
Harberts: Because there 's one pending with that Sunlink property because
I ' ll be involved on that .
Batzli : I think at a minimum you need to disclose it and not participate
in the discussion or decision . So what I would like everyone to do .
Mancino: A real quick question on prioritizing when I look at the issues
and other items and I see the 1995 study area I say , oh . Let 's look at
that in 1994 . Tell me something a little bit about how long it takes to
look at an area and come up with land use , zoning , etc .
Aanenson: This one is tied into the Highway 5 corridor study . This is
also known as the Fleet Farm kind of area . It 's the northeast corner of
Highway 5 and 41 .
Batzli : We 're actually looking at that .
Farmakes: That was part of the . . .to be determined later .
Mancino : But when is later?
Planning Commission Meeting
January 20 , 1993 - Page 36
Farmakes: '95 .
Mancino: '95 , okay . That 's what I wanted to know .
Scott : Then the '95 study area south , is that the elementary school site'
Batzli : That 's north of there isn 't it? North and west of that .
Harberts: It 's just below , isn 't it below that Lake Susan? No Timberwooc
Batzli : Yeah , but it was also down south . Do you guys have a copy of yoL
comprehensive plan? It 's designated in there . It 's not in there?
Aanenson : We got the maps a couple weeks ago .
Batzli : Oh , so you don 't have a little reproduced map in there?
Harberts: I thought it was just under Timberwood .
Aanenson: I do not know where the other one is .
Batzli : Well we should know that . Okay .
Aanenson: I believe that one 's not in the MUSA area , is really what I _
believe . I think it 's south . I don 't know . I 'll check on that for you .
Farmakes : Well there was an additional study area to the south . Not on TH
5 . I believe the school was south , there 's so many proposals but I belieN
all the school proposals were south of TH 5 . The study area , I didn 't
think . . .
Scott : I think this was , the map that originally came along with this
comprehensive plan had a study area south .
Batzli : Yeah it does but it 's south of this proposed school area . The
school is in the MUSA line .
Mancino: Fleet Farm is right here and the school is right here .
Batzli : But it 's all north of TH 5 in that area . There 's another one to
the south where 169 and 212 .
Conrad: What 's that study area for?
Batzli : Which?
Conrad : The one to the south .
Batzli : Because we didn 't know where the road was going to go exactly . Fi.
the time we passed the comprehensive plan .
Aanenson: And what zoning we wanted around it .
Scott : Is that the proposed TH 101/212 interchange area?
Planning Commission Meeting
January 20 , 1993 - Page 37
Batzli : No . We zoned that land as I recall .
Harberts: Industrial . '
Batzli : Well it was commercial around the intersection .
Harberts: Yeah , because we 're looking to map a park and ride there .
Batzli : So for next meeting , if people can take a look at the ongoing
items . Issues . Come up with a priority and also bring in those things
that you think we should be looking at that we may not be . That would be
helpful . And does anybody else have any discussion items?
Conrad moved, Ledvina seconded to adjourn the meeting . All voted in favor
and the motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 9:35 p.m.
Submitted by Paul Krauss
Planning Director
Prepared by Nann Opheim
it i° 11'1 . - 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 28, 1993
SUBJ: Report from Director
At the January 25, 1993, City Council meeting, the following actions were taken:
1. Preliminary plat to replat a lot into two lots and one outlot, south of Pleasant View Road,
north of Nez Perce Drive, Stuart Hoarn, Vinewood Addition, was pulled from the consent
agenda by Councilwoman Dockendorf. Apparently, she had been contacted by some of
the same residents who raised issues at the Planning Commission meeting and the Council
had received a letter from them. The issues are virtually the same with residents being
concerned regarding the value of homes that would be built on these lots and other issues
such as tree preservation. When it was clear that these issues had been explored in-depth,
Councilwoman Dockendorf moved that the item be approved and the Council so voted.
2. Lakeview Hills Non-conforming Use Permit for a Recreational Beachlot located on the
north side of Lake Riley was approved as recommended by the Planning Commission.
3. Sign Variance request to locate a monument sign within the required setback located at
600 West 79th Street, Americana Community Bank. The dialogue that the City Council
- had on this item was really quite interesting. There was a very strong feeling that the
number of tenant signs should be regulated. Councilman Senn indicated a belief that
office buildings should not be allowed to have exterior signs for each tenant. The
- Council also was not terribly excited with the proposed new design of the monument that
had been provided by the applicant. Ultimately, the Council voted to go along with the
compromise that had been developed by the Planning Commission. Thus, the sign would
be allowed to intrude into the setback, the number of tenant name plates that would be
allowed would not be regulated, and the sign design must utilize the original drawings
that have been approved with the site plan. The Council did ask however, that the
Planning Commission consider limiting the number of tenant sign boards allowed on
building exteriors for office uses.
is
t . PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER
Planning Commission
January 28, 1993
Page 2 —
4. Final plat approval and PUD amendment for a church located south of the Chicago,
Milwaukee, St. Paul, Pacific Railroad and west of Audubon Road, Chanhassen Business —
Center, Ryan Construction. As the Planning Commission is aware, these proposed
changes to the Ryan industrial park are to accommodate a Jehovah Witness Church. The
City Council discussed this item at length with concerns raised regarding the --
appropriateness of churches in an industrial park and the tax impact that might result.
Action on this item was continued to the following City Council meeting. Staff was
directed to make an analysis of tax impacts and the applicant, who indicated that they —
reviewed and dismissed 30 other sites in Chanhassen before settling on the Ryan parcel,
was asked to provide information regarding which sites had been reviewed.
5. Zoning ordinance amendment to amend Section 20-1023, height of fences and Section 20-
109, location of fences, first reading. This item was continued because Councilman Senn
had some questions on the ordinance that he believed could be better addressed directly —
through staff.
Response to State Wetland Law and Rules —
As the Planning Commission is aware, staff has been very active in the drafting of the rules that
are going to be used to administer the new State Wetlands Protection Law. We have related to —
you in the past that we have very significant reservations with aspects of the law and the rules
and have been actively working to make changes to both. I have spoken at a number of meetings —
and conferences in an attempt to get people energized and made aware of this issue. I have also
worked with the State Chapter of the Minnesota Planning Association to prepare a response.
