04-22-91 PC Minutes~a
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MINUTES OF THE GOLDEN VALLEY
PLANNING COMMISSION
April 22, 1991
A regular meeting of the Planning Commission was held at the Golden Valley City
Hall, Council Chamber, 7800 Golden Valley Road, Golden Valley, Minnesota. The
meeting was called to order by Chair McAleese at 7:05p.m.
Those present were: Groger, Johnson, Kapsner, Lewis, McAleese, McCracken-Hunt
and Prazak. Also present were Mark Grimes, Director of Planning and
Development; Beth Knoblauch, City Planner and Mary Dold, Secretary.
* I. Approval of Minutes - April 8, 1991
MOVED by McCracken-Hunt, seconded Lewis and motion carried unanimously to
approve the April 8, 1991 with the following correction.
Page Four, Para. 3: Change "park land for a higher and better purpose" to "park
land except for a higher and better purpose".
II. Informal Public Hearing - Conditional Use Permit No. 53
Applicant: SuperAmerica Group, Inc.
Address: 2580 Hillsboro Avenue, Golden Valley, Minnesota
Request: Allow gasoline sales and storage
Chair McAleese introduced the agenda item and asked Mark Grimes, Director of
Planning and Development, for a brief summary of the request. Mr. Grimes said
the request by SuperAmerica (SA) is to add single-sided gas pumps to their store
at Hillsboro and Medicine Lake Road. Adding gas pumps to stores without gas is a
major part of marketing for the SuperAmerica stores. Mr. O'Donnell anticipates
store traffic increasing about 40~ or approximately 840 customers per day
(currently about 600 customers pass through the store per day). SuperAmerica
customers have requested that gas pumps be installed at this site.
The existing Sunny Hollow Shopping Center is a small, 14,800 sq.ft., two-story
center of primarily retail but some office use exists at the south end of the
building. The site .currently has 113 parking spaces; 99 total spaces are
required. Setback and landscape requirements are met on the site on all sides.
The issue of most concern is the traffic situation and the site not being large
enough for a single-sided pump island. The primary reason is if one or two
cars are stacked to use the gas pumps from either side. Cars parked in front
of the SA store will have a problem backing out because of the cars stacked up
to use the pumps. Staff has calculated that there would only be a 17 ft. aisle
between the cars parked in front of the SA and the cars stacked to use the
pumps. The City's minimum aisle width requirement is 20 ft. The site plan has
been reviewed by the City Engineer who feels very uncomfortable with this site
plan. Other concerns are deliveries that are made to the front of the store
creating a problem of cars getting in and out of the site after the pumps are in
operation.
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Minutes of the Golden Valley Plannng_Cammission'
April 22, 1991
Page Two
Mr. Grimes reviewedthe 10 findings and discussed No. 4-"Effect of any.,Antici-
pated Traffic Generation upon Current Traffic F ow and Congestion_in the Area".
Mr. Grimes has made ~ recommendation against the request but has added several
conditions should the Planning Commission decide to recommend approval to the
City Council for the requested Conditional Use Permit.
Commission Lewis asked about a buffer between the SuperAmerica store and the
other businesses in case afire or explosion occurred and also the existence of
gas stations in high density areas. Mr. Grimes stated the Fire Marshal/Chief
would review buffers for safety and there is nothing in City Code regarding gas
stations in high density locations.
Commission McCracken-Hunt asked about car circulation on the site and was the
gas tank on cars usually on the passenger side. Beth Knoblauch, City Planner,
said most cars have the gas tank on the left side and a one-sided island may be
a problem with maneuvering the gas tank side of the vehicle to the gas pump.
Chair McAleese asked if staff had looked at the site and the internal traffic
pattern for the other stores. Ms. Knoblauch stated that most traffic will come
in from Medicine Lake or the northern most driveway on Hillsboro. Mark Grimes
stated his concern is when traffic comes in from Medicine Lake Road and there
are cars stacked up at the pump, a narrowing up at the entrance then occurs
where cars come into center. Also, backing out of parking spaces in front of
and on the side of the SuperAmerica store may become a problem.
