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plm 12/19/2019 PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING December 19, 2018 Chairperson Kondrick called the Planning Commission Meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT: David Kondrick, Mark Hansen, Leroy Oquist, Brad Sielaff, and David Ostwald MEMBERS ABSENT: Mike Heintz, and Rachel Schwankl OTHERS PRESENT: Stacy Stromberg, Planner Scott Hickok, Community Development Director Steve Dunbar, Fridley Investments, LLC John Shardlow, Stantec Consulting Approval of Minutes: October 17, 2018 MOTION by Commissioner Oquist to approve the minutes. Seconded by Commissioner Ostwald. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. PUBLIC HEARING: 1. Consideration of a Plat, PS #18-05, by Fridley Investments, LLC, to replat the property generally located at 6431 University Avenue to create new lots for the redevelopments. MOTION by Councilmember Oquist to open the public hearing. Seconded by Councilmember Hansen. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE HEARING WAS OPENED AT 7:02 P.M. 2. Consideration of a Master Plan, MP #18-01, by Fridley Investments, LLC, for an S-2 Master Plan Amendment to allow the redevelopment of the existing City Hall property generally located at 6431 University Avenue. The redevelopment of this property will allow for the construction of a 135-unit senior living building. MOTION by Councilmember Sielaff to open the public hearing. Seconded by Councilmember Hansen. Planning Commission Meeting December 19, 2018 Page 2 of 17 UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE HEARING WAS OPENED AT 7:03 P.M. Stacy Stromberg, Planner, statedthe two land use items will be for the former City Hall property at 6431 University Avenue. That property is currently zoned S-2, Redevelopment District. Any substantial change does require that an amendment be done. Therefore, staff has this request before the Planning Commission tonight. Ms. Stromberg stated she is also seeking a plat to create new lots and lot descriptions for each portion of the new lot development. Along with the plat and master plan the City is initiating a street vacation, and that will be to vacate a portion of the service drive from Fourmies Avenue north to Mississippi Street. Ms. Stromberg stated there are two little pieces, one of Fifth Street and of Fourmies Avenue, that will also be vacated. They were just leftover pieces of land from the plat. They may remember that street and alley and easement vacations do not have to go before the Planning Commission anymore, they can just go straight to Council for their approval, but she wanted they to be aware of this as it relates to the project. Ms. Stromberg stated over the last year the City’s HRA staff has been working with the petitioner on a potential redevelopment of this site. The petitioner states in his narrative that when Fairview, who operates the building adjacent to the City Hall, heard that the City Hall was relocating, the idea was formed to create a project on the property that included Ebenezer. Ebenezer is the senior housing division of Fairview Health Services. Ms. Stromberg stated the petitioner feels this would provide an exciting opportunity and a great place for seniors to thrive and connect with the neighboring Fairview service buildings. Ms. Stromberg stated going over the proposed project, it is for the construction of a 135-unit senior living community. The building will be four stories tall with a pitched roof and underground parking garage. There will be a mix of independent, assisted, and memory care suites, along with a variety of common amenity spaces such as a two-story lobby, a library, a multi-purpose community room, and a fitness center. Ms. Stromberg stated the petitioner has designed the project considering the vacation of the University Avenue service drive, and that will give the project an additional 38 feet on the west side of the property. The new development will be accessed from Fourmies Avenue. Ms. Stromberg stated the new development will take access to a parking lot and then there will be a covered canopy for dropping off residents. There will be an underground parking garage which will be accessed from Fifth Street. Exactly where the underground parking deck is accessed now. That will not change because they are going to continue to use that access to get down to the underground parking underneath the proposed building. Planning Commission Meeting December 19, 2018 Page 3 of 17 Ms. Stromberg stated the former City Hall building and the adjacent parking ramp will be demolished as part of this project. The existing garages and gun range that run along the northern property line are going to remain because the petitioner feels they can use them for storage. That area also serves as a retaining wall from the City Hall property to the property to the north. Ms. Stromberg stated along with the new building there will also be storm water and landscaping features constructed. Where the service drive used to be will become green. That is overall what will happen with the project. Ms. Stromberg stated when a property is zoned M-2, Redevelopment District, it does require there is a master plan approved for this site. When the site was originally rezoned to S-2, Redevelopment District, in 1982, a master plan was approved at that time to allow the civic buildings. Since that use is changing, this master plan is before them tonight. The M-2 zoning designation