Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Okay. Ah, here we go.

All right, you guys ready? All right. We'll call this meeting of the Chaska Planning Commission order Wednesday, August 12, 2026. Look for a roll call.

Here.

Here.

Here. Here.

Here.

Here.

yep um we have the agenda in front of us um i'll make look for a motion to approve it second second uh first by uh commissioner purdy and i'm not sure who had the second right mr reiberg um all in favor say aye aye aye Motion carries visitor presentation. So is anybody here to talk about something that is not on the agenda tonight?

Probably not anything online.

Nope, OK. Moving on to approval of the previous meeting minutes from July 8th, 2026. Is everybody had a chance to review those? Any changes or additions? No. Look for a motion to accept those.

Motion to accept and approve.

Motion made by Commissioner Rostad. Second. And Commissioner Austin. All in favor say aye. Motion carries. We have no consent agenda items tonight, so we'll move right into our action item 7A. We have a public hearing with a recommendation of approval of rezoning Southwest Chaska Park parcels to P1, open space city of Chaska, PC number 2026-13. Liz? Liz?

up to our technology. We all have a mic now. I should have used the mouse. all right chair and commissioners the item in front of us tonight i'm just going to move your water bottle here liz blocking my vision is for rezoning related to the southwest chaska park site the nature of the discussion and the decision in front of planning commission this evening is a recommendation for the rezoning Know this prompts a lot of curiosity as to what the park is going to be I'll just say from the onset that is work that is going through the Park and Recreation Commission And then ultimately for the City Council to approve that design so we won't get into the design of the park this evening if you are interested in that that information is available on the city's website and We have information around the current design and the layout that is being pursued there, and you can dive into that outside of this meeting or this discussion tonight. So the location is shown on the map here. There's five parcels that the city owns south of Big Woods Boulevard connected by, you know, this is Percheron on the east side and then Founders Path on the north edge of that park. The west side is right away the city owns for the extension of Savannah Way. There is plans for a future elementary school in the location that my mouse is circling. The city also owns Outlot G and Outlot H, and those are properties that the city acquired through the process with the High Point Vistas project. order to preserve the big woods area and continue towards that goal for that space so these are properties that are while they're not you know part of the park property technically speaking they will be folded into it and feel like a single experience So like I said, the request tonight is to rezone these five main parcels that are colored in green from open development to P1, which is our standard zoning district for public type spaces. So a little bit of a timeline here. This is going back about 25 years. The 2020 comprehensive plan identified the need for a potential community park in the general area where the property is currently owned by the city and where it is being designed today. An annexation process occurred back in 2004, 2005 to bring this area into the city. It was formerly, what happened? I don't think I said anything flagrant. Okay, we're back, good. Where was I? Okay, annexation happened, so it was Chaska Township at the time, got annexed into the city. The 2030 Comprehensive Plan again continued to identify this general site for a future community park. Then there was the Southwest Chaska Plan, which brought more refined detail to those ideas in 2013. That really set the boundaries in the proximate 50-acre site that the city then purchased in 2017 through a phased process there. It's continued to be identified as a community park in 2040, and that's where the lines in the current plan, the 2040 comprehensive plan, directly align with the property that was purchased for that intent. And as I mentioned before, High Point Vista's through that final plat, the city was able to work with the developer and obtain outlot G and H to secure and preserve that big wood space. Brings us today where we have a rezoning. And looking ahead, September of this year is the plan for the City Council and the Parks and Rec Commission to review and approve that final layout and plan for the park space and then move into implementation. There's a map of the current zoning, as I mentioned before. It's open, which is really a holding district. We work with this district pretty frequently with this planning commission for areas that are guided for development, with the intent being that they would then be rezoned at the time the development is occurring to reflect the use going in. So in order to follow that path, what we would recommend is P1, which is a public use type district. So the permitted uses are public parks and recreation areas and agriculture. So simply stated, I guess the staff would support this request. It follows the vision for that space. The park would be permitted within the zoning that would be set through this action. Again, it's anticipated to start in 2027, so it is timely to get the zoning correct. And again, it would align with the comprehensive plan. So those parcels that we're talking about are this area that's in the bolded line, all guided in the comp plan for park space, which is what the Park and Art Commission is currently designing. So I didn't take any questions, but the motion in front of you tonight after opening a public hearing would be to recommend approval of the rezoning of those five parcels from O Open Space to P1 Open Space for, or I'm sorry, O Open Development to P1 Open Space for the Southwest Chaska Park. Any questions? You're welcome.

