ruary 8th. Uh call to order and roll call >> here. >> Here >> I >> here. >> Wilson >> here. Shaba >> here. >> Pledge of allegiance please. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Approval of the agenda. Anyone have anything that they wish to specifically change or add? >> No. >> Seeing none, I ask for the approval of the agenda as presented. So moved. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Thank you very much. Motion passes. Approval of the minutes. November 6th minutes. Does anyone have any changes or corrections to the minutes as presented? >> No. >> Seeing none, I'd ask for a motion to approve the minutes as presented. >> So moved. >> Second. All those in favor? I. >> Any opposed? Motion passes. Thank you. >> Public hearing. This is a time for anyone who is wishes to speak on an item not on the agenda, please come forward and uh you get was it three minutes to speak. So anyone wishing to speak on an item not on the agenda. Third time. Anyone wishing to speak at not to on some topic not on the agenda, please step forward. Seeing none, I close the uh public hearing. Go to open forum. >> Mr. Chair, it's one of the same though. >> I was wondering why the duplication, but >> we'll work on that. We'll eliminate the redundancy going forward. >> Okay. Uh planning commission review. We have no old business. So, we go to election of the commission chair and vice chair. And there is a process where you must you nominate uh person people to the chair and vice chair position. Uh once there are no new nominations someone should make a motion to close the nominations and it requires a second. Election is using the ballot provided. Uh board members write in their choice of those nominated and staff will announce the results. So nominations. Uh I'd like to make a motion to to nominate uh board member commissioner Dallas Pearson as chair position of chairperson and to nominate board member commissioner Tom Willibbring as vice chairperson. >> Any other nominations? Anybody else wish to nom self-nominate? You can do that. Seeing none, I guess I close nominations. Seeing as there's only one, do you want a vote still by requirements or go by acclamation? >> Go by acclamation. Chair, I think that ballot. >> I'll take a motion to uh point by acclamation. >> So moved. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I. Any opposed? Thank you very much. I guess I will continue as your chair then. >> Thank you. Thank you both. >> Next order of business is the public hearing on zoting ordinance amendments. Max, are you doing that? >> Yes. Thank you, chair and commissioners, and good evening. Let me just get this pulled up for you. So, before you tonight is a number of zoning code amendments. Um, as you may recall, in early 2024, uh, the city began its update of the comprehensive zoning code update, uh, which lasted close to a year and a half, which was then thereby adopted by the city council on July 8th, 2025. So after about 6 months, staff has had some time to work on the implementation and we've identified some areas that we believe could provide further clarification, some minor corrections, and then policy changes um going forward. So I'll walk through a brief summary of these. First up for some of the changes to the residential districts, we are proposing the removal of town homes and courtyard cottages from the R2 district. The purpose of this is intended to create a more intentional transition between our the R2 district and higher density districts. There are currently no town homes in the R2 district or courtyard cottages in the R2 district. So, no properties would be made non-conforming by this change. Additionally, we're proposing allowing light manufacturing as a principal use in the B2 business campus district. As a reminder, the B2 business campus district is intended for high visibility. Um, corporate campus and office uses. Um, currently most of the parcels are concentrated at the northwest corner of the interchange of 694 and 94. Uh, though the district, which used to be called the gateway district, was drafted with the intention of uh, covering more parcels someday. The purpose of allowing light manufacturing is to broaden the allowed uses there to better match market conditions uh given where office is in the market right now. Uh to accommodate this and distinguish it from the B3 light industrial district, we're proposing higher design standards and class one material requirements to better match the other uses that are allowed in the business campus district. Additionally, uh we're proposing some updates to the additional garage or oversized accessory structure conditional use permit process. Um we're looking to restore specific review criteria for additional garages from the old code. Additionally, we're proposing a few new standards, including setting a maximum building size, 1500 square ft, maximum building height of 25 ft, a driveway requirement, and no more than one oversized accessory structure. And these are based on um comparison of east metro suburbs that surround the city as well as the last 20 years of approved uh garages and additional accessory buildings in Oakdale. A few minor adjustments here. Um we're correcting a incorrect reference in the zoning map amendment section. We're clarifying the side setbacks for accessory structures and then clarifying that the electronic signage in non-residential districts does require a cup. Currently, it says so only for residential districts. So, in in conclusion, staff has determined that the proposed ordinance amendments are appropriate and consistent with the city's