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PLM 07/15/2015 PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING July 15, 2015 Chairperson Kondrick called the Planning Commission Meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT: David Kondrick, Brad Sielaff, Leroy Oquist, David Ostwald, Dean Saba and Mike Heintz MEMBERS ABSENT: Todd Olin OTHERS PRESENT: Stacy Stromberg, Planner Craig Hanson, MN Hotel Partners LLC Approval of Minutes: June 17, 2015 MOTION by Commissioner Oquist to approve the minutes as presented. Seconded by Commissioner Sielaff. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 1. PUBLIC HEARING: Consideration of a Preliminary Plat, PS # 15-01, by MN Hotel Partners LLC, to create a separate lot on the SW corner of the property to allow the construction of a hotel project, generally located at 250 - 57th Avenue. MOTION by Commissioner Saba to open the public hearing. Seconded by Commissioner Heintz. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE PUBLIC HEARING WAS OPENED AT 7:01 P.M. Ms. Stromberg, Planner, stated the petitioner Troy Hoekstra with MN Hotel Partners LLC is requesting a th preliminary plat to further subdivide the lot at 250 - 57 Avenue. This plat request will create a separate lot on the southwest side of the property to allow for the potential development and construction of a hotel project. Ms. Stromberg stated creation of a separate lot will allow the new parcel to have its own tax parcel and tax statement, which is what the petitioner would like to achieve. Ms. Stromberg stated the subject property is located on the northwest corner of Interstate 694 and University Avenue. It is surrounded by right-of-way on all sides. In 1966, the original 165,000 square foot building was constructed. Two variances were granted on the subject property since it was originally developed, one to reduce the amount of required parking stalls and another to allow the construction of a loading dock facing the public right-of-way. The lot has already been replatted twice to allow for the creation of the existing CVS lot and Holiday gas station lot. Ms. Stromberg stated in 2010, the property was rezoned from C-3, General Shopping to PUD, Planned Unit Development. Since that rezoning was approved, several changes have occurred on the site. Planning Commission Meeting July 15, 2015 Page 2 of 6 Approximately 30,000 square feet of the original building has been removed, Cub Foods has moved to a smaller space on the west side of the building and the Fridley Liquor Store has a new space on the east side of the building. Duluth Trading Company and Teppanyaki Grill & Supreme Buffet have also opened in the main building within the last year. Ms. Stromberg stated in 2014, a preliminary plat was approved for this site to allow the creation of two th separate lots along 57 Avenue. A free-standing McDonald’s building was constructed on Lot 2 and City staff recently received a building permit application for a multi-tenant retail building on Lot 1. Construction on that building should happen very soon. Ms. Stromberg stated the entire parking lot has of this property also been redone, with the installation of new landscaped medians and pergola area. Ms. Stromberg stated the petitioner is seeking to replat the subject property to create a separate lot on the southwest side of the property to allow for the potential development and construction of a 124-room hotel project. Ms. Stromberg stated the proposed replat will consist of two lots that will be legally described as; Lot 1 and Lot 2, Block 1, Fridley Market Second Addition. Proposed Lot 1 will be 525,280 square feet or 12 acres in size and Lot 2 will be 83,560 square feet or 1.9 acres in size. Ms. Stromberg stated the property is zoned PUD, Planned Unit Development. The PUD designation was approved to allow flexibility with the redevelopment of the property. When the rezoning was approved, a General Plan of Development was also approved that establishes guidelines that dictate what type of quality development the City wants to see. Ms. Stromberg stated the PUD zoning doesn’t have a lot size minimum or maximum; however, staff has generally referred to the most similar zoning designation for comparison. The C-3, General Shopping minimum lot size is 35,000 square feet, which would be the most similar zoning designation for the existing and proposed uses. As a result, the proposed subdivision would comply with code requirements. Ms. Stromberg stated shared parking and access easements will also need to be established between the lots. Ms. Stromberg stated City Staff recommends approval of the preliminary plat request, with stipulations, as the plat meets the intent of the PUD zoning Ms. Stromberg stated staff recommends that if the preliminary plat, the following stipulations be attached: 1. The property owner, ZCOF TL Fridley LLC shall establish and file at Anoka County a nd shared access agreement between Lot 1 and Lot 2, Block 1, Fridley Market 2 Addition, upon final plat approval. 