Loading...
04-19-99 PC Minutes I I I Regular Meeting of the Golden Valley Planning Commission April 19, 1999 A regular meeting of the Planning Commission was held at the Golden Valley City Hall, Council Chambers, 7800 Golden Valley Road, Golden Valley, Minnesota, on Monday, April 19, 1999. The meeting was called to order by Commissioner Johnson at 7:00 p.m. Those present were Commissioners Groger, Johnson, Kapsner, Martens and McAleese. Absent were Chair Pentel and Commissioner Shaffer. Also present were Mark Grimes, Director of Planning and Development, Beth Knoblauch, City Planner and Tammi Hall, Recording Secretary. Lester Eck was also in attendance. I. Approval of Minutes - April 12. 1999 The minutes of April 12, 1999 had not yet been distributed to the Commission for review. They will be considered for approval at the next meeting. II. Informal Public Hearing - Draft - Surface Water Management Plan Jeannine Clancy, Director of Public Works, AI Lundstrom, Environmental Technician, and Dave Nyberg of HR Green Consulting Engineers were present for the info.rmal public hearing on the draft Surface Water Management Plan. Public Works Director Clancy provided brief background information on the draft plan. She stated that the City has been working with HR Green Consulting Engineers to develop the plan. She indicated that there has been a great deal of citizen input through a citizens group that was formed particularly to review Chapter Three of the plan. She stated that the Bassett Creek Watershed Management Commission, the Metropolitan Council, school districts and surrounding communities have all received copies of the plan. She requested the Commission recommend that the plan be approved by the City Council with the stipulations set forth by the Bassett Creek Watershed Management Commission and the Metropolitan Council in their review letters. Dave Nyberg of HR Green Consulting Engineers provided a brief overview of the plan and summarized the revisions requested by the Planning Commission. He stated that the plan contains two sections. The first section deals with policy and the second contains the technical data. He stated that most of the changes requested by the Commission were in Chapter Three. He added that the majority of the recommendations of the SWAMP Committee and the input from City staff was also in regard to Chapter Three. ') Q, {J LoU .r.: Minutes ofthe Golden Valley Planning Commission April 19, 1999 Page 2 Nyberg briefly reviewed some of the specific changes made in response to the Commission's comments. He indicated th~t, in Chapter Two under existing programs, the shoreland zone was added to the exhibit. He stated that some of the priorities were changed in the implementation plan, including changing the public education program to a first year priority to reflect that this program will be implemented this year. I Nyberg indicated that the changes recommended in the review letters from the Metropolitan Council and the Bassett Creek Watershed Management Commission have not yet been incorporated into the plan but they will be included before the plan is reviewed by the City Council. Nyberg stated that the only municipal response to the plan that may result in possible minor change has been from the City of St. Louis Park. He indicated that they would like to review the peak flows that go across the corporate boundary to make sure our plan is in agreement with the City of St. Louis Park plan. Nyberg indicated that, at this point, the City plan is not required to meet the standards defined for second generation plans by the Metropolitan Council. However, he stated that once the Bassett Creek Watershed Management Commission does a second generation plan, the City will be required to meet these standards. He indicated that, I since the second generation plan will probably be done by the Bassett Creek Watershed District in the next few years, it would be best to adhere to these standards now rather than having to revise the plan again in a short time. Nyberg stated that the Bassett Creek Wat~rshed Management Commission highlighted some issues in regard to permitting, level three vs. level two for the stream, floodplain management, and some better referencing of the Surface Water Management Committee report. Nyberg indicated that the exhibits have also been updated to reflect recent development. Commissioner Kapsner asked what is done with the sediment that is removed from storm water ponds during maintenance. Lundstrom indicated that the sediment is temporarily stored on City property and is eventually used for fill on construction sites. He stated that it is not considered a contaminated material. Commissioner Martens asked how many storm water ponds are publicly owned versus privately owned. He questioned if there is any process for enforcing maintenance on privately owned ponds. Clancy responded that the Bassett Creek Watershed District I requires the City to have easements and maintenance agreements on privately owned storm water retention ponds. Martens questioned how the retrofitting program I I I 285 Minutes of the Golden Valley Planning Commission April 19, 1999 Page 3 discussed on page 3.4 will be implemented in regard to privately owned ponds. Nyberg stated that the Capital Improvement Program outlines specific storm water ponds that are targeted for the retrofitting program. He indicated that those targeted for the program tend to be regional-type ponds. Nyberg stated that private ponds in older developments do not have maintenance agreements. Lundstrom stated that the maintenance agreement requires an annual inspection by the City. Grimes stated that if the inspection indicates that maintenance is needed, the maintenance agreements require the property owner to complete the necessary maintenance. Grimes added that there are also many City-owned ponds which are maintained by the City. Commissioner Johnson opened the informal public hearing. There were no comments from the public. Johnson closed the informal public hearing. Commissioner McAleese noted that in Section 5.D-lmplementation Priorities, page 5-1 under section 5.1 refers to a tree preservation ordinance. He stated that, since the