[Music] [Music] [Music] all right we'll call the meeting to order uh good evening and welcome to the January 23rd 2025 meeting of the manona Planning Commission the commission generally meets on the 1 and third Thursdays of the month the schedule and tentative agendas can be obtained by calling the planning department or by checking the city website at minan mn.gov the commission holds public hearings on and land use applications from a specific process standpoint that means we make recommendations to the city council on rezoning subdivisions conditional use permits and amendments to the city's comprehensive plan zoning ordinance and subdivision regulations we also make final decisions on site plans signage requests and variance requests and expansion permits unless these requests are part of an application that must be heard by the city council in that case the commission makes a recommendation and the council makes the final decision the city notifies property owners within at least 400 ft of the sites post signs on the properties and places notices in the Lakeshore Weekly News and the Manaka memo any Agri party May appeal a final Planning Commission decision to the city council if you wish to appeal you must submit a written request to the city within 10 days of this meeting from a broader standpoint the city's comprehensive plan zoning ordinance and subdivision regulations are the city's best efforts to codify a balance between individual rights and Community responsibilities individual rights are easy to understand Community responsibilities are more subtle but the idea is that we as members of the community agree to limit our individual rights for the common good of the group The planning department the Planning Commission and the city council are charged with managing the sometimes difficult Balancing Act we ask you keep this broader perspective in mind as we review tonight's applications again welcome staff please call rooll Henry here Maxwell here minion here Waterman here Banks is absent uh Hansen is absent and Cher suul here there are five of us seated here tonight uh next on the agenda is approval of the agenda and any changes to the agenda all right would someone like to make a motion to approve the agenda as posted I'll make the motion motion Henry second second minion all those in favor signify by saying I I I I motion carries uh next is approval of minutes from the January 9th 2024 meeting uh Commissioners any changes to those minutes uh just a question I was a few minutes late it says I was absent but then later in the minutes it said Henry joined the meeting so officially it was marked as absent in the front and just want to make sure that it was marked cor correctly uh chair and commissioner Henry that is a a good catch we'll make we'll change that from absent you were present but you just arrived um later and it was an excused later so yes we'll make that change thank you all right uh recognizing the update would someone like to make a motion to approve uh the minutes uh from January 9th I'll make the motion motion Henry oh second second minion all those in favor signify by saying I I I I motion carries uh next is report from staff oh jumping ahead uh uh chair and Commissioners the city council did meet on January 13th the only really Planning Commission related items on that agenda were related to reappointments and appointments to Commission so uh first the council reappointed commissioner Banks uh to the Planning Commission uh and commissioner Waterman for terms running February 1st 2025 through January 31st 2027 so another um uh two-year term uh second then the council appointed commissioner Hansen to serve as the Planning Commission representative on the zoning rewrite Community work group and commissioner Banks to serve as the diversity equity and inclusion uh commission representative to that same group so both of them uh will be getting more information regarding the work group um and our kickoff date here in the next few weeks and then finally the council appointed Scott Brink to serve on the Planning Commission beginning next month Scott is a retired city engineer from one of our neighboring communities so he will bring a a valuable background and Viewpoint uh to the commission that appointment was needed because of course tonight is chair sus last night uh after serving eight years two four-year terms um the council's policy is that Commissioners can only serve eight consecutive years so even if you wanted to um Tonight is the last night we wanted to put together some stats about your time here on uh the commissions so between 2017 and 2024 or today you've reviewed 891 applications 163 meetings um those meetings accounted for roughly 330 hours of your time so eight work weeks two months um sitting behind uh the de there I would say that your eight years have been really characterized by a reinvigoration of the Ridgedale and the op area in terms of um development in your time there have been almost 3,000 um multi-household units that are were approved and are uh either constructed or under constructed 27% of those um are affordable so that is uh above and beyond the city's um affordable housing policy of 5 to 10% we went and tried to choose a interesting project from each of your years memorable for whatever reason um so 2017 I fly first and only use of its kind in Minnesota uh 2018 we had Shady o Crossing which was really a unique collaboration between the city as property owner uh the owner of what staff said was the ugliest building in the city of minetonka great pizza but ugly building and uh Ron Clark as the developer then 2019 the henpen county medical examiner I should ask ask actually if you