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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-11-26 PACKET 07. City of Cottage Grove Planning Commission October 22, 2018 A meeting of the Planning Commission was held at Cottage Grove City Hall, 12800 Ravine Park- way South, Cottage Grove, Minnesota, on Monday, October 22, 2018, in the Council Chamber and telecast on Local Government Cable Channel 16. Call to Order Chair Brittain called the Planning Commission meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Roll Call Members Present: Ken Brittain, Evan Frazier, Tony Khambata, Taylor Mills, Derek Rasmussen, Jennifer Raymer, Sheree Schuler, Roger Zopfi Members Absent: None Staff Present: John M. Burbank, Senior Planner Christine Costello, Economic Development Director Steve Dennis, City Councilmember Approval of Agenda Frazier made a motion to approve the agenda. Raymer seconded. The motion was approved unanimously (8-to-0 vote). Open Forum Brittain asked if anyone wished to address the Planning Commission on any non-agenda item. No one addressed the Commission. Chair’s Explanation of the Public Hearing Process Brittain explained the purpose of the Planning Commission, which serves in an advisory capacity to the City Council, and that the City Council makes all final decisions. In addition, he explained the process of conducting a public hearing and requested that any person wishing to speak should go to the microphone and state their full name and address for the public record. Public Hearings and Applications 6.1 Menards Expansion – Cases CUP2018-056, V2018-057, & SP2018-058 Menard, Inc. has applied for a site plan review and conditional use permit for a proposed warehouse remodel and a 43,808 square foot lumber yard addition east of the existing pallet racking line, fixture updates to the garden center, and creation of special order Planning Commission Minutes October 22, 2018 Page 2 of 4 pickup and delivery staging areas. The proposed warehouse building would be located in the southeast corner of the Menards’ property at 9000 East Point Douglas Road in front of the principal structure. Menards also applied for a variance to the City’s minimum archi- tectural regulations for the west elevation of the proposed accessory structure and a variance to minimum parking requirements for a reduction of 42 parking spaces to a total of 358. Burbank summarized the staff report. He stated that there are two options for the Planning Commission to discuss for recommendation to the City Council. Rodney Wekkin, Menard Inc., 5101 Menard Drive, Eau Claire, Wisconsin, stated that since their last application, they have been working with staff to come up with a plan that addresses the concerns that came up. They have made an effort to tie the expansion in with the existing facility. One of the major changes is the storage area screening will consist of a material that cannot be seen through. They are also going to accent the storage facility with block columns, which will tie in with the proposed accessory structure. The green band on the front of the store will run around the south and eastern sides to tie the accessory building in with the main retail building. He reported that they provided supplemental data relating to parking that includes store areas within the Twin Cities, what those sales volumes are in relationship to the Cottage Grove location, and what their parking figures. He explained that there are a number of stores that do the same, similar, or more sales with the same or similar parking being proposed for the Cottage Grove store that do not experience parking issues. He stated that he also reviewed the transactions per hour over the past year for the Cottage Grove store and there were only a handful of hours in the last year in which the transactions exceeded the parking count they are proposing, so with those two details added into their variance request, they feel it is justified. Finally, the staff report talks about the hardship being of their creation. He stated that they have been in the City since 1995 and their business model has changed to accommodate the times over the last 25 years. It is driven by them changing some of their merchandising and trying to accommodate on-line sales to keep up with the climate in today’s retailing market. E-commerce is much bigger today and on-line sales are a much larger part of their business than it was in 1995 so as a result their overall parking needs are reduced because a higher volume of their sales transactions are happening through Menards.com. Wekkin stated that they reviewed the conditions of approval and are comfortable with them. If the Commission recommends approval, they will work with staff to resolve any of the outstanding issues includ- ing staining the fence. Brittain expressed concern about the appearance and maintenance of the fence. Wekkin re- sponded that they would be willing to stain the wood fence. There are also block columns that are four feet in width that are spaced throughout to hopefully enhance that area. In the previous application they proposed wrought iron fencing, which is a little more decorative but can be seen through, so with this application they are proposing to utilize materials that better screen the area. Brittain opened the public hearing. No one spoke. Brittain