2. The property owner, ZCOF TL Fridley LLC shall establish and file at Anoka County a nd shared parking agreement between Lot 1 and Lot 2, Block 1, Fridley Market 2 Addition, upon final plat approval. 3. Park dedication fee for Lot 2 of $1,921.88 to be paid upon issuance of a building permit for a building for Lot 2. Planning Commission Meeting July 15, 2015 Page 3 of 6 4. The pedestrian walkway along the western property line that was approved with the PUD master plan for this site shall be constructed as part of the development of Lot 2, Block 1, nd Fridley Market 2 Addition. Ms. Stromberg displayed a rendering she received today of what the potential hotel might look like. The petitioner wanted her to provide the Commission the rendering as a visual of what they might see in that corner. Commissioner Oquist asked whether they had anything showing the site plan for the hotel? Ms. Stromberg replied, no, an official site plan hasn’t been submitted yet. Commissioner Oquist stated because he is wondering about the parking situation. Once that building is put there, will there be enough parking spots? Ms. Stromberg referred to a slide of the master plan approved in 2010. Some of the property has changed a little bit. One area is no longer there and there is a restaurant off the back so additional parking has been added to what was green space in the past. Staff has evaluated that, and there looks to be at least 100 to 130 parking stalls available for this new lot. Commissioner Oquist asked, on that south side of the building? Ms. Stromberg replied, yes. And the petitioner believes that he needs one stall for each hotel room. The City will further analyze that when the building permit application comes in; however, staff has been talking with them off and on about that. Commissioner Oquist asked, would that be part of that Stipulation No. 1 which has the shared access? Ms. Stromberg replied, yes. The idea is this whole complex has a shared parking and shared access agreement. They did that same agreement with the two lots on the north. This development is supposed to kind of work as one. Commissioner Heintz asked, as to the park dedication fee, is that just for changing the plat, not the building or anything like that? Ms. Stromberg replied every time a property is replatted a park dedication fee needs to be paid, and the City has a formula that is figured based on the type of use. That is the amount that was figured based on the type of use of this property. Commissioner Heintz stated but when they go to build the hotel there would be a new one? Ms. Stromberg replied, no, park dedication is only paid once. Commissioner Heintz stated he thought that was based on the amount of the project. Ms. Stromberg replied, it is based on the square footage of the land. Commissioner Sielaff stated, on a shared parking agreement, what exactly does the City take into Planning Commission Meeting July 15, 2015 Page 4 of 6 account? Ms. Stromberg replied, when this property went through the PUD process, they had to take a look at all the potential uses that were going to happen at that time. Then come up with a required parking number. Based on what has been developed and was agreed upon in 2010, the overall parking numbers have not changed too much. They actually added more parking down in the south where the restaurant is now located. The shared parking agreement is so Cub customers could park in the Fridley Liquor Store area if they needed to. It gives the whole development synergy to work together. Commissioner Sielaff stated he is not real clear on what they take into account when determining the parking spaces are adequate for the proposal. He went to the Teppanyaki Grill and parking was all filled up. If they have that many people going to that restaurant and people are filling up the hotel, he is not sure there is going to be shared parking. Ms. Stromberg stated with this plat request they are not approving the parking. They have already approved a plan for this parcel of land; however, any time a new user comes in they do evaluate the parking and whether there is enough for all the users on site. Commissioner Sielaff stated you have to be aware of how much space you need to even do it in the first place. Ms. Stromberg replied, right. Chairperson Kondrick stated and so does the petitioner. He is sure the petitioner has thought about that. Craig Hanson , attorney for MN Hotel Partners LLC, stated they are proposing to do a Woodspring Suites hotel, which is an extended stay product. It is a relatively new brand. There are about 200 