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PLM 12/15/2021 PLANNING COMMISSION December 15, 2021 7:00 PM Fridley Civic Campus, 7071 University Avenue N.E. MINUTES CALL TO ORDER Chair Hansencalled the Planning Commission Meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. PRESENT Mike Heintz Amy Dritz Mark Hansen John Buyse Ross Meisner Stacy Stromberg, Planning Manager Rachel Workin, Environmental Planner APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES 1.Approve October 20, 2021, Planning Commission Minutes Motionby Commissioner Meisnerto approve the minutes. Seconded by Commissioner Buyse. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIR HANSEN DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. ACCEPTANCEOF MINUTES FROM OTHER COMMISSIONS 2.Approve Other Commission Minutes Motionby Commissioner Heintzto acceptthe minutesfrom other Commissions. Seconded by Commissioner Meisner. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIR HANSEN DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. PUBLIC HEARING 3.Public Hearing for Comprehensive Plan Amendment, CP #21-01 by the City to amend the Future Land Use Map in the 2040 Comprehensive Plan Motionby Commissioner Buyseto open the public hearing. Seconded by Commissioner Dritz. Planning Commission Minutes Page 2 12/15/2021 UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIR HANSEN DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE PUBLIC HEARING WAS OPENED AT 7:02 P.M. Stacy Stromberg, Planning Manager, presented a Comprehensive Plan amendment. She noted in January of 2021, the property at 4500 Marshall Street went through a lot split process to facilitate a land swap between the City of Minneapolis and the Anoka County Parks system. She stated that the lot split was approved by the Council on February 8, 2021 which resulted in adding .33 acres of land to Riverfront Regional Park. The 2040 Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Map designates the property as utility and because the land is now part of the park the Metropolitan Council requires that the Future Land Use Map be changed to a designation of park and recreation. She noted that this would be considered a minor amendment and would be administratively approved by the Met Council staff. She stated that staff recommends that the Commission hold a public hearing and recommend approval of CPA #21-01. She noted that the City Council would then consider the item at its January 3, 2022 meeting. Chair Hansen asked if the process of moving the fence on the north end of the property has been moved. Ms. Stromberg was unsure if that work had been completed. She stated that the land swap has been completed and therefore if the work has not been completed it should be done shortly. Commissioner Meisner asked if the City is responsible for putting up the fence. Ms. Stromberg confirmed that the City of Minneapolis would be responsible for that action. Chair Hansen referenced the three parcels that were purchased by the City of Minneapolis and asked if any changes would be needed. Ms. Stromberg stated, no change is required as those parcels are already designed as utility. Motion by Commissioner Meisner to close the public hearing. Seconded by Commissioner Buyse. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIR HANSEN DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE PUBLIC HEARING WAS CLOSED AT 7:06 P.M. Motion by Commissioner Heintz approving Comprehensive Plan Amendment #21-01. Seconded by Commissioner Meisner. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIR HANSEN DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. OTHER BUSINESS Planning Commission Minutes Page 3 12/15/2021 4.Approve the Phase 2 Addendum to the Energy Action Plan and a Memorandum of Understanding with Xcel Energy Rachel Workin, Environmental Planner, provided a history of the City’s energy action programing. She stated that one of the goals of the 2040 Comprehensive Plan was to have increased resiliency and energy planning, which led to the development of the Energy Action Plan (EAP) in 2018. She stated that the implementation period ran from January 2019 through mid-2020. She noted that in August 2021 they began working with EQEC on Phase 2 of the EAP and the EQEC recommended approval of Phase 2 and the related MOU on November 9, 2021. She reviewed the vision and mission of the original EAP along with the goals that were established during that first plan. She highlighted some of the benefits of the plan in terms of cost savings, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and other co-benefits including improved property values, comfort, and safety. She provided an overview of the original EAP implementation. She also reviewed the EAP results. She stated that it is proposed to maintain the mission, vision and 2030 goal and reviewed the new participation goals proposed for Phase 2. She highlighted the new strategies identified for Phase 2. She welcomed any questions the Commission may have and requested that the Commission recommend approval of Phase 2 of the EAP and associated MOU. Commissioner Buyse asked if this is meant to be an intention rather than something legally binding. Ms. Workin confirmed that this is not a legally binding document and there are not penalties if the goals are not met. She stated that the document provides additional affirmation to staff that these actions are appropriate to be spending time on and shows Xcel that this is a good community to invest resources in. Commissioner Buyse asked the definition of a program participant. Ms. Workin commented that the program is run through Xcel Energy and some data is provided from CenterPoint Energy. She identified the program participation that would be counted in the report. Commissioner Heintz asked where the EV charger is located. Ms. Workin replied that the EV charger is in the parking lot between City Hall and the