12-11-00 Joint PC-CC Minutes
Joint Meeting
of the City Council and Planning Commission
A joint meeting of the City Council and Planning Commission was held at the
Golden Valley City Hall, Council Conference Room, 7800 Golden Valley Road,
Golden Valley, Minnesota, on Monday, December 11, 2000. The meeting was
called to order by Mayor Mary Anderson at 5:30 PM.
Those present were Mayor Anderson, Council Members LeSuer, Micks, Bakken,
and Commissioners Eck, Pentel, McAleese, Groger, Rasmussen, Hoffman and
Shaffer. Council Member Johnson was absent. Also present were Mark Grimes,
Director of Planning and Development, Dan Olson, City Planner and recording
secretary Lisa Wittman.
I. Introduction: Why are we here?
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Mayor Anderson called this meeting to discuss the Housing Element of the
Comprehensive Plan. The following items are the questions posed to the City
Council and the Planning Commission and the brainstorming ideas that were
discussed.
Encourage a sufficient variety of housing types and designs to allow all
people a housing choice.
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· Balanced housing all income levels
· Life-cycle housing - variety of types and costs
· Livable Community Goals
. How do we encourage?
· How does the market respond?
· What incentives can the City provide?
· What does encourage involve?
· What does "all people" mean - local and/or metro?
. What would we not accept?
The City shall continue to offer the flexibility of the Planned Unit
Development option to housing developers who demonstrate an ability to
successfully apply contemporary land planning principles and coordinated
community design philosophies.
· How does the proposed development "fit in"?
. Pedestrian friendly
· Effects character of neighborhood and City of Golden Valley
. How do developers vision fit in with our vision?
· Livable Communities Impact Statement
· How are contemporary land planning principals defined?
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. How do we define the unique sense of place?
· Guidelines/parameters on PUD - what do we have now?
· Quantifiable goal - how many units have been added
· Financial goal of developer vs. City of Golden Valley
. More information on life cycle housing
Research options for amending PUD and/or Multiple Dwelling district
regulations to better promote the goals of quality, variety and affordability.
· Environmental: trees, walkways, neighborhood issues, green space
· What can the PC consider - PC is limited in review. What do other cities do?
· Balance use of PUD between achieving stated goals and how it fits into
community.
. Blend with surrounding neighborhood
. Update PUD ordinance
. What is the transition? How is it mitigated?
. What do cities do to implement "new" developments?
. How do we accomplish "transitions"?
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Identify underused nonresidential sites where the vacant area may be
suitable for higher density residential use.
. Speak the Word Church
. Church for sale on Harold and Louisiana
. Large lot redevelopment
. Small lot consolidation
. Conversion of businesses to housing
. How do we target these areas?
. Circle Down
. Large lot division
. Inter-generational housing
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Specific issues that come up when we respond to developers.
Traffic Generation
. Perception vs. reality
. Higher densities require better pedestrian systems
. Paths to parks and streets - buses
. Where does the traffic go? Where is it directed? Try to keep off local
streets?
. Go beyond the raw numbers - effect of impacts of traffic
. On street parking
. Traffic engineering "new" philosophies and techniques
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Property Values
. Do we need to worry about declining property value?
. Need evidence - studies - local assessor info.
. Different people bring different property values
. People worry about escalating values
Development is "out of character" with existing neighborhood
. Education of residents
. Identify what our vision is currently
. Identify what is important to the City's character
. Transition between types of housing
. Distinguish between neighborhoods
_ . More data/demographics about neighborhoods
Inadequate separation or screening for surrounding properties
. Landscaping moved into preliminary plan requirements of PUD so Planning
Commission reviews
. More information into preliminary design phase so Planning Commission
reviews
Maintenance and safety of overall development
. Alternative to ponds
Adequacy of parking
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. Streets too narrow or too wide
. Is street width an overblown issue?
. Guidance for absolute minimum width
. Public vs. private streets (from City Engineer)
The meeting was adjourned at 6:45.
There will be another meeting to discuss the Housing Element of the
Comprehensive Plan on January 8, 2001 at 5:30 p.m.
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