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PC-10-30-18 CITY OF SHOREWOOD COUNCIL CHAMBERS PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING 5755 COUNTRY CLUB ROAD TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2018 7:00 P.M. MINUTES CALL TO ORDER Chair Maddy called the meeting to order at 7:03 P.M. ROLL CALL Present: Chair Maddy; Commissioners Davis, Eggenberger, Gorham, and Riedel; Planning Director Darling, Bob Kirmis, Northwest Associated Consultants, Inc., Chuck Rickart, WSB and Associates, and John Christianson, WSB and Associates Absent: Council Liaison Johnson 1. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Davis moved, Riedel seconded, approving the agenda for October 30, 2018, as presented. Motion passed 5/0. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES  October 2, 2018 Riedel moved, Davis seconded, approving the Planning Commission Meeting Minutes of October 2, 2018, as presented. Motion passed 5/0. 3. PUBLIC HEARINGS Chair Maddy explained the Planning Commission is comprised of residents of the City of Shorewood who are serving as volunteers on the Commission. The Commissioners are appointed by the City Council. The Commission’s role is to help the City Council in determining zoning and planning issues. One of the Commission’s responsibilities is to hold public hearings and to help develop the factual record for an application and to make a non-binding recommendation to the City Council. The recommendation is advisory only. A. PUBLIC HEARING – TO REVIEW THE DRAFT 2040 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN Chair Maddy opened the Public Hearing at 7:04 P.M. and noted that this is his first time holding a Public Hearing regarding the Comprehensive Plan and wasn’t sure how to proceed. Planning Director Darling explained that she would share a little information and then ask the consultants to share more detailed information and then it can be opened up for public comment. She noted that the 2040 Comprehensive Plan will set the tone for planning for the next 22 years. She noted that because the City is mostly built out, there are not any huge changes from the prior Comprehensive Plan. She introduced Bob Kirmis from Northwest Associated Consultants, Inc. who will present the draft of the 2040 Comprehensive Plan. CITY OF SHOREWOOD PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING OCTOBER 30, 2018 Page 2 of 6 Mr. Kirmis stated that the 2040 Comprehensive Plan is basically a refinement of the current 2030 Comprehensive Plan. He stated that majority of the changes are mandated changes and some tweaks to update it and make it more accurately reflect the City. He gave an overview and stated that in the effort to update the Comprehensive Plan, input was solicited from residents, staff and City officials. He noted that there were 3 open houses in October of 2017, an on-line survey, as well as an issues ranking survey. He stated that there were four priorities that were revealed as part of the input process: protecting and improving the natural environment, including tree preservation and new parks; promoting high quality redevelopment projects that fit the community; creating a bikeable and walkable community through the introduction of new trails and connectivity throughout the community and key locations; ensuring a livable community through stormwater management, proactive code enforcement, and building relationships with nearby communities. He gave an overview of the components included in the updated Comprehensive Plan. He noted that the low to medium density has been changed from 2-3 units per acre to 3-6 units per acre, the medium density has changed from 3-6 units per acre to 6-8 units per acre, and a high density has been added of 8-30 units per acre. He reviewed the two changes to the land use plan of changing the Minnetonka Country Club site to low density residential and the County Road 19/Smithtown Road intersection that reflects the transitional land use between the lower residential uses and the commercial uses. He reviewed the Affordable Housing requirements but noted that difficulty of the City being able to realistically reach the Met Council’s objectives. He stated that once there is an approved draft of Comprehensive Plan it will be submitted to surrounding communities and school districts for comment and then in 6 months it will be brought back to the Planning Commission for review once again. He stated that the deadline from the Met Council is July 31, 2018. Commissioner Riedel noted that Mr. Kirmis had stated that the City is supposed to have more high-density development and he explained why it may not happen and asked what the likely outcome would be. He asked if the Met Council could reject the plan on that basis or force the City to have more concrete steps in place to increase the density. Mr. Kirmis stated that this has come up in other communities. He noted that one thing he hadn’t mentioned is that the Xcel Energy site has been highlighted as a potential for high density, multi-family residential uses with 20-30 units being possible. He stated that in conversations with the Met Council Housing department he was told that they recognize that cities are unique. He stated that in the past what he has seen if cities do not respond to Met Council’s requirements is that they can be less likely to receive grant money, but they cannot force the City to do anything. He stated that he believes the City needs to do what they think is appropriate. Chuck Rickart, WSB and Associates, explained that he had worked on the Transportation chapter in the Comprehensive Plan. He noted that the transportation section deals with four components: roadway system, non-motorized vehicles, freight, and aviation. He gave a brief overview and highlighted a few of the revisions and things included in the Comprehensive Plan. Commissioner Riedel stated that it appears as though there will be a tremendous amount of change in transportation by 2040, such as self-driving and non-polluting cars. He asked what would be changed with the Comprehensive Plan if