Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

recording in progress. Call to order the Wednesday, November 12th, 2025 Chaza Planning Commission meeting. Liz, we take a role. Yep. Commissioner Austin here. Boswa here. Campbell here. Kerber here. Perie Rostad here. Sailor here. Herbansky here. And chairperson brass here. With that, we'll move into adopting the agenda. I'll make a motion to adopt. Is there a second?

Second. All those in favor? I opposed. Motion carries. We'll go right to visitor presentation. Item number four tonight on the agenda. This is for anyone that would like to address the planning commission. That is not on the agenda for tonight. So for some other purpose once we're probably safe to say that there's nobody here for a visitor presentation. We will move along to approving the previous meeting minutes. Have everyone reviewed those? Make a motion. So move. Second. All those in favor? I

opposed. That motion carries and those are approved which we go into our consent item. This is the final plat approval. So everything the heavy lifting's all been done. If there was final review, is there any questions for city or staff before we make a motion to approve that? Okay. So with that, I'll make a motion to approve recommend approval of the final plat for Shioal 19th edition quadrures PC2025-11. Is there a second? Second. All those in favor?

I opposed. That motion carries. That will bring us right to our action item 7A. It's a public hearing to recommend approval of the preliminary site and building plan and zoning ordinance amendment for the municipal services building here in Chaza PC 2025-18. Liz, would you go ahead and present? Yep. One second. Thank you. verifying that you can see the presentation in front of you. Yep. Yep.

All right. Thank you. Uh we have a preliminary site and building plan and zoning ordinance amendment this evening for the municipal services building uh being proposed by uh the city of Chaza and Ortell Architects which is our design team. Uh the site is located in the southwest area uh just south of Creek Road uh south of Chesa Creek Boulevard where it terminates at Creek Road um to the west of Highway 212. We have rural residential uh to the west um and a residential property to the northeast uh but the remaining areas um are mainly industrial in nature. So, we've seen this project come through uh for concept a couple months ago. So, at this point, we're at the second step of our three-step process where we delve into more of the technical details of the project uh both from a civil standpoint and an architectural standpoint starting to uh respond to some of the items that were brought up during concept plan. Um, so there will be another step following this. Um, this project does plan to apply for that right away. So you will likely see the final come through at our next planning commission meeting. Um, I'm not going to run through all of this on this screen, but um, the previous approvals do date back to 2022. Uh, but for this project in particular, um, it dates back to 2024. Um and then more recently September of this year is when the console plan was approved. The property in question um takes over roughly four lots and 22 acres um of area that the city owns. Uh the main lot

uh being looked at for the municipal services building is the western lot or lot one block one of the uh already recorded plat out there. addressed is 451 Creek Road. Uh this is a 12 acre site. Um there are a couple outlots as well that were platted in the original plat for this site, outlot B and outlot C. Outlot B um has two storm water ponds on them and then some buildable space just south of that that will be used for the fuel island and then outlot C is effectively an extension of Chesca Creek Boulevard. Uh the current zoning out here is P10 and this was put in place uh back in 2022 with the original approvals. Just a couple existing views from Creek Road, both looking southwest and southeast from that roadway just to give you a glimpse of how the site is set up today. Uh what we're specifically asking for um is one a preliminary site and building plan and this would be for the new MSB building which would total 148,000 square feet in size and 38 feet in height. It will also contain a fuel island um and a parking lot totaling 118 stalls for the site. Uh the building will house our public works facility uh which contains both our streets department, parks department crew, um our storm water uh personnel, mechanics, building maintenance people, sewer and water and electric departments. Uh in total um this facility would be able to hold 118 employees at its full buildout. Uh the primary operations at this

