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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-23-2002 Planning Commission PacketCITY OF LAKE ELMO City of Lake Elmo Phone: 651-777-5510 Fax: 651-777-9615 3800 Laverne Avenue North / Lake Elmo, Minnesota 55042 Planning Commission MONDAY. September 23.2002 at 7:00 p.m. Council Chambers, City Hall, 3800 Laverne Ave. N., Lake Elmo, Minnesota AGENDA 1. Agenda 2. Minutes: Draft of August 26, 2002 3. Preliminary Plat: RECO/LAKE ELMO BUSINESS PARK 4. Variance: McADAM/MOGREN 5. Met Council Update 6. Other Business a. Dense Thinkers b. The Truth about `Smart Growth' 7. Adjourn t4511, printed on recycled paper DRAFT CITY OF LAKE ELMO MAINTENANCE ADVISORY SPECIAL PROJECTS & PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES AUGUST 26, 2002 Chairman Armstrong called the joint workshop to order at 6:35 p.m. COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chairman Armstrong, Helwig, Ptacek, Deziel, Sessing, Bunn. Commissioner Berg is on vacation. MAC MEMBERS PRESENT: Stanley, Talcott. Commissioner Dege is at work. COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: Mayor Hunt, Siedow, (6:25) DeLapp (6:50). COMMUNITY FACILITIES AND STAFFING FORECAST Staff Report, Citv Planner, Charles Dillerud The City Council has twice looked at the draft document and deferred any action. They requested this workshop. When a community adopts a Comp Plan it affects city facilities. Issues involve additions, especially when there is growth forecasted. Often communities wait until the needs are overpowering, then efficiency is lost while they try to catch up. That might be what is happening here. The City Planner suggested long ago looking at the Comp Plan forecasts in order to understand staff and facilities' needs in the future. We asked our consultant to look at those needs in five year increments based on the forecast for growth in the comp plan. Consultants came to the Planning Commission with comparison to five other cities we are:familiar with. Each of the five is now at forecasted populations. Which of those do we icw our city to be? We selected a community in each group to represent what we want to be at population levels forecasted in 5- year increments to 2020. Consultants took those cities, and analyzed their operations, structures, staffing, and budgets. This is what it took to get where you want to be. They made adjustments to the data for Lake Elmo" The direction to the consultant was for Lake Elmo to maintain the same ratios, one of the lowest government cost per capita. What we have is not in bad condition, except for Parks. But the facilities are woefully short of space. We were behind for even a sinaller population. Recommendations were prepared for where we ought to be. How many square feet? They compared to what we do have, and made recommendations. Problem is it all needs to be done right away. Providing a reasonable projection of what we need. Alternative to doing something like that is to wait until the needs are far behind what is necessary. Council discussed a City Hall addition, but the consultant said it would be four times the present size, and we don't have the space on the City Hall site. They also recommended certain consolidations, parks/public works, and city hall/fire department. Perhaps we might want our own police department. Councilmember Siedow What about full time fire department? What if we did away with the fire department and contracted those services? City Planner There has to be a reasonable response time. Commission looked closely at that. Regional fire can be done but you have to look at response times and other issues. Planning Commission Meeting of August 26, 2002 1 DRAFT Councilmember Siedow What happens if Met Council rejects our Comp Plan? Mayor Hunt We can we throw this draft report away. Commissioner Ptacek We have heard this for years; how long do we make our city employees suffer? Mayor Hunt Consistently tried to proceed. 2003 budget is the beginning. 8 years ago we looked at building a maintenance facility. Thinks we will prevail with Met Council. Mayor Hunt There are options for fire protection for portions of the city. Commissioner Stanley If things change, this is set for 12,500 population. We can be prepared to expand. Councilmember DeLapp arrived at 6:50 p.m. Mayor Hunt This is a consultant's report. If the Planning Commission/Maintenance Advisory Special Projects Planning Commission is happy, then council will need to get to work on it. These are recommendations. I think we can get by without our own police, for example. There are a lot of different issues. Then we need to sit down with each department on policy decisions, such as, should we continue to do plowing using city staff or contract some of it? Bonding will have to go to referendum. Would like to see us bond for big improvements, and we will have to explain it to our residents. Councilmember DeLapp It says our 3200 square feet facility i in City Hall is too small, but to go to a factor of four just because we are starting to build may be a mistake. Our chambers are larger, our entry is similar; maybe we could use some space in the office. He would like specifics, not just sizes. Don't just accept the word in this report. Mayor Hunt That is our job to work with them. We have to accept the report but we need to go through each and every department. City Planner The idea of this report is to give you an idea of the scale by comparing to cities we aspire to. You have to be able to tell the difference between imitation and reality. Commissioner Ptacek We compared it to cars, it isn't a Cadillac just a well-equipped Chevy. He accepts that each department head will help us come to those conclusions. He hates to look out the window at that trailer. Planning Commission Meeting of August 26, 2002 2 DRAFT Commissioner Sessing Start the process now. Do not worry about how big to do it, just to do it. Mayor Hunt Create a resolution to accept the plan, and then start into it with the various departments. City Planner Once it is accepted, he will do two things, he'll make corrections and get it published. He will ask the Council if they want it to be part of the Comp Plan. Mayor Hunt Incorporate this document as a study to be used to help us generate more policy and ordinances. City Planner Now we have something to base our assumptions on. Chairman Armstrong The Planning Commission voted to pass it on to the Council. Mayor Hunt If the Planning Commission and Maintenance Advisory Special Projects are comfortable, we can take it apart and process it. Commissioner Sessing Would that be done by the City Council or a joint commission? Mayor Hunt By committee per department if possible. We only have one Planner, and we could over - committee him to death with our regular stuff, Met Council, and now all this with staff. Commissioner Bunn Maybe we should begin with staff. There are not enough people to deal with all the work that needs to be done, an Assistant Planner, etc. We are inadequately staffed to do that. Councilmember DeLann Nothing in the Comp Plan says we are trying to spurn growth. We have accommodated it so far, the intention is to continue as we have. Councilmember Siedow Too many committees can be redundant. We can have one Cadillac and one Volkswagen. Commissioner Sessing We can get good volunteers who understand this concept. Maintenance Advisory Special Projects and some Planning Commissioners. Councilmember DeLann We need to separate the wish list from the need list. Commissioner Sessing We can have one group that deciphers. Planning Commission Meeting of August 26, 2002 3 DRAFT City Planner Capital Buildings Workgroup Councilmember DeLann Sessing knows about these topics as a contractor. Mayor Hunt Do a resolution, and a second resolution of numbers of commissioners; get volunteers from across the board, or public members. 7:07 p.m. Chairman Armstrong adjourned the Maintenance Advisory Special Projects and City Council Workshop. Planning Commission Chairman Armstrong called the meeting of the Planning Commission to order at 7:10 p.m. Agenda MIS Helwig/Deziel, to accept the Agenda as presented. VOTE: 6:0 PASSED. Minutes of July 22, 2002 Commissioner Deziel asked for the following change on Page 4 of the Draft Minutes. "It would be more flexible. Conservation lots should be required to be part of a development." Commissioner Bunn said she will provide written changes. MIS Armstrong /Ptacek, to accept the Minutes of July 22, 2002 as amended. VOTE: 6:0 PASSED. GENERAL BUSINESS USES Staff Renort, City Planner, Charles Dillerud The Planning Commission was asked to look at the text of General Business Zoning Uses to see if that list should be modified to distinguish I-94 from the Old Village. The Old Village intent could be to retain all the uses as a central business district. The I-94 Corridor could retain only a few. He looked at the zoning map to see where GB uses are located (four locations displayed on a map of the city). We should look at I-94 at Inwood and Hudson. Each of these businesses has an existing use on it. Two vacant GB sites exist, one proposed is Lake Elmo Business Park. Another is adjacent to the drive-in. Go back and look at the land use plan to see if there was reason to change those I-94 business uses. Our 1990 Zoning Map shows we are guided one way and zoned General Business. The point is the PZ/CC could adopt a rezone along these 7 sites on I-94. They could be GB on six of them with little problem for the businesses. These changes would help by bringing zoning into compliance with 1990 Comp Plan and partly the 2020 Comp Plan as well. Planning Commission Meeting of August 26, 2002 4 DRAFT The Planner can bring it to the City Council if Planning Commission concurs, or go back and redraft the text. Commissioner Bunn So these are the only four areas with GB Zoning. Area under our proposed Comp Plan shows LB to Keats Avenue. What are those currently zoned? City Planner We just recently rezoned the Keats -fronting site LB to get in compliance. The little square just to the left, is the former hotel rezoned LB. The ultra-lite park is rezoned LB. Roughly one-third is already zoned LB. Commissioner Bunn Why not throw in all that are not in compliance with the 1990 Comp Plan? City Planner That is sometimes considered to be driving development when upzoning before an application is made. Chairman Armstrong With the exception of Mulligan Masters, we don't need to zone them up. Commissioner Ptacek He would rather encourage GB Uses to the center of the city Bring GB to Limited Business on these seven sites. City Planner What does the Planning Commission think of the.imarroif C nvenience Store site? Commissioner Ptacek Leave it GB, it isn't pulling traffic from the Old Village or I-94. He'd rather keep the two issues separate, although he agrees with Commissioner Bunn. Commissioner Bunn State law says they have to be in compliance. Chairman Armstrong,, He favors just the seven sites, let the others stay that way for now. If they come up with an application, we'd be hard-pressed not to give them LB Zoning. City Planner The far eastern site could remain Rural Residential or AG Zoning. Chairman Armstrong The undeveloped site is outside LB designation, and can be RAD or AG. Commissioner Deziel Were property owners are notified? City Planner There has been no notification at this point. That would be once a Public Hearing is scheduled. Planning Commission Meeting of August 26, 2002 5 DRAFT MIS Ptacek/Armstrong, Rezone all six I-94 Corridor businesses now zoned General Business to Limited Business as prescribed in the Planner's Staff Report, and the seventh, most easterly site be rezoned AG. The convenience store at Cimarron should be left as zoned, General Business. VOTE: 6:0 LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT Staff Report, City Planner, Charles Dillerud The City Council has asked the Planning Commission whether a Landscape Architect's review of OP Concept Plans in parallel with internal staff review at expense of applicant would be a good idea. The City Council asked you to consider the concept and report whether it should be added to our local ordinance or not. Commissioner Sessing What are they supposed to help with, trees? Chairman Armstrong While it might be nice to have a consultant or landscaper, better to have standards first. Commissioner Bunn In early stages, that individual should help the city come up with graphic portrayals and documentation to show us what we should be looking for. That is what Council Member DeLapp meant. Commissioner Ptacek Technically the Open Space Preservation plats meet what we asked for. He is not comfortable dictating aesthetics. Commissioner Deziel He would prefer to have this rather than rigid standards like we considered for the Old Village. Maybe we can get ideas at the outset. If it isn't going to be expensive, it might be a good way to get those ideas in to help developers. It might be a way to meld without creating a bunch of new standards. Commissioner Ptacek Then again if it isn't ordinance, how can we be held to it? Chairman Armstrong Are we just going to get another hoop to jump through? I don't know what Open Space standards a landscape architect could help or draft to change. How do you legislate aesthetics? The last developer responded to public concerns. We have them come in with concepts instead of just preliminary plats. City Planner You might think of that work as another help like a staff report. It wouldn't be an ordinance. What if you chose part of what was recommended and the applicant challenged it? Chairman Armstrong That has happened before. Planning Commission Meeting of August 26, 2002 6 DRAFT Commissioner Sessine Without guidance, a landscape architect would not be helpful Commissioner Bunn This was supported primarily by Council Member DeLapp. If he believes strongly we need this, maybe he could give us something in writing. She has no clue as to how this would work in practice. Commissioner Sessing If in the beginning a Landscape Architect was doing it, unless the Homeowner's Association backs it up, they never get fulfilled. There are a lot of covenants. City Planner Fields and the original Sunfish did an elaborate analysis of sites with a Landscape Architect. Commissioner Sessing Even when it is in covenants, they still do what they want. Maybe we could request help but not require it. M/S Sessing/Armstrong, to send back the request for a Landscape Architect for review of Concept Plans to the City Council, for direction on how to proceed. VOTE; 6:;0 OTHER BUSINESS OLD VILLAGE NEIGHBORHOOD DESIGN STUDY:.;,.. On September 9, 2002, Dewey Thorbeck will give a presentation about the Old Village. Sarah Harris will be present as well. The goal is to begin preparations for the Public Forums. Commissioner Bunn The consultant should be both planning and facilitating the public meeting. Defining the public input for this price tag is not enough for the money. She would have liked a variety of ways of getting that public input, as opposed to those who might attend a meeting, for the price. City Planner That is a good idea but she for. Commissioner Deziel He did offer to facilitate Commissioner Bunn There were three of us at the workshop about the Met Council, and she was really bothered by the process. By the time they arrived the workshop was a council meeting. It started at 5:45 p.m. The first 20 to 30 minutes was overview, which left two council members 30 minutes to have discussion before their vote on a very large issue. When the time came for public input, the Mayor asked people to keep it short, and rolled his eyes when they spoke longer. She understood the pressure, and that there were other engagements but it looked like a preconceived decision, and we weren't really invited to share. She looked for more facilitation, and a genuine public process. She recommends that in the future do a workshop, and do not make a decision. y not do it. Anything beyond that contract we haven't budgeted Planning Commission Meeting of August 26, 2002 7 DRAFT CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM Commissioner Bunn Are there alternatives or is there a process? City Planner There is a process. Commissioner Helwig What is Maintenance Advisory Special Projects responsibility? Why doesn't equipment have to go through Maintenance Advisory Special Projects? Citv Planner The City Council decides it. Commissioner Helwig If you don't have to go through MAC, why have them? City Planner We go to them for CIP items of $5,000 or more. The Capital Improvement Program will be brought to the Planning Commission at the second September meeting. Chairman Armstrong adjourned the Planning Commission Meeting at 8:05 P.M. Respectfully submitted, Kimberly Schaffel Recording Secretary Planning Commission Meeting of August 26, 2002 8 MEMO (September 18, 2002 for the Meeting of September 23, 2002) To: Lake Elmo Planning Commission From: Chuck Subject: Preliminary Plat — RECO At its June 10, 2002 meeting the Commission tabled consideration of this application on a Finding that the application documentation was incomplete. The Commission found that Supplemental Information was necessary to precede with the review of this application. Section 400.08, Subd.6 of the City Code specifies that the Planning Commission may require such Supplemental Information — which it did on June 10. As of September 18, 2002 the applicant has submitted the final item of the list of Supplemental Information required by the June 10 Commission Motion - the draft Declaration of Covenants. Those are being reviewed by the City Attorney, and we will have a report on his Findings on September 23. The applicant has also submitted a Landscape Plan; an Erosion Control Plan; and, a Traffic Study (all of which are attached to this Memo together with the June 10 Minutes and the original Planning Staff Report ). It appears that the proposed preliminary landscape plan complies with both the overall tree count and boulevard tree count standards of Section 400.08 Subd. 6H of the City Code. Subject to the concurrence of the City Engineer, it also appears that the Erosion Control Plan will accomplish the intent of retaining construction grading silt on site. Note that most of the site will be graded below the level of the surrounding land — except to the east. The Traffic Study submitted has been completed by a qualified professional using standard procedures and forecast inputs. The Study makes certain assumptions as to the future uses of the multiple building sites — which also provides the City some idea of the applicant's intent in that regard. It should be understood by all that the uses mentioned in the Traffic Study are not necessarily approved by the City at this point. Whether or not those uses are actually allowed will depend on the zoning and CUP status of the site at such time as specific Site Plan applications are made. The rights accorded to a land owner by plat approval regarding changes in City ordinances do not extend to land use and zoning — only to the right to divide the site in the manner approved by the plat. The traffic engineer has focused on AM/PM Peak forecasts; and, has found that the Lake Elmo Avenue/Manning intersections with Hudson Blvd. will continue to function at acceptable Levels of Service (LOS) assuming the traffic generation from this site alone. We do not see any future back ground traffic, from other sources, factored in to the LOS findings even though there is a statement regarding forecasted ADT on the Woodbury side of Lake Elmo Avenue. While today's traffic at either intersection (at least from Hudson Blvd.) may not be significant during AM/PM Peak periods, to assume that future traffic will not also add to the equation may be somewhat incomplete analysis. I will be reviewing these observations with the City Engineer prior to September 23. While I do not have all the answers from outside reviewers at this point I believe I will by September 23, and it is time for the Commission to again consider this application. Should the Commission find the Supplemental Information to be complete at this time, we recommend a motion to recommend to the City Council that the Preliminary Plat of Lake Elmo Business Center for RECO Real Estate be approved on a Finding that the preliminary plat complies with the standards of Section 400; and subject to the following conditions: 1. Compliance with the recommendations of the City Engineer 2. Compliance with the recommendations of the City Attorney, including Proof of Title. 3. All proposed setbacks shall comply with the requirements of Section 300. No variance to those standards is approved or implied. 4. No individual lot Site Plans or land/building uses are approved or implied to be approved by the Preliminary Plat. Reference to specific uses in the Traffic Study are for modeling purposes only. All structures and individual lot improvements are considered to illustrative only. Attachments: 1. Traffic Study 2. Landscape Plan 3. Erosion Control Plan 4. Planning Commission Minutes of June 10, 2002 5. June 4, 2002 Planning Staff Report and Attachments ApprovP4: Pages 6 through 9, July 8, 2002; Pages 1 through 5, July 22, 2002 CITY OF LAKE ELMO OLD VILLAGE SPECIAL PROJECTS PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES OF JUNE 10, 2002 Planning Commission Chairman Tom Armstrong called the Planning Commission Meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. in Council Chambers. COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Armstrong, Taylor, Deziel, Bunn, Sedro, Sessing, Berg, and Ptacek. Also present: City Council Members: Mayor Hunt, Rosemary Armstrong, Steve DeLapp, and Chuck Siedow; Old Village Special Projects Planning Commissioners: Wyn John, Jennifer Pelletier, David Herreid, and Todd Williams; City Planner, Charles Dillerud and Administrative Secretary, Kimberly Schaffel. AGENDA M/S Ptacek/Armstrong To accept the Agenda as presented. VOTE: 8:0 PASSED. MINUTES The Minutes of May 29, 2002 were amended as follows. With regard to the Patrick Kinney/PJK Realty Variance Application, the Motions and Votes on page 3 should have read, "M/S Ptacek/Sedro To deny the variance application submitted by Patrick Kinney and PJK Realty based upon Findings in the Staff Report of April 3, 2002. VOTE: 3:4 (Deziel/Taylor/Bunn/Helwig) FAILED." "M/S Deziel/Taylor To approve the application, and instruct staff to prepare Findings in favor of granting this variance, and give them directly to the City Council. VOTE: 4:3 (Sedro/Ptacek/Armstrong) PASSED." Page 5, Paragraph 9: One mile away from this site is Westgate, a residential development. Page 6, Paragraph 8: He never anticipated whether properties adjacent to Interstate 94 would use this zoning. M/S Armstrong/Ptacek To accept the Minutes of May 29, 2002 as amended. VOTE: 8:0 PASSED. PRELIMINARY PLAT: RECO, LAKE ELMO BUSINESS PARK Staff Report, Citv Planner, Charles Dillerud A Public Hearing was called to consider a Preliminary Plat to be known as Lake Elmo Business Park, by RECO Real Estate. Notice of Public Hearing was published in the Stillwater Gazette. Affected property owners were notified. This 28.5 acre site is located at the corner of Lake Elmo Avenue and Hudson Boulevard. The existing zoning is GB (General Business). A grading permit was sought and approved in the early 1980's for the southeast portion of the site. In 1999/2000, we had hearings on the Comprehensive Plan and the Land Use Plan classification for that area was discussed. Following those discussions, the applicant appealed to the Metropolitan Council to remain a commercial site. If the site remains classified RAD, we would rezone it within 9 months, and this plat would then be non -conforming. However, we have to acknowledge a preliminary plan submitted under GB. At this time, the zoning supports a plat of this type. We have no idea what the uses would be in this plat. There is a long list of acceptable uses to choose from. The preliminary plat shows seven lots and two outlots. The size and configuration of those lots meet standards of GB or LB. The outlots are located in the northwest and northeast corners of the plat. An Engineered Wetland System would serve all seven lots. The engineering of the wastewater system will be critical, based upon usage, when we get to the final plat. The northeast corner of the plat is to be used for stormwater drainage to serve most of the site. Except for minor setback issues, the plat appears to be in compliance. 50 feet is the standard rear setback for each lot. That should be indicated on the plat as the Code dictates - at 50 feet. The County sent a letter saying they had no objections since the plat proposes no access to a County road. The plat designer made assumptions regarding street right-of-way. One portion of the plat seems to question whether or not the right-of-way is dedicated. Staff would like it dedicated on the final plat. Manning Callin lv' lliil(C:l June 1{). 