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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2002.11.14 PC MinutesMINUTES HUGO PLANNING COMMISSION NOVEMBER 14, 2002 Call to Order Chairperson Schumann called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. PRESENT: Bailly, Kleissler, Malaski, McRoberts, Peltier, Rosenquist, Schumann ALSO PRESENT: John Rask, Community Development Director Kendra Lindahl, Planner Michele Lindau, Planning Commission Secretary Minutes of October 24, 2002 Malaski made motion, Peltier seconded, to recommend approval of the minutes of October 24, 2002 as submitted. All Ayes. Motion carried. Bertuleit CUP for Auto Sales A public hearing was scheduled to consider the application of David Bertuleit, 1750 Oakwood Drive for a conditional use permit for motor vehicle sales on property located at 15775 Forest Boulevard. The applicant also requested a variance to permit automobile sales on a lot that is 100 feet in width, where the ordinance requires the lot to be 150 feet wide. The CD Director stated he had spoke to Bertuleit earlier and he requested the item be tabled to allow him time to work with staff to amend the application. Schumann made motion, McRoberts seconded, to table Bertuleit's request until the December meeting of the Planning Commission. All Ayes. Motion carried. Waters Edge North Preliminary Plat — Pulte Homes The Planning Commission continued the public hearing they began on October 24, 2002 to consider the application of Pulte Homes, 815 Northwest Parkway, Egan, for a rezoning to PUD, PUD general plan and preliminary plat for "Waters Edge North" consisting of 591 homes on the 186 -acre parcel located east of Everton Avenue, west of the Creekview Preserve development. On October 24, the Planning Commission had tabled the application to allow the applicant additional time to address the City's concerns. Planning Commission Meeting November 14, 2002- page 2 The CD Director informed the Commission and audience that the notice received by many of the residents in Creekview Preserve was not sent by the City and contained incorrect and misleading information. The Director apologized for any inconvenience the notice may have caused. City Planner Kendra Lindahl presented her review of the plat for Water's Edge North, providing background of the proposed development and highlighting the changes the development team had made in response to comments made by the public at the previous Commission meeting and concerns of City staff. Schumann reconvened the public hearing. A resident questioned what the price ranges were on the proposed homes. Tom Stanke, a representative of Pulte Homes, responded that the homes were proposed to be single family homes between $225,000 and $325,000; Patio Homes between $180,000 and $250,000; and Village Homes between $125,000 and $140,000. John Kelly, 5340 159th Street, questioned how they were able to put three homes on a lot equal in size to one single-family lot in Creekview Preserve. Brian Kleist, 5530 1591h Street, commented on the heavy traffic in Creekview and the lack of stop signs on 1591" Street. Kleist asked how big the park would be at the water tower site and the City Planner replied that Len Pratt had not yet submitted a plat for that property. Pauline Lacher, 5708 157th Circle North, said the Hugo Elementary School could continue to add satellites to their school but they were still "maxed out" in lunchroom and gymnasium space and their classrooms were crowed. She asked what the plans were should the school not be built. The CD Director said a new school would be subject to a referendum. If unsuccessful, the District would have to bus children to other schools. He added that the School Board recognizes the need for another school and would be focusing their efforts on the school site in Hugo. Colleen Vance, 5470 159th Street, said she had two small children and was concerned about the increased traffic. Vanced asked if there were plans for stop signs or speed bumps to slow down the traffic and if busing does occur, would all buses travel through the Creekview Preserve neighborhood. The CD Director explained that one of the needs identified in the Everton Avenue Neighborhood Study was to disperse traffic safely through the neighborhoods and the need to create a balanced transportation system. It was foreseen that most of the traffic destined for the freeway would not be going through the Creekveiw Preserve development, and there was a need for a north/south corridor. Gary Trudeau, 5360 1591h Street, said he attended many of the Everton Avenue meetings and the master plan contained the new water tower site, parkland site, connector roads, and school site. Trudeau said that the plans regarding the roads appear to have changed since then. He said the proposed wildlife corridor wasn't very wide, the City should take more time in considering this application, and he was skeptical that the plans won't change again. Planning Commission Meeting November 14, 2002- page 3 The CD Director explained how the 120 -Day law limited the time allowed to review projects and that the Everton Avenue Plan was done on a concept level. Ron Sever, a resident on 157th Street, said the proposed greenspace was not like the waterway shown in the Everton Avenue Study and housing densities were not consistent with what was being proposed. Sever said there were no communications with the people that were being affected by what was being developed. Adam Marsh, 5535 157th Way, was concerned about the