building will be vehicle storage for most of the public works uh equipment uh as well as maintenance on that equipment would happen at this building. Uh the workshops for each department will also be in this building as well as the office administration or public facing side of the building too. Uh this facility in site uh was not planned for outdoor storage. Uh most of that will stay at the existing facility on Victoria Drive. Uh this site is guided business park. Um the use is consistent with that and the zoning is a planned industrial district number 10 to be exact. So the second part of the request does include an amendment to that PID district which we'll get into a little bit later. Uh this is the proposed preliminary site plan. Um the building again is situated on that western lot uh 12 acres in size. Um it's primarily a rectangular uh building that'll be um mainly uh large open warehouse uh type use with two stories kind of situated on that southeast portion of the building for the offices and uh training spaces. access into the site uh will come from a a direct access from Creek Road on the west side, which would primarily function as personnel entrance. So, it wouldn't be a public entrance into the site. And then uh Chaska Creek Boulevard will extend south off of the existing roundabout at Creek Road and Chesca Creek Boulevard. And that will uh provide kind of the primary access into the site which will have driveways to the fuel island situated on the southeast side of the site or in outlot

B and then two driveway access points um to the main parking area southeast of the building and another um ingress egress point for personnel using the facility. Uh the main entrance of the building will face south so towards uh the wooded area um and be directly adjacent to that uh main parking lot. Uh there will be enough stalls to accommodate both the existing and future growth of uh the site which was one thing that uh we advised to work on uh going into preliminary. So they are um showing 118 total parking stalls uh to meet those future demands. Um this is the traffic circulation um exhibit which [clears throat] was shown during concept but it's helpful just in terms of how people will be accessing the site and where security gates are located which are uh primarily at where uh the rear access of the site is situated. There will be security gates at both of those driveway points so that only authorized personnel can get into those parts of the site. Uh this is the landscape plan. Um so something that has been further refined going into this preliminary step. Um majority of the landscaping will be situated on that southwest uh side of the site which faces or abuts the rural residential homes. Um and from a zoning ordinance standpoint, um quantities are being met, uh for both overstory, understory, and shrubs, uh for the site. Um, and then you'll notice that due to the presence of a transmission line easement that encumbers the north side

of the property, we did not situate any trees within that. But otherwise, all the trees will be um balanced throughout the site to provide screening and uh shade cover for the imperous surface areas. Uh another piece uh brought up not only during the 2022 approvals but also as a part of this is uh screening of the facility from adjacent residential. Um this is a cross-section drawing shown from the rural residential to the southwest of the site. um showing how uh new trees and how those will grow into a much larger screening edge there um over time will help obstruct the view of the the building. Uh there were a few renderings shown as well to give a real a realistic view from um these critical points of view. Uh both showing kind of that initial growth or initial installation of the the landscaping and then what um roughly 20 years of growth would look like. So as the landscaping grows, uh that buffer and screen will um be more powerful. Um this is another view from the property northeast of the site on Creek Road. Uh so looking southwest from that residential property. Uh so their views will be uh minimal of the the building. And the image shown here is um initial installation of the landscaping out there and they did include um future growth of that landscaping as well. Uh the building uh again will house a variety of operations and departments within uh the building which will all have kind of their own designated space

uh which is shown in the colorized floor plan on the top image. Um the office space um will be situated on that southeast side uh which will also have the main entrance. So if there are people who are uh from the public that are um needing to interact with some of the personnel of this facility, that's where they would go in. Um and then workshop space for each designated um department um to the west of that office area. the mechanics bay which would provide maintenance on all city vehicles to the west of that wash bays for all all city vehicles as well um just on that west portion of the building and then the majority of the building would primarily be that vehicle storage space that's to the north. Um the bottom image is a rendering of that uh southeast side of the building or where kind of the public uh would enter the building and uh the employees as well. Just to give you a view of what that looks like, which will be a very appealing um aesthetic as you enter. uh from a building or from a zoning code standpoint for building materials. Um we meet all categories um or meet the uh requirements for an industrial building. Um there will be a mix of modular brick uh glass um architectural metal paneling meeting that class one uh requirement and then a majority of the building would also be uh utilizing uh pre-cast concrete panels in a variety of uh applications to provide interest. Uh the top image here um shows kind of the breakdown of uh those different um materials and then um the bottom exhibit

