This transcript appears to be from an **Oakdale Planning Commission** meeting. Based on the roll call and the context of the city officials provided, the primary speakers are **Harley Pearson** (Planning Commission Chair), **Luke McClanahan** (Planning Manager), and **Joe Bailey** (Applicant/Engineer). *Note: Since the original text did not include timestamps, I have provided placeholders. I have also corrected phonetic transcription errors in the speaker names where obvious (e.g., "Pearson" instead of "pierce").* *** **[00:00] Chair Harley Pearson:** That's wrong. Luke, would you pick the Roll Call? **[00:05] Luke McClanahan:** Yes. Pearson? **[00:07] Chair Harley Pearson:** Here. **[00:08] Luke McClanahan:** Willenbring? **[00:09] Tom Willenbring:** Here. **[00:10] Luke McClanahan:** Stolarski? **[00:11] Commission Member Stolarski:** Here. **[00:12] Luke McClanahan:** Diana? **[00:13] Luke McClanahan:** Absent. McCauley? **[00:14] Commission Member McCauley:** Here. **[00:15] Luke McClanahan:** Campbell? **[00:16] Commission Member Campbell:** Present. **[00:17] Chair Harley Pearson:** Thank you. Uh, we're looking at the approval of minutes from the December 1st meeting. Does anyone have any comments or corrections to make? **[00:25] Commission Member:** I have just one. Um, the adjournment time should be 6:30. **[00:30] Chair Harley Pearson:** Oh, I honestly don't recall, so... well, that's a good catch. We'll call that to their attention and say 7:30 probably. Probably. Otherwise, I thought it was okay. Anything else? Uh, it asks for a motion to accept as presented. **[00:45] Commission Member:** So moved. **[00:46] Commission Member:** Second. **[00:47] Chair Harley Pearson:** All those in favor, aye. **[00:48] Group:** Aye. **[00:49] Chair Harley Pearson:** All those opposed? Thank you very much. New business—the development for Take 5. Look at the report, please. **[01:00] Luke McClanahan:** Thank you. And if we can bring the screen up here... so yes, the location of this site here is just for reference: 694 to the—on the left side of the screen—then 10th Street here. Here's Helmo Avenue, and this property is on the north side of 10th Street, just west of the intersection with Helmo Avenue and west of the existing Speedway. So this property is currently vacant and it consists of about an acre and a half. To the north and west of this site is a city-owned outlet which contains Wetland. The purpose of this request—it's for a site plan and a preliminary and final plat—it's to enable commercial development on the property, and two lots would be created through the subdivision with the East lot being developed for an oil change business, and then the West lot will be developed at a later time. So this site is zoned C2, and that is community commercial. Here's a look at the Subdivision plat. Again, the site will be accessed off 10th Street. There is an existing access easement for the Speedway property for this existing drive. Both lots are approximately three-quarters of an acre in size, and there is an existing drainage and utility easement on the west and kind of northwest portions of this property. As part of the subdivision request, a park dedication payment will be required. Here's a look at the site plan. Again, only the East lot is being developed at this time. Future development may occur on the Western lot, but just a few key highlights of the site plan: This building for Take 5 is approximately 1,700 square feet. There are 10 parking spaces on the north side of the site which satisfies code requirements. For stormwater management, that will be managed on the Western lot here that is currently vacant, and the developer must obtain permits and approvals from the South Washington Watershed District. For the storm water provisions for trash enclosures, those will have to be properly screened, and there is one up towards the north part of this site that's being developed here. Landscaping requirements—they have been met for the site plan. One thing that was not met in the initial site plan application is the photometric plan. It exceeded the foot candle requirement for sight lighting as light shines on the edges of the property, so that will have to be revised. That's one of the conditions of approval. And the resolutions: signage will include a wall sign on the building and also there will be a freestanding sign here in the northeastern portion of the site. Approval from the fire department will be needed for the hydrant location. From Washington County—they did review the site plan and the plat as well, and they are recommending that the developer pay for striping a right turn lane off 10th Street. So currently that needs improvement according to the county. Other permits and approvals through the county will include a permit for work in the right-of-way and an access permit since there will be a change in the use of the property. The city is also recommending that the developer work with Washington County to ensure that the trail along 10th Street—so the north side of the trail just on this segment—if it is out of compliance with ADA requirements, that the developer just work with the county to make sure that this trail segment is brought into compliance. Here's a look at some renderings of the building. So you can see there are three service stalls. Materials to be used will consist mostly of brick, so we categorize that as class one materials. This meets the ordinance standards for exterior building design. And like I mentioned, there will be some wall signage here that the applicant will just need to get a permit for along with a freestanding sign. So in closing here, staff recommends approval of both the preliminary and final plat and the