Questions for staff on this?

Hearing none? No. Outlets G and H are continued to be part of this plan, then, or the two just south of that?

Yeah. How do I go back with the mouse? Let me just bring a map up. So we can use this map. There we go. So yeah, this is the park space, outlot, and I'll get the letters probably mixed up, but there's outlot G and H are these two. My mouse went away. Here we go. These two here. Those are preserved areas there are easements and things preservation easements on top of both of them that say that you can't take the trees down and create a ball field there or something so the intent is that there will be trails and things that go through that connect directly to the park and you know when when the school comes in we'll take a look at how do we build connections for the school So it will be part of that park space, it's public space, but it did get zoned through the zoning process for this neighborhood out here, through that planned use district that exists, and creating in that zoning, stating that these spaces would be preserved and used as open space in that district. So there's not really a need to rezone it because the uses will align with how that was zoned at the time.

Any other questions? No? We'll open it up for a public hearing then at 7.10 p.m. Is anybody here for the park rezoning this evening? Please come on up and state your name and your address. My address is assumed to be...

Something Edgebrook. I can look it up if you need the exact one. It's in the Johnson-Riley development. It'll be a month, I'll be a citizen of Chaska. Okay. Just wanted to be supportive. You can't ever replace Big Woods. So once it's gone, it's gone. And I think the plan is really outstanding, and especially with the trails and the connection to the school. So super supportive.

Excellent. You need to come to more of our meetings. Anyone else? Excellent.

My name is Tim Comis. I live at 4574 Percheron, so literally across the street from the Future Park. Sure. A little echo sentiment. It's my wife and I both bought the home literally for the park. We're super excited for it and think it's great. So keep it going.

Good deal. Good to hear. Thank you for coming. Anybody online?

I don't see anyone.

No?

No.

Then I will close the public hearing at 7.11 p.m. This is a pretty easy one to approve, so I guess I'd look for a motion to approve the rezoning.

All in motion.

Commissioner Ryberg. Second. And Commissioner Bastid. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Next, we're moving on to 7B, which is recommend approval of the concept plan for Scanvik Nordic Spa, Scanvik PC number 2026-17.

