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07-25-05 PC Minutes . . . Regular Meeting of the Golden Valley Planning Commission July 25, 2005 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, July 25, 2005. Chair Keysser called the meeting to order at 7 pm. Those present were Commissioners Cera, Eck, Hackett, Keysser, Rasmussen, Schmidgall and Waldhauser. Also present was Administrative Assistant, Lisa Wittman. I. Approval of Minutes May 10, 2005 Planning Commission and City Council Joint Meeting MOVED by Waldhauser, seconded by Rasmussen and motion carried unanimously to approve the May 10, 2005 minutes as submitted. May 23, 2005 Planning Commission Meeting Eck stated that there were some typographical errors and that he would go over them with Wittman after the meeting. MOVED by Eck, seconded by Rasmussen and motion carried unanimously to approve the May 23, 2005 minutes. II. Informal Public Hearing - PUD No. 89 Amendment #1 - Golden Meadows Applicant: SVK Development Address: 2205 Winnetka Avenue North Purpose: The amendment would allow for the existing duplex to be converted to a triplex. Keysser referred to a letter from the applicant dated July 25, 2005, stating that they wished to withdraw their PUD Amendment application. III. Reports on Meetings of the Housing and Redevelopment Authority, City. Council, Board of Zoning Appeals and other Meetings No reports from other meetings were given. IV. Other Business A. Discuss memo from Mayor Loomis regarding revisions to City Code and Council Guidelines Related to Boards and Commissions. . . . Minutes of the Golden Valley Planning Commission July 25, 2005 Page 2 Eck referred to Subdivision 1 in the revised ordinance regarding the Council appointments and stated that it changes the date of Planning Commissions' annual meting and the date of the election of officers. Keysser referred to the revised ordinance language and noted that Subdivision 3 states that members shall only serve as chair for two years. He added that he doesn't have any concerns with any of the proposed changes. Cera asked if the Planning Commission has alternates. Keysser stated no. Waldhauser referred to section three of the Planning Commission by-laws and stated that the word "the" before the word "three" should be taken out. She added that Section 11 is where the language about the chair only serving two years should be added. Cera referred to section one of the by-laws and said that March should be changed to May. Keysser asked the Commissioners if they thought they should change the policy that the vice chair is the representative at the Board of Zoning Appeals. Rasmussen thought they should leave the policy as is. Eck referred to the by-laws and questioned Section 17 regarding amendments. Keysser stated that he was not sure about the purpose of that section and that he would talk to Grimes about it. Eck referred to Section 2.51 of the proposed ordinance regarding the Planning Commission's duties and responsibilities and said that it doesn't seem to track with what their by-laws say. Waldhauser said she thinks it is ok to have more details in the by-laws. Eck agreed, but stated that the ordinance doesn't really say what the Planning Commission does. Cera agreed that that the ordinance and the by-laws should parallel each other more. Waldhauser referred to the Motion with Duties of Planning Commission section of their by-laws and stated that letter A only has language about reviewing proposals and that it should also include language about making recommendations. Keysser stated that "A" and "B" from the ordinance should be incorporated in the by-laws. He said he would write up a revised copy of the by-laws and bring it to the next Planning Commission meeting for review. B. Envision Charge to Commissions Keysser stated that he thinks the Planning Commission can be more proactive with the things they want to see happen. Waldhauser reminded the Commission that the last discussion they had about Envision included identifying the various neighborhoods and creating gateways. Minutes of the Golden Valley Planning Commission July 25, 2005 Page 3 . She said that she would be willing to speak with the Public Safety Department and the Envision Connection group to try and get started with those projects. Rasmussen mentioned that they also talked about speaking to the Historical Society about how they maybe could help them identify neighborhoods. Waldhauser said that a lot of the Envision ideas had more to do with neighborhood social gatherings. Keysser agreed and said that if there were more direct neighborhood organizations it could help guide development in the City. Waldhauser questioned if that would be productive. She said she saw more social connection types of issues through Envision such as Golden Valley Days, or events at Brookview. Rasmussen stated that an arts committee could help with bringing people together and it might be interesting to have someone from Art Space give a presentation to the Planning Commission. Keysser said he thinks the Planning Commission should help neighborhoods figure out their boundaries and suggested looking at the "On Whose Farm are Living Today" map that is displayed in the City Hall display case to get ideas. Rasmussen asked if there is any money set aside for Envision programs. Keysser suggested using the City's newsletter. . Waldhauser suggested starting with the neighborhood watch groups and asking them if they would like their groups to be more than just a watch group. Cera suggested doing a public relations piece or putting together a packet for neighborhoods to use to get more involved. Keysser suggested having one day where block parties are encouraged throughout the City. Schmidgall said that would be the same as the National Night Out block parties. Keysser stated that their by-laws say that they can conduct their own studies. He suggested the Commission identify two or three areas that they know are going to be redeveloped at some point, study them and suggest to the Council what they would like to see. Hackett agreed and stated he thinks that is the Planning Commissions' job. He suggested they pick a date and an area or project such as the Olympic Printing site or Highway 55 and Winnetka or the Trach Shopping Center to do some brainstorming. He added that the Area B Task Force had some rendering done and that may be something they would like to look at. Cera suggested the Commission look at both corners of Highway 55 and study the Highway 55 and Winnetka location and the Trach Shopping Center. . Waldhauser mentioned that when the Planning Commission had discussed talking about redevelopment areas in the past they were cautioned about publicizing their studies and about the possibility of making land values change. . . . Minutes of the Golden Valley Planning Commission July 25, 2005 Page 4 Rasmussen suggested that maybe they wait until after City Council elections. Keysser thought it would be ok to go ahead because they would just be discussions about redevelopment areas at this point. He said he would talk to Mark Grimes to see what he thinks. Waldhauser stated that some other ideas from Envision were related to transportation through the City including shuttles and parking area near transit stations. She said there was also mention of design standards and lighting. Hackett stated that there are several cities in the area that have design guidelines such as St. Louis Park, Wayzata and Excelsior. v. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 8:20 pm.