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05-10-21 CC WS Mtg MinutesCITY OF SHOREWOOD 5755 COUNTRY CLUB ROAD CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MEETING COUNCIL CHAMBERS MONDAY, MAY 10, 2021 6:00 P.M. MINUTES 1. CONVENE CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MEETING Mayor Labadie called the meeting to order at 6:00 P.M. A. Roll Call Present. Mayor Labadie; Councilmembers Johnson, Labadie, Siakel, Callies, and Gorham; City Administrator Lerud; City Attorney Keane; and Planning Director Darling Absent: None B. Review Agenda Gorham moved, Callies seconded, approving the agenda as presented. Roll Call Vote: Ayes — all. Motion passed 5/0. 2. DEVELOPMENT OF RESIDENTIAL PORTION OF THE SMITHTOWN CROSSINGS STUDY AREA Planning Director Darling stated that there have been a number of developers that have contacted the City about purchasing the EDA property along Smithtown Road. She stated that this is the residentially guided properties west of the intersection of County Road 19 and Smithtown Road. In 2012, the Council formally adopted the Smithtown Crossings Study as an appendix to the 2009 Comprehensive Plan. She stated that she would like to review what the report found for the properties guided and zoned of residential use in the future. She stated that in the Comprehensive Plan, all of the parcels are guided for medium density residential, which is six to eight dwelling units per acre. The zoning ordinance has not yet been changed to match what the Comprehensive Plan shows, so the easterly parcel is currently C-1 and the other three parcels are R-1 C. The study suggested R-313 zoning for the development of residential properties which allows apartments, townhomes, and twin homes as permitted uses. She stated that she would like to have a high-level discussion with the Council as a transition to have discussions with developers. She stated that development of the parcels should include: assembly of land; use/density; affordability; transitions/buffering. She also noted that another question to consider is what the development should look like with relation to: nature views and landscaped common areas; height; pedestrian circulation/trails. She reiterated that she would like the Council to have a high-level discussion on the important elements of the site design. Mayor Labadie noted that Planning Director Darling had delineated unified/coordinated versus piecemeal development of Smithtown Crossing which she found those very interesting. Councilmember Callies stated that she feels the consolidated approach is preferable. From a big picture perspective, she would like to see something here other than another $500,000 to $750,000 townhome development and should move towards higher density. She stated that she thinks there needs to be more education done on 'affordable housing' which does not mean low CITY OF SHOREWOOD WORK SESSION COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MAY 10, 2021 Page 2 of 5 income. Mayor Labadie stated that she agreed that there is a definite need that can be filled by increasing the density of the parcels with more affordable type housing, not low-income type. Commissioner Gorham stated that he also agreed and noted the one of the things that stuck out to him about a consolidated approach was dealing with drainage across the larger site and having a unified approach to sending water off the site. He stated that he thinks this also offers the opportunity to connect Smithtown with Gideon Glen. Councilmember Siakel stated that one of the reasons the City purchased this property in the first place was to consolidate and try to treat this as one parcel so there wasn't somebody that came in with a piecemeal approach. There was also a lot of feedback from the neighbors that felt very strongly about the height and density and did not want to see something that overshadowed that corner. She stated that Tonka Bay is putting in apartment buildings right now and she does not think the City needs apartment buildings or that amount of density. She stated that 'affordable housing' is a very relative term and gave the example of the expectation of some affordable housing in the Country Club development with their villas, but those ended up much more expensive that anyone thought. She stated that she does not think the Council can have any control over the decision about whether it is affordable. She stated that her concern would be the density and does not want to see something dense in this area as well as traffic and flow in and out that would bring. She stated that she would like to see something with a lesser footprint. She stated that it also appears as though the City is doing exactly what it said it would not do by allowing a developer to come in develop one piece for maximum density and just leave the rest to be developed further down the road. She stated that this appears to be going against what was discussed ten years ago and trying to make that whole Crossing area something that flowed, made sense, and was not overdone. She reiterated that she is speaking up against density and feels the lesser the footprint the better. Mayor Labadie stated that she does have concerns with traffic