all right thank you members of the planning commission we have a concept plan request in front of us this evening for the project known as scanvic uh proposed at one oak ridge drive being proposed by scanvic hotels The site in question is on the existing and what was formerly used as the Oak Ridge Hotel and Conference Center building site. This site is located off of Oak Ridge Drive, west of Highway 41, west of where the Costco is, and north of the multifamily development known as Springs at McKnight Lake. There's currently an existing building on the property, as well as an older parking layout and shared parking lot that's shared with Costco. Some other adjacencies are McKnight Lake to the west there, a public trail that runs along the lakeside there, as well as Big Woods Lake to the northeast of the property. so to familiarize a few who may not be familiar with the city's three-step process we're currently at the first step in that three-step process which is concept plan review so this is more of a high-level overview of the project starting to look at and identify issues to be either addressed or resolved to some degree in the subsequent steps of this process so really tonight is an introduction high-level overview to really guide the applicant as well as Commission's through the next few steps later on um in terms of background and approvals that have occurred on this site first thing with any concept plan application we do require a neighborhood meeting to be conducted by the applicant ahead of a concept plan submittal so they did do that in june of this year they did not have anyone attend that meeting so they didn't receive any commentary. I believe one adjacent property owner reached out just genuinely curious about the project, but there were no objections provided from any adjacent property owner. This site dates back to 1987 when it received formal approvals to construct what was formerly known as the IDS Learning Center. So the building which exists today was approved and constructed at that time for roughly 170,000 square foot building which would house basically a learning campus for employees of IDS to be able to go there, have their work retreats and really get acclimated with IDS as a company. And then subsequently, it did get taken over by a new user who operated the Oak Ridge Hotel and Conference Center. And then in September of 2020, they did close the doors to that hotel and conference center. So since then, it has been sitting vacant and has been more vulnerable to the urban explorers of the world. So tonight we do have an interested party to utilize the structure and repurpose it. Back in August of 2021 is when a concept plan came forward to basically preserve the hotel and conference center. Although there wasn't a user identified during those approvals, this was coupled with the Costco site and the multifamily residential property to the south of this existing facility. And then the site was rezoned in December of 2021 to be a planned multi-use district, PMD 22 to be exact, to again reflect that new layout out there. Then in June of 2022 was when the final site and building plan and final plat were approved for the three lots out there So the 1987 approvals is shown in that upper left exhibit here and then what was approved with the 2022 approvals is shown in the upper right and So the site in question is a roughly 22 acre site. It currently contains an existing building, which was formerly used as a hotel and conference center, totaling 171,000 square feet. The access to the site does come from a private drive known as Oak Ridge Drive. And wooded steep slopes basically abut the property and encumber the property on the northwest and east sides. So the current request again is for concept plan approval to basically repurpose the Oak Ridge Conference Center building. So the company or applicant is Scanvik Hotels, who specialize or would like to propose a Nordic Spa use within this building. But to get kind of more into the details of what they are proposing, it is a multitude of things for the building and site. They would like to modernize the front facade that faces out towards Oak Ridge Drive to match their branding and reconfigure and refurbish 130 hotel guest rooms and suites. and provide conference center space, roughly 15,000 square feet would be used for that, which could host corporate retreats, weddings, and any other types of gatherings. Also included would be a proposal for a restaurant and lounge. And then getting into kind of the wellness side of things, they would have wellness-focused retail and guest amenities on site and then turning some of their interior space into that wellness function as well for spa-type uses. And then kind of the big component really triggering the need for them to go through this three-step process with us is their proposal to add an outdoor Nordic spa space on the west side of the building. That would total roughly 20 to 25,000 square feet of outdoor spa space. Also included with their plans would be the site improvements that were highlighted during the 2022 approvals of the site, which would be resurfacing and adding in the parking lot space to include 306 parking stalls and then the added landscape around that as well. This is a little snippet from their concept plan, kind of on the left-hand side here showing the layout of where that outdoor spa is located on the west side of the existing building, as well as the layout of the parking lot improvements for the site too, consistent with those 2022 approvals. The upper right image shows a rendering of that proposed outdoor spa space, which would include new spa buildings intermingled within the spa area there. So these buildings would effectively be what they call relaxation pavilions, so they would feature saunas and spa space within those, again, intermingled, as well as kind of warm and cold water pools within that spa area. From a zoning perspective, as I mentioned before, this is in a planned multi-use district, PMD 22 to be exact. So for this lot in particular, a hotel and conference center use is permitted out there. So the proposal for them to reuse the building as such is consistent with the zoning. The outdoor spa space is a new use and kind of an expansion or an intensification beyond kind of what has formally been approved. So we will likely need to do an amendment to the PMD 22 zoning district to include that as a permitted use in the next step of this application if it moves forward. The proposal to add outdoor spa space includes construction into the wooded steep slope