comprehensive plan. Staff is recommending approval of ordinance amendments to chapter 25 zoning. And as a reminder, this is a public hearing, so anyone in the audience who wishes to speak may do so after the chair opens the public hearing. And with that, I'd be happy to take any questions from the commission. Thank you, Max. Does anyone have any questions for Max? >> Any any other comments or questions amongst the commissioners? >> Okay. At that point, I will open the public uh hearing. for this uh comments and rules of conduct. We allow up to total of 20 minutes on a topic and we would like to limit it to three minutes per person for discussion. So at this point I will open the public hearing for comments. Anyone wishing to make comment on this issue please step forward. >> Question. >> Mike Mansfield 7684 Still Waterway North. >> Report. Repeat it once into the microphone. >> Yep. Mike Mansfield, 7684 Still Waterway North. >> Thank you. >> So, my question would be um what does that do for opposing applications that have already turned in their application for the conditional use permit? >> Pending >> pending application. Sorry. >> Those would be before the city council outside of the discussion right now. >> Oh, okay. All right. That's my only question. Any further questions? >> Uh ask again. Is there any further uh discussion on this public hearing? If not, I'll close the public hearing. Bring it back to the commission. Any final comments from anyone? >> No. >> Then as per page 15, >> I have one question. >> Sure. on uh page 28, the building size. In section one, you've got not to exceed 1,000 ft. And in section E, you've got not to exceed 1,500 square ft. Are are these separate from each other? Is one a garage and one's totally separate from a garage? It's not clear to me. >> Sure. Um, Commissioner, to elaborate on that, um, any single family property is allowed one garage by right, uh, which may be up to a thousand square feet without any need for city council approval. The 1500 square foot requirement would be four garages approved through the conditional use permit that exceed either the limit on the one garage or go over that thousand foot square foot limit. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions from anyone? I'll ask one more time. Anybody else have any questions? Okay. No. >> Then um if I look for on page 15 is the motion to recommend approval of the ordinance amendments to chapter 15 25 zoning. >> I could have a motion please. >> So moved. >> Second. >> All those in favor say I. >> All those opposed opposed. Motion passes. Thank you. Next topic is the Oakdale City Hall and Police Department expansion and renovation 1584 Hadley Avenue North site plan amendment. >> So thank you chair. So over the past several months the city has been working with the project team consisting of uh Don Tyson the the city's representative BKV Group and Cross Anderson Construction on plans to expand city hall and the police department facility. So, as Oakdale continues to grow, this the city needs modern facilities and additional space to better serve the community. So, uh the city hall building and the police department building, whoops, is on land that is zoned R3. So, that's medium density residential. Government uses are allowed through the conditional use permit process and there is a valid uh use permit in effect uh that was approved way back in 1991. But based on the size of the building expansion, a formal site plan amendment is required. And the city is going through the same process that any developer would go through for a similar type of use. Um, recall that we did the went through the same procedures for the new public works facility off Granada Avenue. So here on the screen, we have a sideby-side comparison of the existing site layout and the proposed layout. So the existing building which is shown on the left side of the screen consists of approximately 17,000 square ft and then the expansion shown on the right side of the screen um and the expansion area with the the red outline there that's approximately 27,000 square ft. So uh after the expansion the the total building size would be approximately 44,000 square ft. So for access to the city hall and police facility, there are two existing accesses off Hadley Avenue and both of those will remain. We are proposing or u the project team in the city is proposing a new access off 15th Street that would function as the primary entrance for the public looking to do business at city hall or or the police department. In terms of the building itself, the expansion would extend just a little bit further south than the where the building is right now. Uh but that would have an 85 foot setback from the southern property line along 15th Street. The the building is not proposed to be expanded further east and the approximately 60 ft setback from the east property line will will u be maintained there. So, as mentioned, the two accesses off Hadley Avenue will remain. The north access will be the entryway for the public who want to use the park, Walton Park, and that area will maintain 127 parking spaces, including five ADA parking spaces. So, the south access will be restricted to city staff and police vehicles only. Um, there will be a gated system here to control the access. right here where my cursor is, probably where you parked this evening. Um, that area will be 38 staff parking spaces and four ADA spaces. There will also be 29 secure surface parking spaces for police vehicles along the north side of the the facility, the the new expansion area. Uh, additionally, police vehicles will be kept