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02-26-18 CC WS MinutesCITY OF SHOREWOOD CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MEETING 5755 COUNTRY CLUB ROAD COUNCIL CHAMBERS MONDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2018 5:00 P.M. MINUTES 1. CONVENE COMBINED CITY COUNCIL AND PLANNING COMMISSION WORK SESSION MEETING Mayor Zerby called the meeting to order at 5:03 P.M. A. Roll Call Present. Mayor Zerby; Councilmembers, Labadie, Siakel, Sundberg and Johnson (arrived at 5:40 PM); Commissioners Maddy, Davis, Gorham, Eggenberger, and Riedel; City Administrator Lerud; Planning Director Darling; City Engineer Fauske; NAC Representatives Alan Brixius and Bob Kirmis Absent: None. B. Review Agenda Siakel moved, Labadie seconded, approving the agenda, as presented. Motion passed 4/0. 2. NAC COMPREHENSIVE PLAN UPDATE Planning Director Darling introduced NAC Representatives Alan Brixius and Bob Kirmis, to give a progress report and review some of the work that has been done. The City is anticipating that the Comprehensive Plan will be submitted to the Met Council on time, in July. Mr. Brixius stated that they are looking at the 2040 Comprehensive Plan for Met Council. He noted that most of the polices and goal statements are consistent with what was identified in the tactic interviews and were also consistent with what came out of the community survey. He noted that there were three open houses held and approximately 30 residents attended. He stated that is actually a great turn out and explained that he had been at other open houses for other communities, and the number of staff outnumbered the residents. He noted that an on -line survey was also conducted, with paper copies available at City Hall. He reviewed the highlights of the information gathered via the surveys and the open house meetings. Mr. Brixius noted that in reviewing the 2030 Comprehensive Plan, it was felt that much of the policy plan was still pertinent. He reviewed the suggested language changes and additions to the 2040 plan. He noted that he would like feedback on the land use residential density standards in relation to Shorewood as a standalone community as well as part of the larger community in relation to the adjacent communities. He reviewed the proposed objectives and asked if the group agreed with them. Councilmember Sundberg stated that she wasn't sure how to handle the whole affordable housing issue, because, in her opinion, there is some affordable housing in the smaller, older homes. Mr. Brixius stated that this is an issue he sees in other communities also. For example, if a City has 80% of their available housing as affordable, Met Council may come back and say that they need another 48 units. They are talking about density and affordability based on area median income. He stated that based on Shorewood's development pattern, he is not sure if these projected numbers are realistic. He explained CITY OF SHOREWOOD COUNCIL WORK SESSION MEETING MINUTES February 26, 2018 Page 2 of 6 that the strategy the City had in 2030 and the one that he foresees carrying forward this time also, is to make the argument that there is not a large employment area, limited transit availability, so the demand for affordable housing in the area will be different than a City who has those things available. Mayor Zerby stated that a large part of this is the presence of the lake and the difficulty in finding the type of land to put in a larger density project on. Chair Maddy asked why it was still included in our Comprehensive Plan if the economics and the geography don't work. Mr. Brixius stated that was part of the discussion he wanted to have and what he is hearing from this meeting is that the City will not make any promises to Met Council. The argument will need to be made that affordable housing can be offered through mortgage assistant or rental housing options. Councilmember Siakel asked for the definition of "affordable housing ". Mr. Brixius stated affordable housing is based on what the area median income is. If you are a household that earns 80% of that income, and 30% of that income can go towards housing, that is what is considered affordable housing. Councilmember Siakel stated that, to her, the median income for Shorewood residents varies widely, and gave the example from her street. She has one of the wealthiest Minnesotans living there and across the street is multiple families with multiple generations living under the same roof. Mr. Brixius stated that this section will be reworked to address what has been discussed with affordable housing. Councilmember Siakel stated that she has heard from residents that want to stay in the area but they just can't afford it anymore. She questioned whether that was something the City could even have any control over. Mr. Brixius noted that there are some tax credit type projects that may be able to help address that, but he is unsure if that would be feasible here in Shorewood because he isn't sure where it could be put in the City. Commission Appointee Eggenberger asked how much force was behind these directives from the Met Council. He asked, if Shorewood goes back and explains everything being discussed tonight and why the City doesn't feel we can support that kind of density, can the Met Council come back and say, too bad, you are putting 48 units of affordable housing in whether you like it or not. Mr. Brixius stated that it is currently written including the language "as opportunities present themselves ", so it doesn't require the City to be aggressive with development. Mr. Kirmis stated that the City should be prepared for the Met Council to come back after this is submitted and say that it doesn't meet the affordable housing directives of the regional plan. Commission