area, which just from a zoning perspective does not meet the intent of the PMD 22 zoning district as well as the city's special regulations ordinance specific to wooded steep slopes 15.28.100. Getting into that side of their application where they're showing outdoor spa space in the wooded steep slope area, they did explore a couple different locations on site to locate their outdoor spa space. Location number three, which is the one outlined here to the west of the existing building, is their preferred location. This offers the private, tranquil, and nature immersive spot on site that they're desiring. but just in terms of zoning and the intent of the the zoning district that this property is located in from a staff perspective we would not be able to support locations numbers two and three due to the wooded steep slope impacts And just for reference, on this exhibit here, the wooded steep slopes are delineated in red. And then the required setback, so there's a 30-foot no grade, no mow setback, which is a buffer, essentially, as shown in orange. And then a 50-foot building setback as shown in purple. And again, those are setbacks from the delineated wooded steep slope edges. location number one which is shown kind of north of the building would be supported from a staff perspective as long as they're able to provide a parking alternative that meets parking requirements for the uses on site so if that can be achieved staff would be willing to support that location Getting into the previous approvals of this site, however, in 1987, when the original building was constructed and approved, it did permit portions of the existing building and site to encroach. into the setbacks of the wooded steep slope. And we're referencing this as the disturbance limits of the site from our staff analysis within our report. And basically are generally showing it outlined in red on this exhibit on this slide. So really that includes areas that have been maintained basically since the inception of this building in sight. So it includes outdoor patio space in a couple locations as well as mowed grass around the building and pathways that lead down to the public trail along McKnight Lake as well as a fire pit area kind of off of the public pathway or off of the private pathway within the site here most of the disturbance limit area stays out of wooded steep slopes the only exception areas are that pathway system that connects to the public trail along mcknight lake and that fire pit area that's just off of that as well again these areas have been maintained up until the building's closing in 2020 so it's been a consistent use out there and with that in mind we did advise the applicant to really look at that area that delineation as a starting point for where they'd like to locate the outdoor spa space as it's been maintained or impacted for a number of years. So the applicant, although it was not reflected in their concept plan application that you have in front of you, they have initiated that evaluation within the disturbance limits and they did provide a supplement dated August 6th that was included in your packet and then also an updated supplement that was sent your way this evening before this meeting. The applicant, since staff didn't have time to review that and provide an analysis on that with the constant plan application, the applicant is going to do their own presentation and walk through on what they provided to you this evening for you to consider. looking at the parking for the site so again in 2022 when the whole area was evaluated from a site plan perspective the preservation of Oak Ridge Hotel and Conference Center showed improvements to their parking layout out there and showed the inclusion of 306 parking stalls available for this site some have been constructed that are existing today like the 20 stalls on the south side of the building and then there is future plans in a layout to show how it can connect or extend I'm sorry expand the existing parking lot that's kind of northeast of the existing building to include another 286 stalls there so In total, 306 parking stalls can be accommodated on site. We have requested for the next step in the process for them to do a parking analysis of their proposed uses within the building and site to understand what their need is and also how they're able to meet parking code requirements on site with the expansion of that outdoor spa space included. From a building design perspective, so again They are looking to modernize the front facade on that East elevation facing Oak Ridge Drive and then from a new construction standpoint, they would be constructing four new Pavilion buildings on the west side of the building that would house those relaxation areas connected to the outdoor spa space So in total, from a square footage perspective, they're roughly 4,000 square feet total combined between those four buildings. So from a code perspective, the city does have building design material requirements for commercial buildings, so they'll have to show how they intend to meet that. With existing buildings, And if there's changes to an existing building, there's a level of cohesion that we want to have happen between all buildings on site, as well as this being a part of an overall development of Oak Ridge to provide cohesion kind of between all three sites there. So something they'll have to work on into their preliminary submittal. So to recap the things that are kind of most critical for them to work on for preliminary Kind of above and beyond what is in the conditions of approval so they will Need to get an amendment to the PMD 22 zoning district to include that outdoor spa use within it and then kind of most critical being the exploration and revision of their outdoor spa location outside of the wooded steep slopes and looking at the disturbance limits on site. Depending on what those impacts could possibly be, a variance request may be required. So that will be determined in the next step of this land use application. Additionally, we'll need analyses both on the parking needs for the property as well as a slope stability analysis, which is common for any use that abuts or builds right up to our wooded steep slope areas. So with that, we are asking for you to make a motion this evening to recommend approval of the concept plan for ScanVic at Oak Ridge Hotel and Conference Center based on the conditions that are listed in this staff report. Happy to answer any questions, but if this moves on this evening, it'll go to the next city council date, which would be Monday, August 17th.