Chair McAleese asked Mr. Grimes to explain the letter from the City of New Hope.
A letter was received expressing their concern of access and hours of operation
due to the apartment building directly north of the subject area. The City of
New Hope does not allow the sale of gas between the hours of midnight and 6:OOam
and felt that it would be an appropriate stand for the City of Golden Valley to
take and would like the City to adopt their ordinance with regard to the sale of
gasoline.
Michael O'Donnell, architect with SuperAmerica, showed a design of the pump area
and discussed the worse scenario -- stacking and waiting in line for gas. He
doesn't see a problem with traffic. Other SuperAmerica stores have seen an
increase in customers with the sale of gasoline and he would expect to see the
same at this site.
Commissioner Lewis asked if there was any other way to place the pumps. Mr.
O'Donnell stated that the pumps could be placed closer to Hillsboro but vari-
ances would then be needed.
Commissioner Kapsner asked about angling the three parking spaces in front of
the store and the side to create more space. Commissioner Prazak and Johnson
felt that this would still create a problem of getting in and out. Commissioner
Kapsner also asked about the distance of a car from the gas pump and feels that
some cars could park up to five feet away. Mr. O'Donnell stated yellow lines
could be painted by the pumps to show where a car should position itself when
fueling up.
Commissioner McCracken-Hunt asked about eliminating parking at the front of the
store. Mr. O'Donnell asked why and Commissioner McCracken-Hunt stated to elimi-
nate some of the maneuvering problems.
Minutes of the Golden Valley Planning Commission
April 22, 1991
Page Three
Chair McAleese asked what the hours would be at the store and would there be
loud speakers at the pumps. The store manager stated 6:OOam to 11:OOpm are
store hours and Mr. O'Donnell said there would be some kind of speaker at the
island and the check out is being rearranged for better visibility of the pumps.
Commissioner Johnson commented on the other two gas stations in the area and
where would SuperAmerica get its customers. Mr. O'Donnell said its customer
base would come from present customers and hopes to draw customers from other
busy gas stations in the area.
Chair McAleese opened the Informal Public Hearing.
Steve Halseth, Westview Liquor Store, 2500 Hwy. 169 No., commented on the amount
of traffic and accidents at the intersection of Hillsboro and Medicine Lake
Road. He doesn't see this station as a necessity with two other stations in the
area. This area is a truckers nightmare and sees no pluses.
Dennis Rock, 2404 Hillsboro feels traffic is a concern. Losing nine to ten
parking spaces at the north end and shifting them more south would take up cus-
tomer parking from stores at that end of the building. If this CUP is approved
he would like to see a barrier between the businesses and townhomes.
Dick Newman, 2414 Mendelssohn Lane, talked about a potential problem with seep-
age or spills from the gas storage tanks that could work its way in to the
natural wild life areas of Medley Park, Kings Valley and Pheasant Glen areas.
Mr. Newman asked staff what City requirements were regarding spill containment
and control and would they meet with all State and Federal environmental pollu-
tion control standards. The existing commercial development has been a source
of trash nuisance, pedestrian traffic through adjacent residential properties
and extended vehicle parking at the south end and feels there should be a buffer
at this end.
Dan Swain, 2420 Mendelssohn Ln. was speaking against .the proposal. He feels it
would be a detriment toward the existing two filling stations and is concerned
with increased traffic at the intersection. A major spill could run down on the
townhomes and they could face a risk of fire or explosions.
Carolyn Gerber, 2444 Mendelssohn Ln. is concerned with traffic and talked about
morning traffic problems. Delivery trucks are parked where cars are coming and
going onto Hillsboro.
Tony Oullette, landlord of the proposed property, feels the parking problem with
the trucks can be solved by having deliveries come in through the back driveway.
He commented that the tenants in the building feel this proposal would be good
for the center and does not feel there are traffic problems occurring.
Jacdish Patel, owner of Superette, talked about the delivery trucks and how they
stack-up and sometimes park on the street.
