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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSP - January 8, 2009 C I T Y O F ND 60VE . © 1685 CROSSTOWN BOULEVARD N.W. • ANDOVER, MINNESOTA 55304 (763) 755 -5100 FAX (763) 755 -8923 • WWW.CI.ANDOVER.MN.US Special City Council Meeting Thursday, January 8, 2009 Conference Rooms A & B 1. Call to Order — 7:00 p.m. 2. Agenda Approval 3. Interviews of Planning and Park and Recreation Commission Applicants 4. Adjournment C II T Y ] 0 F DO W E ANDOVER PLANNING & ZONING & PARK COMMISSION INTER VIEWS JANUARY 8, 2009 MINUTES The Andover Planning & Zoning and Park Commission Interviews was called to order by Mayor Mike Gamache, January 8, 2009, 7:00 p.m., at the Andover City Hall, 1685 Crosstown Boulevard NW, Andover, Minnesota. Councilmembers present: Sheri Bukkila, Don Jacobson, Mike Knight, Julie Trude Councilmember absent: None Also present: City Planner, Courtney Bednarz Others Devin Walton — Planning and Zoning Commission Mr. Walton explained to the Council why he would like to be on the Planning and Zoning Commission again. He stated he likes to be involved in public activities. Councilmember Trude thought the issues they have seen recently are planned unit developments and probably what they will see more of in the future. She wondered what are some of the things he has seen in the PUD that people are looking for. Mr. Walton stated the largest benefit is it fits a portion of the public. There are a lot of similarities from house to house with smaller yards to deal with since people have active life styles and. do not want to keep up maintenance on homes. He stated there are also large portions of the public that hates to see yard sizes shrink. He would like to see quarter acre homes, houses that are not identical or similar because there is too much repetition. He did not see many people that liked the cookie cutter approach. He thought he brought his ideas and knowledge of development to the meetings. Councilmember Knight stated the Met Council is insisting on density and affordable housing, how does that correlate with what he talks about with bigger lots. Mr. Walton stated part of it now is the economy and they are seeing a totally different infrastructure. He thought a few years ago they were talking about larger lots with million dollar homes in Andover. The Met Council from what he has understood from them, could see them looking at individual communities instead of areas as awhole and pointing out where high density, affordable housing could go. There are a lot of homes not being filled in Andover the way it is. He could see why the Met Council does not think that Andover has a lot of high density housing but they also need to look at the current vacant homes. Councilmember Bukkila asked what his opinion is on the layout on Round Lake Crossings development. Mr. Walton stated he did not like the looks of the development because it is in a highly congested area already and he thought they were trying to squeeze it in among existing homes and it is already busy off of Round Lake and Coon Creek. He stated he has seen some developments © Andover City Council Interviews for Planning & Zoning and Park Commission Openings Minutes — January 8, 2009 Page 2 in other cities where the development was not even built because of the economy. Mayor Gamache asked after three years of sitting on the Commission did he feel comfortable with the job the Commission does currently. Mr. Walton stated he liked the way Chair Daninger ran the meetings. He also thought staff was great about answering their questions in and out of the meeting. Councilmember Trade stated because of the foreclosures going on in the area, can they improve the value of their neighborhoods if they were to add more to the Code. Mr. Walton stated he has a lot of foreclosures in other cities and he thought a lot of the cities were going overboard in order for a sale to occur. He always suggested to his clients that they get an inspection of a pre -owned home. Mark Miskowiec — Planning and Zoning Commission Mr. Miskowiec reviewed with the Council the reason why he would like to be on the Planning and Zoning Commission. Councilmember Jacobson stated they are going through the process of doing a ten year Master Plan of the City and they are trying to get the Met Council approval but they want more affordable housing and higher density in the City and he wanted to know what Mr. Miskowiec thought about that. Mr. Miskowiec stated he thought their density was fine the way it is. He moved here in 1992 and liked the suburban residential feel. He thought the Met Council was a guideline but did not want Andover to turn out like Ramsey has. He thought they did have to take in Met Council decisions but can do creative things with their rules. Councilmember Knight asked what