remember all of these you may not every one of them the me's office is widely considered one of uh the most state-of-the-art if not the most state-of-the-art um facility in the nation then we had Ridgedale commment Park award-winning um multi awward winning um 2021 was the year of Opus apartment buildings we had minona station Doran Wellington and during that time there were 854 units um built in Opus of those 150 uh affordable the mum and Vantage building built in 20202 one of the first um actually maybe the only um new school building um constructed in minetonka in recent decades um Walser Kia 2023 I'll just say wall Kia uh 2023 and then 2024 uh the Mills church and Habitat for Humanity collaboration and during all of those meetings and through all of those projects um you've brought a very steady hand to the commission um as you all know there's a lot of emotion in the room when we talk about development projects um emotions from Neighbors uh emotions from people who are part of organizations for or against a project develop Vel opers who spend a lot of time and money and effort putting together a project or property owners who are quite FR frankly trying to realize an investment in their property by selling their property um to developers and um Cher staff believes you were really able to manage expectations during that time you everyone knew that their voice was going to be heard and everyone knew that you would vote not based on the emotions in the room that your vote would be based on fact and land use law and what you determined was best uh for the larger community and so we've really appreciated that we're grateful for your leadership and we are going to miss you I will turn it back to you well thank you I appreciate that and on my last meeting I just want to thank uh a few sets of people um first being uh the city staff Miss Thomas we went to the last Council and kind of together presented on the planing commission for the first time and she did a fantastic job um so and I again for the 10,000th time sang the Praises of the staff um I so professional and easy to work with even when we disagreed it it was kind of like a almost like a a spousal relationship or a family member relationship where it's like you care deeply about the person even when you disagree right but you somehow still make it work and no matter what the the commission uh felt I always feel like you can accept it and even if you disagree you make disagreeing and civil discourse so much easier and I I think it's such an important uh Civic standard to set these days it's don't uh don't underappreciate how important that is so I just want to say thank you to the staff both current and uh and former as well also with the council and the mayor I being supportive of the Planning Commission again even if they agreed disagreed it doesn't matter I was I always felt the supports of of everyone from the city which is fantastic I would like to thank um the public those that came with constructive positive and respectful ideas I always appreciate those and there's some a lot of times I love nothing more than hearing A New Perspective like oh that's a good point I didn't think about it that way especially if it was uh brought in in a positive and respectful way trying to find the best outcome for everyone so thank you for everyone who came uh and offered comments that way um the commission both uh current and past I there's not a single person that I've worked with on the commission who I don't respect and appreciate and enjoy being around those up here included especially it makes it so much easier to spend you know hours together 330 hours together that's a that's a big commitment that's that's quite a relationship and if you know if we didn't respect and enjoy being together we probably wouldn't do it right cuz the pay is not all that great um and then the final one is it's just uh just my family for giving me the opportunity to do this for8 years and 8 years is is plenty so I wouldn't change that policy let's let's keep that in but it goes by so fast I couldn't believe you know it's been seven years for you commissioner Henry I was like what I was going to say it it flies by so just thank you to my family my wife and my kids for giving me the opportunity to to do this and do something different I never done anything like this before and what a great experience and what a great way to just meet new people and a way you never else would so I just want to say thank you for everyone for for that opportunity so let's uh let's keep the positive momentum I I appreciate and respect the way uh this commission makes decisions and works with each other and I have no doubt that they won't miss a beat so just want to say thank you to everybody so with that um anything else uh to reports from Commissioners all right doesn't look like it's we will uh move along to uh consent agenda item number seven we have nothing uh moving on to item number eights non-consent agenda items uh before we begin consideration of the non-consent agenda items I'd like to review the steps in the process and the public hearing procedure that will be followed for each proposal first the item will be announced and the staff will report on the subject the commission will then ask questions next the applicant will be invited to offer to offer a presentation or make comments Commissioners may ask additional questions at the this time after the applicant is finished the public hearing will be open to give anyone present the opportunity to comment on the proposal um I'm going to skip the other part because there's nobody here so I don't even need to read the rest about uh neighborhood spokespeople and such so the