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CCM 04/27/2020 CITY COUNCIL MEETING CITY OF FRIDLEY April 27, 2020 The City Council meeting for the City of Fridley was called to order by Mayor Lund at 7:15 p.m. Opening Statement by Mayor Lund: Due to the COVID-19 health pandemic and the current Stay at Home Order that is in place, this evening’s Fridley City Council meeting is being conducted virtually. Because of this COVID-19 pandemic, it has been determined that the physical attendance at the regular meeting location by members of the public, members of the City Council or staff is not feasible. Therefore, all city Councilmembers will be participating by phone or other electronic means. During this meeting, Mayor Lund asks for your patience as there may be pauses, especially when the public wishes to make comment. If the someone does wish to make a comment, they may click the “Raised Hand” button and alert City staff that they wish to comment. When we get to that portion, they will ask for those comments. They will be recognized, and the microphones will be enabled at that time allowing them to make comment. As the presiding officer at this meeting, Mayor Lund said he may mute or ask to have some comments muted from meeting participants if they engage in unacceptable behaviors, including the delay of the meeting for comments made unrelated to the topic of this discussion, harassment, intimidation, or discrimination in any form, indecent or obscene gestures, images or videos, and verbal abuse of any meeting attendee or participant. ROLL CALL: MEMBERS PRESENT: Mayor Lund Councilmember Tillberry Councilmember Eggert Councilmember Bolkcom Councilmember Ostwald OTHERS PRESENT: Wally Wysopal, City Manager Daniel Tienter, Director of Finance/City Treasurer/City Clerk Scott Hickok, Community Development Director Ryan George, Deputy Public Safety Director PROCLAMATION: Arbor Month – May 2020 ISSUED. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF APRIL 27, 2020 PAGE 2 APPROVAL OF PROPOSED CONSENT AGENDA: APPROVAL OF CITY COUNCIL MINUTES: 1. City Council Meeting of March 23, 2020. APPROVED. NEW BUSINESS: 2. Receive the Planning Commission Minutes of March 18, 2020. RECEIVED. 3. Approve an Amendment to the Comprehensive Sign Plan for River Road Business Center South, Generally Located at 5155 – 5301 East River Road (Ward 3). APPROVED. 4. Adopt Resolution No. 2020-20 Approving Gifts, Donations and Sponsorships for the City of Fridley. ADOPTED RESOLUTION NO. 2020-20. 5. Approve 2020-2021 Liquor License Renewals. APPROVED. 6. Licenses. APPROVED. 7. Claims (2003 & 2004 ACH PCard; 188499 – 188780) APPROVED. ADOPTION OF PROPOSED CONSENT AGENDA: MOTION by Councilmember Ostwald adopting the proposed consent agenda. Seconded by Councilmember Tillberry. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF APRIL 27, 2020 PAGE 3 OPEN FORUM, VISITORS: No one made comment. ADOPTION OF AGENDA: MOTION by Councilmember Bolkcom adopting the agenda. Seconded by Councilmember Eggert. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. PUBLIC HEARING/NEW BUSINESS: 8. Consider an On-Sale Intoxicating Liquor License for Junchul Kim, to Operate King’s Club Restaurant Located at 1051 East Moore Lake Drive N.E.; and Motion to Approve an On-Sale Intoxicating Liquor License for King’s Club Restaurant (Ward 2) MOTION by Councilmember Bolkcom to open the public hearing. Seconded by Councilmember Eggert. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE HEARING WAS OPENED AT 7:22 P.M. Ryan George, Deputy Public Safety Director, stated this is a public hearing for Minnesota Royal Restaurants, LLC d/b/a King’s Club. This is an existing restaurant that is under new management. Junchul Kim is the applicant. Mr. Kim is purchasing the restaurant from the current owner. Section 603.07 of the City Code requires a public hearing be held to consider a liquor license. Notice of the public hearing was made in The Life newspaper on April 17, 2020, meeting the ten-day advance notice. The existing restaurant has not experienced any construction or alterations. The floor plan, occupancy, and square footage have not changed. Deputy Director George stated they have conducted a background check on the applicant and found no reason to deny the application at this time. The Fire Division reviewed the application, and conducted a recent inspection finding no reason to deny the application. Deputy Director George stated at this time staff is recommending a motion to approve a license for King’s Club. Councilmember Eggert stated he believed this was the restaurant formerly operated as King’s Korean. A long-time restaurant. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF APRIL 27, 2020 PAGE 4 Deputy Director George replied, yes, it was. There are not going to be any significant changes to the restaurant. Just a new owner. Mayor Lund asked whether Mr. Kim has operated a liquor license in the past. Deputy Director George replied, he has worked at various different restaurants, but this is his first foray into owning a restaurant. Mayor Lund asked whether Mr. Kim is aware of the City’s 40/60 ratio for food and alcohol. Deputy Director George replied, yes, he has been made aware of this requirement. Traditionally, this restaurant does far more food sales than is required. The food-to-liquor ratio is very favorable towards the food. Mayor Lund said if Mr. Kim decides to change the venue so he operates as an establishment heavier on alcohol, Mayor Lund wants Mr. Kim to be aware he has to meet the ratio. Deputy Director George replied, yes, Mr. Kim is aware of this and Mr. Kim did not say anything about changing the restaurant. Councilmember Eggert asked if the current restaurant serves alcohol. Deputy Director George replied, yes, it does have a liquor license. Councilmember Eggert stated the only reason he asked is he did not see them on the current list of licenses in their packet. Deputy Director George replied, yes, that is correct. Typically for a renewal, if it were the same owner, it would have been included with the other liquor license renewals. However, since this is a new owner, that new owner needs to have their own liquor license approved because the liquor licenses are non-transferable. Councilmember Bolkcom stated it is a whole different owner so it would not take into effect whether there was an issue in the past. Deputy Director George replied, that is correct. Given the size and type of venue that it is, the food is primarily what will be served but certainly they are aware of the food-to-liquor ratio. Mayor Lund asked whether prior to the meeting Mr. Kim indicated he wanted to make any comments. Daniel Tienter, Director of Finance/City Treasurer/City Clerk, said he has not made any comments to the City Clerk’s office. Deputy Director George may have some insight that he does not have regarding the actual licensee. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF APRIL 27, 2020 PAGE 5 Deputy Director George replied Mr. Kim did not give any indication he wanted to make public comment at the hearing. MOTION by Councilmember Eggert to close the public hearing. Seconded by Councilmember Ostwald. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE HEARING WAS CLOSED AT 7:26 P.M. MOTION by Councilmember Eggert to Approve an On-Sale Intoxicating Liquor License for King’s Club Restaurant. Seconded by Councilmember Tillberry. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. NEW BUSINESS: 9. Approve Special Use Permit Request, SP #20-01, by Lanewood Estates, LLC, to Allow the Construction of an Assisted Living and Memory Care Facility in an R-1, Single Family Zoning District, Generally Located at 5350 Monroe Street; and Adopt Resolution 2020-19 Approving Special Use Permit, SP #20-01, for Lanewood Estates, LLC, to Allow the Construction of an Assisted Living and Memory Care Facility to be Generally Located at 5350 Monroe Street N.E. (Ward 1). Scott Hickok, Community Development Director, stated this is a project by Fred Stelter with Lanewood Estates LLC. He is requesting approval of a special use permit to allow the construction of an assisted living and memory care facility generally located at 5350 Monroe Street. Mr. Hickock stated this is a 2.28-acre parcel of land behind Target and north of KinderCare on rd 53 Avenue. Just north of it is a wooded 2.2-acre lot. Right next to KinderCare is a dead-end street called Monroe that ends right at the property line of the subject parcel. What is being proposed is a three-story, 71-unit assisted living and memory care facility, and on the ground floor of this project would be a 25-unit care facility. The second floor is 31 units, and the third floor is 15 care units. There are also some common areas, gathering spaces, a central kitchen, there is a library and other amenities such as an outdoor screen porch on the west side of the building that really makes it a very place. Mr. Hickock stated that western building setback from the western boundary is 50 feet. There is a Target to the east of this site and a residential single-family development to the west of this site. There is quite a grade difference between the R-1 properties and this parcel. Again, there is a 50-foot setback from the property line to the new building. On that side the building FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF APRIL 27, 2020 PAGE 6 architecturally steps down a bit to not have the impact of a three-story building adjacent to lower rise residential to the west and has a screened-in porch closest to the residential area. Mr. Hickock stated there are a couple of issues the developers needed to work on to get the project this far and will continue to need to work on them. Monroe is a bit of a peculiar street in that it does not continue past the site but instead allows the minimum code-required 25 feet adjacent to a development parcel; but it stops at the edge of this development parcel. A couple months ago, they had a lot split with a similar