HomeMy WebLinkAboutPC Report Comprehensive Plan Approval 1-14-19 Public Hearing STAFF REPORT
DATE: 01/14/2019
REGULAR
ITEM #:4A – Public Hearing
TO: Planning Commission
FROM: Ken Roberts, Planning Director
AGENDA ITEM: Public Hearing – Draft 2040 Comprehensive Plan Update
REVIEWED BY: Jennifer Haskamp, Swanson Haskamp Consulting
Kristina Handt, City Administrator
INTRODUCTION The Planning Commission is being asked to hold a public hearing and consider the final draft of the 2040
Comprehensive Plan Update. BACKGROUND: The City has been working with consultant Swanson Haskamp Consulting since February of 2017 on
the 2040 Comprehensive Plan Update (Update). As part of the update process, the city held several
community engagement events including 4th of July Parade, Arbor Day, Tri-Lakes Ski Show, Farmers
Market; Advisory Panel meetings; and two Open Houses. Two public hearings were held at the Planning
Commission meetings on May 7, 2018 and May 30, 2018 and two Council Workshops were held at the
March 13, 2018 and May 8, 2018.
As explained at the May 15, 2018 City Council meeting, the City’s 2040 Comprehensive Plan Update
(Update) was originally due to the Metropolitan Council by December 31, 2018. While the City wanted to
meet that deadline, an extension request was made (and it was granted) to extend this deadline to
February 28, 2019. Before the City can submit the Update to the Metropolitan Council, it must first
submit the Update to adjacent jurisdictions for review. These jurisdictions have up to six months to
complete this review, although it may not take this long. (This review period is now complete). After
the review period, a final public hearing with the Planning Commission is required, and Council must
approve with a 4/5 vote that the Update may be officially submitted to the Metropolitan Council for their
final review and approval.
On June 5, 2018, the City Council gave preliminary approval to the 2040 Comprehensive Plan Update
and authorized staff to send it out for the required adjacent jurisdictional review.
ISSUE BEFORE PLANNING COMMISSION: Conduct the Public Hearing for the final Draft 2040 Comprehensive Plan Update and make a
recommendation about the Update to the City Council.
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PROPOSAL DETAILS/ANALYSIS: Option to Make Changes after Jurisdictional Review. The submittal for adjacent jurisdictional review was sent in draft form. Therefore, the City Council can still make minor changes to the Draft 2040 Comprehensive Plan. These changes cannot be significant however, in that they cannot
significantly impact traffic patterns or land use for adjacent jurisdictions. The City could still make changes to the goals and strategies – but staff would not recommend any at this time. Changes since the 2030 Comprehensive Plan. The City Council requested at the workshop on May 8, 2018 that Staff outline the significant changes since the last Comprehensive Plan Update.
Below is a summary of these changes, categorized by Chapter:
• Chapter 1: Community & Planning Context o This provides a summary of current demographic and socio-economic trends;
current market snapshot (both local and regional) and planning context (regional context requirements by the Metropolitan Council and local context and objectives guiding plan development). The regional context requirements reflect the Metropolitan 2015 Systems statement, which forecast that Lake Elmo will more than double its population and add more than 2.5 times the number of households
counted in the last census of 2010, and employment will add another 1,000 jobs, increasing by 125% from now until 2040. The local context and objectives guiding plan development describe the process through which the Update was drafted. It also outlines changes from the 2030 Plan, which explains that the Update is a re-write from the previous Plan, taking in to consideration current market place and
expected demand.
• Chapter 2: Vision, Goals & Strategies o This chapter is similar to the 2030 Plan’s City-Wide Planning Policy. The former plan’s City-Wide Planning Policy outlined goals that pertained to that planning
period, including agricultural preservation, goals for residential and non-residential
development, housing, environmental protection, municipal services, transportation, I-94 Freeway Corridor Planning Policy, and Village Area Planning Policy. The 2040 Update provides a Vision Statement and outlines goals and strategies. These goals and strategies were derived from a Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis exercise by the Advisory Panel. These
goals and strategies pertain to character and governance; land use; balanced development and growth; and housing; parks, trails and open space; and transportation and infrastructure.
• Chapter 3: Land Use
o Sewered Development. The previous existing land use plan did not include any developed areas that were in the Metropolitan Urban Services Area (MUSA), and the 2040 Update’s existing land use includes sewered development (Inwood, Savona, Easton Village, etc.).
o Density. Densities within the plan have changed as follows:
Density ranges for Medium Density Residential and High Density Residential were shifted from 4.5-7 units per acre (upa) to 4.5-8 upa and 7.5-15 upa to 8-15 upa, respectively, to allow for a better integration of uses and more flexibility to respond to market demands.
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Density ranges for Village Low Density Residential and Village Medium
Density Residential have hanged from 1.5-2.49 upa to 1.5-3 upa and 2.5-4.99 upa to 3-7.99 upa, respectively, and a Village High Density Residential Land Use with a density of 8-12 upa in order to provide for an increase in types of housing stock, provide opportunities for a more affordable and
lifecycle housing, and bring higher concentration of people living close to
Village destinations and amenities.
o Mixed Use. Mixed Use south of 10th Street has changed. The 2030 Plan stated that mixed use areas south of 10th Street could be zoned in accordance with either the base or adjacent land use category. This is not actually mixed use. The 2040 Update actually proposes mixed use business and mixed use business park south of 10th
Street, which assumes that land will develop with a minimum of 50% residential use. o Business Park. The Business Park land use category specifically exempts residential use, warehousing, manufacturing, distribution, assembly and truck
terminals, whereas the 2030 Plan allowed such uses. The aforementioned mixed
use business park does, however, allow warehousing, showroom, light manufacturing and residential use. o Commercial. The Commercial category specifies that this land use category is to be used for retail business and not to be used for residential, whereas the 2030 Plan
allowed for a broader range of uses, including residential. The mixed use
commercial category does allow residential use.
o Village.