does allow flexibility with redevelopment of a project. The intent of this district is to provide the City with site plan review authority to determine if the project does meet the goals and objectives laid out in the Comprehensive Plan, and this project does do that. Review and recommendation is also required by the HRA. They have seen preliminary drawings of the proposed project, and they are expected to approve it at their January 3 meeting. Ms. Stromberg stated of the care units, there will be a mix of studios, one-bedroom, one- bedroom plus den, and then two-bedroom apartments. The mix of independent and assisted living units can fluctuate as generally a senior might move into the facility as an independent and then age into needing more services. Therefore, needing an assisted living suite; but the petitioner also states there is flexibility. If a person moves into their independent suite, but now they need services, they do not have to move to another unit. They can stay within their existing unit. Because of that it kind of creates some confusion with parking. How exactly do they figure out parking if an independent unit becomes an assisted living unit because the parking ratio is different. However, they did their best to figure how the units will be laid out and what the parking ratio should be. Based on that number City Code would require 90 parking stalls for this use based on the independent, assisted, and memory care units. Of those 90 stalls Code requires that 29 of them be enclosed. The petitioner is providing 134 stalls. Well more than what Code requires. Of those 134 stalls, 91 will be in the underground garage and 43 will be surface stalls in the parking lot that is accessed off of Fourmies Avenue. Ms. Stromberg stated the plat analysis is fairly straightforward. In order to allow for redevelopment of the site, the petitioner would like to create three new lots for each portion of the development. Lot 1 is the senior housing development and is 2.67 acres in size, Lot 2 is for potential further redevelopment which is currently where the parking deck is and will be 1.14 acres after it is platted, and then Lot 3 is where the existing parking lot is for the Fairview building that exists there today. That lot is not part of this replat. Planning Commission Meeting December 19, 2018 Page 4 of 17 Ms. Stromberg stated staff recommends approval of both the master plan and the plat. The master plan does meet the goals highlighted in the City’s Comprehensive Plan and provides additional senior housing with services opportunities within the community. Staff recommends if the master plan is approved the following stipulations be attached: 1. The property shall be developed in accordance with the site plan submitted for “Fridley Senior Housing”, page C2.0, by CivilSite Group dated 12/7/18. 2. The exterior building elevations shall be developed in accordance with the architectural exterior elevations sheet submitted by Kaas Wilson Architects, dated 11/16/18. 3. The petitioner shall meet all requirements set forth by: a. The Building Code b. Fire Code c. The City’s Engineering department – related to grading, drainage, storm pond maintenance agreement, utilities, and utility connection fees d. The City’s Planning department – related to landscaping, signage, and the TOD Overlay Zoning District e. The Mississippi Watershed Management Organization 4. If the square footage of the footprint of the building proposed changes by more than 10%, an S-2 master plan amendment shall be required. Chairperson Kondrick asked whether the easterly portion is going to be on top of the current garage? Ms. Stromberg replied she was saying that is going to be the general location of it, but that will be demolished as part of this project, the parking garage. Chairperson Kondrick stated and the building will be placed on top? Ms. Stromberg replied, in the future. Commissioner Sielaff asked, so that is not included in this redevelopment project then? Ms. Stromberg replied, no. Commissioner Ostwald stated they are talking about keeping the gun range. He asked whether there was any type of remediation required for the lead that is in there? Is the City required to do anything with that or is that part of the petitioner’s plan? Planning Commission Meeting December 19, 2018 Page 5 of 17 Scott Hickok , Community Development Director, replied, the Police Department has been careful about analyzing how the City leaves that for the next users and certainly left in a state that is acceptable to be handed off. Commissioner Hansen asked Ms. Stromberg to comment on how the service road is going to be modified potentially? If that is going to be a separate project or done in a timeframe that is concurrent with the development? Ms. Stromberg replied, all of those parts are still being worked out but, based on discussions she has had with the HRA, it does seem like it is going to be a City project - taking out the frontage road from Fourmies to Mississippi Street. There will be no drive access at all. It will be greenspace and a new sidewalk. People will not be able to use that frontage road at all, but they do expect it will happen along the same timeline as construction of this development. Chairperson Kondrick asked whether the bank and the church have been told about the unavailability of the access road so their customers will have to find new accesses to their businesses? Ms. Stromberg replied, for sure the bank as the City notifies