Appointee Eggenberger asked how big of a stick they had and if that meant the City must do it. Mr. Brixius stated that generally where non - compliance would come into play was if the City was applying for any regional grants or State assistance. He moved on to review the Transportation portion of the CITY OF SHOREWOOD COUNCIL WORK SESSION MEETING MINUTES February 26, 2018 Page 3 of 6 Comprehensive Plan. He noted that everything points to the importance of walking, whether it be sidewalks or trail systems. He encouraged the group to take a closer look at the policy plan and if there are any changes that they would recommend or language edits, he asked that they get those changes to Planning Director Darling and she will pass them along. Mr. Brixius reviewed the Natural Resources Plan language and noted the importance of tree preservation and shoreline protection to the City. He noted that a new thing that Met Council has asked communities to address is solar resources. Councilmember Sundberg asked how the City stacked up against other communities with regard to sustainability. Mr. Brixius says he is unsure but suspects that they are similar to other communities on the lake. He urged caution in how the City addresses this, because the loss of a significant number of trees in order to gain access to solar energy would be a tragedy. The goal is not to clear cut an area of the City an install solar panels. Commissioner Riedel commented that the shift has been to roof -top solar installations rather than free- standing. Mr. Brixius stated that the City would much prefer to have them integrated into the building design rather than a freestanding unit, for both wind and solar. He suggested continuing discussions on the Comprehensive Plan as more of a regular meeting to discuss additional chapters. Councilmember Sundberg asked how he coordinated with the County and Met Council. Mr. Brixius stated that Hennepin County is not into land use, so they haven't had to coordinate in that aspect, but have with respect to transportation. Councilmember Sundberg stated that she has gotten involved a bit at the County level in planning and noted that many times it feels like they are in island out there just doing their own thing and wished there could be more a cooperative effort. Mayor Zerby asked Planning Director Darling to walk the group through the survey results. Planning Director Darling noted that NAC had compiled the data from the open houses and suggested that they review the results. Mr. Kirmis stated that there were 242 on -line surveys completed. In terms of importance, things which rose to the top were: tree preservation, increasing shared surfaces with other cities, promote commercial redevelopment in Smithtown and County Road 19 area, encourage homeowners to install solar energy, and more housing options. Planning Director Darling stated that of these five areas, it was very clear that tree preservation turned out to be the most significant. There is an overwhelming support in the City for continuing with the tree preservation requirements. Commissioner Riedel stated that he had a suggestion from a resident to not only prioritize by species, but also by age and size of tree. For example, if an oak or maple tree exceeds a certain diameter, then that has CITY OF SHOREWOOD COUNCIL WORK SESSION MEETING MINUTES February 26, 2018 Page 4 of 6 its own special classification and getting a permit to take it down should be more difficult than removing a younger tree. Mr. Brixius stated that there is a term called a "significant tree" that can be used, which means one that is at least 8 inches in diameter and shoulder height. He stated that in other communities where there is a tree preservation ordinance, they also included language that the tree has to be disease free and also not prone to disease, like an elm or a green ash. Those types of trees would not be labeled "significant ". He stated that just because a tree has a larger diameter, it shouldn't necessarily be preserved. For example, if it is diseased, it would make more sense to take that down and preserve the younger trees around it. Mr. Kirmis noted that in tree preservation, hard wood is given priority over soft wood, for instance, typically a significant tree of the hard wood variety is 6 inches in diameter and for soft wood would be 12 inches in diameter. An evergreen is considered significant it is 12 feet or greater in height. They are not all treated the same. Commissioner Riedel stated that he knew that cottonwoods and boxelders are specifically excluded from being significant trees. His point was there is a classification of significant or not and he would like to consider more classifications for trees that merit special protection. Chair Maddy stated that the wording is for tree preservation only during permanent activity, so savvy homeowners could cut the tree down before they apply for their building permit. Mr. Brixius stated that they have seen that type of thing happen. Generally, the tree preservation ordinances that they have seen are related to site improvement or a building permit. He has seen some communities require a tree removal permit if someone wants to take down a tree. He stated he wasn't sure if the City wanted to go that far, because, the property owner really owns the tree and would the City want to interfere in them being able to use their property in the manner they chose. Commissioner Riedel asked if there was a protection along the wetland buffer strip. He asked if a permit was required in that 35 -foot strip to take down any trees. Planning Director Darling stated that you didn't need a permit, but you shouldn't remove natural vegetation from the wetland. Mr. Kirmis went back to reviewing the survey results. He noted that when asked what