was the most important issue facing Andover in the next five years. Mr. Miskowiec thought they needed to maintain the things they have and he thought they would want orderly development and what is good for the livability for Andover. Councilmember Trade stated the Planning and Zoning Commission reviews developments and PUD's, there are trade off s and could he see good and bad points to some of the developments he has seen in the City to date. Mr. Miskowiec stated they are going to have the transitional housing between established housing and businesses which is probably good but they do not want to route the traffic through a subdivision. He noticed in a few developments that has happened and it could have been done better. Councilmember Bukkila asked how he felt the City's regulations should be applied, strictly or on a case by case basis. Mr. Miskowiec stated they have spent a lot of time making the ordinances and he felt they needed to be applied pretty strictly. Mayor Gamache asked what role he thought the Planning and Zoning Commission should play as the City continues to grow. Mr. Miskowiec stated the livability and monetary investment the residents have here, he did not want to see it degraded for some other developer to come in and make substandard developments. They need to maintain the ordinances they have and if they need to be © Andover City Council Interviews for Planning & Zoning and Park Commission Openings Minutes — January 8, 2009 Page 3 changed they can look at that. Councilmember Jacobson stated they try when they write the ordinances to think about everything they can, if someone came in asking for a variance, what kind of a criteria would he use to make the decision to grant it or not. Mr. Miskowiec stated he would see if there was a hardship or if a precedent has already been done in the City before making a decision. Councilmember Trade asked if he was asked to be on the Parks Commission would he be interested in that position. Mr. Miskowiec stated he would be interested and would consider it. Councilmember Trade asked if there was a park that he really liked in the City. Mr. Miskowiec indicated he liked Hawk Ridge a lot and he has kids in sports so he has been to many of the parks. Tony Capman —Planning and Zoning Commission Mr. Capman reviewed with the Council the reason why he wanted to be on the Planning and Zoning Commission. Councilmember Knight asked if he understood the basic function of the Planning and Zoning Commission. Mr. Capman thought they were the advisory commission for the Council. Councilmember Knight explained the purpose of the Commission. Councilmember Trade asked what he thought about how the public input works. Mr. Capman stated it worked well; everyone seems to have an opportunity to make a comment if they want to. Councilmember Trade asked what kind of things he would look at when reviewing a new development. Mr. Capman stated he would look to see if it made sense and if a precedent would be set if approved. He stated he would need to look at everything with an open mind but need to keep within the guidelines. Councilmember Bukkila asked what could have been done better in his neighborhood from a planning perspective. Mr. Capman thought the only thing in his neighborhood they need is a signal at Crooked Lake Boulevard and Bunker Lake Boulevard. He stated it is very busy and at some point there is going to be a need for a stop light. Mayor Gamache asked what he believed was the most important issue facing Andover as far as the Planning issue in the next five years. Mr. Capman thought they have a lot of issues with the Met Council wanting them to do things that they as a City are not ready to do and with the development © going in Oak Grove, it is affecting the traffic going through Andover which also affects what can go in the spaces so they need to plan for bigger roads. Councilmember Jacobson asked how he would decide on when to stop allowing variances. Mr. Capman stated a lot would depend on the individual situation. In general he was not exactly sure Andover City Council Interviews for Planning & Zoning and Park Commission Openings Minutes — January 8, 2009 Page 4 because every situation is a little different. Councilmember Jacobson stated they are doing their ten year plan right now and the Met Council wants a higher density in Andover and what is his personal feeling to this. Mr. Capman did not think they needed higher density at this time but eventually higher density will be moving in their direction but he would not want to see it in the next five years. Mark Lindell — Park & Recreation Mr. Lindell reviewed the reason why he wanted to be on the Park & Recreation Commission. Councilmember Trude asked if there was a park near his home that he considers a favorite. Mr. Lindell thought Lions Park was a good park for