Planning Commission

MAPLE GROVE PLANNING COMMISSION April 26, 2021 CALL TO ORDER A meeting of the Maple Grove Planning Commission was held at 7:00 p.m. on April 26, 2021 at the Maple Grove City Hall, Hennepin County, Minnesota. Chair Lamothe called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE ROLL CALL Planning Commission members present were Chair Craig Lamothe, Chris Ayika, Lorie Klein, Susan Lindeman, Chuck Lenthe, Michael Ostaffe, and Joe Piket. Present also were Karen Jaeger, City Council Liaison; Joe Hogeboom, Community and Economic Development Director; Peter Vickerman, Planning Manager; and Scott Landsman, City Attorney. ITEMS TO BE None. REMOVED FROM THE AGENDA CONSENT ITEMS The following Consent Items were presented for the Commission’ s approval: MINUTES A. Regular Meeting – April 12, 2021 Motion by Commissioner Lenthe, seconded by Commissioner Picket, to approve the Consent Items as presented. Upon call of the motion by Chair Lamothe, there were seven ayes and no nays. Motion carried. CONSIDERATION None. OF ITEMS PULLED FROM CONSENT AGENDA REVIEW OF THE Mr. Hogeboom reviewed with the Commission what items the City CITY COUNCIL Council approved that was given direction at the Planning Commission level. It was noted the Council held a worksession MINUTES FROM last week to discuss the design of Main Street.  Maple Grove Planning Commission April 26, 2021 Page 2 THEIR REGULAR MEETING OF APRIL 19, 2021 OLD BUSINESS No items to present. NEW BUSINESS Mr. Vickerman stated the applicant is requesting a development PUBLIC HEARING stage plan and final plat for the purpose of adding a 30,000 square foot fitness center to the inline retail section of The Grove THE GROVE 15500 development. The building is proposed to be constructed directly GROVE CIRCLE adjacent to the Slumberland building and will occupy a portion of NORTH the undeveloped strip of land in between there and the Haskell’ s building. Staff reported the inline retail area of The Grove was AFFORDABLE originally planned to provide a transition between smaller scale FITNESS GROUP 2, retail vendors and office uses identified as “ The Village” and the LLC large scale “ box” retailers such as Target and Home Depot. The addition of a fitness center at the proposed location is consistent PLANNED UNIT with the approved concept plan and The Grove development DEVELOPMENT overall. The replatting of this lot separates a parcel from the PUD) existing parcel so that the corresponding tenant retains ownership, DEVELOPMENT while the remaining property is intended to have multiple users as STAGE PLAN AND the retail area fills in. The architecture of the building was FINAL PLAT FOR reviewed with the Commission and it was noted the exterior design THE PURPOSE OF would be consistent with the surrounding buildings. CONSTRUCTING A Mr. Vickerman explained access to the site will utilize existing 30,000 SQUARE drive aisles from south along Grove Circle, with east and west FOOT FITNESS connections to the nearby Target and Home Depot parking fields. CENTER The onsite parking is sufficient and will remain largely unchanged, with accessible parking stalls added near the building’ s entrance. The proposed fitness center is an appropriate use for this location and a welcomed addition to The Grove retail area. Staff supports a recommendation of approval for this project. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Motion to recommend that the City Council direct the City Attorney to draft a Resolution and a Planned Unit Development agreement approving The Grove 15500 Grove Circle North PUD non- residential development stage plan and final plat, subject to: 1. The applicant addressing to the satisfaction of the city Maple Grove Planning Commission April 26, 2021 Page 3 any remaining applicable comments contained in the memorandums from: a. The Community & Economic Development Department dated April 12, 2021 b. The Water Resources Department dated April 9, 2021 The applicant shall acknowledge that Park Dedication requirements are based on staff review and recommendation to the Park and Recreation Board and their subsequent board action. Board meetings are held on the third Thursday of each month. Discussion Commissioner Piket asked if there was an issue with the trees in the parking lot. Mr. Vickerman reported staff recommended that any of the dead trees in the parking lot be replaced with improved soils and new trees. Commissioner Ayika questioned what fitness center would be moving into the community. Mr. Vickerman explained he did not know the specific fitness user but noted the applicant was on the line. Commissioner Ostaffe understood the site had adequate parking. However, he questioned what the traffic flow would be to this site during peak times. Mr. Vickerman stated this was not information he had readily available and deferred this question to the applicant. The applicant was at the meeting to answer questions. Tom Cloutier, 16505 75th Avenue North, reported Crunch Fitness would be moving into the proposed space. He explained this was the fastest growing large gym franchise in the nation. He noted the first franchise was in Blaine. He invited the Commissioners to visit this site as it was a first class gym. Patrick Daly, Ryan Companies, thanked the Commission for their consideration. He stated Ryan Companies had a longstanding partnership in working with the City at The Grove. He reported this was a unique opportunity to bring a health and fitness use to The Grove. He commented