2(102 Approv—i: Pages 6 through 9, July 8, 2002; Pages 1 through 5, July 22, 2002 The City of Woodbury asked for a copy of the application materials. We sent them, and received no response. Valley Branch Watershed will not say much until the final plat is presented. The Applicant has not indicated the source of potable water. An Erosion Control Plan is required but was not submitted. The City Engineer requested some supplemental items be submitted; he would like a Traffic Study and Trip Generation Report. Traffic could be a problem on Hudson Boulevard at Lake Elmo or Manning Avenues. These items are not mandated but they may be required, and both the City Engineer and the City Planner recommend them. The Engineer recommended an island in the cul de sac. Other items recommended that should be required are the Declaration of Covenants to show how the wastewater treatment facility will be governed. A Landscape Plan should be applied here because the site is devoid of natural landscaping except for the southeast corner. An Erosion Control Plan will be needed. Trip generation must be based on something, so the possible uses for each of the sites will be necessary. The Planner recommended tabling the application after the Public Hearing to request the recommended information. Commissioner Deziel Tabling would not inhibit their rights. Commissioner Sessine He asked the uses of properties north and east of the site. City Planner North is the golf driving range and there is one residence. The drive-in is east. Northeast is the Non-ag Low Impact Use in the AG Zone. Commissioner Bunn She asked if, at this early stage, we can reasonably request more information about types of businesses to use this site. City Planner It is reasonable because uses could be more intense than streets can accommodate. Commissioner Bunn She said the setbacks need to be modified to conform to the Code. Dave Dunav, Surveyor, Folz, Freeman. & Dunav He did .not think a Trip Study would be necessary because the entrance to the site is onto a service road. Setbacks indicated on the plat are building setbacks. If the Commission wants them on the preliminary plat he we will do it. Commissioner Deziel He asked if the septic system would be standard or a wetland system, and whether it must be placed at the northeast end of the site. Dave Dunav, Surveyor, Folz, Freeman. & Dunav The best soils are there; it is the highest area He is not sure whether itwouldbealarge drainfieldorawetland system. The Chair opened the Public Hearing at 7:34 p.m. Jim Anderson, Homeowner He and his wife Linda own the house adjacent to the northwest corner of the proposed plat. Whatever is done laanning C;o?7:.fi:ti`iiii;ie JU:zlC :', Approved: Pages 6 through 9, July 8, 2002; Pages 1 through 5, July 22, 2002 on the site should be done correctly. He would like to know about the wastewater treatment because their home is immediately adjacent to it. If it does not smell, and works okay, he has no objection to it. He would like to know the types of businesses that would occupy the site, the quality of the buildings, how they would sit on the sites, and the tenants. How the site will be utilized impacts him and visitors to the area. There is already a lot of traffic there. The design and construction should be top-notch. Linda Anderson, Homeowner They live where traffic goes by. They frequently see accidents on the other side of the freeway. When the drive-in lets out there are many close calls. She would like to see a traffic study done for that area, and asked when it will be done. The Chair closed the Public Hearing at 7:37 p.m. Commissioner Deziel The Building Code requires high quality. If the wastewater system is located where it is indicated on the preliminary plat, The Andersons will have 320 feet of buffered open space. Commissioner Bunn She asked what type of traffic study would be done; whether it would study only the number of trips or if it would also address the impact. The City Engineer should look at cumulative impact. M/S Ptacek/Berg To table the application pending submission of supplemental information as recommended by the City Planner. VOTE: 8:0 PASSED. SECTION 520 SITE PLAN FOR GORMAN'S RESTAURANT Staff Report, City Planner, Charles Dillerud This 4.4 acre site remains as it was created in 1973. A proposed expansion in 1982 was reduced in scale because of the highway setback. Valley Branch Watershed suggested at the time that the parking lot expansion be excluded from the expansion plans. The wastewater treatment system was upgraded in 1991. Handicap accessibility was added in 1995. A sizable addition is now proposed. The addition at the rear would be the building that was moved onto the site. Decking will also be added. There is also a planned addition to the foyer. The site would be more formalized. Paving will be done at the rear of the restaurant for parking. They will raise the elevation there. The big mound of dirt, a bone of contention in the past, will be used to elevate the rear parking area. There will be a new stormwater drainage pond. There is room to add on to the present wastewater treatment facility. A tower and dormers will be added, and the addition will maintain the same roof line as the historic building being added. Wood removed from the area getting stone facing will be moved to the addition so the treatment looks the same throughout. The GB Zone has new exterior surfacing rules adopted 60 days ago by the City Council. This project is probably exempt since it increases building area less than 100%. They propose to use existing surfacing, and while the stone may not be to Code, it probably meets the intent. A substantial amount of paving is to be added to the existing parking lot. As proposed, the applicant would like to continue to have parking along Highway 5. That parking lot is right on the right-of-way. Setbacks for parking there are not met. The Twin Points' parking lot was permitted to remain, and no variance was granted for it. The Commission may treat this the same, deny the parking, or entertain a variance. A variance cannot be done tonight; there was no notice for a public hearing. Some landscape island areas are indicated on the Site Plan but the Planner has no idea of the Landscaping Plan for those islands. In lieu of setback for the front parking lot, Mr. Gorman has suggested he work out with Mn/DOT as to how to landscape in the right-of-way. The site is 200 square feet short of landscape island at the rear. Planning Cana finu1es June 10. o0 AIIPSEH 3535 Vadnais Center Drive, St. Paul, MN 55110-5196 651.490.2000 651.490.2150 FAX architecture - engineering environmental - transportation July 26, 2002 Mr. Tim Freeman Folz, Freeman, Dupay & Associates 1815 Northwestern Avenue Stillwater, MN 55082 Dear Mr. Freeman: RE: Lake Elmo, Minnesota Traffic Impact Study RECO Business Park SEH No. A-RECOR0201.00 RECEIVED rt 6 20Q2 CITY OF LAKE ELMO SEH has completed an evaluation of the traffic impact of the proposed RECO Business Park: The development is located in the northwest quadrant of CSAH 17b (Lake Elmo Avenue North) and Hudson Boulevard North in Lake Elmo Minnesota. Site Description The development is expected to consist of seven buildings varying from 16,000 to 24,000 square feet. APPRO Development has identified land uses that will be permitted in this development. At the time of this report, no lots had been sold and thus, assumptions regarding the land use of the individual parcels were necessary in order to estimate traffic generated from the parcels. These assumptions are described later in the report. Access to the development is to be made through an entrance on Hudson Boulevard North, east of Lake Elmo Avenue. Lake Elmo Avenue and Hudson Boulevard North are two-lane, undivided roadways with no designated turn lanes at the intersection. The intersection is controlled by a two- way stop condition at the Hudson Boulevard approaches. Figure 1 shows a Layout of the area. Trip Generation Trip Generation estimates the number of total trip ends produced by a development. To estimate these trips, the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Trip Generation Manual, 6" Edition is traditionally used. Without knowing which land use will be used for a particular lot, it was necessary to make assumptions in assigning land uses to the seven lots. Effort was made to incorporate the various types of permitted land uses, while maintaining a reasonable distribution of the various land use types. The T1'E land use types considered include business park, hardware/paint store, automobile care center, medical/dental office building, and nursery/garden center. The business park trip generation rates were used to generate traffic for the potential service/office uses. The hardware store trip generation rate was used to represent some of the land uses that did not have a precise match in the Trip Generation Manual. These included electrical supplies, heating equipment, and equipment rental and leasing. The following tables show the trips generated during each peak hour, as well as the number entering and exiting the development: Shnrt Fllintt Hanrlrirkcnn Inr • Vnnr Trnctarl Rocnnrra • F anal fnnnrtnnitu Fmnlnvor Mr. Tim Freeman July 26, 2002 Page 2 Parcel rrE Land Use Business Park Business Park 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Hardware/ Paint Store Hardware' Paint Store Automobile Care Center Medical/Dental Office Building Nursery/ Garden Center Unit (Trip Generation Land Use Code) 1000 sq. ft.of gross floor area (770) 1000 sq. ft.of gross floor area (770) 1000 sq. ft.of gross floor area (770) 1000 sq. ft.of gross floor area (816) 1000 sq. ft.of gross floor area (840) 1000 sq. ft.of gross floor area (720) 1000 sq. tot gross floor area (817) Average Building Size (sci. ft.) 19143 19143 19143 19143 19143 19143 19143 RECO Business Park A.M. Peak Trip Generation AM. Peak Trip Generation Trips Rate Generated 1.49" 1.49" 1.08** 1.08'" 2.94** 0.53** 1.31" Total Estimated Trips Generated from Parcels that Approach Intersection % In/Out Trips In Trips out 28 90/10 25 3 28 90/10 25 3 21 60/40 13 8 21 60/40 13 8 56 75/25 42 14 10 70/30 7 3 25 70/30 18 7 143 46 189 * = Trip generation rate is based on the AM Peak Hour Fitted Curve Equation associated with the parcel's land use. ** = Trip generation rate is based on the AM. Peak Average Rate associated with the parcel's land use. Mr. Tim Freeman July 26, 2002 Page 3 Parcel 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ITE Land Use Business Park Business Park Hardware/ Paint Store Hardware/ Paint Store Automobile Care Center MedicaVDental Office Building Nursery/ Garden Center Unit (Trip Generation Land Use Code) 1000 sq. ft.of gross floor area (770) 1000 sq. ft.of gross floor area (770) 1000 sq. ft.of gross floor area (770) 1000 sq. ft.of gross floor area (816) 1000 sq. ft.of gross floor area (840) 1000 sq. ft.of gross floor area (720) 1000 sq. ft.of gross floor area (817) RECO Business Park P.M. Peak Trip Generation Average Building Size (scl. ft.) 19143 19143 19143 19143 19143 19143 19143 P.M. Peak Trip Generation Trips Rate Generated 1.70* 1.70* 4.42** 4.42** 3.38** 1.06** 3.80** Total Estimated Trips Generated from Parcels that Approach Intersection = %In/Out Trips In Trips out 32 10/90 3 29 32 10/90 3 29 85 40/60 34 51 85 40/60 34 51 65 40/60 26 39 20 40/60 8 12 73 40/60 29 44 137 254 392 *= Trip generation rate is based on the P.M Peak Hour Fitted Curve Equation associated with the parcei's land use. ** = Trip generation rate is based on the P.M. Peak Average Rate associated with the parcel's land use. Mr. Tim Freeman July 26, 2002 Page 4 A further assumption was made regarding building size. The average building square footage was determined and the selected land uses were applied to the new, equally sized parcels. Trip Distribution Based on travel patterns of this area, and the location of the CSAH 15 (Manning Avenue) and CSAH 19 (Woodbury Drive) interchanges with Interstate 94, it was assumed that 75 percent of the trips generated by the development will be to and from the intersection of Lake Elmo Avenue/Hudson Boulevard North. The remaining 25 percent will be to the Hudson Boulevard's intersection with Manning Avenue. The trips to be generated from this development were distributed to the site access and the intersection of Lake Elmo Avenue/Hudson Boulevard. Trips were distributed through the Lake Elmo Avenue/Hudson Boulevard intersection based on inplace turning movement volumes. This was done for both A.M. and P.M. peak hours. Figures 2 and 3 show the results of the distribution for the A.M. and P.M. peak hours, respectively. Capacity Analysis Capacity analysis is the evaluation of roadway analysis and the resulting Level of Service (LOS) is the measure. The LOS of an intersection is graded on a score of "A" (best) to "F' (worst). A LOS of "D" is generally accepted for the design of intersections. Capacity analysis for the two-way stop controlled intersection of Lake EImo Avenue/Hudson Boulevard, in addition to the site access intersection with Hudson Boulevard, was performed during both the A.M. and P.M. peak hours using the Synchro software package that uses the method outlined in the 2000 Highway Capacity Manual (HCM). Results are summarized in the following table: Approach Level of Service (LOS) A.M. Peak P.M. Peak NB SB EB WB NB SB EB WB Lake Elmo Avenue at A ABB A A BC Hudson Boulevard North Site access at - B A A - B A A Hudson Boulevard North As can be seen in the above table, the LOS at each intersection is "C" or better, indicating that traffic will function in an acceptable manner with the implementation of this development and the present geometries. Note that the capacity analysis at the site access includes one approach lane exiting the site. Mr. Tim Freeman July 26, 2002 Page 5 Roundabout Feasibility The capacity analysis run at the two intersections reveals no delay concerns. Lack of delay for any of the approaches indicates that a roundabout would not benefit these intersections. In addition, a_ check with the City of Woodbury's transportation plan, forecast volumes for the year 2020 shows an Average Daily Traffic (ADT) volume of 11,200 on Cottage Grove Avenue, which becomes Lake Elmo Avenue upon crossing Interstate 94. This forecast volume, coupled with a relatively small volume on Hudson Boulevard, is not a good candidate for a roundabout. The forecast suggests that other, more traditional intersection improvements may be necessary in the future, such as the addition of turn lanes. These improvements would be needed as additional development occurs in this area. Parking Lot Requirements According to the City of Lake Elmo Municipal Code, this development falls under the "General Business" classification. The corresponding constraints associated with this type of development are not measured by a specific number of parking stalls, but are as follows: • For lot sizes up to 4 acres in size (all lots in this development fall into this category), the maximum area covered by buildings, parking lots, driveways, and other hard surfaces can be no more than 45 percent of the total lot size. APPRO Development has verified that the individual lots do not exceed the maximum 45 percent allowed by the ordinance. Summary The RECO business park to be located in the northeast quadrant of the Lake Elmo Avenue/Hudson Boulevard North is not anticipated to create significant traffic delays at this intersection or at the site access, given existing intersection control and geometries. In addition, according to APPRO Development, each lot in the development meets the City of Lake Elmo parking ordinance for the General Business category. If you have any questions regarding this report, or need any additional information, please contact Tom Sohrweide or me at your convenience. Sincerely, SHORT ELLIOTT HENDRICKSON INC. uogaluakol Thomas A. Sohrweide, P.E., P.T.O.E. Michael J. Martinez Principal/Manager, Traffic Engineering Project Engineer wrc Attachments c: Patrick Regan, RECO OltifiEticksont Engineering & Design Group F.\wp\lmojects4Arecoh020IMVregaan rgttrLju126.doc TO COTTAGE GROVE DRIVE -47 =SEN COUNTY ROAD 178 • 4(LAKE ELMO AVENUE) 'a, Bet as as VW 7 • " �r+rc �o ,z rr ItJ 11111 r 111 1fi11ri11 thunimiEfe g1.1111 jI1 D RECO Business Pork Traffic Impact Study Site Layout TO CSAH IO ' • Figure 1 7/17/02 A ar-r,iltIrv7nr nn aTO COTTAGE GROVE DRIVE A. ) ,,:, , (:, .,. 'ei my LOT 4 o\m to oo otDto I ilk 1/0/1. 60/0/60-► 3/23/26-m 4 - 40/0/90 a- 43✓0/4.3 \,..rr. 5/38/43 LOT3 r P ti XXX/XXX/XXX EXISTING DEVELOPMENT EXISTING + DEVELOPMENT COUNTY ROAD ITB (LAKE ELMO AVENUE) TOCSAH10c=;. t • LOT 7 tu oa =SEN LOT 6 RECO Business Park Traffic Impact Study AM.Peak Trip Distribution Figure 2 7/17/02 AAjnnnnon,nn TO COTTAGE GROVE DRIVE Corn M N.co ocv\ \ \M o •r en 2/0/2.0 86/0/86 + 1/6/1 R— 5/0/5 ♦ 59/0/59 �ir' 12/73/85 =SEN xxx/xxx/xxx LOT 3li EXISTING DEVELOPMENT EXISTING + DEVELOPMENT COUNTY ROAD 178 (LAKE EL1I0 AVENUE) RECO Business Park Traffic Impact Study P.M. Peak Trip distribution TO CSAH 10 Figure 3 7/17/02 AA1('nonQn! nn LAKE ELMO PLANNING COMMISSION STAFF REPORT Date: June 4, 2002 for the Meeting of June 10, 2002 Applicant: RECO, Inc. Location: Northeast Quadrant of Hudson Blvd. and Lake Elmo Avenue Requested Action: Preliminary Plat Land Use Plan Guiding: LB (1990/1997 Plan)/RAD (2000 Plan) Existing Zoning: GB (General Business) Site History and Existing Conditions: In 1968, when this site was located in East Oakdale Township, the township adopted the Washington County model zoning ordinance and zoning map (this was prior to the date that the Legislature determined that Metro zoning must be based on a Comprehensive Plan). This site was zoned Highway Business (HB). After the 1969 merger of East Oakdale Township and the City of Lake Elmo, the City of Lake Elmo also adopted the county zoning regulations and made some modifications, with this site remaining zoned HB. In 1979, the City replaced the county zoning regulations with its first local zoning map and regulations. This site was zoned General Business (GB). The 1990 Comprehensive Plan land use guided this site Limited Business (LB), but the zoning remained GB — not an uncommon occurrence in the City. City records reveal a grading application approved in 1983. That permit was to grade and install drainage infrastructure on a 3.5 acre portion of this 28 acre site, at the extreme southeast corner. The stated purpose of the grading/infrastructure was to accommodate a "future building" and bus storage area. The 3.5 acre site was never platted, and it does not appear that the owner completed the grading and infrastructure authorized by the permit. In any case, the portion of the site that was the subject of the grading permit is overgrown and not used. The City Attorney has since advised staff that the 1983 grading permit has expired. The applicant submitted extensive testimony, by its attorney, during the City Comp Plan Update Hearing process in 2000. They objected to the Comp Plan proposal to reclassify the land use of the site from LB to RAD. Not withstanding that testimony and objection the Planning Commission recommended and the City Council approved the reclassification to RAD — subject only to Metro Council review of the overall City Plan — still pending. The zoning of the site remains GB, but would be changed to RR or AG within 9 months of Metro Council action on the Comp Plan. The applicant has been active in lobbying the Metro Council to overturn the adopted Lake Elmo Comp Plan, and establish commercial land use guiding for this site. (see the attached letter to Metropolitan Council Chair Ted Mondale, dated January 23, 2002) On September 24, 2001 the applicant presented a "Pre -application Sketch Plan" to the Planning Commission, responsive to Section 400.07, Subd. 2 of the City Code. This unnecessary platting step has been largely by-passed in recent years, with the addition of planning staff at the City. The applicant insisted on this step — probably to establish some manner of Record of actions and expense reliant on the GB zoning before the 2000 Comp Plan became "in effect". The Commission heard the applicant's "Pre -application Sketch" presentation and took no action. Discussion and Analysis: The applicant has applied for a Preliminary Plat to plat the subject 28.64 acre site into 7 building lots and two common ownership outlots. An 1,100 foot cul-de-sac public street would be constructed, accessing Hudson Blvd. The applicant has also provided grading, drainage and utility plans for the site. Wastewater from all seven lots is proposed to be conveyed to a single private septic treatment facility facility, located on the outlot. The applicant has not specified the potable water sources, but since no public water is available in this area, it is assumed that the sources would be individual wells. The applicant's preliminary plat suggests site layouts for each of the 7 lots. This level of detail is not required with a Preliminary Plat, but the subject of Section 520 Site Plan review by separate application. Planning staff has not reviewed the details of site layout suggested by the Preliminary Plat, and will not be here addressing those details in any manner. We advise the Planning Commission to also refrain from any discussion of, or reference to, the specific site layout details to avoid any inference that those site layout details have, in some manner, been approved with the Preliminary Plat. They should not be. Since the zoning of this site today is GB, we have reviewed the plat design based on GB standards of the Zoning Ordinance, and the platting standards of Section 400 of the City Code — generally, and as such standards may specifically relate to platting of commercial sites. The proposed plat complies with GB standards regarding lot area, lot width at front setback and lot aspect ratio. Proposed front and interior side yard setbacks also appear to comply with GB standards. At least Lots 1, and 7 would be considered "corner" lots (bounded by two intersecting streets). GB setback standards provide for a 50 foot side yard setback on "corner' lots. The applicant has depicted a 40 foot side setback line for those two lots. GB standards provide for a 50 foot rear yard setback. It appears that the applicant has depicted Lots 2 and 3 with a 40 foot rear setback line; and, has not designated the dimension of the rear setback line on Lot 4. The plat has also been submitted to the City Engineer, Washington County (due to the frontage on CSAH 17/Lake Elmo Avenue), MnDOT (due to frontage on and access to Hudson Blvd. — a MnDOT roadway as of today), and Valley Branch Watershed District. Notice of the Public Hearing has been Published; property owners within 350 feet Noticed by mail; and, the City of Woodbury has been Noticed by mail. The City of Woodbury has also been faxed a copy of this Planning Staff Report. As of this writing, Washington County has responded to the plat with no objections or recommendations for modifications; and, we have not received correspondence from MnDOT, Valley Branch (although we have spoken with Valley Branch regarding the drainage design) or Woodbury. The review comments and recommendations of the City Engineer are attached by Mr. Prew's June 4, 2002 letter. While many of the City Engineer's recommendations go to infrastructure design details that are addressed with the Final Plat drawings and construction details, the following appear to directly relate to the Preliminary Plat Stage: 1. The applicant has not identified the source(s) of potable water. Those sources should be identified at the Preliminary Plat Stage. Mr. Prew's comments regarding fire protection of any structures within the plat should as\also be addressed. 2. An erosion control plan should be submitted for review at the Preliminary Plat Stage. 3. The City Engineer has recommended that a trip generation and traffic study be performed. We concur in that recommendation. Since the data that such a study would generate may dictate modifications to the plat design, the study should be completed prior to City action on the Preliminary Plat. 4. The City Engineer's street cross section and cul-de-sac design recommendations may impact the plat configuration — additional right-of-way may be required to accommodate both recommendations. The Preliminary Plat application submission requirements include both mandatory information that applicant is to submit with the application; and, Supplementary Information that must be submitted "...when deemed necessary by the Planning Commission". Our initial review of the application documentation submitted by the applicant revealed that the mandatory information was submitted (with the exception of the erosion control). Hence we proceeded with the Hearing Notices, and submission to the other reviewing agencies. As those reviews (both by planning staff and the other agencies) have progressed, it has become apparent that "Supplemental Information" is required. Findings and Recommendations: The Preliminary Plat application submission requirements include both mandatory information that applicant is to submit with the application; and, Supplementary Information that must be submitted "...when deemed necessary by the Planning Commission". Our initial review of the application documentation submitted by the applicant revealed that the mandatory information was submitted (with the exception of the erosion control). Hence we proceeded with the Hearing Notices, and submission to the other reviewing agencies. As those reviews (both by planning staff and the other agencies) have progressed, it has become apparent that "Supplemental Information" is required to enable complete staff Findings and Recommendations regarding the proposed plat, as follow: 1. The Trip Generation and Traffic Study recommended by the City Engineer. 