Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

All right. Hello. Okay, it works. Welcome everybody to the September 10th, 2025 City Vina Planning Commission meeting. On behalf of the rest of the commission, we're grateful that you're here in person or tuning in remotely. say it every time, but your curiosity, your participation, and your feedback is vital to this process as we navigate change together here in Edina, specifically regarding the ways in which we'd like to use our land. Uh your feedback, as I mentioned, is important. Uh the best way to participate is through our engagement website, which is ww.to togetherina.org. There you can learn about any development proposals, you know, future, past or current ones. Uh that's the best place to participate and share your feedback. We have three public hearings tonight of which we got a lot of feedback, lots of positive feedback too for those. And regarding the public hearings, we'll get into kind of the process of what to expect later when that time comes. Uh but just for you to know uh the agenda for tonight, we'll call the meeting to order with roll call. Then the approval of tonight's meeting agenda, followed by the prior meeting minutes. We have some special recognitions. Then we have our community comment period, which is your chance to testify about a matter not on tonight's agenda. Then we have the three public hearings, one report and recommendation, chair member comments, staff comments, and adjournment. So, it's a full agenda tonight, but again, thankful you're here. And we'll call the meeting to order.

Roll call. Commissioner Nelson here. Commissioner Elky here. Commissioner Padilla here. Commissioner J here. Commissioner Just Commissioner Day here. Commissioner Felt here. Chair Bennett. Uh here. Okay. So, uh next we have the approval of tonight's meeting agenda. Make a motion to approve tonight's agenda. Second. All those in favor say I. I. So moved. Next we have the approval of the prior meeting minutes from August 27th. Motion to approve the prior meeting minutes. Second. All those in favor say I.

I. So moved. Next we have the special recognitions and presentations. So the city does something cool where we welcome student commissioners to participate who are sitting next to me. So here and here and um what's also even cooler is that there's students that want to participate and uh it's quite an awesome experience and we're super grateful that you guys are here and that you're interested in doing this. There's a lot to learn and we love your perspective. So, it's always good when we have the student commissioners here who provide their feedback. It's important to hear. And uh we have Adidi returning and then we have Leonor who's starting. Uh would like to just give each of them, you know, like a minute or so to just introduce himself and kind of express why you were interested and what you're hoping to learn. Start with you. Um,

and just there. My name is Lenor Just. I'm a junior at Edina High School and I live in Edina. And um, I wanted to do this because I'm interested in learning more about how the government works at the city level. And um, like to make change. I think that the most effective way for me to make change would be to start at the city level as well. So,

thank you. I'm Adi. I'm also a junior at Adina High School and I'm on the planning commission again this year because I really enjoyed my experience last year. I feel like I learned a lot about city planning and I'm looking forward to an equally educational term.

Well, thank you very much and welcome back and welcome to the commission. All right. Thank you. So, next we have the community comment period. As I mentioned, this is your chance to talk about a matter that's not on tonight's agenda. Uh, similar to a public hearing, you have three minutes to do so. This is for those who are just in person. Uh, you can come to either podium, state your full name, your address, and you have three minutes to speak when the light turns green, and when it turns red, we'll ask you to wrap up your comments. Is anyone here for community comment? Come on forward. and thank you.

Yeah, thank you for having me. Um, my name is Richard Hellbrand. I lived at live at 5904 Oling Boulevard and um, this is regarding um, I was at actually a planning commission meeting about eight months ago and I was concerned about some of the houses that were being bought on my street, Oling Boulevard, and potentially being torn down. Um, eight months ago, I raised this issue and uh I was pretty much told that nothing could really be done about it. So, a developer moved in into our like two doors down from me and he bought that house and then he bought another house on my road um and both are going to be torn down and uh new houses are going to be put in place. When I talked to him, I asked him why the houses were being torn down. He said, "Well, the basement ceilings are too low. The stairs to the basement are too nar narrow to carry a sofa down there." And he admitted that he admitted that the the houses don't even need to be torn down any more than farmers selling to developers. Um, but it it's going to happen. Um, I guess what I'm tired of is having a developer use my neighborhood as a commodity to make to make his profit with no concern to its rich history and community. and wanted to know if there's anything that can be done to prevent uh what I would consider a needless tear down of a perfectly good house. And again, it's changing changing my neighborhood, changing the the feel of the fabric of my neighborhood, and it's a big concern. So, this is Boulevard between Tracy and uh just to the west of Tracy. Thank you for having me. Thank you very much. Is anyone else here for community comment?

Okay, I guess just to address that, I you know, we want to take any of that comment and um discuss it or have staff look into it and provide you with feedback or something that can be helpful. Um whether or not we're successful in that fully is is a different thing. But I know the city is committed to, you know, addressing some of the tear downs and I know there's some policies that are in place to kind of help I mean help firsttime home buyers, right? Can you speak to any bit of the context of that plan, Carrie? Uh well the city you know there's the come home to eina program that's actually out of money at this time. Um so there's no um but that's to certain incomequalified um purchasers. Uh in terms of the planning commission's role in this issue. Planning commission's role is to make recommendations to the city council and make recommendations on our zoning ordinances. Um over the years this issue this has been an issue for um 20 plus years. What this council and the planning commission have done over the years is um regulate setbacks, height, those those types of things in regard to the homes that are being replaced on the site. Um regulations to make those houses a bit smaller. uh but not to completely stop uh the ability for someone to tear a house down and rebuild.

True. And wasn't Edina for some point selling out mailers to people that had kind of older homes, you know, to try to sell it to a different fund? Yeah, that was is that the still is that part of the come home to that was part of the come home to program. Yes.

Okay. Well, we'll try to get some more feedback for you if at all, but like Carrie mentioned, it's it's inevitable and people have the freedom to do what they want with their property, which includes tearing it down or selling it to someone who wants to. Um, and it continues to be a great place for PE that where people want to live. So that high desire and high value, it's it's going to be a thing that keeps going certain areas more than others. Okay, that was it for community comment. So we will move to our public hearings. Again, we have three of them. So what to expect for the public hearings is there is a couple ways to participate if you're tuning in. Uh if you're here in person, you can testify just like the community comment. Um if you are watching and would like to participate, you can call the following number and enter an access code with a password. I will I'll hold off on that until we get to that exact part of the the meeting so you're not just sitting in the queue. But typically when someone wants to do something that doesn't quite conform with our code, they make an application to do so. Staff reviews it. They put together a bunch of facts and findings into a report as they uh rely on other departments expertise as well. Then they put together this presentation tonight and Addison's doing that. We'll go through it and then we give the applicant a chance to give their own presentation or speak and then we'll have both of them stand for questions and answers with the commission. Then we open it to the public hearing. After the public hearing, then we come

back to deliberate and we make a recommendation for approval or denial of the request. And without further ado, Addison, take it away with the site plan review and variance for 5036 France Avenue South.

All right. Good evening, chair, commissioners. Uh, as you said, this is a site plan review and variance at 5036 France Avenue South. Um, here's a look at the subject property located at the 50th and France district just south of 50th Street on the west side of France. Uh, this building is currently occupied by Cosina Delbario restaurant. Uh the property is zoned plan commercial district 2 which allows for a variety of commercial uh and retail uses as well as restaurants. The site is guided mixeduse center in the comprehensive plan which is described as uh established or emerging mixeduse districts serving areas larger than one neighborhood and beyond city boundaries. Uh the 50th in France and Grand View are the two areas within the city that have this land use designation. Um, so here are some photos of the building as it is today from France and then from the south facade. This is in the kind of the parking lot of the bank property that's just to the south. Uh, and then from the rear of the property uh from the alley that runs behind there next to the uh the south parking ramp. Um, so here's a look at what's being proposed. Uh, the applicant states in their narrative that the existing building is due for an update and a partial second floor addition is proposed as part of that improvement. Uh the existing building will remain largely as it is now with updates to the entry door and building color. The second floor addition is approximately 1500 square ft of gross floor area and would consist of a gabled glass conservatory uh that would house additional dining and bar space. Uh there is no off- streetet parking existing or proposed on the property. Um so here's just another rendering kind of from the side. Um there is this uh terrace on the second floor. Um, this would not be open to to customers for dining. U, they said it would just kind of have plants up there to improve the aesthetic of uh the exterior of the building. Um, here's just another look here. Um, so as they mentioned, it would be a kind

of a glass conservatory building with this aluminum frame. Um, and then along the sides and rear would be uh brick to match uh the first floor. Um, and then here's just a look at the first uh level floor plan and second level. Uh, just to kind of give you a sense of the scale of that addition. Uh, you can see it doesn't even quite go to about half of the depth of the building. Um, so again, just some additional dining space in here uh with a bar over here. And then uh there's that terrace I mentioned. So the proposal uh involves the the following requests. Um so for site plan review uh and then also for a variance from section 361311 and 361312 to allow floor area ratio of approximately 1.2 without providing additional off- streetet parking spaces where F up to one is allowed before additional off- streetet parking spaces must be provided. Uh the proposal results in a parking stall variance of 14 stalls. Um so just looking at our compliance table here um to kind of show that the proposed addition complies with all setbacks building height um the overall floor area ratio for the site is a max of 1.5. It's just between one and 1.5 is where that additional parking must be provided. Um and so it is just the the parking stalls there that uh require the variance but otherwise complies with the standards of the PCD2 district. Um, so looking at those parking requirements, section 361311 requires restaurants provide at least one space for each 100 square feet of indoor floor area plus one space for each employee on the major shift. Section 361312 states that parking for uses in the 50th and France commercial node uh may rely on the city parking ramps with a floor area ratio up to one as defined in

