Loading...
2015-04-14 City Council Minutes Joint Planning CommissionA,lbertvijje Small Uving. Big UN. JOINT CITY COUNCIL & PLANNING COMMISSION WORKSHOP Tuesday, April 14, 2015 APPROVED MINUTES 1. CALL TO ORDER Acting Mayor Vetsch called the meeting to order at 7:32 p.m. 7:00 p.m. Present: Acting Mayor Vetsch and Council members Hudson, Olson, and Sorensen. Planning Commissioners Mark Barthel, Dale Edgren, Jeremy Dominick, Ron Klecker, and Natalya Lindberg. Mayor Hendrickson arrived at 8:05 p.m. Absent: None Others Present: City Planner Alan Brixius, City Attorney Michael Couri, and City Clerk Kimberly Olson. 2. COMPREHENSIVE PLAN Brixius reported the Comprehensive Plan was established in 1996 and at that time the City of Albertville consisted primarily of agricultural land. He stated the Comp Plan is enabled by Minnesota planning statutes that allow a community the authority to plan and manage land use and facilities to accomplish specific objectives. He stated the plan is used as a guide for future investments. Brixius reported that between 1998 and 2012, most of the community had developed and the Council realized they needed to update its comprehensive plan to address how the future of remaining land should be utilized. Fill -in development was occurring rapidly and creating issues with the utilities, services, roads, and traffic. In 2012, the City undertook the Vision Study that updated the city's land use and development goals, policies, and 2030 land use plan. This plan was adopted as an amendment to the original Comp Plan. Brixius reviewed the land use plans for both the cities of Otsego and St. Michael. He indicated that mostly residential development in St. Michael surrounds Albertville. The City of Otsego opened the western half of its city to development when they constructed a new wastewater facility and water tower to serve the western side of their community. Commercial uses are planned in Otsego following Albertville's pattern of land use continuing north on CSAH 19. Page 1 Industrial land uses are planned for along the northeast Albertville boundaries and CSAH 37. Vetsch stated that CSAH 19 would eventually be a four lane road and it was planned to have multiple access points to accommodate traffic. Brixius stated there have been several examples of when the land use plan has been changed in the Comp Plan. He stated the northwest portion of Albertville was re- guided from Industrial to Business Park to allow for either light industrial or commercial land uses as they did not know what would eventually fill that area. Another example was rezoning of the Niemeyer parcel south of I -94 to BW to allow for business and warehouse uses. Brixius stated that the Comp Plan can be fluid, but the goals and policy statements are currently solidly written. He stated the goals of the 2012 Vision Study provide for strong economic development. The commercial land use patterns are driven by the City's two interstate interchanges that provide a competitive advantage for Albertville over the neighboring communities that do not have this freeway access. He stated that eventually there may be other freeway access points in other communities, but for now, Albertville has the freeway access and that is essential to commercial uses and development. 3. ZONING Brixius stated that zoning is the technique used to implement the goals and policies of the Comp Plan. He stated that staff cannot predict future Public /Institutional (P /I) uses, so the land use map and the Vision Study are silent on identifying future sites for institutional uses. The rezoning process is the option for considering locations for those uses. He added that some communities do allow P/I uses as a Conditional Use Permit in residential areas and that could be an option. Brixius stated that there have been several concepts presented to Council for the Leuer- Munstertieger property over the years such as high density (multifamily) housing, a split residential /commercial development, and the first request by Westbridge Community Church. He stated that annually the City reviews the Vision Study, ten year goals, and long range land use plan to outline the current priorities for the City and to reaffirm the desired land use patterns. He stated the policies and land use plan were not changed from 2012 through 2014, but now is the opportunity for the Planning Commission and City Council to discuss if something is missing from these goals and policies. Brixius stated that it can be beneficial to have these conversations prior to a zoning request. Vetsch stated that sometimes there is a perception that businesses are failing because of decisions or actions of staff and City Council. He felt that businesses must be supported by the entirety of the community in order to be successful; efforts should be made to shop local and support local businesses. Brixius stated that most of the business development came in after the Albertville Premium Outlet Mall in 1999. He stated that in the early 2000's residential development and businesses were looking for land outside of the seven county metropolitan area that is under the planning jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Council. City Council Meeting Minutes Page 2 Workshop Meeting of April 14, 2015 Brixius stated several examples of commercial and industrial recovery /expansion within the City in the last few months and he is hopeful it is a sign of recovery. He stated that commercial growth often lags behind residential growth. 