also shows a closeup on uh those materials as well and how they've been applied in um other uh projects as well. Uh this is another view looking from the rear of the property or northeast. So these are the wash bays and those uh the maintenance bay area and um workshop spaces adjacent to that. And then looking from Creek Road um facing southeast, this will be kind of that main view you'll see along Creek Road. Um, so I think one of the challenges that the um, designers have been able to overcome is when you have such a large warehousing space, it can be a big mass of material there, but they've been able to break that up with um, clear story windows um, and how they're utilizing the pre-cast and the brick throughout that that front north facade there. Um the second part of this request includes a zoning ordinance amendment to P10. Um so a few updates do have to happen with that zoning district because that was put in place um when the previous project came through. So we do have to update some of the language within that zoning district to have it be more consistent with what's being proposed on the site uh today. Um so the amendment would include updating the graphic exhibits that are applicable to this site. Uh amend the permitted use for lot one block one um to include a municipal services building. So it's kind of clear that um this zoning district is set up for that. It also

includes amending the building setbacks to include the setback from residential property lines. I'm not sure why that wasn't in there before, but it should have been. Um, so that is included uh with this amendment. And then lastly, amending the use for outlot B to include the Fuel Island operation there. Uh, so again, it's just aligning the zoning with what's being proposed this evening. Uh, just a few things to refine into final. Um, one thing we brought up in the staff report is to, um, include a trail segment on one side of Chaza Creek Boulevard, basically that southern leg that extends into the site. Um, our intention is to provide a public trail that'll connect into the Southwest Regional Trail to the north, but ultimately connect all the way across the ravine and into the development that'll occur to the south of that. Um and then just continuing to work with uh city staff on the storm water plan and refining what's needed for that. Uh so with that um we'll ask you to make two motions this evening. one to recommend approval of the preliminary site and building plan uh for the new MSB building based on the conditions that are listed in the staff report and then a second motion to recommend approval of the zoning ordinance amendment to PD10 based on the draft ordinance that was included in your packet. Um if this moves forward this evening, it will go to city council on the following Monday, November 17th. Happy to answer any questions. We also have Andrew Cooper here with Ortell um if you have any design related questions for him.

Thank you, Liz. Thank you. Bring it back to commission. This is a public hearing, so we will open up to the public. No one's here, but I think I saw maybe a couple people online if they have any questions. But first, before that, questions for city staff, um for the architect. Anybody have any questions? One one question. Um, being from Maple Grove, it looks strikingly similar to the Maple Grove public works building. Do you uh use some of those concepts in this design, things like that? And I only say that because I thought Maple Grove was well done,

having [laughter] been there when it was built and used it from the fire side. Sure. Uh, well, thank you, Commissioner, as I also did Maple Grove. Um, [laughter]

Uh so yeah, there's only so many different ways to do clear story when you elevate that glass and get it off the ground. Um it is a good exp Maple Grove is a good exploration on how to use um industrial materials in a residentially friendly way and um try to take those concepts and apply them to all our projects. And this one, uh, the primary facade along the road is vehicle storage. It's a 500 foot long box and we want to try to break that up to pull some daylight into people people's everyday workspace even though it's generally for trucks. Um, so but to do that sparingly because we're also conscious of a project budget and glass is more expensive than solid wall. So trying to limit those interventions that it's meaningful and using materials and the uh forms responsibly. So again, there's only so many different ways to do slope roof and you know, and I'm kind of a black and tan material person. It's very easy to find and you can it's very easy to get on projects. So you're you're not waiting for, you know, three, four months for a custom color of something. It's well placed in a neighborhood in Yeah, you've probably seen it done. It's

And so if this follows the same suit, it's I like it. This one's better because it's your second, [laughter] right? Got the king. Yeah. Has Has there been any discussion if if uh if we need to expand in the future? Do we have space there to do that? This would be full buildout, so there wouldn't be any expansion anticipated with this building, but we're still holding on to the Victoria Drive one, right?