indoors within the expansion area here on the north side of the building. uh the new access off 15th Street, again primarily for the the public to enter uh city hall and the police department that will have 49 parking spaces, including two ADA spaces. I would like to note that engineering staff reviewed the new access off 15th Street and they determined that the projected volume of traffic does not trigger the need for turn lanes. So the overall number of parking spaces uh located in this portion of Walton Parks or the southeast portion where we are uh that will be reduced from 281 to 243. However, the total number of proposed spaces u not only it meets but also ex it exceeds the city zoning requirements which are just a minimum of 110 parking spaces. By and large the existing parking spaces in this area remain pretty underutilized with a few exceptions throughout the year. Summerfest, think uh softball tournaments. Um, additionally, the other parking facilities throughout Walton Park will remain. So, just to give you a rough idea of how many spaces there are elsewhere in in Walton Park, I think I I estimated well over 300 spaces. Any questions before I move on? Okay. So, uh, taking a look at trees and landscaping, a tree preservation plan and a landscaping plan were provided. 64 trees are proposed to be removed. 103 new trees will be replanted as part of the the landscaping plan. Additionally, there will be shrubs planted around the site and the quantity and size of the proposed landscaping trees meet and exceed the city's tree replacement requirements for site lighting. Uh the zoning code has specific standards. Lighting cannot exceed more than 0.5 foot candles at any property line. Uh the phototric plan that was submitted as part of the application shows that uh the max illumination along the south side along 15th Street is 0.2. So well under that 0.5 requirement. And similar on the east side of the property, the the max illumination is 0.2. So the project team did a very really good job in terms of minimizing the light impact to the residents on the south side of 15th Street who would be the the most affected by this expansion for storm water runoff. Uh that will be managed by a detention basin located on the the west side of the building. So that's that would be brand new. And then there would also be an underground storm water system located along the uh or within the the north parking area. So, the next few slides are elevations and renderings, which the project team would be um able to talk through them better than I can, but uh there are a few other items I just want to touch on before I conclude. >> Back to the landscaping for a moment. >> Are you moving the police memorial? >> The the the veterans memorial. Um >> veterans. Yeah. Right outside there. >> Yep. Well, I I there there's a couple memorials out there. Um but yes, I looking at the project team, they'll probably be able to explain that a little bit better. And um there's some renderings um that we'll show in just a moment. I think it'll give you an idea of where those locations will be. So, um any other questions at this time? Just a thought on the um the no turning lanes for the south parking lot and my because there's a turning lane coming into the east parking lot right now. Correct. Just on what is that? Is that Hadley? >> On the north on the northbound. >> Oh, northbound. Okay. I'm just thinking like a parking lot in that location. It's going to cause more traffic that way. >> So, I'm just thinking why not add a turning lane? I mean, >> for just future down the line, I'm like, we're adding a parking lot. A turning lane makes sense to me. um in case like maybe that the 15th light gets backed up and that kind of thing. So just initial thoughts >> for that question. Uh Commissioner, I might have to defer to the project team. Um I don't know if you'd like to address it right now or otherwise we can keep rolling. So >> yeah, good evening. I'm Don Tyson. I'm owner's representative for the city on this project. So, commissioner, is your question about a left turn lane into the parking lot or exiting? >> Uh, left turn lane. Yes. >> Yeah. So, we worked with the city engineer on this and as you heard Luke say, the volume of folks that are going to use that entrance then feel that it warranted an additional turn lane. The other thing that could happen is there is if you start building a turn lane, you're going to see two turn lanes coming together left in there and that's probably going to cause more confusion. examp you could have somebody coming into turn length and people think they're going to turn into this parking lot, but they actually they're going all the way up to Hadley and turn because they're so close. So, we did push the entrance as far as we could to the west so we don't interfere with that turn lane at 15 at uh Hadley and that was that was the primary concern there is not to interfere with that turn lane. >> Okay, got it. Thank you. Okay, >> that that that turn lane that exists goes into what's going to become the city staff parking lot, but the park parking lot, no turn lane for that. >> Uh, commissioner, so Hadley will have be revised. So, the Turnley that's going into that south entrance now that's out there, that'll get relocated to the north to the to the entrance. So, there will be some shifts on Hadley, but 15th Street turn lane won't change. Okay. Um, so in terms of building height, the tallest part of the building is uh anticipated to be about 36 ft, which would be the new lobby, and that does not exceed the zoning height restriction of 40 ft. The zoning code