02-13-17 CC WS MinutesCITY OF SHOREWOOD
CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2017
MINUTES
1. CONVENE CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION
5755 COUNTRY CLUB ROAD
5:30 P.M.— SOUTHSHORE
CENTER
6:00 P.M. — CITY HALL
Mayor Zerby called the meeting to order at 5:37 P.M.
A. Roll Call
Present. Mayor Zerby; Councilmembers Johnson, Labadie, and Sundberg (arrived at 5:42 P.M.);
and, Administrator Lerud; City Clerk Panchyshyn; Finance Director DeJong; Planning
Director Nielsen; and, Director of Public Works Brown
Absent: Councilmember Siakel
B. Review Agenda
Labadie moved, Johnson seconded, approving the agenda as presented. Motion passed 310.
2. TOUR OF THE SOUTHSHORE CENTER
The members of Council and Administrator Lerud toured the Southshore Center to look at items in need
of repair or replacement.
Upon completion of the tour, Council recessed to City Hall at 5:57 P.M. for the remainder of the meeting.
3. COMPREHENSIVE PLAN 101
Mayor Zerby reconvened the work session at 6:05 P.M. and noted it started at the Southshore Center with
a tour of the Center.
Director Nielsen explained the Shorewood Comprehensive (Comp) Plan is the City's guide for all
physical aspects of development and redevelopment. In Shorewood it would be more about
redevelopment.
Shorewood adopted its first Land Use Plan in 1971. That was the basis for Zoning Ordinance number 73
which lasted for the next 15 years or more. In 1976 the Metropolitan Land Planning Act was adopted by
the State and administered by the Metropolitan (Met) Council. The Met Council required all cities to
prepare and adopt comp plans. Shorewood adopted its first Camp Plan in 1981. It consisted of seven
documents; one for each stage of the planning process. The documents were the: Planning Tactics;
Planning Inventory; Policy Plan; Development Framework; Housing; Parks and Recreation; and, Capital
Improvement Program (CIP).
The most recent update of the Comp Plan was adopted in 2009. The Met Council has required updates
about every 10 years. The next update must be completed by September 2018. There have also been
some amendments to the Comp Plan.
CITY OF SHOREWOOD WORK SESSION MEETING MINUTES
February 13, 2017
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For each required update the Met Council prepares a System Statement which sets forth the information
the Met Council has about Shorewood. It tells cities what Met Council expects there to be in comp plans.
The Statement for Shorewood classifies Shorewood as suburban. The Met Council expects suburban
communities to develop or redevelop at densities of five units per acre. Shorewood was able to get by
that for the 2009 Comp Plan update. Shorewood did identify a few locations that if redeveloped that
would be done at higher densities. The Met Council understands that Shorewood is a fully developed
community. Anything that would happen would be redevelopment including the Minnetonka Country
Club redevelopment. The Statement contains estimates for population, households and employment. The
Statement has Shorewood's population at 7,425 in 2014 and it estimates it to be 7,400 in 2020. The City
will have to make a case to the Met Council on why the City anticipates its population to be higher than
7,400.
The definition of planning is the anticipation of and preparation for the future.
The Comp Plan is not just the seven documents. It is a decision making process. There is a
comprehensive planning process diagram that shows the steps in the process that was in the original
Comp Plan and he thought that should go back into the next update.
I-3e described the comprehensive planning process steps.
1. Planning tactics (there are other terms for that) — it is somewhat of an introductory chapter that
deals with the basis for planning, the legal requirements for planning, and it starts to identify
issues that the City wants to have resolved as part of the planning process.
2. Planning inventory — it goes through all of the physical, economic and social aspects of the
community. Things like: land use, transportation, community facilities, population, property
values, and market potentials.
3. Policy plan — it is a set of goals, objectives and policies that are applied to various physical areas
of development. They help with making decisions about how the City wants things initially and
how to go about asking for a change to a policy.
• The goals are very broad and general. For example, there are two transportation goals: 1) The
City shall provide and maintain a safe and efficient system of transportation, sensitive to the
needs of residents and the environment of the community; and 2) The City shall establish an
interconnected system of trails to enhance Shorewood's sense of community by
accommodating the safe movement of pedestrians, bicyclists and other non- motorized modes
of travel.
• The objectives are things the City is going to do to accomplish the goals. They are more
measurable. For example, the City developed a Trail Implementation Plan and built some
trails.
• The policies are actions, principles, standards and directives that serve as a means to realize
goals and objectives. In policy planning the decision making starts with the general and
extends systematically to the specific.
4. Plans, projects and programs — all of the other steps in the process go into here.
5. Implementation — for the Land Use Chapter this typically has to do with doing a zoning
ordinance. It takes the Land Use Map and creates regulations for the various zoning districts to
maintain their character. The subdivision ordinance is an implementation tool. The City has, for
example, a Trail Implementation Plan, a Wildlife Management Plan, a Water Plan, a Sewer Plan,
a Stormwater Management Plan, and a CIP.
CITY OF SHOREWOOD WORK SESSION MEETING MINUTES
February 13, 2017
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6. Re- evaluation — this includes periodic review of the Comp Plan and its ordinances. A few years
ago the Planning Commission did a chapter by chapter review of the Plan and area plans of the
various neighborhoods.
