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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08/31/2022 Environmental Board MinutesEnvironmental Board August 31, 2022 Page 1 APPROVED MINUTES CITY OF LINO LAKES ENVIRONMENTAL BOARD MEETING I. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL: Chair Sullivan called the Lino Lakes Environmental Board meeting to order at 6:32 p.m. August 31, 2022. Chair Sullivan acknowledged the technical difficulty with the television monitors and that the Power Point presentation will not be seen. II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Chair Sullivan approved the agenda as presented. IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Mr. Schwartz made a MOTION to approve the July 27, 2022 meeting minutes. Motion was supported by Ms. McNulty. Motion carried 7 – 0. V. OPEN MIKE Chair Sullivan declared Open Mike at 6:34 p.m. There was no one present for Open Mike. Open Mike was closed at 6:34 p.m. VI. ACTION ITEMS A. 601 Apollo Drive Retail Site Plan Review Mr. Nelson, Environmental Coordinator, presented the staff report. DATE: August 31, 2022 TIME STARTED: 6:32 P.M. TIME ENDED: 07:11 P.M. MEMBERS PRESENT: John Sullivan, Jonathan Parsons, Ella McNulty, Cassie Cavegn, Alex Schwartz, Shawn Holmes, Lindsay Buchmeier, STAFF PRESENT: Andy Nelson, Tori Philippi, Julie Whitney Environmental Board August 31, 2022 Page 2 APPROVED MINUTES Land use application was received on a site plan review for a commercial development that will be located at 601 Apollo Drive. This is at the NE corner of Lake Drive and Apollo Drive. The parcel is zoned as General Business and guided for commercial land use in the 2040 Comprehensive Plan. This proposed project is going to include a 4,200 square foot dental clinic, a 2,240 square foot coffee shop with a drive thru, and also a drive thru ATM. The site will have 43 parking stalls and a trash and recycling enclosure. Land cover at this site historically was oak openings and barrens. MLCCS data indicates other exposed transitional land with zero to 10 percent pervious cover, oak forest dry sub type and medium grass altered non-native dominated grass land. What’s on the site today is mowed weedy vegetation and sandy soil. Mr. Nelson stated this site ultimately drains to George Watch Lake and that is an impaired water impaired for nutrients. There were no other rare, unique, or significant resources identified on the site or in the vicinity. Soil on the site is all Zimmerman fine sand. It has low runoff potential and high infiltration rate even when wet and it is excessively drained. Mr. Nelson reviewed existing and proposed conditions for storm water management. Most storm water currently infiltrates into the sand soil, with the run off heading east through the storm water system and ultimately to George Watch Lake. Under the proposed conditions that parcel will be divided into three drainage areas. Each one will be treated by porous pavement BMP’s (best management practices) before entering the storm water system. Mr. Nelson stated the parking stalls will be porous pavement. Mr. Schwartz asked if the porous pavement counted as pervious surface for the storm water calculations. Mr. Nelson stated that he believed the porous pavement areas would be calculated as pervious surface and briefly explained the pervious pavement BMPs. Chair Sullivan stated that that this was exciting and a first in the City. Mr. Nelson stated it was unique because many of the projects the Board had looked at recently were in areas where infiltration of storm water wasn’t an option. In this case, infiltration is an option, so the pervious pavement BMPs might be a good choice. Chair Sullivan mentioned concerns that grass and weeds may grow up through the pervious pavement. Mr. Nelson went on to cover the storm water pollution prevention plan. Due to the drainage to George Watch Lake, stabilization must occur within 7 days after construction activity ceases. Ms. Buchmeier asked for confirmation that the erosion control and the stabilization timeline were the only requirements related to drainage to the impaired water. Mr. Nelson confirmed that was correct. Environmental Board August 31, 2022 Page 3 APPROVED MINUTES Mr. Nelson went on to say the site does not fall into a drinking water supply management area and is not in a flood management zone. It’s not in the AUAR environmental review boundary. It’s not in shore land district, there are no wetlands indicated on the site, and this site is not in the Greenway system. Mr. Nelson stated for trails there are already sidewalks constructed on the south and east perimeters of the site. On the 2040 comprehensive plan there is a proposed pedestrian trail on the west perimeter and a proposed bike lane on Lake Drive. Both of these things may be included with future reconstruction of Lake Drive and will not be installed at this time. There is a 15 foot easement already in place to accommodate these future improvements. Mr. Nelson then covered the landscaping of the property stating there is already a master landscaping plan in place that was approved in 2001 that covers the entire marketplace retail area including Target, Kohl’s and the retail areas. The current landscape submittal is measured against the master landscaping plan rather than current ordinance. He then highlighted some differences between the current submittal and the master landscaping plan, noting that the current submittal was an improvement on the 2001 plan in terms of additional plants, increased diversity, and replacing ash trees with a different species. Mr. Schwartz asked if the plantings along Lake Drive are within that 15 ft. easement. Mr. Nelson said he would need to look at the map closer. Mr. Schwartz voiced concern that those plants would have to be removed to implement the future bike trail. Mr. Nelson said that this concern could be added to the Board comments. Chair Sullivan asked how current ordinance requirements differ from the requirements that the 2001 master