Commission did not recommend approval of the tree preservation ordinance, this item should refer to a tree preservation program. Commissioner Groger added that this would also apply to the table under 5.2. Commissioner Groger asked about the changes that were made to the erosion control ordinance as a result of the comments by the Planning Commission. Lundstrom stated that the scope of the ordinance was changed to address activities requiring a building permit that would cause an adjustment in the foundation of a structure. Grimes stated that there may be some activities within this criteria that still would not need an erosion control plan. He stated that this will be left to the discretion of the City Engineer. Groger indicated that he felt this flexibility in the ordinance was beneficial. MOVED by McAleese, seconded by Groger and motion carried unanimously to recommend to the City Council approval of the Surface Water Management Plan subject to the changes recommended by the Bassett Creek Watershed Management Commission and the Metropolitan Council and the change in reference to the tree preservation program as discussed above. III. Informal Public Hearing ~ Draft ~ General Land Use Plan Update and Related Technical Background Document Knoblauch provided brief background on the General Land Use Plan. She indicated that the last land use plan was adopted in 1982. She stated that the core of the plan is an existing land use map, a long-term land use plan map, and a set of goal, policy, and objective statements outlining how the City will approach land use and development matters over time. She stated that the plan includes five goals which must be 286 Minutes of the Golden Valley Planning Commission April 19, 1999 Page 4 considered in light of potentially conflicting interests on several fronts. She reviewed the areas where the City must seek a balance between these conflicting interests: balancing different uses, balancing quality and diversity, balancing existing development and redevelopment, balancing natural and man-made environments, and balancing local and regional interests. Knoblauch stated that the land use objectives included in the plan provide a list of specific tasks that the City will undertake. She stated that the policies section provides direction for future decision-making. I Knoblauch then reviewed the proposed land use plan map. She stated that the proposed map is larger and uses more colors than the previous map. She indicated that the final map will be computer generated. It will also reflect separate color codes for open water and wetlands. She indicated that this will result in some alteration of the. colors used on this draft. The following land use categories are used: residential-low density, residential-medium density, residential-high density, office, commercial, light industrial, industrial, open space-public and private, schools and religious lacilities, public facilities-miscellaneous, and semi-public facilities-miscellaneous. Knoblauch reviewed the areas that have been revised on the map. She indicated that the changes fall into five categories. She stated that the majority of the changes fall into the firstthree categories which are basic administrative changes, as follows: I . individual property changes that have been approved but were not recorded on the old map . reclassification of all institutional properties since they were grouped differently in 1982 . incorrect classification of some institutional properties due to the combination of color and pattern screens used in the previous map Knoblauch indicated that the fourth category includes changes in the three redevelopment areas: Valley Square, North Wirth and Golden Hills. Knoblauch stated that the fifth category covers the miscellaneous properties that have been changed on the new map. She indicated that the majority of these are City- owned properties. She also indicated that some of the properties included in this category had zoning changes that were never reflected in the comprehensive plan. Johnson indicated it would be helpful if a broader range of colors could be used on the map since some of the colors are very difficult to differentiate. Knoblauch responded that the colors will be altered for the final version. Commissioner Johnson opened the informal public hearing. There were no comments I from the public. Johnson closed the informal public hearing. I I I K}Q- ff~; t.) Minutes of the Golden Valley Planning Commission April 19, 1999 Page 5 McAleese stated, that for those who may be watching the hearing on cable, the lack of discussion by Commission members should not be interpreted as a lack of interest in these documents. He stated that both of these plans are important items for the City and that the Commission has been reviewing and discussing them over the past year. Martens indicated that the plan referred to the possibility of separating zoning changes from comprehensive plan changes. Knoblauch responded that the plan does not recommend that this be changed, but recommends that the City will review the issue to see if it should be changed. Martens stated that he felt they should not be separated since this may tend to lengthen the process for zoning changes. MOVED by Gtoger, seconded by McAleese and motion carried unanimously to recommend td the City Council approval of the general land use plan update and the related techni~al background document. Grimes comm~nded Knoblauch for her efforts on this plan. I ! IV. Re 0 on Meetin s of the Housin and Redevelo ment Authori Counc I and Board of Zonin A eals , , McAleese indi~ated that the City Council will be reviewing the erosion control ordinance and the tree p~eservation program at their meeting on April 20. I Grimes stated that there will be a meeting next week regarding the Area B redevelopme t plan. Grimes also sated that there will be a meeting on April 27th to review the City's progress in meting the goals of the housing plan. He indicated there will be future meetings of t e Planning Commission and the Human Rights Commission to address the housing pan. V. Other usiness There was no other business. VI. Adiournment The meeting was adjourned at 8:05 p.