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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPZ Minutes; 06-04-18Lake Elmo Planning Commission Minutes; 6-4-18 City of Lake Elmo Planning Commission Meeting Minutes of June 4, 2018 Chairman Dodson called to order the meeting of the Lake Elmo Planning Commission at 7:00 p.m. COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Emerson, Kreimer, Dodson, Lundquist, Weeks, & Hartley COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Pearce, Dorschner & Johnson STAFF PRESENT: Planning Director Becker Approve Agenda: M/S/P: Lundquist/Hartley, move to approve agenda as presented, Vote: 6-0, motion carried unanimously. Public Hearing – Final Plat and Planned Unit development PUD Plans and Easement Vacation Becker started her presentation regarding the final plat and final PUD plans for the Royal Golf 2nd addition. This addition is for 64 residential lots, including 22 traditional single family detached lots and 38 villa lots for detached single family townhomes. One change from the preliminary plat is that some of the original single family lots are being changed to villa lots and generally the neighbors are in favor of this change. Becker went through some of the points of this development including that the density is consistent with the preliminary plat. The outlots that will be city owned must be dedicated to the City at the time of the plat being recorded. The developer is reducing the number of trees being planted and has agreed to pay the City $500 of parkland dedication for each required tree not planted. Most of the conditions of approval a re conditions from preliminary plat not yet met. There is also a request for an easement vacation, and new easements will be put in place. Weeks asked about the restrictive covenant on outlot B. Becker stated that is a city owned outlot and it is just to ensure there is no grading or anything that disturbs the natural vegetation. Hartley asked if there is a conservation easement, does the City understand that to protect those easements, they will need to be monitored at least once a year. Becker 2 Lake Elmo Planning Commission Minutes; 6-4-18 clarified that they are allowed to place a restrictive covenant as approved by the City; it does not necessarily have to be a conservation easement. Dodson asked about the size of the Villa lots and if they could go smaller to get density numbers up. Becker stated that is as small as they can go per the approved preliminary plan. Weeks asked about the comment that there was significant testimony that 20 th Street is already dangerous without additional traffic. Weeks stated that when she drives that road it is pretty quiet. Lundquist stated that part of the issue is that there is no shoulder, so walking and biking is dangerous. Hartley is wondering if condition of approval 19 and 26 are redundant. Becker stated that this is the resolution that was already passed and is just being stated what the progress on the preliminary conditions are. Dodson asked about the HOA and sub HOA’s. He is concerned if separate villas have their own HOA boards. Becker doesn’t think that is something the city can govern. Dodson asked the developer about the HOA’s. Jim Felton, Royal Golf, stated that it is structured that way because they are different types of products with different levels of maintenance and they are separated by streets. Felton stated that they are already in place for phase I. The HOA’s will be added to with each phase. Public Hearing opened at 7:27 pm No one spoke and there were no written comments. Public Hearing closed at 7:28 pm Lundquist thinks the development is phenomenal and the plan looks on target. Hartley stated that his concern is the swapping out of one density of housing for another. Becker stated that the preliminary plans have been revised to reflect the change. Weeks stated that the villa product might be selling better. M/S/P: Lundquist/Kreimer, move to recommend approval of the Royal Golf Club at Lake Elmo 2nd Addition Final Plat and PUD Plans based on the findings of fact and conditions outlined in the staff report, Vote: 6-0, motion carried unanimously. M/S/P: Lundquist/KreImer, move to recommend approval of the easement vacation request to vacate an existing drainage and utility easements over Outlots R, P and O, subject to condition of approval, Vote: 6-0, motion carried unanimously. Public Hearing – Zoning Text Amendment, Preliminary and Final Plat, Zoning Map Amendment and Conditional Use Permit 3 Lake Elmo Planning Commission Minutes; 6-4-18 Becker stated that at the request of the applicant, the proposed bus terminal is being tabled, but the public hearing should be opened and not closed. The applicant plans to come back to the June 18th meeting. Public Hearing opened at 7:35 pm M/S/P: Kreimer/Dodson, move to keep the public hearing for the bus terminal open until the June 18th meeting, Vote: 6-0, motion carried unanimously. Public Hearing – Preliminary Plat and Zoning Map Amendment Becker started her presentation regarding the Preliminary Plat and Zoning Map Amendment for a ten unit single family detached home development to be called Wyndham Village as well as a Zoning Map Amendment to rezone the property from Rural Single Family Residential to Urban Low Density Residential. The existing home that is currently on the site will move to a new location and 9 new single family lots will be created. The biggest concern with the previous sketch plan was the lack of usable back yards on some of the lots with the 66 foot NSP easement that runs in the back of some lots. This reduced the number of lots on the sketch plan from 13 to 10 lots. This reduced the density