Thank you, Liz. Any questions for staff?

Yes. On the parking. Is that all going to be re looked at? Because the way I see it, if you got 130 hotel rooms. Most of those people are going to be the ones using the conference room. So why would we need? More parking for conference rooms would. Most of the people are probably already staying there.

Well, it's not always clear if the people who are staying there are the same people who are going to be using the conference center space. So I think that's a detail that'll be important in their parking analysis for them to kind of explain what those various uses are, when they operate, if there's overlap of those operation hours, and so forth, so we can really determine if there's parking needed above and beyond

kind of what what's already out there I don't think it's fair to say staff has concluded more parking is necessary but we do want to be thorough in the process and just make sure right the nature and the details of this use we weren't anticipating right when we were envisioning possibilities for this for this site I think it's very close to what was thought but you know there's Unique details that have to do with the spot function Relative to everything else that they're planning for the building. We just want to make sure it works So we may go through the analysis and say there's an ample parking plan for and it's all good But we want to make sure that we're feeling confident with that Thank you, and you'll have a restaurant in there too.

It sounds like this. Oh Yeah, okay spot for that Commissioner Purdy

And who's responsible for security? Because I know you mentioned there's been some vandalism and so forth.

Has there been extensive vandalism to the current property? So presently, the property is owned by the group that did the broader development out there. uh... so they purchased the whole thing you know at the time and at the time it was only was two lots and configured differently and all sorts of stuff so they purchased that whole property uh... they've now sold off the majority of it but continue to hold the hotel conference center facility uh... so they are ultimately responsible for the security of the site and we've had Many ongoing conversations with them about how to coordinate there. I know it's something that they would like to see resolved as well, but it is a challenging situation. So there has been damage to the interior of the building. I haven't been in there in a few months, so I don't know if I'm in a good spot really. Reflect, I do know from being on the outside of it, you can see there's some areas of damage where people have been entering and exiting and so forth.

Question for you, it was just kind of reminiscing here, I think it was 13 years ago since I've been in the property, and I don't remember it that well. But with your proposed, the spy area out back, is there enough room to get equipment back there to construct the spy area, or is that going to be a problem there?

That's a good question, and maybe a better one that the applicant can start to answer this evening.

And then, just curious, but if they weren't doing the spa, would we even be discussing this tonight? Would it come before the Planning Commission, or because of the parking, it might come before the Planning Commission?

Right. So the reason why it's coming before you this evening is because they are expanding outside of what the existing footprint is. And within this application itself, too, there's potential questions on whether there's impacts to the wooded steep slopes. So, yeah, anytime you're expanding outside of kind of current footprints and such, typically that triggers the site planning process with us.

Okay. Any more questions for staff? Otherwise, we'll have the developer. Go ahead.

when you say um staff is not supportive of two option two or three and it's supportive of one which i'm guessing is probably their least favorite um does that mean like it does do you have to have staff's approval in the end to move forward if they get the proper variances whatever to adjust the sub backs

so staff's role in a land use application is we review and we provide a recommendation based on our zoning ordinance so when we say we don't support the locations it's because it doesn't meet our ordinance of protecting the wooded steep slope so we provide a recommendation to you as the planning commission and you get to take that information and move on it how you want which you provide a recommendation to council based on what you hear from staff and how you analyze it as well. Okay, thank you for clarifying.

Good question. Anyone else? Questions for staff? Otherwise, if the developers want to come up and kind of talk about what your vision is for this, that'd be great.

Just give a name and address, please, as well. Sure. My name is Travis Batting, and I'm from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Thank you.

You came for this? Yeah.

Wow. You're the first one from Saskatoon to approach us. Wonderful.

Thank you for that. We share winters. So now my intro is...

slightly less glamorous. I'm from St. Paul. I'm Jennifer Haskamp. I am the owner of Swanson Haskamp Consulting, which is an urban planning firm in St. Paul. And so we have been helping Travis and his group navigate our regulatory process and the planning process.

Yeah. Excellent. So I'm the president of Scanvik Hotels, and we're a hotel development company. And maybe just a little bit of background, once I saw this property, I fell in love with it. I mean, it has that wellness component, that wellness is a priority that really speaks to us. And so we understand the history of the hotel in the city. It's a prominent hotel for tourism. and I think just to kind of keep things simple the reason we wanted to kind of talk tonight was after our submission there was a number of conversations some meetings that we had with Economic Development Council and and Planning Committee and just walking the site and getting a feel for where those definitions of comfort are because I think Everyone's goal is to get this hotel back up and and operating. I know there's been some challenges that way So I think rather than us verbalizing, you know exactly what we meant that might not be on this presentation We just wanted to kind of walk through a slideshow. I think pictures Speak more than than words so absolutely All right, so