section 3610. Uses exceeding one must provide additional off- streetet parking spaces for the square footage above one. Um just to give some context uh that F requirement goes back to 1978. Uh just before that the city had adopted a master plan for 50th and France that identified uh some parcels where redevelopment was to be encouraged. Um it was pretty soon after that that the city realized um that the parking ramps could not accommodate every parcel redeveloping to the max F of one and a half which was in place back then and is still in place today. Um so they needed to develop a policy that would distribute the parking to all the property owners in a way that was fair. So that is where this comes from. Um so the applicant has provided us with their floor area calculations. Again the the F um with the proposed addition would be 1.2 So they're responsible for providing parking uh for the F above one. So that ends up being 1,142 square feet. Um there is a 10% uh reduction in their parking requirement for being within a/4 mile of transit. Um so with that it ends up being 14 spaces required. Um the applicant states that they are in the process of coordinating a parking agreement with the adjacent landowner at 5050 France Avenue. So that's the Beimo uh Harris Bank location just to the south. Um so that would be to utilize the 31 parking spaces on that property. Um the city has not received a copy of that agreement yet. Uh they said it's still in the works. Uh the applicant states that the hours of the bank uh which are 9:00 to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 to 12:00 p.m. on Saturday would not overlap with the proposed uh operating hours of the new restaurant, which is proposed to be open for dinner hours starting at 5:00 p.m. Lunch would not be offered. Uh the city code does allow for shared parking uh through private agreements between land owners. Uh but there are certain

requirements. Those are provided uh to you in the staff report. The applicant is also proposing to utilize a valet service to increase the parking capacity of the surface lot at 50/50 France. Uh the applicant states that valet customers would pull into the lot of 50/50 out of the way of traffic on France Avenue and believes that 45 vehicles can be accommodated in the lot. Uh the applicant also said they'll be offering incentives and transit passes for employees to further reduce parking demand. Uh the property is adjacent to Metrotransit Route 46 and also uh the new Eline, which is scheduled to uh begin service later in December of this year. Uh without the shared parking agreement, customers that drive to the restaurant uh would be likely to park in the south ramp adjacent to the property uh just there on the left. Um data from the south ramp indicate uh 73 spaces are available on an average Friday and Saturday evening. uh the applicant's parking study indicated that the additional demand from the floor area above uh an F of one uh would be an average of 16 spaces. So that means at peak demand on a Friday and Saturday evening uh on an average night there should still be 57 spaces available in that ramp uh even without their shared parking agreement. So Minnesota statutes and the city code um avidina require that a variance shall not be granted unless the following findings are made. Um so I will walk through each one of these here uh with the staff finding. So the first is that a variance uh the variance would be in harmony with the general purposes and intent of the ordinance. Um, so the staff finding is that the parking ramps at 50th in France are a shared resource and the F restriction is intended to distribute that available parking fairly among all properties in the district. Uh, if a use is allowed to exceed an F of one, it would arguably be using more than its fair share of the district parking. And if all properties were allowed to exceed F of one, um, it's possible that there would be a parking

shortage. That was the assumption that this ordinance was based on. Um so staff uh cannot uh find that criteria to be met. Um number number two is that the variance would be consistent with the comprehensive plan. Um so staff finding is that there are many goals in the comprehensive plan that encourage the city to support vibrant commercial nodes and to support non-motorized transportation and transit uh which would conflict with increasing parking supply to make driving more convenient. Uh however, the 50th and France small area plan uh specifically references the F limit and notes that the existing parking supply is insufficient to accommodate an increase in demand from additional redevelopment. Uh the plan states that developments in the study area will need to either provide their own parking or public private agreements will need to be reached on how to meet the increased demand. Um since we haven't received that parking agreement yet, haven't had a chance to review it, um can't find that criteria to be met at this time. Next is that the property owner proposes to use the property in a in a reasonable manner not permitted by the zoning ordinance. Um the applicant is proposing a relatively small addition that requires additional parking. Um the applicant has said that the addition is necessary to make the business viable. Um and there's no space on the property to provide the additional parking. So staff do find the request to be reasonable. Uh the plight next is that the plight of the land owner is due to circumstances unique to the property not created by the landowner. Um and in this case, the plight of the land owners that there's no space on the existing property to provide that additional parking. Um however, that is true for most of the buildings at 50th and France. Um it's not unique to the subject property. Um it is possible that the city could receive similar variances variance requests from other property owners in the district. Um so again, we cannot say that this criteria is met. Um if there if these types of expansions are desired by the city, um staff recommend that we explore amending the code so that the

same opportunity is available to all property owners in the district. And then lastly, the variance if granted will not alter the essential character of the locality. Um, so given the floor area of the addition is very small compared to the total commercial floor area in the district, this variance alone is not likely to have a significant impact on the amount of available parking most hours of the day, most times uh most days of the week. Um, as I said, there's data from the south ramp that indicate there's 73 spaces available during peak time on the average Friday and Saturday. Uh, the applicants parking study indicated additional man for 16 stalls on the average Friday evening for the floor area above F of one. Um, so we do find that criteria to to be met. We don't think if this variance is approved that there's going to be a parking problem. Um, it's not going to really make a noticeable impact on the parking supply there. So, um, based on the findings and based on the statutory criteria, uh, staff, uh, because the criteria are not all met, uh, staff recommend denial of the requested variance and site plan. Um, however, alternative findings for approval are also provided in your staff report. um if the site plan and variance are to be approved, staff recommend the conditions um that it be conditioned on those conditions there on the screen um which are the same as those in your staff report. So, uh with that, I can pause and answer any questions um unless you'd like to have the applicant team come up and give their presentation. Now, uh let just to keep things moving, we're going to welcome the applicant team and then we'll combine question and answers. Thank you, Addison. Yep. Welcome the applicant team up here. Just introduce yourselves. First name, address, you got your own presentation.

Great.

Commissioners, uh, thank you for having me. My name is Ryan Bernett. Um, I've owned Bario Edina for 15 years now. I've owned the building as well. And so, I've I've um I've seen a lot in the 15 years. Um, I'm in the restaurant business. Uh, behind me is my partner Danny Delprao. We just most recently finished a restaurant called Manari in Northeast Minneapolis as well as Porzana in the North Loop. Um, excuse me. I just clicked so I can get Okay. Um so w with the background um h having operated that restaurant now for 15 years it's we've hit a glass ceiling um and it's and it's not been overnight it's been years and we've been able to to make it because again I I I bought the building 15 years ago and am able to operate off of lower margins but that time has come and and it's not plausible or feasible to do anymore. Uh, as you're probably seeing throughout the metro, there's a lot of restaurants closing. So, you know, most closely to us, Salute and Edin Gril, uh, our two neighbors on that block, Edin Grillil has obviously announced and Salute, it sounds like, is is going to be closing as well. So, um, I I feel their pain. I feel their I feel what they're going through. And um you know, this is an opportunity for us to be a lynch pin in the neighborhood and start new, start fresh, and and and bring this neighborhood what it really deserves and needs. Um and and and on that, you know, it having been in the business for for longer than 15 years and being able to partner with Danny Delpra, who in in my humble opinion is the best restaurant tour in town, it's not a fresh coat of paint. It's it's not it's not just

changing it. It's it's adding something dynamic to the neighborhood that that that brings the vitality back. Um and it's of the utmost importance. So um oh boy, sorry. So, as we're going through this and as we as we did our um application, um we we we went to the comp plan, the 50th in France comprehensive plan, and I I feel that we hit on um six of those those points, and that's also in the the submitt, but you know, it it does bring yearround connectivity. So, this this atrium, if you can imagine it, and the images help, but it um it's you imagine being in in there in December with the snow falling down and you've got massive trees in there and you've got a unique experience that is is really not, you know, there's restoration hardware, but aside from that, it's just it's nowhere else. So, we're adding we're adding connectivity. We're building that with that we're bringing in new design. Um, and quite frankly, the vitality because the vitality is not there. The foot traffic's not there. The the the sales aren't there for us. So, you have rising costs with everything that we're going on that we have going on in our restaurants. And I speak for the community itself. I'm speaking forina Grill and Salute and the other restaurants that we're a part of. So, um I think again we just touched on the urban design and and the character that we're bringing. Um and we're we're we're adapt we're using an adaptive reuse that minimizes the carbon footprint by retaining existing building materials and we're being environmentally environmentally responsible as we can to see growth that that sets a precedent for that district. Um so to speak on the access and the parking and and all of that. So, I I believe you guys should have an email in

your packet from the neighbor, uh my neighbor, uh Jerry O'Brien, and we have a handshake deal. The deal is done. It literally I thought it was going to be done today. Um it I I would assume it'll be inked by tomorrow. It's a simple agreement. Um but he wanted to make sure that we had everything lined up the right way because we'll be taking over full responsibility of his lot and that's something he takes seriously and I and I appreciate that. But we have a deal and he he did email you guys hopefully that that we do have a deal. So we'll be happy to share that in full once it's done which I would wish it was by 4:00 today but it's not. Um but it is it is done. Um so as I'm going through the slides hopefully you guys had some time to look at the what actually will look like upstairs and and about the concept and everything. So, I'm going to I'm going to pass the mic to my partner, Danny, who um again, I I'll just say I I think the restaurants he's done, the energy he brings to neighborhoods and the the attention to every single detail, whether it's service, food, everything, I'm lucky to be his partner in other restaurants, and I'm excited for the opportunity to do so here. So, I'm just going to pass it to him quickly and then I'll hog the mic again.