from 2.17 to 1.67 units per acre. The property is located in the greenbelt corridor. There is no specific width, but the map would indicate approximately a 200 foot width. The width was increased from 40 to 80 feet from the previous sketch plan and it is close to the buffer for Northport. The landscape plan has not been approved yet, but it is a condition of approval that the landscape plan be approved before the recording of final plat. Staff is recommending that park dedication be met with fees. There is a trail that will connect that the Northport development. The engineer has recommended a number of issues including that the amount of ROW being dedicated be expanded and that written permission be obtained for the stormwater discharge going to adjacent property. MAC is recommending that a disclosure statement be given to new home buyers about potential noise and location to the airport. Generally the lot dimensions and bulk requirements are met with the exception of one lot that does not meet the 70 foot width requirement for this zone. It is a recommended condition of approval that the lot meet the minimum requirement. There is a Zoning Map Amendment requested to rezone the property from RS to Village Low Density. The surrounding properties are low density residential, with the minimum density requirements of 2-4 units per acre. This property would not meet the density requirements for this zone with the decreased densities so Staff is recommending that this property be rezoned to V-LDR. 4 Lake Elmo Planning Commission Minutes; 6-4-18 Kreimer is wondering if staff has discussed the lot width for that one lot. He is ok with it being smaller. Becker stated that the developer was ok with it being a condition of approval. If they don’t make the change, it would be a platting variance. Hartley asked about the MAC’s letter requiring keeping the water retention ponds free of water fowl. If this is shared with Northport, that becomes very difficult and it is also owned by the City. This sounds like the City would be on the hook to chase the geese out of there. Becker stated that it is a recommendation, not a requirement and it is the same with Northport and Easton Village. Dodson stated that he remembers that the ponds are designed with steep slopes to discourage water fowl. The open fields would have attracted even more water fowl than the ponds would. Public Hearing opened at 7:50 pm Kevin Schroepfer, 11520 30th Street, owns property directly to the west of this development. Schroepfer provided information from previous meetings. Schroepfer is wondering why the applicant is requesting a different zone tonight than the one that was proposed with the Comprehensive Plan Amendment. Becker stated they are proposed to be rezoned to VLDR. There was a greenbelt buffer that was shown on the Southern portion of this development. The February 20th City Council meeting packet had a recommended condition of approval of having a green belt on the Southern portion of this parcel. The buffer was determined to be 80 feet. If you look at the preliminary plat, the green belt buffer does not appear to be included in lot #7 and would need to be added. Becker stated that if the City Council wants to see the buffer included on lot #7, they can make that a condition of approval. The Comprehensive Plan shows all of lot #7 being a Village green space corridor. There is no buffer on the West Side or North Side of lot #7. Should these areas have buffers since it is the perimeter of the proposed development? For the lots that abut the greenway, there should be a 20 foot setback. Schroepfer would like disclosure statements to lots 8, 9 and 10 regarding the NSP easement and the restrictions that creates for those lots. Schroepfer stated that the driveway for lot 7 running across the gas easement could create a problem in the future with that lot not having access to their property if that needs to be dug up. Rich Coppersmith, 3075 Lisbon Ave N, is wondering if this development is approved, will he also be able to develop his property. Becker stated that all property owners have the right to apply to develop their property under the guidelines of the City. Dodson stated that for 1 acre, it is typically not worth the expense because there are fees associated with developing. Becker stated that she would have to review the property more closely to determine what the density requirements would be and if it would meet all City requirements. Public Hearing closed at 8:06 pm 5 Lake Elmo Planning Commission Minutes; 6-4-18 Emerson asked about the 20 foot setbacks to the green belt. Becker stated that is referencing the Urban districts that is different than Village Low Density. Dodson is wondering how the sewer connection will be done with that gas line easement. Becker stated that is why a condition is that written permission be granted for any utilities across that. Weeks stated that this seems consistent with nearby development. Dodson stated that there are many challenges with this property and they have done a good job accommodating those challenges. M/S/P: Kreimer/Hartley, move to recommend approval of the proposed Zoning Map Amendment to rezone 11580 30th Street North from Rural Single Family to Village Urban Low Density Residential, Vote: 6-0, motion carried unanimously. M/S/P: Kreimer/Hartley, move to recommend approval of the Wyndham Village Preliminary Plat subject to staff recommended findings and conditions of approval, Vote: 6-0, motion carried unanimously. City Council Updates – None Staff Updates 1. Upcoming Meetings a. June 18, 2018 b. July 9, 2018 Meeting adjourned at 8:20 pm Respectfully submitted, Joan Ziertman Planning Program Assistant