requires that institutional uses such as uh this building be subject to exterior design standards and um at least 70% of the exterior has to consist of what we what we call class one materials. Uh the architectural plans show that the facades will consist of actually closer to 95% class one materials. So brick, metal panels and glass would is are the materials that they would uh consist of. The remaining 5% would consist of stained pre-cast concrete panel and existing masonry. So as such the design standards are met. Uh one note about public information, the city held two voluntary open houses during the week of December 15th to provide some information to folks about this project. And the city also maintains a dedicated web page on our city website and we encourage folks to visit the website and just learn more about the project. Um to conclude here, staff recommends approval of the request as detailed in the staff report on file subject to conditions. So I'm referring to the last page in the agenda packet which is page 72. So four conditions of approval for this site plan amendment. Number one is that the project team provide additional details on methods of screening for any rooftop utilities. Number two, add a roof to the exter external trash enclosure area. Number three, obtain approval of the site civil construction plans by the city engineer. Number four, obtain permits and approvals from the Ramsey, Washington Metro Wershed District for storm water provisions. Now, with that, I'd be happy to answer questions. Otherwise, if uh the commission would like the project team to walk through the elevations and renderings and also they could discuss a little bit about the construction timelines um there they are available to do so. Thank you. >> Thank you. Commissioners, any questions for this? Would you like to go into the timeline? >> I have a question. >> Sure. >> Um thank you Luke. Um is there um a requirement for uh glazing in terms in terms of windows and door openings? That's my first question. The second would be is a requirement for rooftop uh rooftop equipment to sort of uh blend in with the environment. Um and if um and if not, what is the alternative? Yep. So, Commissioner, to the the first question about glazing, um glass is considered a class one material and it helps um meet the exterior design standards with this new um facility expansion. The building, the remodel, it will incorporate quite a quite a bit more glass. I think the the idea is just to get more more sunlight in uh to the building u much more than there is right now. Um there might be some building some technical building code requirements for the amount of glass. I don't know that I could speak to that. I'm not sure that maybe the project team might know a little bit about that. Uh to the second question about rooftop utilities, we do have specific zoning requirements that um those have to be uh screened appropriately. So from from the view of the the public the public right away um we will look for those details once there's a building permit. But at this stage, it's still pretty early with the the renderings and the elevations, but we will um make sure that our building is held to the same standards that any, you know, commercial or industrial building would be. >> Thank you. >> One thing that's different about our this building from most buildings in in the city is the solar panels on the roof. Uh is that roof line going to be changing because I think you're moving the entryway over to the this side. So, chair, the the solar panels are actually gone um from the building, but in terms of the the adjustments to the roof line, um I think you you'll have a better idea once we run through the elevations and renderings. >> Yep. >> So, all right, with that, >> we'll have project team and then I can uh flip through the different slides on the screen. >> Good evening. I'm Michael Healey with BKB Group, the project manager. I can uh answer any questions you have on the the renderings if you want to page through them. Yep. >> If we can get the elevations or the the slides on the screen, please. Thank you. >> So, uh as as Luke mentioned, then the new addition is going to be primarily masonry and then metal panel finishes with some glazing. So, uh, the main new public entrance is going to be kind of a tan brown colored masonry that accents well with the existing building and some of the cast stone on the existing, uh, entrance back here behind us. Um, and then the metal panel is is a combination of kind of a a wood tone metal panel and then there's some accent colors with a a darker kind of black tone and and a white metal panel as well to add kind of a timeless and uh contemporary look to the building. Um there are some some other masonry areas around the PD garage that are going to be a combination of some darker brick and lighter tone brick um with some accents of stained pre-cast which is kind of a a little black strip between the brick areas around the garage just to add a little accent break up the long facade. Page forward. Uh this is a view looking at the corner of 15th and Hadley. They can see the existing building in in the uh kind of the inside corner there with the brown brick and then the the police garage edition coming out towards the northeast and that has kind of a tan brown colored brick that will wrap around the building. And then the upper level um on the south side is the council chambers and some city hall offices kind of projecting towards the south. And those finishes are a mixture of the brown colored tan color brick and the metal panels. This is a view from