07-10-2017 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING Monday, June 19, 2017 6:30 o'clock p.m. Old Beach Road again. Schneider stated he is not a traffic engineer or an environmental engineer, but through a grassroots campaign they have gotten over 200 people that are against this project through petitions and meetings. Schneider commented the residents have to remember that Navarre is finally, after 30 years, changing with the dental office, Bridgewater Bank, and Byerly's, but that he does not know if this will help with that transformation. Schneider stated once there is a real transformation at 19 and 15, there may be an opportunity to develop this area. Schneider stated he is not opposed to development but that he is opposed to this project. Ralph Kempf, 3675 Toga Road, stated the preferred choice of the residents would be to leave it natural, but the fact of the matter is that Navarre is one of the two urban destinations of Orono and this lot will get developed at some point. Kempf stated he had mixed feelings when he saw it was up for redevelopment since it would put a high density of people very close to the main intersection of Navarre. Kempf stated it is a given that people on the sidewalks are the building block of a community, and to date, Navarre is transforming and going very much in the right direction in his view. Kempf stated he would ask the Planning Commission and Council to pay attention to something that has been overlooked in Navarre, which has made the business district basically a no pedestrian zone. Kempf stated in his view it is necessary that the City consider a way that people can easily walk to downtown Navarre, and that the way things are set up now is that the people who are going to live on this site will get in their cars to drive to downtown Navarre. Kempf stated hopefully the Council will look at a pedestrian connection between the Navarre Park, the Navarre business district, and the Dakota Rail Trail since there is not currently a safe pedestrian access to downtown Navarre and that trail. Kempf commented it is unfortunate that this development did not happen before the Freshwater redevelopment took place because somebody would have made sure that there was some sort of trail or sidewalk along the road in this area. Kempf noted the City advocated for and got Hennepin County to agree to redevelop the intersection in 2019 and that it would be wonderful if the City could figure out a way to incorporate pedestrian friendly methods of travel. Kempf stated in his view this kind of development is a good one in the overall larger picture. Page 10 of 14