public hearing will then be closed no further comments will be allowed commission will discuss the proposal and make a decision the first item on the agenda is item 8A conditional use permit for a Veterinary Clinic at 1 1809 Plymouth Road and this is a recommendation the council adopt the resolution approving the request Mr englesson good to see you on my last night glad you could make it I came back just for you I wasn't going to be here now thank you CH and commission uh so our next one is one actually all of you should probably remember uh it's the old Wells Fargo Redevelopment site so it's one that you looked at back in uh the summer of 2024 so less than a year ago um so that's a property we're looking at if you need some Refreshers here's 394 here's a rale mall uh and then Plymouth Road which it is right off of and the site that we're the specific property we're looking at there is highlighted in red but the overall site is uh 2 acres in size uh contain it's going to contain five new commercial tenant spaces uh as was approved there was a vision to have two fast casual restaurants a retail space uh or sorry two retail spaces then also a bank and so the one in red is where the prop proposed Veterinary Clinic would go um the site is flat and doesn't include any natural features but is currently under construction so if you out there it's not there now it will be though rather soon um so here's another look at where that tenant space would be um we'll talk about this a bit but here's where you would enter off of the uh parking lot and looking inside that space um there is um going to be an entrance here here's the reception area that you would walk in there's four exam rooms throughout it uh there's also a lab and Pharmacy area uh they'll have a laundry area dog Ward which will be Import in just a second which for where the animal uh walking area will be where they'll go outside uh surgery x-ray room and then there's various other small rooms without the site that you'd expect inside of a Veterinary Clinic uh the space again is 3,000 square ft uh it is tonight they're asking for a conditional use perit for a Veterinary Clinic which is allowed as a conditional use within the planned I 394 District the proposed tenants actually new to Minnesota uh their name is uh Livewell Animal Urgent Care uh they're a national Veterinary Clinic uh right now there aren't any open in Minnesota but there are other ones under construction for the applicant they have ones that will be they're under construction in Shore View and Minneapolis so we'll be seeing them more in the area but right now they're in other states like uh in other cities Denver Washington DC Seattle Washington uh Nashville and Houston Texas were the other ones that they uh noted where they have a location so as we talked about um important for them to show where they'd have be able to take these animals out if they needed to so they're uh going to use a rear door here to the exterior where animals could go outside for walks if needed while they have their visits there um the applicant is not proposing to have any animals stay overnight so they'd all be visiting same day having procedures same day and then going home afterwards uh so it wouldn't be a long-term visit when animals come there more of a quicker visit um looking at the building elevations the applicant has not proposed any changes from what was approved by the city back in the summer of 2024 so it's all going to look pretty much the same you can see them highlighted in red here uh the only thing that will change obviously is a tenant space they will need to get a signed permit but otherwise it should look very similar to what was approved previously so after review staff is recommending approval of the subject request for three reasons first the request meets all specific and general conditional use permit requirements for a Veterinary Clinic uh next the proposed use would be harmonious with the existing uses on the property but then also in the larger ridg Dale area and then lastly there is adequate parking for this use was looked at before and they have a rather large they have 22 space Surplus so that's also something that shouldn't be an issue um as this request is a conditional use permit is required to go to City Council so tonight the planning commissioner will be making a recommendation on this item with that I'll turn it back over to chair Su and the commission great thank you uh Commissioners any questions for staff commissioner Henry you have a question yeah thanks chair it shows that it was planned to be a retail space and is a vet clinic considered a retail use or would that be a changing designation to Clinic yeah so that space that they showed on there that was sort of an idea of how it' be used um for a lot of ways would sort of consider s service commercial type use but um considering retail it still fits with what was expected out in the site okay so the answer is no answer short answer is no okay thank you uh is the animal walking area is do you know if that's going to be fenced they've not proposed it to be fenced so I'm assuming they could walk other places too as with anyone who's walking a dog but that's where they plan to bring the mountain designated space for okay correct great thank you any other questions yeah Commission another one yeah thanks another one is since it's a vet clinic is there any allocation for all the animal waste aside from the normal garbage cans I'm not sure how that works one of the conditions of approval is to have a plan to show how they will take care of animals on site um but they have not provided any unique plans for where that waste would go um my assumption it