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PC-01-18-11 CITY OF SHOREWOOD COUNCIL CHAMBERS PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING 5755 COUNTRY CLUB ROAD TUESDAY, 18 JANUARY 2011 7:00 P.M. MINUTES CALL TO ORDER Chair Geng called the meeting to order at 7:02 P.M. ROLL CALL Present: Chair Geng; Commissioners Hasek (at 8:15 P.M.), Vilett, Davis, and Arnst; Planning Director Nielsen; Council Liaison Siakel. Absent: Commissioners Hutchins and Ruoff. Chair Geng welcomed newly-elected Councilmember Debbie Siakel to the meeting noting that she will serve as Council Liaison to the Planning Commission for the next six months. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Planning Director Nielsen requested that Agenda Item. No. 4, Smithtown Crossing Layout, be deferred to a future meeting with more of the Commission in attendance. Davis moved, Arnst seconded, Approving the Planning Commission Agenda of January 18, 2011 as amended by striking Item. No. 4. Motion passed 4/0. APPROVAL OF MINUTES  December 7, 2010 Davis moved, Vilett seconded, approving the Planning Commission Meeting Minutes of December 7, 2010 as presented. Motion passed 3/0/1 (Arnst abstained).  January 4, 2011 Arnst moved, Davis seconded, approving the Planning Commission Meeting Minutes of January 4, 2011 as presented. Motion passed 4/0. 1. PUBLIC FORUM – DISCUSSION OF SHADY HILLS TRAFFIC CONTROL Chair Geng explained to the residents in attendance that the purpose of this forum is for feedback from their perspective as to what is going on with traffic in their neighborhood, and to hear their comments as to what should be done to improve the situation. Director Nielsen reviewed his staff report stating that several years ago, at the request of the residents of Shady Hills, the City installed signage to restrict turning movements in and out of the neighborhood. The intent was to discourage traffic, primarily motorists going to and from the Minnetonka High School, from shortcutting through the neighborhood. Approximately two years ago, Mr. Robert Edmondson, 19585 Shady Hills Road, circulated a petition among his neighbors, requesting several changes to the traffic controls, particularly at the intersection of the Highway 7 service road and the narrow north/south segment of Shady Hills Road that serves as the westerly ingress and egress from the neighborhood. The petition proposes five measures as a means of improving traffic flow and volume in the neighborhood, which include: 1) Remove “no right”, “no left” turn PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES 18 January 2011 Page 2 of 4 signs to and from frontage rd. access to Shady Hills Rd. 2) Widen access to and from the frontage rd. 3) Round curve more from old to new Shady Hills Rd. corner. 4) Make turn signs with a time constraint. 5) Add Shady Hills Rd. sign. At the direction of the City Council, the petition is now before the Planning Commission for review and comment. Director Nielsen noted that if any changes to the width of the access road, or straightening of the curve are planned, they should be done at the time that the street is scheduled for overlay in accordance with the City Engineer’s street improvements plan. Chair Geng commented that an email received from Jay and Sue Paulson, 19420 Shady Hills Rd. suggested speed bumps be installed on Shady Hills Road. Nielsen stated that the City policy does not allow speed bumps because they are considered hazardous, especially for snow plowing, and they are not proven effective. Chair Geng opened the meeting to the residents for comment. Stephanie Massart, 5220 Vine Hill Road, stated that there is a constant stream of traffic on Vine Hill Road and removing the turn restrictions to Shady Hills Road would make it worse. She said she never sees police on Vine Hill Road to enforce the speed limit. It’s not as bad in the summer, but during the school year she can’t even get out of her driveway. She said she would most favor the time-limited turning option at the northwest access point to Shady Hills Road. Chair Geng asked her if she thought a seasonal time-limit restriction, during the school year, would work. Ms. Massart responded that she thought that would only be helpful if it is enforced. John Kilner, 5351 Shady Hills Circle, said he would not favor any changes except for the time-limit turning restriction. He said there is a lot of speeding on Shady Hills Circle, well above 30 m.p.h., maybe up to 50 m.p.h. He said the Shady Hills Road portion from the northwest access point needs to be widened. LeRoy Krueger, 5250 Vine Hill Road, said he favors the time-limited turn option. He said these regulations are more an inconvenience than anything else. Bob Edmondson, 19585 Shady Hills Road, stated that he felt the left-turn restriction onto the service road is very inconvenient and favors removing it, and turning right is difficult due to heavy vegetation. He said that a portion of Shady Hills Road (northwest access point) needs to be widened as soon as possible, but should not be assessed to the residents since it was designed poorly to begin with. He thought the right-turn restriction onto Shady Hills Road from the service road should be time-limited but on a short time, e.g. 7-8A.M. He said cars turn onto Shady Hills Road from the westbound service road, and suggests a no-left turn restriction also from 7- 8A.M. He noted that the Shady Hills Road street sign is overgrown by vegetation. Jeff Betchwars, 19335 Shady Hills Road, said he thought the northwest access part of Shady Hills Road should be closed off completely. He stated the turn restrictions appear to be well policed as he has gotten ticketed and knows of others that have also. He thinks the current restrictions are worth the inconvenience for the safety aspect. Chair Geng asked what he thought of stop signs at the intersections, Mr. Betchwars said he thought