2. Draft Declarations and Covenants, since the wastewater treatment and storm ponding will be "common elements" of the plat. 3. A landscape plan responsive to the requirements of Section 400.08, Subd.6H. 4. The erosion control plan. 5. A statement describing the proposed business uses for the lots (consistent with GB zoning standards). This supplemental information is necessary for the completion of the traffic study. The traffic generation outcomes of the site could be quite different based on which of the wide range of GB uses that are permitted on the site. The City Code provides for the Planning Commission to determine the need for such supplemental submissions. We recommend the Planning Commission conduct the Public Hearing; table further consideration of the plat; and, direct submission by the applicant of the listed supplemental application documentation. We further recommend the applicant revise the plat to reflect the GB standard setback lines on all proposed lots. The initial 60 day review period for this plat will not conclude until July 22, 2002 — 60 days following the date of the applicant's check for the plat application fee. The City Council will be requested to extend that review period, if necessary. Planning Commission Actions Requested: Motion to table consideration of the Preliminary Plat of "Lake Elmo Business Park" until such time as the applicant has submitted the supplemental application documentation recommended by City Staff by the June 4, 2002 Planning Staff Report. Charles E. Dillerud, City Planner Attachments: 1. Location Map 2. City Engineer's Memo of June 4, 2002 3. Page 400-8 of the City Code 4. Applicant's Documentation and Graphics • • • • m� m / u FART O•'S MN DOT R/W PLAT NO 82-n Location Map 012Y- dI- 3.3-G5C) MN DOT R/W PLAT NO 82-52 01.111 PART OA- CITY OF I AKF FI MO CITY OF WOODBURY odes INTERSTATE HIGHWAY 94 MN DOT R/W PLAT NO 82-34 • • /• R21W R2OW RI9W T32N 172N T3IN PIN T30N - ,r 130N T29N T28N 728N T27N 727N R22W R21W R2OW Vicinity Map 0 340 Scale in Feet .Ma...a is me or a so,nanawn mm repmduewn orlon rccords. ma appear in venous Wemngon county arias. Tee drawing should m usm. reference moone,. Was Aon awn isnotn n de to m muscles. swine: Wamxnomn aunty sanre orsCffa. Phwre (fi511 C36fifi]5 P 11 dNe based on /5400 Murmatmn current 1110.00 Ma1c# 31. 2002 Map PIWS May 29 2002 VICINITY MAPI SEC. 36, T29N, R21W _ — NWI/1 AEI/4 I SET/4 MOP � 1 I S aY ;amen I. Peltier G. Pe/tier 3 E1 cd V PRELIMINARY PLAT LOT & ROADWAY LAYOUT PLAN Part of the SW1/4-SW1/4, Sec. 36, T29N, R21W City Of Lake Elmo, Washington County, Minnesota O tee= 2.56 Ac3 7371 152 Dated: May 21, 2002 �n 0n 00 O WO 4 x.n t,w Sri/. INIA- A ne Y aaa eaw _ , ♦/v ' Y 2A / PR1PO�D 5.99 HUDSON a.VD / / / n , 1n/ii A° % / /Yz im Obi Mr MAT w L---d.1 4ll L3 °f*liltll '/i pIr.. l /•t ICi/y investments Trans. c, Act U 1 .� I�1 1;,1 IIIllulu 7 ( ILI„I,iilflell! II IJ I-94 IMAM JJ 1't O'Neil Jr. aM ism.. ,a,a.0 /e. ��. . s.. ii. Folz, Freeman, Dupay & Associates, Inc. LAND SURVEYING • LAND PLANNING • 5620 MB60RIAL AVENUE NORTH • STILLWATER.MIMESOTA 55082 (851)499.6633 - Fab (651)MOM, F D Owner/Developer: RECO, Inc Parma O. Regan 425 East 31al Street Hastings, MN 55033 (651) 437-9648 Led Planner/Surveyor Foie Freemen, aptly & Assoc., Inc 5620 Manorial Avenue North Stillwater, Minnesota 55082 (651)439-8833 Legal Description: That put of the Southwest Quarter of the Southwest Quarto of Section 36, Township 29North, Range 21 W09 City oflake Elmo, WSshingtw, County, 'Vannes. lying northerly and easterly of Minnesota Begelman/ of Transportation Right-ofWayPlat 82-55 on file and of record in the office of the County RemNer, Washington County, Minnesota Except mall parcels of ascot& Present Zoning: General Business Proposed Zaein6 Gala&Business PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT AREAS OVERALL ACREAGE= 28.61 ACRES. LOT I — 2.94 Asses LOT 2-3.02 Aver 43T3-3.99 Amrs LOT —3A1 Aces LOT S —3A6 Arse LOT 6-339Aces LOT7-325Aves OUILOTA-238 Aces OUTLOT B —0.88 Acres TOTAL AREA OF LOTS = 26.92 ACRES* TOTAL AREA RIGHT-OF-WAY = 1.72 ACRES. DENSITY TOTAL NUMBER OF PARCEIS = 7 & 2 Oudot a Dvlotes Soil Boring Tort Location And Number Borings Taken By Noah Amviean Wetland Engineering, PA. (May 2001) zone, eu• 9loa aarr�, Puppy r crn „�e.u.. 54u aueam,m VICINITY MARISEC. 36, T29N, R2I W Peltie SCALE: . Ion fees G. Peltier Mao N, ao-N®,UN o lore PRELIMINARY PLAT GRADING AND EROSION CONTROL PLAN Part of the SW1/4-SW1/4, Sec. 36, T29N,R21W City Of Lake Elmo, Washington County, Minnesota Dated: May 21, 2002 rMias 16,1,616 r..cur. , / 1 U11L ll. - `ZZr' *ntlr► 46s L y •yard , n..,`.,� \ 1-94 (F.x.A. r-_; 685 DOT R.:' PLAT 114 sat ^ 1 Aa i Investments Trans. Jr iA�TA1/ r �vrYA1/ 4 AMA r.a ass ar, ye.wp e.08r.1 es Folz, Freeman, Dupay & Associates, Inc. _ LAND SURVEYING • LAND PLANNING Ein ISRO MEMORVLAVENUENORTN - STILLWATER M01NE50TA 55032 18511 e30166 - Roc (656 430.6331 Owner/Developer: REC10, Inc Penick O. Regan 425 East 31st SI5R0 Hastings. MN 55033 (651) 437-9648 Lend Panne rsan,yor Folz, Freeman, Duper & Assn, lac. 5620 Memorial Avenue North Sti0weter, Minnesota 55082 (651) 439-8833 Legal Dccription: Thal pen of the Southwest Quarter of the Sou6lvice1 Quarter of Section 36, Township 29 North, Range 21 West, City of Lake Elmo, Washington County, Minnesota lying northerly and easterly ofMimesota Department of Transportation RigbtofWey Plat 82-52, on file andofrecord in the office of the County Recorder, Waehingmn County, Minnesota Except smell parcels of record Present Zom'ng: General Business Proposed Zonmg: General Business LEGEND DENOTES PROPOSED CONTOUR —e— DENOTES EROSION CONTROL MT FENCE CONSTRUCTION OF SILT FENCE NCINITY MAP' SEC. 36, 729N. R21W NEI/4 SET/4 r 4. Gilman E. Peltier G exxXx Ult. Mx um PBTIDDgVGWOPOSED "J& /7 PRELIMINARY PLAT UTILITY PLAN Part of the SW1/4-SW1/4, Sec. 36, T29N, R21W City Of Lake Elmo, Washington County, Minnesota Dated: May 21, 2002 rt°5/ t ^\\6141t 1 v Solos r Ca, OIL.. &no Gfy OI wee.„ry 44 coo R�MAi PROPOSED SOILDING MN 2 RM 932.9 Ixv. 911.• 1-94 NH RM 1121.9 MV. 913.32 ,Irwmtl e 316 9' V. 9 a3 � i ij�ln I Tlil_. fin [MIMI 4, it 4 1F- 4, 1 C I 1Ci Investments Trans. ENS.W6 le 0111LT �YV 4 `" i 11 O'Ne8 Jr. it.irtwr sn/. s,. a tan n5a — aw ai/� e�s� it ar 1-94 (F.K.A. T.K. -- ana PLAT .94 Folz, Freeman, Dupay & Associates, Inc. - LAND SURVEYING • LAND PLANNING 15020MEMORML AVENUE NORTH • 3F61WATER. MINNESOTA 550e2 16511439'6633 • Faa (651) 430-9:L31 D Fridum Engetenm, & 9gi4n tromp. 59 . 9€fa u a9nd NC s s sHlwl,r. MN 55032 Phone 631.439.06813 v��r' fist.u9.asea E,a93 nloaaae,—e,9.m,n Owner/Developer. RECO, Inc. Petrick O. Regan 425 Pear 31st Seem Hastings, AIN55033 (651) 437-9648 Lead PlannrnSurvcyor. Folr,Realm, IAOOYBAsme., Inc. 5620 Manorial Avenue North Stillwater, Minnesota 55082 (650 439.8833 Legal Description: That port of the Southwest Quanta- er(he Southaven Querterof Section 36, Township 29North, Range 21 West, pry 0-Lake Ehoo, Washington County, Minnesota lying Antibody and eastedy ofMbnaseta Department of Transportation Hight f-WeyF/at 82-52, on file and ofrecord in the office of the County Recorder, Washington County, Minnesota. Except parcels ofrccord. Present Zoning: Genera! Business Purposed Zoning: General Business LEGEND - — PROPOSED SANITARY SENTR W/ N.M. PROPOSED STORM SEAR W/ M.M. Cg. & F.E.S. DISPNG STORM SEWER W/ MH., C.B. & F.0. . VICINITY MAPISEC. 36, T29N, R21W NWT/4 NET/4 all FIN SCALE: IBM,-Im FM rSnvs vI r x` Ar PRELIMINARY PLAT ORIGINAL CONDITION PLAN Part of the SW1/4-SW1/4, Sec. 36, T29N, R21W City Of Lake Elmo, Washington County, Minnesota Dated May 21, 2002 I, \ ` ,.. c EwSTNO 4 AN GOT Ater fit Ie. at -a_ \)1111111111. aty . k.Ba oar. '....'s".`.......1��@ M enamors tm.m iiBBL�� Folz, Freeman, Dupay & Associates, Inc. nME LAND SURVEYING • LAND PLANNING A y' ISM MEMORIAL AVFNJE NORM • STILLWATER, MINNESOTA 55082 (851) 4SB.BB.Y! . No (B5T) 420B631 Ownm/Developer. RECO, Inc Penick O. Regan 425 East MN Street New BA MN55033 (651) 437.9648 Land Pl /Surveyor. Fols, Freemen, Dopy Jr Assoc, Inc. 5620 Memorial A venue North Stillwater, Minnesota 55082 (651) 439-8833 LegalDtltnpnion: That part of the Southwest Quarter of the Southwest Quarter of Section 36, Township 29 Nonh, Range II West, City of Lake Flnto, Washington County, Minnnats lying ncrthedy end easterly ofMinnesota Department of Transportation Right -of -Way Plat 02.52, on file and ofraord in the alb. of the County Retarder, Washing. County, Minnesota Except small panels of record. Present Zoning: General Business Proposed Zoning: Gen.! Business DENOTES DRAINAGE DIRECTION PRIOR TO ANY CONSTRUCTION --- DENOTES DRAINAGE BASIN BOUNDARIES PRIOR TO ANY CONSTRUCTON DENOTES SOIL TYPE BOUNDARY AS REPRODUCED FROM SOIL SURVEY MAP OF WASHINGTON COUNTY 342C DENOTES 501L TYPE AND SLOPE t VaidiKENItgren 2002 ELMO a City of Lake Elmo Phone: 651-777-5510 Fax: 651-777-9615 3800 Laverne Avenue North / Lake Elmo, Minnesota 55042 City of Lake Elrno Washington County, Minnesota NOTICE OF MEETING The Lake Elmo Planning Commission will hold a meeting on Monday, September 23, 2002, at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers of City Hall, 3800 Laverne Avenue North, Lake Elmo, Minnesota, to consider a tabled request by Bob Mogren and Robert McAdam for a Variance to Section 325.06 Shoreland Standards. Subd. 4. A Setback from Ordinary High Water Level of Lake Jane to construct a Principal Structure 51 feet from the Ordinary High Water Level where 100 feet is required. The property is known as Property I. D. No. 09.029.21.41.0002, and generally described as: Part of Government Lot 7, Section 9, Township 29 North, Range 21 West, Washington County, Minnesota, lying easterly of Lake Jane Manor No. 1, and northerly of the Centerline of Lake Jane Trail North. All persons who wish to be heard regarding this Variance request will be given an opportunity at the meeting. Written comments will be accepted up until the time of the meeting. Charles E. Dillerud City Planner Continuation of meeting held September 9, 2002. = printed on recycled paper MEMO (September 19, 2002 for the Meeting of September 23, 2002) To: Lake Elmo Planning Commission From: Chuck Subject: Zoning Variances — McAdam/Mogren The Commission tabled this application for variance from the OHW setback at its September 9 meeting at the request of the applicant. Following the Hearing the applicant indicated that he wished to consider modification to the proposal to address concerns raised by City and DNR Staff — as well as the Commission. It appeared that many of the concerns raised by those parties related to the spirit and intent of the OHW setback standard — preservation of natural landscapes as viewed from the lake. That spirit and intent may be attainable by retaining significant existing tree cover of the site, which was not addressed by the applicant's proposal. It was suggested that if the applicant was prepared to assure retention of significant and strategically located areas of the existing tree cover on the site, both City and DNR staff may be willing to reconsider comments and recommendations regarding variance denial. The applicant has submitted a text and graphic amendments to the variance application that proposes the majority of the site remain undisturbed — with the existing wooded areas retained. The only areas of the site that would be clear-cut would be a perimeter of 30-40 feet around the house; the driveway; and 50 foot wide corridor to the lake and portions of the primary drain field. The applicant has also proposed to limit his beach area to 50 feet of his 540 foot lake frontage — less than 10%. While the applicant has not specifically said so, I am assuming that the balance of the lake frontage of this lot would remain completely natural — meaning no manicured lawn, retaining walls etc. I have attached a September 18, 2002 letter from DNR Hydrologist Travis Germundson (Molly Shodeen's successor for our area) that appears to be somewhat ambivalent regarding the applicant's amended proposal. Essentially this letter says to me that DNR is not commenting on the variance. We have asked for their comments, and we have them — such as they are — and that is all the State Rules require. As I have advised the Commission previously, the City renders the decision on all zoning variances — including Shoreland variances — not DNR. We have also received communications regarding this application from Lake Jane resident Mike Wagner, which we have attached. Mr. Wagner is requesting that all Lake Jane residents be advised of this application. The City Code specifies that abutting property owners be personally Noticed; and, that Public Notice appear in the City's Official Newspaper. Based on the applicant's amended application we find that the proposed variance, if approved, preserves the purpose and intent of the OHW setback standards of the City Code — substantial retention of the natural appearance of the Shoreland, as viewed from the water. We recommend the Findings regarding this application be restated as follows: 1. It is questionable whether the site can be put to reasonable use without some degree of variance. The applicant has agreed to measures regarding preservation of natural site features to preserve the purpose and intent of the OHW setback standard of the Zoning Ordinance. 2. The physical circumstances of the site are somewhat unique. Very few — if any — parcels exist in the City of 2 acres that are as constrained by setbacks as this site. The physical circumstances of the site pre -date the OHW setback requirements; and, therefore they were not created by the present land owner. 3. Construction of a house on the site will not change the essential character of the neighborhood. 4. Economic considerations are not the only basis for the variance request. Based on the foregoing Findings, and the applicants' amended application documentation Staff -dated September 19, 2002, we recommend approval of the variance for McAdams/Mogren to allow a OHW setback of 56 feet (including decks and other appurtenances); and, that the Planning Commission also recommend a modification to the variance application to approve an additional variance to allow a 25 foot front setback, all subject to the following conditions: 1. Compliance with the tree preservation proposal of the applicant staff -dated September 19, 2002. 2. A covenant shall be recorded on the deed of the site prior to issuance of a building permit that insures maintenance of the tree preservation plan. The covenant shall be prepared by the applicants' attorney and approved/recorded by the City Attorney. Attachments: 1. Planning Commission Minutes of September 9, 2002 2. Applicants' September 19 Documentation` 3. DNR Letter of September 18 4. Mike Wagner Letter of September 9, 2002 / 5. September 5 Planning Staff Report and Attachments ADDITION TO VARIANCE TO LAKE JANE TRAIL PARCEL PROPERTY ID # R-09-029-21-41-0002 Submitted by Robert & Dianne McAdam RECEIVED C TY QY LAKE. ELMO 1. Variance to include a 25 ft setback from front property line which requires a 5 ft. variance. The setback from the Ordinary High Water Mark will be 56 ft. at the closest point of structure.. 2. The proposed home will be a one-story home with a walkout basement. 3. The property will remain as one building parcel. 4. Owner will not be permitted to cut forest areas beyond 30 ft. to the Fast and 30 ft. to the West and 40 ft to the North of the structure except as needed to preserve a healthy forest. Some trees may have to be cut on the West side for the drain field. 5. A maximum 50-ft. beach area shall be permitted in the approximate area where the dock and beach is presently located on the property. 6. The DNR will have jurisdiction over tree removal in the area beyond the Ordinary High Water Mark to lakeshore. 7. The West neighbor's well is 50 ft from his Iot line which situates his well 65 ft from the proposed drain field 09/18/2002 11:04 6517727977 METRO DNR PAGE 01 Minnesota Department of Natural Resources DNR Waters - 120D Warner Road, St. Paul, MN 55106-6793 Telephone: (651) 772-7910 Fax: (651) 772-7977 September 18, 2002 Bob McAdam Landmark Inc. 4732 Larkspur Lane Lake Elmo, MN 55042 Post -it° Fax Note Ton Ate e r�CA Phone # 7, ? / Lams — Fax 0 q39 .. `I q7 s- 7671 Dateq/ tC Ipages . Z FromTRch.o S co. 0ADC1.. W S 1 Phone ft -71 Z' -1 Q 1 y 771.--7ia 77 1 Fax• Re: Variance Request for Bob Mogren and Bob McAdam, Lake Jane (82-104P)1City of Lake Elmo, Washington County Dear Mr. McAdam: We received your September 17, 2002 fax outlining additions to the proposed variance. Several modifications have been made from the original proposal to reduce the extremity of the variances requested and still allow for reasonable use. The structure setback from the Ordinary High Water Level (OHWL) has been increased from 51' to 56'. In addition preservation of tree cover will occur adjacent to the structure for screening purposes as well as preserving the quality of surface waters. This should be accomplished through some type of deed restriction. The Department of Natural Resources does not object to the requested alterations, however, these alterations will need to be acceptable to the local unit of government. These comments should not be construed as DNR support or lack thereof for a particular project. Please be aware that any activity below the 924.0'OHWL, which alters the course, current or cross- section of protected waters or wetlands, is under the jurisdiction of the DNR-Waters and may require a DNR Public Waters Work Permit. Please contact me at (651) 772-7914 if you any questions. Sincerely, Travis Germundson Area Hydrologist c: City of Lake Elmo, Chuck DilIerud PrC!iVED 2 iu2 • CITY OF LAKE E MO DNR Information:651-296-6157 • 1-888-646-6367 • TTY: 651-296-5484 - 1-800-657-3929 An Equal Opportunity Employer who Values Diversity LAJ Ptlntea on Reeycistl Paper Conialning a Minimum o1 20% Post -Consumer Waste Page 1 of 1 Chuck Dillerud From: Mike Wagner [MikeW @gophersport.com] Sent: Wednesday, September 18, 2002 12:10 PM To: Lee Hunt; Chuck Dillerud Cc: Mike/Julie Bilstein Subject: Variance Request Attached is a letter that we want submitted into the record and read at the next public meeting which I understand is on Monday, Sept. 23. If this date is not correct please let me know, and have this attached letter ready for your next meeting. We really think that all Lake Jane residents should be aware of what is going on. Everyone living on Lake Jane should have a say in a variance request that will impact all of us. No action should take place until all Lake Jane home owners are informed. Sincerely, Mike Wagner ***************** Mike Wagner, Product Innovation Specialist Gopher Sport (http://www.GopherSDort.com) 9040 North Lake Jane Trail Lake Elmo, MN 55042 651-777-7678 651-777-6553 (fax) 800-847-5331 x436 (voicemail) mailto: m ikew@aophersport.com 9/18/2002 , _aszetk2e V/7 lo To: Charles Dillerud, City Planner/Assistant Administrator Date: 9/9/02 RE: Variance from Ordinary High Water Mark Notice of Public Hearing, Monday Sept. 9, 2002 at 7:00 p.m. Please have this read and recorded into the minutes. We strongly object to any more homes built on Lake Jane for the following reasons: 1. Any variance to the ordinary high water mark setback will open up opportunities for anyone to ask for the same request. How fast we forget the flooding problems we had a few years ago. A few more 100 year rainfalls and our drainage system will not keep up and everyone too close to the lake and those with houses that are below the high water mark will be flooded once again. 2. There is very little space left for the habitat to nest and survive now. Most residents mow their lawn right down to the lake. This robs the habitat of nesting places as well as pollutes the lake with more chemicals washing in. 3. The mini forest located where someone is asking for a variance to build also acts as a buffer to help keep additional wash off pollutants from reaching the lake. 4. Every new house has the potential to add 2-3 more motors that spill gas, oil and add to the existing congestion that exists now. 5. Every new motor adds to the noise pollution that is out of hand now. 6. Today (Sunday Sept. 8, 2002) We counted, at one time, over 10 speedboats pulling skiers, tubers and wake boarders. This was in addition to any pontoons and numerous jet skis that were there at the same time. Some one is going to get hurt or killed. The city cannot control the landing situation. Cars and trailers are constantly parked on the street or where ever they wish. On any nice weekend there are always too many boats on the lake. When we told a person that they were going to get a ticket for parking outside of the assigned spaces they said," A $20 ticket is nothing for a days fun on the lake". Too many boats, someone is going to get hurt. What good is a rule if anyone can apply for a variance to break it! Lake Jane is only a few acres. It is not suitable for an endless amount of houses and boats. Rules are being ignored all the time. I can't remember the last day when someone wasn't speeding after sunset or pulling a skier in the wrong direction. We are sitting on a time bomb. Too many boats and too many rule violations will lead to a catastrophe. No more houses and better use of the beautiful lake that we have now is what we need. Thanks, Mike and Gayle Wagner, 9040 N. Lake Jane Trail, Lake Elmo, MN 9ffd II111111 Y i.Jllllidlpl Ju tl.td till U.ILO:LO IddYI Il LAKE ELMO PLANNING COMMISSION STAFF REPORT Date: September 5, 2002 for the Meeting of September 9, 2002 Applicant: McAdam/Mogren Location: South Shore of Lake Jane Requested Action: Zoning Variance from Shoreland Overlay Standards Land Use Plan Guiding: SRD Existing Zoning: R-1 (Subject to Shoreland Overlay) Site History and Existing Conditions: The site exists as undeveloped land between Lake Jane Trail and Lake Jane. Aerial photography from 2000 shows a dock to Lake Jane and associated walkway, but no other constructed site features. The site is primarily wooded and falls approximately 23 vertical feet from the Lake Jane Trail roadway surface to the surface of Lake Jane. The site dimensions are 544 feet frontage on Lake Jane Trail (slightly more on Lake Jane); and, a depth from the ROW line of Lake Jane Trail to the waters edge of Lake Jane that ranges from a minimum of 170 feet (east line) to a maximum of 217 feet (west line). The site depth at or above the Ordinary High Water is 50 feet less at both the east and west lines. (120 feet on the east and 167 feet on the west). The calculated site area (from City GIS data) is approximately 2 acres to the waters edge survey line. Site area calculations are always irrespective of Ordinary High Water. While there have been numerous inquiries regarding construction of a home on this site, we can find no record of any applications for variance(s) that would be required to construct any home on this site — the 100 foot OHW setback overlaps the 30 foot Lake Jane Trail street setback across all but the westerly 160 feet of the site frontage. The area of the site that could be an eligible building pad without a variance of some type could perhaps accommodate a house pad meeting the 940 square feet minimum specified by Section 515 of the City Code. All inquirers have been advised the site is unbuildable without at least one variance. Discussion and Analysis: The applicant has proposed construction of a walkout rambler home on the site that would be 127 feet in length and 44 feet maximum depth (including lake side deck) — approximately 2,500 square feet on the main level (including the all weather porch and numerous cantilevers); and 2,200 square feet on the walkout level (some of which is storage and mechanical). With the spancrete garage floor proposed the applicant also proposes what amounts to a 6 stall garage, but no street access to the lower garage stalls is depicted. The applicant, by the amended application proposes to locate the house in a manner that would result in a single zoning variance — setback from OHW. The setback from Lake Jane Trail would comply with R-1 standards (30 feet). The result of this location proposal is that the entire house would be within the 100 foot OHW setback, with the maximum encroachment 49 feet (OHW minimum setback proposed as 51 feet — from the northeast corner of the proposed deck). The applicant has also submitted the report of a certified septic system designer regarding probable design and location of septic drain fields on the site. It appears that feasible alternatives for primary and secondary drain fields exist, assuming use of mound systems in all but one location. Mound systems as either primary or backup are now permitted in Lake Elmo as the result of City Council ordinance amendment in 2000 regarding adoption of State septic standards by reference. The consideration by the City of all zoning variances, including Shoreland Overlay Distinct variances, is governed by the provisions of Section 300.06 of the City Code. Subdivision 3 of that Code Section was amended on November 7, 2001 to provide a somewhat modified list of Findings required prior to approval of a zoning variance. A copy of the revised Code Language in this regard is attached. Essentially the Findings now required are that there be a "hardship"; and "hardship" is defined by four criteria: 1. No alternative reasonable use of the land is possible within the standards of the zoning ordinance. 2. The circumstances resulting in the variance request are both unique to the property; and, not owner self imposed. 3. The variance will not change the essential character of the neighborhood. 4. The hardship is not economic. As with any Shoreland variance application, Minnesota DNR has been advised and invited to comment. In a telephone conversation this date DNR has advised City staff that they do not necessarily object to some manner of OHW setback variance on this site, but they do not believe the present application reflects an acceptable effort by the applicant to minimize the degree of variance required; or, to mitigate the "from the water" impact of any such variance. I have requested a written confirmation of that commentary from DNR. Their Email response of September 5, 2002 is attached. The most basic issues here go to whether this 2 acre site is, or is not, "buildable". Could a house be constructed on this 2 acres without the need for variances — Shoreland or other wise? If so — and we believe some type of house may fit into the very limited setback envelope — would that constitute a "reasonable use" of the site? If not, from that very small house footprint, how much enlargement of the house (and resultant OHW setback encroachment) constitutes a "reasonable use" of the site? There have been several challenges to the findings of governments around the country as to what constitutes "reasonable use". Courts has ruled differently in different circumstances, since no two cases have been identical as to the facts. Generally, we have observed that when use intensity - or other considerations that could be quantified as to impacts - are factors, even the most minimal use of the land (such as the use this site already has — recreational) has been considered "reasonable" in many cases. The record is not as clear when such non -quantifiable matters as lake view shed are considerations. Setback from OHW would fall in this second category, we suggest. Findings and Recommendations: Staff recommended Findings regarding this application are as follow: 1. This property can be put to reasonable use without the degree of variance to OHW setback proposed by the applicant. While the site can not be put to reasonable use without some degree of variance, a different house design and modified house placement to minimize the degree of OHW encroachment is possible. 