would be also typical waste that anyone would putting in a garbage but we will going to ask that question when it comes through okay thank you any other questions all right doesn't look like it um I believe we have the applicant on the line if uh if you'd like to offer any presentation or make any other comments you're more than welcome to otherwise I don't know how much we'll have for you but want to give you the opportunity if you wish no I don't have anything to add I just thank you for uh for hearing us tonight and uh just here to answer any questions sounds good thank you John sorry I'm John Deer with with one sorry no great thank you uh Commissioners any questions for the applicant or I think the staff report laid out most of the details all right doesn't look like it but we'll let you know if we have more than a minute all right we will thank you open the public hearing if anyone wants to come forward if anyone Sprints in the door doesn't look like they are so we will close the public hearing uh Commissioners any comments or questions otherwise I would imagine we're probably on on board here anyone have any just comments they want to say about it or right this one probably could have been consent agenda that's how that's what a great job on the report Drew I'm disappointed that we can't have one where we disagree with with you on this I was hoping we'd have one last one My Favorite Things is you'd always draw that short STW the one you'd always get the ones where we would disagree I usually chose the STW I don't it's it makes it spicy it's more fun that way I I had had this vision for this Redevelopment of being like kind of like a a restaurant Hub I I'd kind of hoped for that but again I think this use is is fine um again no one asked me what my vision is and I'm not in charge of it but I think it's it's reasonable the parking demand will be relatively minimal um and so another Veterinary Clinic probably isn't a bad thing either so any other comments otherwise I think we're probably ready for someone like to make a motion to uh adopt the resolution to recommend the city council adopt the resolution approving the request for conditional use permit for a Veterinary Clinic at 1 1809 Plymouth Road I'll make the motion motion minion second second Maxwell staff please pull the commission I apologize uh Henry yes Maxwell yes minion yes Waterman yes Cher yes motion carries and this is a recommendation to the city council to be heard on February 10th uh good luck with your development all right uh moving on to item number nine other business uh I Believe Miss Thomas you have uh these next few items uh yes chair and if you don't mind I'll present 9A and 9B uh together yep um so the Planning Commission operates under a series of bylaws and one of those bylaws is that you have to review your bylaws and your policies annually and and generally staff reviews those on your behalf makes a recommendation that you simply um continue with those this year staff is suggesting uh the commission make some changes um the first set are more administrative the second is um more substantive so firstly we're suggesting that you would uh remove the term shell um from the bylaws it appears throughout that uh the city is making a concerted effort to use plain language in all of our documents in fact staff we just had a training on on Plain language this week shell is very ambiguous it's very legal ease none of us I would suspect use that in our daily language and so we're just saying you should replace that with must or will uh the second rewording is embarrassing quite frankly uh the term planning department appears and we have not had a planning department for over 20 years uh we used to and then that department came became a division in Community Development so um updating that would be great need an updated chair script because I've been calling at the plan department for the last 330 hours thank you for embarrassment to that so thank you for pointing that out I didn't even realize it till just now nor had I um the more substantive change is are attended intended to provide just some greater flexibility in the date of your elections and your review of the bylaws and policies currently the bylaws say that you need to perform all of those tasks the first meeting in March and because of that rigidity there's really no provision for situations like we're going to find ourselves in at the beginning of February where we'll have a a a vice chair but we will not have a chair and technically can't have a chair until um a permanent chair at least until uh the first meeting in March similarly if the chair or vice chair needed to permanently vacate their position in the middle of the year we technically couldn't have an election so we're suggesting just removing the specificity of that first meeting in March and instead note that the elections will be held annually special elections can be called at any time and the bylaws um will be reviewed every calendar year for policies we're also proposing some or suggesting some administrative changes in the and a few substantive um these policies are really intended to assist the commission when you're considering what is reasonable use for variances and expansion permits and and their assist City staff to um when we are advising potential applicants on what the Planning Commission generally considers reasonable use um the policies however they're policies they're not ordinances they're not binding but they do provide for some consist consistency and if you've been on uh the commission for 8 years you know we have not updated them in form language or substance for 8 years and actually for 20 years so tonight we're proposing