Perhaps the most productive approach is a joint public/private partnership that we have been
involved with from the start. Utilizing the law firm of Larkin, Hoffman, Daly, and Lindgren to
serve as a catalyst, we have put together a group of cities, townships, watershed districts and
developers who have a common understanding and belief as to what must be done. The premise
of this group is that the no-net-loss goal of the state law is supported without question. We
simply believe the administrative procedures and guidelines of the rules and the law are
inequitable and unwieldy to the point of becoming a bureaucratic nightmare. The point is —
consistently made that communities like Chanhassen have demonstrated leadership in this area
and are examples of how wetland protection should be managed. We prepared testimony which
was submitted to the Administrative Law Judge who is hearing testimony on the rules. A copy
of this testimony is provided for your review. We are now working to expand the group and
refocus our efforts towards working with legislators in the current session to obtain changes in
the law that are required if we are to reach our goals. —
Chanhassen Best Management Practices Handbook - Published
I am attaching for your review a copy of the recently adopted Best Management Practices
Handbook for the City of Chanhassen. This document has become the blue print against which
Planning Commission
January 28, 1993
Page 3
all development, grading and erosion control activities will be measured. We are quite proud of
the document and note that it would not have been possible to complete this without the city's
innovative Surface Water Management Program. Since copies of the manual are fairly expensive
to print and will be made available at cost to developers, I am asking that you review the
handbook but ultimately return it to the Planning Department so that we may put it back into
circulation.
ONGOING ISSUES
REVISED FEBRUARY 3, 1993
ISSUES STATUS
1.* 1995 Study Area (North) and Hwy. 5 On-going work with Task Force. Public
Corridor Study Hearing to CC on 2/8/93.
2. 1995 Study Area (South) Assigned to Planning Commission staff.
Work to be initiated as time commitments
allow —
OTHER ITEMS
Staff update and review of issues due for the
March 3, 1993, Planning Commission
Meeting -`
1.* Sign Ordinance Work is continuing to progress with task _
force. Program expected to be completed
shortly. CC asked that the committee look
at limiting the number of sign boards on
building exteriors for office buildings.
2. Tree Protection Ordinance, Mapping Inventory is completed. Over view of —
of significant vegetative areas existing tree protection regulations requested
by Commissioner Erhart. Advisory Tree
Board established by City Council. First —
meeting on 1/28/93.
3. Shoreland Ordinance Staff is currently working on draft of the —
ordinance. Initial comments delivered to
MnDNR. Will place on upcoming PC
agenda. —
4. PC input in Downtown Planning and Ongoing - Review ongoing projects
Traffic Study discussed at 9/2/92 meeting.
5. Review of Architectural Standards to 1992/may be combined in part with Hwy. 5
Promote High Quality Design work.
1 —
6. Bluff Creek Corridor Greenway Park and Recreation Commission is
undertaking update of the recreational
element of the Comprehensive Plan. Bluff
Creek issues to be dealt with in this format.
7. Temporary uses, sales - new Staff to bring back to Planning Commission
ordinance at a March meeting.
8. Sexually oriented businesses PC reviewed on 3/4/92. Sent to Public
Safety Commission. Reviewed on 7/8/92.
To be forwarded to CC.
9. Tree Conservation Easements Reviewed by PC in November.
10.* Fence Requirements To be reviewed by CC 2/8/93.
11. Open Space Zoning Requested by PC.
12. Upgrade landscaping ordinance To PC in March
standards to meet criteria established
during Target Review.
* Change in status since last report.
2
p
bii% s memo .
•\ ri ,
.
p
b
NN
ASSOCIATION
'x•;
JANUARY 1993 , _-
Survey of What Projects are Subject to Design Review
Design Review All 1 over
Practices special Districts Subject to Design Review
By Brenda Case Lightner Historic districts 60% 79%
Waterfront or other scenic areas 17 21
The practice of design review is expanding at a rate comparable to Environmentally sensitive areas 19 14
the adoption of zoning ordinances in the 1920s and'30s.It has Downtown or center 31 46 lilF
— been fueled by ever-greater acceptance by the courts of a local
government's interest in controlling aesthetic quality.Design review Residential neighborhoods 19 19
is the local government practice of scrutinizing private and public Neighborhood commercial districts 22 25
projects for their design,aesthetic or urban design quality,or fitness. _rte
It includes historic district review,but not subdivision controls or
review by a client of an architect's work. special Cases Subject to Design Review .
This report describes the results of a survey of design review Zoning variances 19% 19%
practice conducted in April 1992.Surveys were mailed to 700 city PUD Approvals 56 49
and county planning departments that subscribe to the Planning Very large projects 28 24
Advisory Service,plus all nonsubscribing planning departments in
cities of greater than 100,000 population.The rate of return was Public buildings 24 44
— exceptional:371 responses,369 of which proved usable(a return Public infrastructure 18 26
rate of about 52 percent).
The survey was designed to find out what kinds of projects are In those jurisdictions where design review varies, respondents
subject to review and the scope of design review across the country; were asked what areas of the city or what types of projects are
- to discover who participates in design review decisions;to describe subject to review.Multiple answers were allowed.As shown above,
and categorize standard review processes;and to determine what the most prevalent use of design review reported was in historic -`
principles of design were being used to evaluate projects.The latter districts,followed closely by planned unit development(PUD)
proved to be the most elusive. approval.Further analysis revealed that very few jurisdictions(three
One of the most interesting findings is the rate of growth at percent)limited design review to historic districts.Most
which design review has been adopted.Sixty percent of jurisdictions respondents said that they applied design review in more than one
with design review have adopted it since 1980,and only three type of circumstance(often with separate criteria for each).This
- percent had some form of design review prior to 1960. suggests a fragmented series of design review systems rather than an
Furthermore,one-fourth of the 22 percent of jurisdictions that do across-the-board mechanism.I arge cities were more likely to have _
not have design review are currendy considering adopting it. many different review systems. - -
The survey sample was limited to cities and counties of greater When asked to categorize their reviews as voluntary or • -
- than 10,000 population.Because the PAS list was augmented with mandatory,60 percent of the respondents using design review 46-
large cities,the sample is more likely to reflect the activities of the claimed that it is mandatory and said the recommendations must be _
large cities and towns.Selective analysis has revealed few differences followed for zoning or subdivision approval or building permits. �= -
between the responses of large cities and responses of cities under Only four percent of the respondents with design review use a A A.