Thank you for uh having me. My name is Daniel Labrado. I'm um my address is 2700 Princeton Avenue. Um Americana is a concept that uh we started always with um what the location needs. Um so we went leaning more into the past kind of like a pasta bar like an Italianish uh concept. Now that's the um the business part of the restaurant. Um I am a history buff and um I like to think of restaurants like more than just a business. Um I like to have a hook in it. So basically um the concept of the restaurant it is Italian based in the food but uh it's based on the uh after the second world war uh there was no uh before the second world war there was no cultural uh exposure uh really uh in the United States other than by immigration. um when the there were two fronts in the Pacific uh there was a Pacific uh front and European uh front. So we based the the resto in like what the culture in the 50s here would be like with all those uh new ideas and the Hawaiian uh share right like from the Pacific uh time and the tiki uh culture um and then from the European front we have that um the Italian part. So if you look at if you like to watch uh TV, you know, like that vibe of Madmen, that TV show where you

see all that um the tropical uh components and the the European components all mixed out. And that's why the two floors are uh very important for the concept. Downstairs is going to be more like uh neutrals and browns and tans. uh more like the Italian part of like uh what a Italian it look in uh the 50s and upstairs it's going to be the image doesn't really does justice for what it's going to look like. It's going to be like 10 times more plants and way more energy than that. Uh but it's going to be that ticky component. So it's kind of like a chaposition of those two cultures coming together which is what uh me being an immigrant love about this uh this country is that mix of cultures. So I don't think there's nothing like it uh that I know of. Um and that's why I think it's very important for the uh the two floors is is um we are very excited about this project and uh I don't know like if you have any questions for me or anything but uh if not going to pass the microphone. I'm very shy so um I don't love public speaking so

thank you very much. Did you have Okay. Thank you. Um, I'll wrap it up here. Um, so you guys have in your packets the the layout. We we're working with the mayor um Uptown Valet who's done um Porzana, which is about 40% bigger of a restaurant than we have here. And the amount of cars that they park on a on a given night is about 40. So, we're also not including the Ubers and all of that. So, we feel that by virtue of this agreement with our our next door neighbor with with the parking agreement, we will be um and and actually equally, if not more important, um the definite closing of Edina Grill where those seats are being taken off. So, call it 200 seats are no longer going to be part of that lot and then potentially salute. Um, we feel that the the parking itself um will be well within it and we're going to be overcompensating, if you will, with the the valet just to to make sure that we're doing right by the city. Um, it's something we take seriously and it's, you know, this is very important to us that we do right by you. Um, so but I do think it's important to to emphasize that with those two closing the lack there's going to be a lot less parking because it you know um and the fact that we're only open uh starting at 5:00. Uh we're a dinner we're a dinner restaurant and so that's when we've heard from staff that's the lightest time when there's use in that lot plus the 45 to 50 stalls we'll be able to get um next door. So, I won't continue to belabor the point, but um you know, I guess the the last thing I'll say um

for us this for this to work, we need to make u a bold statement. And that bold statement is the atrium up upstairs. Again, as I said in the front end, it's not a slap of paint. It's we need to come with a really good concept that attracts the attention because if we don't, we're going to still we're going to still be in that that rat race. And um so if we I won't continue to put myself in that position if we can't I mean it's just not it's not worth it. So we're shooting our best shot that we think is the best for the city and um hopefully we can come to this you guys can come to the same conclusion. So thank you for your time. Um yeah and I'm sure I'll be back up for questions.

Yeah, appreciate it. So since we're just combining efforts here, we'll just uh maybe we can just go down the line. And I know Mayweather had a question first, but this question for staff andor the applicant. And thanks again for your interest in reinvesting in Edina. I'll start off with one question for the staff and one question for you. Um, when you did the F, when was that? Not this recent one. When was it set? Was it was the F for Dina set like 15 years ago, 25 years ago? Like when

when did we impose the limit on a cap of F of one and then any parking above that was there? So goes back to 1978. It was um sort of adopted then as a policy. So it was applied to developments then. Um it wasn't actually codified until the city recently updated the parking ordinance in 2022. Okay. Okay. Um but the small area plan did acknowledge it and recommended codifying it. Okay. So that small area plan was in 2019.

Thank you for that history. And for the restaurant owner, um would you you say you're in the middle of an agreement with the bank about this? Would you consider parking um bicycles or electric scooters or electric mopeds there? Of course. Oh, sorry. Yeah. Go ahead. Absolutely. Okay. Because I've been noticing a lot more. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Thank you.

Thank you. My question is for Addison um for the city. So um as part of that south ramp there is um a part of it on the west side that is employee permit parking only and that's 8 to 4 I believe Monday through Friday I think. I'm not sure. uh economic development manager uh Bill Nuendorf might know more about that if he wants to come up. Do you want to ask your question and then I'll provide the context?

Um the west side of the south parking ramp um is employee permit parking only from 8 to 4 Monday through Friday. Correct. So, how is And I believe there's what 40 45 spaces in there, something like that. Uh 87. Okay. Excuse me. Bad counter. Uh 87 spaces. How are those accounted for in your um um calculation of allowable parking? Are those not counted at all?

So, I think we might have a joint response. Um, so I'm Bill Nudorf, the city's economic development manager. And, uh, for the last 14- 15 years, I've been providing oversight of the parking at 50th in France, uh, the public parking assets that we have here in Adina. Um, uh, Adina got into the public parking business there in 1968. So, we've got many decades of history of parking there. And it changes every economic cycle. It changes. Um where we are today is uh a situation where we have just over a thousand public parking stalls available at 50th in France. Um on a regular basis we get complaints concerns of there's not enough parking. So years ago we put in this counting this monitoring system to count the number of parking stalls to let the people know uh in advance where the open stalls are. In that process, what we learned was that we will never have enough parking so that everyone can park in the front row. That's usually the complaint. They have to park too far away from their destination. And so what we've learned over the process is we can't build more parking. We could, but we couldn't afford it. Um, but we can manage it. And so the uh the parking restrictions that you just mentioned, those 87 stalls on the lower level, uh we reserve during the daytime for employee only parking. Um we found that customers get confused uh in that particular area. Um so we reserve that for employees in the daytime. But in the evening, we find that restaurant comp restaurant customers that frequent the area love that little space. So that's why the uh employee restriction is lifted at 4 p.m. Um, as far as whether or not those 87 stalls were included in Addison's numbers, I'm not sure about that. He might be able to give you the the more precise answer, but overall there's 409 public parking stalls in that south ramp,

including the restricted ones, including the ones on the lower level, first level, second level, and rooftop level. Okay. Um and all 409 are available to all customers in that area whether they're employees, customers, um vendors, suppliers, etc. So those are all available and Addison might have more from 8 to four for for customers. Uh right there's different there's different time limits. There's different employee restrictions. Um that's the management piece. Okay. Edison, can you answer my question?

Yeah, I think so. So, if you're if you're asking about um you know, in the staff report where we analyze like how many stalls are available on an average Friday and found that there's you know 73 stalls. Yes, that that is of the total 408 stalls. So, that includes the employee parking area. Okay. Thank you. That's what I wanted to know. And that's my go-to parking. I park there all the time. Right. I have a two-part question about the potential shared use agreement. So, um, first, it seems like if that agreement is completed and it meets the city's approval, then there's no need for the variance. Is that correct? Because there's almost 40 spaces available.

Yeah, it key being if it meets the city's approval. I will just acknowledge that the city's requirements for shared parking agreements um are very strict. Um and you know so like one of the requirements is that it has to run with the land. Um you don't find too many neighboring property owners that are going to you know make that deal. So that's why we rarely see these shared parking agreements um actually happen. Um so in talking just kind of discussing with the applicant again we haven't seen it. It doesn't sound like it's going to meet this. So that's why as staff I can't kind of acknowledge it as saying it's okay um or that it meets this. Um so that's where we're at with

Okay. And then related to that, just for clarity, because the agreement has not been completed, we can't consider that tonight. Um, yeah, pro, you probably can't. Okay, a couple more in the ordinance. How do we know the intent of the ordinance? because I looked at the ordinance today and it's not clear just from looking at the ordinance whether we were trying to allocate fairly or whether we were just trying to manage capacity and there seems like there's a difference between the two.

Yeah. Um so there are some memos on this topic. Uh like I said back in 1978 Gordon Hughes the former city manager who I think was the planner at that time uh wrote a memo kind of laying all this out. Um, and so that was where it was kind of described that it was kind of to to have a fair process for like all the property owners and and kind of manage the interest in redevelopment because they did a master plan. They identified some properties that were encouraged for redevelopment, but then they had other property owners um other than those those ones that they identified for redevelopment that also were interested in in redeveloping. And that was when they realized, well, we'll have a problem if we allow everybody to go up to the F of one and a half. Um, so it's kind of those the the memos that that we have in the files from, you know, past planning staff from the 1970s. The thing that makes that awkward, I think, is that um I I couldn't figure out a way to quantify this, but there are numerous buildings in 50th and France that have FS more than 1.0 that don't provide extra off- streetet parking.

Yep. And that actually was acknowledged in in his memo at that time. that that was kind of one of the concerns and one of the issues is that there were buildings in the district that at that time had already been allowed to to build up to an F of one and a half and that that was a a fairness issue at that time. Okay. And then with regard to the comprehensive plan piece, seems like a variance could be considered a public private agreement to meet the increased demand. What do you think of that? Um, say that again.

So the the comprehensive plan says that if there's a a new development that they'll need to either add all street parking or come to a public private agreement to meet the increased demand. It's kind of I think those were the exact words. And to me, a variance is kind of a public private agreement in that spirit.

Yeah, sort of. So, I I guess I would say like if if the city council wants to, you know, once once we get that agreement right, um the council can look at it and decide if they think that if if it's adequate, like if they feel comfortable with granting the variance based on that agreement, even though it won't, you know, most likely meet the code, um you know, that is an option available to the council. they could end up deciding to approve this variance because they're comfortable with that.

I've just got a question, I guess, more more about what if I mean right now the the restaurant tour is saying just dinner, but what if they go to breakfast and lunch? How does that get addressed at that time? Again, it's a hypothetical, but

yeah, I think that's the thing. you know, we won't have control over the hours of, you know, the business. Eventually, the restaurant could leave. It could be a completely different business. Um, you know, again, because it if if the agreement with the for shared parking with the neighboring property doesn't run with the land, then we don't control whether the that property owner decides to terminate that agreement at some time, we don't have any way to enforce that transit passes be provided. So, those those are the things that we just don't have any control of, right? Um, so I guess that's why my report kind of is operating under the assumption almost as if like they're not there. Um, but then also providing the context that there is also still still space in the ramp. So it just becomes a question of how are we going to distribute that equitably. Then as you look at that that uh the F calculation, is there a reason are all the parking spots or just the parking spots in that south ramp utilized in that calculation? There's three different ramps in that in that district that the city owns, I believe. So,

yep. So, that calculation of the 73 cells was just for the south ramp just because that would be that was the closest ramp. So, it doesn't it doesn't include available stalls that might be in the central ramp or the north ramp. And I guess why why is that? It it seems like I mean it's a district. The the three three ramps are in that district. I'm just wondering why it wouldn't be why you wouldn't use them all.