situation. This is a situation where Monroe comes in and it will serve the development but, what will happen, is there will be a gentle S-curve and then there will be a perpendicular driveway coming off from that S-curve into the development to serve the development. Mr. Hickock stated the Code requires that they have 41 parking spaces. They have 50 parking spaces in this proposal. In a care facility like this, memory care and more advanced care, there are very few residents who have cars. The 50 spaces will serve the visitors and staff. Mr. Hickok stated a special use permit is required because the zoning on this property is R-1, single-family residential. A multi-family 71-unit building like this, as long as it is congregate care--a senior facility, is an acceptable use provided it goes through the special use permit process. Mr. Hickok stated on March 18, 2020, the special use permit request was reviewed by the Planning Commission. They also heard comments from two individuals and one telephone comment prior to the Planning Commission meeting, expressing concern about the number of senior facilities that are now in this area and feeling like there is an abundance of senior facilities right in this proximity. There was also concern expressed about the number of trees and woodlands that will be going away as part of this development. A second person wrote in who lives directly to the west. He really has enjoyed the trees, the wildlife, and the natural setting they have had to separate them from the Target site (a very large commercial area to the east). That correspondence was reviewed and entered into the record for the Planning Commission. Mr. Hickok stated staff and Planning Commission’s recommendations coincide. There was a unanimous Planning Commission recommendation and staff recommendation of approval for this project with five stipulations which are pretty standard. They talk about things like meeting the Building Code requirements. There is a potential wetland on this site. Costs borne by the City to help protect that wetland are going to be costs the development will need to care for. Finally, they will need to have the City’s engineering department to sign off before they receive final development approval relative to that wetland. Mayor Lund stated looking at the aerial view included with the agenda item, there is some property to the north of that which has some limited access. Is that something available for future construction? Does someone own it, and can they access it from Cheri Lane? Mr. Hickok replied this question has come up before and staff has reviewed it. The City owns that little piece right at Cheri Lane. If you look closely you can see a curved fence line that goes back to the western edge of this proposed parcel. That curved fence line actually fences in FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF APRIL 27, 2020 PAGE 7 Target property. So that property north of this development site is actually owned by Target. In the past, they have had no interest. He said he believes this developer has talked to them about including that in this parcel; and Target was not interested in giving up that land at this time. As they know, their site is very large, it has a lot of hard surface, this is one of the few areas where there is some absorption. Frankly, staff did look at that as an opportunity to enter this site; but without that parcel it would be difficult if not impossible for them to gain access from the north. Mayor Lund stated, just to be clear, he does see the curved fence line and to the southeast that is Target property, up to the yellow box, and then the City owns the northwest section of that rectangle. Mr. Hickok replied, yes, that is correct. Mayor Lund stated and he does see the black dot there. He asked if that was the shed the City has where they have stored things in the past. Mr. Hickok replied, he is not certain what that is. A few years ago, they removed the building because of its condition. He does not believe it is represented by this black spot on the aerial. Mayor Lund stated he understands about the public’s comment stating they rather enjoy having that natural buffer and this building will create a buffer of sorts as well. There have been several other requests for development on this property. The neighborhood is getting a pretty good deal on this. At one time, they were talking about a church and then Stepping Stone wanted to put housing in there for lower-income people. This is a good fit for people. It should be pretty quiet. Mayor Lund stated as for the abundance of senior housing, he tells people all the time it is really not the City driving those issues. It is developers and people who want to build these developments They usually build what the demands are. They have shown this time and time again. When something is built, it is usually filled or near capacity by the time it is ready for occupancy. They have proven that with Cielo, the patio homes, the townhomes Lennar