-
- 100.000 population.Where they are significant,they arc noted. voluntary pros cc,in which review is not a requirement but a show
r''---
More than 100 respondents also sent copies of their design of good faith by a developer.Some 21 percent use an"advisory"
guidelines,providing a tremendous resource for further research. process that,upon closer examination,is nearly mandatory. ter:
The Scope of Design Review Design Guidelines ;
Of the 369 respondents,78 percent claimed to be using some form Design guidelines are often mentioned in the same breath as design -•
of design review.When counties were eliminated,this increased to review.Indeed,written guidelines do accompany the majority of
83 percent.Large cities(more than 100,000)were even more likely review processes.However,22 percent of the respondents with
to use design review,with 93 percent using some form of it. design review do not publish guidelines,relying instead on a general ' 4
The 285 jurisdictions with design review were asked whether consensus of the reviewers.For another 15 percent,guidelines are
review was consistent for all projects or if it varied with just that:recommendations,not mandatory rules. For 48 percent of -
circumstances.Of these,only 18 percent of jurisdictions subjected the respondents with design review,guidelines arc mandatory or :-.7:1-
all projects to the same design review process;while 82 percent regulatory,making them more precisely"design laws"or standards, _
noted that the process they applied varies with the circumstances, rather than guides.Another five percent develop guidelines on a
for example,the location or type of project. project-by-project basis.
There is no consensus on the form written guidelines should Who Writes Design Guidelines?
take.Twenty percent use quantifiable rules(such as limiting sign
areas or stating specific amounts of landscaping), 13 percent use Agency staff with planning background 73%
drawings and diagrams to illustrate what is desirable rather than
providing quantifiable language,21 percent are general(describing
principles and goals and giving examples rather than specifics),and Agency staff with design background 55%
36 percent fall between or combine two or more of these forms.
Design guidelines generally were composed by agency staff with Community residents,leaders 32%
help from community residents or attorneys(see table at right).
Most of the guidelines were assembled from several sources(52
percent)or created new(16 percent).Very few were modeled on Attorneys,on staff or consultant 24%
another jurisdiction's guidelines(five percent),suggesting that
guidelines usually are specifically tailored by local agency planners. Elected officials 22%
This specificity of place is probably related to the use of context as a -
measure of design quality,which will be discussed later.
Planning consultant 21%
Who Reviews Projects?
The survey indicated that planning agency staff(with and without
design backgrounds)and planning commissions and zoning boards Architect consultant 16%
were the most likely to review projects.Design review boards were -
present in only 36 percent of places with review.Where they do Other 14%
exist,they are highly influential in the outcome of the review.J arge
cities were more likely than small cities to have design review boards Numbers arra pem*tasr of those rr,pondn,n who said they we dada'mat,
(47 percent).In places without design review boards,the review
outcome was influenced primarily by agency staff(especially those Who Participates in Design Review?
with design background)rather than any other participating body.
Who Is Most Influential?
Remarkably,citizen participation in design review is relatively
Who partirare:this occurs in only 18 percent of places and only two in> cipainfluencd
ces ! most
respondents claimed that citizen groups exerted the primary Agency staff with design background 71% 36%
influence on the outcome of the review.This suggests two distinct
patterns of review:review by agency staff,with the imprimatur,but Plan Commission/zoning board/
little influence,of the zoning board or commission;and review by board of appeal 60 16
design review boards,which are more likely to make judgments Agency staff without
without being influenced by agency staff specific design background 57 14
Given the two patterns of review and the range of possible Special design review panel or board 36 26
outcomes,and given the diversity of individuals who approve and
disapprove of design,the author thought it would be interesting to Elected officials 28 4
discover what architects think of the design decisions being made. Volunteer citizens/residents
In a recent survey(separate from this design review study)that through public process 18 1
Wolfgang Preiser and I conducted in cooperation with the Professional consultant 10 2
American Institute of Architects Memo,architects declared
Other 5 2
themselves fairly unsatisfied with design review.Twenty-five
percent of the respondents found it"petty,meddling,and useless," What is Being Reviewed?
and 50 percent said it was"a good idea with serious flaws."The
In this section of the survey,respondents using design review were
biggest complaint of the architect-respondents was the lack of
qualified professional reviewers—in other words,the lack of asked to detail which project elements are reviewed.Respondents
Fere asked to check one of three options for 39 elements under two
architects on review boards and staffs.Thus the composition of
review bodies or staff may become the critical issue in architects' categories:site planning and building design.Respondents checked
acceptance of design review.Indeed,the controversy often revolves whether.a)the dement was covered by a guideline,b)the dement
around the question of whose tastes will prevail,who has the right wasnot covered by a guideline,but was reviewed anyway,or c)the
to determine"good design." element was not mewed
Although architectsare more likely than any other professional There was a lot of consensus among respondents in the site
annin
to be found on a review board,44 percent of all review boards do Pg category.More than 90 percent of all jurisdictions said
they
not have a single architect.Community representatives were the review parking lot landscaping,fences and buffers,setbacks,
screening trash areas,and parking configuration.Fifty percent of
next most likely to be found on a board.Lawyers were the least
likely to have a seat at the design review table.Not surprisingly, jurisdictions have written guidelines covering these five elements.
Environmental issues ranked lowest on the list,with fewer than 30
reviewing bodies are dominated by white males.Statistically,the
average board of 7.1 people includes only 1.8 females and.6 percent of the jurisdictions claiming to review sunlight and shadows
persons of color. or response to microclimaric issues.Perhaps this is because these are
not strictly"aesthetic"issues.
