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HomeMy WebLinkAbout3-14-07 Park Minutes FinalLake Elmo Park Commission Minutes of the Special Meeting March 14, 2007 Chairman Steele called to order the meeting of the Lake Elmo Parks Commission at 7:04 P.M. COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Steele, Bruchu, T. Bouthilet, Wagner, Ames, Larson, Blackford, Booher, Adenene, and Dunn. STAFF PRESENT: Project Director Hoyt, Interim Administrator Planner Matzek. VILLAGE AREA PLANNING CONSULTANTS PRESENT: Bruce Jacobson Agenda Chairman Steele added #4 “Meeting Schedule” M/S/P, Blackford/Ames to approve the agenda as amended. 9:0 Presentation of the Draft Village Master Plan Project Director Hoyt handed out a paper identifying what has occurred and what is expected to happen. Two open houses are planned for March 21 and 29. The City will be moving forward with an Alternative Urban Areawide Review (AUAR). An advisory group will be established. Chairman Steele asked how long the process takes. Project Director Hoyt responded that an AUAR takes anywhere from eight to thirteen months as it is a complex project. An AUAR is like an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) but it is done in advance of a project to identify mitigation actions beforehand. The current plan for putting in the trunk sewer up to Reid Park would be started the summer of 2007 and complete the summer of 2008. Chairman Steeled asked if houses would begin selling in 2008. Project Director Hoyt stated that the market may help determine when homes are built and sold. Commissioner Blackford asked if the Park Commission would be kept informed of the AUAR if it had to do with parks. Project Director Hoyt stated that they would. Commission Larson asked if the AUAR would specify the density of development. Project Director Hoyt said ranges of unit counts would be viewed. Commissioner Larson asked if the AUAR process dictates the density on a parcel of land or if the Council made that decision. Project Director Hoyt said the AUAR recommends mitigation for negative environmental impacts. Mr. Jacobson would like to know how the plan reflects what the commission is looking for in parks and trails. There is a lot of acreage that is either farmed or vacant that is available for new development of some kind in the village area. Many of the property owners have been involved in discussions of the village area for a couple of years. Mr. Jacobson covered the guiding principles in the document. He identified opportunities to have signature icons– new City Hall, community family center, and other components of a community campus. Thought was given to connections between the core village area and to neighborhoods through parks, boulevard streets, and trails. He identified the recommended housing types and suggested locations. Also included in the plan is a parcel plan identifying ranges of housing unit numbers. The low end of the range would start at 600. Commissioner Dunn asked how much land would be associated with the community campus. Mr. Jacobson responded that the idea was to have a ten acre parcel that could be created in phases with an additional five acres across the street. Chairman Steele asked what size the civic site is proposed for. Mr. Jacobson replied that a couple acres may be adequate. He then presented the existing and proposed parks, trails, and greenbelt buffer. Existing residents and businesses are planned to be included in the final draft as this plan is not recommending displacement, but enhancement. Case studies were provided of communities of approximately 5,000 people. The draft master plan will address infrastructure and stormwater management, which is currently being addressed. Chairman Steele asked how many acres of park are in the plan. Mr. Jacobson said he has not done a detailed study, but several hundred acres are included in the proposed buffer. Playfield park is approximately 20 acres, the City square is two or three, and watercourse park approaches 30 acres. The buffer area has a minimum of 300 feet in width. There is intended to be a fifty percent open space dedication with development. Chairman Steele said it is important to know if the commission should focus on taking land or cash with future applications. Mr. Jacobson said that the civic center was proposed to connect to pocket parks by green boulevards. Chairman Steele identified that the draft Parks Plan has identified levels of service for fields. Mr. Jacobson said that a number of questions exist regarding the buffer area. What standards will be used as to how the buffer will be used? Who will be responsible in caring for the property? Should it be utilized as weeds, habitat, trails, or animal paths? Much of the plan is based on partnerships. Creating and maintaining the buffer may rely on the homeowners association for assistance. Commissioner Larson asked if the buffer area would be maintained by private owners. If so, this brings up the question of public versus private accessibility. Chairman Steele asked about his review of park planning and asked if there was planned connectivity to the Lake Elmo Regional Park and Sunfish Lake Park. He also wanted to know if there were trails planned in watercourse park. Mr. Jacobson stated that trails were planned for the park and internal connections worked well within the village area. He believes it would be a great connection to the Lake Elmo Regional Park. Commissioner Ames asked if there were connections from the existing neighborhoods to the village center. Mr. Jacobson said that there are no streets planned to connect the existing developments to the village area. Commissioner Bruchu asked where the water from watercourse park was planned to come from. Mr. Jacobson stated this would be fed primarily by storm events. Commissioner T. Bouthilet stated