Sure. Yeah, we could we could do that analysis. I just didn't because that's again that's where I think customers are most likely to park if there's if there's capacity. you would park in the nearest ramp. Um, we we could do that. We could look at um the data that we have from our our technology that tells us um kind of the occupancy and we could look at the central and north ramp as well. Okay.

Yeah. Oh, I think manager Nundorf has something to add to that. Uh in regard to some of the other parking structures, uh one of the public private agreements that we already have with the businesses at 50th in France are employee permit parking policies. Um right now those are enforced on the honor system where employees are required to purchase permits. Sometimes the employees buy them directly, sometimes the employers buy them for them. Um but every couple years we look at at that policy and make some tweaks to it based on current market conditions. Um we currently incentivize and and encourage employees to park in the north ramp. The south ramp is always the busiest during the peak times. Everybody wants to park in the south ramp and the north ramp will have 346 stalls that are mostly empty. And so we always encourage the employees to park there first to free up spots for the uh customers during those peak hours. Um uh so uh this business like all the others will be expected to comply with that policy. Um we might actually um as this uh proposal moves forward we might want to try to um move away from an honor system to maybe writing it into one of the approvals that they must comply. Um it's always hard to get every single employee to do the right thing on every single shift. Um but that way from a overall parking management perspective we do look at the north, the center and the south ramp as a comprehensive mass of parking.

Okay. Thank you. Dorf, in terms of managing parking, have you ever considered allowing valet parking in some of the ramps to utilize some of the ramps?

Sure. Sure, we definitely have. Um, uh, most recently, uh, when Mr. Paul Supper Club first opened, um, reservations were booked out quite a bit. they were having some big opening events. Uh, and we entered it into an arrangement with them to use valet. Um, it just, um, there was plenty of parking, but it helped push their customers in and out faster and more conveniently. And so that was, um, you know, the ramp was there. So, we simp it was very simple. The the business owner contracted for the valet service at their expense. Um, and we had the valet drivers park the vehicles in the public garage. Um, we just made sure that the city was insured under the valet operator's license. We didn't want to have any city liability for a um, fender bender type of thing. Um, but that was the most recent occasion. It worked very very well.

Okay. Thank you.

This is for Ryan, right? All right. Great name. Um, so just about the floor area ratio, would you you may have answered this kind of already, but would you say that this project is pretty much dead if you can't exceed a floor area ratio of one? I I I can't speak to the floor ratio of one. I can say in in and as simple as I can that if if we can't do something if we can't do what we proposed with the glass atrium that we think is a again that we think is a is a a massive benefit to the area we're not going to do it and I won't there's no that'll be three restaurants that'll close within months as opposed to one that can hopefully be the lynch pin for other restaurants opening or more retail. getting back to vitality.

Okay. So, your value proposition basically is that atrium and you know getting to that 1.2 floor area ratio as you see it because we need to make that splash. We need we need to do something different do something different than what we've been doing. Okay. Thanks. Yeah. Thank you.

Any other questions for staff or the applicant? Most of my questions were asked and answered also. So, thank you very much for your time. So, this is a public hearing. Uh we will provide the instructions for how you can participate for those tuning in remotely right now. So, if you're tuning in and you'd like to participate, please call the following number 3125358110. Enter access code 2632 884 0722. Then enter the password 5454 and then press star three on your keypad if you would like to speak. And since there's about a one minute lag between this broadcast and some of those instructions, and we're going to let whoever's here in person that would like to testify come to either podium. Same process. You got three minutes. When the light turns green, just state your full name and address, and when it turns red, I'll ask you to wrap it up. Thank you very much.

Thank you. When it turns green.

Okay. Thanks, Rebecca Sorenson, 4304 Eaton Place in Edina. Um, I am the director at 50th in France, and I'm here on behalf of 150 businesses who want to voice our strong support for the proposed Americana Restaurant by Brian Bernett and Daniel Delpra. Um, as Ryan and Daniel shared, this project will bring the fresh energy and vitality our district needs. an impeccably designed restaurant that we should mention opened at five. I think we all have to remember five o'clock when many of our shops and services will close. We'll make an excellent use of our existing resources. We like to promote we have a thousand free parking spots at 50th and France. And I'm glad you mentioned the center, the north and the south ramps. Um we also have the secured valet service that we we've heard about tonight. Now we can talk about the enhanced Metro Transit E-Line which we can access. We went through six months of construction last summer for the new E-Iline. It will break ground or be um celebrated in December um likely at 50th in France. And so we expect people to be using that. And ride sharing. I think when we talked about this um earlier, ride sharing is so popular now, especially for a restaurant like this. Um just like they're seeing in the North Loop at Porzano. Americana will not only draw new visitors, but also generate the foot traffic that supports our small businesses and reinforces 50th and France as a vibrant, walkable destination for our community. So, we hope and we urge you to support this project. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Anyone else who's here in person like to testify? Anyone on the phone in the queue? There is no one in the queue to speak online and I believe we are safe to proceed. All right. And I guess before we do, it's worth mentioning we had a lot of feedback on better together.org or for this one and I read through all of them and it was about 30 positive supportive comments. So I guess I'd welcome a motion to close the public hearing. Motion to close the public hearing. Second. All those in favor say I.

I.

I. So move the public hearing's closed. Now we'll take it back to the planning commission to deliberate on this one. So open it to fellow colleagues here that'd like to Okay. Yeah. Um just this morning I took um my walk at started out at 7:00 and finished at 8. And as I was watching early morning drop off at Morningside, I was really pleasantly surprised. I've been noticing this in Minneapolis and really starting to notice it in um Morningside as well. There were um a dozen people biking to school. There were a dozen people on electric bikes with their kids in them. There were people walking to school. There were a lot of people doing alternative transit other than um cars. And one of the reasons is because Morning Side is so walkable. And I know I talk about it a lot, but 50th in France is also very walkable. I know I walk there or ride my bike in all of the when it's nice because I don't like fighting the parking and I do like riding my bike down there. Um I do um have trouble sometimes finding a place to park my bike at 50th in France. So I would love if people would kind of um open up to some of those things. I know there are a lot of people this summer electric mopeds. All of a sudden, I know half a dozen people with electric mopeds and husband and wife jump on the moped, go have um dinner at Mothership Pizza. So, I think people are really kind of starting to pay attention to other um ways to get places, especially places that are popular to go to. And um so I think for the one of 14

parking spaces, I don't think it's I'm I'm going to support this project. Let's just go down the line, Ryan, next and then continue that way.

Sure. So, you know, start by saying of course I think the project and new restaurant proposal is great, right? I absolutely would love to see this business succeed here on 50th in France. My wife and I frequent 50th in France quite often. Go to all the different restaurants there. We love that area and I think many diner residents do. Um but I can't make my decisions based off of what I would like to see. my personal opinion um my job as a planning commissioner is to reference the code and the ordinances that the city has and respect those um and reference those in my decision-m and if there's a variance required from the code then I have to consider the variance process going through you know the variance uh process the variance requirements like Addison did and the city staff made recommendations on you know at this time I you know I don't think that we meet that variance um variance requirement the meet the variance requirements at this time um based on the existing floor area ratio ordinance based on the comp the small area plan um having just gone through a small area plan myself and been part of making one for the Lincoln London area plan it' be interesting for me in one of my first votes after that small area plan was adopted into the comprehensive plan to then ignore an existing small area plan that is adopted as part of the comprehensive plan. Um, so you know, again, as much as I'd like to see this succeed, and you know, we we don't exist in a vacuum. Obviously, I'm aware of the the restaurants around it closing, the reduced need for parking because of Salute and other restaurants closing, right? But I that's not really supposed

to impact my decision- making, right? The Metro Eline is not supposed to impact my decision-m, right? Again, I'm supposed to consider code um and not find a way to maneuver around it because I wish it said something else. And so, for that reason, you know, I would recommend denial here. However, it it I do remind this planning commission that we, you know, when we make these recommendations that sometimes saying no and kicking stuff up back to the council and asking them to consider more than what we can consider, we can create an impetus for change. Um, and maybe have, you know, actually the code as city recommend, city staff recommended, take a look at that small area plan or that floor area ratio requirement and change it. Um, so maybe they make a decision that differs from ours after our recommendation based solely off code and what we're supposed to do, right? And they grant your variance requests and then hopefully we create, you know, again momentum to to change that problematic code that's that's creating a barrier for you here, right? And we allow for additional success in the future. So maybe that'll happen here. Again, I can't can't really support this based off of the current variance requirements in the code as it's written because that's my job. Um, again, as much as I'd like to see this succeed, that's just where I'm at right now. So, thanks.

Thank you, Ryan. Yeah. Yeah. Commissioner Padilla.

Um I think um this variance should be approved. I'm fully supportive of it for a variety of reasons. Um first of all, I think it's a huge deal. the fact that this restaurant will currently only be open starting at five o'clock when there are so many empty parking spaces and I think that's a huge differentiator in this and that impacts whether or not the variance requirements are met. Um so um I do think even though u it was stated that some of the criteria is not met I would take exception um to that. I also think there's a lot in the comprehensive plan um that is being um complied with which is important. I take into account the plethora of public um approval, the well-reputed owners, um what's good for the city, and I think it is my job to consider what is good for the city and not be looking at a very stringent interpretation of black and white text, but be thinking of this as it um applies. now and going forward and that as a planning commission we need to be taking all of that um into account. Um the points that Miss Sorenson made I think were very valid. Um, so I think I'm in full agreement and as this goes to the city council, I would recommend to the applicant team that you

concentrate on the variances um and the law, not just um the vitality that you hope to bring.

