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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-06-1991 Planning MinutesTos Fran Date Chairman Kelley and Planning Commission Members Teri Naab, Deputy Clerk July 26, 1991 Subject: Minutes of May 6, 1991 Meeting Due to an oversight, the minutes of the May 6, 1991 Facilities Site Recommendation meeting have not officially been reviewed and approved by the Planning Commission. Formal action will be scheduled for at your August 19th meeting. • I • ' .i**.*=Ao*! 8 «^Tn r f n II MINUTBS OP THE PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING HELD MAY 6, 1991 The Planning Commission met on Monday, May 6, 1991. Chairman Kelley called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Commission Members Johnson, Moos, Cohen, Schroeder and Bellows were present. Candace Rowlette was absent. Representing the City were Mark Bernhardson, Public Works Director John Gerhardson, Building and Zoninc Administrator Jeanne Mabusth, Asst Planning & Zoning Administrator Mike Gaffron, Public Works Supervisors Jack Brinkhaus and yvayne Quast, and City Recorder Teri Naab. Consultant Jack Brj **man of Boarman & Associates was present also. All those in attendance were given a tour of the City facilities. Mr. Boarman explained that since his fimi was hired in 1988, they have gone through three part process which consisted of the following steps: a space size analysis, community comparisons and a site analysis. It was determined the all departments (excluding public works) would need a building of about 16,000 to 18,000 square feet. Currently, without public works, the buildings total about 8,000, plus approximately S,000 square feet for the police department building. The new facility for public works would be about 28,000 square feet. He explained there are currently 5 sites being considered. C. Steven Wilson, Chairman of the Facilities Committee, presented the Committee's views and recommendation. He noted that the Committee had 18 members, appointed by the Council last year. The Committee met with Mr. Boarman for initial direction, but from there received none from the Council or staff. The Committee first agreed that new facilities were needed. From there they came up with the following criteria: easy access, not in a residential area, not taking residential property, easily directable, municipal utilities and room for expansion. The following sites were considered: Site #1 - Highway 12/Near School. This site meets all the criteria identified by the Committee. It has municipal utilities available, is in a non-residential area, near the schools and possibly a new library, is easily accessible, and has room for expansion. Site #2 - Old sewer plant - Old Crystal Bay Road. The area is exclusively residential with limited access. There was thought on straightening this very narrow, curved roadway which would be quite expensive. The site does not have room for manueverability. There are no municipal facilities. Site #3 - Current site - Crystal Bay. The major problem here is size and there is no expansion room. The site would have to be granted variances to build. The Committee felt that they wanted a common campus for all departments. rtmgrNi—^ MINUTES OP THE PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING HELD MAY 6, 1991 Site #4 - North Shore Drive/Highwood Road. This area is totally surrounded by residential. Site #5 - Shoreline Drive/Near Hennepin County Site. This site was considered too far off the beatened path and is not easily identifiable. The Facilities Committee has drafted a recommendation for Site #1, Highway 12 near the Orono schools. The following persons were in attendance for the public hearing portion to express their views; Norm Paurus/ 2500 Casco Point Road - He questioned how demographics have played in the decision of site location. Chairman Kelley noted that the only possible future growth would have to be in the northern portion of the City as the southern is already almost fully developed. He also noted however that the northern portion of the City is zoned 2-5 acre so the density will remain relatively low. The projected maximum population for the entire City is estimated at 10,000. Wilber Anderson, 3555 Frederick Street - He noted that the site being centrally located is essential. He felt that is the site on Shoreline Drive is considered off the beatened path, then the Highway 12 site is even more so. He also noted that Highway 12 is too busy and there are safety concerns that should be addressed. Crystal Bay is where the facilities should be located. John Farnham, Representative of "Orono Taxpayers' Association" and property owner of 3225 Carman Road - He noted that centrality is the major concern. He also reviewed issued covered in Exhibit G of the packet entitled "Another view on the location of a new Orono City facility". Chairman Kelley asked Mr. Farnham who is on the Orono Taxpayers' Association. Mr. Farnham noted that the group is very informal, perhaps 5 to 7 people are in the immediate group, however ideas come from perhaps 100 residents or more. The group is looking for a facility that is convenient, accessible, appropriately