HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity of Falcon Heights Minutes May 29, 2018City of Falcon Heights
City Hall
2077 W. Larpenteur Avenue
Minutes - Planning Commission
Tuesday, May 29, 2018
7:00 p.m.
A: CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order by Commission Chair Larkin at
7:00 pm.
B: ROLL CALL:
Present: Larkin, Stemper, Kotelnicki, Williams, Samatar, Murphy, Sunderland
Staff Liaison: Thongvanh, Moretto
Council Liaison: Miazga
Absent: None
C. APPROVAL OF MINUTES for April 24, 2018
Tabled
D. HEARING: 2040 Comprehensive Plan Recommendations – WSB
Employees Kurt Berringer and Eric Zweber of WSB presented information
concerning the current draft of the City of Falcon Heights comprehensive plan.
The plan consists of seven areas of focus.
The Chair opened the floor for public comments. The following residents of
Falcon Heights presented comments to the committee:
Leslie Everett, University of Minnesota Agronomist, Tatum Ave. The city
should not change the zoning land use designations of U of M property on
Larpenteur from research fields to mixed use designations. The city should focus
on attainable goals of building community.
Mark Acierno, Tatum St. 40 year resident of Falcon Heights. A lot of time spent
on U of M land and how the city will use the land. Citizens of Falcon heights
want open space and Urban Rural feel. Contradicts with city intention to fill in
open areas with development. Objects to strip mall on Larpenteur. Wants to
retain visual open space along corridors. Do not have downtown center. No real
possibility to create this. Concerned about filling in all open space at all cost.
Citizens happy with city the way it is.
Lois Brown, U of M researcher. Uses open plots for research. Lives in Falcon
Heights. Supports retention of research plots. Enjoys and supports walking and
bicycling along city streets. Wants underground parking.
Shirley Ryder, Chair Community Engagement commission. Concerned about
notification of citizens and process of citizen involvement in process.
Commented that city is not doing a good enough job of involving community in
process.
Gary Kwong, Fair Housing involvement. Comment that it is not clear of the
process. Concerned about designation of properties north of Questwood targeted
for high density housing. Concerned about city communication about the process
and community involvement. Objects to strip malls. Questioned changing zoning
of properties without consent of owners of those properties.
Les Rogers, Tatum St. Average citizen of Falcon Heights. Not aware of
Comprehensive Plan. Not aware of Hendrickson project. Concerned about
mixed use designation of Larpenteur Ave. enjoys openness of Larpenteur Ave.
Wants better communication with residents.
Dennis Lienke, Fairview Ave. Retired from U of M. concerned about the
development of U of M Minneapolis campus. Concerned about height of new
buildings in Mpls and the loss of human scale. Referenced book “A Pattern
Language”, Christopher Alexander. Moved to Falcon Heights because of
openness of area. Concerned about re-designation of U of M property zoning and
use.
E. AGENDA
1. Discussion of 2040 Comprehensive Plan
Commissioner Kotelnicki, wants to see more community engagement from rental
property tenants in Falcon Heights. Discussed affordable housing aspect of Comp
Plan.
Commissioner Samatar, wants more citizen involvement. Addressed staff and
asked how to facilitate more citizen involvement.
Commissioner Murphy, questioned mixed use map of Larpenteur Ave. and how
re-designation of zoning use came about. Expressed concern about the
Hendrickson project. Feels that the Hendrickson project is a mistake and that not
enough information was provided to Planning Commissioners during the advice
and consent process. Questioned the process of proposals that utilize PUD
designations to circumvent the Planning Commission process. Expressed
concerns about developers control of the development process with the City of
Falcon Heights.
Commissioner Sunderland, addressed and supported Commissioner Murphy’s
concerns about the process. Expressed concerns about how quickly the process
has moved forward without enough information disseminated to community, and
University. Concerned about lack of input from the various aspects of
community. Expressed concerns about the development of the Comprehensive
Plan without the involvement of the diverse aspects of the community and stake
holders in the process of completing the Comprehensive Plan. Concerned about
the speed at which the draft process has moved forward without input from the
Planning Commission.
Council member Miazga asked if the timeline for completing the Comp Plan
could be slowed down. WSB commented that presenting the draft to the council
on the June 13th council meeting was to allow the council to vote on distributing
the document to the public for public review and comment over the following six
months as required by the Met Council.
City Administrator Thongvanh commented that the Planning Commission can
make modifications and present those to the City Council. If the Planning
Commission and the City Council feels that there needs more community
involvement that those concerns can be presented to staff. At any time
community members can email Falcon Heights staff with comments and concerns.
Commissioner Stemper addressed the question of how the new map designating
lands along the Larpenteur corridor as mixed use came about. He offered that
changing the designation to mixed use in the 2040 Comp Plan from the prior 2030
Comp Plan was an effort to align the map designations with what was written in
the 2040 Comp Plan in the economic development section text.
Discussion of future vision followed focusing on commercial development vs
vision maintaining open space. There was concern that there may be a conflict of
values for future vision of Falcon Heights.
Environmental and Sustainability portion of Comp Plan have to be reviewed and
drafted.
Planning Commission is tasked with informing the City Council with changes to
the Comp Plan, the need for more open houses, or any other input concerning the
completion of the plan or the process of facilitating more community
involvement.
2. Motion introduced to recommend to City Council to distribute the draft of the
2040 Comp Plan to the community for review.
Motion passed by unanimously.
F. INFORMATION AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
Administrator Thongvanh informed the Commission that there is a land use
designation for University property P1/R1 that should be reviewed.
G. ADJOURN
Adjourned at 9:50