a full reformat it really um the reformat just mimics the city council policy book if you haven't seen that it's online the council also has policies and then updating the wording to reflect our internal um writing guides subst ly um staff looked through um the commission's um previous discussions on policies where you chose not to change your policy but said we might want to think about that in the future and then looked at your uh approvals of variances and expansion permits and that's where these substantive changes are coming from so first as we um are suggesting you have some general policies and there are four that we would suggest um first that reasonable use doesn't necessarily mean maximum use um for you say that staff says that pretty frequently um second intrusions into setback should be limited to the greatest extent practicable we usually call that a point intrusion so uh third preservation of mature trees and vegetation will be considered in the review of variance requests and that um neighborhood character will also be considered in the review of setbacks and expansion permits the next substantive change is your policies currently say that a two-stall garage is considered standard but that the maximum size for a two- stall garage is 24 ft by 24 ft we're suggesting a change to say that a minimum 24t X 24t garage is considered reasonable and secondly that the size and location of that garage me addition and its intrusion into the setback will be considered relative to other situations in the neighborhood so in one neighborhood um a variance for a three- stall garage may not be appropriate because all of the other homes have a two-stall garage but in another case if the majority of garages are three-stall garages a variance may be appropriate to achieve those and then finally um the last change is relates to porches or covered entries um we're suggesting that you simply note that these have minimal physical impact on the surrounding area and almost um 100% of the time one of the findings is though it doesn't meet the setback measurement to the property line it meets it to the road itself and so just calling that out I quite frankly can't think of a a variance for a porch that has been brought forward to this commission that hasn't been approved and quite frankly on the consent agenda so so those are the changes that we would suggest um that you make but any others or or excluding these I would turn it back to the chair and commission great thank you commission's any questions or comments on on these will you just speak a little bit on the minimum garage size 24 by 24 is there value in saying a square footage instead of calling out or just kind of the thought process about how that came to be uh chair Su and and commissioner minion um 24 by 24 equates to the general measurement for some for parking stalls um in our community typically um staff has pointed out uh square footage Square footages in the reports um so I think it's 546 or 526 there's a five and a six in that square footage um and so we we would call that out but um 24 by 24 is something that most people can visualize versus just a square footage just wonder if we're boxing ourselves in by saying that size or if it's better to keep it open but just looking for your advice on that and CH and commissioner minion just to reiterate um these are just policies to kind of set a a um a minimum if you will in in no way does the commission have to follow their policies but it just um provides for some consistency it's a starting point good question any other questions otherwise comments I I totally agree I couldn't think of a single uh front entry your porch that we've ever turned down and we've had some discussions around in fact we've probably I don't say wasted time but spent time that we probably didn't need to discussing so I think that that's a a great times here we haven't had one lately but I think that's an important one measuring it from the road not the property line cuz that's what everyone feels so I I think most of these make sense but yeah commissioner Maxwell uh the one that really speaks to me is the reasonable use does not necessarily mean maximum use and I think this one we all know that but I think for the applicants this will be helpful to have it laid out and then for us to have to point to something say look just because you can fit it doesn't mean it's really the most appropriate use for that site so I I appreciate having that one added in there that's a great Point too that that's one hopefully that will help influence and guide developers going forward so I agree any other comments yeah commissioner water I mean I just generally appreciate this rewrite and rework I think especially those general policies are ones that are so obvious looking at right now that we you know kind of taking for granted um but it's nice to just bring it together in writing uh just to see it in one place so and really appreciate all the other rewrites for to add a lot of clarity I think this is this is going to be helpful sounds good so uh I think we probably need uh a motion can we do both these in one motion I I would suggest yeah okay perfect sure before we make a motion just like to add one more comment to in my teaching and sometimes in my daily life I do use the word sh so I I shall miss the word shall in this one you shall still be able to use it we shall note that in the minutes all right um I think we're probably ready for motion then the motion would be uh to uh approve the changes in the bylaws and policies in items uh 9A and 9B would some like to make a motion I'll make that motion uh motion Waterman I'll second second Henry staff please pull the commission