2. The physical circumstances of the site are somewhat unique. Very few — if any — parcels exist in the City of 2 acres that are as constrained by setbacks as this site. The physical circumstances of the site pre -date the OHW setback requirements; and, therefore the were not created by the present land owner. 3. Construction of a house on the site will not change the essential character of the neighborhood. 4. Economic considerations are not the only basis for the variance request. Based on the foregoing we do not believe the variance application - as now proposed — constitutes a "hardship" as defined by the Zoning Ordinance. We suggest that some manner of hardship exists involving the physical circumstances of the site, but that such a hardship can be overcome by the applicant in a manner that will reduce the degree of variance required. It is the recommendation of staff that the application either be denied based on the foregoing Findings; or, tabled - at the request of the applicant - to both allow the applicant an opportunity to reconsider the scale and placement of the proposed house to reduce the degree of encroachment on the OHW; and, to address the issues raised by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources by their Email message of September 5, 2002. PIanning Commission Actions Requested: Motion to recommend denial of the variance application of Mogren /McAdams based on the Findings found in the September 5, 2002 Planning Staff Report; or, a motion to table the application at the request of the applicant to consider amending the application in response to the Planuiig Staff R Dort an • e rev ew comments of the Minnesota DNR. Charles E. Dillerud, City Planner Attachments: 1. Section 300.06 Excerpt 2. DNR Email of September 5, 2002 3. Applicant's Graphics D. Hearing Procedure. Elmo Municipal Code Chapter 3 - Zoning Section 300 - Zoning Adminiotr tq s film of application lication for a variance, r� all. uan c Oanng of thc matter by the Commission ae leas -has &seeays- fteri he of the application and no more than twenty five (25) days after the filin 2. Tha Zs::::7g A '✓wxt d ' cutting property owner(s) of the tima b :al plate cf the hearing. Me Lo,; oha11 lie ix and shall he�et$s� ad. S� l;ersen-peawvi::.1T zit kaat ten (19) a.preceding the hearing. In lieu of the personal service, the notiw.don thc pa:a m Ll—ail, provided the notice alvi:"'% .:'.cd at least thirteen (1 . ays preceding thc date of The applicant 3ha11 provide a list of thc as •g preperty ewners to the Zoning Administrator. 3. On request of the Zoning AsA I ator, thc Planning Cornr:iiasien, or thc applicant, thc hearing shall be continue• or a reasonable time, not to exca:.i 1i_ty (30) days from the date of filing of appl,canon for variance, in erdcr to allow the Zoning Administrator, Commi •n, or applicant, u: t Ne applicant's authorized representative, to pr• • c additional information to thc Commission. n _ �6 C- arpra a veny any application for a variance-fanel issue its order respect to the application within thirty (30) days from the date of tics 1► 41:z� o • c matter, unless an extent.an he: V4=. granted. E. Record of F. dings, 1. The P .•ni ►ram �►� iaa:an tlaX n<s1ic w as Sa'' and . all state in the findings thc reasons for its dccis:A& '�'`. _ 32a .Ltv3sued by the Co 33ion 3ha11 include the legal deaazirtdax Lf the land involved. Any such ordcr a, .1 be filed with tk. Za .g Administrator whe shall immediately mail a copy of c order, bearing thc notation of the filing date, to applicant. rdcr issued by tax` P .aiab C. z n sti3L fora variance, may appeal has_�j 2Subd 3. Variances A. Hardship: A request for variance from the literal provisions of this section may be granted in instances where their strict enforcement would cause undue hardship. An "Undue Hardship" means that the property cannot be put to reasonable use if used under the conditions allowed by the zoning code; that the plight of the landowner is due to circumstances unique to the property and not created by the landowner; and that the variance, if granted, will no change the essential character of the neighborhood. Economic considerations alone shall not constitute a hardship. The City Council may not permit as a variance any use that is not permitted under the ordinance for property in the zone where the affected person's land is located. 2 Adopted Ordinance 97-95 on 11-07-01 300-8 ui. ieuiporary use of a one 2/18/97 \. •• • • + + • • + •' • • • • • • • { • k + J • 1 I i , i j I � 7• O • • i • , • • Location Map II b • • • • E ) • • • • • • • • • • • I • • • S• r • • • • i� • • R22W R21w R2ow Vicinity Map 0 782 Scale in Feet anis MnmmoO re me reap or e mmPOt iM a M reprmuamn of IanC rOas Mty Wash.nl CYpMyolives itm�gfs0wa Oe Nta ererce purposes 0,0 rH WazMnpttmC relrand pwuiCle lm BnY matcureMK Scorn. Wasnrgron fna Suneypls Ol�we Prwne '851)13668]5 Parcel Cate Cash on AS4 Irilomretvn 38. ]Wl Map prinrteCupAugUM28, 2002 1.5.00 1013) 3 ITN 07) WEST LINE OF THE EAST 541.03 FT 125.00 Location Map 4 40006) 1 \O� 125.00 A0002) 3 i0005) 125.00 125.00 2 i0004) 125.00 167.67 .31706 ‘0003) 40001) 125.00 0 cNi R21W R2OW RI9W 732N � T32N 131N 131N 130N 129N 729N 128N 128N 127N � 127N R22W R21W R20W 0 Vicinity Map 103 Scale in Feet This drawing is the resultda compilation are repraducton &lane records xi met appear m venous MOO neon Counts &hees Tne dmvinc snored be usm for reference Purpoires only Malmo= county a not responsible Mr my ineadwmas sepr«: wea.ngmn county swmycrsolnce Pnpne(651)UP6615 Parcel Oahe based onR6AW I&drmaddn current through June 30.21:10.2 Map Wm.& pupal Pt ]Wp T32N T31N T30N T29N T28N T27N R21w R2OW R19W Vicinity Map 0 100 Scale in Feet llos .na ,ameresutaa a.., sr* draws. rectomaon of tend records as trey appear e3 venous beanbag. County daces Thu draw, sroa.d be used tar rebrence ForPoees anyw n,npnn County no/ reseono.l« any:teccutanes. Source W asdmgton County surveyors once. pMnre 1851)48815 Gael clew has. anas2a current Through duly 21.2C0002 Map Printed: September 5. 2002 GARDEN AREA • / ►36.48: ,-.5eI.4 `� •�� 4Li + mac- — — ri et W e N O • -F�— �/ I/ iticr. �I ROCK - RETAINING WALL �942.2 _ — '941.97 r- \ • 943.5 943.02 K T APPROXIMATE EDGE OF WATER LAKE JANE OHW: 924.0 100 YR FLOOD: 925.0 WATER ELEVATION: 921.5+/- AS OF 7-13-01 ORDINARY HIGHWATER LINE 924 CONTOUR (PER BARR ENGINEERING) D -T c _ --- ---_ 9. ( BUILDING ENVELOPE EDGE OF BITUMINOUS - 9. �_ _ ii/_ ~ — ' r ' _ _--r -----r i -� c / 7- -— / - NORTNERtrRIGHYOF WAY LINE OF LAKE JANE ROAD — ' 7 j • PER WASHINGTON COUNTY 55-1/4 SECTION MAPS — — — — -- � / / =`— �,� __�----�� LAKE JANE TRAIL NORTH 4RJ PART OF GOVERNMENT LOT 7, SECTION 9, TOWA• RANGE 21, WASHINGTON COUNTY. MINNESOTA I. EASTERLY OF LAKE JANE MANOR NO. 1 AND NOF OF THE CENTERUNE OF LAKE JANE TRAIL NORTI TOTAL SITE AREA 2.5+1- ACRES PROPERTY I.D. R09.029.21.41.0002 PER WASH. CO. %-1/4 SEC. MAPS C,7y op DRAFT Old age Special Projects Planning Con .fission Excerpt of Draft Meeting Minutes September 9, 2002 Vice Chairman Helwig called the meeting of the Planning Commission to order at 7:04 p.m. COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Taylor, Bunn, Deziel, Berg, Ptacek. STAFF PRESENT: City Planner, Charles Dillerud, and Administrative Secretary, Kimberly Schaffel. VARIANCE FROM ORDINARY HIGH WATER — McADAM/MOGREN Staff Report, City Planner, Charles Dillerud The Lake Elmo Planning Commission was asked to consider a request by Robert McAdam and Bob Mogren for a Variance to Section 325.06 Shoreland Standards, Subd. 4. A Setback from Ordinary High Water Level of Lake Jane to construct a Principal Structure 51 feet from the Ordinary High Water Level where 100 feet is required. The property is known as Property I. D. No. 09.029.21.41.0002, and generally described as: Part of Government Lot 7, Section 9, Township 29 North, Range 21 West, Washington County, Minnesota, lying easterly of Lake Jane Manor No. 1, and northerly of the Centerline of Lake Jane Trail North. The property is located on the south shore of Lake Jane, just west of Jamaca. The specific parcel is called Government Lot 7. It consists of approximately two acres after road easement exclusion. The applicant proposes to build a home on this heavily wooded, undeveloped parcel. The amended application relocates the proposed residence five feet further than indicated on the diagram, and does meet front setback from the road of 30 feet. The entire proposed home lies within the 100 feet setback from Ordinary High Water. The septic is setback the correct amount of 75 feet. There are Findings required for approval of a variance, they are: 1. No alternative reasonable use of the land is possible within the standards of the zoning ordinance. This property can be put to reasonable use without the degree of variance to Ordinary High Water setback proposed by the applicant. While the site cannot be put to reasonable use without some degree of variance, a different house design, and modified house placement to minimize the degree of OHW encroachment is possible. 2. The circumstances resulting in the variance request are both unique to the property, and not owner self-imposed. The physical circumstances of the site are somewhat unique, and pre -date the requirements for OHW setback; therefore they were not created by the landowner. Few, if any, parcels in the city have two acres, and as constrained by setbacks. 3. The variance will not change the essential character of the neighborhood. Construction of a home on this site will not change character of neighborhood. 4. The hardship is not economic Economic considerations are not the only basis for the variance request. The DNR was notified, and responded with a written report. They recommend an alternative site and/or DRAFT building design, proposed v, .ation clearly identified on the site plan, tl. .se should be consistent with all applicable flood plain regulations for both city and watershed district, and wetlands should be evaluated for federal and local regulations. Numerous inquiries over the years have concluded it was not buildable. Up until recently, City Code said that a mound system could not be primary. Soil testing performed on the site recommends a mound system as primary. The site is large enough to become a home site. The remaining issue is whether to issue a variance. There is a small area of the site in the northwest corner where a small home could be constructed. Whether it could meet minimum structure square footage is another issue. DNR says that some sort of variance will be required but the scale and manner of variance requested in this application is excessive. The proposal goes beyond what is reasonable. The applicant has made efforts to reduce the depth of the home. Readjustment and restructuring might be able to reduce encroachment. Also, nothing is shown on the site plan indicating the degree of vegetative cover that will be lost. This lot can be put to use without the degree of variance, with a different design, and modified placement. Some manner of hardship exists but it can be modified. He recommends either denying the application as presented or tabling to allow the applicants to consider the implications. Commissioner Berg He remembered variances for existing homes being granted but not for new construction. Commissioner Bunn Is the 2,500 square feet of footprint similar to other homes in the neighborhood? City Planner Yes, of the newer homes, some are larger, and some are smaller. Commissioner Helwig He remembered a couple of variances for additions in that neighborhood that were denied. City Planner He remembered three, two approved and one denied. The degree of setback requested was probably close to this one. Then they were dealing with existing homes. The 100 feet of setback standard was developed by the DNR three decades ago. We were required by state law to adopt that standard. The primary DNR consideration seems to be appearance from the water; secondary seems to be the impact such as run off, vegetation, etc. They appear to be ready to approve, just not what is being presented here today. Commissioner Helwie Are there one or two applicants? City Planner Mr. Mogren owns the land; Mr. and Mrs. McAdam propose to buy it if they can build their home on it. Bob McAdam, Anulicant He is a home builder by trade. The proposed conforming septic is located to the west. That is why the house is located where it is. By locating the drainfield between the house and the neighbor, he creates a buffer. The lot is wooded to the waterline. He called the DNR today; the man he spoke to was not opposed. He did not realize the house is only 26 feet deep. It is difficult to build a narrower house. That is why the house is long. The basement will be at 930 feet of elevation. The underground garage was designed so vegetation will not have to be removed. He is trying to save all the trees he can. DRAFT Commissioner Taylor Will they be accessing the garage from the lake only for storage and to save trees? Bob McAdam, Applicant Asking for a triple garage is mainly for resale. The footprint of the house is only 2240 square feet; the porches make it 2400-2500. It is a walkout basement. Commissioner Deziel He noticed the pitch of the roof is low. Bob McAdam, Applicant All but the very center of the roof is low. He displayed a picture. He said the portico is shown in the wrong place on the diagram. He will only need a small amount of fill in a couple of areas. Commissioner Deziel How much of the existing vegetation will be maintained? Bob McAdam, Applicant He would like to clear twenty feet on the lakeside, and then thin it out. He likes the trees between his home and the lake. He will not object to any cutting limits between the house and the road. The proposed septic site has the best soils. Commissioner Taylor Is it the only possible septic site? Bob McAdam, Applicant The plan shows two more in the eastern part of the site, both are mounds. He wanted to stay in the middle of the lot. City Planner The applicant spent time with staff before the application. He originally had two variances; one from the road and one from the water. We are less concerned with the road which would allow this house to get further from the lake. That is another option. Also, with the primary septic to the west, that will lose trees as well. You cannot have septic with that much tree cover. Bob McAdam, Applicant A standard drainfield can go between trees. The trees will not die if they put the drainfield in there. He has built a lot of homes in Lake Elmo and Baytown. This will be his residence. Commissioner Helwig If going to a mound system, you would have to destroy trees. Bob McAdam, Applicant The best way to get in with the driveway allows fill removed to fill in other areas. Commissioner Helwig Has the Building Official looked at it? City Planner No. The other three options for septic would have to be mounds. Bob McAdam, Applicant Trees on either side of the proposed drainfield will screen the property line and the house. DRAFT Commissioner Helwie He asked if two tanks were part of the design for this four bedroom house, and if it fits in the proposed site. Bob McAdam, Annlicant The septic was designed before an option to purchase was taken on the lot. Commissioner Bunn She asked how Mr. McAdam would feel about moving the house to closer to the road, and adding a road setback variance. That would require less fill and a smaller driveway. Bob McAdam, Applicant That would be fine with him if he needs two and can get them. The amended plan only moved it five feet from the original plan. Commissioner Helwig The fact that this is a Public Hearing was not indicated on the agenda. AT 7:42 P.M., VICE CHAIRMAN HELWIG OPENED THE PUBLIC HEARING Commissioner Bucheck If a variance allows him to build and it floods; is the city liable? City Planner The first buildable floor is 3 feet above the 100 year flood line. The city has no liability. Dick Johnson, Neighbor He owns Lot 1, Lake Jane Manor, and is the adjoining neighbor to the west. He had discussions with Mr. McAdam. He seems to be trying to make a reasonable attempt to preserve the site and vegetation. This is the first application that has come this far; it never became a public matter before. There have been crazy ideas in the past like peninsulas and coves shot down by the DNR. The prospective owner is making attempts to present a reasonable plan. However, he is a builder; he may intend to live there but houses get sold. The Planning Commission needs to look at the future. Trees could be clear cut there; there is beautiful vegetation along the shore. There are only a couple of lots on this lake where natural shore vegetation exists. Everybody else puts in weed killer, and mows to the water. Cattails filter the water from drainage area and filter excess nutrients. It is very important to keep natural vegetation there. The City should look at the DNR allowing 50 feet of beach. Everybody kills the vegetation and makes a lawn down to the lake. He can agree with a variance of only 10 or 20 for shoreland but fifty feet is of concern. He is chagrined by the DNR report. They don't seem to take much of a stand. Another concern is whether the proposed drainfield location meets the city standard of fifty feet from his well. It is very close to his well which is almost due west of that drainfield. The subdivision of property shows two parcels at that location. He would like to know the future use of that other parcel. He is worried that owner will come for a variance. He would like to see the two parcels under one owner. It is not a buildable area. The property was designated as unbuildable for many years; the owner pays low taxes. Now deeming it buildable seems unfair not to collect those taxes. The site was entirely flooded once well past the Ordinary High Water level; all the trees were killed, they drowned. Many since are still decomposing. There weren't any young birches then but when all the old ones died, the young ones sprouted. The City needs to decide once and for all if it is buildable or not. DRAFT Commissioner Helwih With the advent of the mound system ordinance, it makes it a legal, buildable lot. City Planner The assumption was that was the impediment; now the last few years of shoreland overlay district has been the impediment. He asked the Valley Branch Watershed District about assessment records for this lot. There was some but we don't know how much. There must have been some purpose for this land back then. We do not place a notice of buildable or non- buildable on the record. The lot to the east, may someday come before us. That lot would be very far below the standards. It would barely be 60% of what is buildable. Bob Moeren. Property Owner/Applicant He is one of the property owners, along with Dick Shiner. The reason those lots were split, was that Mike Dahl Construction was given the lot as lake access for owners on the other side of the road. Mike just never gave it to them, he kept it. He hopes this application will pass. He may be able to find out what was assessed when that drainage assessment went through. Bob McAdam, Applicant In 1987 a drain was put into Lake Jane lowering it 18 inches from Ordinary High Water. His intent is to live there. They lived in their last home twenty-three years. He wants his grandchildren to dangle their toes in the lake. Aerial photographs show vividly the path going down to the existing dock. He will use the same dock as it exists. Mike Billstein He is the homeowner next door to Dick Johnson. This is an excessive setback variance. There are numerous properties on Lake Jane that have no buildings now but if you put this home into the fifty feet mark, there will be a lot more of them. Currently many lots, like this one, are improved with just docks now. They may qualify under the conditions being proposed. The public landing is not monitored; it is a very small lake. There are eight parking spots for boats. People park along the roads, and will accept a $20 ticket; they come back repeatedly. It increases the possibility if you grant this one, that development would become excessive. Mound systems do not take up much room. Trees are fragile; you can try to put drainfields in between trees but you never know until it is done what will survive. He is concerned that this proposal is too excessive. VICE CHAIRMAN HELWIG CLOSED THE PUBLIC HEARING AT 8:03 P.M. City Planner We should address the issue of the vegetation on the site. The application made no representations. He would like the applicant to address it. It would be possible to preserve it with a conservation easement. In that case if the property is sold later, the covenant will still be there. Commissioner Deziel On this particular layout, and with the DNR recommendation, he does not understand the design concern. The house seems narrow, and it plans for a low profile 4.5 pitch roof instead of 12 pitch. That preserves the view of the lake for neighbors across the street. Vegetation clarification and potential covenants would be good. There is still the flood plain area concern, and wetlands that are not part of the lake itself. Commissioner Bunn She agrees with most of what Commissioner Deziel said, the City Planner's Findings, and the DNR remarks. The house appears to be in the optimal location. The garage could be smaller. There should be a vegetative covenant. The house is similar in size to the neighbors'. She would be willing to support DRAFT either variance situation. Commissioner Taylor She lives on part of the lake. She maintains a naturally preserved frontage. Everyone mows to the lake. She is very concerned about the amount of encroachment and the size of this proposed structure. Bob McAdam, Applicant Even locating the house within fifty feet of Ordinary High Water, he would still be 100 feet from the vegetation line. Mr. Mogren could go down and clear cut it at anytime; nothing prevents that. Commissioner Bere He would consider it if he can get some of these contingencies in writing. He would propose a tree removal inventory; the County recommends a two to one replacement with mature trees. He is concerned for preservation of shoreland. He would like to know what is proposed for preserving the vegetation. He would be in favor of two variances to set the home back farther. Another condition should be not to subdivide this lot. Commissioner Helwig He informed the applicant that his application may be tabled tonight at the applicant's request or the commission can make a decision and a recommendation to the council. Bob McAdam, Applicant He requested that the commission table the request for a variance. Motion/Second, PtacekBerg to vegetation table at request of the applicant in lieu of a proposed revision by the applicant that will provide information regarding would like to know the length of the shoreline, reduce front yard setback from OHW, request a tree inventory, vegetation to be preserved by covenants, maintain the same level of vegetation, no subdivision, no applicant in lieu of a proposed revision by the applicant. VOTE: 6:1 (Taylor) PASSED. Commissioner Deziel He would favor a second variance decreasing to 25 feet setback in the front yard. Dick Johnson, Neishbor He is concerned that the distance between the proposed drainfield and his well may not meet the setback requirements. He would like proof that it is far enough away. ADDITION TO VARIANCE TO LAKE JANE TRAIL PARCEL PROPERTY ID # R 09-029-21-41-0002 Submitted by Robert & Dianne McAdam 1. Variance to include a 25 ft sethark from front property line which requires a 5 ft. variance. The sethark from the Ordinary High Water Mark will be 56 ft. at the closest point of structure.. 2. The proposed home will be a one-story home with a walkout basement. 3. The property will remain as one building parcel. 4. Owner will not be permitted to cut forest areas beyond 30 ft. to the Fast and 30 ft. to the West and 40 ft to the North of the structure except as needed to preserve a healthy forest. 5. A maximum 50-ft. beach area shall be permitted in the approximate area where the dock and beach is presently located on the property. 