First of all, it's very nice to be with you this evening. I also have walked the site. I happened to do it on the 4th of July, and I may have triggered Costco's alarms too well. I'm not totally sure. On the record. But I was out there partially to try to get an understanding of exactly how does the site lay out? How does it function? What does it feel like? And what makes the most sense in terms of when we're looking at redevelopment and reusing and repurposing this very large structure? How does that actually work? And what components actually exist out there that feel like we need to respect those and ensure that they're integrated and part of what we're doing? And then also, what previous approvals have you given to the project that actually will help make this a more feasible project from an economic perspective? Obviously this is a huge undertaking financially to try to repurpose the structure. So from that perspective, that's how some of this planning site planning kind of started in terms of what are those key pieces that we need in order to make this Work makes sense One of the things that this group has talked about as I've learned more about their mission is the idea that because of your location within the metropolitan area we need to have some kind of attraction piece to this hospitality function that brings folks here because you're not in the core, you're a little bit further out. So that Nordic Spa component is a huge asset to try to bring visitors out to Chaska. And so how do we incorporate that and integrate it into a site that is quite frankly very constrained as it stands because we have a very large structure out there so as that is the baseline that's kind of where they started in terms of their planning i've also learned that there are some grammatical differences between canadians and minnesotans and so um we Oftentimes there's been moments where the architect and myself think we're saying exactly the same thing, and it turns out we are saying not the same thing at all. And so with that, we've been kind of navigating how does that work? How do those setback requirements work? What is that wooded steep slope? What's the priority, et cetera? So with that, if you'd like to go to the next slide. So as your staff indicated, this was our original concept to give you a sense of how it looked. One of the pieces that I think may have gotten a little bit lost in the graphics that you did see is the commitment to actually revegetation in the area, regardless of whether or not it's within what we showed on the concept plan or if it's modified, which is what we're going to talk about in just a moment. But this idea of how do we use pervious services, how are we not introducing more impervious? The goal of this group is 100% to protect the natural environment that exists because that's the very thing that's going to make this Nordic Spa successful. And so from that perspective, revegetation, using impervious surfaces as opposed to impervious surfaces, and figuring out how to integrate that back there while still protecting the visual privacy, both for the users of the spa, but then also those that might be down on your trail, for example, is critical. How do you sort of balance those two aspects together? So I think some of that was a little bit lost in some of the graphics. I feel like this does maybe a little bit better job in terms of just that quality of how much green is really intended to still be part of the spa. So next slide. So as your staff said, they've been extremely responsive to A, we got the staff report of we won't support your location. And then our group was like, wait a minute, let's try to figure out how to do this. There's been a lot of good dialogue back and forth because this group is very committed to trying to make this site work. As Travis indicated, he fell in love with Chiasca. I had to look at where Saskatoon was. And so from that respect, it's great that he found it. I was sort of shocked, to be honest. I've done quite a bit of work out here. So he really did fall in love with it. So they're very committed to trying to make this project work. So we had good dialogue back and forth with your staff. And this red line of the disturbed area is kind of the guidance of, hey, if you can try to fit this in here, Then we can maybe make some sense of this and hopefully get a spa to be on that lakeside part Which again is kind of critical to the experience portion of it as opposed to being in a parking lot And so how do we how do we make that happen? And how do we make it happen in a way that the city is comfortable with? It also meets what the market is going to expect in terms of the high-end cold polar plunge activity, how do we do that? So that red area seems to offer a lot of opportunity for us. There's actually quite a bit of area that exists in there. And when you look at our footprint as compared to that red area, I think it's very manageable and feasible from our perspective. So next slide. just to give you a sense so we're completely transparent here this is how our concept plan prior laid out against what that identified disturbed area is we just want to be totally straightforward we understood that some of that was in the steep slope area part of the thinking behind it and again this might go to the canadian versus Minnesotan way of defining things was that actually some of those structures that are identified were really intended to kind of be like some of those like treehouse type structures that would not disturb and would maintain as much vegetation as possible. uh would actually allow all of the water to flow underneath it would not impede water surface water etc so doing it in such a way that the impact was as minimal as possible in those steep slope areas but we hear your staff loud and clear and as i said i think the area within the red we're confident we can figure out how to make that work

So just to clarify, you're talking about building those on stilts then?