people within 350 feet of the property and the bank is within that 350 feet. She is not sure St. Williams is within that 350. Chairperson Kondrick stated they should be told. Ms. Stromberg stated definitely they can give notice. Commissioner Hansen asked whether there were any long-term plans to continue to vacate the right-of-way for the service road or just to this property? Ms. Stromberg replied, there is not. Originally they had discussion about whether they should vacate Fourmies with this project, how can everybody still retain access, but this seemed like a good stopping point for now until they see other redevelopment go on. Commissioner Sielaff asked whether the City will own the red and the yellow parts? Ms. Stromberg asked, on the plat drawing? Commissioner Sielaff replied, yes. Ms. Stromberg replied, no, the developer will own all of it. Commissioner Hansen asked whether parking is allowed on Fourmies currently? Ms. Stromberg replied, no, she did not think so. It is a very narrow right-of-way. Planning Commission Meeting December 19, 2018 Page 6 of 17 Commissioner Hansen stated he was curious because in his own personal experience going to these types of facilities, the lots that are available surfacewise fill out but only on holidays when you see a lot of overflow on the adjacent side street. Mr. Hickok stated that is an excellent point. One of the things that is interesting about this site and will remain is the fact that he believes there will be a relationship between the neighbors, and they can speak to that more accurately than he can. However, he expects on those rare instances such as a holiday, they would not want them to overpark by putting in for that rare instance but instead seek to have an arrangement so that in those times they could use some of the parking that is adjacent and already existing. Chairperson Kondrick stated the Fairview parking lot, for example. Mr. Hickok stated and he does not want to speak for Fairview but are finding, as they get smarter as planners, that they are trying to, for storm water reasons and all other reasons, trying to make some of the things happen where neighbors’ adjacencies help one another out for those rare instances. Steve Dunbar , Fridley Investments, LLC, stated they have been working with the City of Fridley and the HRA for over a year now on trying to bring forth this effort; and the City and HRA have been wonderful to work with. They are representing the team here tonight to answer any questions the Commission may have. They have representatives from Kaas Wilson Architects, CivilSite Group, Ebenezer, and AmCon Construction. Chairperson Kondrick asked Mr. Dunbar whether they had any reservations regarding the stipulations and are in agreement with them or are there any problems? Mr. Dunbar, replied, yes, and they have been in communication with Ms. Stromberg regarding the stipulations and are confident they will be able to abide by those. Commissioner Oquist asked when do they start? Mr. Dunbar replied, the goal right now in working with City staff and the HRA is to break ground late spring, early summer, and then bringing it on-line late summer, early fall of 2020. MOTION by Councilmember Oquist to close the public hearings. Seconded by Councilmember Ostwald. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE HEARINGS WERE CLOSED AT 7:22 P.M. Planning Commission Meeting December 19, 2018 Page 7 of 17 Chairperson Kondrick stated he thinks this is a lovely opportunity for the City’s community and the people who will be able to utilize it. He has no problem with this at all. MOTION by Commissioner Oquist approving Plat, PS #18-05, by Fridley Investments, LLC, to replat the property generally located at 6431 University Avenue to create new lots for the redevelopments. Seconded by Commissioner Sielaff. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. MOTION by Commissioner Ostwald approving a Master Plan, MP #18-01, by Fridley Investments, LLC, for an S-2 Master Plan Amendment to allow the redevelopment of the existing City Hall property generally located at 6431 University Avenue. The redevelopment of this property will allow for the construction of a 135-unit senior living building with the following stipulations: 1. The property shall be developed in accordance with the site plan submitted for “Fridley Senior Housing”, page C2.0, by CivilSite Group dated 12/7/18. 2. The exterior building elevations shall be developed in accordance with the architectural exterior elevations sheet submitted by Kaas Wilson Architects, dated 11/16/18. 3. The petitioner shall meet all requirements set forth by: a. The Building Code b. Fire Code c. The City’s Engineering department – related to grading, drainage, storm pond maintenance agreement, utilities, and utility connection fees d. The City’s Planning department – related to landscaping, signage, and the TOD Overlay Zoning District e. The Mississippi Watershed Management Organization 4. If the square footage of the footprint of the building proposed changes by more than 10%, an S-2 master plan amendment shall be required. Seconded by Commissioner Sielaff. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. RECEIVE MINUTES FROM OTHER COMMISSIONS: 1. Receive the minutes of the October 1, 2018, Parks and Recreation Commission. MOTION by Commissioner Oquist to receive the minutes. Seconded by Commissioner Hansen. Planning Commission Meeting December 19, 2018 Page 8 of 17 UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 2. Receive the minutes of the October 9, 2018, Environmental Quality and Energy Commission Meeting. MOTION by Commissioner Hansen to receive the minutes. Seconded by Commissioner Sielaff. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 3. Receive the minutes of the September 6, 2018, Housing and Redevelopment Commission Meeting. MOTION by Commissioner Sielaff to receive the minutes. Seconded by Commissioner Oquist. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 4. Receive the minutes of the November 1, 2018, Housing and Redevelopment Commission Meeting. MOTION by Commissioner Oquist to receive the minutes. Seconded by Commissioner Sielaff. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. OTHER BUSINESS: 1. John Shardlow, Senior Principal with Stantec Consulting, to present general information related to the potential development of the Girl Scout Camp property at 6900 East River Road. John Shardlow , Stantec Consulting, stated he is here on behalf of the Metropolitan Council but his role on this project is to really serve as a liaison between the Metropolitan Council and Fridley trying to determine the future alternative uses for whatever portion of this property may be surplus from what the Metropolitan Council needs. Mr. Shardlow stated what he would like to do is present due diligence, just some basic understanding of what the development potential is of the property. He will give them just some preliminary information about what the Metropolitan Council needs on the property and where Planning Commission Meeting December 19, 2018 Page 9 of 17 that process lies and then give them a couple of alternatives which are not by any means a proposal. Mr. Shardlow stated the Girl Scout property there is 22.04 acres. That is a good size in fill property within the City. His purpose tonight is just to introduce himself to them and to this process so they can have a common understanding of what the project is and also understand what its importance is to the region as well as what is important to the community. Talk a little bit about what the process will be going forward, and the Planning Commission will certainly have a role in what that process should be in terms of when it should go to the community and how and what the sequence would be. Mr. Shardlow stated they already met with the staff, had a kickoff meeting, and really made a commitment to have good, clear communication so everybody knows how things are going. Again, just to share with them some basic land site analysis from a land planner’s perspective, what are the opportunities and constraints this property presents, and then kind of talk about what the next steps are. Mr. Shardlow stated as to what is important from a regional standpoint, the lift station is part of a much larger regional drainage system. It represents a major regional investment in the regional wastewater treatment system. It is going to involve a major river crossing which is always a big deal environmentally and there are important design considerations, operational and maintenance issues, safety issues, security, compatibility, and so forth. Whatever happens on the rest of the land they need to know what the edges are going to be like and how it is going to be secured, what kind of neighbor it will be, and so forth. Commissioner Hansen stated he lives across from the property. It is their understanding the lift station is going to move from the west side of the river to the east side. He asked Mr. Shardlow if that is what he is talking about? It will become part of this property? Mr. Shardlow replied, yes. Mr. Shardlow presented a photo of the drainage area and they can see with the red gravity sewers it drains a good portion of Coon Rapids, Brooklyn Park, Maple Grove, Anoka, and some of the developing communities beyond. It is definitely a point of a convergence of a lot of wastewater in the region. Mr. Shardlow presented a photo from one of the preliminary reports that was done about the development of this site. It is just a very preliminary look. It identified a way of designing the property and there will be a whole design process going forward. He wanted to show them a footprint of what that is. Stantec Consulting is under contract to do the design work for this facility, and they will talk about how that process will kind of dovetail with this process as well. Planning Commission Meeting December 19, 2018 Page 10 of 17 Mr. Shardlow stated about 7 acres of the 22.4 acres from a basic planning perspective from having a conversation about potential use, that is what they are working with. That is not set in concrete by any stretch. Mr. Shardlow stated as to its significance to Fridley, it is river frontage property. It has very nice natural amenities within a fully-developed community. Although Fridley is a river city there is no public access to the river, and the site is adjacent to two established single-family neighborhoods. He has been doing this for 41 years now, he has been involved in a lot of in-fill redevelopment sites, and there are adjacent neighbor issues and there are citywide issues. That is why at the end he says it is a politically-sensitive decision making process because they need to be looking at this both from the standpoint of what kind of immediate neighbor it will be, but also how could this property fit into a plan for the future of Fridley that would be positive. Mr. Shardlow stated the other thing important to point