Build on that a little bit. I think we have a variance process to uh allow for uh or to prevent the city code from keeping the city from not doing things that it really wants to do. Uh that's why we have a variance process otherwise we just run it by the numbers and we wouldn't need to be here frankly for in most cases. And I think when the when the code prevents things that literally everyone seems to want or put it another way protects people from things they don't want to be protected from then you really need to take a hard look at it. Our community has not always been open to new restaurants. Uh but there seems to be broad support for this one. The 50th and France merchants who might be concerned about competing for parking don't seem to be. Um, and then fundamentally, you know, thinking about what what 50th in France is and what we want it to continue to develop to be, we just don't want more surface parking at 50th in France. Uh, and furthermore, the applicant has no room for it. We don't want to limit F to 1.0. In fact, we haven't because there are many, many buildings in 50th and France that are exceeding 1.0. So, there's lots of reasons, additional reasons, but I guess I just keep it simple. We have the space. I don't think this sets a precedent because the ve the next project that wants to go to 2.0 would still need a variance and we'd have a chance to look at it again. So, I support this project. I just have a couple points. Um, I guess the the code was written, the F uh regulation was written as a fairness consideration to all

businesses and uh I guess the neighboring businesses in that district. So, it is um we're we're trying to be fair is really a fairness question that we're we're addressing right here tonight. um it doesn't really take into account where we're at in the given economy and and in in today's uh predicament where where we are losing a few other uh places there. It really doesn't take an effect the Minneapolis parking businesses that use the Dina uh spaces. So um that it's just a question of fairness I guess at this point. Um, the other thing you you brought up a little piece on the history and I I just this is just a unique thing that just popped into my head here, but I shortly after I started working or actually in think I was still perhaps in college, but I was working at at the bank that was on the corner there, which was called Americana Bank. Um, so I thought that was kind of unique that uh history comes around again with the name. So, um, I I feel Yeah, I feel I feel for the the business wanting to expand here. I think it's a wonderful idea. Um, I think it's difficult to uh to be in your shoes w with a regulation like this. And I think we as a as a uh commission need to look at that uh regulation and see if that's something that's there and the fact that there's other businesses that are already exceeding this. Um, I just feel it's it's probably worth uh putting in our work plan to to look at this and as we go forward, you know, explore this a little bit more. So, that's really all I'm going to say right now. Thank you.

Offer to either student commissioner. Do you have other do you have any feedback you'd like to share? I know I'm not a voting member, but I do think that Commissioner Day, you said as a commissioner, you're supposed to support the code. Um, but if this is a variance request and it's like directly saying that it's not in alignment with the code, but clearly there's no issues with it, I think that if it's a good idea, we should do it. It sounds like it would really benefit the community. you have anything or no

want to clarify something there. Um I said that it would didn't yes it didn't meet code but it also didn't meet the requirements of the variance process right so this requires variance because it doesn't meet the code and we have a process for the var for variance right so we don't just sta city staff made it clear that they that they believe it doesn't meet the variance requirements right so that's where my that's where my find is based on I agree with them um so that is supporting the code to say that the variance requirement that we the variance process that we have as part of our code is not All right. Thank you everyone. Uh I have some comments quick. I'll try to keep it quick, but I I fully support this. Uh I think Commissioner Elkart touched on it too and some of the discussion went around. It's like what is the context and the spirit of the code in question? The context is it's about 50 years old and addressed a different time. Yet some of the things it's talking about are still admirable about keeping things fair. Um you could jump to an extreme though where let's say more businesses close and a lot of businesses are closed and we're going to hold people to this standard and not allow something to happen just seems silly. So I think having a variance process in place like this and that 1.0 is a good thing so that case by case if someone wants to do something that exceeds what the law is, we sit here and deliberate, we can see the proposal because it could be a terrible proposal that no one wants and then it's very easy for us to reject it. So I I I I feel like it's a good code because it allows us to get the right

feedback for the project at the right time because this might not have made sense 20 years ago, might not make sense in 20 years, but right now it makes a whole lot of sense. And we have available parking, which to me is like a huge context piece, too. If all the parking ramps were full, this would be harder to support, but we have the space for it. we have the support from the competing businesses and merchants which is in question to the you know the spirit of that law is to keep things fair and it seems that everyone else would want to see this happen. I totally respect what staff um is recommending. We just have a bit more discretion. That's that's our role here. staff is following what the law prescribes and I think they they did what they could. Um, we have the opportunity to base it off of some of the other findings that they included in the staff report and yeah, I fully support this one. I guess I'd welcome a motion if there is one. Can I make a motion to app recommend approval of the site plan and variance which is different than what's posed here? Is is that okay? We did have the um recommendations for approval, but I'd like to add to the city council um looking at additional bike or other parking spaces in that. So, I'd like to add that to the motion.

A motion to recommend approval of the site plan and variance to include um bike a recommendation for additional bike or electric um scooter parking. Okay. Second. Is is that subject to the findings and conditions as outlined in the staff report? Thank you. Thank you. Second. Uh all those in favor say I. I. I. Opposed.

Nay. So we have five in favor, one opposed. Motion carries. Congratulations. Good luck on the next steps. All right. So, that was one of three public hearings tonight. So, we're on to the second one. Same process as the first. Uh, this is for ordinance number 20250 amending chapter 36 concerning zoning article X flood plane districts. Take it away.

Good evening. Good evening. Um, thank I hope you guys are ready for some like dense floodplane storm water engineering conversation after 8:00 PM. So, here we go. Did someone pop the popcorn? Let's go.

Yeah. All right, let's do it. Uh, thank you. Uh, good evening, uh, chair and commissioners. My name is Jessica Wilson. I'm the water resources manager for the city of Edine. I'm also the certified flood plane manager. And I've got some backup today. I have Andy Rhinish as our engineering technician and Ross Bitner is the engineering services manager. So, if we have any questions or comments, I'm going to lean into my my bench here and uh have them help a little bit. So, we have two ordinances uh for you today. And I thought these are two separate things, but they're really uh interrelated. And so, I'm going to start off with um how these are similar and different just as you're thinking, you know, the things that are going on in your head and the questions that you have. uh as you parse out you know which of those they slot into. So for the storm water management flood plane districts ordinances they are separate but uh related. Uh they both center on no adverse impact principles and a good neighbor approach. The flood plane districts ordinance is the one we're going to talk about first and that one utilizes elevation to reduce exposure to flooding and is focused on limiting flood losses and damages. So in the code, it's a lot about specifying minimum elevations. The storm water management ordinance is more about controlling runoff from a site based on whatever uh proposed improvements are there. Uh it's going to be really catered to that specific scenario for that parcel. Uh and it's about providing assurances for long-term functionality of whatever control measures are implemented to control that runoff. So, I'm just going to start with the recommendation and then I'll provide some background information. So, we are seeking your uh recommendation for

approval of this ordinance 20259 amending chapter 36 of the city code concerning uh article X flood plane districts. Uh and this is also going to be a full repeal of what's existing for that article and replace with what is proposed. Um so the purpose of this ordinance update is to incorporate the local flood plane development policy an element of the flood risk reduction strategy that was the primary driver of the update. Uh and then also in 2022, the DNR uh wrote an updated uh model ordinance. And so they did a big review of federal and state minimum requirements and that uh is uh good for us to kind of follow follow that model so that in the future we can make those simple updates as anything changes. and then to incorporate a letter of map revision panel that was approved by FEMA. That's a FEMA product. Uh and something we need to incorporate into city code before we can apply it. So, a little bit of background on how we got here. In 1980, the city of Vina joined the National Flood Insurance Program and adopted minimum standards and the initial FEMA maps. zoning code has been updated in 2004 and 2016 following reissuance of FEMA maps. Uh, and we can't assume I think sometimes it's implied that updated maps mean better maps. Uh, and that's not necessarily the case. They get reissued. Uh, and there's some changes here and there, but I'll explain kind of the difference between this the FEMA maps and then the products that we've been developing uh, as part of our flood risk reduction strategy locally. So in 2017 and 2018 we developed and published an interactive map of flood

inundation areas and I think we were surprised by the extent of the flooding across the community and I'll show you I'll demonstrate that uh with some images here and in 2018 we had our water resources management plan update due. That's a plan that gets updated every 10 years and that was occurring in the midst of the wetest decade on record and following a peak period of residential redevelopment. So we heard loud and clear from council and residents that they wanted a more transformative they wanted more transformative progress on flooding and drainage issues which led to a promise to develop the flood risk reduction strategy in that 2018 plan. So on the left, this is a uh the the regional special flood hazard area map that is defined by FEMA. And just because of the scale that FEMA works at that regional scale, it is mostly the large water bodies. So the big creek systems that run through the community, Minihaha Creek, 9M Creek, historically low-lying wetland complexes, and those typically are in our uh public parks. Braar Park, Bredesen Park, uh Weber Park where you see those regional flood uh hazard areas and big lakes like Cornelia, Lake Edina. So those are the maps that were used for regulating flood plane development. When we started in 1980, it was like this is better than nothing. Uh in 1980, 2004, it was still like that's the go-to resource. uh 2016, there were a couple modifications, but otherwise largely unchanged from that 1980 version. Fast forward to 2017 as we're putting together our uh storm water model and we just have a lot better tools and we can get to a level of detail that FEMA can't get to. So on

the right you see our local flood areas. So all those solid pink and solid red areas are where we see uh flood inundation and it's in a lot of places it's uh that are outside of the FEMA regional uh special flood hazard areas in backyard areas, smaller water bodies, streets uh and in other places that overlap with the FEMA flood hazard areas. It's higher than what FEMA was um projecting. And the reason that our local model uh is so different is we have we're using much more modern precipitation data, more modern landform data. We can incorporate our entire storm sewer network which is miles long and has thousands of structures. Uh and we can also uh update it annually. So when we build something like our award-winning Morningside flood infrastructure project, we can incorporate that into the model and it can reflect that. Or if we do a street reconstruction project or solve some other problem, uh we can incorporate that information into the model. Uh and so this is just a zoom in of what that looks like. So the horizontal red is that regional map and then uh our local map we can get to a lot more detail. We can see a lot more uh uh flood inundation. Uh and that's that solid pink and solid red lines that you can see there. So we also know that the precipitation has changed over time. Uh the 2010s were the wetest decade on record and uh 2019 one of the wetest years on record in the metro. Um that's a lot different than uh when the community was largely developed