in that area, especially as the Tonka Bay structure is completed because it will definitely impact that area. Councilmember Siakel stated that regardless of what happens, she thinks it will be important to look at landscaping and have some type of buffer for the property that is already there. She stated that she would hope that the City would be thoughtful and cautious in providing any guidance that will increase density just so a builder can get what they need out of it. Councilmember Callies asked what type of inquiries the City has gotten about these parcels. Councilmember Siakel asked if Admark had actually approached the City. Planning Director Darling stated that in the four years she has been with the City there have been a few proposals for town houses as well as recent applications for villas. She stated that one proposal for villas is the $500,000 to $700,000 that the Council just mentioned but also ones from Admark whose price points would be a bit lower. She stated that these would be six to eight units per acre. Councilmember Siakel stated that there are about four acres here, so that density would be about twenty-four to thirty homes which she feels is too much. Mayor Labadie stated that she would echo Councilmember Siakel's opinion. She stated that she understands that the City cannot really control if something is affordable or not, but her desire would be to have something that is more affordable that would have more density than there is now, but nowhere near twenty-four to thirty- two homes. She stated that she feels that is too dense for the area and the intersection. CITY OF SHOREWOOD WORK SESSION COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MAY 10, 2021 Page 3 of 5 Councilmember Callies asked if there has been any market study completed to see what the demand is in the area with regard to types of housing. She stated that she would like the City to look for a developer that who has some creativity in terms of what they could develop that would fit in with the neighborhood and provide environmental amenities as well as more affordable living such as teachers, City employees, and younger single people. Councilmember Siakel stated that she understands Councilmember Callies point and feels the options would be more plentiful if the discussion was around the entire area and not just the four open parcels. She stated that in her mind, the City has approved the Country Club and they did a nice job with beautiful homes, there is another one off of Eureka that was just approved so in her mind, she is at a point in her thinking that if the City did not do anything with this property it will not make or break the budget. She stated that Shorewood is kind of a rural town, the majority of their budget comes from property taxes and will never be a downtown area or something that is relying on business to generate tax revenue. The City does not need the additional tax revenue and feels the City is at a point where they can do what they want with the area and there does not need to be another housing development there. She stated that she may be more in lock step with the neighbors and want to keep this more manageable than building up the entire corner. She stated that she would rather see something done with the gas station and the whole area of County Road 19 that butts up to Badger Park. Councilmember Callies asked if the reason that the Council was not looking at the bigger picture and the whole area is because of the market and there is more of a market for the residential than the other commercial components right now. Planning Director Darling stated that at this point, the City has not heard from anyone that is able to assemble all of the commercial properties. Councilmember Gorham stated that he would like see a mixed use at this corner and believes there will be more opportunity in the future after the area gets built up more. Councilmember Johnson stated that he would agree with Councilmember Gorham's comments surrounding mixed use on the corner and feels that these four parcels need to be part of that planning process because they will serve as the buffer for the residents. He stated that he feels it should be a transition area. He stated that he also struggles with talking about these four parcels without talking about the full corner area. Councilmember Callies stated that it does not appear as though there is a big urgency to make a decision about this right now, especially without having anyone come in with an innovative plan that would be useful. Mayor Labadie asked if she was understanding correctly that the full Council was all leaning towards waiting on this until it can be looked at in a totality and incorporate the entire area. She stated that if someone comes forward, the Council could have another work session discussion about it at that time. Councilmember Siakel stated that she believes that approach was the Planning Commission's goal after they completed this study. Mayor Labadie reiterated that she feels the entire Council is leaning in the direction of just waiting. Mark Kaltsas, 6015 Cathcart Drive, stated that he owns one of the properties in that cluster and has also been going back and forth