out is that the fact he is here tonight, the fact they are having this conversation is really the first time that has happened. The Metropolitan Council environmental services has not really approached projects like this in the past. In some ways that is a testimony to the people who are currently on staff there who come from city perspective, come from a city background. They really wanted to see if there was a way in which they could work more collaboratively through this process while recognizing that there clearly are distinct interests on both sides. Mr. Shardlow stated Metropolitan Council is responsible for a regional wastewater treatment system, and they need to do that well and responsibly and make sure they plan and design and build and operate and maintain a facility that works, but they also want to be a good neighbor. To the extent there is surplus land here, they want to work with Fridley to decide what is the best use for that property. Mr. Shardlow stated they look at what the existing land use is on the area, and it is shown as an institutional use. A future land use in the area from the Comprehensive Plan he has read, there has been again very conceptually showing where there would be the institutional use for the lift station and then the suggestion there would be some higher density residential and then potential park. He is going to show them some reasons why that probably will not be what happens, but that is what it currently shows. With respect to the zoning, that will probably need to change through this process as well. Mr. Shardlow stated there is both a business transaction that will need to take place in the future if the City has an interest in this property. There will need to be a way in which Metropolitan Council would arrange for the City to have control of it, and they will probably almost certainly need to go through a comprehensive plan amendment process and rezoning, both of which are legislative actions on the part of the City. For anybody listening at home, this is not something that is going to happen quickly. Not only will there be community meetings and a lot of discussions, there will be public hearings along the way as well. Planning Commission Meeting December 19, 2018 Page 11 of 17 Mr. Shardlow presented a graphic showing the Mississippi critical area plan boundaries. Obviously there are considerations with respect to bluffs, bluffs setbacks, density, scenic vistas, etc. He presented a slide showing a summary of natural constraints. There are the steep slopes all along the banks of the river, the bluff line, and the 40-foot setback from the bluff. They can see there is a pretty substantial band of pretty steep slopes that wraps around the eastern edge of the property as well which would be a pretty significant constraint to try and plow through if one were to try and put a roadway access through that location. There would be challenges for cars if there was an access there and so forth. Mr. Shardlow stated the other thing right in the middle of the site is a wetland. When they first looked at this property, they looked at the national wetland inventory and there was a substantially larger footprint of the wetland. They went out and had it delineated, and the footprint of the land actually shrunk a bit. However, it is still in the middle of the site with the steep slope constraints on one side, access limitations on the other, steep slopes on the other, and then you think about the seven acres that need to be protected at the side. It has relatively limited development potential if that is what you would call it with some real challenges in terms of access and circulation, not to mention grading and potential tree clearing. To say it is a complicated site would be an understatement. Mr. Shardlow stated it is also within the shoreland districts of both the Mississippi River and the lake to the east. Obviously the one that is on the other side of East River Road that is going to be fairly easy to consider in terms of its relationship to that lake, but it is just another set of regulations that would need to be taken into account if a development were to move forward on the property. Mr. Shardlow stated if you think again very conceptually, if you were to develop this property with any sort of residential, they met with City staff, talked about what that might be, and the suggestion was that there was some patio homes in the community that have been pretty popular, single-level living housing choice that may be desirable to some folks in the community. They looked at where that could be. Mr. Shardlow stated, again, they recognize and have done so from the very beginning that this is right up against an existing established neighborhood, right up against the back lots of those homes. There is only 112 feet of lot depth there to a 50-foot right-of-way roadway. You can start getting creative and talk about planned unit development and narrower streets, etc. and if you were to pursue residential there, they would probably want to roll up your sleeves and be as careful as possible about where the best trees are, how can they minimize grading, and all of that. However, just at the face of it, a 112-foot depth is not a lot to work with. Mr. Shardlow stated the other thing that is important to note is where they are taking the street in there from the loop road on the north end, that is plowing right through those steep slopes. Again, they are showing this as a diagram and