that he lives in the old village area. He said that in the plan it looks like there are plans to add a trail along 32nd Street North. The existing streets are very narrow with small front yards and garages close to the street. Mr. Jacobson replied that the street is shown to have boulevard trees. Improvements should be done as opportunities arise. Commissioner T. Bouthilet asked if it would be more expensive for those who want to hook up to sewer because everyone is not being required to do so. Project Director Hoyt said the City Council will be looking at that soon. Chairman Steele said the parks plan had been created with the idea that there would be a major central community park with a sports center and walking paths that would be the heart of the community. The master plan identifies the civic square as the heart of the community. Mr. Jacobson said the community campus was intentionally placed in a central location with a corridor to a park. Chairman Steele asked where it would be located in relation to senior housing. A community park would serve everyone, but the senior housing is located too far from the park. Mr. Jacobson stated that the intent was to make green connections, but thought it was a good idea. Commissioner Blackford asked if special needs housing would be located near the central park. Mr. Jacobson said it could be located in a number of places. Mr. Ames stated that if there are no connections to the rest of the city, 80 percent of the city will not have access to the village area except by busy roadways. Planner Matzek handed out a map showing the village area with the proposed trails from the Comprehensive Trails Plan. Mr. Jacobson asked if the proposed buffer area would meet the intent of the greenway as proposed by the draft parks plan. The commission believed it would. Commissioner Blackford asked if larger players such as Washington County Parks have been involved in discussions. Project Director Hoyt said she has not worked with the Washington County parks department, but has worked with the Washington County transportation department. Commissioner Blackford said the Metropolitan Council is urging this planning for the future. She asked if the city would be forced to connect to entities that that city does not want to, such as the county park system. Project Director Hoyt said she has not been involved with that. Commission Blackford would like the plan to be considered for the city and not the county. Project Director Hoyt said she has met with the Metropolitan Council three times and they understand that the village plan is about Lake Elmo. Commissioner T. Bouthilet said that the horse farm in the village area was discussed as being kept. Has there been any thought given to the potential development of that area in the future. Project Director Hoyt stated that the zoning and guidelines would need to be in place. Mr. Schiltgen is very interested in seeing it stay as a farm for a long time. Commissioner Ames pointed out that only one of the case studies is a suburb, similar to Lake Elmo. Mr. Jacobson said that the intent of the case studies is to compare the character of the community. Commissioner Larson stated that Lake Elmo would be a village of four to five thousand people with the amenities servicing 24,000 people. People are counting on a lot of organized space. Mr. Jacobson said that there is a plan for a community playfield park. They have not crunched the numbers to identify how many fields would be needed. Commissioner Larson stated that the number of fields is important to the creation of the park plan. Commissioner Bruchu stated that the parks would be more appealing if it was all on one side of the railroad. Mr. Jacobson stated that the intent is to have a designated crossing area and fences for safety. The parks serve as a buffer to the railroad. Commissioner Blackford said she wants to make sure that the city always has the choice if they want to connect to the parks identified on page 17 of the village plan. Ann Bucheck, 2301 Legion Avenue Ms. Bucheck asked for the number of units and people associated with the plan. Project Director Hoyt said there are a few things that have to happen. Ranges are identified from 600 to 1,500 units. An environmental review process will look at the impacts of those units. Ms. Bucheck said she hopes the number is based on what residents want and what is appropriate and not considered based on funding. Residents would rather go without amenities then have more units. She then asked about water runoff. Mr. Jacobson stated that by law, more water is not allowed to be released from the site then has historically been released. Ms. Bucheck stated that if a connection was made between Sunfish Lake Park and Lake Elmo Regional Park, there is concern more people will use and run over the park. She asked if there are plans for ball fields in Sunfish Lake Park. The commission said the draft park plan addresses that ball fields are inappropriate for Sunfish Lake Park. Commissioner Blackford stated she does not want to see the AUAR complete before the commission is allowed to see it. Project Director Hoyt stated that the process includes a number of meetings, which may not be in front of the park commission, but is open for input. Meeting Schedule Planner Matzek stated that the regular meeting was scheduled for the following week. However, she would recommend cancelling that meeting and allow staff and planning consultants TKDA additional time to make revisions to the draft park plan before it is brought back to the park commission. The commission concurred. Planner Matzek also said that the city code identifies a joint meeting for the park commission and city council in April and the commission would therefore have two meetings that month. Adjourned 9:05. Respectfully submitted, Kelli Matzek City Planner