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Planning Commission_ Meeting Minutes - 05-13-2024_signed CITY OF GOLDEN VALLEY PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES Monday, May 13, 2024 – 6:30 p.m. | City Hall Council Chamber 7800 Golden Valley Road Golden Valley, MN 55427 1. CALL TO ORDER • Chair Brookins called the meeting to order at 6:36 p.m. and read the Land Acknowledgement. • Staff Liaison, Darren Groth, gave the oath of office to new and reappointed members. • Chair Brookins asked for nominations for the election of officers. Chuck Segelbaum nominated Adam Brookins for chair and Brookins declined. Brookins nominated Mike Ruby for chair. Ruby accepted and Amy Barnstorff seconded. Ruby’s appointment was approved unanimously. Gary Cohen nominated Barnstorff for vice-chair, Barnstorff declined. Barnstorff nominated Cohen for vice-chair. Cohen accepted and Ruby seconded. Cohen’s appointment was approved unanimously. Ruby nominated Martin Sicotte as secretary. Sicotte accepted and Segelbaum seconded. Sicotte’s appointment was approved unanimously. • For 24-25, the officers are: Chair Ruby; Vice-Chair Cohen; and Secretary Sicotte. a. Regular Members Present: Barnstorff, Brookins, Cohen, Ruby (out at 8:05 p.m.), Segelbaum, Sicotte b. Regular Members Absent: Van Oss c. Student Member, Status: Benjamin Fricke, Present d. Staff Members Present: Darren Groth, Assistant Community Development Director e. Council Liaison Present: Councilmember Sophia Ginis 2. CONSENT AGENDA: Cohen motioned to approve the consent agenda, Barnstorff seconded. Commission voted 6-0 to approve. 3. NO PUBLIC HEARINGS 4. NEW BUSINESS: a. Mapping Prejudice Project At 6:45 p.m., University of Minnesota professional historian, research consultant, editor, and published author Dr. Kirsten Delegard, one of the co-founders of Mapping Prejudice, introduced herself and the Mapping Prejudice project (https://mappingprejudice.umn.edu/). She mentioned devoting her energy to public history and unearthing the complex past of her hometown of Minneapolis. Her research of Minneapolis history led to the Historyapolis Project, which she also started, and the Mapping Prejudice project that operates out of the John R. Borchert Map Library at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Delegard explained that Mapping Prejudice identifies and maps racial covenants, clauses that were inserted into property deeds to keep people who were not White from buying or occupying homes. She shared maps, deeds, and Planning Commission meeting minutes from Golden Valley that contained these racial covenants. Dr. Delegard also shared a larger map that identifies more than 42,000 covenants that have been mapped thanks to this project. The presentation identifies numerous ways that discriminatory covenants shaped the geographic and demographic landscape of Golden Valley and other cities. These covenants CITY OF GOLDEN VALLEY PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES Monday, May 13, 2024 – 6:30 p.m. | City Hall Council Chamber 7800 Golden Valley Road Golden Valley, MN 55427 determined where people live, where businesses are located, availability of housing, where highways got built, where garbage dumps were placed, funding for public education, and more. Dr. Delegard shared a slide showing how these patterns remain today and are often reinforced by current city policies, ordinances, and planning decisions. Her data showed that homes that were racially covenanted are still predominantly owned by White people and are worth approximately 15% more today than non-covenanted properties. Additionally, in part due to discriminatory covenants, the City of Golden Valley’s population is less racial diversity than surrounding cities. At 7:16 p.m., Dr. Delegard completed her presentation and Chair Brookins opened the floor to questions. Commissioner Segelbaum thanked her for the detailed presentation and asked about the partnership between this project and Just Deeds. Dr. Delegard explained how the City Attorney, Maria Cisneros, saw from the Mapping Prejudice project that something more needed to be done and began the efforts to expel these racial covenants. Commissioner Cohen spoke about both his childhood home and current home having a racial covenant on their deeds. He elaborated that while he has not visited a Just Deeds booth, he has heard Dr. Delegard speak elsewhere. Commissioner Ruby spoke about ways the City of Golden Valley could incorporate the Mapping Prejudice Project information into the case analysis for planning decisions and Planning Commission discussions. Commissioner Segelbaum seconded the idea of adding this information in the analysis and discussion for cases that come before them. Dr. Delegard wrapped by sharing how the only way to change the discrimination of the past is to be deliberate in our actions of the present. If the justifications for decisions remain based in keeping the status quo, then the Planning Commission is doing its part in keeping the patterns of historic discrimination and must look to change their analysis and disrupt the status quo. Commissioner Segelbaum agreed and pointed back to Dr. Delegard’s slide about the quotes that have been spoken in public as veiled racism such as “this will affect my property values” or “I like my neighborhood as it is and has been for years.” b. APA Planning Board Membership At 7: 30 p.m., Staff liaison Groth introduced the commission to the potential for membership in the American Planning Association (APA). Groth identified that agencies pay a participation fee of $121 for an unlimited number of planning commissioners, zoning board members, or elected officials at an additional cost of $68 per member ($63 for APA national dues and $5 for APA chapter dues). Commissioners agreed that APA membership could be a good opportunity. Commissioner Ruby suggested adding funding for all commissioners to become members. c. Work Plan/Home Occupations At 7: 32 p.m., Groth introduced how the City’s zoning code currently defines home occupations, the governing requirements of home occupations, and the lack of criteria to be designated as a home occupation. Commissioner Ruby identified that this could warrant further discussion and asked Groth to provide examples from other cities regarding how they designate a home occupation. Commissioner Barnstorff stated setting boundaries is good, but that the City should not place too difficult of a hurdle in front of a prospective business. Commissioner Segelbaum asked Groth the purpose of any proposed code amendments. Groth indicated that interactions with property owners claiming to not have a home occupation would be difficult to dispute and enforce when the code does not differentiate between the exact same activity occurring as a hobby versus as a home occupation. Groth elaborated that someone fixing lawnmowers in their driveway could occur CITY OF GOLDEN VALLEY PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES Monday, May 13, 2024 – 6:30 p.m. | City Hall Council Chamber 7800 Golden Valley Road Golden Valley, MN 55427 because they are running a business out of their home, or it could occur because a hobbyist mechanic repairs small engines for enjoyment. The zoning code identifies that repair of any item involving an internal combustion engine is prohibited as a home occupation; however, enforcement of every instance of lawnmower repair in a driveway is not helpful, practical, or reasonable. Groth proposed as an alternative to taking enforcement action for each instance when a prohibited activity occurs that a triggering definition in code would be helpful to differential between homeowner, hobbyist, or business owner activities. Commissioner Cohen also asked to see how other cities set those triggers for a home occupation. d. Observations and Opportunities At 7:49 p.m., Groth opened the discussion by sharing that when Chair Brookins and Groth met on April 26, 2024, in preparation for this meeting, several ideas were discussed regarding their collective experiences. It was agreed to share these experiences in an open discussion at the next meeting. Groth began by sharing an example staff report from a city he previously worked with. Commissioner Ruby mentioned that it would be good to streamline the staff reports shared with the commission and that those reports should include language regarding the Commission’s purview and decision-making authority. Commissioner Segelbaum mentioned that a streamlined report would also help the public understand the project better. Groth moved the discussion to meeting minutes by sharing example minutes from the City of Minneapolis; two advice articles from various parliamentary sources; and asked if the new version added enough detail. Commissioner Ruby indicated that he likes the action minutes. Commissioner Segelbaum mentioned that he was used to detailed minutes and not action minutes but agreed that action minutes may save time for staff and could be cause for legal concern, so he asked if the City Attorney has an opinion. Chair Brookins indicated a desire to restore the detailed minutes: the commission and Groth agreed. e. Future Meetings At 8:15 p.m., Groth introduced the next discussion topic and asked about future meetings and any conflicts on the schedule. Commissioners Segelbaum and Sicotte indicated that they could not attend a May 29 meeting. Commissioner Barnstorff shared that October 14 is Indigenous Peoples’ Day and November 11 is Veterans Day and asked Groth to research whether those are City recognized holidays. Groth asked if May 29 should be rescheduled to May 28 before the BZA meeting because only one item was on the agenda. Commissioner Segelbaum indicated he could attend on that date and the commission agreed to May 28 at 6 p.m. 5. STAFF COMMENTS: None 6. COUNCIL COMMENTS: At 8:27 p.m., Councilmember Ginis began her update to the commission on several items. First, she supported the status quo of detailed meeting minutes and then updated the commission on City Council’s action to recognize May as AAPI heritage month and May 12 – May 18 as National Police Week. Councilmember Ginis ended by listing the items on City Council’s next agenda. CITY OF GOLDEN VALLEY PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES Monday, May 13, 2024 – 6:30 p.m. | City Hall Council Chamber 7800 Golden Valley Road Golden Valley, MN 55427 7. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS: Commissioner Segelbaum asked Councilmember Ginis about sacred communities and whether City Council considered having a way of publicizing such applications. Councilmember Ginis indicated that city staff mentioned the commission’s suggestion to include that stipulation, but that City Council did not require. Commissioner Brookins asked about staffing. Councilmember Ginis stated that finding the right City Manager is the most important position and that it is currently posted for applicants; she further stated that Noah Schuchman is the Interim City Manager. Councilmember Ginis also shared that the Finance Director position as well as various planning positions are also open. She mentioned that the City participated in a culture survey and would learn the results of the survey soon. 8. ADJOURNMENT: Chair Brookins adjourned the meeting at 8:35 p.m. Approved by: Atest By: Commission Secretary Darren Groth, AICP, CPM Community Development Asst. Director