point of discussion. As a land planner he would probably rather stand in front of them and make a case for a longer cul de sac with some kind of Planning Commission Meeting December 19, 2018 Page 12 of 17 emergency turn around at the end of it as opposed to a roadway system that would plow through those steep slopes and take those trees. Mr. Shardlow stated the other important thing to do is trying to be as judicious as possible, they are still encroaching on that 7-acre parcel to the south. Just going around the edge of that wetland results in some encroachment. Again, they are not in a position right now to know how much land they actually need or whether that design for that facility could be adjusted to take a little there and give a little somewhere else. That is all stuff that lies ahead of them. Mr. Shardlow stated there was some discussion he read in some of the description of this and the Comprehensive Plan that talked about the idea of having a trail around the wetland. They have shown some boardwalk and some trail around the perimeter of the wetland. They also show the idea of locating a small parking lot there. People could come to this area and park and perhaps take a canoe down to the river or a kayak. That is not going to be without some complication either. It is a steep ravine and would need to be improved. It probably would not be handicapped accessible, but even making it safe and walk with canoe would take some doing. Mr. Shardlow stated he also knows there has been some discussion in the past about a trail connection from the neighborhood from the north and the south. As of right now Metropolitan Council’s concern is they do not want to commit to say they could accommodate a trail through their facility to the south. If you think about the volume of water that is going to go in, and the nature of that facility, you can understand where that is coming from. That is not to say when you get into the design process you could not figure something out. Again, that is just one of those issues he will put out there that, if there were to be a trail to the south, that is going to be a significant design issue that needs to be worked out later in the process. Mr. Shardlow stated obviously if you are going to make a trail connection to the north, you are going to have to go either through somebody’s yard or something like that so that will have to be figured out. Mr. Shardlow stated if you were to look at the Pulte housing product that was built in the community, he showed a slide representing lot sizes that are commensurate with what they did. He believes they showed something like 10 of those patio lots in this area. From a land planning perspective you are single-loading a roadway, you are only getting development on one side of the roadway which is costly, and you are going to have a road that probably will exceed the cul de sac length so you need to be thinking about emergency turn around. Mr. Shardlow stated they did show the idea of a trail corridor around there, showed the option of a trail corridor going to the north, and finding an easement between those homes and out to connect the broader neighborhood, and they did show and label a canoe launch in that location. They are showing a 20-car parking lot which is based only on speculation at this point. They also identified an area that is one of the high points along that trail which could be improved for some kind of a lookout. People could walk there and have some nice views of the river. They also showed some picnic tables where people could go and picnic. Planning Commission Meeting December 19, 2018 Page 13 of 17 Mr. Shardlow stated the other issue is this is a sanitary sewer lift station so odor control is an issue. Not to mention the fact the shape and size of the parcel south of the wetland is probably too small to develop efficiently. It would be right up against the edge of that lift station. There will be odor suppression built into the design and the engineers are much better at that than they used to be, but it is not perfect. They are pretty confident that by the time you got on the other side of the wetland, it would not be a nuisance. However, to put something right up against it, especially when you consider that the prevailing winds in Minnesota come from the south to west and the north to east, that would be potentially problematic. Mr. Shardlow presented a slide as to what if they simply kept it in some kind of a park setting. It showed a little bit larger parking lot, a trail all the way around it, shows the idea of maybe some informal trails through the property. This would of course retain the vast majority, if not all, of the trees on the property. Mr. Shardlow presented a slide showing a couple of ideas where somebody might be able to pull a canoe or kayak down. Mr. Shardlow stated if they wanted to there could be some type of picnic shelter there depending on how the community wanted to program that space. Mr. Shardlow stated he would not recommend deciding anything. It is a good thing to take this in and think about it for a while. Talk to Mr. Hickok and Ms. Stromberg about what other information the Commission would like to have. This site does have some significant constraints to it. Even if it were to be developed, it would be so for a small number of units and with a pretty substantial amount of grading and site manipulation and tree loss. This is one of those times where we need as many trees as we can get, but