There was less consensus among respondents on the
building design elements reviewed"Building height"and
Brenda Lightner is an assistant professor at the School of Planning at "on-premise signs"were the two most common elements
the University of Cincinnati. scrutinized.In both cases,written design guidelines were present
2
in more than 70 percent of all jurisdictions. one-fourth regularly use context. For large cities,the percentage
Overall,most of the elements of building design that were listed increases significantly.
were reviewed by more than half of the jurisdictions.Only four of Respondents who claimed to use context as a guiding principle
the 19 elements were reviewed by fewer than 60 percent of the were asked to agree or disagree with statements about
jurisdictions with design review.This suggests that building design, contextualism.The greatest level of agreement(82 percent)
in all its pieces and parts,is thoroughly reviewed in most places. followed two statements:"new buildings should respect the existing
The discrepancy between site planning and building design urban pattern of buildings and open space,"and"designs which
elements covered by guidelines and those that are reviewed without diverge widely from the surroundings should not be allowed."Next
_ guidelines is interesting.Every respondent routinely reviews items most common (73 percent agreed)was"new and rehabbed
for which there are no guidelines,suggesting that guidelines do not buildings should not stand out noticeably."Statements drawing the
significantly limit the scope of design review.This was especially lowest level of agreement were those that queried about using
true for building design,where written guidelines were common for stylistic resemblances or similar derails.This suggests that cities are
— only the four most prevalent elements.Perhaps this is because of the looking for buildings that are imitative of existing urban patterns
difficulty of writing objective guidelines for building design issues. and sit quietly in their places,but need not always look like the
buildings next door.
Context and Design Review It should be noted that there was not a significant level of
In this section and the next,the common principles that underlie disagreement with any statement except on the issue of style(38
design review decisions will be described.The author assumed that percent disagree),and respondents were likely to answer"not
most review systems depended primarily on context to guide the applicable"instead of actually disagreeing.The suspicion is that
review process.That is,most review decisions and changes are based respondents were reluctant CO actually disagree with a reasonable
on making a project fit into the"context"of its surroundings.Since sounding principle,a phenomenon also encountered in the
context is a word with multiple meanings for planners and archi- responses in the section on design principles discussed below.
teas,it was necessary to delve a little deeper into what"fit with the
context"means to agencies that use it as a principle of urban design. Principles of Good Design
The assumption that the notion of context is widely applied in Respondents using design review were asked to agree or disagree
design review decision-making is based on a study conducted 10 with several"principles"of good architectural design and urban
years ago by Wolfgang Preiser.Every city surveyed for that study design.These principles were really restatements of common design
claimed to be using context as the primary urban design guide. guidelines.They cannot be described precisely as principles in the
In 1992,the picture is different.Twenty-three percent of the sense of Virruvius's"firmness,commodity,and delight."Rather,
respondents with design review claim nor to use"fit with context"as they represent the usually banal but occasionally profound rules that
a principle.About half use context"sometimes,"and more than are being promoted as good design in cities.In general,these are
Specific Site Plpn Elements Reviewed Building Design Elements Reviewed
Covered by Not Coveted by Not
Guidelines Reviewed Both Reviewed Guidelines Reviewed Both Reviewed
Fences and buffers 68% 27% 95% 3% Building height 72% 22% 94% 4%
Parking lot landscaping 67 27 94 4 On-premise signs 74 18 92 6
Screening of loading,trash 59 34 93 5 Building bulk 49 38 87 10
Distance from the street 67 26 93 5 Mechanical equipment
Location of parking lots 52 40 92 6 screening 50 36 86 12
Exterior lighting 51 37 88 9 Materials 41 43 84 15
Disturbance of Building dimensions 40 42 82 15
natural landscape 37 42 79 17 Service areas 39 42 81 15
Pedestrian amenities 34 42 76 21 Facade articulation 39 37 76 21
Conservation of vegetation 35 40 75 20 Location of entrances 22 49 71 25
Utilities 39 35 74 20 Color of materials 25 46 71 26
Public open spaces 28 43 71 24 Roof profile 23 47 70 27
Off-premise signs 56 15 71 20 Details 26 41 67 30
Obstruction of views 20 43 63 32 Horizontal or
Visual privacy 22 40 62 34 vertical proportions 23 41 64 31
Street furniture 19 34 53 42 Window size,shape 23 39 62 35
Security 9 38 47 47 Style or character 23 37 60 36
Outdoor an or fountains 13 30 43 51 Ground floor activities 14 32 46 49
Generation of pollution 17 26 43 50 Maintenance 16 27 43 52
Sunlight,shadows 10 18 28 66 Energy efficiency 12 18 30 64
Response to microclimate 7 17 24 70 Interior lobbies 7 17 24 71
3
operational and direct,("reduce the variety of signs"),rather than mentioned by one-third who had one or more improvements to
aesthetic or design-oriented("use harmonious proportion from one suggest,was to make existing guidelines more explicit,dearer,or
, ._ part to another").Aesthetic principles were left out of this survey stronger.The second most common suggestion (18 percent)was to
because they are generally missing from design guidelines,and,in create design guidelines or standards,apparently in places that have
any case,there is very little agreement over such principles in today's none.Other suggestions for improvement mentioned by more than _
pluralistic architectural world. 10 percent of those responding were:CO broaden the review process
• " We have already noted how little agreement there is that"fit by including more types,uses,areas,or sizes of projects(12
with context"means"stylistic similarity."Planners,like architects, percent);and to consolidate the process,reduce delay,or reduce
steer cleanly away from making rules about style or aesthetic issues overlapping jurisdictions(10 percent).Other improvements that
whenever possible.However,this does not mean planners have no received 10 or more mentions were to give staff(as opposed to
opinions about style or aesthetic issues,or that they refrain from boards)more control,to use more professionals on review boards,
- reviewing these issues in a normal design review process,as we have and to give design review more authority or"teeth."
f"--.. seen in our discussion of the dements reviewed.It does mean that
these principles are seldom explicitly stated.To be fair,it is Conclusions
extremely difficult if not impossible to devise principles of good One of my hypotheses about design review is that it is being applied
design and aesthetics.Most people rightly evaluate works of art and somewhat universally across the country,since so many guidelines
architecture on their singular response to an individual project seem to be similar from place to place.I feared the coming of a day
:- rather than measuring it against universal principles.This is why the when all cities would be modeled on quaint townscape ideas or
issue of who reviews projects alwayswill be critical. other EuroDisneyideas of urbanism.The data fortunatelydo not
:xiHaving said that,we can offer what may be the"top nine" support such fears,although the universal themes they do suggest
design guidelines explicitly stated by localities("fit and context" arc somewhat disturbing.There is a huge agreement about the use
1' makes it 10).The top nine on this list were named by more than 63 of certain guidelines,none of which are very profound or constitute
.., percent of the localities,with the non-glamorous"screen service and what might be thought of as an urban design theory or a set of
utility activities and uses"coming in at a whopping 92 percent. consistent principles.Most of these have to do with hiding or
•
2
Roughly three-quarters of respondents listed"encourage signs tidying up the most blatant environmental offenses:screening
integrated with building facades,""encourage retention of existing equipment,landscaping parking lots,and regularizing signs.
vegetation,""reduce the variety of signs,""minimize disturbance of Compared to a real urban design idea such as those represented by
environmentally sensitive land,""favor site-specific response to London's Regent Street or Sixtus V's plan for Rome or even Seaside —
"' topography,""limit the visibility of parking from the street,"and (distant cousins though they arc),these guidelines cannot be said to
4.