kids. He did not think he had a favorite though. He liked Prairie Knoll Park a lot but there is not enough parking. Councilmember Trude asked if he has been to any Parks meetings. Mr. Lindell stated he watches all © of the meetings and is up on the Andover events. Councilmember Bukkila asked with the current budget situation and Parks being lower on the priorities what did he consider to be important improvements to the parks. Mr. Lindell thought sprinklers needed to be placed in some of the higher used parks. He also thought parking and restroom facilities were another priority. Mayor Gamache stated one of the issues that the Park and Recreation Commission deals with is scheduling, being with the Baseball Association he wanted to make sure he could deal with this unbiased. Mr. Lindell indicated he could. Councilmember Jacobson stated one of the things being discussed at the Parks Commission is a skate park and he wondered if this is a wise decision to make at this time. Mr. Lindell stated it depended on what was causing the high price of the park and if it is going to be used. He did not know what it will bring to the park and he did not feel that he could answer that without knowing the size and reasoning behind wanting the park. Councilmember Jacobson wondered if the money could be used better elsewhere. Mr. Lindell stated it could. Councilmember Jacobson asked where it could be used better. Mr. Lindell stated he personally helped out with the construction of Andover Station North Park and there was a lot of volunteers helping out and could have been used there. He did not think the money would be worth spending for a skate park and could be used in a better way. © Councilmember Knight asked what the biggest single need is for the Parks. Mr. Lindell stated for the board itself, he felt a fresh voice was needed but from the actual park side, with his experience and voice and the people he knows, he could be a voice for the associations and it would be a really good thing. © Andover City Council Interviews for Planning & Zoning and Park Commission Openings Minutes —January 8, 2009 Page 5 Councilmember Knight asked what he saw for the park and recreation system as the biggest need. Mr. Lindell stated the biggest need in the system would be to get out there and get more input and feedback from the users of the parks and get those things done as well. He wondered if the Park Commission actually voiced the feelings of the residents. Councilmember Trude asked if he thought there is a way for the Park Commission to get more funds other than from dedication fees. Mr. Lindell thought they could use the concessions to make money because he felt it gets utilized a lot. He did not know if there was a way to get funds back into the park but they could see about using gambling funds to fund some of the projects in the future. Tim Kirchoff —Planning and Zoning Commission Mr. Kirchoff reviewed the reason why he wanted to be reappointed to the Planning and Zoning Commission. © Councilmember Knight asked what he thought is the most important single issue facing Andover in the next five years. Mr. Kirchoff thought it would be orderly development and he hoped they do not sell themselves short because of the slow development now and he hoped those ideas stay on track, like with the Rural Reserve. He would like the City to maintain the value of the community. Councilmember Jacobson asked why the Planning and Zoning Commission seems to only react to things that are brought to them. He wondered what happened to the Planning side, assisting the Council with looking to the future rather than just reacting to issues that come before them. He wondered how they accomplish that. Mr. Kirchoff thought that was the lead they needed to take. He stated they work with staff on issues brought before them. He stated he did not have a problem with planning the future of Andover. Councilmember Jacobson stated he was talking about future direction of the City and he would like to see the Planning and Zoning Commission come up with some ideas. Mr. Kirchoff thought they would be limited by the MUSA. He never thought in a Planning and Zoning Commission role that this was what they would do. He thought they were an advisory board to look at and review developments and try to look at it from every angle, look at the ordinances in front of them and answer the questions for the Council. Councilmember Jacobson asked if he was more comfortable in a reactive role. Mr. Kirchoff stated they have always been in a reactive role but he felt they could change. Councilmember Bukkila asked what he did with Anoka County. Mr. Kirchoff explained his position with the County. Councilmember Bukkila asked if there would be a conflict of interest if there was discussion to bring transit into Andover. Mr. Kirchoff stated it would not. He