site plan subject to conditions, and bear with me, I will read through those for the record. [Summarizes technical conditions 1-5 for the plat and 1-6 for the site plan]. And with that, I'd be happy to answer any questions. **[06:30] Chair Harley Pearson:** Thank you. Uh, the only question I've got—I'm not sure is pertinent—but I know at the gas station there is an access from the north side coming down and around the side of the car wash. There's kind of a natural path to go over to where the Take 5 place will be. Is that planning to be opened for traffic through? **[06:50] Luke McClanahan:** Yeah, so and maybe the applicant could expand on this a little bit more, but there is interest—active interest—from the developer to establish an easement. There is an easement through a portion of the city property that was approved by Council, I forget when it was, maybe a couple months back. But as proposed in the site plan—if I can bring that up—there's nothing being proposed here for access to or utilizing the Speedway property there with the access on the north side of this site. But yeah, again, maybe the applicant might have a little bit of information too. **[07:30] Chair Harley Pearson:** The reason I ask is because the flow—the potential traffic flow—through their parking lot from the north side may be more than what they want going down around that lower edge. But I just want to bring that up. So, any other questions for Luke from the commission? **[07:45] Commission Member:** I do have one. Um, so since we're creating two lots, I'm curious why we haven't put the entirety of the property onto Lot 2? Right now the driveway splits Lot 1 and Lot 2. And since that line is arbitrary at this point and can be moved wherever we want it, why was it designed that way? **[08:05] Luke McClanahan:** You know, I don't know if I want to speculate too much, but it sounds like there's intentions for development on this West side. So having roughly equal size acreages between the two lots just makes it a little bit more marketable. **[08:20] Chair Harley Pearson:** Okay. Any other questions before I ask the applicant to come up and clarify? Of course. Would the applicant care to make some comments, please? **[08:30] Joe Bailey (Samba Tech):** Joe Bailey with Samba Tech, 12,800 Whitewater Drive, Minnetonka, Minnesota. I'm the civil engineer on the project. Um, to answer your first question: the kind of undesired traffic flow through the lot is the reason, you know, we didn't pursue the connection right away. You know, that's subject to if the city deems it necessary or things like that, but that is kind of the reasoning. As the traffic flow for the Take 5 will come through the north and then they'll exit out the south end, that's kind of where cars will stack as they're waiting to get their oil changed. And then to address your second question: the intention is for, you know, future development to be allowed. And so the design was to center the lot line along the existing drive off of 10th Street and then allow for a shared access drive from both commercial properties that runs north-south. So the line is splitting that drive right down the middle. And then as Luke mentioned—or I think it might be in the staff report—there's a recommendation that we record a separate access easement across that drive. That wouldn't be platted, but it'll be recorded separately. **[09:45] Chair Harley Pearson:** So that would end up being like a mini frontage road for the three businesses that could potentially be there? **[09:52] Joe Bailey (Samba Tech):** Correct. Yep. **[09:53] Commission Member:** How does traffic navigate this site? **[09:55] Joe Bailey (Samba Tech):** Yeah, so if you're coming in from 10th Street and taking a right turn north, you would go all the way to the north end of the parking lot and then turn south. And then you have three service bays. And then we did provide a second route around the east side in case customers feel that there's too many cars waiting and they want to get out of there, and also for fire truck routing. And I believe we provided the fire truck routing exhibit with our submittal. We made sure it worked. **[10:25] Chair Harley Pearson:** Anyone else have any questions? **[10:28] Commission Member:** And I guess just my last question—so as I was looking online, the whole premise of this business is kind of that quick service lube. You pull in, you stay in your vehicle. So we're not expecting people to park, get out, walk over to the Speedway, correct? **[10:45] Joe Bailey (Samba Tech):** Correct. There's no interior lobby or anything like that. I think, you know, the last couple years a lot of the oil change places have turned to staying in your car. So that's the whole premise of this business: stay in your car. There's a bathroom for employees and internal storage and things like that, but that's about it. **[11:05] Chair Harley Pearson:** Okay. Anyone else? Thank you very much for your help. **[11:08] Joe Bailey (Samba Tech):** Thank you. **[11:09] Chair Harley Pearson:** Bring it back to the commission. Does anybody have any comments or questions to ask in the final segment? Seeing none, I would ask for a motion. **[11:15] Commission Member:** And I will make a motion to recommend approval of the preliminary plat, final plat, and site plan for Oakdale Center Third Edition, Take 5 Oakdale, subject to the conditions listed in the draft resolutions. **[11:30] Commission Member:** Second. **[11:31] Chair Harley Pearson:** All those in favor, aye. **[11:32] Group:** Aye. **[11:33] Chair Harley Pearson:** Any opposed? Motion passes. Thank you very much. Thank you. We come to the annual election of Planning Commission Chair and Vice Chair. So I