is building by City Hall, and the development over by the rail station which has multiple users. He said not that long ago, he remembers there was no senior housing in Fridley and people were moving out of the City because of it. Councilmember Tillberry stated in their packet on page 117 it lists that the easement, right-of- way, on Monroe Street that Target was agreeable to approving access easement; however, Petco was not. As a result, they decided to relocate outside of Fridley and put the subject property on the market for sale. Mayor Lund stated that was the issue with the last owner, the Sikh Society. They could not get their project done because they needed access and Petco was not willing to give it at that time. Councilmember Tillberry stated so basically, they are moving out of Fridley. Mayor Lund replied, the Sikh Society moved out years ago. They were located on University Avenue where the Cielo apartments are now. They bought that property next to Target and FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF APRIL 27, 2020 PAGE 8 because they could not get the deal done, they moved completely out of Fridley. He believed they moved all the way to Bloomington. Mr. Hickok replied, that is correct. Just to clarify a bit further, had the Sikh Society been successful in getting both Target and Petco to advance this idea, there would have been something of a T intersection right south of the Target store there where you could enter that site from the drive aisle between Target and the pet store. That would have been preferred because it also eliminates crossing a wetland which is an issue they need to work on now. As they are coming into the proposed design, they are actually going to traverse a small wetland in the southeast corner of the site; and there will be consequences. They need to do something to remedy the issues of crossing that wetland. It would have been their first choice in this development case also to not have to deal with that wetland; but since the pet store is not open to that idea, it will now rest with a drive coming in from the southeast corner of the site. Councilmember Ostwald stated he knows at the Planning Commission public hearing there was quite a bit of discussion about exactly what type of wetlands that it is. Did they pursue that any further or has it still been on hold pending Council’s decision this evening? Mr. Hickok replied with those areas of wetland you have consideration or concern. It is a little bit early to know precisely what the size and height of the wetland is in this corner. A wetland study was conducted in 2007 relative to the church that wanted to build here. They did make a determination that although they do exist, they are relatively small areas of wetland. There is one in that south corner and one outside the building pad area further to the north of the site. After wetland delineation data is five years old and a development has not happened, it is stale and they need to redo that wetland data. They have a general idea from the 2007 study about where the wetlands are, but they need to redo it and will make a precise determination about size and also the quality of the wetland at that time. Councilmember Bolkcom stated this is actually a better development. She knows people had voiced at the Planning Commission they love the wetlands and everything. There will be a lot less traffic. She asked about the number of parking spaces, because they have been burned in a few recently and she realizes there will be less staff here maybe; but are they very comfortable with needing 41 and doing 50? She started counting up the numbers at the different shifts. There will be no one that lives in this facility who actually drives, correct? Mr. Hickok replied, that is correct. They do not have independent living in this building. It is fairly certain they will see no owner in this building have a car they own on this site. Councilmember Bolkcom stated they feel comfortable knowing the staff will actually park there, and not amongst the neighborhood. That has been made clear by staff because of experience with previous developments. Mr. Hickok replied, yes. This is the same design team, and possibly some of the same investors, rdth who have the project at 53 and 4. They may recall some parking issue there but that was staff, and they have taken care of that. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF APRIL 27, 2020 PAGE 9 Mr. Hickok stated this site is quite different. The parking lot is in front, and employees would enter through the front door of the building. The staff who will be on this site will not fill 50 stalls. In fac, they will not fill half of the 50 stalls at any one time. There are not many visitors. They get holiday visits and occasional random visits Councilmember Bolkcom stated back to the question about substantial flooding in the past, when did it take place? Mr. Hickok replied, he is trying to recall the comment on flooding, but he will say to look back at aerial photos of this area, not only this small site, 2.2 acres, but also the adjacent Target site, it was wet. As they know historically wetland areas were not protected and guarded like they are today and oftentimes they were piped, meaning they would pipe the water off of the site. If you were to take a look at an aerial photo from the 1940s, you would see Moore Lake, a very small version of what is now I-694, and then a continuation of what looks like lakes all the way from Moore Lake through the Medtronic site, down through the Target site, and down through to rd Sullivan Lake south of 53. Historically this has been a bit marshier. Over time filling happened, and that is one of the things developers have to look at. Mr. Hickok stated whether you are developing the Target store or a 71-unit senior building, you need to do soil borings, compaction tests, design the footings so they can rest properly on the soil compactions you have on a site like this. They have to do all of those tests and figure it out before they can be comfortable with what development they are going to end up with. They have done a lot of that preliminary due diligence. It is the wetland stuff that has to be pinned down, but they have a pretty good idea from the earlier studies they are going to be relatively small areas, but areas they need to be dealt with. Councilmember Bolkcom stated but again the last study was over seven years ago. She asked Mr. Hickok whether he had any idea how long that study might take? She asked if the City had any liability. Mr. Hickok replied, the City is the regulatory/governing unit here that helps the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization make sure what is happening on this site is happening correctly. What that means in this particular case is the City will have its wetland experts study the materials to make sure that it is being handled properly. The City does not have enough of these issues to have its own on-staff wetland expert. Councilmember Bolkcom stated the residents in the area can rest assured that not only will the developer be doing one but there will be another set of eyes and not the same company doing it for the developer. Mr. Hickok replied, the City will have its own watch dog it will hire but will be reimbursed for that. Councilmember Bolkcom stated when you have had all those trees, is there maybe an opportunity for the developer when they get a little bit further along and knowing whether there is any mitigation, and how many trees that have come down, if they could actually have a little FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF APRIL 27, 2020 PAGE 10 neighborhood meeting with the neighborhood there? Obviously if you live next to a place where there has not been any building there for a long time, and the City has had several of those throughout the City of Fridley, and suddenly it is going to change, even though it will be a beautiful setting and serve a great purpose, is there an opportunity for the developer to meet with the neighborhood. Mr. Hickok replied, it is safe to say, and he thinks the developer may have even alluded to this at the Planning Commission meeting, nearly every tree on that site is going to need to come out. Whether it is the footprint of the building, the parking lot, the grading that is necessary to make sure the slope away from the building happens properly, or whether it is their containment areas for storm water. There will be very few trees that are left. Mr. Hickok stated where the wetland areas exist, his guess is they will try and do everything they can to try and preserve them. They have said, if there is a tree in there and it is mature and salvageable and they do not have to take it down and it is in everyone’s best interests, they will not do it. However, having a site that has the building they are seeing on the site plan, the parking they are seeing, and the storm water management considerations they have here, it would be wrong to have the neighborhood think they will look out and see a building through the trees because honestly the 2.2 acres will have very, very few trees after the clearing happens and the grading that has to happen takes place. Mr. Hickok stated the City’s landscape plan requires a certain number of trees to be in there and be replaced. Honestly a lot of the woods that are in there is typical of what grows up through marshy areas, wet areas, areas where it is not the stand of oaks they have seen up in Innsbruck. A lot of them are more cottonwood, big grown up weeds, and there are some significant trees scattered about that are indigenous to this area but not a lot. Councilmember Eggert asked Mr. Hickok regarding storm water, will this site totally retain their storm water, or will it be piped into a public storm water system? Mr. Hickok replied, it will hold its water. The ponds will be of a certain depth that eventually would spill after the water has been able to stay there and filter out all of the