in the 40s and 50s and 60s. So it was just a different uh climate at that time when the community was undergoing its massive development than it is today uh when we're doing a lot of redevelopment. So what does that mean when I say we're using more modern precipitation in our local model? So uh you can see that under the TP40 heading that is uh estimates that in a typical like hypothetical 24-hour storm in this particular part of the state we would get six inches of rain. So that precipitation data that feeds into the model was called that data set was called TB40 that was published in 1961. So you can imagine the extent of the network in 1961 is a lot less than a modern precipitation network and that's what those FEMA maps are based on. Uh and then if you recall your history from uh when you were in high school, the dust bowl era of the 1930s is also captured in that uh TP40 data set. A lot different than what we've been experiencing uh um in this uh 21st century. So, uh, the the next data set, Atlas 14, that's what we're using in our local model. It's a more modern, though still backward-looking data set, uh, and published in 2013. Much broader network for precipitation, uh, more, uh, temporal extent, more time, uh, and we saw 25% increase in the predicted volume of water that you would see in a hypothetical 24-hour storm. So, it went from 6 in to 7.4 in. Uh, and that's a lot more water to store. 25% increase. Uh, as we look to the future of what's going to happen under um, uh, more intense rain events, uh, we we're not

sure what that upper bound could be. Um, and something that forecasts a future condition is something that we're we're interested in. We're kind of waiting on some other um products that would help us estimate uh you know what we should be designing for uh for that those future storms. This is also the history of the new home permits in the past 31 years. And so you'll see in 2014 I think was that peak of 119 new single family home permits issued. And so this kind of coincides with, you know, a lot of redevelopment also happening in a very wet period. Uh, and I bet if we were to track that data and map how many times Ross appeared in front of the planning commission over time, it might look really similar to this, right? where it's ramping up as redevelopment is happening and folks are feeling like what are you doing about the storm water issue or this flood exposure that we currently have or that has changed since this trend of redevelopment. So both of these things kind of coming to a head at the same time as we're updating our water resources management plan and hearing loud and clear from the community that we need to do uh make make more transformative progress on that issue. So the flood risk reduction strategy promise was made in 2018 to develop that strategy. In 2019, we convened a flood risk reduction strategy task force. So that group met for over a year and produced a flood risk reduction strategy that was adopted by city council in 2020. Uh and then that strategy was incorporated into the water resources management plan through a major amendment in 2022. So, I've been talking about our flood risk reduction strategy, and you might be thinking like, what is the strategy?

Uh, and it's pretty simple. It's to comprehensively reduce risk throughout the community. And the way we do that is through several uh areas of work. Um, infrastructure being the first one. So, we we renew our infrastructure and operate it to reduce risk. We plan public streets and parks like the award-winning uh Morningside flood infrastructure project uh to accept and convey flood waters to reduce risk and disruption of related city services. Uh regulation that's kind of the topic for tonight. Acknowledging competing demands of land use and addressing drainage, groundwater and surface water issues. Helping people solve issues without harming another outreach and engagement. We make information available. So that map that I showed with the extent of flooding throughout the community, there's a a a public version of that so folks can check out their own flood exposure and then we offer them um resources to reduce their exposure in their vulnerability to flooding and then emergency services helping people prepare for floods, remove people from harm during floods and recover after floods. There are a few factors in flood risk. So climate being a really key one and then exposure. So your likelihood of getting wet essentially and then the vulnerability is going to be the extent of the damage from that exposure. So you might have two structures that have the same elevation but they might have a different vulnerability. So you can imagine, you know, a 1950s era block basement versus a more modern floodproofed basement. Uh so those structures could be at the same elevation but their their vulnerability to flood damages is different. And we also studied the drivers of increasing flood risk and not just hypothetically but for the city of Edina based on what we have here and found all of these factors to contribute to that

increasing flood risk and climate change to be the outsized contributor uh for that increasing risk over time. So this ordinance update is key to building that community cap capacity to withstand flood hazards. Um so there's in this uh flood ordinance update uh we have the opportunity and responsibility to um take our fate into our own hands. FEMA encourages uh folks to update uh their local standards and adopt higher standards. Um it's allowed and encouraged. And so the updates that you see, some are just updates to the model ordinance. That's for a lot of those regional special flood hazard areas where we're not making any material changes. It's just kind of updating, clarifying things. Um, but what is new, excuse me, is the new uh local flood area district. And that references back to the data that we uh provide in our interactive water resources map that I had shared in some earlier uh screen grabs. It also has requirements for below grade garages and parking that are outside of R1 and R2 zoning districts. There's some requirements for flood proofing and other vulnerability reducing measures. We define a local flood area, which is essentially any flood area outside of the regional special flood hazard area. And we specify minimum low opening elevations 2 feet above the local 1% annual chance flood elevation or the 100-year flood might be something you've heard uh that phrase used before. Uh for ponding basins, so pretty much a lake or a pond, we have minimum elevations uh for a low floor related to the elevation of that water body. And then for

landlocked basins, we have minimum lowest floor elevations 2 feet above the critical storm, which is either uh that elevation from a 1% annual chance rain event or a 10day snow melt, whichever one is higher or whichever one would be more protective. uh in landlocked basins, those are our features, water bodies that don't have an outlet. So the only way for water to leave would be through evaporation or infiltration or uh setting up a temporary pumping operation. So those water bodies are particularly vulnerable to prolonged high water, especially during wet periods when groundwater levels are high. something we we definitely lived through in 2019 after years of really wet uh year-over-year um rainfall. We also have a sight specific standard uh uh outlined in that ordinance update. This is really only going to be available in those local flood areas. In regional special flood hazard areas, there's some minimum federal and state requirements and we don't have quite the flexibility. But in a local flood area where the duration of flooding could be a lot more brief. Uh if it makes sense. Uh and if um there's a a way to keep a the same reduction in risk but maybe trade an exposure reducing measure for a vulnerability reducing measure that we would entertain that proposal from an applicant. And then uh it it can only be in those local flood areas. we would still uh require that has no adverse impact. So still that good neighbor approach and uh has to be approved by the city engineer. Uh and then we also have uh standards for flood fill. That flood fill could be allowed in a regional flood plane, but you'd have to essentially prove that

you're not going to impact your neighbor in doing that. And we have some procedures for verifying that uh and making sure that people do what they say they're going to do. our watershed district partners are going to be potentially more restrictive on that than us. Uh and then there are particular areas that are particularly vulnerable where we wouldn't allow that at all in a flood way. Uh and then in the local flood plane similar uh instance where uh an engineer would have to demonstrate that they're not going to uh cause any adverse impact to a neighbor. So again, that good neighbor approach is built in uh even for projects that aren't uh um new structures. So to reiterate, the purpose of the ordinance update here is we want to incorporate all of the local flood plane development policy that was uh developed over uh a couple years with input from the task force and incorporated into our water resources management plan. this flood risk reduction strategy. Um, and this is our our chance to build this resiliency and make this commitment for that long that long-term commitment to make that uh resiliency change over time. And then a little bit more of those kind of housekeeping updating to a more uh modern state model ordinance. Um, and then also to incorporate a letter of map revision panel that was approved by FEMA. So, um, real quick what that is, here's a picture of that panel update. There's one tiny little square right in the middle that says revised area where there's essentially a little carve out there. Um, we can talk a lot about this if you want to, but it's just a pretty minor change if I see I see the head shaking. All right, I'll uh I'll keep it moving here. Um, and so, uh, because this particular area had a a mapping methodology error that

classified it into a really restrictive zone that seemed like an error. Uh, and the owner of that particular P parcel wanted to redevelop and we said you cannot based on these minimum regulations. Um, although we agree that this seems like it's just a a a sloppy map. Uh, and so they went through a process on their own with FEMA to update the map to make a correction to what seemed like just a a sloppy um mapping uh exercise. So that so made that little little change there so that we could issue a building permit for a new build there as long as they meet all these other conditions uh and requirements in city code. So to wrap up this flood plane ordinance one, this flood risk reduction strategy that we've been implementing for years aims to increase community capacity to withstand and recover from flood hazards. Regulating flood plane development is a key area work for making progress toward the goal of comprehensively reducing flood risk across the community. So, our recommendation is to recommend approval of this ordinance 20250 amending that chapter 36 of city code concerning flood plane districts. So, I'm going to pause at this point if you've got questions or comments. Any questions, comments? I guess the I just have one quick question. Yeah. Um when you had the the page that was new local flood area district that was the title of it. You had kind of the conditions of the two-foot freeboard or etc. How how do

those compare to what was before in those areas? Is that just our typical code and now we're kind of regulating more properties to a more stringent level?

So what's current in code is just those regional uh special flood hazard area districts. So what's on the left of the image here, that's what's in the city code. Uh what was in our water resources management plan policy uh was to do those local flood areas where we're requiring two foot of freeboard above the flood elevation or um the outlet elevation if you're adjacent to a pony basin or landlock basin. That's something we've been implementing for a few years based on our water resources management plan. So, that's policy that we've been using. Uh, and the advice from the city attorney was if you're having these requirements for buildings, you ought to have that into city code. And so, that's we're trying to clean up um a practice that we've already been uh applying.

Okay. Just wanted to make sure so others are following that too. Um, Commissioner Alair, I just had one other thing come up while you were answering that question, just for clarity. So these there are some parts of this that are regulation that affects commercial and some that affects residential R1 or two, right? Yes. It's primarily uh residential. Okay. But we also have if it's an accessory building or if it's like a parking garage, something that's not R1R2, that's also in there.

Okay. And we So this will come into play during redevelopment like it usually does here. and what how will we be as a city be communicating this once it's gone through the city council?

So, we have a guidance document that's on our website currently and when applicants come in and they get the rundown from Andy on here's all the things you've got to do and all the comments in that um process that's when we provide that guidance. Um and it's something we've been providing for a few years so I think it's not going to be new. Um there's always kind of that one um person who's like, "Hey, this is my first project in EDINA." And we're like, "Welcome to our process." Um but it's it's not a new um application. It's we're just trying to codify what we our standard practice since the water resources management plan policy was adopted in 2022. Okay. Thank you.

