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01-24-00 PC Minutes . e . - . Regular Meeting of the Golden Valley Planning Commission January 24, 2000 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, January 24,2000. The meeting was called to order by Chair Pentel at 7:00 P.M. Those present were Chair Pentel, Commissioners Eck, Groger, McAleese, Shaffer, and Rasmussen; absent was Hof~an. Also present were Director of Planning and Development Mark Grimes and Recording Secretary Heidi Reinke. I. Approval of Minutes - January 10,2000 Commissioner Shaffer indicated an error on page 7, the second paragraph should read "this proposal", not "this project". Secondly, the second paragraph on page 7 should read, "Additional members of the commission emphasized that this proposal does not necessarily follow the code definition of a P.D.D." Other corrections include: Condition #7: A time limit will not be set for removal of the fuel tank. Condition #4: Breck School should continue to monitor and hire off-duty Police Officers/Law Enforcement Persons to control traffic in the peak morning and afternoon periods if necessary. Flexibility should be allowed as to which officers are hired for monitoring. Grimes noted that prior to the informal public hearing for the Basset Creek Montessori School, Commissioner Shaffer stepped down as a Planning Commissioner as he is the architect for this proposal. After the informal hearing, Shaffer rejoined the Commission to complete the meeting. McAleese added that he wanted to clarify his argument on the issue of Breck School and the P.D.D. He asked for permission to extend and amend his comments on the issue. McAleese would like to add an addendum to the January 10, 2000 Planning Commission minutes. The addendum would specifically be McAleese's ideas and would not reflect that these ideas and opinions came from other members of the Commission. He would like to attempt to reorganize his ideas, not fix the minutes from the January 10, 2000 meeting. The addendum would be attached to the minutes and submitted to the City Council. He noted that the addendum would be sent to Mary Dold, Planning Assistant, on Wednesday, January 12. Grimes, Pentel, and Shaffer agreed that if the addendum were simply a recommendation to the Council and not a correction to the minutes, the addendum would be allowed. MOVED by Shaffer, seconded by McAleese, and motion carried unanimously to approve the January 10, 2000 minutes with the above revisions. II. Informal Public Hearing - Conditional Use Permit (No. 80-01) Applicant: General Mills Address: I General Mills Boulevard, Golden Valley, MN Minutes of the Golden Valley Planning Commission January 24, 2000 Page 2 Purpose: To allow the operation of a day care facility in the industrial zoning district by Conditional Use. . Director of Planning and Development, Mark Grimes, explained the application for a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) in order to operate a day care facility in an Industrial zoning district. The day care facility would be located on the west side of the General Mills campus, in the Bell Tower building. The facility will be located on the first floor level and use approximately 4,000 sq.ft. ofthe existing building. The day care center will serve only General Mills employees. This on-site facility is being proposed for 36 infants, from 6 weeks to 16 months in age. The provider for the day care center is Children's Home Society of Minnesota. Grimes said the parking is not an issue for this proposed facility. Employees would drop off the children and then park in the employee's main parking lot. The parking lot on the west side of the campus is for those persons who may have health concerns and for designated employees only. Grimes said the applicant has demonstrated a need for the day care facility, saying there is a waiting list for the use. The recommendations for the day care facility are as follows: _ 1. The attached site plan and floor plan prepared by General Mills, dated 1/6/99, shall become a part of this approval. 2. The interior improvements shall meet all requirements of the building and fire code. 3. The enrollment of the site shall be limited to 36 children. 4. There shall be no more than 12 staff on-site at one time. 5. The hours of operation shall be 6:00 am to 6:00 pm. . 6. The day care facility shall serve only those employees of General Mills. 7. All other applicable local, state, and federal requirements shall be met. 8. Failure to comply with one or more ofthe above conditions shall be grounds for revocation of the Conditional Use Permit. Grimes suggested there may be some flexibility ofthese conditions in the case that the a.pplicant might want to expand the day care center. He suggested that the applicant, in the future, may want to add more children and increase the age limit. e Pentel suggested that if the day care center meets state requirements, then flexibility with the age limit should not pose a problem. Groger suggested that recommendation 3, 4, and 5 could potentially be eliminated. Tom Forsythe, Director of Communications for General Mills, stated that he would be open to answering any questions. He said that the