There are five Chapters in the Comp Plan. Each Chapter in the Comp Plan starts out with the planning
process. It lists goals and objectives for each element, it identifies issues for each element, it includes
maps and there is a summary at the end of Chapter.
1. Natural Resources — Shorewood has been extremely protective its natural resources. For
example, it was one of the first cities around to do a wetland ordinance.
2. Land Use — The Land Use Map in the 2009 Comp Plan is very similar to the proposed Land Use
Map for 1981. That means people followed the plan. The Map is amended sometimes.
3. Transportation — the plan is based on a hierarchy of transportation elements. The street
transportation system is described by a functional classification system — principal arterials,
intermediate arterials, collectors, and local streets. The plan identifies areas of further study.
4. Community Facilities /Services — that chapter covers parks and open space as well as the various
public utilities (water, sanitary sewer and storm sewer) and policies related to them.
5. Housing — the chapter indicates the City has a desire for a variety of housing and a range of
affordability. That is hard to achieve in Shorewood because of the desire to keep the single -
family residential character of the City. Because land is so expensive in the City the only way to
really get at density is with apartments. As part of the upcoming Com Plan update there needs to
be a review of where they could be located.
Nielsen noted that he thought that the upcoming update to the Comp Plan will require mainly tweaking of
what is already there.
Councilmember Sundberg asked if affordable housing has been considered in the Comp Plan. Director
Nielsen reiterated it indicates the City has a desire for that but there is nothing that implements that. The
City's zoning does not lend itself to affordable housing. And, land in the City is very expensive. He
explained when Marsh Pointe was developed the question of affordable housing was raised. The
developer stated they would have to get the lot costs down to $26,000. The streets and utilities would
have cost more than that. At that time the lots were four times the cost of $26,000 and much more than
that now.
Sundberg then asked if the Comp Plan is shared with Hennepin County. Director Nielsen explained the
Plan has to be submitted to the adjoining cities, the Met Council, Hennepin County and the Department
of Transportation.
Director Nielsen noted the Systems Statement encourages cities to plan bikeways along Regional Bicycle
Transportation Network Corridors. He explained the Mill Street trail segment is included in the City's
Trail Implementation Plan and on the Hennepin County Bicycle System Gap Map. Hennepin County had
awarded a grant to Shorewood and Excelsior for the planning portion of the trail segment three or four
years ago. The County was disappointed when the Cities did not move forward with that effort. What
basically stopped that effort was there are severe physical restrictions on where the Excelsior portion of
that trail could go. Shorewood could have connected its portion of that trail segment to the Chanhassen
trail system but funding was not available.
Mayor Zerby stated he read something about there being grant funding available. Director Nielsen stated
the design work for the proposed Galpin Lake trail segment has been completed. If a grant opportunity
presented itself that would be a good trail for a grant. He noted that the planning for a project has to be
done when a grant opportunity presents itself.
CITY OF SHOREWOOD WORK SESSION MEETING MINUTES
February 13, 2017
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Mayor Zerby stated Director Nielsen stated the update to the Comp Plan would basically require
tweaking the Plan. Yet, the 2017 General Fund Budget has slated $85,000 for consultant services to
update the Plan. He asked why the budget amount is so significant. Director Nielsen explained at a
minimum the Plan has to be updated to comply with the Systems Statement noting the updates would be
minor. The density issue would need to be addressed. One of the proposals the City received for
providing those services indicated that the MCC development project may have satisfied the higher
density requirement. Overall that project is a little over two units per acre. Yet, in terms of dry ground the
density is higher and may come close to what Met Council is looking for. Zerby asked if Nielsen meant
the consultant would check facts. Nielsen explained the consultant would identify the issue and help staff
work through it. If there are areas from a planning perspective where it would make sense to have higher
density the consultant would note those locations. Zerby stated based on what he has just heard the
consultant would assess if the City's Comp Plan satisfies the Met Council's expectations.
Director Brown asked if the update to the Comp Plan would require an update of the aerial photography
and topography and identifying how some transportation issues would be addressed. Director Nielsen
clarified the mapping is very good and that the Systems Statement does not identify any specific
transportation issues that need to be addressed. Nielsen explained that Shorewood had done more to the
metro system than many cities had done. The City did a corridor study in 1987 and in 1995. A lot of the
things recommended in the two corridor studies were implemented by Shorewood. Shorewood closed off
more direct access to Highway 7 than any other city did. He thought Met Council and the Minnesota
Department of Transportation were pleased with what Shorewood did.
Mayor Zerby stated he would like to learn more about the scope of the work for the consultant when
Council discusses hiring the consultant.
The discussion of Item 3 concluded at 6:36 P.M.
Mayor Zerby announced that Council was going to address Item 4 on the agenda in the large conference
room.
4. PARK COMMISSION INTERVIEW
Council interviewed Edward Rock, 5780 Kelsey Drive, for consideration of appointment to the Park
Commission for a three -year term.
5. ADJOURN
Johnson moved, Sundberg seconded, Adjourning the City Council Work Session of February 13,
2017, at 6:57 P.M. Motion passed 4/0.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,
Christine Freeman, Recorder
ATTEST:
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Je n Panchyshyn, City Clerk
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