6. The DNR will have jurisdiction over tree removal in the area beyond the Ordinary High Water Mark to Lakeshore. } )\,(7c!"dam o.., 942, g-e TZ, Chuck Dillerud From: John Hanson Dhanson c@barr.com] Sent: Monday, September 09, 2002 1:16 PM To: Chuck Dillerud Subject: Re: RE: Tri Lakes Project Chuck - I have a call in with the County to see what their records show. According the April 1986 Project 1007 Appraiser's Report (see below), the proposed assessment for Robert and Darlene Mogren of 8738 Lake Jane Trail North was $3400. The benefit was $8500. The parcel code number was 37442-2350. (The County changed the PIN system around 1990.) The 100-year flood level of Lake Jane is Elevation 926 feet. The lowest floor elevation of any proposed home needs to be Elevation 928 feet, at a minimum. Below is a message from Nels Nelson - the VBWD engineer during the Project 1007 planning and construction. Yes - some parcels were levied. The initial lists of benefitted properties would probably be in the engineer's report for Project 1007. However, some of the assessments were appealed and a few modifications were made in the lists after the engineer's report was produced, so that list wouldn't be definitive. The most accurate approach would be to check the assessment history at Washington County - they were the ones that administered the assessments that we certified. One caution about the concept of a septic tank variance based on having paid an assessment: We didn't base the assessment on a formula or engineering -type hydrologic factors. We had the appraiser (Penfield, Inc.) look at the "before" and "after" »> "Chuck Dillerud" <Chuck.Dillerud@LakeElmo.org> 09/09 12:04 PM »> Mogren, I think. Could be Mogren Sod Farms too. Chuck Original Message From: John Hanson [mailto:jhanson@barr.com] Sent: Monday, September 09, 2002 11:26 AM To: Chuck Dillerud Subject: Re: Tri Lakes Project Chuck - I'm looking into it. It might take a day. Do you know the name of the person who owned the property around 1986? John »> "Chuck Dillerud" <Chuck.Dillerud@LakeElmo.org> 09/09 11:13 AM »> John I am told that some (all?) property owners on Lake Jane were levied a $10,000 assessment for the District project to stabalize lake levels back in the late 80's. We are now looking at a variance application on a vacant 2 acre parcel on the south shore of Lake Jane (PID 0902921410002) that (if approved) could result in a new home on the lot that was previously considered "unbuildable" (at least unofficially). The difference today is that the City will now accept a mound wastewater treatment system as the primary - not the case until last year. This parcel needs a mound system. Can you determine if the $10,000 (or whatever) assessment was levied on that PID back then? That might make a differnce on this variance issue. Chuck 1 Chuck Dillerud From: John Hanson [jhanson@barr.com] Sent: Monday, September 09, 2002 1:26 PM To: Chuck Dillerud Subject: Re: RE: Tri Lakes Project Chuck - I just got a voice mail message from Margaret Peterson at Washington County. She said the following: That parcel is now owned by Mogren Landscaping. They did not pay the assessment back in 1986 so the county put it on their taxes. "It" sounds like $1200. They paid taxes from 1987 to December 2001 - 15 years - at 8% interest. The lien was released on December 15, 2001. Hopefully, this is helpful. Let me know if you'd like me to check anything else. John »> "Chuck Dillerud" <Chuck.Dillerud@LakeElmo.org> 09/09 12:04 PM »> Mogren, I think. Could be Mogren Sod Farms too. Chuck Original Message From: John Hanson [mailto:jhanson@barr com] Sent: Monday, September 09, 2002 11:26 AM To: Chuck Dillerud Subject: Re: Tri Lakes Project Chuck - I'm looking into it. It might take a day. Do you know the name of the person who owned the property around 1986? John »> "Chuck Dillerud" <Chuck.Dillerud@LakeElmo.org> 09/09 11:13 AM »> John I am told that some (all?) property owners on Lake Jane were levied a $10,000 assessment for the District project to stabalize lake levels back in the late 80's. We are now looking at a variance application on a vacant 2 acre parcel on the south shore of Lake Jane (PID 0902921410002) that (if approved) could result in a new home on the lot that was previously considered "unbuildable" (at least unofficially). The difference today is that the City will now accept a mound wastewater treatment system as the primary - not the case until last year. This parcel needs a mound system. Can you determine if the $10,000 (or whatever) assessment was levied on that PID back then? That might make a differnce on this variance issue. Chuck 1 GARDEN AREA APPROXIMATE EDGE OF WATER 4E44 W u d ID E D A RE/\ WOCDeD AREA 834.38:: • sC38.48: / 1 ' .-i iF` (zee S .36 - „," /, /:////f7:// / • t.95 RETAINING 'WALL \NI 0 _ � I —oi --'� "942.2 M 941.97\ / 943.5 943.02 K OW �klSr tr�� (.:uRREN IIP C • IK s + EDGE OF BITUMINOUS tL5r LAKE JANE OHW: 924.0 100 YR FLOOD: 928.0 WATER ELEVATION: 921.5+l- AS OF 7-13-01 Aui 5g19 09"E o� r WOO 6DI AR ORDINARY HIGHWATER LINE 924 CONTOUR (PER BARR ENGINEERING) 114 ufowei: AR611 �v-•-� �- 9bs -- OF WAY LINE OF LAKE JANE ROAD N COUNTY 'A-114 SECTION MAPS — — Iss LAKE JANE T AIL NORTH , ' G%tT/lug kE-N -•lag --- PAAT OF GOVERNMENT LOT 7, SECTION 9, TOWNSHIP 29, RANGE 21, WASHINGTON COUNTY. MINNESOTA LYING EA iTERLY OF LAKE JANE MANOR NO. 1 AND s.ORTHERLY OF THE CENTERLINE OF LAKE JANE TRAIL NORTH. TCIAL SITE AREA 2.8+/- ACRES PROPERTY I.D. R09.029.21.41.0002 PE 2 WASH. CO. %-1!4 SEC. MAPS sce411°.eir CITYO veD iYlA il' EL m CA AVENUE NORTH r • f / 7 DESIGN: DR AWN. CHECKED: Y NORTH 1"s20' REVISIONS: DATE:y:-947-2CY2-- 4: M McADAM RESIDENCE LAKE ELMO, MN • SITE. PLAN SHEET: OF: DESIGN FORUM INCORPORATED F Hlnl 1 to I e�HG V�-rvl'ilN LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE Ynu I Wt7I Ol'•y1 `Jul I tl MINNEAPOLIS, MN 55437 EiIL.7.�1:5"JL• U31.L'J• U PLANNING COMMISSION AGENDA ITEM September 16, 2002 Dense Thinkers, Reason By Randal O'Toole, January 1999 The following article was reproduced for the Planning Commission at the request of Commissioner Kathy Sedro. IENISIE L.A. IS THEIR LADY AFTER ALL: Though Porttand`s planners used fear of becoming Like Los Angeles to drum up support for their draconian land -use regulations, they grudgingly admitted the Los Angeles metro area — which has the highest population density and fewest miles of freeway per capita in the nation —displayed "an investment pattern we desire to replicate." respect to density and road per capita mileage, [Los Angeles[ displays an investment pattern we desire to replicate" in Port- land. Of course, saying this out loud would have meant instant death for their plans, if not their persons. So the document in which this conclusion is reached is available only to people willing to pay $10 for a 60-page booklet filled with eyeball -glazing raphs and statistics. Here's another irony: Despite such glaring and self-evident contradictions, Portland has become a shining beacon for ur- ban planners, who envy Metro's Singapore -like regulatory au- thority. Places ranging from Minneapolis -St. Paul (with a metro population of about 3 million) to Missoula, Montana, (43,000) have adopted plans based on the Portland model. Suburban Renewal «'elcome to the crazy world of the New Urbanism, the latest fad in urban planning. The New Urbanism is a broad -based move- ment of planners, architects, environmentalists, central city governments, downtown business interests, transit agencies, and engineering and construction firms that has coalesced over the past 10 years. Proponents seek to recreate the high -density cities of the l9th and early 20th centuries. To impose their will, New Urbanists take particular aim at suburbs and the automobiles that helped make them possible. Indeed, a more appropriate name for the movement might be Suburban Renewal, since the New Urbanists' chief goal is to convert the suburbs —invariably regarded as banal, ugly, sterile, and inefficient —into something like inner-city areas. A recent Sierra Club study, "The Dark Side of the American Dream," is representative of New Urbanist thinking. "The au- tomobile way of life is unhealthy, anti -social, and unsustainable," claims the report, which was partly funded by the U.S. Environ- mental Protection .Agency. The New Urbanism, in contrast, seeks to create neighborhoods "where jobs, shopping, services, and recreation are all nearby" so that people can get around with- out cars. Low -density suburban development —pejoratively termed "sprawl" —leads to "increased congestion, longer com- mutes, increased dependence on fossil fuels, crowded schools, worsening air and water pollution, lost open space and wetlands, increased flooding, destroyed habitat, higher taxes and dying city centers." None of these claims is documented, which isn't surprising, because none of them is true. What is true is that the Sierra Club, the American Planning Association, and other New Urbanists have definite ideas about how the suburbs should be rebuilt. Their plans usually call tor the following: ■ Urban growth boundaries to restrict suburban expansion. in Prescriptive zoning and development subsidies to force higher -density development inside growth boundaries. Prescrip- tive zoning mandates higher densities whenever building or rebuilding occurs. If your house burns down, you may even be required to build an apartment in its place. ■ Discouraging driving through "traffic calming" measures API W Df WORT 0 PHOTOS 46 REASON • JANUARY 1999 driven, the real world refutes New Urbanist claims that low -den- sity suburban development forces people to spend more time -commuting. Census data show that, regardless of the year or the urban area's size, commuters spend an average of 20 to 25 min- utes getting to work. This is as true in Los Angeles (with a metro area population of 12 million) as it is in Houma, Louisiana (68,000 ). Indeed, if New Urbanists were really concerned about long commutes, they would advocate more road construction and less emphasis on mass transit: The average public transit com- muter travels a shorter distance vet spends more time commut- ing than the average driver. The first-, second-, and third -longest average urban commute times are in New York, Washington. and Chicago —which, not coincidentally, are the urban areas with the first-, second-, and third -highest shares of commuters riding mass transit. A similar paradox undergirds New Urbanist air quality poli- cies. Since automobiles pollute the air, New Urbanists convinced Congress to deny federal highway funds to cities with signifi- cant air pollution problems. Not only does that policy make it tough for congested areas to build bigger highways, it almost certainly makes pollution worse in those cities. That's because most auto pollution is a function of congestion and density: Cars use more energy and pollute more when they drive slowly or in stop -and -go traffic than when they drive fast in free -flowing traffic. The hest prescription for reducing air pollution, then, is to reduce congestion by adding highway capacity or making other improvements to speed up traffic. Dirty air is also a function of density, which promotes the concentration of dangerous levels of pollutants. The EPA rates urban air pollution as extreme, serious, moderate, marginal, and none. Not surprisingly, the worst pollution is found in the ur- ban areas with the densest populations ( see chart ). Thus, the New Urban prescription of increased density with few new roads doubly increases urban air pollution. Sprawling Costs Worsened air quality is a price New Urbanists apparently are willing to pay. But when it comes to what they call "the costs of sprawl," they're not so generous. As with most of their core beliefs, New Urbanist cost analyses of suburban development Average Urban Area Population Densities by EPA Air Pollution Rating RATING Extreme Serious Moderate Marginal None AVERAGE DENSITY 3,362 2,378 2,077 1,744 1,505 Source: EPA rely more on faith than on empirical data. Hence, a 1974 Council on Environmental Quality report arguing that low -density de- velopment imposed higher costs for urban services —roads, sew- ers, schools, and the like —than higher densities remains a holy text among the New Urbanist faithful. That the document was based entirely on speculative and unverified estimates doesn't seem important; neither does the fact that numerous studies since that time have found that taxes and urban service costs are actually higher in high -density areas. A 1992 Duke University study, for example, analyzed data from 247 counties that contain well over half the population of the United States. The researchers found that, above a density of 250 people per square mile (which is a rural density), costs rose as densities increased. In fact, urban service costs in areas of 24,000 people per square mile —a density typical of the core of older cities such as Philadelphia and Boston —were nearly 50 percent greater than in areas of 250 people per square mile. But even if a new high -density development did impose lower costs than a low -density development, it does not follow that it costs less to rebuild a low -density suburb to high densities than it would to simply build a new low -density suburb. That's be- cause infrastructure such as sewers, water, roads, and schools are built for the densities they serve. Suddenly doubling densities means tearing up streets for utilities, widening roads (or increas- ing congestion), and buying land for new schools. Residents of San Diego know all about that. 1n 1980, the city adopted a New Urban plan that discouraged development out- side of an urban ring and promoted "infill" development in the core area ("infill" is the development of vacant lots and rede- velopment of existing residential areas to higher densities.) Ten years later, the sewage system was regularly breaking down, traf- fic congestion had significantly increased, and the city estimated that it needed SI billion to bring urban infrastructure up to its 1980 levels. Ironically, the Sierra Club cited San Diego as one of the nation's worst examples of sprawl. In a related way, New Urbanists get it backward when it comes to housing and living costs: Policies they think will lead to cheaper housing and living costs actually make things more expensive. In low -density cities such as Houston and Minnesota's Twin Cities, land represents a tiny fraction of the value of a home. In higher -density cities, it's common for land to account for half or more of the value of a home. This means that people of a given income level in a high -density city can afford less house than they might buy in a low -density area. That's one reason why the suburbs are so popular —you tend to get more house (and property) for the money. The same basic economic reality affects retailing as well. A major reason why megastores and supermarkets gravitate to the ' utskirts of areas is that land is cheaper and allows for bigger 'buildings. The New Urbanist dream of shopping at a comer mar- ket may be quaint, but it ignores two basic things people look for in stores: good prices and a wide selection of products, neither of which is characteristic of small shops (as any inner-city grocery shopper will tell you). Stores get bigger when they can serve more people. When they get bigger, they can offer a greater variety of 1 products, fresher produce, and lower prices than small stores. Corner grocery stores might serve the occasional emergency need 48 REASON • JAN[JARY 1999 RAIL BARREN: Metro and local governments gave the developer of this 35-unit per acre apartment building S400,000 in tax breaks and subsidies. Portland has had to offer builders 10 years of tax waivers to promote development near light rail. The result of such public -sector largess: Only one out of nine commuters who live in apartments like these uses light rail. The rest drive. most New Urbanist planners no doubt think their convoluted approach will eventually alleviate the situation. (To put a more cynical spin on their designs, they can at least rest assured that increases in congestion caused by their plans will lead to calls for more planners.) Environmentalists' idealism is less concerned with urban quality of life per se than with preserving what they see as pristine wilderness; New Urbanist nostrums of denser ur- ban areas and less automobile usage are means to that end. By themselves, however, planners and environmentalists are not powerful enough to persuade anyone to implement the New Urbanism. That's where the other members of the congestion coalition come in. If planners and environmentalists supply the vision, bureaucrats, local officials, downtown businesses, and contractors provide the money and the might to make New Urbanist dreams a reality. A number of friendly federal agencies directly finance the New Urbanist agenda. For instance, as part of its Transportation Partners program, the EPA gives several hundred nonprofit or- ganizations money to lobby for transit and pedestrian ways and against highways. The avowed goal of the program is to reduce the number of "vehicle miles traveled." (In true New Urbanist fashion, the claims to success are meager at best: The EPA boasts these "partners" reduced annual vehicle travel by 1.25 billion miles in 1997. That's a questionable figure, but even if valid, it represents less than 0.1 percent of all urban driving.) The U.S. Department of Transportation also supports the New Urbanism. The Federal Transit Administration, the branch of the department charged with promoting transportation plan- ning, strongly influences urban spending because New Urbanists convinced Congress that cities receiving federal transportation funds should he forced to create regional transportation plans. The onerous planning process gives New Urbanists plenty of opportunities to skew the results their way. For example, fed- eral transit officials erade local transportation Planners for the, effort they make at getting cyclists, pedestrians, and transit rid- ers —but not auto drivers —involved in the planning Process. The transportation bill recently passed by Congress provides S20 million a year in local grants similar to the EPA's Transporta- tion Partners program. New Urbanism is also supported by DOT and Department of Housing and Urban Development requirements that urban areas have metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) repre- senting most or all local governments. Originally conceived as clearinghouses for federal grants, many MPOs function instead as political safety valves. As Brookings Institution economist An- thony Downs notes in Stuck in Traffic ( 1992), a regional plan- ning agency "can take controversial stands without making its individual members commit themselves to those stands. Each member can claim that 'the organization' did it or blame all the other members." Urban Godsends That's exactly what has happened in Portland, where Metro has ultimate planning authority over two dozen cities and three counties. Metro requires these cities and counties to rezone existing neighborhoods to meet its population targets. Far from resisting such targets, many cities view them as a way to increase RAHhAt 11 tOOlt 50 REASON • JANUARY 1999 y.J a-T• Y-t'i• SUNNYSIDE UP (WAY UP): Due to Portland's urban -growth boundary, its Sunnyside area has seen land prices hextupte over the past seven years. The neighborhood, which features single-family homes built on 50-foot- by-50-foot tots, was designed by New Urbanist guru Peter Catthorpe. But virtually all residents continue to drive to work and shopping. mitted diseases and have cleaner air. A few decades later, in the 1920s, early transportation planners hoped that good roads would revitalize downtowns —threatened even then by "sprawl" —by reducing congestion and attracting new investments. But all the freeways did is give residents and employers a quicker escape from the crowded central cities. New Urbanism has learned well the lesson that roads let people go where they want to go. They've wedded that insight to the early land -use planners' goal of improving people's moral behavior. The immoral behavior New Urbanists want to end now is driving, which they see as wasteful, noxious, and anti- social. Interestingly, to stop people from driving, they are try- ing to turn entire urban areas into the crowded, mixed -use cities that 19th-century planners found so degrading. "The politics of stasis," says interstate highway historian Mark Rose, "has dis- placed the politics of growth." What hasn't changed is the be- lief that people cannot or should not be left to their own devices when it conies to deciding where and how to live their lives. If the New Urbanists put the actual quality ot lite ot urban residents ahead of their theories about quality of life, they would chart a vastly different course. The best prescription for the central cities is to let them depopulate as people move out to the suburbs. As their densities fall, they will become more attrac- tive places to live. This has happened in Cleveland, the former national joke which has become one of the more livable cities in the Midwest. But such a policy bruises the egos of the city officials who want to maintain political hegemony over the sub- urbs; it also fails to satisfy the demands of the rest of the con- gestion coalition. So the New Urbanists turn instead to regional planning, growth boundaries, suburban "densification," congestion-in- d&icing road policies, and light -rail transit. This is a prescription '-er destroying not only the central cities but the suburbs as well. As baby boomers retire and telecommuters increase, tewer and fewer people will need to live in urban areas. if the New Urbanists succeed in making the suburbs as unlivable as many central cities already are, people living in cities and suburbs are likely to be- come "exurbanites," moving out to rural areas. Exurbanization will be sprawl with a vengeance, as people forbidden to live on quarter -acre suburban lots happily move to five-to-40-acre rural lots. A recent survey of Portland residents should give the New Urbanists pause, even as it apparently confirms their agenda. The poll found that most Portlanders do in fact support Metro's plan. But then the poll asked where people would live if they had a choice: the city, the suburbs, or rural areas. The same majority said "rural areas." That response might seem odd, but it's in keeping with the New Urbanism, which produces in abundance everything its adherents claim to oppose: congestion, pollution, unaffordable housing, and higher taxes. • Randal O'Toole (rot@ti.org) is an economist from Oak Grove, Oregon, who is currently teaching conservation policy at Yale University. RANDAI 0' TOOL I 52 REASON • 1ANUARY 1999 66'2 2UO2 CITY Or LAKE ELMO September 16, 2002 The Honorable Lee Hunt Mayor of Lake Elmo 3800 Laverne Avenue North Lake Elmo, MN 55042 Dear Mayor Hunt: Why does the Metropolitan Council defy Lake Elmo's slow -growth aspirations while abiding Minneapolis' and St. Paul's slow -growth aspirations? The council would reverse its position if it were truly interested in the social and environmental health of the metropolis. The Twin Cities' most intractable problems can be solved only by repopulating the depleted core cities, but that would upset their political status quo. Is the Met Council's counterproductive growth strategy rooted in the political compatibility between Ted Mondale and the political leaders of the core cities? The Truth about "Smart Growth" (draft attached) offers a growth strategy that would improve the social and environmental health of the metropolis by respecting the slow growth aspirations of communities like yours. As a way of introducing myself, I have attached some information from the August 2002 issue of Planning. Yours Truly, Belmont, AIA 333 Washington Avenue North . Suite 300 . Minneapolis, MN 55401 . 612 373 7027 . 612 349 2760 fax . belmont.arch@core.com A Critique of the Agenca that Undermines America's Urban Future plus An Alternative Growth Strategy D qRERT CITIES The Truth about "Smart Growth" A Critique of the Agenda that Undermines America's Urban Future plus An Alternate Growth Strategy August 2002 Copyright 2002 by Steve Belmont A L L IA NCE The Truth about "Smart Growth" 1 Introduction Underestimating the Potential of Cities Cities and their residents are irreversibly dependent on the largesse of suburbanites, ac- cording to a myth propagated by urban politicians, planners, academics, and editorial writers. Metropolitan regionalists like Myron Orfield and David Rusk ask suburban taxpayers to fatten central -city coffers. Civil rights activists demand that suburban schools educate imer-city.students. Metropolitan planning organizations (such as the Twin Cities' Metropolitan Council) harangue suburbanites to accept high -density hous- ing and commercial development traditionally associated with cities, development sure to exacerbate suburban traffic congestion. Central cities possess considerable power to solve their own problems and, in so doing, to alleviate the social and environmental maladies caused throughout the metropolis by automobile dependence: • Cities can gain the tax revenues necessary to solve their own fiscal problems by ex- ploiting the innate value of their precious land. The inherent value of city land could sustain a public realm worthy of the center of a great metropolis.