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PLM 04/17/2021 FRIDLEY PLANNING COMMISSION WEDNESDAYAPRIL 21, 2021 7:00 P.M. VIA ZOOM MINUTES CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Hansen called the Planning Commission Meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. ROLL CALL PRESENT: Amy Dritz, Mike Heintz, Ryan Evanson, Mark Hansen, Terry McClellan, John Buyse II, and Ross Meisner. OTHERS PRESENT: Stacy Stromberg, Planning Manager Melissa Moore, Deputy City Clerk Jordan Marshall, Corvall Constructors, Inc. Van Miller, D&B Plating APPROVE MINUTES March 21, 2021 Motion by Commissioner Meisner to approve the minutes. Seconded by Commissioner McClellan. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON HANSEN DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. PUBLIC HEARINGS: 1. Consideration of a Special Use Permit, SP #21-03, by Corval Constructors, Inc., to increase the allowable lot coverage requirement from 40% to 50% to allow the construction of an addition to the building at 7989 Main Street NE. Motion by Commissioner Heintz to open the public hearing. Seconded by Vice Chairperson Evanson. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON HANSEN DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE PUBLIC HEARING WAS OPENED AT 7:02 P.M. Stacy Stromberg, Planning Manager, stated the petitioner is representing V&T Properties, LLC, the property owner of 7989 Main Street. They are requesting a special use permit to Fridley Planning Commission Meeting April 21, 2021 Page 2 of 10 increase the allowable lot coverage from 40% to 49%. The increase in lot coverage will allow for the construction of a building addition. Ms. Stromberg stated the property is zoned M-2, Heavy Industrial. It was developed in 1984 with the construction of the original building. In 1997 there was an addition. In 2000 the detached building that is on the site was constructed. Ms. Stromberg stated when the property and the surrounding properties were developed in the 1980’s, the owner and developer at the time wanted the area to function as a th campus. They would share access off of 79 Avenue and in some cases, parking. Looking at the aerial map, they will see all the properties at 7980, 7940, and 7922 Ranchers Road th and how they all share an alley-type access to 79Avenue. Over the years that has created some issues because with multiple property owners involved, there are issues with maintenance and who is responsible for maintaining, the paving, and the patching of potholes, etc. This isn’t an ideal situation but that is how it was originally set up when these properties were developed. Ms. Stromberg stated City Code allows industrial properties to increase their lot coverage from 40% to 50% with a special use permit provided they can meet other Code requirements. By increasing the lot coverage to 49%, the petitioner will be able to construct an addition that will attach the two buildings that exist on site. Ms. Stromberg referred to the site plan submitted by the petitioner. The brown areas show the existing structures, and then the yellow area signifies the area of the proposed addition. According to the petitioner, D&B Plating who occupies the site has outgrown the existing building and needs additional space to continue to grow their business and serve their clients. They would prefer to grow their business in Fridley instead of moving to a new location. Ms. Stromberg stated the existing buildng is 61,500 square feet in size which is 38.3% lot coverage; and the proposed addition is 17,600 square feet. That is a total building area of 79,117 square feet. Just so the Commissioners are aware, when the City looks at lot coverage, they only consider roof structures. They are not taking into consideration existing parking areas when they are configuring lot area. Ms. Stromberg stated the addition will increase them to 49%. When the petitioner submitted the request, staff asked that they do a breakdown of the uses that exist within the building so they can determine how many parking stalls are required on site. The City Code has different parking code standards based on the types of use that are going on within the building. Fridley Planning Commission Meeting April 21, 2021 Page 3 of 10 Ms. Stromberg stated if they do a breakdown of the existing uses within the existing building and then the proposed addition, 119 parking stalls are required. Currently there are 86 parking stalls on site, and they will need to remove 21 of them for the building addition, which leaves them at 65 parking stalls. This is 54 stalls short of what the Code requires. Ms. Stromberg stated the petitioner has articulated to staff that the maximum number of parking stalls their business needs during peak times with the employees and visitors, is 38. The City’s code requires 1 parking stall for every 400 square feet of manufacturing space which staff has found to be excessive based on how manufacturing space is used today. When the Code was last updated in the 1980’s, manufacturing facilities were full of employees with assembly lines; and today things are a lot different. From business retention visits that staff has been on and in talking with other industry owners, they realize that a lot of the maufacturing