Kendall Johnson, Manager for SuperAmerica, stated deliveries can be taken in
back which would solve the trucking issue. Fuel trucks come in around 11:OOam
and take 15 minutes, approximately, to unload. He feels the City could lower
speed limit on Medicihe Lake Road to reduce traffic problems. Other two gas
stations in the area are full service whereas SuperAmerica is different being a
self-serve station.
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Minutes of the Golden Valley Planning Commission
April 22, 1991
Page Four
Chair McAleese asked Mr. Johnson to comment on how he will be handling trash.
Mr. Johnson stated trash pick-up around the store is excellent. A night crew
picks up trash and he picks ups trash during the day scanning the whole area for
cigarette butts, cans, etc.
Chair McAleese asked staff to respond to City requirements regarding spill con-
tainment and control. Mark Grimes commented that he was unaware of any unique
requirements as part of the conditions that need to be reviewed by a Fire
Marshal/Chief. Mr. Grimes feels the Fire Marshal/Chief would take into consid-
eration the possible effects of a spill and would have a plan for clean-up.
Chair McAleese asked staff to comment on screening at the south end of the pro-
posed property. Mr. O'Donnell said. that they are not planning any .screening at
this end of the building. Mr. Grimes stated the zoning requirement for commer-
cial districts does not require fencing or landscape screening.
Chair McAleese closed the Informal Public Hearing.
Michael O'Donnell commented that the customers at SuperAmerica requested that
gasoline tanks be added as a service.
The Commissioners unanimously agreed they felt this site is not large enough to
handle single-sided pumps without affecting the incoming and out-going vehicles
from the site and the parking problem in front of and on the west of the store.
They feel. that stacking may occur near the entrances on the site (cars waiting
to use gas pumps) and this may cause back-up on the busy Medicine Lake Road and
Hillsboro Avenue. The Commissioners stated they believed that SuperAmerica does
have a good operation and attracts customers because of their product. Chair
McAleese added he wished the City had a stronger ordinance dealing with the
environmental issue of gas tanks and Commissioner McCracken-Hunt said it would
be good to know what is required from state and local government regulations,
that the Fire Marshal would be looking for in a review of this kind of situation
so we know what the guidelines are from the beginning.
Mark Grimes said he would talk with the Fire Marshal and ask him to write a
memo to the Planning Commission explaining what kind of protections should be
taken around gas stations.
MOVED by McCracken-Hunt, seconded by Kapsner and motion carried unanimously to
recommend to the City Council denial of the request from SuperAmerica to allow
gasoline sales and storage on their site at 2580 Hillsboro Avenue North.
III. Update of Valley Square Redevelopment Plan - Review. and Approval
Chair McAleese asked Beth Knoblauch f^r an update. This is a retread of the
old plan with old waste cut out and more information added in a shorter number
of pages. Most significant pages are in the Plan recommendations for Areas Al
and C -- wording softened. HRA would still like to see office development in
Area Al and mixed use/high density residential for Area C. Because there is the
possibility that it may not be feasible for the time remaining in the district,
it is now indicated that these are preferences rather than requirements. The
Winnetka Avenue Overlay Area has been created to make it more clear for the bid
of the bond issue so one would know what is involved and what the City is talk-
ing about -- provides a summary without reading through the whole district
involved in the Winnetka Avenue upgrade.
Minutes of the Golden Valley Planning Commission
April 22, 1991
Page Five
MOVED by Kapsner, seconded by Johnson and motion carried unanimously to recom-
mend to the City Council approval of the Updated Valley Square Redevelopment
Plan as submitted.
IV. Review of Planning Commission Attendance
Chair McAleese reviewed the attendance.
V. Re orts on Meetin s of the Housin and Redevelo ment Authorit Cit
Counc~ an Boar o Zoning ppea s
Commissioner Prazak gave a short report of the City Council meeting he attended
with Cellular One on the Agenda. Commissioner McCracken-Hunt gave a brief
report on the BZA meeting she attended.
VI. Other Business
No other business was presented.
VII. Adjournment
Chair McAleese adjourned the meeting at 9:30p.m.
* Adoption of minutes took place after the informal public hearing due to the
fact that Chair McAleese had not received his minutes, for review, which were
mailed to his home on Friday, the 19th of April.
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n Lewis, S re ary
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