Those would have been, yes. Yep, exactly. And then a lot of those trail areas that are shown in there would have been all made of a pervious type of surface. We would have done re-vegetation. There's also areas, when you look at the disturbed area down that sort of finger, for lack of a better way of saying it, there could have been some restoration in there. So the idea was really to try to... respect the natural environment that was there and do this in a thoughtful, thoughtful way. But we also hear your staff and we're confident we can figure out how to get this layout to work in the red. So if we go to the next slide. So some of our first attempts at this and this is just our initial sketches of how to make it work in that red area. is this. Some of this does require a little bit of reworking on our part in terms of the space programming and how you access it. So in the original concept, there was sort of a tree house structure or structure on stilts or PLOT, however you want to define it, that would have connected to the main building. um and that did encroach into what that disturbed limit area is that's now been removed from this particular concept because we have to figure out a different way to get out into the spa experience so there's a little bit of programming that we need to do from a space perspective but again based on this we do believe that there there is a way that we can accomplish it and make it happen within that red disturbed limit area and still achieve the Nordic Spa environment that we're looking to do. So this is preliminary, obviously. We're just in the probably four days into trying to rethink how we might be able to make this work. But I know that this group is very committed to it and appreciates all the willingness of your staff to kind of work with us to figure out how we can make it work and happen. So I think this might be our last slide. No, I lied. There's a 3D rendering too. So once again, same, very similar concept, because even if we're in a disturbed area, if you will, or the area that we've identified as the disturbance area is still to use similar types of structures, making sure we're maintaining or not increasing impervious surface areas. How do we make those connections between the existing facility and some of these outdoor spaces? And then how do we do it in such a way that it remains accessible, we're ADA compliant, meeting all the building code which balancing all of that of course is going to require a lot more refinement so This I actually do think is the last slide now The only thing that I would add is with respect to the parking Which is we've started to look through a detailed sort of parking analysis of what is the traffic? That's anticipated to come in from a space programming perspective how many visitors how does that work with the spa experience which is most likely to some of the commissioner's points going to be people who are then staying at the hotel obviously and enjoying the hospitality function likewise we'll have a lot of crossover with the restaurant but how do we make sure that we've got enough parking here that's clearly an objective of the group as well And so part of this is being able to actually take advantage of some of those previous approvals because again this project is quite costly. So figuring out how to leverage some of those previous approvals to make this project work from an economic perspective. and so things like the parking lot help enormously because it's already got sort of figured out how the stormwater works with it what some of those and so then we're really modeling stormwater for example on those increases associated with the spa because we already know the layout of the parking lot so things like that help the project enormously and I know the team has talked about how do we how do we take advantage of some of those previous approvals to make the project work

So thank you.

All right. Questions for the developers?

I just have one. And first I'll say I really appreciate the collaboration and creativity to bring this to our community. I think it will be, as you said, a great draw for people to come to Chaska. What about the accessibility for Chaska residents? Is this something that would be a price point that anyone that lives here could afford?

Yes, so there are quite a few Nordic spots in Canada. This would actually be the first of this size in Minnesota. And so the price point would be around $100, and then it's come and go.

Canadian dollars? Yeah.

But that's the whole point is the, you know, being able to allow the community to enjoy this. I think we all know we want a place to pause in the stressful world that we're at and that's what we're offering, you know, not only for hotel guests but for the community itself. And so not to elaborate too much more, but we almost view ourselves as the host of wellness. So part of our programming is also to host different programming classes, yoga, pilates, bike club, run club, so very integrated into the community. And so not only for just hotel guests or people that live in St. Paul, but for the local community as well.

Thank you. I wondered if I could afford it.

Other questions? I'm just curious. You mentioned the polar plunge idea. Is the idea of that you have some of the cool swimming pools? We're not talking about going into McKnight. No. Absolutely not. No. It seems like a safety risk.

that was that was uh when i started reading through how you actually did the circuit if you will there's like a circuit associated with it where you've got hot hot pools and cool pools and you jump in and it does you know things for inflammation and all that business okay so yep thanks i went to watershed recently and it was amazing so i would go do it if they were here

Do you currently have one of these facilities or similar projects?