"discourage boxy,unadorned buildings."A majority(63 percent) constitute urban design at all.
..*.. also chose"encourage facade offsets to break up the mass of large or More interesting are the cities that use context as a principle of
continuous buildings." good urban design.Here,the ideas that draw greatest agreement
As in the statements about context,respondents were reluctant actually do begin to suggest a kind of universal idea about good
to actually disagree with any principle.One exception is the urban design:let new buildings augment the existing pattern
-t' principle,associated with Traditional Neighborhood Design wherever possible,let them be quiet and noncontroversial,let them
. (TND),of favoring narrow lots and grid street arrangements over be similar to their neighbors without actually copying them.
wide lots and cul de sacs.Planners rejected this principle Disquieting as this vision of urban conformity is perhaps the
resoundingly(40 percent disagreed;41 percent said not applicable) greatest disappointment in this universal theme is the newly limited
which may be interesting to those who believe TND is a significant definition of context,that is,context as the man-built environment
- influence in planning today.Another principle that drew in the immediate vicinity of the site to be built upon.Context
dicagreement was"favoring traditional over modern styles"(31 might be used to mean the whole array of ideas of a place:its
....# percent disagreed;38 percent said not applicable).Again,planners history,its culture,its politics,its weather,its ecology.Without this
are reluctant to say that they prefer certain styles. perspective of context,the universal theme of conformity promotes
a simplistic and one-dimensional interpretation in new design.
Improving the Process Although the theme of urban conformity is widely embraced,it
``2')
- In an open-ended question,respondents were asked to suggest is not universal in the sense of yielding similar environments across
x�c-• revisions in their design review process.A little more than 50 the country.Because places are essentially different,the same
.:.'x,'- percent of those with design review responded,suggesting a general guidelines about urban conformity can lead to broad variations
level of satisfaction with the status quo.The most popular revision, from place to place. Perhaps the idea of context will even be
.
- reopened and expanded in planning at some moment,as it has been
• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• in architecture through the ideas of critical regionalism.At that
The PAS Memo is a monthly publication for subscribers to the Planning Advisory point,of course,simplistic and rigid guidelines will have to be
Service,a subscription research service of the American Planning Association:
Israel Stollman,Executive Director;Frank S.So,Deputy Executive Director. dictcarded and reviewers will need an ever-increasing degree of
The PAS Me-mo is produced by APA staff in Chicago.Research and writing by Research sophistication.
Department staff.Marys Morris,Editor.Production by Publications Department staff: In any case,what is demonstrated through the principles widely
Cynthia Cheski,Assistant Editor;Dennis McClendon,Design Director.
used by design reviewers is that design review is not overwhelmingly
Copyright C1993 by American Planning Association,1313 E.60th St.,
Chicago,IL 60637.The American Planning Association has headquarters supportive of or helpful to urban design,per se.Design review,offices at at 1776 Massachusetts Ave.,N.W.,Washington,DC 20036. while essentially harmless in its principles of tidying and hiding,
All rights reserved.No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any does not speak to urban form or the importance of streets or axes or
form or by any means,electronic or mechanical,including photocopying,recording, fomlal arrangements.In its theme of conformity,design review u
I
or by any information storage and retrieval system,without permission in writing
from the American Planning Association, moreinfluential and perhaps damaging.It is not nonetmed with
s. Printed on recycled paper,including 50-70%receded fiber ® urban design,but a kind of automatic,replicating urban non-
- and 10%postconsumer waste.
4
C--(1 DECEMBER 1992
'-
EEONM / , ,
• Existing-Use Zoning and there is open countryside in between.There is,however,
no way to retain open lands and natural areas between
By John A. Humbach developed urban centers without directing new construction
— away from the countryside and into,or near, the places where
Decisions that permanently change land use affect us all and development exists already. Sprawl and scatter-site building
may have a greater impact on the lives of future Americans than patterns will inevitably expand if we continue to designate
any other choices we are making today.There are many possible every piece of land in every rural community for one form of
ways to manage development of the land resources we all must development or another.
share.To man)people,the present system does not work very In much of western Europe and some parts of the United
well,especially in relatively fast-growth rural areas. States(most notably in Oregon,though Washington has also
_ Builders complain that land-use regulatory programs are recently gone this route),a different approach has been taken
filled with pointless risks,conflicts,and delays,all of which to zoning for nonurbanized areas.The basic idea is to
add substantially to the cost that consumers must pay.Yet manage growth under truly comprehensive plans—plans that
environmentalists and persons concerned to protect their prescribe areas for both developed and for open land uses. .•
.
community's character often find these same"safeguards" Such"true"comprehensive plans:
hopelessly inadequate. Despite the uncertainties and battles,
regulatory procedures still do not prevent patterns of suburban a Designate some community areas for near-term growth
sprawl and strip development that consume open space at rates and development;
often greatly exceeding the rate of population growth. a Designate other areas as a reserve for future development
In the 1920s,the concept of zoning swept the country. needs; and
The key strategy of traditional zoning was to consolidate like
_ uses and separate incompatible uses. Traditional zoning was, ■ Designate still other areas,perhaps most of the zoned
however,conceived as a management tool for cities and community's land base,for no foreseeable developed uses .
other areas expected to be built up, not for the open whatsoever.countryside. Being designed for urbanized areas,the
— presumption of traditional zoning has been that every piece Lands in the last category can be specifically zoned for
of privately owned land should be designated for some kind various particular open land uses, such as exclusive agricul-
of developed use or another. The still dominant Standard tural use zoning or forestry zoning. (This is what is done in .it,
Zoning Enabling Act pays no attention,for example,to the Oregon.)But an even more direct and straightforward zoning
need to zone for such economically vital and socially crucial strategy for lands outside the designated growth areas is
open-land uses as agriculture and forestry,not to mention simply to zone them for their existing uses.