Correct. Yep. So, we we do have options there. And I think, you know, we're exploring what could potentially happen there, but there is, you know, extra space there to h help with the uh exterior storage and if there's ability to retrofit there, I I think we can explore that at this time. But yeah, based on this site and how it's laying out and what we plan for, it wouldn't expand beyond what we're What's the 40year or what's the thought on how long this

this facility is actually pro programmed for a 20-year buildout, which through the department's growth projection for infrastructure maintenance, road development, uh, and equipment purch purchases through that 20 years, this would meet those those needs in terms of large and small vehicles. So, this facility um is not going to be needed to be added on to for from a vehicle storage perspective. Now, if there's other work activities that get brought on to the uh departments, whatever they may be, there is opportunity at the existing MSB. Um as Liz mentioned, all the exterior storage is going to be over there. So, you know, they're both are going to be uh remaining in operation for the perpetuity of the department. So, [clears throat]

kind of a follow-up question, but it's not really related to the building. Is there any chance in that we could actually see like a compost facility in the city? Then, it's a good question.

Yeah, I can speak to that a little bit. I would say you know presently with this building we aren't planning any sort of composting facility. Um but you know fortunately just recently across the river uh shock rocks ensue community opened a uh a facility that just does exactly that. Um so we are in active discussions with them um to you know partner and see if there's ways to help uh you know chaska residents get you know access to that facility. I mean ch residents already do have access to that facility. There's a fee to drop off your your yard waste and you know whatever items but um we've tal we're talking to them about how do we maybe rethink our we've got a byanual yard waste drop off that we do at Athletic Park right now. a way to work with that facility and and open that opportunity beyond just you know two weekends a year um create that partnership there.

Awesome. Yeah. [clears throat] Any more questions for city staff architect before I open the public hearing? All right, we can open up the public hearing at 7:24. Obviously, there's nobody here in the crowd tonight. If there's anyone online that like to address the commission,

if there's anyone online that wishes to speak, then just raise your hand and we can call on you. I'm not seeing anyone. Okay, I'm going to go ahead and close the public hearing at 7:24 as well. So, that's got that open and closed. Now we're back again. 16 seconds later. Is there any further questions? Okay. Anyone would like to make a motion to recommend approval?

I'll make that motion to uh recommend approval of the city council of the preliminary site and building plan for municipal services building and must be subject to the following eight conditions. I will second that. [laughter] All those in favor? I opposed. That motion carries. Do the honors on the I'll make a motion to recommend approval of the zoning ordinance amendment za to the plan industrial district P10 based on the draft ordinance. Is there a second? Second. All those in favor?

I opposed. That motion carries. All right. Congratulations, city. Yeah. Good one. [laughter] Thank you. Finest developer I ever worked with. [laughter]

With that, we'll just do other business real quick. Um any anybody have any questions for city or staff? Anything to discuss? Okay. So I just real quick, so next meeting are we going to try to nominate new chair and vice chair? That'd be the intent. Okay. So then I would just, you know, um Liz just sent out an email with everybody on it. So let's not reply all. We don't want to have like a quorum, but if each of you could reply or send me an email and let me know if you would like to be vice chair so we could kind of try to figure this out ahead of time instead of trying to like you know because some point chair vice chair will turn into chair potentially if you're here long enough and whatever. So, if each of you could email me your indication if you'd like to be vice chair and then also vote for somebody that's not yourself, then I can kind of get an idea of like who people are thinking would be, you know, then we can make a recommendation and see if we can vote on it next meeting.

Does that make sense? Still good to be chair. Yeah. Do we do we uh do we have business for next meeting? We do. MSB will be on there and What will be on there? MSP final. Oh, this this the final and then a vote. Okay. Be consent item, I would assume. Consent item. It'll be a quick meeting. Okay. So, if you guys could do that, that'd be great. Just so we could kind of I could kind of see where people are thinking and who's because not everyone's willing to be vice or chair or whatever. So, it' be great to get the idea. Does that make sense? Yep. Okay. Uh, with that, I'll make a motion to adjurnn. Is there a second? Second.

All those in favor? I opposed. Motion carries.

Recording.