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06-11-01 PC Minutes Regular Meeting of the Golden Valley Planning Commission June 11, 2001 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, June 11, 2001. Chair Pentel called the meeting to order at 7 pm. Those present were Chair Pentel and Commissioners Eck, Groger, Hoffman, McAleese, Rasmussen and Shaffer. Also present were Director of Planning and Development Mark Grimes, City Planner Dan Olson and Recording Secretary Lisa Wittman I. Approval of Minutes - May 14, 2001 Planning Commission Meeting Eck stated that page 17 is out of order and that the discussion should have been before the motion, not after. MOVED by Shaffer, seconded by Eck and motion carried unanimously to approve the May 14, 2001 minutes with the above change. II. Informal Public Hearing - Preliminary Design Plan - General Mills - P.U.D. No. 94 Applicant: General Mills, Inc. Address: 1 General Mills Boulevard, Golden Valley, MN Purpose: The P.U.D. would allow for the expansion of General Mills existing office facilities, including the construction of new office buildings and parking ramps. Due to a potential conflict of interest Commissioners Shaffer and Hoffman removed themselves from the chambers and did not take part in the discussion and/or action on this agenda item. Director of Planning and Development Mark Grimes presented the applicant's request for the construction of two office buildings totaling about 600,000 sq. ft. He showed the general location and the site plan. He stated the property General Mills is on right now is zoned Industrial and both office and industrial uses are allowed in this Zoning District. Grimes clarified that this proposal is only for the area south of Betty Crocker Drive and stated that he has asked the applicant to amend the plat to reflect this before it goes to the City Council. Grimes stated that the current General Mills property is not a PUD, but the proposed expansion includes new buildings and a parking structure connected by walkways, which the staff and City Attorney see as separate buildings and without a Minutes of the Golden Valley Planning Commission June 11, 2001 Page 2 PUD, only one principal building can be on one lot. Grimes stated the Land Use Plan has also designated this area as Industrial, so therefore, the uses planned for this expansion are consistent with both the Land Use Plan Map and the Zoning Map. Grimes referred to the site plan and showed where the proposed new office buildings and parking structure will be. He stated they are proposing to add another driveway off of Betty Crocker Drive and stated the City Engineer doesn't have any concerns with that. Grimes stated that this proposal does qualify as a PUD because of the number of buildings on the property. He stated it meets the required area, lot width, and lot coverage. He stated that the building height in the Industrial Zoning District is typically limited to 45 feet and referred to the existing Bell building, which is a 10-story building. He stated the proposed 6-story office building would exceed the 45-foot height limit. Grimes discussed the setbacks in the Industrial District and stated the only area where the setbacks aren't met in this proposal is in the southwest corner along TH169 and in the parking area, which already exists, but is being rebuilt. Grimes discussed the parking requirements and stated that the proposed PUD indicates that there will be 3500 parking stalls after the first phase of construction and after the second office building is completed another 1200 spaces will be added for a total of 4700 spaces. He stated that based on the City's parking requirement of 1 space for every 250 square feet of office space, the parking requirement would be 5115 spaces. Therefore, they have a little bit less parking than what would be required under normal zoning. Grimes stated he is confident that the amount of parking that they are proposing would meet their parking demand. He stated that General Mills would be doing a traffic management plan but that they have adequate space on their campus to build more parking if necessary. Grimes stated he neglected to indicate in his staff report that this proposal is within the 1-394 zoning overlay district, however, it does not qualify to require a traffic management plan because it doesn't meet the density requirement which is 6/10 of square foot of office space for every square foot of land area. He stated that General Mills is however, committed to creating a traffic management plan due the traffic concerns expressed in the EAW. Grimes stated that a landscape plan will have to be approved by the Building Board of Review and a tree preservation and grading and erosion control plan would have to be submitted and approved by the City. Grimes stated that General Mills has indicated that they would put in traffic signals at their main entrance on Betty Crocker Drive and General Mills Boulevard and along the entrances to 1-394 and at Boone Avenue and Highway 55. Grimes stated that the traffic reports done by the City's traffic engineer and General Mills' traffic engineer did indicate that there is capacity in the system with the improvements that are being proposed at these intersections. He stated that they've met with the Metropolitan Council and they've also confirmed that there is capacity on the local street system, but they had concerns about the mainlines and freeways, but at this point in time there is nothing the local government can do other than note that there is an issue for the Metropolitan Council for future decisions about the metropolitan road system. Minutes of the Golden Valley Planning Commission June 11, 2001 Page 3 Grimes stated he is recommending approval along with the conditions listed in his report, the City Engineer's report and the Deputy Fire Marshal's report. Eck referred to the EAW and stated it made a point of improving the Highway 55 and Boone Avenue intersection. He stated that the City Engineer's report stated that the improvements must be done as soon as possible. He