facility would be a good place for the employee's children. Forsythe addressed Eck's question of age limit. He said that the most pressing need presently is for children within the "infant" age limit. He added that in the future it is possible that General Mills may want to increase the day care center to accommodate older children. Forsythe commented that General Mills is aware that infant day care is the most expensive type of care to find. If General Mills were able to offer this service to its employees, it would solve many problems for its parents. Forsythe added that with the number of staff at the center, there would only be space at this time for 36 children. He requested some flexibility with the age limit and staffing in order to accommodate more children at a . . e . Minutes of the Golden Valley Planning Commission January 24, 2000 Page 3 later time if there deems to be a need. Forsythe added that at this time General Mills is accepting infants only and would maintain a 36 infant limit. Chair Pentel opened the informal public hearing; seeing and hearing no one, Chair Pentel closed the informal public hearing. Commissioner Rasmussen stated that she would like to see some flexibility with conditions 3, 4, and 5. The commission agreed that conditions 3, 4 and 5 could be removed altogether. MOVED by Shaffer, seconded by Rasmussen and motion carried unanimously to recommend to the City Council to allow the operation of a day care facility in the Industrial zoning district by Conditional Use noting the following conditions: 1. The attached site plan and floor plan prepared by General Mills, dated 1/6/99, shall become a part of this approval. 2. The interior improvements shall meet all requirements of the building and fire code. 3. The day care facility shall serve only those employees of General Mills. 4. All other applicable local, state, and federal requirements shall be met. 5. Failure to comply with one or more of the above conditions shall be grounds for revocation of the Conditional Use Permit. III. Report on Meetings ofthe Housing and Redevelopment Authority, City Council, Board of Zoning, and other Meetings Pentel stated that no one attended the Housing and Redevelopment Authority meeting of January 11, 2000. McAleese attended the City Council meeting of January 18, 2000. He noted that the item on the agenda was the Allianz Preliminary Design Plan and the Council approved the plan. Several items discussed e were traffic and aesthetics of the building. He added that few citizens were in attendance for the meeting. . IV. Other Business Pentel questioned when a City Planner would be hired. Grimes said the City was in the process of hiring a planner. This person would work with focus groups, town meetings, and neighborhood feedback. Grimes addressed the issue of acquiring the Olympic Printing property. He would like to see the City buy the property to ensure that it is used appropriately. The property is approximately 7 to 8 acres in size. Grimes stated that the Council held its yearly retreat on January 22. He said the Council assigned two items to the Planning Commission, that of reviewing the Olympic Printing site and the 1-394 corridor. There was some support from the Council to make a new redevelopment along the 1-394 corridor. Grimes said that the Housing and Redevelopment Authority asked the Planning Commission to look at the Olympic Printing lot. It will eventually be developed and is on the market now. The Commission should think about what type of land use would be complementary to the adjacent commercial and Minutes of the Golden Valley Planning Commission January 24, 2000 Page 4 residential zoning. Grimes noted several other issues to be considered on this site: parking (the area is now over parked), drainage concerns ifmore paved parking is created, screening and landscaping, and design aesthetic. Pentel asked Grimes for a map and footprint of the surrounding buildings and streets to better evaluate the area. McAleese noted that the area would most likely be developed at a much higher density than it is presently. Developers tend to overbuild sites to maximize the profit, therefore careful planning for this site must be considered. Pentel suggested that the Commission inquire to what the neighbors would like to see in their community. Through a charette, the designers in the community could present their ideas and hear what the community would like to have. Once several ideas have been created, they can be presented to the H.R.A. . Grimes said in the past, the Commission has talked about continuing education. He said that because not _ all members of the Commission can attend the national conference, periodic continuing education would be beneficial for everyone. He suggested having someone come in on either a Monday night the Planning Commission does not meet or when there is a small agenda. Some of the topics of discussion could be the budget cycle, public works, conflict of interest, sign ordinance, setbacks, and parking requirements. He suggested that all commissioners be involved in continuing education sessions when they become available V. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 8:16 P.M. . e .