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07-14-1998 PC MIN - SPECIAL . . . ~~~~@w~~ SPECIAL MEETING OF THE ELK RIVER PLANNING COMMISSION HELD AT ELK RIVER CITY HALL TUESDAY, JULY 14,1998 Members Present: Chair Mesich, Commissioners Chambers, Cote, Kuester, Morris and Schuster Members Absent: Commissioner Thompson Staff Present: Scott Harlicker, Assistant Planner; Steve Wensman, Planner; Pat Klaers, City Administrator; Terry Maurer, City Engineer; Peter Beck, City Attorney; Debbie Huebner, Recording Secretary Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the meeting of the Elk River Planning Commission was called to order at 6:30 p.m. by Chair Mesich. COMMISSIONER COTE MOVED TO APPROVE THE JULY 14, 1998 PLANNING COMMISSION AGENDA. COMMISSIONER KUESTER SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION CARRIED 6-0. Terry Maurer indicated the following issues will be reviewed: 1. Land use 2. Environmental 3. Street and utility 4. Grading and drainage 5. Park and recreation 6. Miscellaneous issues Homer Tompkins, President of Contractor Property Developer's Company, provided a general overview of the proposed 365 acre mixed residential project. Bill Henderson of BrightKEYS Homes, indicated he will be constructing the townhome/twinhomes included in the project. Mr. Henderson noted that he has been building in the Twin Cites for 9 years and his company has won several Reggie and Trillium Awards. Mr. Henderson reviewed changes made in the design Special Planning Commission Minutes July 14. 1998 Page 2 . plans for the townhomes as follows: 1) entrances for the end units have been changed to the side. canopies and rounded windows have been added; 2) the plan has been changed to include single level row units (former plan had 2-story back to back); 3) the townhomes in the northwest area have been changed to single level units. Ed Hasek, Westwood Professional Services, explained that the project has grown from the original 280 acres to 365 acres. He reviewed concept and site plans illustrating wetlands, forestry. sidewalks and trails. Mr. Hasek stated a 11.5 acre park will be located in the center of the park and 6 acres of property along Trott Brook will be dedicated to the city for a trail. Amenities will be installed in the park which will be credited toward their park dedication fees. A 23 acre parcel located in the northeast corner of the property will be dedicated to the city, but he noted the Park & Recreation Commission was not willing to give any credit since the site is mostly wetland. Mr. Hasek explained that the first phase of the development will consist of 64 townhomes and 84 single family homes (approximately 32% of the construction of the site). Lungren Bros. Homes will be constructing 8 different styles of the Heartland series homes on the 85' wide and larger lots with room for a 3 car garage. Five styles of the Heritage series will be constructed on the smaller lots. . Commissioner Schuster asked for clarification on the proposed phasing of the project. Mr. Tompkins indicated the 151 phase will take approximately 2-1/2 years to complete. Commissioner Schuster questioned if the project will start before the realignment of County Road 12. Mr. Tompkins indicated that they have been asked to construct a connection to the new roadway. 1. Land Use Issues Terry Maurer, City Engineer. indicated the following concerns still need to be addressed: -Density -Lot sizes (47 lots under 80' wide) -Need for future variances (decks, additions. etc.) -Environmental issues (Le.. tree loss) Scott Harlicker indicated there are two possible options to reduce the density of the town homes; 1) spread the development out more along County Road 12. or. 2) reduce the number of units. . Discussion followed regarding the density of the town homes, amount of green space, distance between buildings and driveways. Jeff Beahen. Assistant Police Chief. expressed his concern that higher density means increased police calls. He suggested that more space be provided between and behind buildings, and that address information be provided on the ends of the buildings to aid them in locating a particular house number. Bill Henderson of BRIGHTKeys noted that the townhomes are not rental units and will be individually owned. Mr. Henderson indicated most of their buyers are "empty nesters" in the 45-65 years age bracket. Also, there is a growing market for single professionals who do not want the . . . Special Planning Commission Minutes July 14.1998 Page 3 upkeep associated with owning a home, such as mowing, snow removal, repairs. He noted that only 15% of their buyers have children. Commissioner Chambers indicated he had visited the Centerville site and felt the quality of construction was good, but was concerned about the density. Chair Mesich asked what was the density of the Centerville townhomes. Mr. Hasek indicated the density is 8.8 units per acre and they are proposing 5.8 units per acre for the southwest townhouse development. Mr. Hasek noted that the 9.8 acre site has approximately 37% of solid surface and 63% open space. The solid surface includes walkways, driveways, buildings, etc. Chair Mesich questioned whether or not the size of the project was discussed with the School District. Mr. Hasek stated he has met with Bruce Powers, Administrator of District Standards, and was told he was aware of the proposed project. Mr. Powers had indicated the District expects, at some point in the future, a school will be needed on the east side of Highway 169 but did not know what type of school it would be. Commissioner Cote expressed his concern for the smaller lots on Street A. He felt if there were fewer lots, there would not be so many driveway accesses onto the street. He anticipated the situation would become similar to an existing situation in the city with speed and increased traffic. Commissioner Kuester expressed concern that there is no off street parking for the townhomes. Commissioner Chambers noted that the Centerville project does have areas for off street parking. Mr. Hasek indicated there is parking on both sides of S Street, and that the town homes will have two car garages and longer driveways for parking, which is different from the Centerville townhomes. Commissioner Morris stated he was concerned with the density of the townhomes, the number of trees which will be lost, and the number of single family lots less than 80' wide. Commissioner Cote indicated the residents of Elk River have often expressed the desire for the city to not allow densities like those found in other