Public Works building. She noted that the first three hours are free and the charge after that would be $2 per hour. She stated that those spots are painted green. Commissioner Meisner stated that he is a fan of energy efficiency. He noted that within the EV community, access to home charging for apartment residents is a topic that comes up often. He asked for input from staff on that topic. Ms. Workin commented that is an existing gap. She stated that about 80 percent of electric vehicle charging occurs in the home at night and therefore providing access to those living in apartments and condos is a huge goal. She stated that Fridley participated in a program called Cities Charging Ahead, which brought together 20 communities across Minnesota and highlighted some of the actions of that group. She stated that providing a place for people to charge their vehicles is something renters will be Planning Commission Minutes Page 4 12/15/2021 looking for and therefore having that amenity will be important to ensuring the housing stock continues to be viable. Commissioner Meisner asked if any accommodation for EV charging has been included in any of the recently constructed apartment buildings. Ms. Workin stated that the topic has been brought up with developers. She stated that the developers have commented that it is much more efficient to install conduit at the time of construction rather than attempting to retrofit in the future. She was unsure if that was being done. Commissioner Meisner commented that he hopes that is being done at that will be valuable in the future. Ms. Workin stated that Xcel has a program for retrofitting for commercial uses that have more than five electric vehicles in their fleet. Commissioner Meisner asked the timing for the EV accommodations in the Code and whether that could be accelerated. Ms. Workin commented that the full recodification schedule is a three-to-four-year process. She believed that issue was listed as a mid-level priority in that process. Commissioner Meisner asked if there need to be changes in the Code related to public charging infrastructure. Ms. Workin commented that is something that would require an electrical permit for construction. She did not believe the land use itself has been discussed yet, in terms of a standalone structure. Commissioner Meisner referenced the energy use targets, noting there are many factors in that calculation. He asked if there were a metric that would include a per capita or per square foot. Ms. Workin confirmed that the EQEC has discussed that, providing the example of adding electric vehicles which in turn increase energy use. She commented that staff could look into that method. Commissioner Meisner asked if there is an update on the solar installation at Medtronic. Ms. Stromberg noted that is included in her year in review presentation. Commissioner Heintz stated that the Commission for Park Improvement finished its work and provided a recommendation that will be forwarded to other groups. He noted that charging stations were not included and suggested that perhaps staff work together to insert EV charging stations into those park plans. Ms. Workin confirmed that parking lot reconstruction for parks would be a good time to incorporate those stations. Planning Commission Minutes Page 5 12/15/2021 Commissioner Meisner stated that he would love to see a charging station at Springbrook. Commissioner Meisner asked how the goal of 20 percent was set. Ms. Workin replied that goal was set during the original EAP planning phase and explained how that was determined. Chair Hansen explained the thinking behind the goal, as one of those involved in creating the EAP goal. Commissioner Meisner commented that gas use should also be tracked. He stated that if vehicles are all electrified, electricity would increase but there would still be more benefit. Ms. Workin commented that data is collected on a much larger scale and is unsure how locally it can be determined. She stated that she would ask other cities working on similar goals to gain additional input. Commissioner Dritz stated that perhaps the goal should be related to greenhouse gas reductions. Commissioner Meisner commented that the consumption of energy itself is not necessarily a bad thing. Ms. Workin commented that Xcel has a carbon neutral goal by 2050, which is why they are pushing energy conservation and the reduction of peak grid use. Chair Hansen appreciated the hard work of staff on this matter. He noted that he and Commissioner Dritz were part of the group that created the original EAP and he appreciated the efforts that continue to be put into this. Commissioner Heintz noted that when the natural gas use increase, that was during COVID when more people were working from home and perhaps there was a related offset of gasoline use during that period. Motion by Commissioner Meisner approving the Phase 2 Addendum to the Energy Action Plan and the associated Memorandum of Understanding with Xcel Energy. Seconded by Commissioner Dritz. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIR HANSEN DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Ms. Stromberg stated that at the end of each year she likes to provide a presentation of the work that has been done by the Commission. She reviewed the Planning Commission actions during 2021 and compared that to the actions of previous years. She also reviewed examples of Special Use Permits and highlighted the other requests received during the year. She thanked the Commission for its work. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Commissioner Meisner to adjourn the meeting. Seconded by Commissioner Buyse. Planning Commission Minutes Page 6 12/15/2021 UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIR HANSEN DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE MEETING ADJOURNED AT 7:42 P.M. Respectfully submitted, Amanda Staple, Recording Secretary