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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005 06-16 PCM MINUTES OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF BROOKLYN CENTER IN THE COUNTY OF HENNEPIN AND THE STATE OF MINNESOTA REGULAR SESSION JUNE 16, 2005 CALL TO ORDER The Planning Commission meeting was called to order by Chair Willson at 7:30 p.m. ROLL CALL Chair Tim Willson, Commissioners Graydon Boeck, Rachel Lund, Rex Newman, Sean Rahn, Dianne Reem, and Tim Roche were present. Also present were Councilmember Kathleen Carmody, Community Development Brad Hoffman, Secretary to the Planning Commission/Planning and Zoning Specialist Ronald Warren, and Planning Commission Recording Secretary Rebecca Crass. APPROVAL OF MINUTES — MAY 12.2005, There was a motion by Commissioner Newman, seconded by Commissioner Roche, to approve the minutes of the May 12, 2005 meeting as submitted. The motion passed unanimously. CHAIR'S EXPLANATION Chair Willson explained the Planning Commission's role as an advisory body. One of the Commission's functions is to hold public hearings. In the matters concerned in these hearings, the Commission makes recommendations to the City Council. The City Council makes all final decisions in these matters. APPLICATION NO. 2005 -010 LHB ARCHITECTS. Chair Willson introduced Application No. 2005 -010, a request from LHB Architects for rezoning from CIA to PUD /C1A of a vacant 6.2 acre site located on the east side of the west leg of Earle Brown Drive adjacent to the Earle Brown Heritage Center. The application involves development plan approval through the Planned Unit Development (PUD) process of a 250 room hotel containing a 100 seat restaurant and an enclosed attached water park facility. Mr. Warren presented the staff report describing the location of the property and the proposal. (See Planning Commission Information Sheet dated 6 -16 -05 for Application No. 2005 -010, and the City Engineer/Public Works Director's report, attached.) Mr. Warren further explained that the proposed plan is for a four and six story, 250 room hotel attached to a four story high water park facility. An enclosed walkway connection between this complex and the Earle Brown Heritage Center would also be made tying the two facilities together. Commissioner Boeck asked if the fence being required in lieu of the 15 ft. green strip be tied in with the fence located at the Earle Brown Heritage Center and be so stated in the conditions of 6 -16 -05 Page 1 approval. Mr. Warren responded that a specific fence type could be added to Condition No. 14a based on the Planning Commission's recommendation for decorative fencing. PUBLIC HEARING —APPLICATION NO. 2005 -010 There was a motion by Commissioner Newman, seconded by Commissioner Lund, to open the public hearing on Application No. 2005 -010, at 8:53 p.m. The motion passed unanimously. Chair Willson called for comments from the public. Mr. John Sheehan, Cambridge Commercial Real Estate, explained that he specializes in hospitality facilities and represents the applicant along with the architect and landscape architect. In response to a comment by Commissioner Roche, Chair Willson commented on a post card that had apparently been mailed to a number of citizens in Brooklyn Center from an anonymous group called the Concerned Citizens for Responsible Growth in Brooklyn Center. He pointed out that the card erroneously implied that the Planning Commission would be discussing and commenting on the financing for the proposed hotel/water park. He noted that the Planning Commission's responsibility is to comment and make recommendations on the site and building plan proposed and zoning ordinance issues only. It was not the Commission's function to comment on the financing and that they would not be entertaining such comments. Chair Willson inquired about the fencing and landscaping on the site. Mr. Sheehan responded that the fencing will not be an issue and they will provide fencing on the site as requested by the Commission. Mr. Bruce Chalupsky, landscape architect for LHB architects, explained that they will make modifications to the plan to provide what the city requires for landscaping. He added that additional coniferous trees could be added as suggested by the Commission. Commissioner Boeck stated that the report indicates that the water park will not be offered to the public `generally' and asked for further clarification. Mr. Sheehan responded that there are no plans to offer the water park for use by the general public. It will be available only to patrons of the hotels and the Earle Brown Heritage Center. A key would be required to gain entrance to the hotel water park. Mr. Warren pointed out that there are no accommodations on the site for additional parking for people wishing to use the water park that are not hotel guests. Commissioner Lund asked to be shown on the plan specifically where lighting would be located on the site. Mr. Warren pointed out to the Commissioners where the lighting would be placed in the parking lot areas. Mr. Roger K. Logan, 5548 Humboldt Avenue North, asked who is funding this project. Chair Willson explained that, to the best of his knowledge, this project would be funded privately, however, funding of the project is not an issue reviewed by the Planning Commission. 