I'm glad you guys are here. Um, and I appreciate the Morning Side infrastructure flood project um, immensely. I have noticed I have worked on a couple projects that were in a landlock basin and it's always surprising to the owners and it's always a process kind of going through it. So, kind of to follow Commissioner Alcar's question, um, is there are there any plans to kind of broadcast or share or publicize some of this information?

We have a couple ways to do that. Um, I we have our um it's it's called what is my flood risk interactive map. So, folks can see that. um the if you're in a landlocked basin or not is not on that tool, but we have other public facing tools for developers that have a lot more of that like you know elevation data and if you're landlocked basin or adjacent to one or not. So I think that's one tool that we have. Um the other is we do it's the aircats and I'm not going to get the acronym right but essentially our um residential redevelopment accreditation program annually where we're describing you know all of the requirements that span all the departments and there that's where we talk about specifically water resources flood plane storm water requirements for folks so I think there is a a a really discreet training opportunity for applicants um there's a tool out there for folks that are kind of shopping for a new home or a new lot. Um, but there are folks that often find out too about our process um as they come in the door. I think codifying this helps a lot because folks will often say, you know, if they are doing their due diligence and looking and saying like, what am I going to have to do to build a new home here? Um, currently it's in a policy document. So, codifying it, I think, would also help make it more bright line for an applicant. So, that's another reason we're here in front of you today. So, if someone searches online for I'm considering doing a remodel on a house or I'm considering building a new house in a dinina is and they you've got your checklist. Is there a link to the the flood risk interactive map?

Yeah, I think there's definitely a link to our storm water. I don't know if the flood plane one is linked on our checklist, but that's an easy change we can make for sure. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Yeah, we're we're also very interested in helping people know about this well before they get to the permit application process. So,

I guess my my only question is that and the limited amount I know about flood planes and whatnot is that must be in a flood plane in order to get insurance, flood insurance. And if you're if you are in one, you have to have insurance. So, are we increasing the number of properties? I mean, and and I would assume that has to be a federallymandated uh flood planes. So, will will that affect in any way more residential properties in Edina uh once this gets adopted? And then does it go back to some federal organization that adopts it and requires additional insurance?

Great question. And I think you undersold your kind of thinking about flood planes. So, um, is is flood insurance required or I your first question was, you know, can you only have access to flood insurance if you're in a flood plane? That's a common myth. We have a fact sheet on that and just kind of like how to ask for, you know, myths about flood insurance because I think there's a lot of I think that's confusing for a lot of people. So, we have a fact sheet on that. Um, can flood insurance be forceplaced? Yes. if you're in a FEMA floodplane area and you're like too low. So, it's possible. Uh, and I think there are there are probably policies in the community where that's already force place depending on if you have a mortgage that's backed by the federal government. Um, is it going to uh uh I'm going to jump over one. Is there you know would would the federal government adopt our map? I think they're light years away from that. So, I'm uh I think it's up to us to to have a higher standard and I think that's the appropriate thing to do. Um but I don't think that the um at the national level I don't think they're going to come and adopt our local map. I think they just say we encourage you uh to do that yourselves. Um and then you had a question about you know are there insurance implications for other for people that are kind of in this local flood area? I think so. Um, I think we, you know, we published this map in 2018 and I think it it it um visualized a reality where before people could pretend that that was not the case. Um, right. So, if you've lived somewhere and you've experienced flooding and then you go to sell your property on a in a year where there's not been a lot of rain, uh, there's no uh the the disclosure laws vary by state. Um, and in Minnesota, it's not

particularly protective of a new owner. It just says like, "Do you know of any flood damage?" And you could be like, "I don't know." Uh, and then you could sell to someone who has no history with that site. And uh, you know, what happens on a rainy day? So, has the insurance a uh, industry caught up to a local map? I'm not sure. Um, but there are also other private products out there. If you go to any like Zillow or other um realtor website, there's something called flood factor um that uses a really um better than FEMA but maybe not quite as detailed as our city model to predict uh exposure risk. And so I think that is also kind of just changing the landscape of home values and insurance. But that's a little beyond my I don't know exactly perhaps if someone has more of like a tie into the insurance industry they could answer that a little bit more detailed but yeah as you can tell I think my question was more about just letting the people listening to this understand what what the predict what what this will do or if it

help them in any way. So that was thank you that was a good answer.

If I can add just one more thing I think part of our strategy too is that outreach and engagement we want to like make it really bright for people of like this is where the real exposure and vulnerability is so that we can help people make good choices then if they're going to put on an addition then they're going to do it in a way that's resilient. um or if they're going to build a new home, we could say, "Okay, we know this is adjacent to a landlock basin, so we're going to make sure that it's elevated or that your window wells are high enough that you're not going to be um vulnerable to a lot of flood damages." So I think on the whole you know I think there was some concern about you know what what happens if people know that my house is has some flood exposure or vulnerability but I think uh it's it's part of that resiliency building is the very first thing is just awareness of what you have.

Any other questions? All right. Thank you. So this is a public hearing. We'll open it to that. Uh, is anyone here in person that would like to testify? Please come forward. And while you do, I'm going to give some um I'm going to give the instructions for those who might be online and want to testify to how you can participate and get in the queue. So, it's the same as before. Please call 312-5358110. Enter access code 2632884 0722. Password is 5454. Then enter star three on your keypad when you would like to speak. Since there's a minute delay or so, um we will pause and let those who are here that like to testify do so. Please state your full name and address. You have three minutes.

Good evening everyone. My name is Nora Davis and I live at 6921 Southdale Road in the Lake Cornelia neighborhood. And the photo that I have up here is a little trip down memory lane. I know not everyone here was around in 1987, but this is what happened when we had a very serious flood. I did not take this picture because our neighborhood was flooded. Um, we had 8 feet of water in our basement within an inch of the first floor. We were lucky. There were several homes in my neighborhood that had water on the first floor. So, I have always been very concerned because going through a flood is something you never ever forget. I still have a little PTSD about it. Um, so I know how important this is and I so appreciate all the work that has been done um, in all the flood information and the work that has been done. I remember when our street was redone, they lowered the street, they put in massive storm um, sewer tunnels. They added more storm drains. And then of course I adopted one. So I'm out there sweeping the street all the time. neighbors think I'm crazy, but that's another But this is just so important and so valuable, this work that has been done. So, I would ask that you um consider flooding in just about everything you do because it could happen again. Climate change is a serious problem that we have and I think it's wonderful that all this work has been done. And I want you to know when we talk about letting people know I do

unite to unite. And one of my things that I do during that is I have massive flood maps and everybody has to look at them and see all the photos because people do need to know. And I will continue to talk about flooding. So, thank you for all you do and thank you so much to my flood friends here because it has made a big difference. So, thank you. Thank you very much. Anyone else here in person? I don't anyone. So, let's move. Do we have anyone in the queue? There is no one in the queue to speak. So, I believe it is safe to proceed.

Welcome a motion to close the public hearing. Motion to close the public hearing. Second. All those in favor say I. I. So move. Public hearing is closed. Well, I'm just flooded with emotions here.

Any All right. Yeah. So, uh, this is our chance to deliberate. This is kind of a tangential comment and I I was going to hold on till later, but we've talked about ways to improve engagement and the city has added different components to the better togetherina.org website with like mapping tools. Uh, as you might recall, like Eden Prairie was like one we referenced a few years ago that had a really great GIS system that you go on and see development trackers. I I would like to keep thinking about that and keep it on the radar to kind of merge some of those resources because I've looked at that flood risk map a lot because it's I mean it's just a well done and well organized one um compared to other resources. But it'd be nice to kind of combine all of these things ultimately in my mind. And to your question, if someone would like to build just pictures speak, you know, thousand words. So if you could just go to a map, here's a site, here's all of the things you need to know versus like, oh, this is just the flood risk, but what about neighboring developments? What about other conditions in that thing? It's just something to think about as and and I'll bring it up in other comments, but it ties into this doesn't have to deal with our motion tonight, but engagement is huge. And so, however we can kind of show people the most resilient approach to a resilient community. I think it's merging these resources and painting it better visually. So, thank you for doing that. Um, that stuff is, you know, you can't picture what it was like before not having that. You know, like 10 years ago, not knowing your risk. You would, you're pretty much left if someone tells

you. And it's probably after you move in, a neighbor's like, "Hope you're ready with sandbags." Like, what? Anyways, I digress. Any other comments? Any motions? A motion Uh motion to recommend approval of ordinance number 20205-09. Second. All those in favor? Uh

no. Each independently. Yeah. Yeah. Uh all those in favor say I. I.

Opposed. All right. So moved. Passes. All right, this next one will be briefer, more brief. All right, how do I get back to the slides? And also, Commissioner Nelson, if I could respond, Ross reminded me, maybe I can clarify too on the um if is flood insurance going to be forceplaced? Uh and in the local flood area district, no. FEMA's kind of just like we can do locally whatever you want there, but FEMA is not going to force place it. Um although a lender could, you know, if there's an insurance lender that's really savvy on flood risk, they might say like, hey, it's our local, you know, our company policy to require flood insurance policies, but it wouldn't be force place by FEMA. Yeah. Thanks.

All right.