closed the public hearing. Khambata stated that after seeing the evolution of the first site plan to the one presented tonight, and because their business model has changed since 1995, he thinks this application deserves consideration. Planning Commission Minutes October 22, 2018 Page 3 of 4 Zopfi stated that the two biggest issues he sees are the reduction in parking and the loss of green space, which will be less than half of what is required. Given that, he supports option #1, given that this site has more impervious coverage and less parking. While he sympathizes with the argument that their business includes more online sales, he is concerned about not having enough parking for customers who come to the store to shop. Raymer expressed concern that overall from May to October, when there is no snow, the reduction in parking will probably not be a nuisance to customers but during the winter there could be a further reduction of parking due to snow. She stated that she doesn’t see that issued addressed anywhere in this proposal. Mills agrees that concerns about the number of parking spaces have not been addressed in this new plan. She appreciates the effort into addressing other concerns, but she believes that the proposal to pile snow in the spaces used for employee parking is not a good solution. She thinks we should be careful about losing 42 more spaces as well as the green space. Rasmussen stated that his view is that they are landlocked, and there is no other land to accommodate parking and green space. Menards has been in the community for a long time and is a very important part of the City. He appreciates their efforts to continue to work on their proposal. He does have concerns about parking as sometimes it is tight, but the Commission has had parking discussions on many other cases and granted variances in the past, and he has never seen where it has turned out to be a big problem. Customers figure it out; it can be tough during peak seasons, but the end result is that it would be Menard’s loss. He is in favor of helping them with their expansion and letting them grow in our community. Frazier noted that his understanding of the parking situation from the materials presented that notes that demand for parking goes down in the winter months. He noted that one of the con- ditions for the approval is that the stockpiling of snow within customer and team parking spaces shall not create a negative parking situation, and the applicant has stated that they are willing to abide by all the conditions if the variance is granted. He personally does not see an issue with the parking going down. He believes the concerns the Commission had about the first proposal have been addressed. Khambata made a motion to approve the conditional use permit, variance, and site plan review applications based on the findings of fact and subject to the conditions in the staff report. Frazier seconded. Motion passed on a 6-to-2 vote. Approval of Planning Commission Minutes of September 24, 2018 Raymer made a motion to approve the minutes of the September 24, 2018, Planning Commission meeting. Mills seconded. Motion passed unanimously (8-to-0 vote). Planning Commission Minutes October 22, 2018 Page 4 of 4 Reports 8.1 Recap of October 2018, City Council Meetings Costello provided a summary of actions taken at the City Council meetings in October 2018. Dennis stated that the Masons are holding their spaghetti dinner event at the Acacia Lodge on Saturday, October 27; he will be with the Holiday Train Committee bagging groceries at Cub Foods on Sunday, November 18, and asked for volunteers; he reported that he, Mayor Bailey, and Economic Development staff will be attending the MNCAR event on October 23 to network on attracting businesses to Cottage Grove; he stated that over the past four years, the City has had over $450 million in development; and he noted that Cottage Grove is number one in Minnesota and number 15 in the nation for healthiest housing markets as researched by Smart Asset. Zopfi asked if the City has a contingent going to the ICSC this year. Dennis responded the City will be sending representatives to the 2019 event. 8.2 Response to Planning Commission Inquiries Sub-Surface Treatment Systems (SSTS) Burbank summarized the memorandum regarding the number and locations of SSTS in the City. Khambata asked what the premise of the inquiry was. Burbank stated that at the last meeting he shared that the Soil and Water Conservation District was holding an educational program regarding SSTS and Rasmussen asked how many of those systems are located in Cottage Grove. Rasmussen asked if Washington County requires that the systems are pumped on a regular schedule. Khambata stated that they are required to be certified every three years by Washington County. 8.3 Planning Commission Requests Brittain asked if County Road 19 has been reopened. Rasmussen stated that two lanes were open on Sunday. Mills asked when the City attends economic development conferences, are women, minority, and veteran owned businesses targeted or do we reach out to everybody. Costello responded that the City will welcome everybody. Adjournment Zopfi made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Khambata seconded. Motion passed unan- imously (8-to-0 vote). The meeting was adjourned at 7:37 p.m.