heavy particulates. You see pipes on the edge of created ponds that are up quite high, and those pipes help in the event of a real storm so that the pond does not flood; but it allows water to stay on the site and the particulate to drop out, and the water to get clear and not run off the site as much and to basically stay there as part of the landscape. Councilmember Eggert stated he only brings it up because by the nature of the site, which the west side is much higher, it flows down to the east, he thinks Target and Petco will not take too kindly to all of a sudden their drive being flooded. Mr. Hickok replied, very good question. The post-development runoff cannot be any greater. They have to hold their water and in no way can they detrimentally impact an adjacent property with their runoff. The condition right now is it is absorbent. All the water runs downhill and eventually it is absorbed. They are replacing a lot of that absorbency with a lot of hard surface, but that hard surface is also joined now with ponds that are designed with a capacity to hold FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF APRIL 27, 2020 PAGE 11 water and keep it on site. The City’s engineering staff are very careful to make sure the calculations and contours are done in a way that the adjacent sites are not affected. Councilmember Bolkcom said since there was no presentation tonight, if anyone who lives in that neighborhood or anyone listening or viewing the City Council meeting tonight wanted to know more detail, they could always contact the City or look back at the Planning Commission meeting where there actually was a presentation. Mr. Hickok replied one nice thing right now of having some time to get to work on some projects is they have created a better on-line presence in terms of the City’s development projects. People are always welcome to call him. He would be glad to take them through the presentation. MOTION by Councilmember Tillberry to approve Special Use Permit Request, SP #20-01, by Lanewood Estates, LLC, to Allow the Construction of an Assisted Living and Memory Care Facility in an R-1, Single Family Zoning District, Generally Located at 5350 Monroe Street, with Stipulations and to adopt Resolution 2020-19 Approving Special Use Permit, SP #20-01, for Lanewood Estates, LLC, to Allow the Construction of an Assisted Living and Memory Care Facility to be Generally Located at 5350 Monroe Street N.E. (Ward 1). Seconded by Councilmember Ostwald. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 10. Informal Status Reports Mr. Wysopal stated tonight when the Council approved the City’s donations received, there were three particular donations, one provided by Sam’s Club, one by Home Depot, and one by Patrick Miller Construction. They all gave varying amounts of PPE supplies, cases of masks, those kinds of things to help the City’s public safety staff get the job done. Councilmember Bolkcom asked Mr. Wysopal if he could give a little update of what is happening at City Hall. Mr. Wysopal replied they continue to follow what the Governor and his staff and the federal government are directing. They are anticipating on May 4 they will be able to reopen City Hall. They are not sure what the requirements will be. They are anticipating that later this week they will hear more from the Governor on what some of those stipulations might be. Their top priority and concerns are for everyone’s health and safety. In the meantime, they have been operating as much as they can with people working from home. Work is still getting done. They have done a lot of arranging and rearranging of schedules to make sure the entire Public Safety staff does not get exposed. Whether they will be reverting back to old schedules right away is still a little premature. However, they continue to provide all the services they can. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF APRIL 27, 2020 PAGE 12 Mr. Wysopal stated they know that ‘49er Days, which is in mid to late June has been cancelled. Staff is looking at recreation programs to not start up, if they start up at all, until after July 4. It is still a little early, and again, they are waiting to hear news from the Governor’s office later this week. Staff has been trying to figure out all the possible scenarios and what might come up so that we are ready. We will let everyone know. Check the website which is the best way to get all the information. They do send out e-mails to people who are a part of the listservs the City has. Councilmember Bolkcom said there is going to be some work on County Road 8, Osborne Road, starting May 4. She asked how long the road will be closed or detoured. Mr. Wysopal replied they can find that out and let everyone know. ADJOURN: MOTION by Councilmember Ostwald to adjourn. Seconded by Councilmember Eggert. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE MEETING ADJOURNED AT 8:15 P.M. Respectfully submitted by, Denise M. Johnson Scott J. Lund Recording Secretary Mayor