So most of these Nordic spas are standalone in Canada. So we would be the first to have a hotel and a Nordic spa directly attached. There's a lot of efficiencies to have the two together. And that's why this concept works. One thing I should mention as we were talking about parking is... The two businesses complement each other. Nordic spas are typically more busy in the winter where tourism and hotel occupancy is slower and vice versa. Hotels and occupancy are a lot higher in the summer and Nordic spas aren't as busy during those hot months. So it really complements and from a feasibility standpoint, that's why we like this model and love the site.

Perfect. Yeah. So this would be also be for day use also, you don't necessarily have to get a hotel room or a part of the package type thing. Excellent. Yeah, it'd be a great asset for our community. Yeah.

Is there anything stopping, I guess, locations one or two that the staff had suggested? I mean, I know the one has obviously required parking like on top of that, but is there like an elevation change? Or I'm just curious why we're really stuck on that number three area.

so i can answer so number one from our perspective is off the table because it impacts the the parking that we do believe we need and it's a surface parking lot as it stands if it needs to be a structured parking or a ramp of some kind the financials just simply don't work to make that work So from our perspective, just the economic feasibility of it doesn't work because it jumps the price up so significantly. And secondly, also because the Nordic Spa kind of requires this sort of natural immersive experience in order for it to be successful, the parking lot just doesn't have quite the same vibe. With respect to one versus two, the location that we selected actually has the furthest setback from your lake and the water. So we actually were trying to minimize the amount of area. It also has a more contiguous area of impacted area so far. on the site since 1987 so from that perspective that site was preferred and it also lines up better with when you look at the floor plan of the actual structure so that you don't have private rooms overlooking the spa And so for those reasons that site location was the preferred from our perspective It's also why when we're exploring the area on our on the disturbed area We're looking at removing actually if you've all been out there But removing sort of that back terrace patio area and scooching everything up Because that disturbed area has been there for so long and so it gives us the most depth while respecting the most setback from from the lake

On the, those buildings on stilts. What is planned for being in those buildings?

So those would be the saunas. There'd be a sauna. There'd be a relaxation station. So after your thermal therapy of heating your body up, cooling it down, you need a place to rest. Okay. Whether it's around a fire, there's some interior relaxation stations, and then you're supposed to repeat the process again. Awesome. Yeah, I should just maybe comment. We've looked at the programming of the building. The conference center is quite large for this area so far outside. This was in the 90s and conferences were really vibrant, but a lot of cities have taken on putting conference centers. And so that's not the main drive of many hotels anymore. So part of our interior programming would be to reduce that actual conference footprint and make it part of the spa. So we're also looking to reduce the guest rooms from 147 down to 130. So there are some things for the parking that we're looking at. There are some alterations that reduce that need.

Would you also have health club equipment then as well? Yes, absolutely. Alright. Any other questions?

Nope.

I just, you know, we're in concept plan here, so I like to. I always picture this is the dream stage, right? Yeah, and I like this stage because we have staff. We have Commission here. We have you here and we're all kind of on the same page right now. So now it's just, you know, I don't think we have a round peg in a square hole. I think we get two round pegs are just not quite the right same size there. We'll figure it out though. Yeah, good. Thank you for coming. Thank you. Alright. Any further discussion on this? Otherwise, I'll look for a motion to accept.

I'll make a motion to recommend the approval to the city council, approval of the concept plan for Scanvic at Oak Ridge Hotel and Conference Center on Oak Ridge Drive, subject to the following eight conditions. Is there a second? Second.

Second.

uh first by austin second by sailor all in all in favor say aye aye opposed you have to go to saskatoon i'm totally gonna look up where that is tonight Perfect. Let's see here. Get back to the agenda. All right, we're down to we've covered our action items. We're at number eight. Any other business to discuss? Do we have anything? No? Staff, anything? All right, then I'll look for it. Do we not get like park board minutes and council minutes anymore?

Not unless you want them.

Oh.

We usually just included previous city council meetings that have looked at planning items just as kind of a reference. And then over time it just kind of dissipated. But if that's something you'd like to see, we can certainly add it.

I was just hoping we'd get our packet over 100 pages again. Nah.

In that case, I'll add them all.

I'll look for a motion to adjourn.

So moved.

Second.

Motion seconded. All in favor say aye. Aye. Motion passes. Thanks, everybody.