Greenbelt Buffers. These are not within the 2040 Update. Buffering can still be required through ordinance development through required setbacks,
landscaping, etc. to buffer less intensive uses from more intensive uses.
The center of the Village is guided for Commercial, while it was previously designated as Village Mixed Use. Parcels guided for Rural Single Family north of Stillwater Boulevard and in the southeast portion were changed to Village Mixed Use and Low Density Residential. The northeast area of the
Village was changed from Low Density Residential and Commercial to
Medium Density Residential and Commercial.
There is no longer a Village Plan. Rather, there is reference to creating three districts within the Village: Civic, Elmo Station, and Old Village, which are further described in the Balanced Development & Growth Chapter.
o Rural Areas. Residential Estates and Rural Single Family land use designations
were combined into one Rural Single Family land use designation, which allows development at a density of 0.1-2 units per acre. Additionally, there is no longer a density requirement for Open Space Preservation developments. The Update simply states that these developments generally average more than one residential
unit per 10 acres.
o Musa. There is no change to the MUSA except for amendments since the 2030 Plan that have been approved by Council. o Staging Plan. The Staging Plan has changed slightly, and specifies specific development time periods and includes the Village Area. The 2030 Plan designated
stages. The 2040 Update still designates the areas south of 10th Street in the same
order as the 2030 Plan.
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• Chapter 4: Balanced Development & Growth o This is a new chapter that describes what types of development patterns exist today, where those patterns are changing and evolving, and where they are likely to stay the same.
• Chapter 5: Housing
o The housing chapter presents important housing principles that underscore the dynamics behind the role and importance of housing as a key element within the Plan; focuses on existing housing stock, summarizing important information
regarding the overall number, types, affordability, and occupants of housing units; projected need for housing during this planning period; and practical implementation tools to help the City achieve its identified housing goals. The 2030 Plan had similar goals, including providing more affordable and a wider variety of housing.
• Chapter 6: Parks, Trails, and Open Space
o The Parks and Trails chapter focuses on refining and synthesizing information contained within the 2030 Comprehensive Plan and preparing an update that is more concise, clear and direct about the City’s goals and objectives for its future in
regards to parks and trails. It now functions at a higher level of detail that will focus
and more clearly demonstrate the interconnected quality of the Parks and Trails system. There are wider park search areas, and the trail plan identifies a regional trail search corridor and broader trail search corridors. This Chapter will evolve in to an updated Park System Plan and a Trail System Plan that implements this
chapter as part of the implementation process.
• Chapter 7: Transportation o The 2030 Plan has been updated to use new numbers within the 2040 Plan and also includes updated road classification and new improvements to be made.
• Chapter 8: Surface Water
o Information updated.
• Chapter 9: Wastewater Facilities o Information from the 2030 Plan was updated significantly, as the 2030 Plan only
planned for, and did not include, infrastructure.
• Chapter 10: Water Supply o It is required that his has been updated with the 2015 System Statement projections. The numbers will need to be updated once the final population numbers are
determined.
• Chapter 11: Implementation o Rather than designating implementation within each individual chapter, there is an implementation chapter that describes implementation for each chapter within the 2040 Update.
Changes since Workshop. Through direction of the Planning Commission and Council, the Urban Reserve land use designation, which guided land to develop post-2040, was removed. This has been replaced with various land uses including Village Low Density Residential, Village Medium Density Residential, Low Density Residential, Medium Density Residential, and some
High Density Residential.
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Jurisdictional Review Comments: The City received a few comments from adjacent jurisdictions about the proposed 2040 Comprehensive Plan Update. Many of the comments were recommending minor corrections (especially to the maps), were notes of general support or had no comment.
The City of Afton sent comments about the proposed update. I have attached their comments for your consideration. While staff appreciates their concerns and comments, it is our opinion they are not significant enough to warrant changes to the proposed 2040 Comprehensive Plan Update.
Washington County also sent comments about the Draft Plan. I have attached their comments for
your consideration. Staff has incorporated many of their comments in this latest version of the plan. The Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) sent the City comments for the Transportation
Chapter (Aviation) relating to Lake Elmo Airport, its Master Plan and how that plan relates to the
City of Lake Elmo. They noted that they recently updated the Airport Master Plan and that the Airport is now classified as a regional airport. They also noted the ongoing importance of runway and airspace protection zones around the runways and that the City should take these into consideration when reviewing new developments. We have incorporated their relevant comments
and changes into the Plan Update as needed.
Since June of 2018, staff also made some minor spelling and grammar corrections and clarifications to the draft 2040 Comprehensive Plan Update. They are included in the latest version for your review. The latest version of the 2040 Comprehensive Plan update is available on the
City website and is available at lakeelmoplan2040.com/documents/ (To open: Right click then click open
hyperlink). This is the version of the proposed Comprehensive Plan the Planning Commission should be considering and making a recommendation on. RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends the Planning Commission hold a public hearing and make a recommendation to the City Council about the Draft 2040 Comprehensive Plan Update. ATTACHMENTS: 1. City of Afton comments 2. Washington County comments