4. PROCESS /COMPRHENSIVE PLAN AMENDMENT/REZONING Brixius explained the process applicants go through when completing an application to amend the Comp Plan or request rezoning. • Pre - Application Meeting: Meet with staff to discuss submission materials and schedule. Staff may suggest submitting a concept plan to City Council for feedback prior to submittal of a formal application. • Receipt of Application: Applications must be submitted with all required information in order to be considered complete. Upon receipt of a complete application, under MN State Statutes, the City has a timeframe of sixty (60) days to review and take action on a development application. Under certain circumstances, the City may extend this review period an additional 60 days with written notice to the applicant. If all materials are not submitted, the application is deemed incomplete and the sixty (60) day review period does not begin. • Public Hearing Notice: The Planning Commission conducts all public hearings on applications received for Comp Plan changes and rezoning requests. Notice is mailed out ten (10) days in advance of the hearing to all surrounding property owners within 350 feet of the subject property. • Staff Reports: Staff reviews the application and prepares a report on the review criteria for the applicant's request. • Public Hearing: The public hearing is held at the Planning Commission and the Commission reviews staff's findings and the review criteria and recommends either approval or denial of the application to the City Council. The Planning Commission's recommendation is advisory only. • City Decision: The Council makes the final decision on all land use and zoning changes. Brixius stated that municipalities in Wright County have more discretion with their zoning than metropolitan municipalities. Hudson inquired how complex it is to change the Comp Plan. Brixius replied that it can be done at the time of a zoning request. Brixius stated that when they met with Leuer and Westbridge Community Church, staff encouraged them to first apply for a Comp Plan amendment, so that the Vision goals and policies do not work against them. Hudson inquired if the attraction to Albertville for businesses and/or organizations was the lack of government regulations, such as the regulations imposed by the Metropolitan Council. He also inquired if there are opportunities in the market the City may not be aware of Brixius replied that it wasn't necessarily government intervention that pushed developers to look towards northeastern Wright County, but rather land supply. He stated that in the late 1990's and early 2000's, many larger developers at that time were tying up the limited MUSA land supply available for development in the Metropolitan counties. This competition for land pushed City Council Meeting Minutes Page 3 Workshop Meeting of April 14, 2015 development companies to seek urban development land beyond the metropolitan area and into the collar counties like Wright County. Hendrickson clarified that the City may be missing some opportunities if potential businesses are looking at the zoning only and then seeking other locations when they see the zoning for the potential location does not fit their need. She would like the opportunity to speak with those potential businesses to see if they could make something work that would be a good fit for Albertville and the business. She stated that the current Council may want more information given to them than previous Councils. She indicated she had heard from Administrator Nafstad that some of the local businesses have been inquiring about more workforce housing for their employees. She suggested that they keep true to the Vision Study, but also see if they could accommodate these types of inquiries. Dominick stated that he would like to see all applications regardless of zoning. He was concerned about applicants being told their application is not in line with the Comp Plan and then the application does not get a chance to be discussed by either Planning or Council. Hudson was concerned they may be putting the cart before the horse by deferring to the Comp Plan rather than having conversation on the application itself. Dominick suggested a possibility of the Planning Commission's recommendation count as a vote on the Council. Brixius replied that the Planning Commission is strictly advisory to the City Council and Couri explained that MN State Statute specifically gives the elected officials the final ruling on these changes. Hudson stated the he understands the Planning Commission can be more exploratory in a sense, but in the end it is the elected officials that must deliberate the consequences of certain decisions. Sorensen added that very rarely has the City Council voted against the recommendations of the Planning Commission. Vetsch added that elected officials are vested in the community over the long term. Sorensen and Hendrickson referred to several changes that were made to the Comp Plan such as the Darkenwald, Dominium, and Guardian Angels properties. Brixius stated that staff tries to make it successful for those who want to build and invest in Albertville. Staff never says no to an applicant, but tries to facilitate the direction they have received from the Council. He commented that it is sometimes difficult because they cannot always predict how the Council will respond. Hendrickson stated that at the last joint workshop there may have been a difference of opinion, but she felt it was a healthy dialogue for both City Council and Planning Commission to have. Sorensen stated that in the annual reviews he had commented: "I would like to see more proposals brought in front of the Council. The billboard and land use on CSAH 19 are recent ones that come to mind. I realize that in the past, staff has tried to buffer these requests based on past direction the Council has provided. But, Council's views may change and I personally don't mind spending some time hearing a proposal, even if we end up saying no at the end of the day. I don't want to miss out on an opportunity based on direction that this Council or any past Council has given." Hendrickson felt they have more time now to make sound decisions whereas in the past, development was happening quickly. Olson agreed he would also like to see City Council Meeting Minutes Page 4 Workshop Meeting of April 14, 2015 more concepts /proposals brought to Council. Brixius indicated he would add this as a goal and policy statement to the Vision Study and bring it forward to the Planning Commission at their next meeting and then to Council. Barthel inquired if planning for right -of -way has been done for the areas that will have future road improvements. Brixius replied that is addressed during the subdivision process. 5. ADJOURNMENT Motioned by Olson, seconded by Hendrickson, to adjourn the meeting at 9:05 p.m. Ayes: Hendrickson, Barthel, Dominick, Edgren, Hudson, Klecker, Lindberg, Olson, Sorensen, and Vetsch. Nays: None Absent: None. MOTION DECLARED CARRIED. Respectfully submitted, /y Kimberly . Olson, City Clerk City Council Meeting Minutes Page 5 Workshop Meeting of April 14, 2015