zoning to retain the overall character of nonurban areas. Existing-use zoning is,in essence,a zoning designation
under which the permitted uses of each parcel are defined as
Urban Zoning,Rural Sprawl any uses to which the parcel is already reasonably adapted,
Following World War II,the advent of almost universal but parcels may not,in general,be modified for new uses.
automobile transportation led to unprecedented development The function of existing-use zoning is to implement a
pressures on rural lands,especially those near urban fringes. community's advance planning for an open-land/developed-
When there was a planning response to these new pressures, use mix. Existing-use zoning applied to rural areas would _'
it was typically to extend traditional urban-style zoning into have essentially the same general effect as traditional zoning
nonurban municipalities, designating every piece of land for applied in already-developed urban areas: a tendency to
one form of development or another.When there were stabilize neighborhood land-use patterns and character by
concerns about preserving rural character and open space,the establishing a legal presumption that people cannot
typical approach was simply to zone for larger and larger necessarily change the uses of their land just because they
minimum lot sizes and to confine commercial uses mostly to might profit by doing so.Existing-use zoning is not,
main thoroughfares. As many communities learned,however, therefore,a departure from familiar zoning strategy. Rather,
this "sprawl and strip" strategy does not preserve rural it is a logical adaptation of urban zoning to the rural context
character and open space but actually hastens its loss.The where(as in most already-built urban areas) the presumption
ruralization of urban zoning makes it practically illegal to is against substantial land-use change. �Y
build anything but strips and sprawl. Even within an existing-use zone,it may be occasionally '-
Predictions have been made that America will eventually desirable to modify the uses to which some lands are adapted(to
evolve into a series of megalopolises,with suburbs provide for public utilities,for example).Special permit prose-
expanding in concentric rings that stretch end-to-end for dures can be provided for this purpose based on a showing of - .4
hundreds of miles. But this does not have to be America's public need and the absence of suitable alternatives.
destiny.We still have the option to retain the patterns of land In addition,an existing-use zoning program must provide ;r.
development that have predominated since the dawn of variances for individual cases of extreme hardship so that the
civilization, in which cities are cities,villages are villages, community does not incur the compensation liabilities for
"total takings"of all value under recent Supreme Court 1992 Lucas case. With hardship variances to prevent total
cases, such as the 1992 case.Lucas v. South Carolina takings,backed up by subdivision regulations as earlier
Coastal Council. Most lands,however, are potentially described,existing-use zoning that implements a sound
productive enough that the variances for rare circumstances comprehensive plan should entail no takings problems.
of total taking usually will not seriously impair the goals of A model existing-use zoning ordinance,with some
the comprehensive plan. The need for such variances can be explanatory comments,is set in the sidebar. A copy with full
even further reduced by judicious use of subdivision comments is available from the author. —
regulations to back up the existing-use zoning: takings law
looks at zoning's effect on each property"as a whole."Thus, John Humbach is professor of law at Pace University School of Law in White
a key component of an existing-use program is adoption of Plains.New.York.
subdivision rules that do not allow larger parcels having —
present value"as a whole"to be carved into little new
parcels having no economic value in their present uses. Electrical Catch-22
Even allowing for some modifications of use under
special permits and hardship variances,existing-use zoning By Debra A. Schwartz .
avoids the critical deficiency of past attempts to simply
transport urban-type zoning to nonurban settings: Existing- A woman in Petersfield. South Carolina, is wondering if
use zoning does not presuppose that every parcel should be today's the day her mobile home will catch fire when she —
built upon in some way or another. It puts the burden of turns on the space heater. Her fears are well grounded. On
justifying change on those who stand to profit from change, this beat-up pelt of land 18 miles west of Charleston, about
- not on those who prefer to retain the character and qualities 30 houses and trailers are wired for electricity by connecting
of the area in which they live, extension cords strung from a juicy outlet in one house to the —
, trailer next door.
Urban Growth Boundaries About 200 families live in Petersfield. Some are heirs to
•- Restricting near-term development to designated urban the land. Others just dropped by 25 years ago and stayed,one
growth boundaries(as they are known in Oregon)offers a by one adding meager shelters to the property.
__- further important opportunity: It makes feasible a high level The fire hazard jeopardizes the health,safety,and welfare
of community and environmental sensitivity in developments of many residents. Charleston's public works department is
while simultaneously ensuring that building permits are sure it is losing money to squatters illegally tapped into the
issued quickly. When designated growth areas are city's water and sewer system.The Charleston County
established to cover only part of the community and existing- planning department knows people are living on the land in
use zoning covers the rest, it also becomes feasible to do the violation of zoning regulations. Many of the trailers and
; environmental reviews and set performance standards in stick-built houses are not up to building codes,but officials —
•
• advance—so that all (or at least most)of the development say no quick fix is in sight.
within the urban growth boundary can be"as of right."This The county planning department is trying to determine
is in sharp contrast to the presently predominant system of how it can "provide an immediate solution to a definite
,. - zoning, which tells developers they can theoretically build problem created by individuals who didn't know what
Q anywhere and then relies on expensive, confrontational. and requirements they had to comply with," says planning
:k often repetitive ad hoc reviews as each new development director Bill Miller.
project is proposed. The people living on the land want appropriate electrical _
Elimination of present,inefficient multiple-approval service,and they want to fix their leaking faucets and
processes never will be acceptable to those concerned about termite-weakened building supports,but they don't have the
adverse effects of development unless the present adversarial money. County officials do not want to force them out of
approach is replaced with effective substantive development their homes for noncompliance with building and zoning
criteria. However,by comprehensively planning in advance codes,Miller says.The issue,he says,is to provide some sort
._: ; for both developed and open-land uses,and implementing the of assistance to improve the conditions. Exactly what is
latter with a form of existing-use zoning,communities can available has not been determined.
eliminate most of the occasions for battle that are now such "Petersfield is not even in a position right now to get a —
frequent features of the land-use planning process. In short,if community block grant because,in order to use funds,they
environmental and community protection are adequately have to meet zoning requirements,and they don't," says
provided by advance planning,it becomes possible to say to Linetta Jacob-Simmons,Charleston County's community
opponents of particular applications: "If you didn't show up development director.