communities such as Maple Grove. Further discussion followed regarding creating an open space area for the townhomes by eliminating some units. A discussion followed regarding the covenants which will be enforced in the development and the type of home owner's associations which will be implemented for the single family and townhomes. Mr. Tompkins explained that potential home owners must go through an architectural review committee to have their plans approved. He indicated that the building trend is for smaller lots with larger homes on them. Chair Mesich expressed his appreciation to the developers for the changes which were made in the townhome concepts to improve the quality. . . . Special Planning Commission Minutes July 14, 1998 Page 4 2. Environmental Issues Terry Maurer indicated a EAW has been submitted and response time for comments is open until July 29th, He did not anticipate any serious environmental concerns. Wetlands - Terry indicated there are 102 acres of wetlands in 52 different wetlands. He felt the developers have done an excellent job of avoiding the wetlands and will only be mitigating approximately 2 acres of wetland. He does not anticipate any problems in this area. Shoreland Ordinance - No information has been received from the DNR at this point. Oak Wilt - There is one pocket of Oak wilt which will be removed and the developer has submitted a plan to deal with the issue. Flood Fringe - Filing in the flood fringe will require a conditional use permit for lots abutting Trott Brook. Archeological survey and Phase II Environmental survey have been completed. staff has referred the developers to the County regarding a county ditch issue. Terry reviewed the storm drainage plan for the eastern area and how it relates to this project. 3. 4. Street and Utility Issues Gradina and Drainaae Issues Terry indicated staff is recommending that a 70' right of way be granted for the realignment of County Road 12. He reviewed accesses onto the county roads. Terry noted staff is recommending all streets within the plat be 32' with the exception of Street A which is recommended to be 36', Terry indicated there are 14 cul-de-sacs in the plat, noting that city ordinance does not have a restriction on the number of cul-de-sacs. He recommended a condition be included to require a connection between streets at the time of Phase Two to incorporate a northwest entry. Staff suggested the number and size of the monumental signs be reconsidered. He explained the location is important so that they do not interfere with the drainage and utility easements. Terry explained the location of the watermain connections and the concerns of the fire chief to providing looping of the watermain. Discussion followed regarding the county right of way requirements and the city's easement requirements. Terry Maurer indicated the city does not want to be in the situation where utilities would have to be run under the trail. The developers did not feel a would be problem on the north side. Fran Hagen with Westwood Professional Services, explained why it is not feasible to make the connection recommended by city staff due to the steep grade and loss of trees it would cause. He suggested the city consider a policy for allowing narrower streets based on traffic counts. Mr. Hagen also explained why the . . . Special Planning Commission Minutes July 14. 1998 Page 5 secondary access on County Road 13 was needed and felt the right-in right-out would be adequate. Further discussion followed regarding the requested 28' street width. Mr. Hagen did not feel the extra street width was needed and the extra width would better serve as green space. Ed Hasek explained his reasons why he did not support the connection between Street F and Street S, and felt it would create more traffic than should be traveling on these streets. Scott Harlicker indicated that having a street connection on the west would also serve as a connection for pedestrians and bicyclists. Commissioner Kuester discussed how the layout of the streets affects school bus routing. Commissioner Cote expressed his support for the 32' wide streets and felt the developer must provide reasoning for the lesser right of way for County Road 12. Discussion followed regarding the possibility of a sign at the end of the two loops of Street A. Commissioner Morris stated he could not support the 28' street width and was concerned there was no access to the north. Terry Maurer state that he felt the drainage and tree preservation plan submitted were realistic of what will actually be happening. 5. Park and Recreation Issues Terry Maurer indicated the proposal includes a 11.2 acre centrally located park with amenities, 6 acre linear park along Trott Brook and cash or improvements to go towards the remaining park dedication. steve Wensman, Planner. expressed concern for the trail ending at a townhouse driveway. He also expressed concern for the tight layout of the park amenities in relation to backyards. Also, he stated a maintenance access is needed for Outlot F as well as a pedestrian linkage. Discussion followed regarding parking needs for the park. Mr. Hasek indicated the Park & Rec Commission felt the off street parking would be adequate to serve the park. A discussion followed relating to a trail connection to County Road 12. The developers indicated they were willing to work with staff on this issue. Special Planning Commission Minutes July 14.1998 Page 6 . 6. Miscellaneous Issues Signing - Terry Maurer indicated staff would like the developers to take a look at the quantity and size of the monument signing throughout the plat. Chair Mesich opened the public hearing at this time. Thomas Christian, owner of property near the proposed town homes, stated he would like to see underground utilities. He expressed his concern for access to his property, increased traffic and speeding. Terry Maurer indicated the utilities have plans to run a new overhead main line along Highway 12. He noted developer plans to have underground utilities throughout the plat. COMMISSIONER KUESTER MOVED TO CONTINUE THE PUBLIC HEARING FOR THE TROTT BROOK FARMS REZONING, PRELIMINARY PLAT AND CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT TO THE JULY 28, 1998 PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING. COMMISSIONER MORRIS SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION CARRIED 6-0. There being no further business, the meeting of the Elk River Planning Commission adjourned at 10:30 p.m. . Respectfully submitted, ^Oe~e' X/tu6~) Debbie Huebner Recording Secretary .