on the parking requirements for this use, which was five per one thousand square feet and reported the Maple Grove Planning Commission April 26, 2021 Page 4 property has 8.5 acres of available parking. Motion by Commissioner Lenthe, seconded by Commissioner Klein, to recommend that the City Council City Council direct the City Attorney to draft a Resolution and a Planned Unit Development agreement approving The Grove 15500 Grove Circle North PUD non-residential development stage plan and final plat, subject to: 1. The applicant addressing to the satisfaction of the city any remaining applicable comments contained in the memorandums from: a. The Community & Economic Development Department dated April 12, 2021 b. The Water Resources Department dated April 9, 2021 The applicant shall acknowledge that Park Dedication requirements are based on staff review and recommendation to the Park and Recreation Board and their subsequent board action. Board meetings are held on the third Thursday of each month. Upon call of the motion by Chair Lamothe, there were seven ayes and no nays. Motion carried. PUBLIC HEARING Commissioner Klein reported she had a conflict of interest on this item and therefore would abstain from discussion or voting on this PARK 81 SOUTH matter. AND EAST SCANNELL Mr. Vickerman stated the applicant is requesting a PUD concept stage plan amendment to change the use of the Park 81 South lot PROPERTIES 481 from a 267,000 s.f. industrial building ( and associated truck and AND SCANNELL car parking) to a truck access drive and 283-space trailer parking PROPERTIES # 487, area. This truck access and trailer parking area would be accessory LLC to the principle use of the Park 81 East building (currently under construction) to support the use of this building for a confidential 10520 89TH tenant. It was noted the applicant is also requesting a PUD AVENUE NORTH development stage plan for both the south and east lots to construct AND 10440 89TH the truck access and trailer parking portion as well as to expand the AVENUE NORTH parking lot on the east side of the Park 81 East building, including some expansion into city-owned property that is part of the city PLANNED UNIT water supply well field. A small patio on the south side of the Maple Grove Planning Commission April 26, 2021 Page 5 DEVELOPMENT building is also proposed as part of this development stage plan. PUD) CONCEPT Mr. Vickerman commented overall staff has no major issues with STAGE PLAN the proposal. As was mentioned in the concept plan analysis, the AMENDMENT proposed use is consistent with the underlying I-Industrial zoning AND and staff is requesting some adjustments to their plan to be DEVELOPMENT consistent with other sections of code such as screening and STAGE PLAN TO landscaping in the parking lot, as well as an emergency vehicle ALLOW FOR access to the truck dock area. The daily increase in trips is offset by decreases at the peak hours and staff feels the street system around TRAILER AND this property can adequately handle the traffic generated. Staff ADDITIONAL CAR commented further on the proposed project and recommended PARKING approval. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Motion to recommend that the City Council direct the City Attorney to draft a Resolution and a Planned Unit Development agreement approving the Park 81 South and East I-PUD concept stage plan amendment and development stage plan, subject to: 1. The applicant addressing to the satisfaction of the city any remaining applicable comments contained in the memorandums from: a. The Community & Economic Development Department dated April 21, 2021 b. The Water Resources Engineer dated April 8, 2021 The applicant shall acknowledge that Park Dedication requirements are based on staff review and recommendation to the Park and Recreation Board and their subsequent board action. Board meetings are held on the third Thursday of each month. Discussion Commissioner Piket questioned what type of lighting would be installed in the parking lot. Mr. Vickerman stated additional lighting would require photometric plan and would have to meet City Code requirements. Commissioner Ayika asked if the applicant anticipated the trailer parking when they first requested their building. He inquired why the plan was not brought together to the City originally. Mr. Maple Grove Planning Commission April 26, 2021 Page 6 Vickerman reported when the plans were originally approved a specific tenant had not been defined. However, a tenant has now been found that requires trailer parking. Commissioner Ayika asked if the name of the tenant would remain confidential even when applying for permits from the City. Mr. Vickerman stated this would depend on if any information that would identify the user, like on a sign permit, was presented to City staff. City Attorney Landsman reported under City Code permitted uses and conditional uses were listed, along with PUD uses. He explained these uses are not tied to specific users, but rather the use itself. Commissioner Ostaffe indicated this was a significant change from the original proposal, which was light industrial space or warehousing. He commented the new use would be heavy warehousing with 360 trailers and potentially three shift operations. He questioned if staff had considered how this truck traffic would impact the surrounding area. Mr. Vickerman explained this project was reviewed by Hennepin County and it was his understanding they offered their support because