sized, not too much money, and located at the present site. Commissioner Bellows asked Mr. Boarman to comment on the process used to size rooms within the facility. MINUTES OP THE PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING HELD MAY 6, 1991 Mr, Boarman noted that they do use a formula based on services# staff and space. There are standards pre-determined to indicate how much space is needed for critical mass. Some of the space needed comes from the prlice department determining they will have lockup cells for short term rather than transporting to Hennepin County. He also noted that his firm has compared 18 communities with Orono in both population and land size. Gary Printup, 1261 Briar Street - He noted that he is opposed to the Highway 12 site. He felt that the current site with 2.5 acres is more than adequate. He noted that to build the building being proposed, over half of the 2.5 acres would be in parking or green space. Mr. Printup critized the Facilities Committee in the preparation of their reco’»’mendation because first off they did not have a quorum on the meeting night which it was drafted, and second the meeting was closed to public comment. Mr, Wilson reiterated that there was only one-third of the Members present at the meeting, however they were there to draft a written recommendation, one that had the previous year been presented to Council orally. The recommendation had not changed from the previous year, rather only been written down at the request of the new City Council. Furthermore, the reason why the meeting was closed to public comments was the sole purpose of the meeting was to accurately draft a recommendation which previously had been orally been given to the Council. Jim Tuvey, owner of property on North Shore Drive - He wanted to know what would happen to the Crystal Bay site buildings. He felt it is the City's responsibility to clean up the site, especially if the facilities is moved to the Highway 12 site. Lisa Olson, 4196 North Shore Drive - She noted her opposition to the North Shore Drive site stating there are much better sites being looked at. She also felt a cost comparison should be done between the Crystal Bay Site and Highway 12. She felt that the Highway 12 has inherent values by being close to the school and library and would make a good City "community-type center" and she supports that site. Curt Quady, 1223 Brown Road South - He noted that this has been a bedroom community since inception with relatively no business aspects. He felt that the City Hall has been at the current site for a long time with no problems and wants to continue its use there. He cannot see purchasing a "marsh" on Highway 12 to keep it as green-space. The City does not need a large facility like that. George Gatz, 1361 North Arm Drive - He is opposed to the North Shore Drive site. r MINUTES OF THE PIiANNING COMMISSION MEETING HELD MAY 6, 1991 Lucille Kutz, 1462 Park Drive - She stated her opposition to the North Shore Drive. She also noted that she and her husband had sold in 1970 the 13 acre property to the City with the exclusive right of 1 acre to be used as a garden. At that time the designated the property to be exclusively as "park land". Zoning Administrator Mabusth noted that is the property was purchased with park dedication funds, indeed the property could not be used for anything else. She also stated that she had received a call from Mr. Edman of 3872 Northern Avenue expressing his opposition to the Shoreline Drive site as they already have noise problems with the Hennepin County facility. Norm Paurus stated that the facility site should be centrally located as it will be very difficult to move in the future. He felt that those chosen to select a site must listen to the taxpayers and what they would like to see as a site. Audrey Schultz, 1442 Park Drive - She concurred what Mrs. Kutz had just said and expressed her opposition to the use of the property on North Shore Drive. She felt that if the Crystal Bay area is used, perhaps the public works department would be better at the Old Crystal Bay site to provide better screening. Chairman Kelley agreed that public works should be screened from view. Mr. Farnham noted that one comparison he did was with the City of Crystal, whereby they are almost three times the size. In comparison, their facility is much smaller than that proposed per staff/square foot. They also have their facility located on a site of 1.5-2.00 acre parcel. He also asked Mr. Boarman to comment on why the City of Minnetrista did not have to sprinkle their building. Mr. Boarman stated that the City of Orono had adopted Appendix E which requires both public and private buildings of a certain size to be sprinkled. Minnetrista had not adopted this Appendix as many rural communities choose not to. Commissioner Bellows explained that Windward Marine, located in a non-hydranted area, just recently asked for a variance to this Appendix E to be allowed to waive the sprinkler system installation because of the high cost. His request was turned down. She therefore does not feel that a variance for City Hall would be appropriate and the cost of installing