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Planning Commission Minutes — February 10, 2005 <br />explained that they had been included all along in the shaping of the proposed store. Cathy <br />Anderson, who worked on the architecture, did the project "Village of Blaine" and the <br />redevelopment of Apache Plaza. Also members of Westwood Planning Engineering, United <br />Property Group, and Rottlund Homes were in attendance. United Properties group would own <br />the building and lease it to Festival Foods. <br />Pratt talked about the loading dock, wing walls and screening, saying an eight -foot high berm <br />would accomplish the screening while wing walls are subject to damage. They would rather <br />screen with the berm instead of the wing wall. He explained that he would like to leave the <br />upland area to the east berm free until the property develops. Schumann pointed out that the <br />development is located along the corridor into Hugo. <br />Pratt addressed the issue of trash enclosures saying the owners agreed not to have dumpsters <br />located outside. The dumpster enclosures would be made of the same block that the building is <br />made of and would be enlarged. Because of wetlands, it was necessary to place the trash <br />enclosure where they did. <br />Bruce Carlson, Vice President of Retail Development, Untied Properties, said the company <br />currently manages 22 million square feet of commercial property. The compactors would be <br />screened by the berm and putting up a wall would be a redundant and unnecessary expense. It <br />would be a service area only. The compactors would be self-contained. <br />Director of Operations of Knowlans Supermarkets explained that the compactors would be self- <br />contained and accessed from inside the store with no external parts or trash. <br />Pratt discussed landscaping issues, explaining shade trees only offer shade for certain months of <br />the year so they instead put their efforts into designing the exterior of the building where it would <br />look nice all year; they did not want to hide it or screen it with landscaping. The landscaping in <br />the center island would parallel what was in the split entry island and the aesthetics of the <br />landscaping would be balanced. There would also be landscaping in the parkway as you come in <br />from the back of the building. They also committed to planting four -inch caliper trees within the <br />parking lots and along the public streets. <br />McRoberts was concerned that it was not a good idea to put all the same kinds of trees, <br />specifically Honey Locust in the parking area. He strongly encouraged a mix of species. <br />Cathy Anderson, Architectural Consortium, said she had designed many shopping centers over <br />the years. She said she felt the beauty of the centers in the past years has risen and they have <br />found that to have a balance, it was necessary to keep up the parking lot areas. The Honey <br />Locust trees allowed the center to be seen, which would benefit the retailers. Islands would be <br />bermed with low shrubs and they have studied species of plants that would not be bothered by <br />the salt from snow removal. <br />Pratt discussed the location of the identifying sign and said that he wanted it to be set closer to <br />C.S.A.H 8. Dave Hemple, Contractor Property Development Company, said their intent was to <br />