that are up right now, and they are building 5-10 every year. It is the same individual who developed the brand, Residence Inn and sold it to Marriott. They are based out of Wichita, Kansas, he believed. Attorney Hanson stated this will be a 124 unit hotel. It has an on-site property manager and the average stay is anything from a week to 30 days depending on the type of user. Attorney Hanson stated as to shared parking. Generally with a hotel they like to have them near other complimentary uses, such as retail or other restaurants that have a lot daily users. Hotel guests are usually coming in between 6-10 o'clock at night. Therefore, a lot of times they bundle the parking with other complimentary users so the parking can be used by both so you do not have to have these unused parking spots during the day or night. Attorney Hanson stated also in this case, depending on how it is ultimately, they will have staff park a little ways away. He asked Ms. Stromberg to put up the PUD plan from 2010. If they are looking more off to the far left up, the northwest side of the Cub Foods, they could allocate staff parking in that area. A lot of their customers are more long term residents. He thinks the overall complex has adequate parking to not only accommodate them but also all the other users. Chairperson Kondrick stated the parking thing is not what they are talking about this evening, but he is sure it was on all the Commission members' minds as to how that could possibly happen. Since they are on television this evening and City Council could have a chance to view this, they are asking these Planning Commission Meeting July 15, 2015 Page 5 of 6 questions. The parking issues will be handled at a later date but thanked Mr. Hanson for explaining that. Attorney Hanson stated they are in the process of finalizing the site plan and more final architectural plans of the whole project. They may not be quite ready for the Council meeting, but they will present them soon. Just so everybody understands the look, it is standard prototype. The siding may be more efis, and stucco, etc. so they make sure it is consistent with the Code and the development itself. Commissioner Oquist asked whether they take people for one day? Attorney Hanson replied, they do. They are not doing marketing for that, but there will be some nightly travelers that will be accepted. Chairperson Kondrick asked the petitioner if they’ve had a chance to look at the stipulations, and attorney Hanson and his company are in agreement with them? Attorney Hanson replied, yes, they are in agreement. The only one that would not be directed to them and would be directed to the current owner is the one regarding the sidewalk and the owner agreed to that with the PUD approval. Chairperson Kondrick asked the petitioner, and they are okay with that? Attorney Hanson replied, they are okay with it. Chairperson Oquist stated they are just dealing with the plat tonight. The parking will be an issue for another time, but it is wise they brought it up. It is something to think about. MOTION by Commissioner Saba to close the public hearing. Seconded by Commissioner Oquist. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE PUBLIC HEARING WAS CLOSED AT 7:17 P.M. MOTION by Commissioner Oquist approving Preliminary Plat, PS # 15-01, by MN Hotel Partners LLC, to create a separate lot on the SW corner of the property to allow the construction of a hotel project, generally located at 250 - 57th Avenue. with the following stipulations: 1. The property owner, ZCOF TL Fridley LLC shall establish and file at Anoka County a nd shared access agreement between Lot 1 and Lot 2, Block 1, Fridley Market 2 Addition, upon final plat approval. 2. The property owner, ZCOF TL Fridley LLC shall establish and file at Anoka County a nd shared parking agreement between Lot 1 and Lot 2, Block 1, Fridley Market 2 Addition, upon final plat approval. 3. Park dedication fee for Lot 2 of $1,921.88 to be paid upon issuance of a building permit for a building for Lot 2. 4. The pedestrian walkway along the western property line that was approved with the PUD master plan for this site shall be constructed as part of the development of Lot 2, Block 1, nd Fridley Market 2 Addition. Seconded by Commissioner Sielaff. Planning Commission Meeting July 15, 2015 Page 6 of 6 UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. OTHER BUSINESS : th Ms. Stromberg stated the special use permit for the electronic sign for Super America on 57 Avenue was approved. Ms. Stromberg stated the next meeting will be August 19, 2015. ADJOURN : MOTION by Commissioner Saba to adjourn. Seconded by Commissioner Oquist. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE MEETING ADJOURNED AT 7:21 P.M. Respectfully submitted, Denise M. Johnson Recording Secretary