PL 11/21/1973 - 30386�
CITY OF FRIDLEY
PLANNING�COMMISSION MEETING NOVEMBER 21, 1973 PAGE 1
CALL TO ORDER:
Acting Chairman Drigans called the meeting to order at
8:10 P.M.
ROLL CALL:
Members Presen�t: Drigans, Lindblad, Blair
• Members Absent: Fitzpatrick, Harris
Others Present: Jerrold Boardman, Planning Assistant
Mr. Drigans said he would like to add a third item to the
agenda. This was a letter from Governor Anderson on the armory
proposal for Fridley.
� � � MOTION BY Lindblad, seconded by B1air, that the Plan.�ing
Commission add the Ietter from Governor Anderson as the third
item to the agenda. Upon a voice vote, a11 voting aye, the motion
carried unanimously.
�.\ APPROVE PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES: NOVEMBER 7, 1973
MOTION �y Blair, seconded by Lindblad, that the Planning
Commission approve the min�tes of their meeting of November 7,
1973 as written. Upon a voice vote, aIZ voting aye, the motion
carried unanimously.
RECEIVE BUILDING 5TANDARDS-DESIGN CONTROL SUBCOMMITTEE MINUTES:
NOVEMBER 8, 1973 . • • .
MOTION by LindbZad, seconded by BZair, that the Planning
Commission receive the minutes of the BuiZding Standards-Design
Control Subcommittee meeting of November 8, 1973.� Upon a voice
vote, a11 voting aye, the motion carried unanimousZy.
RECEIVE BOARD OF APPEALS MINUTE5: NOVEMBER 13, 1973
MOTION by Blair, seconded by Lindblad, that the Planning
Commission receive the minutes of the Board of Appeals meeting
of November 13, 1973. Upon a voice vote, aZ1 voting aye, the
motion carried unanimously.
RECEIVE PLATS & SUBDIVISIONS-STREETS & UTILITIES SUBCOMMITTEE
MEETING: NOVEMBER 14, 1973 '
�, . MOTION by Lindblad,'seconded by Blair, that the Planning
Commission receive the minutes of the P1ats & Subdivisions-Streets
& Utilities Subcommittee meeting of November 14, 1973. Upon a voice
vote, a11 voting aye, the motion carried unanimously.
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Pl�nning Commission Meeting - November 21, 1973 Page 2
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1. VACATION REQUEST:. SAV #73-T1, BY ALLAN ZEIS: Vacate
Hickory Street, between Blocks 3 and 4, Onaway Addition,
. between_7$th.and 79th Avenue N.E., and vacate alley
adjacent to, and West of Block 4, Onaway Addition, to
allow construction of two speculative warehouses.
Mr. Al1an Zeis was present.
MOTION by B1air, seconded b� Lindblad, that the Planning .
Commission receive the letter from the Minneapolis Gas Company
dated November 20, I973 in regard to this vacation request. Upon
a voice vote, a11 voting aye, the motion carried unanimously.
�r. Drigans said this letter sta�es that Minnegasco has
an existing 24 gas line located on approximately the center
line of the alley the petitioner is asking to vacate. They
object to the vacation of this alley unless a private easement
is granted Minnegasco, over its entire width and length, by
the subsequent owner prior to its actual vacation.
Mr. Zeis said he has ha� �elephone contact with Minnegasco
and he is agreeable to granting this easement. He said there
were already several easements in this alley.
Mr. Boardman said the building could be built up to the
easement line.
Mr. Lindblad asked the purpose of vacating this alley.
Mr. Boardman said that although it could not be built
upon, it could be used for square footage for the building site.
Mr. Zeis said the utility'companies were concerned about
the fencing of this area and they wanted to ensure that they
would have access if it was needed.
Mr. Drigans asked where the buildings would be located in
this proposal. Mr. Zeis said one building would face 79th and
one would face 78th with a common loading area. He explained.
how the buildings would be built so as not to encroach an the
easement area. �
Mr. Drigans asked if there would be any.variances needed.
