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City of Falcon Heights • Planning Commission Minutes March 25, 2008 PRESENT: Commissioners Anderson, Hasegawa, Lukermann, Noble, Rodich, Salzberg, Watkins and Councilmember Kuettel. Also present was City Attorney Joel Jamnik and Staff Liaison Deb Jones. The meeting was called to order by Chairman Watkins at 7:02 p.m. The minutes of the February 26, 2008, meeting were approved with a minor correction. PUBLIC HEARING: Proposed Comprehensive Plan for the City of Falcon Heights Prior to the opening of the hearing, staff liaison Jones presented the staff report. All cities in the metropolitan area are required to submit new or updated comprehensive plans to the Metropolitan Council by the end of 2008. Before the plan is submitted it must be approved by the Planning Commission and the City Council after a public hearing and given to adjacent cities, the school district and other bodies for review. After over a year of work by staff, the Planning Commission and City Council, a volunteer resident steering committee and the city's consultants, a draft has been prepared and has been available on the city's website since January. A public open house was held March 13, and another is planned for April 3. This evening is the • required public hearing, to be followed by recommendation action by the commission. Jones reviewed the "Vision, Values and Objectives" section of the plan for the audience and revisited the land use portion, discussed by the commission last month. She displayed a map that summed up the limited changes in land use expected in Falcon Heights between now and 2030. Redevelopment is expected to be confined to larger commercial properties along Larpenteur Avenue west of Snelling and some of the older apartment sites. Development will be market driven. The Metropolitan Council forecast predicts that Falcon Heights will need about 250 additional housing units by 2030. Finally, Jones acknowledged the efforts of all the people who contributed to the creation of the new plan. The Chair opened the hearing. There being no one who wished to speak, the Chair then closed the hearing. DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATION: Commissioner Lukermann wished to return to the issue of affordable housing that was a big part of last months discussion. She feels it is important for the city to write a stronger commitment into the implementation of the plan by requiring ten percent of new housing to be affordable by Metropolitan Council standards, including any single-family housing that might be developed in the future on what is now City of Falcon Heights -Planning Commission Meeting of March 25, 2008 -Page 1 of 3