explained the process and requirements © Andover City Council Interviews for Planning & Zoning and Park Commission Openings Minutes —January 8, 2009 Page 6 that Andover would need to do in order to bring transit into the City. Councilmember Trade stated she thought of some of the PUD's they had reviewed in the last year and some have not gone well, when development comes through will he look at things with a different eye. Mr. Kirchoff stated he will definitely see what works and does not work in a development and is willing to look at them closer. Ty Schildhauer — Planning and Zoning Commission Mr. Schildhauer reviewed with the Council why he wanted to be appointed to the Planning and Zoning Commission. Councilmember Trade asked what he thought in the City projects that were done well and not so well. Mr. Schildhauer thought the development along Bunker Lake Boulevard was very nice looking and a nice change to the area. He thought a lot of the things that have changed are for the better. Councilmember Trade asked what he liked about the housing developments in the City. Mr. Schildhauer thought the layout of the developments were nice and not cookie cutter. He also thought there was not a lot of repetition of homes. Councilmember Trade wondered what could be done better. Mr. Schildhauer thought the big power lines along Hanson could be improved upon. Councilmember Bukkila asked if he had any past experiences with City ordinances or legalities. Mr. Schildhauer indicated he did not but he did know about building codes. Mayor Gamache asked what he thought is the most important issue facing Andover in the next five years. Mr. Schildhauer thought it would be commercial development. In the past Andover has been more of a bedroom community and he thought in the next five years, with the economy, it will be tough to bring the businesses into the City. Councilmember Jacobson asked what kind of thinking he would go through if a variance came before him. Mr. Schildhauer thought he would take a look at it from an objective approach and what is the intent, what would the final outcome produce. Councilmember Jacobson asked how it would influence him if the majority of people in the neighborhood did not want the particular variance. Mr. Schildhauer indicated it would depend on what the ordinance stated and how it would apply to the applicant. © Councilmember Knight asked if he has had to appear before Planning & Zoning Commission in his work. Mr. Schildhauer stated he has not. Councilmember Trade asked in a PUD what would he be looking for. Mr. Schildhauer stated © Andover City Council Interviews for Planning & Zoning and Park Commission Openings Minutes —January 8, 2009 Page 7 architecturally the look of the outside of the townhomes. Councilmember Trade wondered what he thought about the Met Council wanting them to put in higher density housing. Mr. Schildhauer stated he thought it would be a good thing because it would minimize the use of the open land. Shan Ramauth — Park & Recreation Commission Mr. Ramauth reviewed with the Council the reason why he wanted to be appointed to the Park and Recreation Commission. Councilmember Knight asked what he felt is the biggest single need for the Parks and Recreation system. Mr. Ramauth stated as far as needs go he grew up here and thought things are pretty well rounded. There could be more picnic areas in the parks or shelter areas. Councilmember Jacobson asked if being in the National Guard would impact his ability to serve on © the Commission. He stated it would not, he no longer serves. Councilmember Jacobson asked with a limited amount of money, where should they use the money. Mr. Ramauth thought there should be more focus on elementary since the school district focuses on middle school and high school kids. Councilmember Trade stated the money the parks receive is through park dedication fees and there is some money each year even in slow years but she wondered where the money should go. Mr. Ramauth stated it is dependant on the land and money. He thought it would be nice to generalize parks in certain areas dependant on who is living in the area. It would be nice to have something more towards the areas. Mayor Gamache stated some of the issues they deal with are the smaller neighborhood parks in smaller developments and should they construct those parks or put money into the regional type of parks. Mr. Ramauth thought it comes down to demographics and who is going to use it. Councilmember Bukkila asked what he did with the Anoka County Park System. Mr. Ramauth stated he worked for the Park System when he was younger and explained what his job was. Councilmember Bukkila asked what kind of advantage this gives him. Mr. Ramauth stated it gave him an idea of what people liked and wanted. Councilmember Jacobson asked if there is anything in their