things that should be considered a financing priority, the answers were street improvements above and beyond regular maintenance; providing trails; storm water management; park improvements; proactive code enforcement; expanding water service to residents; and improvements to the Southshore community center. Mayor Zerby noted that it was interesting that people were now looking for street improvements. In the past, there has been a lot of push back when that was suggested because people liked the narrow streets and the country feel. He would like to take a closer look at modernizing the roads. Mr. Brixius asked if the City used an assessment policy for road improvements. Mayor Zerby noted that the City does not currently assess for any road improvements but the money was taken from the general fund. CITY OF SHOREWOOD COUNCIL WORK SESSION MEETING MINUTES February 26, 2018 Page 5 of 6 Mr. Brixius stated that he has seen more and more communities of similar size to Shorewood also funding road improvements through the general fund to eliminate the push back on improvements. He asked how the City evaluated the streets. Engineer Fauske stated that the streets are rated and the Public Works Director had a program set up to evaluate the streets on a recurring basis. She noted that after the recent Council retreat, it was decided to revisit the City's approach to capital improvement planning and take into account the utilities needs and trail connections, as well. Planning Director Darling stated that she felt it was pretty clear from the handwritten portion of the survey, that even though the question was not to include regular maintenance, the comments from residents were including regular maintenance. Councilmember Sundberg asked about the comments made around the code enforcement issue. Planning Director Darling stated that of course there were people that preferred not to have any code enforcement done on their property. There were quite a few people that said that they didn't like being put in the position of tattling on their neighbor. She stated that complaints are kept confidential and it is not revealed who made the complaint, but they do require a name and phone number. Mayor Zerby noted that he is sure in most cases, the resident can tell who complained about them to the City. He said that is where proactive code enforcement would help the issue. Councilmember Sundberg stated that raises the issue of the budget impact with people out checking on properties. Commissioner Maddy gave an example of a complaint about a portable car port. The City had to take administrative action against them, when all of us know there are probably 30 other ones sitting around town that have not been reported. He stated that enforcement sometimes felt hypocritical. Mr. Kirmis stated that he agreed there would be a financial impacts of proactive code enforcement because it would likely require at least a part -time code enforcement officer and noted that it is a very time - consuming process to treat everyone in the City the same. Mayor Zerby stated that Excelsior has used their police force to help with some of their code enforcement, which has helped keep the costs down. Planning Director Darling stated that at the retreat they Council had divided the City into 3 areas and there is one area that is very clearly interested in proactive code enforcement. So, if the City decided to go this route, that area could be tackled first. Mr. Kirmis reviewed more information from the surveys. He stated that also included in the survey was a question about what recreational facilities that resident would like to see and far and away was the response of additional trails. Not only the traditional walking trails, but also off -road trails, indoor trails, improvements to the LRT trail and cross - country ski trails. Some other facilities that were mentioned were: a sports complex or recreational center; city docks and boat slips on Lake Minnetonka; hockey and skating rinks; swimming pool; tennis court; and splash pad. He stated that there was also a question about what public facilities that residents would like to see in Shorewood. The most common response in this area was related to sidewalks and trails, but also mentioned a brush, leaf and yard waste drop off facility, curb side pickup of hazardous materials and more frequent recycling pickups. He reviewed the demographics of the CITY OF SHOREWOOD COUNCIL WORK SESSION MEETING MINUTES February 26, 2018 Page 6 of 6 survey respondents and noted a majority were above age 50. He reviewed some of the issues that were raised by the 30 residents that attended the open houses: proactive code enforcement; development on non- conforming lots; more housing options. The open house attendees also highlighted storm water management and tree preservation as the most important natural resource items. Increased pedestrian safety and trail connections were the most popular items mentioned in the transportation areas. He gave a brief overview of the other responses and input given at the open houses. Mayor Zerby noted that the survey responses were interesting and, for the most part, mirrored what the Council and the Planning Commission already felt was important, so it was good to have some validation that the City is heading in the right direction. Mr. Brixius stated that they would like to work with Planning Director Darling to schedule more meetings with this group over the next few months, just to keep things moving. He stated that at the next meeting, they would like to dig deeper into land use and transportation. 3. ADJOURN Siakel moved, Sundberg seconded, Adjourning the City Council Work Session Meeting of February 26, 2018, at 6:26 P.M. Motion passed 510. ATTEST: Scott Zerby, Mayor Sandie Thone, City Clerk