Mr. Boardman said there would not be any requests for variances.
Mr. Drigans asked Mr. Zeis
de-sac at the end of 78th Avenue.
Boardman said 79th would be just
turn around until it was decided
railroad tracks or not.
if he was agreeable to a cul-
Mr. Zeis said he was. Mr.
a straight road with a temporary
if 79th was going to cross the
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Planning Commi�.ssion Meeting - November 21, 1973 Page 3
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Mr. Boardman said that by vacating Hickory Street this will
make this area a buildable site.
Mr. Lindblad asked how much the alley in Block 3, Onaway
Addition, would have to be widened. Mr. Boardman said it would
have to be wide enough,for truck traffic so it would have to be
at least 30 feet wide. �
, Mr. Zeis said he thought his proposal was suitable for the
area. If Hickory Street wasn't vacated, it would leave a wedge •
that would be unbuildable. �
MOTION by LindbZad, seconded by B1air, that the Planning
Commission recommend to Council approval of vacation request,
SAV #73-11, by AI.Zan Zeis, to vacate�Hickory Street, between
BZocks 3 and 4, Onaway Addition, between 78th and 79th Avenue
N.E.; and vacafe a1.Zey adjacent to, and West of B.Zock 4, Onaway
Addition, to aZ1ow construction of two speculative warehouses,
with the following stipulations:
(1) Subject to the �etention of the utility easements in
this a11ey.
(2) Consideration being given.to widening the a11ey located
i'� in Block 3, Onawa� Addition.
(3) A 120 foot radius cul-de-sac be located at the end
of 78th Avenue N.E. •
(4) Provide a temporary cul-de-sac at the end of 79th Avenue
N.E.
(5). The petitioner obtain a letter of agreement with the
� . Minneapolis Gas Company a1low.ing a private easement.
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Upon a•voice vote, all v'oting aye, the motion carried unanimousl�.
2. PUBLIC HEARING: CONSIDERATION OF A PROPOSED PRELIMINARY
PLAT, P.S. #73-09, BY THE WALL CORPORATION: being a replat
of the East Half of the Northwest Quarter of the Southwest
Quarter of Section 14, T-30, R-24, City of Fridley, County
of Anoka, Minnesota; with exceptions. (Formerly Reidel property
Mr. Rudolph Dante was present. '
MOTION by Blair, seconded by Lindblad, that the PZanning
Commission waive the reading of the Public HeaTing on the proposed
preliminary p1at, P.S. #73-09, by the Wa11 Corporation. Upon a
voice vote, a11 vot.ing aye, the motion carried unanimously.
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- Mr. Dante said they have changed the cul-de-sac since
they were at the Plats & Subdivisions-Streets & Utilities Sub-
Committee meeting. The cul-de-sac road was off of 5th Street
and now it is off Mississippi Street. He said there have been
objections raised to parking on Mississippi but with�this plan
. Planning Commission Meeting - November 21, 1973 Page 4
�, all the R=1 lots on Mississippi would be served by this cul-de-
` sac road.' They have also realigned the Easterly boundary of
the R-1 lots 10 feet as stipulated by the Subcommittee.
Mr. Drigans asked how many R-1 lots were•in this proposal.
Mr. Dante said there were 28. Mr. Drigans said there was discussion
at the Subcommittee level on the cost for this cul-de-sac proposal.
Mr. Dante said the figure mentioned was $25,000 for the five lots,
or $5,000 per lot. Now this cul-de-sac services 8 lots, so using
this same figure, it reduces the cost to each lot to a little over
$3,000. .
Mr. Blair asked if the Wall Corporation was going to develop
the R-1 area. Mr. D�ante said they were not residential builders and
they were looking to sell the R-1 lots to one builder and have him
develop them.