the AM and PM peaks would decrease with this particular user. Commissioner Ostaffe inquired if this site would be having 400 trucks coming to the site a day or 800 trucks. Mike Brandt, Kimley Horn, stated in looking at the trip generation, he estimated there would be total of 658 trucks trips per day and 2800 cars a day with all of the facilities. He noted the AM and PM peak does decrease. Chair Lamothe reported the number of cars was high because the space operated round the clock with three different shifts. Commissioner Ostaffe stated even with three shifts and 300 parking spaces, the number of trips to and from the site doesn’ t add up. Mr. Brandt commented the site had 350 parking spaces. Dan Salzer, Scannell Properties, explained trip numbers included people leaving and coming back for lunch or dinner. Chair Lamothe asked how this proposal (one building) compared to the original proposal (two smaller buildings) when considering trip distribution access. Mr. Brandt explained there would be less trucks coming from County Road 81 to the site as they would mainly come from 89th down and over or up from Valley Forge and 169. He did not anticipate there would be any change to the trip distribution between the two plans. He stated he was seeing a 40 Maple Grove Planning Commission April 26, 2021 Page 7 trip per day decrease in AM peak with the new proposal. Commissioner Lindeman asked what happens if the City and the company cannot come to an agreement on the additional land needed for parking and watermain lines. Mr. Vickerman reported the proposal was subject to that occurring, that an agreement would come into play. He indicated people were comfortable with the general idea and the specifics of the agreement were being determined at this time. He stated he was confident this would be done. Commissioner Lindeman requested the trees in the parking lot islands be scaled properly so as to survive. Mr. Vickerman explained these islands were quite a bit larger than the islands at The Grove and would be able to support trees or shrubs. Commissioner Lenthe questioned what course of action would be taken if a different user wanted to move into this site and had considerably more trip generation. Mr. Vickerman stated if a new user moved to the site staff would rereview the site and traffic concerns. The applicant was at the meeting to answer questions. Chair Lamothe opened the public hearing at 7:40 p.m. The public was asked by Chair Lamothe if they had any comments to make regarding this application. No one wished to address the Commission. Motion by Chair Lamothe, seconded by Commissioner Lenthe, to close the public hearing at 7:41 p.m. Upon call of the motion by Chair Lamothe, there were seven ayes and no nays. Motion carried. Motion by Commissioner Piket, seconded by Commissioner Lindeman, to recommend that the City Council direct the City Attorney to draft a Resolution and a Planned Unit Development agreement approving the Park 81 South and East I-PUD concept stage plan amendment and development stage plan, subject to: 1. The applicant addressing to the satisfaction of the city any remaining applicable comments contained Maple Grove Planning Commission April 26, 2021 Page 8 in the memorandums from: a. The Community & Economic Development Department dated April 21, 2021 b. The Water Resources Engineer dated April 8, 2021 The applicant shall acknowledge that Park Dedication requirements are based on staff review and recommendation to the Park and Recreation Board and their subsequent board action. Board meetings are held on the third Thursday of each month. Commissioner Ayika stated he understood an opaque fence was necessary. He recommended staff work on this matter with the applicant to provide adequate screening. Mr. Vickerman stated one of the conditions for approval required the applicant to provide details to staff regarding the fence and screening. Commissioner Ostaffe questioned if the site was properly screened. He noted the other large distribution centers in Maple Grove were fully screened or bermed. He commented further on how significant the change was to this property and how it would impact the surrounding uses by the number of trip generations. While he wanted plenty of job opportunities in the community, he feared this site would be largely a parking lot. Chair Lamothe asked how this site compared to the FedEx facility south of 85th. Mr. Vickerman explained the building would be about the same size and noted the FedEx facility has slightly more trailer parking. He commented further on the minimal amount of screening that was provided on this property. Commissioner Piket inquired how important it was to have the trailers screened in this industrial park. He did not believe a large amount of screening was necessary given the fact this property was surrounded by other industrial users. Chair Lamothe called the question. Upon call of the motion by Chair Lamothe, there were six ayes and no nays (Commissioner Klein abstained). Motion carried. DISCUSSION Maple Grove Planning Commission April 26, 2021 Page 9 ITEMS There were no discussion items. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Chair Lamothe, seconded by Commissioner Lenthe, to adjourn the Planning Commission meeting. Upon call of the motion by Chair Lamothe, there were seven ayes and no nays. Motion carried. Chair Lamothe adjourned the meeting at 7:50 p.m. to the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Planning Commission scheduled for May 10, 2021.