* • Urban schools can regain their lost prestige and compete effectively with suburban schools if urban policymakers focus less on housing for the poor and more on housing for middle-class families. • Transit will get a far greater share of metropolitan travel if cities accommodate popu- lation growth as generously as suburbs do. "Smart Growth" advocates fail to recognize (or refuse to acknowledge) the full potential of cities and therefore preoccupy themselves with suburbs. The advocates relentlessly promote the urbanization of suburbs, but revitalized cities will contribute infinitely more than urbanized suburbs to the social and environmental health of the metropolis. Smart Growth, if it were truly smart, would focus almost exclusively on cities. For the social and environmental good of the metropolis, policymakers should let suburbs be suburbs as constituted prior to the 1960s and as desired by many suburbanites bedroom communities of detached houses. Then cities would gain a clear advantage in the competition for a growing number of urbanites —those who prefer townhouses or apartments to detached houses, those who prefer walking to driving, those amenable to a lifestyle marked by routine transit use. The potential of townhouses and apartments to produce transit riders diminishes as distance from the center of the metropolis increases. *Minneapolis' residential real estate was valued at $12 billion in 2000, about a third of its innate value. If the city's residential land was developed at moderate urban densities rather than subur- ban and semi -suburban densities, and if the average value of Minneapolis' housing units was in line with the suburban average, then the market value of the city's residential real estate would nearly triple to about $33 billion. (See Steve Belmont's Cities in Full, p. 418). In other words, more than $20 billion in residential real estate value lies fallow in Minneapolis. And the situation is similar in St. Paul. 2 The Truth about "Smart Growth" The Density Deficiency of the American City New York City San Francisco' Chicago Boston Phlladelphh Miami Washington, D.O. Long Beach, Baltimore Los Angeles' knd MinneaOaplaolis Detroit MN Seettle_I Milwaukee Cleveland Pittsburgh St. Louis San Jose Honolulu Las Vegas Sacramento Fresno Portland San Diego Denver Dallas Columbus Houston Omaha Atlanta San Antonio Phoenix New Orleans r Austin, TX Wichita Tucson Albuquerque Memphis El Paso Charlotte Indianapolis Tulsa NMI Colorado Springs MIS Fort Worth Virginia Beach Kansas City Nashville -Davidson Jacksonville Oklahoma City L 5.000 10.000 15.J00 20.000 25.J00 Population densities —residents per square mile —in America's 50 most populous cities, 2000 New York City stands apart from the rest of urban America in population density and transit ridership, and in the vitality of neighborhood com- merce, but San Francisco also pro- vides its residents with good transit options and robust neighborhood commerce. San Francisco repre- sents a population density to be emulated by cities striving to improve their residents' quality of life and their metro areas' social and envi- ronmental health. San Francisco's density is attainable, over a 50-year period, to cities like Baltimore, De- troit, Cleveland, Oakland, Minneapo- lis, and St. Paul. These and most American cities need higher densi- ties to sustain the essential ingredi- ents of urban life. Three possible explanations for the insufficient population density of the typical American city: (1) a small fraction of land area is covered with housing, (2) an inordinately large fraction of households are one - person households, or (3) an exces- sive fraction of the housing stock consists of one -family detached houses. The typical American city has too many detached houses. High residential densities are needed to sustain two lost but essential elements of urban life: neighborhood retailing and good transit. High densities foster all the urban virtues admired by urbanites; they underlie the "exuberant diversity" that Jane Jacobs described in The Death and Life of Great American Cities. And high residential densities mitigate automobile dependence and its related social and environmental stress, but only if those densities occur in an urban rather than suburban context. The following pages outline six interrelated attributes of high residential densities in an urban context: High urban densities • suppress crime • sustain commercial and cultural vitality • do not preclude tranquil streets • correlate with affluence • generate little vehicular traffic • suppress automobile dependence The Truth about "Smart Growth" 3 Six Attributes of High Urban Density 1. High urban densities suppress crime. Many were surprised in 1998 when the Minnesota House of Representatives reported that Minneapolis' crime rate far exceeds that of the nation's highest -density city, New York. Minneapolis' rate of FBI index crimes in 1997 was 11,498 incidents per 100,000 resi- dents, compared to 5,212 in New York City; and Minneapolis' rate of violent crime was 1,860, compared to 1,344 in New York City. Minneapolis' population density and crime rate are similar to Oakland's; Oakland is proxy for Minneapolis on the graph below. These findings didn't surprise anyone who had read Jane Jacobs' warning that low densi- ties in an urban context invite trouble. When Minneapolis' murder rate peaked in 1995, two-thirds of the city's 97 murders occurred in the midst of detached houses. 20,00C 19,000 18,000 17,000 16,000 15,000 14,000 13,000 12,000 11,000 10,000 9,000 8,000 7,000 6,000 5,000 4,000 3,000 2,000 1,00C 19l0 1961 12 . 19)3 19 )4 19)5 19116 1997 City / Density (inhabitants per square mile-1998) —"`"i Atlanta / 3,070 1998 Oakland / 6,520 San Francisco / 15,970 New York City / 24,020 1999 Crime rates (FBI index crimes) and population densities in selected cities We erroneously associate high crime rates with high densities because both densities and crime rates are higher in cities than in suburbs. Cities suffer higher crime rates not be- cause of their higher densities but because of their larger concentrations of socially and economically disadvantaged residents. Public housing contributes to the myth about high densities and crime. Many of the nation's most despicable crimes —those most irresisti- ble to the news media —occurred in and around public housing high-rises in the 1990s. But public housing developments —even those that include high -rises —aren't very dense because they cover a small fraction of their site areas. Pruitt -Igo in Saint Louis, the no- torious high-rise development that was demolished in the 1970s, had a density only half that of Beacon Hill —Boston' s prestigious neighborhood of townhouses and low-rise apartment buildings. Low-rise public housing is as problematic as high-rise public hous- ing according to a study published by HUD in 1996.1 Socioeconomic factors are more reliable than density in predicting urban crime rates, but density is nonetheless a factor. Urban crime rates are low where densities are high and socioeconomic conditions are favorable. 4 The Truth about "Smart Growth" Six Attributes of High Urban Density 2. High urban densities sustain commercial and cultural vitality. This lively commercial node in the South Bronx' economically distressed Melrose neighbor- hood is sustained by the area's moderately high densi- ties. Commercial vitality has dissipated in low -density neighborhoods with similar socio-economic conditions. Reflecting on Samuel Johnson's urban observations of 1785, Jane Jacobs wrote: "For centuries, probably everyone who has thought about cities at all has noticed that there seems to be some connection between the concentration of people and the specialties they can support." A comparison between city and suburban restaurant inventories sup-. ports Jacobs' theory that, for a given number of people, a higher population density sus- tains a greater level of diversity. Duplication accounts for only 15.8 percent of Minnea- polis' inventory of restaurants, compared to 32.5 percent in a suburban sector, even though the number of establishments per 100,000 population is similar, according to a 1997 survey. Population Densitv/Restaurant Diversity. 1997 Minneapolis Minneapolis Non-CBD (1) Suburbs (2) Resident Population (1996) 364,382 357,818 167,305 Land Area (sq. mi.) 54.7 53.6 84.2 Population Density (1996) 6,661 6,676 1,987 (residents/sq. mi.) No. of Restaurant Labels (3) 502 367 129 No. of Copies 94 72 62 No. of Restaurants (1997) 596 439 191 Copies as % of Total 15.8 16.4 32.5 Restaurants/100,000 population 163.6 122.7 114.2 Restaurant labels/100,000 pop. 137.8 102.6 77.1 See endnote2 for numbered notes and additional information. Population density isn't the only factor affecting commercial diversity, but combined with other factors that favor cities, e.g., ethnic diversity and old low -rent buildings, the density factor is strong enough to overcome the income advantage of suburbs. A com- parison between Manhattan and Minneapolis would reveal the same advantage for the higher density. Manhattan's high density sustains a variety of restaurants unmatched elsewhere in America, and what is true of restaurants is true of retailing in general. The Truth about "Smart Growth" 5 Six Attributes of High Urban Density 3. High urban densities do not preclude tranquil streets. America's extravagantly appealing urban neighborhoods —those in which housing units routinely sell for millions of dollars —are characterized by quiet tree -lined streets of townhouses, flats, and low-rise apartment buildings. Examples include Boston's Beacon Hill and Philadelphia's Rittenhouse Square, where net densities exceed 80 units per acre. (The average net density of Minneapolis' residential land is about 12.5 units per acre.) New York City's Brooklyn Heights, pictured above, has a net housing density of 125 units per acre. 6 The Truth about "Smart Growth" Six Attributes of High Urban Density 4. High core -city density correlates with metropolitan affluence. New York City's Upper East Side is a district of extreme density, extreme cultural and commercial vitality, and ex- treme wealth. Jane Jacobs described this and other high - density neighborhoods as "high -income areas that main- tain a persistent popularity." (Death and Life... p. 121) The vitality associated with New York City's high density attracts wealth to the region. Twelve of the fifteen cities at the top of the density chart on page 2 anchor metro areas with above -average per -capita incomes. Fourteen of the fifteen cities at the bottom of the chart anchor metro areas with below -average per -capita incomes.* "There are almost 14,000 homes in Connecticut worth at least $1 million, and 91 percent of them are in the wealthy New York suburbs of Fairfield County," reported the New York Times in June 2002. Five thousand of these houses are in Greenwich, but another suburb —North Hills, New York —has a higher per -capita income. Three of the nation's ten highest - income communities are suburbs of San Francisco.3 High poverty rates suppress central cities' economic status, but high -density neighbor- hoods within high -density cities are among the nation's wealthiest places. A February 1999 article in the New York Times describes such neighborhoods and some of their rich (and philanthropic) residents. The article quotes urban historian Kenneth Jackson: "Young people and people with ideas and people who like the tumble and tide are at- tracted to Boston and San Francisco and Chicago and New York" Jackson wasn't talking about neighborhood density but about neighborhood vitality and wealth.4 It is no coincidence that the four cities he cited are America's four most densely populated. Jane Jacobs said not only that high urban densities attract wealth but that they are in- strumental in creating it. High densities foster the interactions that underlie creativity and innovation. Whether high -density cities create metropolitan wealth, attract wealth to their metropolitan areas, or both, it is clear that wealth is more compatible with high - density cities than with low -density cities. *The Twin Cities metro is among the nation's top five CMSAs and MSAs ranked in order of me- dian household income, according to year-2000 data, and low -density Atlanta is in the top ten, but both metro areas rank lower in per -capita income. Minneapolis and Atlanta are less success- ful than the nation's highest -density cities in creating or attracting the very rich, those who ele- vate a metro area's per -capita income more than they elevate the median. The Truth about "Smart Growth" 7 Six Attributes of High Urban Density 5. High residential density generates little vehicular traffic. Manhattan's affluent Upper East Side has a lower rate of automobile ownership and use than Minneapolis' distressed Near North district. Density explains the difference. Density, Economic Status, and Automobile Dependence--1990 Minneapolis Manhattan Near North Upper East Side Density (households/acre) Gross household density 4.5 112 Average net household density 10.9 187 (est.) Economic condition Median household income $19,000 $53,000 Households below poverty 31.9% 5.2% Automobile dependence Households w/1 or 1+ vehicles 64.3% 29.4% Commuting characteristics Drive alone 56.8% 9.1% Carpool 15.1 4.5 Transit 21,3 61.5 Walk 4.7 23.1 Other 2.2 1.7 Sources: New York City Department of City Planning, Socioeconomic Profiles (1993) and Demographic Profiles (1992), DCP1990 #313; 1990 Census of Population and Housing, Minneapolis STF 3A; Minneapolis Planning Dep't., State of the City 1996 Moving automobiles are almost nonexistent on many of the streets of the Upper East Side (East 80th is pictured here.) The streets are less than a mile long, terminating at Central Park to the west and at the East River to the east; there- fore through traffic from outside the neighborhood is effectively ex- cluded. (The Avenues of the Up- per East Side are a different mat- ter, often congested with through traffic from far beyond the district.) New York City's Roosevelt Island is a community of about 10,000 residents in a com- pact arrangement of mid -rise and high-rise apartment buildings. Vehicle access consists of a solitary narrow bridge (from Queens) so the island is almost completely free of traf- fic. The housing is within easy walking distance of good transit and neighborhood retail- ing. Also in New York City, the streets of Brooklyn Heights carry little through traffic because they terminate at the East River promenade or at the Brooklyn Bridge abutment. In San Francisco, Russian Hill's steep gradients discourage through traffic. The chal- lenge for high -density neighborhoods is to find a way to exclude through traffic. 8 The Truth about "Smart Growth" Six Attributes of High Urban Density 6. High urban densities suppress automobile dependence. 25,000 E 20,000 Q) ca a aoi 10,000 0 m a. 5,000 0 50 40 ro .N 30 to E E 20 $ a) 10 1a Population densities and rates of transit commuting for Americas' 20 most popu- lous cities, 1990 Population density is a reliable predictor of a city's rate of transit commuting. The anomalous relationship between Washington D.C.'s population density and transit rider- ship suggests that a city can boost the one without much increasing the other, by building a multi -billion -dollar rail system perhaps. But Metrorail is only part of the explanation. Washington, D.C., has an unusually high rate of transit commuting because of conditions that cannot be replicated in other cities. A disproportionately large fraction of the city's (and region's) employed residents work for government agencies in locations well served by transit. The transit authority boasts that it "transports more than a third of the federal government to work." And the region's unique transit -oriented polycentricity affords those city residents who work in suburbs an easy transit commute to their jobs. Try as they will, metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) like the Twin Cities' Met- ropolitan Council will not succeed in their efforts to impose transit -oriented polycentric- ity on regions whose polycentricity is firmly rooted in bituminous; MPOs cannot repro- duce the unique circumstances found in the D.C. region. The U.S. Congress had enacted the National Capitol Planning Act in 1952, and in 1960—well before the region's sub- urban business concentrations materialized and matured —the National Capitol Plan- ning Commission produced the concept that gave rise to the region's transit -oriented polycentricity. The Washington, D.C., region has relatively few county and municipal jurisdictions, and most of those jurisdictions cooperated in the planning and implementa- tion of the National Capitol Planning Commissions' transit -oriented vision.5 The Truth about "Smart Growth" 9 Six Attributes of High Urban Density 6. High urban densities suppress automobile dependence (cont.) 25,000 a) .E pr 20,000 E. 5,000 0 U #BSc `Gr4= -4,a�Q�a��°�4e 50 40co y 30 e E E 20 O 10 Population densities and rates of transit commuting for selected cities, 1990 The graph above is the same as the one on the preceding page, except Washington, D.C., is deleted because of its unique circumstances, and Minneapolis -St. Paul, which would be among the nation's 20 most populous cities if their populations were combined, is substituted. This provides a realistic picture of the relationship between residential den- sity and transit use. The graphs on this and the preceding page reveal not only the importance of residential density in transit feasibility, but also the importance of downtown employment density. Los Angeles, Detroit, and San Jose —cities with weak downtowns —produce lower rates of transit commuting than would be predicted by residential density alone. Downtown Detroit, for example, contains only 25 percent of its metro area's commercial office space, a relatively low fraction among America's major cities. It is disturbing, therefore, that the Metropolitan Council has forecast that only 14 percent of the Twin Cities area's job growth will occur in the two core cities. The council's suburb -oriented growth forecast is consistent with its stated policy to sup- port suburban business concentrations (SBCs). In Edge City, Joel Garreau calls SBCs "the crucible of America's urban future," believing they would "move everything closer to the homes of the middle class." Garreau cited Alan Pisarski's prediction of diminish- ing commute times, a prediction that proved wrong. In this era of edge -city proliferation, the growth in vehicle miles traveled has exceeded metropolitan population growth. Poli- cymakers truly interested in reaping the social and environmental benefits associated with reduced automobile dependence will strive to centralize both households and jobs. 10 The Truth about "Smart Growth" The Natural Transit Superiority of Cities Transit ridership has sunk to woefully low levels in most of urban American, in part be- cause population densities have declined. Nonetheless, central cities hold great potential to increase their rates of transit ridership. Cities have far greater potential than suburbs to alleviate the automobile dependence of metropolitan areas, but policymakers decentralize precious transit resources to suburbs in the vain hope that suburbanites will significantly change their travel habits. Transit ridership will be maximized where both transit re- sources and population are centralized. The land at the heart of the metropolis derives its inherent transit superiority from three conditions: better proximity to routes, shorter headways (intervals between transit ve- hicles), and direct access (no transfer) to more work destinations. Most people who live within two miles of a sizeable city's CBD also live within a quarter mile —walking distance —of a transit route. People who live eight miles from the CBD might live farther than a mile from the nearest transit route. The phenomenon is illustrated by the transit route pattern in Buffalo, New York, where ra- dial streets are superimposed on the rectangular grid. Buf- falo's transit route pattern con- spicuously reveals the location of the CBD. Transit Advantage #1: Better Proximity The Truth about "Smart Growth" 11 The Natural Transit Superiority Cities Numbers indicate number of down- town -bound buses per weekday. Route 12 17 0 1 2 miles 19 11 Downtown P° c171 122 49 This bus route diagram for a sector southwest of Downtown Minneapolis illustrates the convergence of three bus routes — numbers 6, 12, and 28— as they approach the CBD. As routes converge, headways are reduced. 1 Route extremities are w Minneapolis City Limit served by as few as 9 downtown -bound buses 10 Transit Advantage #2: Shorter Headways Methodist Hospital co CO d (Southdale )[ Downtown Minneapolis) Rte. 21 per weekday, compared to 171 buses within two miles of downtown. Downtown to St. Paul Residents of Minneapolis' Uptown neighborhood enjoy not only frequent but also direct (no -transfer) bus service to each of several employment desti- nations. Generally, the number of direct -access employment destinations decreases as distance to the CBD increases. The inconvenience of the bus transfer powerfully deters ridership among com- muters who own cars. Transit Advantage #3: Direct Access to More Destinations 12 The Truth about "Smart Growth" The Natural Transit Superiority of Cities With only about a quarter of their metro area's population, Minneapolis and St. Paul produce the overwhelming majority of transit trips, according to the Metropolitan Coun- cil: "65 percent of all transit travel never leaves the cities. Only 6 percent of transit trips occur in the areas entirely outside the central cities. "6 Buses are commonly filled to capacity as they exit downtown during the evening rush; by the time they reach the mid -point of their routes, they have discharged most of their passengers. Distance decay is the term used by transit planners to describe this phenomenon. Researchers have ob- served distance decay on America's light rail systems. 4000 0 Light Rail Station Boardings by Distance to the CBD and Residential Density 1 0 10 20 30 Miles to CBD Constants: 100,000 CBD employees 100 employees per CBD acre 1 mile between station Feeder bus service available Persons per gross acre: 20 - - • 10 5 2 Transit researchers stud- ied the relationships among residential density, household-CBD proximity, and ridership rates, and they found both proximity and density to be critical factors in attracting riders. Source: Transit Coopera- tive Research Program of the National Research Council, TCRP Report 16 (National Academy Press, 1996) These observations in a Regional Plan Association report called Where Transit Works unambiguously delineate a rational strategy for the distribution of high -density housing: "The willingness to make [transit] trips falls off very sharply with distance. As a result, trips to a downtown ... will be found in very large numbers only from fairly close prox- imity ... Say the options are to double residential density ... within one mile of a down- town ... or at a distance of 10 miles from it. In the first case, public transit trips per capita in the affected area will increase seventeen times as much as in the second case. "7 As for travel to suburban business locations, Anthony Downs (1994) and Robert Cervero (1997) have reported negligible transit commuting to suburban business concen- trations adjacent to rail transit stations. "The willingness to make [transit] trips falls off very sharply with distance. As a result, trips to a downtown ... will be found in very large numbers only from fairly close proximity." Regional Plan Association, Where Transit Works The Truth about "Smart Growth" 13 The "Smart Growth" Conundrum Metropolitan automobile dependence will be minimized where central -city density is maximized. Central -city density will be maximized where suburban capacity is mini- mized. Why, then, do planners, academics, and policymakers harangue suburbs to in- crease their densities while abiding low densities in cities? "Smart Growth" advocates are confronted by a conundrum that is embodied in these two statements from the American Planning Association's Policy Guide on Smart Growth: "Reinvest in existing urban centers, re -use former industrial sites, adopt older build- ings for new development, and bring new development to older, low-income and disad- vantaged neighborhoods." (APA Policy Guide on Smart Growth, Core Principle I) "Support increased citizen participation in all levels of planning as a means to accom- modate diversity while promoting equity and community ... citizen participation is an important means of developing plans that reflect the needs and aspirations of citizens." (APA Policy Guide on Smart Growth, Policy Position Al 1) Urban revitalization —the implied aim of the first statement —is an endeavor at funda- mental odds with the second statement. To "support increased citizen participation" in the planning of cities is to suppress the potential of cities because citizens and their neighborhood organizations resolutely oppose the measures necessary to restore vitality. Citizens and neighborhood organizations in urban (and suburban) America have a long history of opposing housing densities significantly higher than their neighborhoods' ex- isting densities, whatever those densities might be. Upon closer examination of the APA's two competing statements, one finds that the sec- ond statement —citizen participation —carries the day. The "reinvest" statement is so tepid and uncontroversial as to be meaningless —not worth mentioning. Virtually every city in America has implemented the precepts of the "reinvest" statement, i.e., virtually every city in America has reinvested in existing urban centers, etc. But no city in Amer- ica has pursued the specific kinds of new development that revitalize, rather than merely stabilize, old worn-out neighborhoods. As for citizen participation in neighborhood planning, the process is fraught with defi- ciency. "Participation" often means that a small number of politically ambitious ideo- logues dictate the future of an urban neighborhood. Changing Plans for America's In- ner Cities by urban historians Zane Miller and Bruce Tucker is an astonishing chronicle of citizen participation gone awry, with devastating consequences. See also Steve Bel- mont's Cities in Full, Chapter 9, for perspectives on the participation process that are far different from the platitudes that have been scripted by urban politicians and activists. Neighborhood self-deteuiiination is not a constitutionally guaranteed right but a political product of the 1960s. (The rise of neighborhood empowerment was accompanied by an acceleration of urban decline.) Nor is the power of neighborhoods absolute; activists don't relocate schools or rearrange streets on a whim. Some issues are too consequential to the health of the city and metropolis to be decided by neighborhood activists. Density should take its place among these. 