- on the plan.don't show up on the project." The first step toward fixing the fire hazard is determining
Existing-use zoning sets aside open land for exclusively who owns which piece of land. That has been nearly
`' open-space uses. The most commonly voiced objection to impossible,officials say. "You go in,try to identify a parcel
open-space zoning is the spurious constitutional argument: of land.and the person who lives there says, 'I've been living
You can't take away development rights without here for 30 years and my cousin Joe handles that. I don't
compensation. This article is not the place for a detailed know anything about that.' And then you write cousin Joe
review of the constitutional law on property rights. Suffice to and you get no response from cousin Joe. There's nothing —
say,quoting the Supreme Court, it is"a reality we nowadays you can do," Simmons says.
.- acknowledge"that "government may . . . affect property The county first realized the problem in Petersfield,
• values by regulation without incurring an obligation to Simmons says, when it was trying to help people devastated
compensate."The Supreme Court wrote these words in the by Hurricane Hugo in September 1989. "You can't make T
MODEL EXISTING-USE ZONING ORDINANCE FOR A RURAL TOWNSHIP
Findings and Declarations It is in the public interest(i)to avoid excessively ordinance)the[zoning]board may upon appeal authorize variances to permit
dispersed development within the non u rbanized portions of the township and additional uses,or greater intensities or densities of use,of particular parcels
strip development along its primary and secondary highways and roads,(ii) within the existing-use district, provided that such variance will not be
to avoid unnecessary and scattered conversion of open space land to contrary to the public interest and,owing to special conditions unique to the =•
developed uses,(iii)to inhibit urban sprawl,and(iv)to prevent or mitigate the parcel,a literal enforcement of the use limitations applicable to the parcel .
resultant adverse impacts of such development,conversion, and sprawl, would cause extreme hardship to the owner. Any such variance which is
including: granted shall thereafter expire unless the additional use,or greater intensity
(a)despoliation of the township's natural environmental quality by air,water, or density of use,permitted thereby is substantially commenced within one .,.. -
and noise pollution, year of the granting of the variance. . :.;!A
of township's nonurban character and the quality of life Extreme hardship shall be found to exist only if the permitted uses leave the
(b)impairmentthe
enjoyed y its residents, owner with no worthwhile use, no means of obtaining an appreciable
economic return,and only a bare residuum of value under applicable market
—
(c) destruction of its scenic beauty, conditions. Hardship shall not include owner-created hardship, nor shall
(d)disturbance of the ecology and natural habitat, hardship include any condition that results from prior use or abuse of the land
by any current or prior owner of an interest in it,including prior extraction or .
(e)traffic congestion, destruction of the land's natural resources.Hardship resulting from voluntary
(f) hazards related to geology,fire,and flood, subdivisions may be considered only(a)to the extent that the subdivisions
were approved and completed prior to(the date of adoption of this ordinance)
(g) loss of lands suitable for agriculture and forestry,and or (b) if a finding is made that the original subdivided tract cannot be
(h) excessive costs of providing the necessary public services and infra- reconsolidated,in whole or in parton an economically viable basis.
structure to accommodate isolated and dispersed pockets of denser No variance shall be authorized merely because the permitted uses, or
development. intensities or densities of use,(i)result in practical difficulty,(ii)provide less _ -4
ft is therefore declared to be the policy and objective of this township to than the highest or best return to the owner, or (iii) prevent a return •
prevent or mitigate such adverse impacts by directing new construction and proportionate to the current owners investment in the parcel it, under -
development projects away from the remaining open space lands of the applicable market conditions,the amount of such investment exceeds the fair
township and to consolidate such new construction and projects either in market value which the parcel had in light of its use,adaptations for use,
compact new settlements or on lands that are adjacent to or within the intensity or density of use or surface features at the time that the investment "-
portions of this township that have already undergone significant develop- was made.
ment through the formation of cities,villages,hamlets,and other settlements. Except as provided in this section,no variance shall be authorized from the per- ._
miffed uses,or intensities or densities of use,within the existing-use district.
COMMENT:Language drawn from the City of Tiburon ordnance,which the COMMENT• Ceearly, so long as the variance provision is in effect its
V.S. Supreme Court quoted with approval In Aglrts v. 77buron447 US
presence should insulate the existing-tree zoning ordinance from any
255,261 n.8(1980). Further tailoring should be considered to conform facial`takings"challenge.See MacDonald,Sommer&Frates v. ."..,;,,,;-
successful
findings and declarations to the specific conditions that apply within the County of Yoh:),477 US 340,349-52(1986);Williamson v.Hamilton Bank,473
enacting municipality. US 172, 186-94(1985).This variance provision is written as a transitional - _
measure,designed to provide"a reasonable grade period in which owners
THEREFORE,the zoning ordinance of the Township of is hereby could protect their rights."Texaco,inc.v.Short,454 US516,527n21(1982).
amended by adding a new article_entitled `Existing-Use Zoning'and -':y
reading as follows: 4.Special Permits—The[zoning]board may,upon application by the owner, .
ibited additional uses,or
t.Designation of Existing-Use Districts—[Define areas of the existing- great nt shin ensial esordensitiesormits 'fuse of particotherwise ularhparcels within thee sting-
.--4,
greater
use districts.] use district,including neW construction,residential strictures,grading,fill,
improvements,road-cutting,clear-cutting,draining.dredging,or other modi-
COMMENT::The place for existing-use districts would be primarily those fications of the existing surface features of the parcel,if the applicant makes '
portions of the community that have not already undergone substantial an affirmative showing that -- 4
development or urbanization.Established cities and other developed areas a.In view of the available alternatives within the township,the public interest '
are more appropriately regulated by conventional zoning categories(i.e., would be best served by permitting such additional use,or greater intensity
residential. commercial, light industrial). To accommodate anticipated or density of use,at the proposed location;and
growth,the existing-use district cannot encompass the entire municipality.