this was a certain future. Mr. Rickart agreed that transportation technology is ever expanding and it is hard to keep up. He reminded the Commission that the Comprehensive Plan is updated every 10 years, so it can be changed as technology advances. He stated that the Comprehensive Plan is basically the City’s best guess, at this point of what they expect to happen. He stated that it is also a “living document” and the City does not have to wait the 10 required years before updating it. CITY OF SHOREWOOD PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING OCTOBER 30, 2018 Page 3 of 6 Commissioner Davis stated that she thinks the City focuses too much on the fact that there is only Met Transit 670 and 671 coming through the City, when in reality, most people get in their cars and drive to Chanhassen or Eden Prairie and take the coach. Pat Arnst, 5480 Teal Circle, asked what the updated status of Eureka Road would mean physically. Mr. Rickart stated that it is simply updating the designation of the roadway from a local street to a collector street because of the traffic volume. He noted that there are no current plans to upgrade Eureka Road or any of the roads mentioned in the Comprehensive Plan it is just getting them into their correct designation. Chair Maddy confirmed that this is just calling it what it already is. Commissioner Eggenberger asked Planning Director Darling what happens when the City re-designates the roads and whether it changes the way City staff looks at projects. Planning Director Darling stated that she does not expect there to be any significant change to how Eureka Road is used. She answered that there may be some things done differently if a road is re-designated, such as asking for more right-of-way if there are subdivisions along the roadway. Commissioner Eggenberger noted that he was really talking about overlays and gave the example of Old Market Road which in some areas does not have curb and gutter or even look like a City street. Mr. Rickart stated that those types of issues will be addressed in the City’s pavement management plan and isn’t affected by the designation. John Christianson, from WSB and Associates stated that he worked on the Water Supply and Sanitary Sewer portion of the Comprehensive Plan. He gave a brief overview of the chapters pertaining to Sanitary Sewer. Commissioner Riedel asked about septic systems and if there was a means to get people off of septic and hook into the system. Planning Director Darling explained that Mr. Christianson referred to four existing septic systems, one on each of two inhabited islands with no options for hook-up in the future. Of the other two, one is near Smithtown and still connected to the original house but if it subdivides it would need to be connected to the City sewer system. She stated that the other parcel is closer to Christmas Lake, and has an elevation issue that is a substantial technical problem to overcome. Chair Maddy asked what the plans were for dealing with inflow and infiltration (I and I) and asked if there was a way to solve the problem of private pipes that are cracked. Mr. Christianson stated that the City plans to invest a regular amount every year for I and I reduction. He stated that a big part of solving it is being able to diagnose where a leak is occurring and to do flow monitoring both before and after public improvements. He stated that if the City is still seeing similar levels of I and I afterwards then the City will know it is from private sources. He noted that the bulk of the work the City has done over the last 5 years has been on the public side. Mr. Christianson gave a brief overview of the Water Supply chapter and noted that the DNR is also interested in this chapter and would review the needs of the system and the projected future demand. He noted that the City is split into eastern and western individual systems as well as three smaller areas near the center of the City that receive water supply from other communities. The eastern and western halves each have three wells and one tower. He noted that approximately half of the homes in the City are on the CITY OF SHOREWOOD PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING OCTOBER 30, 2018 Page 4 of 6 public system and the other half has private wells. He stated that they are not projecting any long-term additions to wells, towers, or equipment. Commissioner Riedel asked about long-term projections for the level of the aquifer. Mr. Christianson stated that the DNR is placing a greater emphasis on working to understand the impacts that ground water has on the aquifers as well as surface waters. He stated that he is not aware of any studies that show a strong interaction in the City between ground water and surface water. Commissioner Gorham stated that he has seen that the City is encouraging people to hook up to the City system and asked what the benefit would be. Planning Director Darling stated that where the watermains are already in place, it increases the customer base for the infrastructure, so more residents are sharing the cost. Chair Maddy indicated that there are other benefits as well. Chair Maddy opened the Public Testimony portion of the Public Hearing at 7:53 P.M. Pat Arnst, 5480 Teal Circle, stated that she was on the Park Commission for the 2000 Comprehensive Plan and the Planning Commission for the 2010 version of the Comprehensive Plan. She stated that they have lived in the City for 40 years and when they arrived it was basically pastures and berry fields and noted that the forests were all small at that time. She stated that one of their concerns is the lack of management of the trees on City property and rights-of-way. She stated that she feels there should be an equal amount of emphasis on managing the trees as there is on preserving them. She stated that as the City moves forward and becomes more urban, there should be plans for trees that are more suitable to an urban environment. She raised a concern about a large dead cottonwood tree in Freeman Park that is near the trail and shared her concern that someone