he also recognizes there is value to providing a housing choice in the community that may not be there in the amount they need. Mr. Shardlow stated as to the relationship between the lift station and the development, obviously it needs to be a secure facility. If the community is going to be using it for a park, living there, or using it for recreational purposes, it has to look good. It cannot just be a chain link fence with barbed wire on top of it. It will have to be designed with a nice edge. They will have to be really open and share what they know about odor suppression as well. Mr. Shardlow stated this is the first opportunity to really come before the community. City staff felt coming to the Planning Commission was a good place to start that. The plans for the facility are going to be designed over the course of the summer. There will probably be an open house in the fall of 2019 to talk about the design and the state it is at. The detailed engineering and design will go on between 2021 and 2022, and the construction (depending on the budget) could be any time between 2022 and 2025. Mr. Shardlow stated one of the things Fridley would want to think about is whether it is something it wants to control and own. Or simply ask the Metropolitan Council as its partner to Planning Commission Meeting December 19, 2018 Page 14 of 17 protect it and provide some public access. His job is to help the City of Fridley know what is possible so the City can make informed decisions as to what its interest is going forward. Commissioner Hansen asked Mr. Shardlow to comment about the size or why the part that is broken off for the lift station? It seems like it is a pretty substantial part of that property. What is the rationale for that? Is it one building, two buildings, is a parking lot needed for that? Mr. Shardlow replied, it was based on a preliminary feasibility study that was done. It was a function of how big does the tank need to be. How big does the pipe need to be coming into the tank. How much water does it need to hold. It is really just a function of capacity. Then there is a need for some building, monitoring equipment, access, roadway, parking, etc. That is all going to be looked at this summer by the folks who office across the hall from where he works. They will definitely be engaged with the community throughout that process. Commissioner Sielaff stated to Mr. Shardlow he does not know how much structure will be constructed for this lift station? Mr. Shardlow replied, the only thing he knows is the graphic he showed them which was done by a different engineering firm. Now they will be in the process of taking that very preliminary design and testing it, seeing if it can be improved, etc. Their engineers were confident saying that 7-acre site is probably approximately where that line will be. They do not know anything more in terms of the details of that facility. Commissioner Sielaff stated that was a sanitary sewer line they put through how many years ago? Four or five years ago? There was some construction going on. Commissioner Hansen stated they did a new river crossing. That was repairing an existing one. An emergency repair. However this site is developed, odor control is going to be huge. They are bringing a lift station there that was not there before and they do smell. Mr. Shardlow stated one of the things they committed to doing with the staff was identifying a handful of other facilities like this around the region, going to them, seeing them, and talking to the staff to see what the experience is. There are people who specialize in odor suppression, and they are under contract right now with the City of Minneapolis going through the entire Minneapolis sanitary sewer system and figuring out ways to deal with odor control. It is a lot better than it used to be. There are people who live in pretty close proximity to these things and do not even know it. He has attended something in excess of 6,000 public hearings and has been to meetings where issues like this come up; and you do not want to rush to the conclusion you can put houses right up against this and everything is going to be fine. It is definitely an issue that needs to be fully vetted and understood. Commissioner Ostwald asked why this location for the station? Is it because of where it is physically located at or because there is land available? Planning Commission Meeting December 19, 2018 Page 15 of 17 Mr. Shardlow stated, again, he is not here on behalf of the Metropolitan council’s engineers. He knows there is a lift station on the other side of the river that had issues and needed to be erected and he knows they needed to get into the gravity interceptor on this side of the river. They acquired this property for the purpose of building this facility and is probably as good an answer he can give. Commissioner Hansen asked if there was any discussion about putting a trail connection along East River Road to connect into whatever might be the developable portion of the property? Mr. Shardlow replied, at this point they have not looked at anything other than just the basic ideas they were throwing out there and is why they wanted to come and talk to the City as well. That would be a really relatively simple thing to accommodate. Notwithstanding the fact the edge right along the northeast is very steep so you would probably have to do some retaining wall to make that happen. Commissioner Sielaff asked is Metropolitan Council acquiring