CC Minutes 12-14-20City Council Meeting – December 14, 2020
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canopy and coverage. I know that he wants to be a responsible steward of the land so I appreciate
staff taking the time to really work through this so there isn’t that impact to not only our natural
resources and the lake but the neighbors as well. Thank you for that. With that said, Council if
you don’t have any further questions for staff, if there is a motion, I would entertain a motion,
please. Please?
McDonald: Madam Mayor, I’ll make a motion.
Councilman McDonald moved and Councilwoman Tjornhom seconded to approve
rezoning the property described in Exhibit B located at 1601 Lake Lucy Road with an
approximate area of 9.03 acres from Rural Residential to Planned Unit Development-
Residential incorporating the attached ordinance with standards, summary ordinance, and
adoption of the findings of fact and decision. All voted in favor and the motion passed 5-0.
Mayor Ryan: Thank you Ms. Aanenson. Next up is another consent agenda item. I had actually
pulled this one off and this has to do with a development at the Crossroads of Chanhassen and
Ms. Aanenson, will you be doing this one for Christian Brothers Automotive.
CONSIDER A REQUEST FOR AN AMENDMENT TO CHANHASSEN GATEWAY
PUD, MODIFICATION TO PUD-SPECIFIC DESIGN FEATURES, AND AMENDMENT
TO CROSSROADS OF CHANHASSEN SITE PLAN WITH VARIANCES FOR
CONSTRUCTION OF A 5,100 SQUARE-FOOT AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR SHOP
LOCATED AT 8941 CROSSROADS BOULEVARD; AND APPROVAL OF SUMMARY
ORDINANCE 664.
Aanenson: This item appeared at the Planning Commission and when it first came in we worked
through a few issues there regarding the architecture and the like, but this project located at the
intersection of Lyman Boulevard and Highway 101, the Kraus Anderson project area, really had
some unique things down there. It has a gas station, we anticipated probably some banking drive-
thru so when this came forward we kind of thought, hmm. But actually, the architecture and
everything as we anticipated turned out really well and as the developer explained their goals and
how they like to see them fit in. It’s a 5,100 square-foot automotive facility, very high end. The
architecture looks great on the site. The Planning Commission was really intrigued with how
they made it fit in and work, orientate it. I just want to compliment Sharmeen Al-Jaff on the
planning staff who worked really hard with the applicant to make a superior project. The
presentation by the applicant was fantastic. I think they really sold the Planning Commission
about what they are trying to do so it’s exciting. It’s a great project down there as how they
figured how to sit within the site. They have another Christian Brothers Automotive up in Maple
Grove where they are next to a daycare so they thought that was a nice ancillary relationship and
also with the Park and Ride that they can use that. Someone can pick them up. But it is not your
traditional auto repair. They are kind of doing more of an electronic kind of thing so it’s a nice
fit. One of the Planning Commissioners did also ask how they would manage some of the
residue, stormwater runoff, parked cars and they had really good responses on all of that. The
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Planning Commission did recommend approval of the auto repair and very excited that they
picked that spot.
Mayor Ryan: Thank you, Ms. Aanenson. I pulled it off not in opposition or concern about it, but
obviously it’s a new business in that part of town. It’s right next to the Kwik Trip down there
right off of Highway 212. Just because it’s a large building and on first blush when it came to the
Planning Commission, I know there were concerns but I wanted to highlight a couple of things
that came from the Planning Commission meeting, just because I thought it was important for us
to read it into record tonight at the Council Meeting if there were any concerns that it didn’t get
its fair share of questioning. I wanted to highlight a couple of things about the business itself.
Again, Mr. Wakefield I thought did a really nice job explaining it for Christian Brothers
Automotive. Commissioner Reeder had asked about the difference in Chanhassen between a
repair business, is this a repair business and not a collision repair business? I think that’s
important from a noise perspective and the applicant said that they don’t do anything to the
exterior to a vehicle at all. They don’t do any touch-up paint, no window replacement. They are
strictly internal and with a modern vehicle as you said Ms. Aanenson it has a lot to do with the
electronics and the electronic diagnosis. All the work happens within the bays to the vehicles and
there is no body work at all. I thought that was really important. Another concern coming from
neighbors in some of the emails that were received is just the overall look of the site and will
there be a lot of cars in the lot waiting for repair. The applicant said that the stipulation and the
restrictions that they have accepted that require any vehicles that are in the parking lot, especially
for overnight, must be operable and so they have to be driven under their own power. They don’t
leave cars sitting in that parking lot and the first nine vehicles they will have go in the bays
overnight so I though was important that there aren’t going to be cars just left out in the parking
lot there. Another question had to do with traffic. Originally, I think there was proposed to be a
bank there or that was the original use intent and they commented that it will actually reduce the
traffic that would have been generated by 60%-80%. They said the McDonald’s that’s already
there and operating, we do less business by volume from a traffic standpoint all day than they do
in 30 minutes so it shouldn’t add to any traffic concerns. If you will indulge me a little bit more
here, another big concern when you think about an automotive repair business is the noise. I just
want to read this verbatim because I thought it was really well articulated. “The building
orientation places the bays facing inboard and away from the street. The only people who might
hear anything out of us might be the Kwik Trip. We’ve done two acoustic studies in other locales
for other municipalities and we know without a shadow of a doubt that by the time the sound
reaches our property line and crosses onto somebody elses, our loudest noise which is an air
hammer is 74 decibels at the door and is attenuated out somewhere between 40-50 decibels at the
street.” I had no idea what that meant so I was glad that he put in a point of reference. He said
that his speaking voice is somewhere between 50-55 decibels so I think that was really helpful. I
appreciate that. He said they work on about 17 cars a day and that’s it. Last but certainly not
least, how does fit in the community or in that neighborhood and what is the business in general?