14 The Truth about "Smart Growth" Urbaphobia This is how a neighborhood activist from Minneapolis advised her colleagues to reduce densities in distressed neighborhoods: "... it doesn't make sense to rehabilitate three homes ... It's better to tear down one ... and give more space to the other two"8 The activist —Darlene Walser —was an organizer for Minneapolis' Jordan Area Community Council when she was quoted in a magazine article extolling the virtues of Minneapolis' Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP). A 1996 analysis of the NRP revealed that "communities are focused on lowering housing densities."9 "Communities are focused on lowering housing densities." Defining Community: A Neighborhood Perspective Minneapolis' Neighborhood Revitalization Program is in reality a Neighborhood Stabi- lization by means of Suburbanization Program, a $400 million neighborhood empow- erment scheme that preserves obsolete detached houses and builds new detached houses. The program faithfully reflects neighborhood activists' aversions to the densities neces- sary to revitalize neighborhoods. Urbaphobia is so deeply ingrained in the chambers of city government that a Minneapolis politician unabashedly divulged the prejudice in a discussion about "Smart Growth." At a Smart Growth conference in Minneapolis in 1999, then Minneapolis council member Lisa McDonald promoted a plan book that illustrates how to upgrade aging ramblers and bungalows. The council member hoped that her city's homeowners would improve their detached houses and stay put, rather than move to suburbia's better housing stock. McDonald referred to the semi -suburban density of eleven to fourteen housing units per net acre as an ideal density for her city's neighborhoods. (Minneapolis' average net den- sity is about a dozen units per acre.) McDonald was evidently oblivious to her city's unique social and environmental obligations. "Minneapolis will maintain the unique character of the city's housing stock [and] maintain areas that are predominantly developed with single and two family structures." Minneapolis Comprehensive Plan, 2000 Minneapolis officials' aversion to urbane housing densities is firmly established in the city's zoning code and in its Comprehensive Plan: "Minneapolis will maintain the ... unique character of the city's housing stock Iand] maintain areas that are predomi- nantly developed with single and two family structures. "10 To maintain the city's housing stock is to maintain the political status quo. To claim that the city's housing stock is unique is disingenuous. Like all cities, Minneapolis has some houses worth saving for their architectural or historical significance, but, on the whole, the city's housing stock is far from unique. The Truth about "Smart Growth" 15 Urbaphobia If Minneapolis' housing stock were truly unique, area resi- dents would know at a glance which one of these three houses is located in Minneapolis. (One is lo- cated on the west coast and one on the east coast; all three were photographed in 1999.) Houses and neighborhoods in Minneapo- lis resemble those in cities across the nation. (See page 42 for the locations of the houses pictured here.) Like all cities, Minneapolis has some detached houses that are historically or archi- tecturally significant, but very few. For example, only 12 of the Jordan neighborhood's 1,800 detached houses are deemed significant by the Minneapolis Heritage Pres- ervation Commission, ac- cording to Jordan's NRP Planning Information Base (1992). 16 The Truth about "Smart Growth" Urbaphobia Housing programs that extend the longevity of obsolete houses are common in urban America. Density -averse policymakers not only preserve existing detached houses, they facilitate the production of new ones, sometimes whole subdivisions of them. The City of Minneapolis assisted the nonprofit developer of Lyn Park —the Suburb in the City. The developer rationalized its low density: "... low -density land use becomes a most resourceful use of this land This fact becomes most important when we consider the record of high density housing in inner-city neighborhoods. "11 Suburban developments on city land are a nationwide phenomenon, often financed by HUD. Lyn Park, Minneapolis (2000) Bayport Village, Oakland (2000) Victoria Park, Detroit (2000) Brooklyn -Park, Kansas City (2002) A clean -slate redevelopment site near downtown represents a vital opportunity to im- prove the social and environmental health of the metropolis by creating housing densities that will support transit and neighborhood retailing. The suburbanization of the city forces those who prefer townhouses or apartments to seek them in suburbs. High -density housing in suburbs cannot reduce automobile dependence as effectively as it can in cities. Detached houses account for 45 percent of Minneapolis' housing stock and occupy 77 percent of its residential land area. To build more of the land hogs is environmentally irresponsible. The Truth about "Smart Growth" 17 Neighborhood Empowerment versus the Environment When confronted with the environmental consequences of their city's low -density hous- ing, Louisville aldermen opted to maintain low densities. The aldermen cited neighbor- hood preferences when they opposed a land -use plan formulated by the Louisville - Jefferson County Planning Commission. The plan proposed to increase Louisville's housing densities in order to mitigate automobile dependence. The Louisville Courier - Journal reported the aldermen's reaction: "The plan gives too much emphasis to the environment and not enough to the automobile." This is an astonishing critique when one realizes it was rendered not by the highway lobby but by the elected officials of a city. The aldermen wanted to honor their constitu- ents' demands that apartments be excluded from their detached -house neighborhoods. Suburbanites are often criticized for this kind of exclusionary attitude, but it is in cities that this attitude is environmentally indefensible. New land -use plan still needs scrutiny, aldermen contend Neighborhoods could be harmed, committee says By NINA WALFOORT The Courier -Journal Saying the proposed countywide land -use plan could harm Louisville's traditional neighborhoods, a commit- tee of aldermen called yesterday for an extensive review of the plan. The aldermen said they fear the plan — known as Cornerstone 2020 -- advocates. greater density': in .the "ur- ban core" and takes away the Board of Aldermen's power to prevent un- wanted land -use changes. They ,also said the plan gives too ty, much emphasis to the environment "It's not that there's and not enough to the automobile, . propriate place for 1—•1 1 line that has been mapped out seemed to be way too fast. ' Working with their attorney, David Banks, the aldermen have proposed 64 amendments to the objectives. Many of them are aimed at preserving single-family : zoning' in city neighbor- hoods. Alderman Tom Owen said many neighborhoods in his 3rd Ward, in- cluding. parts of the Highlands, •,i ave fought. to "downzone" their commu- nity, thus limiting the number of apartments or condominiums that can be built. And l2th Ward Alderman Paul Bather said an increase in rental housing in western Louisville has been symptomatic of its decline. The redevelopment of the Cotter -Lang Homes public housing complex, he noted,•is a move toward lower densi- never an ap- multifamily," The September 18, 1996, article in the Louisville Courier -Journal notes a correlation between "rental housing" (apartments, pre- sumably) and "decline." Any such correlation is attributable to socioeco- nomic factors rather than density, as Jane Jacobs so convincingly demon- strated in The Death and Life of Great American Cities. 18 The Truth about "Smart Growth" The Tragic Legacy of Urban Renewal "The era in which robust neighborhoods were destroyed by urban renewal has been supplanted by an era in which devitalized neighborhoods are defended, by neighbor- hood activists, from renewal that is sorely needed." (Cities in Full, p. 400) Neighborhood activists invoked the horrors of 1950s and 1960s urban renewal to gain control of neighborhood development. Various programs of the war on poverty, and various initiatives of giant foundations (especially the Ford Foundation) brought about a nationally standardized ideology among groups representing distressed neighborhoods, an ideology based on mistrust of outsiders' plans but dependence on outsiders' money. Since gaining control, activists have undermined not only the great potentials but also the considerable social and environmental obligations of their neighborhoods. A distressed neighborhood in Bos- ton's Roxbury district fell under the control of the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative (DSNI), which has suburbanized the high - potential area with twin homes. Some of the townhouses and flats on DSNI's turf resemble those in Boston's great neighborhoods, but DSNI ignored these urbane prece- dents, opting for lower densities. America's great urban neighborhoods were created not by neighborhood activists but by real estate speculators and capitalist housing developers. The Truth about "Smart Growth" 19 The Truth about Gentrification Revitalization of a distressed low -density neighborhood is, by definition, density en- hancement accompanied by gentrification. Opposition to gentrification is most pro- nounced in the neighborhoods most in need. Referring to St. Paul's chronically de- pressed neighborhoods, Ramsey County Commissioner Janice Rettman declared: "Frogtown, the lower East Side and parts of the West Side have always been a place for immigrants who need affordable housing ... We will guard against gentrifica- tion. "12 (Urban politicians regard immigrants as politically unthreatening replacements for a departing middle class, but cities can no longer claim a monopolistic hold on immi- grants. Increasing numbers of immigrants are settling initially in suburbs; others are moving from cities to suburbs to escape conditions produced by a failure to gentrify.) "Gentrification often brings changes in a community's power structure [and] in its elected leadership." The Brookings Institution Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy We will guard against gentrification." • Ramsey County Commissioner Janice Rettman In 1985 John Kain and William Apgar found that gentrification "alters neighborhood socioeconomic composition primarily by changing the pool of in -migrants rather than by accelerating the departure of residents." The analysts concluded that "many low- income central -city neighborhoods that are not upgraded experience ... changes that are at least as likely as revitalization to displace households. "13 Citing studies in New York City and Boston, the New York Times' John Tierney re- ported in March 2002 that `gentrification does not cause an exodus of the poor and the working class ... just the opposite happens: people with relatively little income and education become more likely to stick around. The rate of turnover declines, appar- ently because people don't like to leave a neighborhood when it's improving." In New York City in the late 1990s, widespread gentrification was accompanied by a reduction in the rate at which rising rents forced people to move. Gentrification in Baltimore in the 1980s brought no reduction in the number of poor and working-class blacks, according to a 1995 study by George R. Wagner.14 Gentrification combined with density enhancement allows incumbents to remain while accommodating an influx of newcomers. The authors of a Brookings Institution examination of gentrifi- cation, published in April 2001, report that: "gentrification has not eliminated income and racial diversity in any of the neighborhoods we examined in our case studies. „15 The gentrification debate is "susceptible to demagoguery," according to the authors of the Brookings study, and opposition is often a political strategy: "Gentrification often brings changes in a community's power structure [and] in its elected leadership"16 20 The Truth about "Smart Growth" The Truth about Gentrification Gentrification and Education Gentrification will improve the educational prospects of disadvantaged kids. Chicago's Gautreaux Program demonstrated academic improvement among kids who moved from public housing to middle-class suburbs with middle-class schools. Citing standardized test results in New York State, the New York Times reported in March 2002 that "the [achievement] gap is not immutable, there are individual schools that defy the pattern, where black, white, and Hispanic students achieve at high levels. These schools tend to be in more middle-class neighborhoods. "17 Gentrification and Race In Someone Else's House: America's Unfinished Struggle for Integration, Journalist Tamar Jacoby laments a post-1960s wave of separatism among African American activ- ists and political leaders, and she documents the harm it has visited upon cities. In Changing Plans for America's Inner Cities, historians Zane Miller And Bruce Tucker describe the process by which activists in Cincinnati's Over -the -Rhine ----a neighbor- hood of urbane architecture and great potential —deliberately established their turf as an exclusive preserve for low-income African Americans and presided over its destruction. In 1998 the historians described a largely depleted Over -the -Rhine as "the city's most crime -ridden turf a territory haunted by pimps, drug pushers, prostitutes, thieves, and muggers. Over -the -Rhine also accounted for more than its share of the city's domestic violence cases, street fights, and murders. "18 In April 2001, Over -the -Rhine hosted America's first race riots of the new millennium, an event that enlarged the neighbor- hood's colossal inventory of boarded buildings. These are but a few of the many boarded buildings and vacant lots in Cincinnati's Over -the -Rhine. The neighborhood's great potential was subordi- nated to activists' anti - gentrification agenda. The Truth about "Smart Growth" 21 The Truth about Gentrification Racial separatism is in large measure a political strategy, according to Myron Orfield, who adds that most black people would prefer to live in integrated neighborhoods.19 Per- haps blacks who prefer segregated neighborhoods should not be denied the option. The racial composition of a neighborhood doesn't determine its livability and appeal so much as the socioeconomic condition. Socioeconomically disjointed neighborhoods shouldn't be an option for anybody in urban America. In Lost City, Alan Ehrenhalt recalls Chicago's Bronzeville as it existed before it was decimated by urban renewal and middle-class flight. The departing middle class was Af- rican American, gone to the suburbs in search of the modem houses and big lawns opened up to them by fair housing legislation. As long as Bronzeville retained its mid- dle-class and affluent residents and its intact families, it remained a thriving African - American community where the crime problem consisted mostly of numbers rackets and petty infractions. "There were black entrepreneurs all up and down [Bronzeville'sJ commercial streets in the 1950s," according to Ehrenhalt: retail merchants, barber shops, beauty parlors, restau- rants and taverns, photography studios, hotels, banks, funeral parlors, food processing operations, and insurance companies. Many of these grew into sizable businesses, ex- porting goods and services far beyond their neighborhood and far beyond their city. Similar neighborhoods existed in Detroit and Washington, D.C., and perhaps in many cities. `Bronzeville is long gone not only physically but socially," laments Ehrenhalt, "it passed out of existence as a community as soon as the middle class left. "20 Recent developments raise the specter of emerging Bronzevilles in urban America. Mid- dle- and upper -income blacks have spearheaded gentrification in redevelopment projects like Lyn Park in Minneapolis and Victoria Park in Detroit. (As noted previously, the problem with these developments is that densities are too low.) A 2001 Brookings Insti- tution study notes the presence of high -income African -American newcomers in the gen- trifying communities that were analyzed.21 Thriving cities offer a diverse array of healthy neighborhoods, including segregated neighborhoods where the cultural traits of a racial or ethnic group are preserved. All that is needed to convert a distressed African -American neighborhood (or any distressed neighborhood) into a thriving one is an influx of middle-class families, and the concomi- tant higher density. "Bronzeville is long gone not only physically but socially; it passed out of existence as a community as soon as the middle class left." Alan Ehrenhalt 22 The Truth about "Smart Growth" Streets of Shame East Franklin Av., Minneapolis University Avenue, St. Paul Selby Avenue, St. Paul West Lake Street, Minneapolis West Broadway, Minneapolis Payne Avenue, St. Paul The Truth about "Smart Growth" 23 Streets of Shame What is shameful about urban America's perpetually derelict commercial streets is not just the disorder and crime associated with them, but the indifference of city officials. Decade after decade, once -vibrant commercial streets languish in a state of dereliction because officials fail to implement the initiatives necessary to revive them. In the 1950s, 5,000 residents sustained a neighborhood commercial node, usually consist- ing of a supermarket or large grocery store, a drug store, a hardware store, and the several smaller shops that attended them: bakery, barber shop, beauty parlor, dry cleaner, flower shop, and so on. Today, because of universal automobile ownership and modern retail practices, 10,000 people —twice as many as in the 1950s—are required to sustain a tradi- tional neighborhood retail array, according to an analysis commissioned by the Minnea- polis Community Development Agency in 1996.22 Minneapolis' year-2000 Comprehensive Plan refers to the city's derelict "neighbor- hood commercial districts" and concludes: "Many areas of the city have an oversupply of commercial space. "23 To the Minneapolis Planning Depai tinent, a vacant retail build- ing represents an oversupply of commercial space rather than an undersupply of retail activity. Instead of increasing residential densities to a level that will revive and sustain neighborhood commerce, city officials allow scores of neighborhood commercial nodes to languish. They suburbanize a few select high -traffic nodes, facilitating the develop- ment of one-story retail bunkers and fast-food joints flanked by parking pavement. City officials' aversion to high residential densities is abetted by the Metropolitan Council's support for suburban retail development. The council and its media cheerlead- ers encourage the development of fake main streets in developing suburbs more than they encourage the revival of neighborhood main streets in the city. Rather than revive the retail patterns that once existed in the city, our elected and appointed officials try in vain to replicate in suburbia the lost attributes of the genuine urban neighborhood. A big one-story retail box is dis- guised as an array of two-story shoppes along this fake main street in Arbor Lakes, located in a developing suburb of Minneapolis. Nearly all of the shoppes' custom- ers come from the vast parking lot on the other side of this building The dozens of linear miles of derelict community and neighborhood commercial street in Minneapolis and St. Paul have the capacity to absorb decades worth of the metropolitan area's commercial growth. 24 The Truth about "Smart Growth" Density Inversion Central -city density aversion produces metropolitan density inversion. Urban densities are higher than suburban densities generally, but the traditional density gradient is adul- terated by the development of apartments and townhouses in suburbia even as detached houses are built and maintained in the city. This situation wreaks havoc on transit effi- ciency. Inner -City Sprawl: The non-profit Greater Minneapolis Metropoli- tan Housing Corporation built these three houses one mile from downtown Minneapolis. Suburban Urbanity: The Durham and the Yorktown Continental in Edina are located eight miles from downtown Minneapolis. There exists a considerable and growing demand for townhouses and apaiIniients in met- ropolitan America, but demand is deflected to suburbs by a combination of forces, in- cluding socioeconomic distress and density aversion in the city, and a misguided belief among policymakers that such housing in suburbs produces social and environmental benefits. To increase housing densities in suburbs is to enlarge their capacity to absorb households. We will do the opposite if we wish to repopulate and revitalize our cities. The Truth about "Smart Growth" 25 Density Inversion New -traditional superstar Andres Duany praises detached -house developments in cities as he promotes higher -density housing in suburbs. And he reveals a self-servingly stunted vision for urban America when he declares that "revitalization efforts should not focus unduly on bringing families back to the inner city. "24 Ali - The Ugly Truth about Neo-traditional Suburbs: This is but a small por- tion of the vast parking lot at Kentlands Square shopping Center in Kent - lands, an acclaimed neo-traditional suburb in the Washington, D.C. metropolis. Two of America's acclaimed neo-traditional suburbs —Andres Duany's Kentlands and Peter Calthorpe's Laguna West —have undergone some scrutiny of late and have been found unworthy of their proponents' high praises. Neo-traditional developments fail to deliver on the promise of reducing automobile dependence to any meaningful degree; they are more style than substance. Laguna West (near Sacramento) has been castigated by critics who characterize it as classic sprawl ... with porches. When one critic observed that front porches are accom- panied by three -car garages, Laguna West's designer —Peter Calthorpe—defended the development with this remarkable statement: "... all in all, I think it's a great success. The reality of America is that some people want three cars. "25 New York Times reporter Timothy Egan characterizes New Urbanism as a "design style." But the consequences of the trend are far from superficial. These stylish devel- opments, which usually include townhouses and apaitinents, compete for households dis- enchanted with run-of-the-mill post-war suburbs, i.e., households that would look to cit- ies for urbane housing if it were more available in cities and less available in suburbs. There exists an insidious synergy between neo-traditional developers and urban activists. Peter Calthorpe rationalizes his involvement in the development of suburban greenfields by citing community activists' opposition to development in cities.26 Andres Duany and his cheerleader —the writer James Howard Kunstler—have echoed Calthorpe's rationale. 26 The Truth about "Smart Growth" Density Inversion o 1 1 BUS ROUT # _---- ' •wimiusimosiossous ti qy Open Space Detached houses Semi-detached houses, 2-unit Attached houses, 3- and 4-unit aTownhouses and Apartments 11.1 Office/Retail/Motel (Cul-de-sacs and looped streets not shown) BUS STOP FREEWAY INTERCHANGE 0 1/4 mile 1/2 mile The master plan for Arbor Pointe reveals the reality of post-war suburbs, neo- traditional or otherwise. Commercial land uses are congregated around a free- way interchange, ignoring the area's only bus stop. Apartments and townhouses are separated from the bus stop by detached houses. Smart -growth advocates overestimate the power of high -density housing to re- duce automobile depend- ence in a suburban context. An abundance of garage doors and a dearth of side- walks reveal the automobile orientation of Arbor Pointe's townhouses. (The light- colored strips of concrete are drainage gutters, not sidewalks.) Arbor Pointe —an emerging development in the St. Paul suburb called Inver Grove Heights —combines various housing types with commercial development in confouuance with Smart Growth principles, but the automobile clearly dominates. The Truth about "Smart Growth" 27 Density Inversion As is the case at Arbor Pointe, West Ridge Market has an abundance of ga- rage doors and a dearth of sidewalks. The development's purported transit orientation was a factor in its designa- tion as a Smart Growth demonstra- tion project, funded by the Metropolitan Council. Public subsidies totaling about $14 million, including nearly $1 million from the Metro- politan Council, helped build West Ridge Market eight miles west of downtown Min- neapolis, in the suburb Minnetonka. The views from most of West Ridge's 418 housing units are not of bucolic landscapes but of neighboring buildings. This housing is sorely needed in the core cities, where the urbane densities would deliver the social and envi- ronmental goods pursued by metropolitan progressives. West Ridge's retail component is indistinguishable from the run-of-the-mill suburban strip, and it includes no routine shopping destinations —grocery store, drug store —to serve residents' everyday needs. Approximately 100 percent of the retail customers drive in from the adjacent freeway. West Ridges's public funding was predicated partly on the development's purported transit orientation. But only a few of the development's residents walk routinely to the adjacent transit station. If located in Minneapolis, West Ridge's 418 apartments and townhouses would produce more than ten times as many transit commuters.27 Robert Cervero advises that suburban "transit -oriented developments" will not much change commuting habits unless they exist in a "transit metropolis." If any American metropolis can be characterized as a transit metropolis, it is the New York City metropo- lis, where 27 percent of commuters commuted on transit in 1990, compared to 13 percent in the runner-up metropolis —Chicago. The New York City metropolis accounted for 37 percent of the nation's transit commuting in 1990.28 It is no coincidence that America's only transit metropolis is anchored by its only transit city —the only American city in which more than half of commutes are by transit. The Metropolitan Council's apparent campaign to build a transit metropolis upon a low -density automobile -dependent core will not succeed. This campaign is predicated on the faulty assumption that the region's core cities have neither the capacity nor the obligation to absorb growth. 