all the land then? Mr. Shardlow replied, it is his understanding they have. Commissioner Sielaff asked, all 22 acres? Mr. Shardlow replied, yes. The question is what is surplus and what happens with what is surplus. Commissioner Hansen asked and the decision is for sure the lift station is going to be on this side of the river. Mr. Shardlow replied, yes. 2018 SUMMARY REVIEW Ms. Stromberg stated in 2018 they reviewed 1 comprehensive plan amendment, 0 lot splits, 1 S-2 master plan amendment that was before them tonight, 5 plats, 3 rezonings, 3 special use permits, 2 text amendments, and 1 TOD master plan for a total of 16 items. Ms. Stromberg stated as to how that compares to previous years, they are up actually from where they were in 2016 and 2017. Ms. Stromberg stated they had a plat approved to allow the development of the John Allen property at 5601 East River Road. Ms. Stromberg stated Pulte Homes, the patio homes, they had a plat to allow the construction of 26 new homes, 8 of them have sold. They have been issuing lots of building permits over there. Planning Commission Meeting December 19, 2018 Page 16 of 17 Ms. Stromberg stated there is a new electronic billboard at Public Storage. Ms. Stromberg stated the second phase of the Watermark assisted living will be happening next year. Ms. Stromberg stated, lastly, they approved a special use permit to allow an increase in lot coverage at the Ashley Furniture Store. They will see their new canopy condition and new warehouse addition off of Industrial Boulevard. Commissioner Oquist asked how is the occupancy of the property on 694 and East River Road? Are they filling that up? Mr. Hickok replied, the business along 694 and East River Road is fully occupied although you do not see the cars yet. Taylor Communications has leased that entire building, and they will have 300 employees there. Their lease officially started on December 1. They are moving from three different locations in the metro area. The developer tells the staff they have very good activity on the second building, not the owner of the site. Other developers say that it sounds like there is enough interest and activity that the building may be filled very quickly. It is a very attractive site in a very attractive location. Chairperson Kondrick asked whether there is any conversation regarding access to those buildings? The semaphore that is there, the drive lanes, etc. does the City foresee any access, ingress, egress, anybody have any problems and what is being done about them if there are some. Mr. Hickok replied, they will see two new signal lights on East River Road in 2019. There will be one coming right off 694 and one right at the intersection that enters this development. As part of this development they wanted them to take a look at not only providing the best opportunity to enter and exit this site, but also wanted to make sure this site was able to be accessed from pedestrians, bicyclists, and the existing intersection really probably was not best designed for that. A new intersection going in this year will have all the modern audible devices, it is in the TOD district, it will be designed with colored pedestrian crossways so it is very easy to see as a motorist traveling through that area. They will have a sidewalk that goes from this site all the way up to the train station site. Mr. Hickok stated the fact that this site is developed now, it has already started generating tax increment financing and an attractive amount of tax increment finance as they know that process allows the City to basically put money into a fund and allows them to do other things. They will remember back the Legislature was very kind in allowing them to create a Northstar specific tax increment district so they can capitalize on that new increment on those new dollars coming in to put them back into infrastructure. They are very interested in crossing the railroad track and th connecting 57 Avenue. Right now it is very disjointed to say the least. When they did the East River Road corridor study, the County, too, said that would be a priority because it would take traffic off the leg of Mississippi between University Avenue and East River Road and traffic off Planning Commission Meeting December 19, 2018 Page 17 of 17 from Mississippi down to 694. Also the State, the staff believes, though they have not been as vocal on this, would be very interested in taking off those short trips between University Avenue and East River Road to get on and off an otherwise very busy part of the highway. They are very interested in moving into the next phase of design and layout for that crossing and continuing working with Burlington Northern to ensure they get that done at some point. Chairperson Kondrick stated good they will need that especially with 300 new workers there. Commissioner Ostwald asked with Northern Stacks now on East River Road he asked if there is any infrastructure type support as in restaurants, hotels, etc. Mr. Hickok replied, one of the things they are hearing from citizens now are more restaurants generally speaking throughout the course of time but over on this side, as they look at development over there and with a number of new jobs, they are finding a real interest. ADJOURN: MOTION by Commissioner Oquist to adjourn. Seconded by Commissioner Ostwald. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE MEETING ADJOURNED AT 8:10 P.M. Respectfully submitted, Denise M. Johnson Recording Secretary