that might slow traffic down. Mark Anderson 19285 Shady Hills Road, read a letter from John Dodson who favors a time-limited turn restriction on weekdays, otherwise, no restrictions. Mr. Anderson said as for himself, he has lived in the neighborhood 19 years and has yelled at drivers to slow down. He said he thought that initially the signage had reduced traffic volume. He said he would favor mid-street stop signs such as at Shady Hills Circle and Shady Hills Road, and leave the no-turn signs as is. PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES 18 January 2011 Page 3 of 4 Paul Almquist, 19355 Shady Hills Road, said every day around 3:30 P.M. he watches two young children get off the bus and climb on the roadside snow banks along Shady Hills Road, and roll down them towards the street. He said he fears the speeding traffic. Mark Hugo, 5395 Shady Hills Circle, said he favors the time-limit turn restriction. Director Nielsen commented that mid-street stop signs do not affect the speed of traffic and can create a false sense of security. He said the use of the speed buggy, which measures both speed and volume is somewhat useful in slowing traffic, but enforcement is the best method. Lowering the speed limit can only be done through a Speed Study, which carries the risk of actually increasing the allowed speed limit depending on conditions and the average speed driven on the road. Commissioner Davis pointed out that this is the third neighborhood to be before the Commission that has complained about speeding in this City within the past year. Commissioner Vilett said you can put up as many signs as you want - they won‘t do anything without enforcement. Commissioner Arnst agreed to that. Chair Geng said the City needs to get the speed buggy into the neighborhood and collect some data, and that information should be shared with the Police Department. Commissioner Hasek arrived at 8:15 P.M. 2. CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT Applicant: Mary Edwards Location: 6170 Ridge Road Director Nielsen reviewed his staff report stating that in July of last year, Mary Edwards was granted a conditional use permit to construct a new home on a substandard lot located at 6170 Ridge Road. One of the conditions of approval was that she must demonstrate that the nonconforming shed and deck located near the shoreline of Christmas Lake was a legal nonconforming structure, i.e. built prior to August 2, 1956 when the City was incorporated. This condition was to be met within six months, or upon issuance of a certificate of occupancy, whichever comes first. Ms. Edwards has submitted a letter from the adjoining neighbor testifying that the shed/deck have been there since before the City was incorporated. Commissioner Arnst asked what is being requested. Director Nielsen stated the issue is whether or not a certificate of occupancy should be issued without the applicant being required to remove the shed and deck from their current location. Commissioner Hasek said he would not support allowing the structure to remain, because he does not see any concrete evidence showing that the shed/deck that exist today is the same structure that was on the property years ago. Chair Geng said he is inclined to accept the letter from the neighbor for what it is – which supports the applicant’s position that the structure is legal. He said this is another good example of the need for Zoning Permits though. Davis, Vilett and Arnst indicated they were also in favor of accepting the neighbor’s letter that supports the applicant’s request. Commissioner Hasek said he is not questioning that there was a building at the shoreline area as the neighbor attests. He said he questions whether it’s the same building. PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES 18 January 2011 Page 4 of 4 Arnst moved, Vilett seconded, to recommend acceptance of the letter from Gail Ofstehage, dated December 30, 2010, as satisfactory evidence that the shed and deck located near the shoreline of the property is legal nonconforming and should be allowed to remain as is. It is further recommended that the applicant or Ms. Ofstehage be present at the City Council meeting to provide oral testimony regarding the age of the structure. Motion passed 4/1 (Hasek opposed). 3. UPDATE ON HIGHWAY 7/GALPIN LAKE ROAD INTERSECTION DESIGN Director Nielsen said he spoke with a representative of the Minnesota Department of Transportation about the traffic light operations along Highway 7. MNDot said they are in the process of upgrading the signal system of Highway 7 from Highway 41 to the City of Hopkins with fiber optics, which will allow for signal synchronization. Otherwise, the signals are coordinated and reviewed every four years. Nielsen said MNDot does not have a recent or new design for the Galpin Lake Road intersection with Highway 7. 4. SMITHTOWN CROSSING LAYOUT This item was deferred under Approval of Agenda. 5. MATTERS FROM THE FLOOR None. 6. OLD BUSINESS None. 7. NEW BUSINESS Director Nielsen explained that the City Council wishes to create a Trail Committee for the purpose of implementing what has been approved to-date for a trail system in the City. The Committee will include two Councilmembers (Siakel and Hotvet), two Park Commissioners, staff members, and needs two Planning Commission members. Commissioner Hasek volunteered to serve on the Committee. Nielsen said Commissioner Hutchins has also expressed interest. 8. DRAFT NEXT MEETING AGENDA The Smithtown Crossing layout is a priority for the next Agenda. 9. REPORTS Planning Director Nielsen reported on items considered and actions taken by the City Council at its meeting of January 10, 2011. 10. ADJOURNMENT Vilett moved, Arnst seconded, to adjourn the Planning Commission meeting of January 18, 2011 at 8:50 P.M. Motion passed 5/0. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED, Patti Helgesen, Recorder