architectural style and covenants placed on the homes and asked if all houses along the corridor would be the same. Stanke replied that there were multiple home designs to choose from and monotony codes would prevent the homes from being the same. Marsh asked what the property to the south of his home was planned for. The CD Director replied that it was private property and there were no plans for development of it at this time. Kleist asked what happened to the Creekview Preserve park dedication fee. Kurt Grainger, 15780 Fenway Circle, said the proposed development reminded him of the Kenco Development (Rice Lake Meadows). He said he did not approve of the home prices and the corridor would not be a "wildlife" corridor as proposed. Grainger said the proposed openspace is water and was nonbuildable with the exception of the school land. He also said the development would hurt their (Creekview residents) real estate values and that there was no reason to increase density and decrease lot size. Paul Moser, 15890 Fenway Avenue, said the Everton Avenue Plan shows the greenway corridor and emphasizes the importance of wildlife corridors. Moser said there was a lot of wildlife there. He also stated that the grading plan was incomplete and showed land being raised which would push water on to his backyard. Linda M., a resident on Fenway Circle, said the greenway corridor was very wet, and if they fill it in, the water would need someplace to go and they already have water problems. She also said they could skip the trail; they would rather look at trees. Paul Moser agreed. Mary Nadeau, 15680 Foxhill Avenue, sad she felt she had been "jipped". She said she had to fight for stop signs and street signs and there still was no curbing at the end of Foxhill. She also stated that her garage had been built on the wrong side of her home. Shelly Flaherty, 5640 157th Way, question what type of element the Village Homes, at a cost of $125,000, would bring into the community. Adam Marsh asked what prevents the developers from paying park money instead of creating the parks. Planning Commission Meeting November 14, 2002- page 4 The CD Director said they would be required to deed it to the City. Teri Grahn, 15820 Fenway Circle, said the culvert near her home had been lowered because it was flooding her yard and that the proposed development would make it worse. The CD Director said there was a comprehensive stormwater drainage system considered in the Everton Avenue Plan. Mike Sicard, 5720 157th Circle, said people will be using 159th Street as a shortcut to the freeway and 1591h was not wide enough. He questioned why the proposed development had to be so dense. Colleen Vance asked why the City had put on a moratorium on at one time. Schumann said it was due mostly to infrastructure issues, and the City cannot legally have a moratorium in place for more than 21/2 years. Vance asked what would happen to the schools and downtown area. Malaski said that other government agents were involved with such decisions. Vance asked what would happen should the school not be approved and the CD Director replied that it would be City owned land. Ron LeSeur (?) said the last school referendum passed by only 48-68 votes and it was very possible that a referendum for a new school may not pass. He also said people are not being communicated to on what is being changed. Gary Trudeau asked what was the "Water's Edge" and Dennis Griswold, from Pulte Homes, said it referred to the water along the parkway. Trudeau asked it there was going to be enough water pressure and the CD Director said there would. Marsh stated that it seems the City doesn't communicate with the residents. Jim Peterson, Trail Head Development, said he had been involved with the Everton Avenue Plan and participated in the Charette the City conducted. He said the plan could allow 800 units on the site and the only other concern heard from Creekview residents was that there was no park. Peterson said Trailhead is unable to fix the problems in Creekview Preserve. Kleist suggested the parkway connect to 165th Street and he expressed his displeasure over the City not installing the stop sign on 1591h Street. Eric Faehn, 5780 Fenway Circle, asked why they couldn't move the west boundary of the greenway corridor 150 feet to the west to preserve existing trees and not interfere with drainage. Matt Coreen, 12490 Europa Avenue, suggested the northeast corner of the proposed development be tweeked to move homes away from the greenway corridor. Coreen asked when another Planning Commission Meeting November 14, 2002- page 5 moratorium could be put on and the CD Director said statutes are silent on that but specific reasons are needed for a moratorium. DebbieVranyes, 5720 1591" Street, said she was told that a stop sign may be installed at a future time and she would like it to be reconsidered. Dean Dehling, 15749 Fenway Avenue, said the City shouldn't let $2 million in free land factor into their decision on this development. Bob Harding, 5350 159`h Street, asked approximately how many people would the development bring to Hugo. Tom Stanke replied it would be approximately 1,100 people. There were no other comments and Schumann closed the public hearing. The Commission took a short break and reconvened at 10:20 pm. Rosenquist suggested the trail be taken out and asked if it could run down the sidewalk in front of the homes instead of behind them. Dennis Griswold said they could take the trail out to the street. Schumann said he would like to