asked what is involved in getting it done and if it could drag on for years. Grimes stated that because it is a State highway, MnDot has to approve the plans, which takes time and that funding is also an issue. Pentel asked if there would be adequate right-of-way for the additional left turn and for the additional lane going north. Grimes stated that the City believes that there is, but there may be a need for a slight increase on the north side, but nothing significant. Pentel asked if General Mills is seeking any public subsidies for this proposal. Grimes stated they are looking at tax abatement for this project. Pentel asked Grimes to explain tax abatement. Kenneth Horns, Civil Engineer, HGA, Architect and Engineer for General Mills stated he would answer any questions the Commission might have. Pentel asked Horns if any computer images have been done that would show what the height of the building would look like in relation to the existing buildings. Horns stated that some have been done and that more complete images would be submitted as part of the next phase. He referred to the cover page of their proposal, which shows two computer images of the General Mills Campus and discussed the existing buildings and the proposed new buildings. Pentel asked where the 1 OO-year floodplain is being impacted. Horns referred to a diagram, which showed the 1 OO-year floodplain that curves along Bassett Creek north of Betty Crocker Drive. He stated there is an elevation established at 88.5 that the watershed is managing. Groger referred to the road that goes around the southwest corner of the property up to the southwest corner of the proposed new building and asked if that is a garage entrance or a loading dock. Horns stated that there would be a garage entrance on the lower level for executive parking and also some visitor parking for the bell tower and a drop-off/delivery point for the main entry. Groger asked if there was also going to be a drop-off point at the new employee service center. Horns stated that there would be a major entry, lobby, bus stop and a drop-off/delivery point there. Groger asked if they are proposing any changes for the existing buildings. Horns stated that there would be some remodeling, but no exterior changes are planned. Pentel opened the public hearing. Hearing and seeing no one Pentel closed the public hearing. Minutes of the Golden Valley Planning Commission June 11, 2001 Page 4 MOVED by Groger, seconded by McAleese and motion carried unanimously to approve the P.U.D. to allow for the expansion of General Mills existing office facilities, including the construction of new office buildings and parking ramps with the conditions listed in the staff reports. Commissioners Hoffman and Shaffer returned to the dais. -- Short Recess -- III. Reports on Meetings of the Housing and Redevelopment Authority, City Council, Board of Zoning Appeals and other Meetings Shaffer gave an update from the Board of Zoning Appeals. He discussed the Perkins request and stated that they decided to grant their variance requests, but not to let them have two buildings on the site during construction. IV. Other Business A. Presentation of Telecommunications research - Bill Thibault, Thibault Associates Bill Thibault, Thibault Associates, gave a review of his Telecommunications Towers and Antennas Study and Ordinance. He discussed the history of the Telecommunication Act of 1996 and stated that local zoning controls and local rights-of-way are left in tact even though the Telecommunications Act is a Federal Law. He stated that the demand for' services has increased and the technology has changed, so therefore, more facilities are going to be needed. He referred to page 5 of his report and showed an antenna on top of an electrical tower and discussed the various places where antennas can be placed. Thibault reviewed several ordinances from different, adjacent cities and discussed Golden Valley's current Ordinance. He stated that each community should have a tailor made ordinance. Pentel asked for a ballpark figure of the income earned from these towers. Thibault stated that it is usually about $12,000 to $15,000 to use cities water towers for antennas. Eck referred to Thibault's report and asked if above mean sea level meant the height of the top of the tower. Thibault stated that it is the ground. Pentel asked what the next step is in rewriting Golden Valley's Ordinance. Thibault stated that the City should have a strategic session where they go through a brainstorming process and a ranking process of what's most important to what's least Minutes of the Golden Valley Planning Commission June 11, 2001 Page 5 important. There was a discussion of when people should meet next. Olson suggested July 9, 2001. B. Discussion of Planning Commission ethics information from National APA Conference, New Orleans and information from C. Gregory Dale Olson referred to the ethics materials he gave to the Commissioners. Pentel asked the Commissioners if there were any issues the Planning Commission needs to address. Eck commented on initial and ongoing training. Pentel asked Olson if he had copies of the handouts that new commissioners receive. He stated he did. C. Planning Commission Round Table hosted by the City of Richfield, September 11, 2001 Olson stated that Golden Valley received an invitation from the City of Richfield to attend a round table discussion on the following topics: how development is affecting our communities, how this has posed new challenges and roles for planning commissions, the role of the planning commission in community development, community engagement, community education and the planning commission, interaction and relation of the planning commission to the city council. D. Discussion of July 9, 2001 Planning Commission meeting Olson stated that there would be a regular Planning Commission meeting on July 9, 2001. It was discussed a few months ago that there would be a City Council meeting on July 9, but that has been changed. V. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 pm.