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05-10-04 PC Minutes Regular Meeting of the Golden Valley Planning Commission May 10, 2004 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 May 10, 2004. Chair Pentel called the meeting to order at 7 pm. Those present were Chair Pentel, Commissioners Eck, Hackett, Keysser, Rasmussen, and Waldhauser. Also present were Director of Planning and Development, Mark Grimes and Administrative Assistant, Lisa Wittman. Commissioner Schmidgall was absent. e I. Approval of Minutes April 26, 2004 Planning Commission Meeting Eck referred to the fourth paragraph on page two and stated that Pentel was referring to the building being placed at the "front" of the lot, not on the back part of the lot as noted. MOVED by Eck, seconded by Waldhauser and motion carried unanimously to approve the April 26, 2004 minutes with the above noted correction. II. Informal Public Hearing - Preliminary Design Plan - Allianz Life - PUD No. 87 Amendment #1 e Applicant: Allianz Life/Life USA Address: 5701 Golden Hills Drive Purpose: To allow for the construction of a 247 stall, temporary parking lot. Grimes stated that this request from Allianz is to amend their PUD approved by the City Council in April of 2000. He said that the office building Allianz built was proposed to be a two-phase development and that the first phase, a 400,000 square foot office building has been completed and is located at the corner of Golden Hills Drive and Xenia Avenue. He said that along with the first building, a parking ramp was constructed to provide for the employees in the phase one building. He stated that the applicants are planning for a second phase of construction which will be a 200,000 square footoffice building just to the west of the existing building and that along with that they are proposing to add some additional parking to the parking ramp. He explained that Allianz originally intended to keep the area west of the parking ramp as green space and use it for proof of parking but they have paved it and are using it for temporary surface parking until the phase two construction. He stated that Allianz is now in a situation where they are moving approximately 200 employees into this facility from their office in St. Louis Park so in Minutes of the Golden Valley Planning Commission May 10, 2004 Page 2 order to provide adequate parking for these employees, they are proposing this second temporary parking lot, which would also be used until they construct their second building. Grimes explained that staff wants to assure that this proposed temporary parking lot doesn't become a permanent lot without going through the proper procedures so they are recommending as a condition of approval that if the building doesn't get built within three years that these parking lots be made into a permanent parking lots with curb and gutter. Grimes stated that ponding is not an issue with this development because all of the drainage from the site goes into the regional pond nearby. e Grimes stated that Allianz has done a very good job following the traffic management plan they brought forward to the City when their original PUD was approved. He said that he has talked to the City Engineer and the City's Traffic Engineer and that they don't see any issues with congestion in that area. Waldhauser asked if the City would have any objection to the possibility of this parking lot remaining permanent surface parking if the building doesn't get built within three years. Grimes explained that the applicant's original intention was to build a second building and that the City feels confident that they will build the second building. Waldhauser said that another option for Allianz would be to expand their existing parking ramp. Grimes said that would be a possibility but he thinks Allianz would like to do all of the construction at the same time. Hackett asked if the City's landscaping requirements would apply if the proposed temporary parking were to become a permanent parking lot. Grimes said that could be e added as a condition of approval and as a part of the applicant's financial guarantee. Pentel asked if Allianz has met their traffic management plans. Grimes stated that the City recently completed another traffic study in the area and that staff feels Allianz is operating as per their original projections. Rasmussen asked how strongly the City feels about 2,400 employees being the maximum number of employees at this site at the end of the second phase. Grimes said it is important because the traffic management plan done in 2000 was based on that number of employees. He explained that the City has the right to go back and meet with Allianz if traffic becomes an issue. Tom Loucks, Loucks Associates, representing Allianz, stated that he has read the staff reports and thoroughly agrees with the conditions and recommendations in them. He explained that the phase two building is on schedule to be constructed within the next two to three years. He stated that Allianz has followed their traffic management plan by staggering work hours, encouraging car pooling and offering bus incentives. He stated that Allianz is predicting more than 2,400 employees in the long term, but that it wouldn't affect the traffic plan because people would be working in different shifts. He added that Minutes of the Golden Valley Planning Commission May 10, 2004 Page 3 one reason they need these additional parking spaces is because they have 100 to 150 consultants coming to the site every day. Eck asked if the number of employees for the phase two construction represents further consolidation of existing facilities being closed and brought to this site, or if it represents the entire anticipated growth of the business. Loucks said it consists of both facilities being consolidated to this site and new employees. Eck questioned if the Phase II building is going to be too small before it is even built. Loucks said that the indications are that there will be approximately 2,450 employees total located at this site. e Pentel opened the public hearing. Seeing and hearing no one, Pentel closed the public hearing. Pentel stated that this is a fairly straight forward proposal and noted that the only change to staffs recommendation would be to add the comments regarding the landscaping requirements being applied if this temporary lot becomes a permanent lot. MOVED by Eck, seconded by Hackett and motion carried unanimously to recommend approval for the construction of a 247 stall, temporary parking lot with the following conditions: 1. The site plans submitted as part of the Application for PUD Amendment by Allianz Life, dated April 19, 2004 and prepared by Loucks Associates, shall become a part of this approval. e 2. If the second phase office building is not started within three years of the final approval of the PUD amendment for this temporary parking area, all temporary parking areas shall have concrete curb and gutter placed around the perimeter in a manner approved by the City Engineer and shall be landscaped as per the City's requirements. Allianz shall submit a financial guaranty acceptable to the City Attorney in an amount determined by the City Engineer to ensure that the curb and gutter construction will be completed in a timely manner. 3. The recommendations in the memo from Deputy Fire Marshall Ed Anderson and dated April 29, 2004 shall become a part of these conditions of approval. 4. The recommendations in the memo from City Engineer Jeff Oliver, PE, and dated May 6, 2004, shall become a part of these conditions of approval -- Short Recess -- III. Reports on Meetings of the Housing and Redevelopment Authority, City Council, Board of Zoning Appeals and other Meetings e e Minutes of the Golden Valley Planning Commission May 10, 2004 Page 4 No other meetings were discussed. IV. Other Business Grimes suggested having a tour and orientation for the new Planning Commission members at their next meeting on May 24. Pentel suggested going back through some past proposals and inviting recently retired members, Rick Groger and Kevin McAleese to attend. Grimes said he would contact Groger and McAleese and the City Council representative to the Planning Commission and invite them to attend the next meeting. After discussion, the Commissioners decided to meet at 6 pm on May 24, have a box dinner with their orientation and then go on the tour of the City. The Commissioners adjourned and reconvened in the Council Conference room to hear the following presentation: Southwest Golden Valley - 2020 and 2035 Concept Plans Presented by MURP Capstone Team Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs V. Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 7:25 pm.