a sprinkler system on the current site would be very expensive. Chairman Kelley closed the public hearing at 8:45 p.m. MINUTES OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING HELD MAY 6, 1991 It was moved by Kelley, seconded by Cohen, that the City of Orono does need a new facility for police, public works, administration and City Hall. ^yes 6, nays 0. Commissioner Schroedei’ asked what the response time would be for the police department in case of an emergency if they were to be located on Highway 12. Mr. Boarman noted that the police department is definitely not waiting at the police station for calls to come in to respond to. The cars are out in the community, moving through assigned patrols and the radio dispatch at the facility will then inform the car or backup in the appropriate area of an incident. Mr. Bernhardson noted that the police department currently is in the northern portion of the City and has been there since the early 1980s with no problem with location. The police department has now gone with differential shift times to ensure coverage of all areas at all times. Also, when an officer is in transport to the Hennepin County facility, another car will cover the area. Commissioner Bellows questioned the need for future fire stations for protection. What are the long-term needs for a new station? City Administrator Bernhardson explained the districts. He also noted that provisions have been made in the comprehensive plan of the City for a fire station to be built in the Navarre area as the area has a high density, thus a higher probability for fires and the response time is faster in a higher density area for a volunteer department. The only station expansion discussions have been for the Navarre area. He explained that the City has adopted Appendix E which requires sprinkler systems for all public and non-public buildings of a certain size no matter if it is in a hydranted area or not. Commissioner Bellows asked if any of the sites being discussed a potential for a fire station site? Chairman Kelly noted that the only area of possible consideration would be Site #5. Commissioner Johnson felt that variances should not be granted for a new facility. He felt that the issue really came down to two sites, this one and the Highway 12 site and given the fact that the City Hall is a building that should last 50 years, he felt that a complete facility could be shoehorned on this site, but for how long will it be effective and how soon is the need for expansion going to be? He indicated his preference would be the Highway 12 site. A MINUTES OP THE PIJ^NNING COMMISSION MEETING HELD MAY 6, 1991 Commissioner Cohen felt inclined to vote for the Highway 12 site because he feels all the facilities should be in one location with criteria for screening the Public Works Department from the general public areas. He also noted that it doesn't have to be one facility, but rather at one site. There are economic reasons for having all facilities at one site. Also, there is no room for expansion at the current site. He also noted that he has been at the Crystal site and there may be reasons for the differences, and also it is an old building and everyone was very cramped. The facility will be here a long time and it should be done right. Commission Moos felt the same as Commissioner Cohen. Commissioner Schroeder asked how this issue would be resolved in respect to a referendum? Also, does the upgrade of Highway 12 pose any problems for the Highway 12 site? Chairman Kelley noted at the Planning Commission level the Issues of funding for a project have been avoided. The elected officials have the sole decision in that area. He also noted that Highway 12 is scheduled for upgrades in the near future which should solve come of t.he safety concerns for this site. Duiing the Highway 12 Corridor Study it was determined that no future curb cuts onto Highway 12 would be approved and rather a frontage road has been planned to alleviate traffic problem flows (between Brown Road North and Old Crystal Bay Road North). Commissioner Bellows concurred with the opinions stated and noted the enormous amount of effort expended by both the Facilities' Committee and the Consultant. CounciImember Callahan asked the Members to state their opinion of the southwest quadrant vs. the northeast quadrant site currently being proposed. Chairman Kelley noted that he felt either site was appropriate, but preferred the southwest quadrant. Commissioner Bellows original preferred the southwest quadrant, however after further review feels that perhaps the northeast would be better as all facilities (City Hall, library, school) would be together. Commissioner Cohen noted that the traffic flow in the northern section may become a problem. It was moved by Commissioner Cohen, seconded by Commissioner Bellows, to recommend the Highway 12 site for the Orono municipal structures. Ayes 6, nays 0. MINUTES OP THE PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING HELD MAT 6, 1991 ADJOURNMENT - It was moved by Commissioner Johnson, seconded by Commissioner Cohen, to close the meeting of the Planning Commission at 9:07 p.m. Ayes 6, nays 0. J