10-24-2007 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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NORTHWEST ASSOCIATED CONSULTANTS, INC. 4800 Olson Memorial Highway, Suite 202, Golden Valley, MN 55422 Telephone: 763.231 .2555 Facsimile: 763.231 .2561 pianners(dnacplanning.com MEMORANDUM TO: Mayor Blesener and Little Canada City Council Little Canada Planning Commission FROM: Stephen Grittman DATE: July 20, 2007 RE: Little Canada — Concept Review FILE NO: 758.10 — 07.07 Staff has had discussions related to the process by which new development proposals are being brought to the City, and when formal review by City officials should begin. Currently, concept plans are (usually) presented to staff for comment, then placed on the agenda for Planning Commission comment and City Council consideration. The intent of this process is to ascertain whether a general concept will have a chance at eventual approval — or identify critical issues that will need to be addressed - before requiring an applicant to expend significant amounts of money on more detailed plans and engineering. The City usually advertises these concept reviews to the neighborhood, although it is not required that we do so. The reason for public notice has been to provide an opportunity for neighborhood comment at an early stage, in order avoid later concerns that neighborhood issues affect eventual project design, as well as concerns that neighbors feel left out of the process before the project is too near its final form. There have been some problems with this process. Because the concept review is based on very basic information, concept plans can often raise concerns, both for the City and for the neighborhood, that can not be answered at the concept review. has been our experience that over the most significant issues often relate to traffic,``' drainage, and environmental impacts. These are issues that are typically addressed most fully at a later stage of review, such as that of Preliminary Plat for subdivision proposals, or Development Stage for Planned Unit Development proposals. Staff has discussed an adjustment to this process to address this problem. One option would be to continue the current process, but attempt to limit the discussion and feedback provided to a proposer. For instance, the City could limit its feedback to general topics such as land use and general density, major road connections or routes, utility connection issues, and similar broad issue areas that do not address specific - 1 -