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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08.09.94 Planning Packet . AGENDA PLANNING COMMISSION REGULAR AUGUST 9, 1994 1. CALL TO ORDER - 7:00 P.M. 2. APPROVE MINUTES July 12, 1994 Regular a. 3. PUBLIC HEARINGS 7:00 P.M. - Nelsen Hills Farm 3rd Addition 7:20 P.M. - South Suburban First Addition Preliminary Plat 7:50 P.M. - South Suburban Terrace Conditional Use 7:50 P.M. - Variance Request from Jeff and Sandy Thelen for Business at 21075 Eaton Avenue a. b. c. d. 4. DISCUSSION a. Proposed Planning Commission By-Laws . 5. ADJOURN . , . , . . . AGENDA REPORT PLANNING COMMISSION REGULAR AUGUST 9, 1994 1. CALL TO ORDER 2. APPROVE MINUTES 3. PUBLIC HEARINGS 7:00 P.M. - Nelsen Hills Farm 3rd Addition Preliminary Plat a. The preliminary plat for the 3rd Addition includes 22.71 acres plus an outlot of 61,500 square feet for a total of 24.12 acres. The outlot at the corner of the main entrance into the subdivision is unacceptable. It shall become Lot 1, Block 1 and contribute to the park dedication of this plat, which at 12.5% will total 3.02 acres. The City is anxious to secure the tree cover adjoining the water tower as part of the plat. Access to Road B from the park would be desirable but only after the trees have been dedicatp-d. The plat is an extension of the Second Addition and will provide two access points to Pilot Knob Road. There will be 49 lots in the plat, 48 of which are for single family dwellings at an average density of approximately 2 units per acre. The site includes steep slopes ranging to 24% which means that substantial grading is proposed to accommodate the street pattern. Normally all regrading must be accomplished on the property of the site being graded. In this instance, both the City storm water management pond and the access to the water tower show fill and cut respectively. The Public Works Director will need to approve of the plan before it can be implemented. In addition, all other aspects of engineering the site need careful scrutiny since this particular land area includes some of the sharpest topographical relief in Farmington. The only real question left unresolved in the PUD process was the specific land use proposed for the outlot which now will be platted in this Addition. Discussion ranged between a church site and town houses. Since the final PUD needs to be submitted closely following or accompanying a negative declaration issued by the City Council on the EAW, this plat should identify the use and indicate the site layout. Because the site is too small for a church site, the other alternative, a town house, would be appropriate depending upon its size. The Development should not proceed until this question has been resolved by the Commission and City Council. Recommendation Approve the preliminary plat of Nelsen Hills Farm 3rd Addition subject to comments received from the Soil and Water Conservation District, Public Works Director and a land use and site plan for the lot im- mediately south of the Euclid Path entrance into the plat. ,', . . . ,-'Planning Agenda Report - 8/9/94 b. 7:20 P.M. - South Suburban First Addition Preliminary Plat This plat contains 8.5 acres of the South Suburban Medical Center holdings on the south side of County Road 72 in the SW~ of the NW~ of Section 32. There are no road improvements contemplated within this plat but, because it currently adjoins a County road, the County Plat Review Commission will require the dedication of an additional 17 feet along the entire frontage. The proposed plat shows this additional right of way. A second right of way also needs to be recognized at this time. When the property to the south of the hospital lot is platted, the link between Elm Street and Ninth Street will be dedicated. In order for this to line up correctly with Elm Street, the southwest corner of Lot 1, Block 1 will need to be dedicated for street purposes. A map of the East Farmington PUD (attached) illustrates the intended relationship. The City Code requires 2" caliper street trees to be planted 40 feet on center within the public right of way. A plan needs to be drawn indicating their location and species. The site is extremely flat and will need to be carefully graded to get storm water runoff to the eastern edge of the plat where it will be detained before overflow into the Prairie Waterway drainage system. Both the Public Works Director and the County Soil and Water Conservation District will provide specific recommendations. The major negative aspect of this plat is an aesthetic one. It confirms the intent of the Hospital Board to create a medical wall along the south side of County Road 72. The purpose of the plat is to allow construction of a Congregate Care Facility which will extend the length of the existing 670' facility another 280 feet. It gives the appearance of a medical facility that "just grew" rather than one which following a long range plan. One question that should be asked during a discussion of the conditional use is how will the materials in the added facility relate to existing buildings in this row? Recommendation Approve the preliminary plat of South Suburban First Addition subject to the dedication of a future transitional curve street between Elm and Ninth Streets, street trees 40 feet on center in the boulevard of County Road 72, plus the recommendations of the Public Works Director and Dakota County Soil and Water Conservation District. c. 7:50 P.M. - South Suburban Terrace Conditional Use A concern of City staff is that the site plan for this facility provides two more access points onto a designated collector street. One of these will enter the collector within 110 feet of one nursing home parking lot access. It is recommended that the Hospital con- sider reworking the site plan to combine one of the nursing home entrances with one of the congregate care facility entrances to reduce traffic confusion on the collector street identified as County Road 72. . . . Planning Agenda Report - 8/9/94 There has been considerable discussion about the elevation of the proposed building. The first floor elevation of the nursing home and hospital is 902.48. The first floor elevation of the proposed building is 906.1 and the elevation of the garage level is 896.5. The problem created by this is that the outlet from the on site NURP pond is restricted to a 10 foot wide opening with an outlet at 895. Without studying the hydraulic information carefully, the City Engineer has raised questions bout the lack of separation between the outlet which could have water backing into the parking level of the building. One solution would be to eliminate the berm on the east edge of the NURP pond; another would be to consider eliminating the underground parking for the structure. One benefit of this suggestion is that the building would look much less "top heavy" if the first floor elevation were set at 902.5, some three and one half feet lower than currently proposed. Another benefit would be that there would be no need for a ramp between the two facilities and the "link" building elevations would be less disturbing to look at. The need for garages is questioned because of the lack of auto- mobiles in the lots built to serve existing elderly buildings in Farmington. It appears that a small percentage of residents continue to maintain automobiles after moving to elderly housing. The landscape plan is well done except that the staff would recommend an alternate tree for the 10 Marshalls Ash indicated on the plan. Summit Ash would be a superior choice from the perspective of long term maintenance or, possibly, Pin Oak would be more attractive and begin to link the building with the East Farmington Neighborhood which will have oaks featured in the main boulevard plantings. These trees are intended to supplement the right of way trees required by the plat. It is also recommended that the developer consider using Snowdrift Flowering C~ab in place of the Spring Snow Crab since the former has been identified as an unofficial City tree and used in recent site plans. Recommendation Approve the conditional use subject to an evaluation of the City Engineer's recommendations concerning the grading plan and a revision to the site plan by combining one of the entrances to the congregate care facility with one of the nursing home entrances as well as to revisit the landscape plan recommendations. d. 7:50 P.M. - Variance Request from Jeff and Sandy Thelen This request was made necessary because of an inadequate measurement of the footing for the building. The mistake was discovered after the footing was in. Because of the unintentional mistake and the width of the setbacks in the industrial district it is difficult to suggest an 18" variance does not observe the spirit and intent of the ordinance. One suggestion from the staff would be to ask the applicant to consider planting additional shade trees on the south side of the existing parking lot. Recommendation Approve the variance as requested. .\ . . . . ' " . r Planning Agenda Report 8/9/94 4. DISCUSSION a. Planning Commission By-Laws Because of a typographical error, two public hearings were scheduled together relatively late in the meeting. This would provide an ideal time to discuss the by-laws, a draft copy of which is again enclosed. (?('~ If! 1),~ Charles Tooker City Planner