He said that they have been in operation since 1982. They have over 230 stores and they’re
looking, like you said Ms. Aanenson, in Maple Grove and other areas and they are near Tender
Time Childcare and KinderCare so they are well suited and there’s no problem being next to a
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daycare. The final point, “We are a highly professional company, extremely reputable, incredibly
clean, deeply embedded within the communities that we serve and service.” I wanted to bring
those out just because I know there were concerns from the neighbors about putting an
automotive shop in that space and I just thought a lot of times the Planning Commission notes
may not get read other than Council and parties that are looking directly at something. I just
wanted to make sure we addressed those at the Council level. Thank you for letting me indulge
everyone with that.
Aanenson: I appreciate you doing that. I think a couple of things, when they first came in we
were concerned about the traffic and this is a group that really knows their business so it was
very helpful that they were able to provide that empirical data to help us make a good decision.
In addition to that, we know automotive, this type of business is, there’s people looking for those
lots. This is why we are amending the PUD. Looking at first if this is going to fit in, but they
really knew their business and how it fit in and we know that this is a needed business. They
really worked hard and gave us the data that we needed. Just like you say the traffic circulation,
that was one of our first concerns. It also does provide their own some noise attenuation. They’ve
got Kwik Trip next to them and its kind of a nice partnership there. Yes, we are very excited that
they are coming.
Mayor Ryan: Well thank you. Council, I’ll go around and ask if you have any questions or
comments as it relates to this project. Councilman McDonald?
McDonald: I have no further questions at this time.
Mayor Ryan: Councilwoman Tjornhom?
Tjornhom: No questions.
Mayor Ryan: Thank you. Councilwoman Coleman?
Coleman: No questions.
Mayor Ryan: Councilman Campion?
Campion: No questions.
Mayor Ryan: All right. With no questions, is there any motion.
Coleman: I’ll make a motion.
Mayor Ryan Thank you, Councilwoman Coleman.
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Councilwoman Coleman moved and Councilman Campion seconded that the Chanhassen
City Council approves the site plan consisting of a 5,100 square-foot automotive repair
shop, Planned Unit Development PUD Amendment for Chanhassen Gateway allowing
automotive repair shops with standards, and summary ordinance 664 for publication
purposes. Planning Case 2020-21 as shown in plans dated October 30, 2020, including the
attached Findings of Fact and Decision, subject to conditions. All vote in favor and the
motion passed 5-0.
Mayor Ryan: Thanks, everyone. Thank you, Ms. Aanenson. I appreciate it. Now we get to the
original New Business.
APPROVE A CODE AMENDMENT REGULATING THE OUTDOOR STORAGE OF
BOATS, TRAILERS, AND RECREATIONAL VEHICLES ON RESIDENTIAL
PROPERTIES.
Aanenson: This item kind of trickled down during a work session presented by the City Council.
Complaints go either way. Some people want them and some people don’t. I’ve been asked to
identify the problem. I’ll just give you a real brief overview and kind of let you ask the questions
because obviously there are strong feelings on both sides. Some residents had expressed a desire
to store trailers and recreational vehicles in their driveway. The problem is our current ordinance
did not permit boat trailers and recreational vehicles be stored currently in the driveways and
they are put in the side yards. Looking at allowing one boat trailer or recreational vehicle be
stored because right now we don’t limit. We have a lot of vehicles. The rationale was just to see
how this ordinance… Again, this is just a draft what we are recommending to you. We surveyed
a number of cities. I’m not going to spend a lot of time going through all that empirical data but
we surveyed a number of cities. How they enforce them and the number that they would have.
Right now, except for the side yard we don’t limit the number in the back. The proposed change
would allow one boat trailer or recreational vehicle be stored in the driveway so this would be
the difference. You could put a camper or a boat in the driveway. It limits properties to storing a
maximum of two. Again, as I stated we don’t have a cap right now. It includes boat trailers and
the provision requiring items to be cleaned, well kept, and operable. Right now the only thing we
say is operable is kind of RV so you could have an older boat kind of sitting there that you
haven’t decided what you are going to do with yet, and then prohibit the storage of extraneous
materials. Sometimes someone may have a trailer and they maybe put plywood boards up on it
and fill it full of things and store it on the property. This illustrative drawing shows kind of
where you could, where you can and cannot store. You can store, in the existing ordinance you
can put it anywhere in your backyard. You can’t store it in the front yard or your driveway. You
can store in the side yard which is very common. The proposed ordinance will allow you to put
something in your driveway but not in the front yard and the side yard. Let’s show this a
different way illustratively showing where the current ordinance, side yards and the rear. One of
the things we talked about with the Planning Commission too, some people only have a 7-foot
side yard, some people have a 10-foot. When you squish them in there and if you’re the
neighbor, its not always appreciated when you look out your window and see those. Sometimes