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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1985 07-25 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 STUDY SESSION JULY 25, 1985 CITY HALL CALL TO ORDER The Planning Commission met in study session and was called to order by Chairman Pro tem Nancy Manson at 7:31 p.m. ROLL CALL Chairman Pro tem Nancy Manson, Commissioners Molly Malecki, Lowell Ainas, Carl Sandstrom, Mike Nelson and Wallace Bernards. Also present were Director of Planning and Inspection Ronald Warren and Planner Gary Shallcross. (Chairman Lucht had noted at the end of the July 11 meeting that he would not be present for the July 25 meeting and was excused) . APPROVAL OF MINUTES - JULY 11 , 1985 toIF on by Commissioner Nelson seconded by Commissioner Ainas to approve the minutes of the July 11, 1985 Planning Commission meeting as submitted. Voting in favor: Chairman Pro tem Manson, Commissioners Malecki, Ainas, Nelson and Bernards. Not voting: Commissioner Sandstrom. The motion passed. APPLICATION NO. 85017 (Arby's) Following the Chairman's explanation, the Secretary introduced the.first item of business, a request for special use permit approval to operate a convenience food restaurant in the Brookdale Shopping Mall. The Secretary reviewed the contents of the staff report (see Planning Commission Information Sheet for Application No. 85017 attached). The Secretary also discussed the question of whether a. special use permit should be required for operations such as fast food restaurants or game rooms in the Brookdale Shopping Center. He asked the Commission whether they wished to consider waving the special use permit requirement for such uses in Brookdale in the future. Commissioner Ainas suggested setting a floor area threshhold of perhaps 250,000 square feet, above which the center would be exempted from seeking additional special use permits. Commissioner Bernards asked whether the hours of the restaurant would be later than those of the shopping center. The Secretary responded in the affirmative and noted the need for special exiting provisions from the restaurant to prevent patrons from entering the general mall area. PUBLIC HEARING (Application No. 85017) Chairman Pro tem Manson then opened the meeting for a public hearing and asked whether anyone present wished to speak regarding the application. Hearing none, she called for a motion to close the public hearing. CLOSE PUBLIC HEARING Motion by Commissioner Nelson seconded by Commissioner Sandstrom to close the public hearing. The motion passed unanimously. Chairman Pro tem Manson then asked the applicant whether he had anything to add. Mr. Chuck Nadler of Arby's explained that the hours of the restaurant would be until 10:00 p.m. and that there would be a separate gate set up within the mall to channel 7-25-85 -1- restaurant patrons out of the shopping center after the mall was closed. Mr. Nadler also stated that Arby's would be requesting a sign variance to allow a sign on the outside wall of the mall not adjacent to the Arby's space itself. He showed the Commission a colored rendering of the type of sign that they would be requesting a variance for. In response to a question from Chairman Pro tem Manson, the Secretary explained that multi-tenant retail centers are allowed to have either common signery or tenant individual signery along the wall area where a specific tenant abuts. He cited the example of Westbrook Mall as a center which had collective tenant identification signery around a common sign band on the building. He recommended that the Planning Commission take no action on a variance request before a formal submittal had been made and the staff had a chance to comment on the proposal in light of ordinance standards. In answer to another question from Chairman Pro tem Manson, Mr. Nadler pointed out that special use permits are not required in other major shopping malls such as Southdale and Ridgedale. He asked whether the conditions applying to the approval of the special use permit were typical of those applied to other businesses. The Secretary responded in the affirmative. Mr. Nadler stated that, if malls were exempted from seeking special use permits for individual tenants, he asked that Arby's also be exempted from the special use category. He stated that he did not like the possibility that the permit could be revoked as noted in the conditions of approval. Chairman Pro tem Manson asked whether Arby's would be taking the entire space that had been occupied by The Brothers Restaurant. Mr. Nadler responded in the negative, noting that there would be approximately 1,500 sq. ft. of floor area left over. - ACTION RECOMMENDING APPROVAL OF APPLICATION NO. 85017 (Arby's) Motion by Commissioner Sandstrom seconded by Commissioner Nelson to recommend approval of Application No. 85017, subject to the following conditions: 1. The special use permit is subject to all applicable codes, ordinances and regulations and any violation thereof shall be grounds for revocation. 2. Building plans are subject to review and approval by the Building Official with respect to applicable codes prior to the issuance of permits. 3• Special use permit approval is exclusive of all signery which is subject to Chapter 34 of the City Ordinances. Voting in favor: Chairman Pro tem Manson, Commissioners Malecki, Ainas, Sandstrom, Nelson and Bernards. Voting against: none. The motion passed. Chairman Pro tem Manson asked the Commission what their feeling was regarding special use permits in Brookdale. Commissioner Ainas recommended that the City adopt an ordinance exempting Brookdale from the special use permit process for individual tenants. ACTION RECOMMENDING DRAFTING OF AN ORDINACE AMENDMENT TO EXEMPT TENANTS WITHIN A SHOPPING MALL OVER 250,000 SQ. FT. OF GROSS FLOOR AREA FROM SPECIAL USE PERMIT STATUS There was a motion by Commissioner Ainas seconded by Commissioner Sandstrom to 7-25-85 -2- recommend to the City Council the adoption of an ordinance to exempt tenants within a shopping mall of over 250,000 sq. ft. of gross floor area from special use permit status and directing staff to prepare such an ordinance. Voting in favor: Chairman Pro tem Manson, Commissioners Malecki, Ainas, Sandstrom, Nelson and Bernards. Voting against: none. The motion passed. DISCUSSION ITEMS a. Landscaping Plan for the Shingle Creek Business Center The Planner then reviewed with the Planning Commission at some length the proposed landscape improvements to the industrial buildings within the Shingle Creek Business Center. He reviewed plans for the Spec. 14 building, the Spec. 10 building, and Shingle Creek Plaza II. He pointed out that Lombard Properties, the developer of these projects, wishes to increase the landscaping around these buildings in order to attract the best possible tenants. He noted the addition of trees in greenstrip areas and parking lot delineators. He also pointed out large pedestrian access areas to major entrances to the buildings. The Planner also reviewed with the Commission some ideas for signery which had been conveyed by the landscape architect for the project. He stated that Lombard wished to have a common identification sign for the Shingle Creek Business Center that would not be allowed under current ordinance because it would constitute an off-site sign. He also stated that Lombard Properties is considering individual freestanding signs for tenants within the buildings, which would also not be permitted under the current Sign Ordinance. The Planning Commission generally expressed their support for the landscape improvements proposed by Lombard. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Commissioner Nelson seconded by Commissioner Ainas to adjourn the meeting of the Planning Commission. The motion passed unanimously. The Planning Commission adjourned at 8:16 p.m. Chairman. Pro tem 7-25-85 -3- 1 1