28 The Truth about "Smart Growth" Automobile -Oriented Transit New -generation (post-1970) rail -transit systems in the United States bypass urban neigh- borhoods to serve suburban park -ride lots. Most new -generation systems reach well into suburbia and make generous use of highway right-of-ways because the true mission of the systems is to grow the suburbs without growing highway congestion. Inherently inefficient automobile -oriented transit systems are a natural response to density inversion. Automobile -oriented tran- sit: MARTA's Dunwoody station (in a suburb of At- lanta) Automobile -oriented tran- sit: BART's Pleasant Hill station (in a suburb of San Francisco) As noted previously, the Washington, D.C., metropolis is the only one in America that has produced anything resembling transit -oriented polycentricity. It is too late to do that in metropolitan areas that lack Washington, D.C.'s unique circumstances. The Truth about "Smart Growth" 29 Automobile -Oriented Transit CBD Center Pioneer Square Reach 15 miles to Hillsboro Gov't. Ctr. Portland MAX Tight rail 7r — —• CBD Center Powell Street 6.8 miles to San Francisco Zoo Reach San Francisco MUNI Tight rail � mIIIlt tt IItipIIIIpppIIII ° "' II 111111 Illkum CBD Center Chatelet Reach 7.5 miles to Creteil Prefecture Paris METRO o s mi. Scale is the same for all three maps. Portland's acclaimed MAX epitomizes automobile -oriented rail transit, following high- ways far into suburban territory, where it shuttles commuters from park -ride lots to their downtown jobs. MAX devotes few of its stations to the neighborhoods surrounding downtown. The system's mission is to grow the suburbs without growing traffic conges- tion. "Despite huge investments in transit, the automobile is becoming more —not less —important in the region," reported Portland journalist Gordon Oliver after MAX had been running for eight years. "Portland's hard-earned urbanity is eroding," said Richard Moe and Carter Wilkie in their 1997 book, Changing Places: Rebuilding Com- munity in the Age of Sprawl. Highly evolved cities like San Francisco and Paris have highly productive local rail sys- tems, supplemented by separate regional systems (BART in San Francisco and RER in Paris). The local systems were developed first. San Francisco's MUNI light rail system produces twice as many passengers per route mile as Portland's MAX; and 34 percent of San Francisco's employed residents commute by transit, compared to only 11 percent of Portland's, according to 1990 census data. 30 The Truth about "Smart Growth" The Metropolitan Council's Vision for Growth In May 2002, the Metropolitan Council released its preliminary 30-year growth forecast for the Twin Cities metropolitan area. Developing suburbs will accommodate rapid growth in higher -density housing, according to the council's visionaries. Consistent with the urbaphobic attitudes prevalent among the political leadership of Minneapolis and St. Paul, the council allocates only 10 percent of new households to the two core cities. The council envisions a growth scenario in which: • It will take Minneapolis 73.5 years to gain the number of residents lost in the 40- year period from 1950 to 1990. • It will take Minneapolis 66.5 years to reach its 1950 population level. • Minneapolis will not regain its 1950 level of neighborhood commercial vitality until it doubles its 1950 population, which will take 315 years (see page 23). • It will take Minneapolis 253 years to achieve San Francisco's population density. In San Francisco, 33.5 percent of employed residents commute to work on transit, compared to only 16 percent in Minneapolis, based on 1990 data. (See Steve Belmont, Cities in Full, pp. 200-204, for the significance of San Francisco's hous- ing densities.) Note: These numbers are based on Minneapolis' year-2000 resident:household ratio of 2.36:1.0, and they assume that the average annual growth rate envisioned by the Met- ropolitan Council will continue beyond the council's 30-year forecast period. The Metropolitan Council has also released its preliminary forecast for jobs growth. Only 14 percent of the metro area's jobs will materialize in the two core cities, according to the trend -based forecast. The council envisions suburban edge cities well fed by tran- sit, but this is a futile dream. Automobile dependence is the reality of suburban business concentrations, transit -oriented or otherwise. In Transit Villages in the 21st Century, Robert Cervero reported that "employees in [suburban] transit supportive areas were generally as dependent on their cars to get to work as those working in more auto -oriented sites. "29 Whether the new suburban jobs envisioned by the Metropolitan Council materialize in new -urbanist "edge cities" or in widely scattered locations, approximately 100 percent of workers will arrive each day in their personal vehicles. The suburban business concentrations promoted by the council are potent generators of residential sprawl. Small towns 30 to 40 miles south of Minneapolis are being engulfed by suburbanization as newcomers settle into new subdivisions and commute to jobs in the suburbs south of Minneapolis. The commute from the new subdivisions to downtown Minneapolis would take more than an hour during the morning rush, but the commute to the business concentrations in the south suburbs takes as little as 20 minutes. The social and environmental damage wrought by hyper -sprawl is the price paid for the relatively quick exurban commute. The Truth about "Smart Growth" 31 An Alternate Growth Vision Metropolitan Recentralization An alternate growth vision for the Twin Cities metropolis allocates 52 percent of new households to Minneapolis' and St Pawl, rather than the paltry 1b Percent envisioned by the Metropolitan Council.(See Cities in Full by Steve Belmont, Chapters 5 and 10.) Core -city housing densities would more than double by the year 2050 under the recen- tralization scenario. Recentralization would bring Minneapolis' and St. Paul's year-2050 housing density to a level nearly as high as San Francisco's current density. Such a hous- ing density sustains respectable levels of transit service and neighborhood retailing. I I - Actual Growth - 1960 - 2000 - Forecast Growth 2000 - 2030 Forecast Growth Extended - 2030 - 2050 Recentrallzation Scenario _ 2000 - 2050 rat@� Metropolitan Council Met. Counoii HOUSE - forecast period ,, forecast periodHOLOS extended X 1,000 1500 1400 1300 1200 -'1100 * / • ...•.• *•�• 1000 900 •••• 800 II 700 ••'' 600 .500 •••.1 • 300 Dashed lines represent the Metropolitan Council's vision for growth extended to the year 2050; dotted lines rep- resent the recentralization scenario. Recentralization would bring 320,000 fewer households to suburbia over the 50-year period, reducing 400 the consumption of undevel- oped land by 150 to 300 200 square miles. 100 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050 Minneapolis -St. Paul Density Enhancement: Year-2000 & City -Centric Inventories Estimated Minus Units re- New units Housing Inventory demo- maining 2000 Inventory Type vear2000 % litions in 205(l to 2050 year 20,511 % Net Ad Det. House 136,000 47 96,000 40,000 0 40,000 6-96,000 Townhouse 10,000 3 0 10,000 250,000 260,000 37 250,000 Duplex 34,000 12 34,000 0 60,000 60,000 8 26,000 Apartment 110,000 38 25.000 85,000 265.000 350.000 49 240.000 Total 290,000 100 155,000 135,000 575,000 710,000 100 420,000 Gross density units/sq. mi. 2,693 6,592 Average Net density Units/acre 10.7 26.3 Minneapolis -Saint Paul Housing and Density Comparisons Estimated Units Units Inven- Ave. net Gross Years to Inventory added added tory density density SanFran year 2000 annually. °A) -) Z050 2050 du/acre du/s.m. density Current 290,000 --- --- --- 10.7 2,693 Met. Council 290,000 1,670, 10% 83,500 373,500 13.8 3,468 305 City -Centric 290,000 8,400, 52% 420,000 710,000 26.3 6,592 61 Under the 50-year recen- tralization scenario, the core cities would absorb 90 percent of the metro area's new apartment units and 33 percent of new houses. All new houses in the core cities would be townhouses. Nearly 100,000 detached houses would be demol- ished in the 50-year period to make way for higher - density housing. 32 The Truth about "Smart Growth" Metropolitan Recentralization The Evolution of Great Urban Neighborhoods America's great urban neighborhoods are products of evolution. The Paul Revere house and its higher -density neighbors (above) portray the evolution of Boston's North End. Boston's Beacon Hill was a neighborhood of freestanding houses and mansions until it evolved, early in the 19th century, into a prestigious neighborhood of red brick apartments and townhouses. On Manhattan's Upper East Side, mansions and townhouses once lined Park Avenue and Fifth Avenue; today they are lined with mid -ride and high-rise apartment buildings that contribute immeasurably to the district's commercial and cul- tural vitality. America's lesser urban neighborhoods —those inhabited by ordinary detached houses and duplexes —should be allowed to evolve into full -functioning urban neighborhoods. The Truth about "Smart Growth" 33 Metropolitan RecentralIzation Density Enhancement 17 Detached Houses 0 Townhouses 0 Apartments 17unn Total Net Density =71units/acre EXISTING CONDITION Detached Houses 1e Townhouses 4eApartments (3-story building) OV Units Total Net Density ~ua.4units/acre URBANIZED CONDITION Density knquadrupled, housing h;upgraded, and front -yard trees are re- tained inthishvontheUoo| example from Minneapolis' Willard -Hay neighborhood. Less than three miles from downtown Minneapolis, the block iozoned for de- tached houomoon5'OOO square -foot (minimum) lots. Revitalization is largely matter ofupznn' ing and market forces. The "urbanized condition" indicates townhouse lots that are two-thirds the width ofthe typical de- banhed'houamlot. Two exceptional detached houses survive. This street oftown- houses inCamzU Gardens, Brooklyn, hints at the pobanUo| visual character of detached -house neighborhoods with mature front -yard trees. 34 The Truth about "Smart Growth" Metropolitan Recentralization Housing Options for Urbanites 3rd Floor 2nd Floor 1st Floor Basement Section STUDIO Nt ROOF DECK The extravagantly appealing townhouses of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Boston are un- adulterated by curb cuts and garage doors, a situation that enhances the beauty of the streetscape. The traditional townhouses in these cities also lack alley access to garages; they lack garages altogether. Cities with alleys can have the best of both worlds, garages and unadulterated streetscapes. Taken a step further, garages can be attached, which would enable the houses to compete effectively with the best townhouses to be found in suburbia. Occupied space above the garage enhances the security of the alley. This de- sign by Etienne Montebello illustrates one of many ways to attach an alley -access garage to a townhouse. The Truth about "Smart Growth" 35 • Metropolitan Recentralization Environmentally Responsible Redevelopment Residential Building Types M Id Apartments ® Townhouses 0 D 0 0 Detached Houses J 1 Pp000p00 tiDootiopood 0 playground C �^ ,r st Holtman Site Master Plan: City officials enthusiasti- cally endorsed a plan that grossly shortchanges the potential of a clean -slate redevelopment site less than a mile from downtown Minneapolis. Detached houses are among the planned 900 housing units. The plan's net density is a mere 15 units per acre. (In calculating net density, block interiors —devoted to lawn and parking for residents —are counted as residential land; al- leys are counted as public right- of-way, consistent with density calculations for traditional city blocks.) Hollman Site Potential: The capacity of the site is at least 4,000 units —more than four times the number planned —plus 100,000 square feet of retail space. This den- sity can be achieved even if all new buildings are low-rise. A clean -slate urban site represents an opportunity to relieve growth pressure on suburbs. Tragically, such opportunities are routinely rebuffed in urban America. Minneapolis of- ficials endorsed a redevelopment plan (top) that grossly shortchanges the potential of a clean -slate site less that a mile from downtown. The land has the capacity for at least 4,000 housing units plus 100,000 square feet of retail space, but only 900 housing units are planned. In effect, the plan consigns more than 3,000 households to suburbia. 36 The Truth about "Smart Growth" Metropolitan Recentralization Commercial Street Revitalization Regional Commerce Centre at the Yonge/ Eglinton subway sta- tion, three miles north of downtown Toronto Regional Commerce Centre at the Yonge/St. Clair sub- way station, two miles north of downtown Toronto Toronto's Regional Commerce Centres are high -density nodes of office, retail, and resi- dential development bound to the CBD by proximity and by rail transit. The centres il- lustrate how major nodes along urban America's depleted community commercial streets could absorb decades worth of their metropolitan areas' office and retail development. The Truth about "Smart Growth" 37 Metropolitan Recentralization Commercial Street Revitalization West Broadway at Newton Av. North, existing condition West Broadway at Newton Av. North, potential condition Between major nodes, community commercial streets should be developed with mixed - use buildings in scale with the street width —four to eight stories in height for streets such as Minneapolis' West Broadway. 38 The Truth about "Smart Growth" Metropolitan Recentralization Centralized Rail Transit Miles of Route 45 CRR Stations 75 CRR Land Area 75 sq. mi. CRR Station Density 1.0 0 1 -i— Rail Line and Station ••••• Downtown Tunnel & Station NR Commercial Development © Park -Ride Garage Freeway or Major Arterial 5 mi. This hypothetical centralized rail configuration devotes nearly all of its track and sta- tions to the 75-square-mile central residential ring (CRR) surrounding downtown. Out- side the CRR, only the vitally important airport link warrants Additional resources. The route configuration will be defined by an ellipse rather than a circle in paired cities like Minneapolis/St. Paul, St. Louis/East St. Louis, Kansas City Missouri/Kansas City Kansas, etc. The two centers must be bound together by high -capacity transit and high - density development, as is the case with Manhattan's mid- town and downtown business districts, and with Paris's cen- tral arrondissements and La Defense. Source: Steve Belmont, Cities in Full (2002) Metropolitan policymakers promote suburban light rail and exurban commuter rail be- cause central -city neighborhoods are too sparsely populated to warrant investment in lo- cal rail transit. Aside from the CBD, city service is limited to a few stops en route to sub- urban destinations. Central -city density enhancement brings with it the opportunity and the necessity to centralize transit infrastructure in a configuration that will produce maxi- mum productivity. Suburbanized routes that serve park -ride and kiss -ride lots do not reduce automobile dependence; they merely reduce the length of the automobile portion of the work commute. Centralized transit infrastructure will help to ensure that met- ropolitan growth is pulled in rather than pushed farther out. The Truth about "Smart Growth" 39 Metropolitan Recentralization Centralized Rail Transit MUNI localized rail transit in San Francisco: Ocean Beach line in the Sunset neighborhood MUM localized rail transit in San Francisco: Balboa Park line in the Dolores Heights neighborhood San Francisco's MUNI light rail system epitomizes centralized rail transit. The system consists of five old trolley lines upgraded to modern light rail standards. The five lines, in the city's southwest quadrant, converge in a tunnel as they approach downtown, thereby avoiding traffic congestion. This system produces almost three times as many passenger trips per route mile as the average for America's new -generation light -rail sys- tems. (Compare these photos to the photos of automobile -oriented transit on page 28.) 40 The Truth about "Smart Growth" Conclusion Townhouses and apartments meaningfully alleviate automoble dependence only if situated near the center of the metropolis. High -density housing should be regarded as a precious metropolitan asset to be stra- tegically sited according to its ability to produce social and environmental benefits. The Truth about "Smart Growth" p. 41 The Metropolitan Council's apparent campaign to build a transit metropolis upon a low -density automobile -dependent core will not succeed. This campaign is predicated on the faulty assump- ion that the region's core cities have neither the capacity nor the obligation to absorb growth. The Truth about "Smart Growth" p. 27 rUBP CHI iC ; o &i� Smart Growth in the Twin Cities: Minneapolis' Neighborhood Revitalization Program maintains obsolete detached houses in the city, while the Metropolitan Council's Livable Communities Act generously subsi- dizes townhouses and apartments in developing suburbs. The Truth about "Smart Growth" 41 Conclusion Urban America's political leaders cause the rapid expansion of suburbs by opposing the measures necessary to revitalize cities —density enhancement and gentrification. Metro- politan planning organizations and "Smart Growth" advocates exonerate urban politicians and activists by demanding that suburbs absorb higher -density housing. Suburbs that ac- commodate townhouses and apartments enlarge their capacity to absorb growth and thereby minimize growth pressure on cities. Smart Growth advocates see the ideal metropolis as an undifferentiated smear of semi - suburban housing following transit corridors from the edge of downtown to the edge of the suburban frontier. Unacknowledged is the fact that townhouses and apartments meaningfully alleviate automobile dependence only if situated near the center of the me- tropolis. High -density housing should be regarded as a precious metropolitan asset to be strategically sited according to its ability to produce social and environmental benefits. Suburban apartments and townhouses, especially those that conform to the new -urbanist principles esteemed by Smart Growth advocates, compete with cities for urbanites and thereby undermine cities' prospects for revitalization. A socially and environmentally rational housing policy would create options for people who love high-energy cities, and also for the many people who prefer bucolic suburbs unencumbered by high -density. housing and commercial development. The Smart Growth agenda aims to satisfy neither constituency. In the Twin Cities, the Metropolitan Council has been criticized for foist- ing fast growth on suburbs whose residents want slow growth or none at all. Aside from social and environmental considerations, recentralization is the rational ap- proach to many challenges that confront metropolitan America today, such as: • Housing inflation will be slowed if not reversed by up -zoning underutilized ur- ban land —by flooding the market with enough land capacity to absorb decades worth of housing growth. Land is the major factor in housing inflation. • Deteriorating inner suburbs will be upgraded by middle-class homeowners dis- enchanted with their evolving central -city neighborhoods. Those intent on living in a detached house near the center of the metropolis will find it in inner suburbia. • High-speed rail will become a viable alternative to air travel where significant numbers of metropolitan residents have easier access to a downtown rail station than to a suburban or exurban airport. (Amtrak's Boston -New York -Washington, D.C., corridor is evidence.) Recentralization represents a holistic strategy to im- prove America's transportation systems. Metropolitan development is an issue far more consequential than we realized prior to September 11, 2001. Osama bin Laden declared his fatwa against the United States in 1998 with the intent to eject our military personnel from Saudi Arabia —the oil -rich land of Islam's holy sites. The crisis that brought our forces to Saudi Arabia was Iraq's inva- sion of Kuwait. Washington Post journalist Rick Atkinson reported the motivation be- hind America's military response: "Restoring the status quo in the Persian Gulf ... permitted Americans to indulge their addiction to foreign petroleum with hardly a sec- ond thought."3° The power to reduce our petroleum addiction rests more with one group of Americans than any other: the political leaders of America's cities. 42 The Truth about "Smart Growth" Key to photos on page 15: Top photo: Phillips neighborhood, South Minneapolis; Middle photo: Southampton/Jefferson area, East Buffalo; Bottom Photo: Chester Street, West Oakland. Endnotes 1 Cityscape, February 1996 2 Population Density/Restaurant Diversity numbered notes: (1) Minneapolis "non-CBD" numbers exclude downtown census tracts 44, 45, 46, 53, and 54, which are primarily non-residential, and where most food establishments close before 6:00 p.m. Population deductions based on 1990 census data. (2) "Suburbs" are those in the Metropolitan Council's 15th district, which is roughly equivalent to Minneapolis in geographic size and includes inner and outer suburbs: Apple Valley, Burnsville, Eagan , and Mendota Heights. (3) "Restaurant Labels" counts chain or multiple -location restaurants only once regardless of the number of establishments of the same name in the area analyzed. Additional restaurants of the same name are called "copies." Source —suburban restaurants: State of Minnesota Department of Environmental Health, list of food service establishments, 30 July 1997. Source —Minneapolis restaurants: Minneapolis Department of Environmental Health, list of food service establishments, 14 August 1997. Commercial restaurants open to the public year around are included in this analyses. See Cities in Full Table 2-2 for more information. 3 Bureau of Economic Analysis News Release, 6 May, 2002, noting a national per -capita income of $31,332 for metropolitan areas in 2000; New York Times, 3 June 2002; New York Times, 6 June 2002. 4 New York Times, 18 February 1999. 5 Transit Cooperative Research Program, Report 16, National Academy Press, 1996. 6 Metropolitan Council, Travel Behavior Inventory Summary Report, 1994. 7 Regional Plan Association, Where Transit Works, August 1976. 8 Darlene Walser, Jordan Area Community Council, quoted in City Limits, October 1995 9 An Analysis of Minneapolis NRP: Defining Community, A Neighborhood Perspective (1996) p. 13. 1° City of Minneapolis Comprehensive Plan, adopted 24 March 2000, pp 1.4.29, 1.4.40. 11 Greater Minneapolis Metropolitan Housing Corporation, "Lyn -Park --the Suburb in the City," undated. 12 Minneapolis Star Tribune, 4 March 2001. 13 John Kain and Apgar, W., Housing and Neighborhood Dynamics (1985) p. 111. 14 Tierney in New York Times, 26 March 2002; Wagner in Journal of Urban Affairs v.1, no. 17, pp. 93-94. 15 Maureen Kennedy and Paul Leonard, "Dealing with Neighborhood Change," Brookings Institution, April 2001, p. 20. 16 Maureen Kennedy and Paul Leonard, "Dealing with Neighborhood Change," Brookings Institution, April 2001, pp. 22, 27. 17 New York Times, 28 March 2002. 18 Zane Miller and Bruce Tucker, Changing Plans for America 's Inner Cities (1998) p. xix. 19 Myron Orfield, Metropolitics (1997) pp. 57, 83. 20 Alan Ehrenhalt, Lost City (1995) pp. 156, 262. 21 Maureen Kennedy and Paul Leonard, "Dealing with Neighborhood Change," Brookings Institution, April 2001, pp. 2, 20. 22 Economic Research Corporation, "Market Study of Neighborhood Commercial Areas and Nodes, City of Minneapolis," June 1996; Carole Zelle, "Minneapolis Historic Context Study: Neighborhood Commercial Centers," Draft, June 20, 1993. 23 City of Minneapolis Comprehensive Plan, adopted 24 March 2000, p. 1.4.32. 24 Andres Duany et.al., Suburban Nation, pp. 172, 173n, 185n. 25 Peter Calthorpe quoted in New York Times, 14 June 2002. 26 Peter Katz, The New Urbanism (1994) p. xiii. 27 The Metropolitan Council was unable to produce transit commute data for West Ridge, so the author monitored West Ridge's transit station during the morning peak— 6:45 to 8:45—on August 6 and 14, 2002 (fair-weather weekdays), and observed only seven pedestrians-3.5 per day, average —walking to the tran- sit station from the vicinity of West Ridge. (Some may have come from other housing nearby.) Minneapo- lis' ratio of transit commuters to housing units was 1 to 5.7 in 1990, or 73 daily transit commuters per 418 housing units. If some West Ridge residents drive to the station's park -ride lot, they are drive -transit com- muters rather than pure transit commuters. Minneapolis' housing units produce pure transit commuters. 28 Steve Belmont, Cities in Full (2002) pp. 273-74. 29 Cervero quoted by Steve Belmont, Cities in Full (2002) p. 271; see also Chapter 4 for a discussion about the purported virtues versus the realities of suburban business concentrations. 30 Rick Atkinson, Crusade: The Untold Story of the Persian Gulf War (1993) p. 499.