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HomeMy WebLinkAboutJanuary 27, 2009 C I T Y OF X pLANNING,ffD ZONING COMMISSION MEETING — JANUARY 27, 2009 The Regular Bi- Monthly Meeting of the Andover Planning and Zoning Commission was called to order by Chairperson Daninger on January 27, 2009, 7:00 p.m., at the Andover City Hall, 1685 Crosstown Boulevard NW, Andover, Minnesota. Commissioners present: Chairperson Daninger, Commissioners Tim Kirchoff, Michael Casey, Valerie Holthus, Devon Walton, Douglas Falk and Dennis Cleveland. Commissioners absent: There were none. Also present: City Planner, Courtney Bednarz Others APPROVAL OFMINUTES. November 13, 2008 Motion by Casey, seconded by Kirchoff, to approve the minutes as presented. Motion carried on a 6 -ayes, 0 -nays, 1- present ( Daninger), 0- absent vote. OATH OF OFFICE OF RETURNING COMMISSIONERS Commissioners Kirchoff and Walton read the Oath of Office. PUBLIC HEARING: RESIDENTIAL SKETCH PLAN TO CONSIDER REVISED PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT FOR WOODLAND CROSSINGS. Mr. Bednarz noted the purpose of this item is to hold a public hearing and take input on the proposal by Woodland Development. Motion by Walton, seconded by Casey, to open the public hearing. Motion carried on a 7 -ayes, 0 -nays, 0- absent vote. Regular Andover Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting Minutes —January 27, 2009 Page 2 © Mr. Byron Westlund, Woodland Development, 13436 Van Buren Street, explained to the Commission that there is more interest in the detached townhouse style unit than the single family lots. Mr. John Squires, Sales Manager from Woodland Development, made a Power Point presentation to the Commission. Commissioner Holthus asked if the detached townhomes will have the same setback from the street as a single - family home. Mr. Squires indicated they would. Commissioner Holthus asked what is proposed to the east of the existing townhomes. Mr. Westlund stated it is open space to the east and part of the association and he believed it was a DNR protected wetland. Commissioner Kirchoff asked why this is considered a townhome when it is detached. Mr. Westlund stated it is a lifestyle. Everything is maintained for the owners and some are even snowbirds so the work gets done in the winter even when the owners are living in another state. Commissioner Walton wondered if Mr. Westlund had thought about taking over the entire development as townhomes and maybe incorporating the homes into an association. Mr. Westlund stated he has not thought that far and was not sure how to do © it with the seven existing single - family homes. Commissioner Walton assumed all the street stubs were built according to the housing plat and he wondered if anything needed to be modified to allow the townhomes to go in. Mr. Bednarz stated the developer would need to add a sewer and water stub if there were an additional unit added and there are some other adjustments for drainage and utility easements that would need to be done as well. Motion by Walton to close the public hearing. Chairperson Daninger indicated he had some questions to ask the developer. Commissioner Walton withdrew his motion. Chairperson Daninger stated there are fourteen existing sites and he wondered how many are sold. Mr. Westlund indicated six were sold with one being used as a model. Chairperson Daninger indicated they are requesting six townhomes for five lots and he wondered why they needed more townhomes if it is just for a lifestyle change. Mr. Westlund stated a part of it is to hopefully try to reduce the costs of the lots by adding one unit. Regular Andover Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting Minutes — January 27, 2009 Page 3 © Chairperson Daninger stated the PUD was mentioned because of the townhomes and he wondered if it would become part of the PUD. Mr. Bednarz stated the entire development including the single family was approved as part of that PUD. Chairperson Daninger wondered what happens if all of a sudden single - family homes start to sell. Mr. Westlund stated he has talked to the City's Community Development Director to look for another location with the City to build the townhomes and they have looked at some of the suggested locations and found this is the best place for them. It is a good product and well made and he planned to keep them as townhomes. Chairperson Daninger stated he remembered the meeting with the three developments and neighbors had concerns. They spent a lot of time on these developments. To change things now is his concern. He stated it was nothing to do with the product, it was the matter of the time spent to get to where it is today and now they are changing it and that is where he is struggling with it. Chairperson Daninger stated there are two developments to the west and he wondered what the occupancy rate was of those homes being built. Mr. Westlund stated the Cardinal Ridge is pretty much sold out and a different type of product, lower priced. The Shaws Glen development was under supervision of a bank with less activity on them. © Chairperson Daninger asked if Millers' Woods was a lifestyle change with single - family homes. Mr. Bednarz thought this was different because grounds maintenance was the responsibility of the owner. These have different types of floor plans also. Motion by Walton, seconded by Falk, to close the public hearing. Motion carried on a 7- ayes, 0 -nays, 0- absent vote. Commissioner Kirchoff agreed that he did not have a problem with the quality of the homes. He understood the market changes and he did not see this as a detriment to the area. Commissioner Walton agreed. He thought this would provide some transition between the single - family homes and regular townhomes. He understood the economic times, the changes and he understood why they wanted one more unit in order to lower the cost of the homes. He thought the quality of the exterior will meld very nicely with the rest of the homes that are already built there. He did not think there was a need for separation here. He thought if it enables the developer to sell more product and the land sitting there not being productive at the moment, he thought it fits fine. This development is unique in that it is actually a large cul -de -sac with two more cul -de -sac's coming off of it and makes it quiet and remote. He thought the target market they have fits nicely for the product that is going to be in there. Commissioner Holthus wondered what happens when the economy swings back to where it was. She agreed that retiring baby boomers are in the market for a low maintenance © life style and she thought there should be a place for that but did not believe this is the Regular Andover Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting Minutes — January 27, 2009 Page 4 © place because this development was originally designed for single family homes and there are some already there. Commissioner Falk felt this was not going to be detrimental to the area at all, he thought it will meld into the area just fine and felt they were doing the right thing here. Commissioner Kirchoff felt the only difference between the proposed homes and what is there is the maintenance. Commissioner Casey thought the sketch plan as presented would be really good because with it being a detached townhome it does take the appearance of being a single family home. He thought even if the housing market takes a turn for the better the detached townhomes will be the home of the future because it is maintenance free. He thought this is characteristic of the neighborhood. Chairperson Daninger felt five members were in favor of the sketch plan but he was not for it because it will look different with the side yard setbacks. He understands the problems with the economy and would be more comfortable with this if the lots were all sold and there were people waiting for the townhomes to be built. He would also be more comfortable to have the same number of detached townhomes that were proposed for single family. OTHER BUSINESS. Mr. Bednarz updated the Planning Commission on related items. Mr. Bednarz mentioned that he supplied the Commission with the 2008 Annual Report to review. ADJOURNMENT. Motion by Walton, seconded by Casey, to adjourn the meeting at 7:37 p.m. Motion carried on a 7 -ayes, 0 -nays, 0- absent vote. Respectfully Submitted, Sue Osbeck, Recording Secretary TimeSaver Off Site Secretarial, Inc.