see the homes moved to the west and the buffer widened. Griswold said they would be impacting other areas and imposing on public dedicated spots, but they could provide buffering. Bailly asked if 1591h Street could be a dead end road and Schumann pointed out that it could not because it was a collector street. Schumann said the City needed to look at stop sign issues in Creekview. Rosenquist asked if the temporary road would be blacktopped prior to home sales and Griswold said it would. McRoberts said, in referring to the density, that it was nice to see developers not ask for the maximum. However, in the Everton Avenue Study, McRoberts said the principle was to go from higher density near TH61 to lower density to the west and this principle was being violated with high-density homes near the agriculture properties. He also said the wildlife corridor should be left as intended -for wildlife. McRoberts said he felt the proposed development was not accommodating the spirit of smooth transition in density and the sprit of what was intended for a wildlife corridor. Peltier concurred. Schumann said he felt it was not a gross violation in density. Malaski said the developers in Creekview should have had some forethought. She said she wants to see landscaping of the homes on the east side of the development if they do remain as proposed, but she can't see having higher density near Creekview. Planning Commission Meeting November 14, 2002- page 6 Schumann asked that they put the higher quality houses along the east border of the development. Griswold offered moving the path to the west, which would allow enough trees to remain to create a buffer. He said they could realign the street to move it over to the west approximately 40 feet and this would leave approximately 200 -foot lots. Kleissler acknowledged the value of the school property and asked what the process was regarding the school, and the CD Director said it would be deeded to the City. Kleissler was also concerned about the traffic flow and said that when considering stop signs, it should be taken into consideration how many streets children would need to cross to get to school. Bailly asked about the back of the homes along the parkway and if there were to be standards on the height and types of fencing allowed. Griswold responded saying there would be landscaping and berming along the parkway. Schumann asked that the grading plan be carefully considered to ensure there would be no water problems. Rosenquist made motion, Peltier seconded, to recommend approval of the resolution approving the preliminary plat and PUD General plan for Waters Edge North with the condition that they move the road in the northeast corner of the development to the west, remove trail between the homes in Creekview Preserve Development and Waters Edge Development and run it along the road to the west, and blacktop the temporary road prior to the issuance of any Certificate of Occupancy in the Waters Edge North development. Ayes: Bailly, Kleissler, Malaski, Peltier, Rosenquist, Schumann Nays: McRoberts Motion Carried. Sketch Plan — Heritage Development for Lakeview Estates Heritage Development, 422 East County Road D, Little Canada, appeared before the Planning Commission to solicit informal comments on a sketch plan for a proposed housing development. The development would be located north of 122"d Street and east of Ethan Avenue on 12 acres of land and would consist of 10 new lots plus a lot for the existing single family home. The applicant is proposing to develop the property as a PUD to allow smaller lots. The lots would range in size from 0.68 to 1.18 acres. The development would include one outlot that would serve as common open space. Under the existing R-1 zoning, the applicant could plat nine lots on the property that meet the minimum ordinance requirements. In order to plat these lots, the applicant would need to construct a road along the east property line. This road would adjoin the lots in the Lake Air Estates Subdivision. By creating a road along the common lot line, the properties in Lake Air Estates development would front on two streets — the proposed street and Europa Avenue. Planning Commission Meeting November 14, 2002- page 7 The applicant had held a neighborhood meeting to discuss the proposed development. The neighboring property owners expressed concerns about having a road along their rear property lines. As such, the applicant revised the plans to move the street farther to the west. However, by moving the street, it is no longer possible to have one -acre lots that meet the minimum lot size or lot depth requirements of the ordinance. The applicant identifies the proposed street alignment as one of the benefits of the requested PUD. The Planning Commission reviewed the concept plan and provided comments. Specifically, Commission members felt they should reduce the amount of lots and design the plat using the R-1 zoning district standards. The Commission also stated they were not in favor of individual septic treatment systems and preferred an easement be obtained from a property owner to the east for sewer hook-up. Downtown/Central Hugo Preservation and Improvement District The Commission requested the Community Development Director provide information regarding preservation and improvement districts for discussion at the next Planning Commission meeting. Adiournment McRoberts made motion, Malaski seconded, to adjourn at 11:59 pm. All Ayes. Motion carried. Michele Lindau, Secretary Planning Commission