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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03.19.26 Joint Planning and Council Work Session Minutes City of Farmington Joint Planning Commission and City Council Special Work Session Minutes Thursday, March 19, 2026 The Planning Commission and City Council met in a joint special work session on Thursday, March 19, 2026, at Farmington City Hall, 430 Third Street, Farmington, Minnesota. 1. CALL TO ORDER 1 .1 Mayor Lien called the meeting of the City Council to order at 7 pm. Members Present: Mayor Nick Lien Councilmembers Holly Bernatz, Jake Cordes, and Steve Wilson Members Absent: None Staff Present: Lynn Gorski, City Administrator David Chanski, Assistant City Administrator Amy Schmidt, City Attorney Deanna Kuennen, Economic & Community Development Director Tony Wippler, Planning Manager Jared Johnson, Planning Coordinator Kellee Omlid, Parks & Recreation Director Nate Siem, Police Chief John Powell, Public Works Director/City Engineer Shirley Buecksler, City Clerk 1 .2 Chair Rotty called the meeting of the Planning Commission to order at 7 pm. Members Present: Chair Dirk Rotty Commissioners Andy Baerg, Lisa Ellis, Gary Rutherford, and Phil Windschitl Members Absent: None 1 .3 Also Present: HKGi Consulting Planners Rita Trapp and Beth Richmond Special Work Session Minutes of March 19, 2026 Page 1 of 4 2. APPROVE AGENDA Motion was made by Councilmember Wilson and seconded by Councilmember Bernatz to approve the agenda, as presented. Motion carried: 4 ayes / 0 nays Motion was made by Commissioner Windschitl and seconded by Commissioner Baerg to approve the agenda, as presented. Motion carried: 5 ayes / 0 nays 3. DISCUSSION ITEMS 3.1 Zoning Code Update and 2050 Comprehensive Plan The City Council and Planning Commission met in a joint work session to discuss the Zoning Code Update and the 2050 Comprehensive Plan. Rita Tripp and Beth Richmond from HKGi were present and provided an update regarding the progress Staff and the consultants have made to the zoning code update since the previous joint meeting this past September. Additionally, this meeting was used to officially kick off the 2050 Comprehensive Plan update. Discussion: • Properties in the Downtown Expansion area could have options to continue as residential or change to commercial when rebuilding or selling. Would rather not see property owners forced to sell as commercial because it's next to commercial. The difference is rebuilding or selling and what the property owner wants to do with it. If the intention is strategic commercial growth, then we have to allow strategic commercial growth. Rebuilding is different than selling. HKGi will bring back language for future discussion. • Contiguous growth of commercial expansion to existing commercial. Incremental expansion of the downtown versus appreciation for the age and character of existing homes are two conflicting things. HKGi will work on the language and bring it back. • Balancing commercial expansion while also allowing existing housing to continue. • Areas with pockets of commercial, allowing them to grow, and a comparison to Edina was made, as well as Grand Avenue with homes, coffee shops, smaller homes, law firms, and not a lot of parking. Special Work Session Minutes of March 19, 2026 Page 2 of 4 • Allowable building height; whether it could be increased with parking underneath; on-street parking and using it towards parking counts although a business shouldn't claim any on-street parking spots; on-street parking counted toward an apartment complex would be a problem, especially in winter; and parking could be a problem for a future occupant when it changes hands. • Setbacks - screening mechanical for taller buildings; privacy fences, buffers, or landscaping for minimum screening. Need a standard for how screening and setbacks are addressed. In the current overlay, existing language could be fine-tuned. HKGi will talk with Staff and provide some suggestions. • Mixed use commercial/residential - design standards. How to minimize the impact in these areas, and a comparison to Eagan was made. o Connectivity within these neighborhoods is important. o Providing private usable open space in each development. • Overlay districts discussion: o Eliminate Highway 3 and Spruce Street overlay districts. o Downtown Overlay district stays. o Create new general building design standards chapter for commercial, industrial, multi-family, and mixed-use buildings that will apply to whole city besides the Downtown Overlay district. • Use discussion: o Council and Planning both agreed that motels should not be allowed in the DC and DE districts. o Auto repair-major - B3 is a very limited area; could be a great addition, depending on type, but not in favor along the river; would have to be conditional with tight standards; not in favor of a permitted use. o Auto repair-minor - prefer conditional across the entire city for anything with auto. o Auto sales is not currently allowed but auto repair is currently allowed as a conditional use. o Standards need to be looked at. Direction for Planning Commission to dive into the auto section. o HKGi will make edits and come back. • Comp Plan 2050 discussion: o Natural system should be first and everything else flows after that. We have a high percentage of green and open spaces, parks and trails, which makes Farmington feel like Farmington. Special Work Session Minutes of March 19,2026 Page 3 of 4 o Requests that come in for key important areas, such as Highway 3, County Road 50, Flagstaff, and Pilot Knob - look at a design other than strip malls (other types of rooftops for the majority of those roads). o Balance needs to be protected - what is the goal of a space when the property owner is preparing to sell? o Retail may look different in the next 10-20 years so we can't assume and need to be mindful. o We need to be diligent to any map we design. o Concern if it becomes all single-family homes/high density residential at the expense of retail. o We have a good foundation of where we were 10 years ago, where we were a couple of years ago, and where we are going in the future. HKGi will send the questions to everyone for any other thoughts and come back for a future discussion. 4. COUNCIL COMMITTEE UPDATE 5. CITY ADMINISTRATOR UPDATE 6. ADJOURNMENT Motion was made by Councilmember Cordes and seconded by Councilmember Wilson to adjourn the City Council meeting at 9:34 pm. Motion carried: 4 ayes / 0 nays Motion was made by Chair Rotty and seconded by Commissioner Windschitl to adjourn the Planning Commission meeting at 9:34 pm. Motion carried: 5 ayes / 0 nays R s ectfully submitted, Sh' ey R cksler City Clerk Special Work Session Minutes of March 19,2026 Page 4 of 4