01/04/2001 EDAC Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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3 Mr. Bergeson stated he went to the awards ceremony and he had not realized the politics involved in the grants. He is surprised the city came out as well as it did, since he believed the odds were stacked against the city. Ms. Divine said there was no representation for Anoka County. The committee is comprised of politicians, planners, county commissioners, non-profits in housing, etc. It is weighted toward Minneapolis/St. Paul, but they spread the funds through the metro. Mr. Juni recommended staff pursue getting a representative on the committee. Ms. Carlson suggested that the city should send the Metropolitan Council the parts of the Comp Plan that are completed to move it forward. Mr. Gorowsky said it was unlikely they would look at it piecemeal. Ms. Divine said Met Council staff indicated they had never done more than a cursory review of the first submitted plan since it wasn’t complete. Ms. Hansmann asked for background of the site acquisition, and what the next steps would be. Ms. Divine responded that staff and developers would revisit the options with the partial grant, since the Tagg parcel cannot be secured now. A strategy is needed to develop the city owned piece without compromising the plan or piecemeal development. Discussion continued about what options might work, including further discussion with the Taggs. Mr. Wessel said the design standards are beginning to create a market. People are becoming familiar with this type of development and seeing successful projects. DELLWOOD LLC Mr. Wessel showed members the schedule that puts Target in the ground in June, which is an aggressive schedule. Target has presented a site plan that includes retail that has some architectural characteristics, streetscape, etc., like the Village. There has been an effort to try to tie the architectural design, use of materials, scale, etc. with the rest of the Town Center project, but this project, with council support, ignores the real design standards. Mr. Chase said it showed that it was a development issue, not a zoning issue. Ms. Divine said that because the design standards were not in place, that type of development did not occur. Mr. Chase stated that if it was a PDO and the city had a concept of standards, the city would be doing what it’s doing with the developers and would have approved design standards. The city has to work with the developer and negotiate. It needs flexibility. Mr. Milbauer said the design standards in theory are fantastic until a project of this magnitude comes in. This is what the city has been striving for. Ms. Carlson said if the city provides a public subsidy and moves this far away from the design standards, there is a question about the design standards on the south side. Mr. Chase said they don’t belong in the ordinance. It belongs on the property in a PDO situation. If a developer presents what the city wants, then the city can make it work. And if a developer doesn’t present what the city wants, the developer is told to go away.