space is now taken up with machinery and equipment. Therefore, employees are not the dominant users in those spaces. Ms. Stromberg stated staff has not noticed there has been a parking problem here on this site, but they will stipulate at which time parking does become an issue it will need to be addressed. If they see more parking on the street, they will obviously have to have a conversation with the petitioner and potentially reevaluate how their space is used inside. Ms. Stromberg stated also the City is working on a recodification process of the whole City Code, and part of that process will involve evaluating the City’s parking standards. In the future they hope to change that 1 per 400 square foot space for manufacturing in the Code. Ms. Stromberg stated staff recommends approval of this special use permit as the Code does allow one-story buildings from 40% to 50% to be a special use in the industrial zoning district. Staff recommends that if the special use permit is approved, the following stipulations be attached: 1. The petitioner shall meet all requirements set forth by: a. The Building Code b. The Fire Code c. The City’s Engineering department – including but not limited to grading, drainage, utility plans, storm pond maintenance agreement, and utility connection fees d. The City’s Planning department – including but not limited to landscaping, lighting, and signage plans e. The Coon Creek Watershed District Fridley Planning Commission Meeting April 21, 2021 Page 4 of 10 2. If a parking shortage occurs on the site, the petitioner shall develop an agreeable plan approved by City staff to re-work the interior space of the existing building or find other parking options. 3. The petitioner is strongly encouraged to participate in Xcel Energy’s Energy Design Assistance program in order to identify energy and cost-saving strategies. 4. Prior to issuance of the building permit for this addition, the petitioner shall show proof of a pavement encroachment agreement, filed with Anoka County Property st Records, between the current owners of the property at 140 81Avenue N.E. and the property owner of the subject property of this special use permit request. Ms. Stromberg stated they can see on the aerial of the subject property that some of the pavement encroaches over onto the neighboring property owner’s land. She does believe there has been an agreement between the two property owners and they are both okay with this situation, but staff wants to see something filed with Anoka County so they have all of the bases covered in order to approve this special use permit. Commissioner McClellan stated he assumes there has been other special use permits on lot coverage percentages so this is not the first time the City has allowed or agreed to the special use because of lot usage. Ms. Stromberg replied, yes. The City’s most recent request was at Ashley Furniture. They did a warehouse expansion, and they requested a special use permit to go over the lot coverage requirement as well. Commissioner Meisner stated the parking code requires a lot more spots than this will enable. Does this then not require a variance as part of this? Ms. Stromberg replied, technically, but because we are recognizing it through this special use permit process it won’t warrant a separate process. The City has allowed this for many other industries in the past. Also, since the City is going to be changing the Code, they did not feel it would be necessary for a separate process. Commissioner Meisner stated so there is an implied approval to the variance of the current Code. Ms. Stromberg replied in approving this special use permit, yes. Commissioner Evanson asked Ms. Stromberg if she had an idea of what the Code might be switched to. The only reason he is thinking of it is this may work very well for the current owner and operator of the building. Say down the road they vacate/sell the Fridley Planning Commission Meeting April 21, 2021 Page 5 of 10 property, and the new property user has slightly different needs, you would hate to create an issue with the sale or purchase if the new user could not comply with the Code. Ms. Stromberg replied, they have not completed their research yet to determine what the new parking standard would be. She would note that many of the City’s industries would be in trouble if they sold to a party that needed way more parking than they have on site. That is why they have that stipulation in place for if there is a problem, staff can address it with them and then maybe they need to find a parking lot off site somewhere to bus their employees back and forth if they do not have enough room on site. Chairperson Hansen asked Ms. Stromberg if she knew whether any of these businesses have arrangements for parking on neighboring properties. Would it seem reasonable and likely they would just work out agreements amongst themselves as far as maintenance of the pavement they are already collaborating on to park and share parking spots if it is needed? Ms. Stromberg replied, she believed there is one. The property owner could probably speak to that more generally. In regards to the access easement that gives everybody th access down to 79Avenue, there is a cross parking agreement as well. That would be a