6 -16 -05 Page 2 Mr. Howard Roston, 1728 Trail Road, Mendota Heights, stated that he was an attorney representing the Concerned Citizens Group, and that the funding should be a part of the comments of the Commission along with the PUD. Chair Willson asked Mr. Roston for more information regarding the group he is representing. Mr. Roston stated that his organization is set up as a non - profit group in the State of Minnesota and they do not think that the standards for the PUD have been satisfied and would recommend denial of the application. He added that as far as the funding goes there are public funds being used. Chair Willson again stated that the Planning Commission does not take into consideration funding for any site and building plan application. Mr. Roston continued by stating that one of the things the Planning Commission does take into consideration is whether or not there is a public need. He stated that he feels it is important to take that into consideration when considering funding. There is $2,000,000 of TIF money going into this project and because of that they feel that TIF should not be used for a private project. In addition to TIF, the City has essentially transferred ownership of this property to the developer with a non - payment requirement for 20 years. He went on to say that they think that the use of TIF does address the public use concerns under the PUD requirements and therefore should be denied. He added that there also seems to be some storm water management questions unanswered and there are significant questions regarding the capacity of sanitary water sewer particularly and should be figured out before the city approves development of the last available parcel in the city. Chair Willson stated that State law authorizes local governments to utilize Tax Increment Financing (TIF) as a development/redevelopment tool. The City Council authorizes such funding mechanisms for qualifying projects under these guidelines. Commissioner Boeck asked if Mr. Roston is familiar with TIF. Mr. Roston responded yes. Commissioner Boeck asked if Mr. Roston is aware that TIF is utilized in all the northwest suburbs such as Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park, Crystal, Maple Grove, etc? Mr. Roston responded that he feels that in this case it (TIF) is being misused. Commissioner Roche asked how many members there are of the Concerned Citizen's Group and who the president is? Mr. Roston responded that he did not know the number in the group nor could he recall the president's name. At the urging of an unidentified member of the audience Mr. Roston provided the name of the president, that being Mr. Raymond Kittleson. 6 -16 -05 Page 3 Mary Revard, 1333 68 Lane N, stated that she feels that the whole project ruins the integrity of the area and would prefer something that benefits the senior citizens in the area. She added that the existing roads cannot handle traffic and feels that small businesses would be a better fit for the area. Wayne Paulson, 5330 Colfax Avenue North, stated that the city does not need another hotel in Brooklyn Center especially with a water park since there is already one in Brooklyn Park. He added that there are already 10 or 12 hotels in the area and they are not filled up. He stated that he has talked to hotels in the area and they are against this proposal. Bonnie Jude, 1315 63 Lane N, asked if there has been any other development proposal presented to the city for this area. Chair Willson stated that a use such as this application has been in the City's long range planning for several years and this is the first interested applicant/developer for such a use. Ms. Jude responded that she sees this as a good use for the area and it will bring back some life to an area that seems to be dying. Rosemary Gordon, 6666 Xerxes Place N, stated that Mary Jo Copeland had presented a proposal for this area a number of years ago. Mr. Warren responded that Mary Jo Copeland's proposal never was formally submitted to the City Council and that a proposal such as hers would have required a rezoning of the property from commercial to residential. He added that after a town meeting with the Brooklyn Center residents, there were informal discussions with the city and it was determined that it was not a proposal that the City wished to pursue through a rezoning. Ms. Gordon stated that she wanted to talk about the hotel situation in Brooklyn Center and feels that there are already too many hotels in the city which has increased crime in the city. Roger K. Logan, 5548 Humboldt Avenue North, stated that he has lived in Brooklyn Center for 18 years. There are too many hotels in the city and they hardly have any customers. More hotels will only go broke. No other persons from the public appeared before the Commission during the public hearing on Application No. 2005 -010. Commissioner Lund left the meeting at 9:20 p.m. CLOSE PUBLIC HEARING There was a motion by Commissioner Roche, seconded by Commissioner Newman, to close the public hearing on Application No. 2005 -010, at 9:24 p.m. The motion passed unanimously. The Chair called for further discussion or questions from the Commissioners. The Commissioners interposed no objections to approval of the Application. 6 -16 -05 Page 4 ACTION TO RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF RESOLUTION NO. 2005 -002 There was a motion by Commissioner Boeck, seconded by Commissioner Roche, to approve Planning Commission Resolution No. 2005 -02 regarding the recommended disposition of Planning Commission Application No. 2005 -010 submitted by Scott Anderson of LHB Architects for Rezoning from C 1 A to PUD /C 1 A and Development Plan Approval through the Planned Unit Development (PUD) process for a 250 room hotel and water park on a 6.2 acre site to be addressed as 6300 Earle Brown Drive. The motion passed unanimously. Voting in favor: Chair Willson, Commissioners Boeck, Newman, Rahn, Reem and Roche. The motion passed unanimously. Resolution No. 2005 -02 is made part of these minutes by attachment. The Council will consider the application at its June 27, 2005 meeting. The applicant must be present. Major changes to the application as reviewed by the Planning Commission will require that the application be returned to the Commission for reconsideration. OTHER BUSINESS Chair Willson gave an update on the June 15, 2005 Opportunity Site Task Force meeting to the Commission. He added that they are presenting a status update to the City Council at the June 27, 2005 meeting. Chair Willson announced that this is Commissioner Reem's last meeting and he expressed his appreciation for her hard work and professionalism on the Commission for the past 12 years. There was no other business. ADJOURNMENT There was a motion by Commissioner Boeck, seconded by Commissioner Newman to adjourn the Planning Commission meeting. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 9: 35 p.m. v Chair Recorded and transcribed by: Rebecca Crass 6 -16 -05 Page 5