guess the first question would be, do we have anyone who would wish to be Chair? **[11:50] Commission Member:** I nominate [Harley Pearson]. **[11:52] Chair Harley Pearson:** Thank you. **[11:53] Commission Member:** Second. **[11:54] Chair Harley Pearson:** Anyone else? Seen none. I guess I'll ask for a vote on continuing my presence as the Chair. All those in favor, aye. **[12:00] Group:** Aye. **[12:01] Chair Harley Pearson:** And any opposed? Thank you. Uh, next is the Vice Chair. Tom Willenbring is our current one. Anyone else wish to nominate themselves for that position? No? Then I close nominations and ask for a vote of acclamation. All those in favor, Tom? **[12:15] Group:** Aye. **[12:16] Chair Harley Pearson:** All opposed? Tom, welcome back for another term. Thank you very much. That brings us to the other planned proposed Shoreland overlay zoning district. Luke? **[12:30] Luke McClanahan:** Yes. And just a quick update on what we're doing here—and this is something that will come before the Commission in the months to come—is we're in the early stages of working with the DNR to adopt a Shoreland overlay district. It's actually required by the DNR. And this is in response to some development interests that we have, or not just interest but also a priority, to redevelop the Tanners Lake site. So just to be in compliance with state regulations, we want to make sure that we have a Shoreland overlay district. But once we're further along with this project, we will certainly bring a draft ordinance to the commission for your review. Any questions on that? **[13:10] Chair Harley Pearson:** Does this include the wastewater infiltration into the lake and sewer area around that as well? **[13:15] Luke McClanahan:** It would. It would address some storm water requirements as well and buffer requirements from the lake. **[13:22] Chair Harley Pearson:** Okay. I guess tonight should be an update on the Glenbrook small area project? **[13:26] Luke McClanahan:** Yes. Since our last meeting, staff and our consultants, Stantec, we've had several—actually six—meetings with business and property owners. These are one-on-one meetings with them just to get their input on the Glenbrook study. We're obviously still in the early stages of collecting data, and the next steps will be presenting some of our findings or the input that we're gathering from the Glenbrook neighborhood to the Council at the January 24th workshop. That will include a presentation of draft goals and issues. But just to kind of give you an idea of what we're hearing: some of the trends in the Glenbrook area are that, for businesses, visibility is really good along Highway 36, but access and circulation—getting around the Glenbrook area—is tricky. A lot of businesses just want to make sure that they can remain there. They are very interested in self-preservation just because the area works for them for whatever reason, and they just want to continue to be able to operate their businesses in that area. Any questions that you have on the progress of the study? **[14:40] Chair Harley Pearson:** None for me at this moment. **[14:42] Luke McClanahan:** Okay, thank you. **[14:43] Chair Harley Pearson:** Your general update? **[14:44] Luke McClanahan:** Oh, yes. And the last thing I have here is that likely there is not going to be a Planning Commission meeting in February because we did not receive any new applications for this last submittal deadline. We do have some other applications, like the eighth edition of Willowbrook going to the City Council. We have another administrative variance, and we might have some vacations of right-of-way coming through as well. But in terms of actual applications that are going to Planning Commission in February, none at this time. **[15:15] Chair Harley Pearson:** Okay. Thank you very much. **[15:17] Luke McClanahan:** Thank you. **[15:18] Chair Harley Pearson:** Council Member Ingridson, welcome back. **[15:20] Council Member Susan Ingridson:** Thank you. Just want to say after a two-year hiatus, I'm back as your Council Liaison. And as planning is my favorite—everybody's favorite—topic, I'm glad to be back and I hope to stay for the duration of my time on the council. Not that I didn't like Parks, but planning's fun. **[15:40] Chair Harley Pearson:** It is. So you guys rotate? **[15:42] Council Member Susan Ingridson:** Well, it can... we just kind of do, you know, there's nothing set in stone. We talked about it two years ago. There's never really been any rotating before a couple of years ago; everybody just kind of stayed where they were at. But for some reason it came up and we thought it was a good idea. And now there's some turnover. We will likely be appointing somebody to the Council here in the not too distant future. **[16:05] Chair Harley Pearson:** Would that be [the runner-up from the election]? **[16:10] Council Member Susan Ingridson:** We have not determined that yet. There is nothing in the ordinance stating that that's a formality per se, but we haven't decided how we're going to proceed with that yet. So stay tuned. Anything's possible at this point. It hasn't been discussed, but I will tell you I believe it is going to be on our Workshop agenda January 24th. So if you're interested in finding out what's going on, I would encourage you to attend. Other than that, that's all I have. I don't have any planning related—I think Luke pretty well covered it. Any questions? **[16:50] Chair Harley Pearson:** That's the time, I guess. All right, thank you. At this point, I guess I call for a vote of adjournment. All those in favor, aye. **[17:00] Group:** Aye. **[17:01] Chair Harley Pearson:** Any opposed? We stand adjourned. I'll note the time—not 6:30.