Mr. Drigans asked if there were utilities available for these
R-1 lots. Mr. Dante said it was his understanding that there were
utilities available on 63rd, 7th Street and Mississippi, and that
they were almost all paid for at this time. Mr. Drigans said they
would not be in for the cul-de-sac area hbwever.
Mr. Drigans said the amount of this plat that was used for
R-1 lots would have an effect on the density of the R-3 area. He
� said that various methods for figuring this density had been worked
out by the City staff and he gave a copy of this to;-Mr. Dante. Mr.
Dante said al-1 the ponding area is in the R-1 zone, but it will be
part of the apartment complex and will be maintained and�controlled
by the Wall Corporation. The R-1 lots all m�et the code requirements.
Some of the lots are larger and they will be able to have utility
easements on these lots for the storm sewer.
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Mr. Boardman said t�at on the�original proposal there we�e
walkways shown and these could be made an outlot. Mr. Dante said
there was nothing in the ordinance that said walkways had to be
provided in an R-1 District. The Subcommittee felt that having a
walkway going past someone's bedroom window would� not be too desir-
able. The Subcommittee approved the plat without the walkways.
Mr. Boardman said that our ordinance says that l00 of any
new development should be public property and these walkways would
provide this. Mr, Dante said 90,000 square feet were being used
for the ponding area and he thought this should meet that require-
ment.
Mr. Boardman said there was a natural walkway ori the property
now. Mr. Dante said this is vacant land and after the R-1 lots are
developed there will be houses where �this walkway is now. Mr. Board-
man said that when the bicycle trail is developed along 7th Street,
they would want access from the apartment complex to 7th Street. Mr.
Dante said they would have to go through the ponding area to get
to 7th Street. •
Planning Commission Meeting - November 21, 1973 Page 5
�"� Mr.:Boardman said the variance request had to be based on
_ what was zoned R-3. For 130 units the variance was from 2500 square
feet per�unit to 1906 square feet per unit. The R-1 area that would
be a part of the apartment complex can be used as a justification
for granting the variance. Mr. Lindblad said that this r.�ally was
just a'paper' variance then. If you take into consideration all
the square footage that will be included with the apartment complex
it isn't that much of a variance.
Mr. Dante said this was the Council's decision on how this
property should be developed. They said the Wa,ll Corporation could
have a 130 unit apartment complex with R-1 lots around the perimeter
of the property. Mr. Dante said his proposal would be to use the
entire 14 acre tract� in figuring the amount of apartment units that
could be built in the R-3 zone. He said he would like to see an
apartment complex of 225 units in this R-3 zone and have the balance
of the property nicely landscaped as an open area. He thought this
would really be a buffer betwe�n the apartment complex and the
residential areas across from this property. He said the Fridley
Civic Center and the Anoka County Library were in the adjacent area
and a large apartment complex would fit in with this.
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There was discussion between Mr. Boardman and Mr. Dante on
the square footage of the R-3 area and the R-1 area included in
the ponding area which would be part of the apartment complex. Mr.
^ Boardman said Mr. Dante was including the 30 foot street right of
way in his figures and that couldn't be used for this proposal.
Acting Chairman Drigans gave a copy of the stipulations that
were necessary for the Wall Corporation to develop this property
�Q:.M�.z Dante and asked him if he agreed to them. Mr. Dante said
he �idn't agree to the City saying what the apartments should
rent for and or how manystories the �partment unit should be. He
said they would be providing more parking than the 80 units mentioned
because if they didn't have more parking than that they wouldn`t
be able to rent their apartments. He said he saw no reason for
having a tot lot because they generally don't rent to anyone with
children. As far as preserving the grove of tree�s, he said they
were �hinese Elms and some scrub so it wasn't much to preserve.
Mr. Drigans asked Mr. Dante if it would be economically
feasible to drop the cul-de-sac street and only have 23 R-1 lots
if they used about the same square footage requirement for each
unit a.nd �et them have 163 apartment units instead of 130. Mr.