the the north. Um looking over the park parking lot. Um so you'll see the wall of the uh new squad garage for the police department as well as the the police department offices kind of expanding over top of that roof area. Um and how the addition wraps around the west side of the existing building. Um and this also you can see this view. You can also see how we are interacting with the park and expanding some of the pedestrian pathways to connect the new public entrance to the park space and and uh further enhance the connections and the usability of that area. And this is a view from the west facing the new public entrance to city hall. This will be kind of the one main entrance then for public. This will serve both for city hall functions and for police. And uh the the main public facing area does have a lot of uh transparency and glass and that was on purpose to bring uh a lot of daylight into the space and make it inviting and uh comfortable space to be in. Next, and this is a view from the west uh looking over the pavilion at the park towards the the uh new addition side. So you'll see the police offices kind of expanding towards the the west. It's a two-story office space. Um, and that is meant to really kind of embrace the park and have a more welcoming frontage to the park than the building has now and also offer nice views from the staff that are in those work areas out to the outdoor space. This is just another view here of the entrance. The design team right now is still exploring where the Veterans Memorial uh is going to end up. We're wanting to integrate it somewhere in the park space and near the the new public parking lot and uh city hall entrance. Um we are looking at maybe gathering some public engagement in that process too and figuring out where the best location is for that because we know it's an important feature. That's just a view closer in to the the entrance. There any additional questions? I can help. >> Any questions for the developers? >> Think I think we're done on that. Thank you. >> So, are there any further questions amongst the commission members? >> I'm just wondering question. >> Sure. the playground, the existing playground, will it be impacted at all by this expansion? >> No. Uh, Commissioner, so the the existing park amenities will will not be removed or reduced um as part of the the building expansion. as the the project team had mentioned that the one thing that um might be um an advantage to the park is just the additional pedestrian connections from the park to the the new city hall and police facility. >> This is maybe a silly question. Does the address change now? >> I hope not. >> Well, no. I mean, because you're going from Hadley Avenue to >> 15th >> 15th Street. >> 15th. Yeah. more just more of a kind of a question. >> Yeah, Commissioner, great question. Uh, the address will not change. We worked with the building official. Apparently, this is typical when we have a there's a corner lot or corner development. So, the address will stay the same. >> All right. Thank you. >> Any further questions? >> If not, then on page 57 is a motion. Motion to recommend approval of the site plan amendment for the city hall and police department facility expansion at 1584 Hadley Avenue North. >> So moved. >> Second. >> All those in favor. >> Any opposed? Motion passes. Thank you. And we are on to staff liaison update. >> So thank you chair. Just one update if you will. Um, so currently the city does not have any applications, land use applications. So I don't expect that we would have a meeting next month. That's all I have. Thank you. >> Thank you. Any updates from any of the commissioners? See, I'll go on to council leaison update. >> Hello everyone. Uh just a couple of things for you. It seems like it's been a long time since we've been together. I guess it's been a couple months, but just a couple of highle things that the council's been working on over the last uh month or so that I want to point out to you. Um one is a city hall police department that and the open house that we held that Luke mentioned already. Um council's involved in some high level decisions there, mostly budget related, but some some high level decisions as well. So, but thanks to the staff for all the work they've done on on that project. Uh in December last month, we passed the budget levy for 2026. Uh the headline number at 6 6.2% I think it was. Seems like a high number, but staffed uh did a really good job in whittling that down. And I think we uh we uh we did a good job on getting that number down as low as we could. Um city council had a strategic plan work session to uh look at strategic plan for 2026. That was interesting and helpful for me as a new council member. Um so that was a good project. Um and uh I would mention due to the retirement of our um city administrator that we are kicking off the search for a new city administrator here very soon. So that will uh be a long process and and a pretty in-depth process. Lastly, I just want to uh say thank you to this commission um for your knowledge as a as a new council member, for your knowledge, your experience, your willingness to um to take on and deliberate on some controversial projects uh and to make recommendations to the council. It's very helpful to us. So, thank you for your willingness to serve. Very, very much appreciated. Any questions for me? >> Seeing none, we thank you. >> Great. Thank you. >> Yeah. Hey, at that point I ask for a motion to adjurnn. >> So moved. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I. >> Any oppose? We stand adjourned. >> Thirsty today.