Henry yes Maxwell yes minion yes Waterman yes cheers yes motion carries and this is a uh final decision by the Planning Commission if you wish to appeal this decision you have to do so within 10 days of writing of this meeting but please don't um all right moving on to item 9 C do we need a report on this Miss Thomas or uh chairol I wouldn't report on it I would just note that because you just changed your bylaws now you are able to uh hold an election before uh before chair Su uh vacates his seat so that uh in February we're we're ready to go and to have someone to sign resolutions and things like that thank you misson this is my suggestion just as it'd be a lot easier than having everyone show up and kind of I don't know are you me like just to make it a little cleaner and to help the new playing uh commissioner as well is it all right if I do things a little bit backwards here miss Thomas in terms of like having discussion first and then doing nominations is that okay absolutely uh I apologize I put that on your um the just to help through that motion process but certainly yeah so I'd like to just talk through so I'll start this uh this is always like as the chair probably the hardest thing to to go through because there's the least structure to it but I'll start by is there anyone who wants to be the chair who has a desire to be the chair all right not seeing hands go up I know uh commissioner Henry you've got only a year left commissioner Hansen has even less commissioner minion uh hasn't been on the commission for a long time uh and so there's kind of dwindling down to two so I'm going to lay this out uh commissioner Maxwell would you I know you wouldn't like to would you be the chair of the Planning Commission this is a chance you get to win and I want to hear your opinion yeah I chair I am willing to be the chair um I'm looking forward looking through my schedule for the next year to see like I could not commit to being here for every single meeting but I'm willing to serve as the chair okay when I am here all right that's good to know let hedging your bets a little bit there uh commissioner Waterman what uh what is your desire and availability at to serve as chair sure yeah it's funny how we can't talk about this kind of behind closed doors um generally I prefer I kind of like my existing role um just for scheduling reasons um and don't have a particular desire to be an officer uh but you know recognizing um uh you know if there are other folks especially you know people have been on the commission longer that would want uh want to shot at chair Vice chair uh you know maybe in another year things would change um but happy to step in if you know if essential okay yeah so what it sounds like you can I would say work with Miss Thomas if attendance becomes a challenge especially for for few uh commissioner Maxwell but um I think you're probably the best the best choice right now in my opinion I'm going to comments so um if so if someone would like to make a motion we'll start with chair um would someone like to uh nominate commissioner Maxwell to serve as chair of the Planning Commission I'd like to make the motion all right so nomination by uh commissioner minion um and let's see any other nominations for chair doesn't look like it I'm going to declare the nomination closed um so we've got a motion to nominate uh commissioner Maxwell as chair uh do I have a second I'll second second uh commissioner Henry uh all those in favor signify by saying I I I I I motion carries congratulations uh chair all right next is uh Vice chair commissioner Waterman Vice chair I don't know how many times the vice chair has had to step and it's not not very often but uh chair Su I think perhaps maybe once this year but then um but then you ended up showing up so I it's not frequent I I would say that you know um just at the sustainability commission the other night just so happened that both of our chair and vice chair happened to be gone and so then we had to um commissioner Henry knows we had to uh roll with with something and it worked just fine and and and any and all of you would be um certainly able to to conduct a meeting in the event that um whomever is chosen as the vice chair is is and because of the update to the bylaws this can be Revisited at any point in time correct so we've got that flexibility now too so would someone like to make a motion to nominate uh commissioner Waterman as Vice chair I'll make that motion all right motion by commissioner Henry of a second by commissioner minion uh all those in favor uh signify by saying I I I motion carries congratulations Vice chair Waterman all right and final uh order of business is nomination of sustainability commission liaison seems like a pretty straightforward one I feel like we just did this like three weeks ago but uh uh I assume you still are you still enjoying uh being on the sustainability commission it seems like that really is kind of a passion of yours I do it's a fun time that's great thank you again for serving as that uh as that role so I think we're probably ready then for uh someone like to nominate uh commissioner Henry as the I'll make that motion sustainability commission liazon motion uh minion well second second Maxwell all those in favor signify by saying I I I I motion carries congratulations and thank you again uh commissioner Henry for serving uh in that role all right moving on to item 10 adjournment would someone like to make a motion to adjourn I'll make that motion motion by the future Vice chair Waterman I'll second second by the future chair Maxwell all those in favor signify by saying I I I uh motion carries we are Jour good night thank you oh [Music]