Dante said he would have to check the figures but he thought it �
might be. Mr. Dante said he would be more than happy if the
Planning Commission recommended that the entire 14 ac�es be
considered in the density and allow the Wall Corporation to build
225 apartment units on the R-3 and keep the rest of the area wide
open in landscaping and park area.
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_ Mr. Drigans said the Planning Commission has many things to
think about on the alternates that had come up this evening. He
thought as there were only three members present at this meeting,
. the itein should be continued until the December 5th meeting. Mr.
Dante�said he had to present plans at the Building Standards-Design
Planning Commission Meeting - November 21, 1973 Page 6
�'1 Control Subcommittee on December 6, 1973 ard it would be impossible
to have plans ready to submit until he knew what the Planning
Commission recommendation would be. Mr. Drigans said they could
have a special meeting on November 28th. Mr. Dante said that would
give him time to prepare the plans after this meeting.
MOTION by LindbZad, seconded by B1air, th�t the Planning
Commission continue until November 28th the PubZic Hearing on the
proposed preliminary p1at, P.S. #73-09, by the Wa11 Corporation,
being a replat of the West Ha1f of the Northwest Quarter of the
Southwest Quarter of Section 14, T-30, R-24, City of Fridley, �
County of Anoka, Minnesota; with exceptions, asking the City Staff
to determine if this was platted into 23 lots, and using the square
footage of the R-3 and open R-1 area and using the density of 22�OQ
square.feet per unit, how many apar.tment units the Wa11 Corporation
could be allowed, and also study the feasibility of using the entire
14 acre site in determining the number of apartment units that could
be built in the R-3 area using 2500 square fe�t per unit which is
the Code requirement and Ieaving the R-1 area open for landscaping
and park area. Upon a voice vote, aII voting aye, the motion
carried unanimously. • �
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3. LETTER FROM GOVERNOR ANDERSON ON THE ARMORY PROPOSAL
MOTION by Blair, seconded by Lindblad, that the Planning
�, Commission receive the letter from Governor Wendell R. Anderson
�f November 7., 1973 regarding the Fridley Armory proposal and
the letter be made part of the minutes: Upon a voice vote, a11
voting aye, the motion carried unanimously.
The letter is as follows:
Dear Mayor Liebl:
Traditionally, the communities of Minnesota have received
support from the National Guard in times of emergencies such as
floods, tornadoes, and other natural disasters.
A new concept in training and civic programs has brought the
Guard even closer to their local communities than in the past. This
Guard involvement has been motivated by the excellent assistance
and backing that communities have given the Guard units. �
�he manner in which this alliance grows.in smaller towns is
understandable as the local unit is a center of civic activity and
units members are lifetime residents. This close feeling has been
difficult to maintain in an expanding metropolitan area and for
this reason we ask your assistance in establishing a comm�nity un'it
identification in Fridley. •
� The program to form this type of association depends on
cooperation between the community leaders and National Guard officials
A survey of units in the metropolitan areas has indicated
that tfie unit wishing�to become closely associated with Fridley is
HQ/Co A 204th Medical Battalion located in the Minneapolis National
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Planning Commission Meeting - November 21, 1973 Page 7
Guard Armory and commanded by Major Richard L. Hayes.
� Major Hay2s will contact you soon in order to further
discuss this combined effort which should be beneficial to both
204th Medical and the community of Fridley.
Sincerely,
Wendell R. Anderson
Governor
4. GENERAL DISCUSSION
Mr. Lindblad said it had been brought.to his attention
that some communities were having a problem because of citizens
raising some type of livestock or poultry on a small scale. He
said if this type of problem should come up in Fridley we should
have some type of policy to differentiate between livestock and
pets. By this he meant that people wouldn't try to raise animals
or poultry for food and when there were complaints, try to,say
they were pets.
n Acting Chairman Drigans adjourned the meeting at 10:00 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
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Dorothy Ev,�nson, 5ecretary �
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