may be hurt or killed from a piece of it falling. Commissioner Davis stated that they also have acreage and they spent last winter removing trees that were at a 45-degree angle and falling into the road. She stated that they were basically falling into the right-of- way and the City should have taken care of it. She stated that the entire street has similar trees that are leaning over the road just waiting to fall down and has noticed it all over the City. Ms. Arnst stated that they were watching the tree that came down on Smithtown Road that took out power and closed the road, for over a year before it fell. Commissioner Davis note that a piece of that tree had fallen onto her car three years ago. Ms. Arnst stated that they were reluctant to come in and talk to the City because in the past they have been blown off by the City Engineer. She stated that there was a tree that fell down on the west side of the City that fell on a house and destroyed it. Commissioner Davis stated that she agreed that the City needed to start spending time managing the natural resources. Chair Maddy noted that the City had hired an arborist last year to deal with this sort of thing. Planning Director Darling stated that the City hired S & S Tree Services and they are going through the trees in the parks and public right-of-way and evaluating them. She stated that she has also added a few trees here and there for them to look at. She asked that if there are trees that residents are concerned about CITY OF SHOREWOOD PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING OCTOBER 30, 2018 Page 5 of 6 to call them in to either herself or Public Works and staff would have S&S look at them when they are in the area. Commissioner Eggenberger suggested this information be included in the newsletter. Commissioner Riedel stated that many of the trees in the urban areas are reaching the end of their lifespan and agrees that the City should have a more active plan for tree management. Chair Maddy asked Mr. Kirmis if tree management is usually included as part of a Comprehensive Plan or if that is something the City government should be doing apart from the Comprehensive Plan. Mr. Kirmis stated that he thinks the Comprehensive Plan is the perfect starting point for it by establishing a policy so when the time comes to form an ordinance, it is based on a Comprehensive Plan directive. Planning Director Darling stated that a new policy can be added in or some of the language can be strengthened in some of the existing policies to address tree management as well as preservation. Commissioner Riedel stated that he believes this topic was number one in the public input. Ms. Arnst, stated that when the Minnetonka Country Club property was sold to Mattamy Homes, a tree inventory was conducted and the day of the closing, a storm happened and 9 of the maple trees came down. Chair Maddy closed the Public Testimony portion of the Public Hearing at 8:02 P.M. Chair Maddy suggested that the Commission draft a list of the recommended changes. He noted that there were some discrepancies in the density indicated on the land use map in two areas. Planning Director Darling explained that the area south of Smithtown Road was looked at the by Planning Advisory Committee when the plan for the Minnetonka Country Club was put together which suggested that the density was too low and was rezoned to R-1C zoning district and agreed there is a slight discrepancy. Commissioner Davis noted that there is also one lot on Valleywood that shows as undeveloped and it has been developed. She noted that there is also a large undeveloped portion of land behind The Ponds besides Smithtown Crossing that she didn’t think was included. Chair Maddy asked if the Commission would like to add tree management language to the Comprehensive Plan before it was released. Commissioner Davis stated that she would like to see it included. Commissioner Riedel stated that in order to keep the clock running, since there is a hard deadline, he suggested releasing it to the surrounding communities and take time to make these amendments. Chair Maddy stated that he thinks the Commission can request that the Council direct staff to begin work on language changes regarding tree management. Riedel moved, Davis seconded, recommending that the City Council release the draft 2040 Comprehensive Plan to adjacent communities for comment, change two sections on the land use map, as discussed, change the land use plan for the lot on Valleywood and to request the Council direct staff to work on language changes to add a tree management plan. Motion passed 5/0. CITY OF SHOREWOOD PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING OCTOBER 30, 2018 Page 6 of 6 4. OTHER BUSINESS - None 5. MATTERS FROM THE FLOOR - None 6. REPORTS • Liaison to Council In Council Liaison Johnson’s absence, Commissioner Riedel gave a report on matters considered and actions taken during Council’s last meeting (as detailed in the minutes for that meeting). He noted that the Council voted unanimously against the variance for signage for the Starbuck’s location. Planning Director Darling noted that the Council did approve the digital order confirmation sign for Starbuck’s. • Update on Projects Approved Planning Director Darling noted that the goats have finished all the buckthorn in the first area and have been moved to a second location. Commissioner Eggenberger stated that he had attended the most recent Sensible Land Use meeting. He stated that there was a lot of data given out but it was quite interesting. He noted that the Twin Cities area had the lowest level of unemployment for the nation in August at 2.6%. He stated that the experts are predicting a housing crash in the year 2020. He gave more examples of the information presented at the meeting. • Draft Next Meeting Agenda Planning Director Darling stated there are two variance applications slated for the next Planning Commission meeting. 7. ADJOURNMENT Riedel moved, Davis seconded, adjourning the Planning Commission Meeting of October 30, 2018, at 8:25 P.M. Motion passed 5/0.