private agreement between the two property owners so maybe the owner can address that. Commissioner Buyse asked whether the type of business that is happening at this property is unique in the sense that it requires so little parking compared to what they would assume would be quite a bit more parking? Or is this pretty consistent for any future tenant that would occupy this space if it were ever sold? Ms. Stromberg replied, she would say the City has approved several special use permits over the last 10-15 years for industries who have needed outdoor storage or to increase their lot coverage, and the City’s code is very excessive when it comes to its manufacturing parking. There are a lot of industries that do not meet the City’s requirements. Hence the reason staff wants to do a study to redo that section of Code. Commissioner Meisner stated as to the stipulation regarding having to go back and reconsider the interior space and other parking options. Commissioner Evanson was asking about the implications of that 10-20 years from now, if a new owner or tenant comes in and says, I need parking, they are basically committing the owners to restructure the building or do something to meet the Code at that time if the same Code is in place. Ms. Stromberg replied, correct. Fridley Planning Commission Meeting April 21, 2021 Page 6 of 10 Commissioner Dritz asked whether there is an opportunity for the current or future tenants to have incentives for their employees to carpool, ride the bus, etc. where they could actually get around needing those extra parking spots even if their employee numbers exceed the number of parking stalls. Ms. Stromberg replied the property owner or the tenant could definitely do that. If the property sells to somebody else, they are going to realize the parking situation. If it does not meet the needs of the new business, she is not sure that business would locate here because the parking will be what the parking is or otherwise they will need to find another solution. Whether that be offsite parking, bussing employees in, or requiring their employees to take public transit. The industry is going to have to think about when and if they sell their property to someone else. Commissioner Evanson stated that makes sense. If it is not this issue it will be something else for a future tenant. Every property is going to have their pros and cons and might not be right for everyone. It works well he presumes for the type of industry that they see presently in Fridley. Commissioner Buyse stated it kind of reminds him of the apartment complex, the 8-unit, with the parking issue ultimately that is the issue. They cannot really fix it. They need to move along and a future owner would have to deal with that. Commissioner Evanson stated they are trying to keep a business that is loyal to Fridley, and their concern should be accommodating who is there now and not getting too far off on some rabbit trail as to what might happen somewhere else perhaps who knows when. Commissioner Heintz asked Ms. Stromberg if she has talked to the petitioner about the fourth stipulation and if he is okay with that? Ms. Stromberg replied they did have a conversation earlier in the week because she asked them to provide her a filed copy with the County, and it sounds like nothing was ever filed. She did let him know they would be adding that stipulation so he is aware of it. Jordan Marshall, Corvall Constructors, Inc., stated as to the parking. If they look at the site plan there is some paved area right now they are not identifying for additional parking because it does lead to that stand alone building on site that has two dock doors that they currently get their deliveries. In the future case, if they were to sell the building or even change the building needs for themselves to need more parking, there is open space there. They would just be losing out on one option to receive deliveries at that building, but there is future capability on that site right there as well which could be useful if needed. They can see the grayed out parking spaces that they will paint in as part of this project. Just Fridley Planning Commission Meeting April 21, 2021 Page 7 of 10 to the south of those, some of that area could become temporary or permanent parking later if needed. They have talked with the owner on that as well as if in the future to fill any need. That is an option. Commissioner Buyse asked if there is a third entrance to the north side of what looks like a shipping and receiving area. Is there an entrance to that off of Main Street NE? Van Miller, D&B Plating, replied, yes, there is. Chairperson Hansen asked if there were any concerns the petitioner has with the stipulations that have been addressed tonight? Mr. Marshall replied, he would say, no, and turned it over to Mr. Miller with any other comments. Mr. Miller stated, no, none whatsoever. Commissioner Meisner asked in that south part where Mr. Marshall talked about the possibility of additional parking, is there some drainage or water control there? Mr. Marshall replied, yes, further to the south. Just south of the paved area is a drainage pond in that area. Chairperson Hansen stated it is likely they would have to redo the drainage in that part of the site but they have options. Commissioner Meisner stated if more parking was needed but not for the current plan, is that correct? Mr. Marshall replied, correct. Chairperson Hansen replied, this will go to City Council on May 10. Motion by Commissioner Meisner to close the public hearing. Seconded by Commissioner McClellan. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON HANSEN DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE PUBLIC HEARING WAS CLOSED AT 7:27 P.M. Fridley Planning Commission Meeting April 21, 2021 Page 8 of 10 Chairperson Hansen stated it is a good proposal. He is happy to see the business thrive and stay in Fridley. He agrees with Ms. Stromberg’s comments regarding the parking. Things have changed since the initial Code was put together in terms of parking on alot of sites, not just manufacturing. Commissioner Heintz stated he is kind of in agreement with Chairperson Hansen. It is a lot harder to get a new tenant than it is to keep a current tenant where they are. They are sacrificing some parking spots maybe but, again, down the road they are going to change that Code anyways. Being a little proactive and accommodating will not hurt the City at all. Commissioner Evanson stated he is supportive of this and happy to see businesses in Fridley stay in Fridley. Commissioner McClellan stated it is a good idea for all the same reasons. Commissioner Buyse stated, yes. Well said by everyone and agreed. MOTION by Commissioner Meisner approving Special Use Permit, SP #21-03, by Corval Constructors, Inc., to increase the allowable lot coverage requirement from 40% to 50% to allow the construction of an addition to the building at 7989 Main Street NE with the following stipulations: 1. The petitioner shall meet all requirements set forth by: a. The Building Code b. The Fire Code c. The City’s Engineering department – including but not limited to grading, drainage, utility plans, storm pond maintenance agreement, and utility connection fees d. The City’s Planning department – including but not limited to landscaping, lighting, and signage plans e. The Coon Creek Watershed District 2. If a parking shortage occurs on the site, the petitioner shall develop an agreeable plan approved by City staff to re-work the interior space of the existing building or find other parking options. 3. The petitioner is strongly encouraged to participate in Xcel Energy’s Energy Design Assistance program in order to identify energy and cost-saving strategies. 4. Prior to issuance of the building permit for this addition, the petitioner shall show proof of a pavement encroachment agreement, filed with Anoka County Property st Records, between the current owners of the property at 140 81 Avenue N.E. and the property owner of the subject property of this special use permit request. Fridley Planning Commission Meeting April 21, 2021 Page 9 of 10 Seconded by Commissioner Buyse. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON HANSEN DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES FROM OTHER COMMISSIONS – THROUGH ONE MOTION Motion to accept the minutes from the following Commission meetings: 1. February 4, 2021, Housing & Redevelopment Authority Commission 2. March 9, 2021, Environmental Quality & Energy Commission 3. March 1, 2021, Parks & Recreation Commission MOTION by Commissioner Heintz approving the Minutes. Seconded by Commissioner Buyse. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON HANSEN DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. OTHER BUSINESS: Ms. Stromberg introduced the new member, Amy Dritz, to the Planning Commission. She is the Chair of the Environmental Quality and Energy Commission. 1. Election of Vice Chair MOTION by Commissioner Buyse to elect Commissioner Evanson to the position. Commissioner Evanson replied he is willing to accept. Commissioner Meisner seconded the motion. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON HANSEN DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Ms. Stromberg provided an update from the last Planning Commission meeting items, th the lot split and variance 74 for the apartment building were approved by the City Council. Happy Tails Rescue had their public hearing and first reading at the Council meeting last Friday. The City Council seemed pretty excited about that use. Ms. Stromberg stated Commissioner Dritz and her were talking today about the Commissioners receiving their packets. Ms. Stromberg asked if there was still interest in people getting the packets mailed to them. They have been e-mailing them for the past Fridley Planning Commission Meeting April 21, 2021 Page 10 of 10 year. If nobody wants the paper anymore, there is no need for them to mail them but they definitely can still. After some discussion it was determined that staff would email the Commission before the May meeting to see who wanted to receive their packet over email and who wanted it mailed, and staff would accommodate each Commissioner. ADJOURN: Motion by Commissioner McClellan to adjourn the meeting. Seconded by Commissioner Evanson. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON HANSEN DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE MEETING ADJOURNED AT 7:48 P.M. Respectfully submitted, Denise M. Johnson Recording Secretary