parks system that they should have but don't currently have. Mr. Ramauth thought it would be nice to have some covered shelters in the parks. Wes Volkenant — Planning and Zoning Commission Mr. Volkenant reviewed with the Council the reason why he wanted to be appointed to the Planning Andover City Council Interviews for Planning & Zoning and Park Commission Openings Minutes — January 8, 2009 Page 8 and Zoning Commission. He stated he liked to be involved in things. Councilmember Trude asked how he felt when watching what has been going on at the meetings in regard to decisions. Mr. Volkenant stated he has not put himself into the Commissioners shoes but he does know what his own neighborhood likes and what worked and did not work. One of the issues in his development was it took about six years before they got a walking trail. He explained he would look at the development and determine what the people coming in would want. Councilmember Bukkila asked how he felt city regulations should be applied. Mr. Volkenant stated he would probably be a more case by case person. He thought they needed to have a basic set of fundamental rules and then expand upon them. Mayor Gamache asked what he believed in the next five years will be the most important issues. Mr. Volkenant thought what the plans should be for the type of housing stock and what the new community looks like, what is it that will actually attract people to be in the communities. He thought the other big issue is what they are doing with the large construction they are planning on doing in the rural reserve in the future; they need to figure out what the ten year plan is and see what may happen in the five to ten year period. Councilmember Jacobson asked what unique item he would bring to the Commission that the others would not that would make him vote for him. Mr. Volkenant stated he did not know anything about the other applicants but he felt he had a sense of sensibility and he would like to think that being in the community for a few years would help. He felt he has established himself and could be useful as a different opinion. Councilmember Knight stated they are being pressured by the Met Council to increase their density and add more affordable housing and he wondered how Mr. Volkenant felt about that. Mr. Volkenant thought there had to be some responsibility for affordable housing in every community and they need to be looking at opportunities to be in this community. He did not think they wanted that type of housing stock to be in every area of Andover but felt it could be near or close to the existing main thorough -fares into the community. Shaun Van Vark —Park & Recreation Commission Mr. Van Vark reviewed with the Council the reason why he wanted to be appointed to the Park and Recreation Commission. Councilmember Knight asked if he is aware of what is going on the Park Commission. Mr. Van Vark stated he did and has come to some of the meetings and goes to all the Skate Park Advisory Board meetings. Councilmember Jacobson asked if he is currently doing any coaching for any teams in Andover. Mr. Van Vark stated currently he is not involved in any community activities. Andover City Council Interviews for Planning & Zoning and Park Commission Openings Minutes — January 8, 2009 Page 9 Councilmember Jacobson stated Andover has many parks and he wondered if there is anything from his observation that they are missing in the parks. Mr. Van Vark did not know if there was anything missing but may be an opportunity to look at alternative activities. Mayor Gamache stated they have had a skate park and Frisbee golf course and had problems with them because they were unsupervised and he wondered why he felt Third Lair was good. Mr. Van Vark thought the problem was unsupervised activities. Third Lair has done a good job of giving some structure to the sport of skate boarding. He explained what Third Lair does in other communities. He thought they did a good j ob of making sure kids have a good time but also behave. He stated he did not apply for the position to get a skate park for the City. Michael Gravink —Park & Recreation Commission Mr. Gravink reviewed with the Council the reason why he wanted to be appointed to the Park and Recreation Commission. Councilmember Trade asked if there are particular sports he is interested in or just in planning the parks. Mr. Gravink stated when he was on the Coon Rapids Parks Commission they had a park they planned and it was very interesting. He noted he still played hockey and his kids played sports. Mayor Gamache asked what parks his kids played at during the summer. Mr. Gravink stated they played at Crooked Lake. Mayor Gamache asked what he thought about the trails. Mr. Gravink stated when he was on the Commission in Coon Rapids they had a long term plan of connecting all the