with staff for quite awhile on that property. He stated that recently Admark acquired one of the parcels from the American Legion. They purchased that CITY OF SHOREWOOD WORK SESSION COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MAY 10, 2021 Page 4 of 5 with the intent to do some development on the property. He stated that he and his business partner both live in Shorewood and they looked at this as an opportunity given its guidance in the Comprehensive Plan as a transition property. He stated that he appreciates the sentiment of the Council that this could be something that is pushed off, but he owns it and wants to do something with it and it is currently zoned C-1. His interest is in developing it for what it is guided for in the Comprehensive Plan and come up with a project that would really fit this area. He stated that one of their driving factors was looking for opportunities for their parents to move to Shorewood and saw this as something that they could put together that would provide for that desire. He reiterated that they think there is an opportunity there that would comply with the Smithtown Road plan. He stated that they have submitted a concept plan to the City. He stated that the Council had talked about filling a need and 'affordable' and noted that he likes to use the term `obtainable' and thinks of it as just regular people obtaining housing and not just people of a certain income level. He stated that he is interested in obtainable housing, connecting it to the community, and making it an integral part of that corner. He stated that because there are multiple owners in this corner, the assembly of the property will be difficult given the valuations on the buildings that are there. He stated that to think someone can come in and assemble all eight or nine of those parcels will be difficult, but thinks a master plan could be developed so parcels of the plan can get developed within which is something he is interested in. He owns just one of the parcels and would like to know if they would be interested in their parcel getting incorporated into a master plan for what he considers to be the lower density residential piece. He reiterated that he would like to do something with this parcel because he did not buy it to sit on it or wait and reminded the Council that the assembly of the parcels is dependent on the people selling them. He stated that he is interested in assembling the western portion of the property and reiterated that he had not purchased the property in order to sit on it and wait. Scott Zerby, stated that there are a number of people in attendance tonight which are mostly neighbors from Christopher Road who had concerns that they have voiced in the past and appreciates that the Council has recognized those concerns tonight. He stated that their concern has always been to have a transition buffer from the corner towards the residents. He stated that they live on C-1 which was two homes per acre, so to move from that to six to eight houses per acre is three times the density which is concerning to them. He stated that Planning Director Darling included the fourth property in the report and noted that the last two western properties were considered optional and knows the developer has presented a proposal for only three of the lots. He stated that there is some confusion as to what may be developed and they just want to make sure the Council recognizes their historical comments. Mayor Labadie stated that she can see a lot of residents from this area that are concerned who abut or are near to this parcel on the call. She encouraged them to keep communicating with Planning Director Darling and their elected representatives to voice their concerns. She assured the residents that the Council is listening and have given staff direction regarding this parcel. Councilmember Callies asked why the zoning and the Comprehensive Plan are in conflict and why it had not been remedied. Planning Director Darling stated that the City is not yet finished with the most recent Comprehensive Plan process and explained that the changes are made once that process is finished. She stated that she has spoken with the former Planning Director and believes the changes were not made twelve years ago in order to give the Council greater discretion. Christopher Gehrke, 24650 Smithtown Road, stated that he owns one of the parcels in the group of four. He stated that he thinks there may be some confusion about Mr. Kaltsas purchasing his CITY OF SHOREWOOD WORK SESSION COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MAY 10, 2021 Page 5 of 5 property because he has never been contacted. Mayor Labadie stated that the Council does not have this information. Planning Director Darling stated that it would be up the developer to make contact. She stated that she believes the developer was waiting to see if the Council was interested in selling the EDA property before approaching more homeowners. 3. ADJOURN Johnson moved, Gorham seconded, Adjourning the City Council Work Session Meeting of May 10, 2021, at 6:50 P.M. Roll Call Vote: Ayes — all. Motion passed 510. ATTEST: �t --"Pynda '[71he Jerffiifer tabadie, Mayor Sandie Thone, City Clerk