landscaping plan was held to. Mr. Nelson responded that the current ordinance is more stringent than what was in place for the 2001 master plan submittal, but noted that the current plan included calculations related to current ordinance, and that it would probably meet current ordinance as well as adhering to the 2001 plan. Mr. Nelson continued the current landscaping plan and stated there will be 24 deciduous trees, 32 coniferous trees, 173 shrubs, 46 perennials and 100 ornamental grasses. Any areas not covered by landscaping will be sodded for permanent stabilization. Chair Sullivan asked if there would be a sprinkler system and Mr. Nelson stated that there would be. Chair Sullivan asked what kind of grass would be put in and Mr. Nelson stated sod, turf grass. Environmental Board August 31, 2022 Page 4 APPROVED MINUTES Chair Sullivan made a recommendation that the project use ground cover that requires less water such as fescue. Mr. Nelson responded that a ground cover that required less water could be added to the Board recommendations. Mr. Sullivan asked if we had anything other than bluegrass in the other commercial areas. Mr. Nelson stated it is the applicant’s discretion as long as they meet the requirements, noting that they meet the requirements with sod, which has been used more in the prominent sites for aesthetic reasons. Mr. Nelson noted that the lighting plan seems to meet requirements but added that the City Planner reviews lighting. Mr. Schwartz asked if the city provides or can provide information on drought tolerant grass for all new developments. Mr. Nelson said he would look into it. Mr. Parsons asked if there was additional maintenance associated with the pervious pavement being used and is it part of their storm water or general cleaning requirements for the area. Mr. Nelson stated it will be part of the storm water declaration and they would have a maintenance agreement. Chair Sullivan asked if Mr. Nelson could get a sample of the pervious pavement. Mr. Nelson said he would check in to it. Ms. Buchmeier then asked if the pervious pavement areas had different maintenance needs in winter, such as additional salt due to plows being less effective. Mr. Nelson stated he did not have the answer to that but the engineering department brought up the same question and would be looking into it. He said he believed the plowing would be the same but whether the salt degrades the material over time is an important consideration. Mr. Schwartz stated Century College on the east side of the campus used this type of pavement on their east side parking lots in around 2007 or 2008 and it would be interesting to see how it has held up. Mr. Sullivan asked if there were any recommendations from the board in addition to the staff recommendation. Mr. Schwartz’s recommends that plants be moved from the easement area so that they aren’t impacted by future construction of a trail, and Chair Sullivan’s request that the developer use a less water intensive type of sod. Environmental Board August 31, 2022 Page 5 APPROVED MINUTES Chair Sullivan requested a MOTION to approve. Ms. Holmes motioned to approve the site plan review along with the additional recommendations. It received a second by Mr. Schwartz. Motion carried 7-0. VII. DISCUSSION ITEMS None VIII. UPDATES A. General Updates Mr. Nelson stated that there are no general updates. B. Recycling Updates Ms. Philippi provided an update that there was no recycle Saturday due to Blue Heron Days. For Blue Heron Days parade clean up there were 5 volunteers. One Anoka County Recycling ambassador and four Forest Lake National Honor Society students. After the release of the fall newsletter we gained 13 new participants for our organics program bringing the total to 464 participants. This month’s Solid Waste Abatement Advisory team meeting we took a tour of Bicycle Glass in Fridley. Bicycle Glass is a lighting company committed to quality, sustainability, and affordability. All lighting is made with 100% pre and post- consumer recycled glass that is locally sourced from the community. Chair Sullivan asked for questions from the board and Ms. Holmes asked if the approval was received for the Marshan organic recycling enclosure. Mr. Nelson stated we do have a grant application in with the county and we have preliminary approval and expect to have approval by September 20, 2022. We have to verify that the concrete and fence company can still fit the project in this fall. Chair Sullivan asked if we were having any trouble with contamination at the sites. He stated in the past they did at Marshan. Ms. Philippi stated there was not. Ms. Buchmeier asked about the smart irrigation and wanted to know how many have been sold and if sales are put on hold in the winter. Mr. Nelson stated we have approximately 40 left and we have a grant to get another 160 to 180 controllers. We do have a timeline when we have to have them sold by. We will do one more advertising campaign before residents are no longer irrigating for the year. They will not be sold over winter because there is a requirement that they need to be installed during a certain time frame to get the cheaper price. Environmental Board August 31, 2022 Page 6 APPROVED MINUTES Ms. Buchmeier asked if there were resources from consumers that have already installed the device. Mr. Nelson stated we only have the flyer that is sent with the device. Mr. Nelson stated he has received word of mouth feedback and it was all positive. They did do an outreach table with the U of M and provided information on the program there along with the smart watering and turf grass alternatives messaging brought by Mrs. Kim Sullivan with the University of Minnesota. Chair Sullivan asked if anyone signed up that day and Mr. Nelson stated one. IX. ADJOURNMENT Chair Sullivan made a MOTION to adjourn the meeting at 7:11 p.m. Motion was supported by Ms. Holmes and second motion by Mr. Parsons Motion carried 7 – 0. Respectfully submitted, Julie Whitney – Community Development Administrative Assistant