parks in the City and he thought that was a good goal to have. Councilmember Jacobson asked what his definition of a park was. Mr. Gravink thought it was any general open space people could use. Councilmember Jacobson stated generally speaking when people talk about parks they talk about parks like Sunshine Park. He asked what Mr. Gravink could do for individuals for those not on the youth athletic activities. Mr. Gravink thought they could put in more trails connecting parks, open spaces, walking trails with benches by wetlands because it protects the area. Councilmember Knight stated the one thing missing in their parks is adult athletics and he wondered if that was a priority. Mr. Gravink stated he did not know if it was realistic to have adult athletics because of the cost and he did not know it would be supported because younger adults like to play at bars. © Christina Soukup — Planning and Zoning Commission Ms. Soukup reviewed with the Council the reason why she wanted to be appointed to the Planning and Zoning Commission. © Andover City Council Interviews for Planning & Zoning and Park Commission Openings Minutes —January 8, 2009 Page 10 Councilmember Knight asked if she is familiar with how the Planning & Zoning Commissioner works. Ms. Soukup indicated she did not. Councilmember Knight reviewed how the Commission worked. Councilmember Jacobson stated they are in the process of doing a Comprehensive Plan and the Met Council wants higher density in the City and he wondered on a personal view what she thought about higher density. Ms. Soukup stated she preferred larger lots over smaller lots and thought people were spending more time at home and in their yards. Mayor Gamache asked what Ms. Soukup thought could have been done differently in their neighborhood. Ms. Soukup thought the lots could be larger with more cul -de -sacs. Councilmember Bukkila asked how she felt the City's ordinances should be applied. Ms. Soukup thought they should be applied on a case by case basis since each case is different. Councilmember Trude asked while driving around showing homes what are the kinds ofpeople who want to purchase homes. Ms. Soukup thought lately she has seen younger families because of the schools and the Community Center. Coon Rapids is close enough for shopping so commercial is not that important for people. Councilmember Trude wondered if the situation with townhomes, they do not have a lot of them but the Met Council wants more and she has seen that some of the townhome developments have sold out while others sit there empty and she wondered why this was. Ms. Soukup thought it had to do a lot with location and how many units are attached, people really like end units. Councilmember Jacobson stated the Planning and Zoning Commission needs to follow the ordinances and a lot of times people ask for variances so what type of reasoning or rules would she follow when reviewing these. Ms. Soukup stated it would depend on who they are impacting in the neighborhood or if it will do harm or not. Councilmember Knight asked what she would do in the area of setting precedent. Ms. Soukup stated if they were going to allow a person a variance, they would have to have some things in line that everyone would have to follow. The Council discussed the candidates for both the Planning & Zoning Commission and Park & Recreation Commission and made a decision. Motion:by Jacobson, Seconded by Knight, to appoint Mark Lindell, Shan Ramauth and Mark Miskowiec to the Park & Recreation Commission with Mark Lindell and Shan Ramauth for a three year term and Mark Miskowiec for a one year term. Motion carried unanimously. Motion by Jacobson, Seconded by Knight, to appoint Tim Kirchoff and Devon Walton to the Andover City Council Interviews for Planning & Zoning and Park Commission Openings Minutes —January 8, 2009 Page 11 Planning & Zoning Commission for a three year term. Motion carried unanimously. Motion by Knight, Seconded by Jacobson, to appoint Christina Soukup as first alternate and Ty Schildhauer as second alternate to the Planning & Zoning Commission. Motion carried unanimously. Motion by Knight, Seconded by Jacobson, to appoint Shaun Van Vark as first alternate and Michael Gravink as second alternate to the Park & Recreation Commission. Motion carried unanimously. Motion by Knight, Seconded by Jacobson, to appoint Dean Daninger as Chair of the Planning and Zoning Commission and Tim Kirchoff as Vice Chair. Motion carried unanimously. Motion by Trade, Seconded by Bukkila, to appoint Ted Butler as Chair of the Park & Recreation Commission and Jim Lindahl as Vice Chair. Motion carried unanimously. Motion by Jacobson, Seconded by Bukkila, to adjourn. Motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 10:10 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Susan Osbeck, Recording Secretary