Growth districts should be sufficiently extensive to meet the needs for b.the same public interest cannot be reasonably served by the currently
anticipated growth without revision for at least five to 10 years. lawful use of other lands within or outside the existing-use district _
2.Permitted Uses Within Existing Use Districts—For each parcel within 5. Conditions on Variances and Special Permits—Every variance and
an existing-use district, the following uses are permitted to the extent special permit shall include such conditions as the [zoning] board shall
determine to be necessary to ensure that any additional use, or greater
otherwise permitted by law or ordinance: intensity or density of use,authorized thereunder will be accomplished with
a. Continuation of the existing uses actually being made of each such parcel the minimum possible modification of and impact on the existing surface
as of(date of adoption of this ordinance),as well as any uses made of features of the particular parcel,and without impairment of the uses for which "^-
such parcel on a substantial basis during the immediately preceding the neighboring lands are reasonably adapted.
period of five years,at the same general level of intensity and density of 6.Takings—If,upon the petition of any aggrieved owner of an interest in land ....
such uses. within the existing-use district,the court finds that the denial,suspension,or -
b. Forestry,silviculture,and tree farming. revocation of any permit pursuant to this article constitutes the equivalent of
c. Crops,grazing,and other agricultural uses. a taking without compensation,the court may,at the election of the township, Y
either(a)set aside the order of denial,suspension,or revocation and remand
d. Management for watershed,and for fish and wildlife habitat,hunting.and for further proceedings,or(b)require the township to acquire such owner's
fishing. interest in the affected land under the power of eminent domain.
e. Accessory uses that are customarily incidental and subordinate to,or are COMMENT:By including an integral compensation procedure for pos- „...-..,...4
reasonably necessary in order to continue and maintain, any of the sible"as applied"takings, this provision gives still further insulation
foregoing principal uses that are actually being made. from successful facial challenge.
f. Any other uses,including recreational uses,that(i)are compatible with
one or more of the foregoing uses actually being made or to which the 7.Severability—The provisions of this article shall be severable,and if any - .
parcel is suited, and (ii) do not require substantial new construction, clause,sentence,paragraph,subdivision,section,or part of this article shall
grading.fill,improvements.road-cutting.clear-cutting,draining,dredg- be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such
ing,or other modifications of the existing surface features of the parcel. judgment shall not affect,impair,or invalidate the remainder thereof but shall -'.-
g. No use. be confined in its operation to the clause,sentence,paragraph,subdivision,
section, or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such --
3.Variances—For a period of five years from(the date of adoption of this judgment shall have been rendered. -
3
improvements to the property without the owner's approval,"
`�-�' she notes. 1992 Zoning News Index
'' •_• The planning department is surveying residents to learn -
how many units are properly permitted and whether they Accessibility
meet electrical, building,and plumbing code requirements. Zoning and the Americans with Disabilities Act February
Miller expects results by the first of the year, and says the Administration
questions are basic: "How many (units)can we authorize _
Public Outreach on Zoning and Land Use May
- today?How many require an expenditure by the owners to
upgrade for building. plumbing. zoning. or structural codes? Annexation
How many would require being relocated or reestablished in Swallowing an Elephant(Laytonsville,Maryland) April
order to meet density requirements?" Commercial Development
Th• e questions have persisted since 1971 when Charleston North Carolina Backs Corridor Zoning March
- County adopted its first zoning laws,Miller says. "Part of Fairfax Downzoning Revisited March
what we are trying to determine is how many (units) were L.A.Loses Major Zoning Case May -
-- established prior to the adoption of the zoning requirement,"
he adds. Once an inventory is taken,Miller plans to tell Enabling Legislation
residents what they need to do to connect legally to sewer, Kansas Modernizes Planning and Zoning Laws January
water, and electrical systems. Supercolliding with Growth(Texas) June -
If most tenants can afford the fees,the county Enforcement
immediately will grant a permit, he says. If not, "the county Electrical Catch-22(Petersfield,S.C.) December
would be obligated from a health-safety standpoint to take
some kind of legal action," which could take the form of Environmental Protection -
changing the zoning code to allow existing units to remain Land Use and Electromagnetic Fields January
" ' Regulating Hillside Development March
under a "grandfather"clause,Miller says.
Meanwhile, the county and South Carolina Electric and First Amendment _
-x• Gas are working together to pull the plug on hazardous Hasidic Jews Charge Discrimination July
- conditions stemming from illegal tap-ins to the power supply Controlling Newsracks October
in Petersfield. Simmons says there are no community
development block grants available for electrical work. To Historic Preservation
attract funds, her department is identifying aspects of the Conservation Districts:Latest Zoning Tool to Preserve
health and welfare question, she says. "It might even be a Neighborhood Character November
long shot to go for something directed at improving the Housing
quality of life for children." she says. Accessory Units:The Back-Door Approach to
Determining the scope of health, safety, and welfare Affordable Housing April
` issues in Petersfield has frustrated Miller for years. "It may Tables Turned in Trumbull(Connecticut) April
"' not be a zoning issue. It may be a code issue. It may be that Student Housing:Home Is Where the Futon Is September
they cannot upgrade the structures to meet building and Long Beach Reviews Homeless Provisions November
• electrical requirements. If they can't, it's not a zoning issue. Ohana Comeback in Oahu November
It'san issue that they can't meet safety and health
requirements.Then we would have to relocate them to Neighborhood Planning
someplace that meets housing requirements,"he says. Neighborhood Planning and Its Cousins July
; "There's not a lot that can be done at this point in the Permit Processing
game," Simmons says."The ideal would be to build Permits:You Can't Keep Score Without a Program June
multifamily dwellings out there. Have Charleston County do Planning Commissions
' -a4 it,or individual property owners.'
Des Moines Revamps Commission August
.. Debra A.Schwartz is a free-lance writer in Highland Park,Illinois.
Decision Day for Dade October
-
Residential Zoning
3 Denser Zoning in Charlotte January
Y "Not Lot"Hot in Rocky Hill(Connecticut) September
Zoning News is a monthly newsletter published by the American Planning Rezoning -
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Copyright C1992 by American Planning Association,1313 E.60th St.,Chicago,IL Lucas:Will the Line in the Sand Wash Away? August
60637.The American Planning Association has headquarters offices at 1776
Massachusetts Ave..N.W.,Washington,DC 20036. Transportation and Traffic
All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any Rethinking the Drive-Through August
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