All right. On to the next public hearing matter. So, ordinance number 2025-10 regarding storm water management. All right, here we go. Uh, so the recommendation here is also for uh to recommend approval of ordinance number 2025-10 amending chapter 10 and chapter 36 of city code concerning storm water management. So this uh we're proposing to update and move stormwater management requirements from chapter 10 to chapter 36. So they have been required for some time. Um and uh we're moving it to chapter 36 into that zoning code. Uh the purpose of the update is also to clarify the code requirements uh regarding those storm water management plans where they apply to more than just new single and double dwelling units and then also capturing ADUs and other improvements that aren't full new builds but maybe a major addition. Um that's something that we've been doing since 2016 uh is applying those requirements for storm water management plans on things other than just brand new buildings. Uh and after review a review from the city attorney said uh in chapter 10 that's four new builds. If you're going to be applying it as we have been consistent with the desires of the council and planning commission and the direction at at that time since 2016 then we ought to make that clear in city code. So this update is consistent with the policy in our water resources management plan to regulate development or redevelopment to ensure actions proposed at the time of development consider flood risk and do not adversely impact others. So for storm water management, this is our interactive map. It has the same data as our what is my flood risk map, but it's just a little bit more heavy. And this is kind of for that developer audience. So they can come here to

access the data that they need to put together a proposal. Uh and the requirements are based on existing drainage issues and scope of work. So it depends on what you're proposing and it depends on where you are because not all parcels are created equal when it comes to storm water management and drainage issues and flood exposure. So these are again separate but related ordinance revisions. They were both focusing on this no adverse impact principle and good neighbor approach. The flood plane one was kind of specifying minimum elevations to reduce exposure and reduce losses and damages due to flooding. This storm water management one is about controlling runoff and also the the one new thing is going to be to provide asurances for long-term functionality of control measures. So I think this kind of gets to your question about you know how do we make sure people know what is coming. Um so we have some similar you know there the um contractor uh certification training is a is a place where we talk about storm water management requirements. We also have that interactive map and a guidance document uh and this fantastic resource as people call and they just say I need to talk to the engineering technician so you can just spell it out for me what's going to be required for this particular site. Um so we've been requiring storm water control measures and storm water management plans for years. Um, and I think this also, um, has a maintenance component to it that would require a maintenance declaration. That is something that is different than our current process. And we think that's going to help to make it more clear of what the commitment was of what commitment was made when that property was redeveloped for a new owner. So, you can imagine a scenario where someone comes in, builds a new house, they have a storm water management plan that gets approved, and it's got some measure. for example, perhaps a rain garden or

something like that. Uh, and then that property gets sold and a new owner has no way of knowing what that prior owner or permit applicant had promised. Uh, and then we show up and say, "Hey, you have a rain guard, you know, you should have a rain garden that you're maintaining here and perhaps they changed it to, you know, put in a a play set or something like that." And so, um, this would help ensure that as someone is coming into a new property that that maintenance declaration that's recorded to the lot that there's a way for them to know what promise had already been made. Uh, and then it also ensures that continuing functionality of whatever control measure uh, was implemented in that good neighborh, no adverse impact application of that that principle. So, I told you this one would be shorter. Uh, we did a lot of that ground work already in the flood plane ordinance one. Um, so development projects have implications for storm water runoff and the proposed change codifies the status quo of reviewing and mitigating potential adverse impacts to neighboring properties. This is consistent with the original spirit of storm water management plan requirements in chapter 10. It's consistent with the water resources management plan. Um, and there is that the the one change that I want to just highlight again here is that maintenance declaration component where we're saying there's got to be a way for to make sure that future owners know what they're getting with a a property acquisition um and that uh ensures that it will be maintained long term. So recommendation again is to recommend approval of ordinance 2025-10 amending chapter 10 and 36 concerning storm water management.

Thank you very much. Questions about this maintenance?

Okay, so storm water you require um and if you require something like a French drain. So, someone puts a French drain of a certain size in the back of their yard and a new family moves in and they get their documents and they're like, "Oh, we have a French drain and they're I mean, how who tells them about their French drain?" I mean, they're like, "Oh, cute. I've got a French drain." I mean, they have no concept of what it is. So how how does that knowledge transfer?

Yeah, that's a good question. So um in the the ideas for the maintenance declaration to have the storm water management plan in it

as an exhibit and the maintenance plan as an exhibit that says here's how what we're going to do. You're going to clean it annually or something like that. Um or if it's vegetated, what the vegetation management plan is. uh essentially a a maintenance plan that would need to be approved by staff during that permit rep uh approval process. Uh so that would all be recorded and then that's something you would see in from a title search on a property. Um and then I think there's also going to be technical assistance with any of those as a new owner comes in like what what do I have? So I think there's going to be a technical assistance component and probably some other resources we would put together to help people to make sure it's maintained. And then um the other program that we have is uh annual inspections. So um in the city vina we um do inspections on behalf of an owner and so we send out notices that say hey it's your annual inspection of your storm water feature. uh and then an expert comes out, reviews whatever is out there for that control measure and then provides recommendations on keeping it in working order. Um and that's always a really great conversation starter, too. You know, it's either things look great or it's we have some ideas on ways you can keep it working. Um or if it's failing, then you know, welcome to our process. We're going to, you know, first help you get it back online. Um and work together to get it working again. Do you do that currently?

We do have inspections. Uh we have about 300 that we do annually. I think about 260 of them are privately owned. Uh most of those maintenance declarations are with the wershed districts. So they're requiring storm water uh more for a water quality purpose. Our city process would fill the gap on the ones that are more of a drainage and be a good neighbor one. So I think the watershed district would continue to require things like rain gardens for that water quality purpose and then we would essentially be filling in the gaps. Right now, we're already doing that with storm water management plans, but I think the gap is then a new owner has no idea what the prior applicant or owner has promised. And so, they would be surprised then when we show up and say, "Hey, you know, your rain garden is in whatever shape or if they make a change in the interim." And then there's a

um you know, how do you get someone back into restoring something if they took it out, didn't know about it? That is a really tricky spot. We want to be more proactive and let people know what they have up front. So, I think that's going to solve that problem. Okay. Thank you. We also have an interactive map of all the storm water control measures, those 260 or so if you wanted to see um where those are. It's kind of a fun map. Do I just Google Vadina storm water control measures and the map will pop up? Uh, I I think if you go to the about section of the city website under maps,

there's all of our maps are there. And under like the natural resources category, there's one called storm water management. Okay. Thank you.

And puff the popcorn before you do that, too. Any other questions? All right. So, this is a public hearing separately, so we're going through the same process. Uh for those who might be tuning in, please call the following number 312-535 8110. Enter access code 2632 8884 0722. The password is 5454. Press star three on your keypad to get into the queue to speak. And while we wait for you to do that, we'll open it to those who might be here in person that'd like to testify for this one. Anyone? Anyone at all? Oh, there we go.

My name is Nor. Is this on?

Okay. My name is Nora Davis and I live at 6921 Southdale Road in the Lake Cornelia neighborhood. And again, I've witnessed some of the storm management processes that my friends have gone through and it was a very thorough process. Very impressed. And we are very lucky to have folks who can do this and are willing to do it. And I do have to share a story when we talk about FEMA. You know, FEMA, our area was declared a disaster area. Sophimma did come in and I remember they suggested that we put our home on stilts and I thought, "Oh, I just can't imagine the one house on the block on stilts." So, we did not do that. So, um it was an interesting process and it continues to be interesting. So, thank you.

Thank you very much. Anyone else here in person? Seeing none, do we have anyone in the queue to speak? There is no one in the queue to speak tonight. So, I believe we are safe to proceed. Welcome a motion. Motion to close the public hearing. Second. Those in favor say I. I. So move. So move. Public hearing's closed.

Okay. All right. So, it's on the planning commission to deliberate or welcome. I'd welcome a motion, too. I would move uh for approval of ordinance number 2025-10 amending chapter 10 and chapter 36 of the Dina City Code concerning storm water management. Second. All those in favor say I. I. I. Opposed.

All right. Motion carries unanimously. Thank you very much for your time and like Norah mentioned skill and expertise. We really appreciate. All right, that concludes our public hearings for tonight. Our last report and recommendation is the 26 27 planning commission work plan. Just just look to you Carrie.

Yes, thank you chair. members of the commission. So, this is just a continuation of our discussion from the last meeting. We've got our three um three items. The reviewing the land use applications is the first one, our standard every year. Uh the second one is the zoning and subdivision ordinance update. That's the big one that's underway that'll go into next year. And then this being a two-year work plan as opposed to other years where it's just been one in 2027 we would begin the comprehensive plan update. So that's the third item. Another big one. And the one that was added came from Commissioner Lewis who unfortunately is not here tonight but it has to do with food trucks kind of studying um should we expand, should we not? what's the impact to restaurants if we were to allow those types of things. So, just kind of a study on impact of food trucks. We don't have to decide on that one tonight. Um, but that one has been added and that was the only suggestion that I heard just to give you so where we're at in the process. We need to approve our work plan. Um, I guess technically we could go to the first meeting in October, but ideally we would approve this at our next planning commission meeting and our chair will present it to the city council on October 22nd. So that's kind of where we're at. So I'll turn it back to the commission if you want to have some discussion.

Thank you. Yeah. Any discussion? I know we talked about last time I'm sure day. The only thing that came to my mind, I thought a lot about different things we've been reviewing in our meetings for the work plan and a lot of it should be cleaned up by the the code um update and different things we see there. Um but the Cahill larger district like small area plan, right? So that got vetoed the council level a couple years ago now. And I've always thought that that should be picked back up sometime, preferably sooner rather than later. Has council given any direction there? And then I just wonder what our appetite is on this commission for for you know making a recommendation there.

Yeah, I think just given the current budget climate to add that to the work plan here with the others that are going on. But I think we definitely want to pick it up as part of the comprehensive plan amendment, the big one. You know, we'll take a look at those areas of change and where we want to do a small area plan, but I think the Cahill area is one that we definitely want to do. So, that's where I would see it fitting in is just into the big comprehensive plan. Sure. Sure. Yeah. I kind of thought that might be the might be the case, but I thought I'd bring it up regardless. So

then if we have a different council then I guess the budget doesn't have to be large for that right the same plan could be proposed again correct I mean that is an option I'd assume like all the work was done and the community spoke and I mean that's just where I think logically it yeah commissioner just to build on commissioner day's question in the in the I know it's preliminary but the preliminary 26 six budget. Is there comp plan spending expected in 2026? Uh, no. That would begin in 2027. Okay. So, we wouldn't be spending resources on that next year, not till 27. Correct. Okay. Thanks.

Would see that one. We won't get it finished in 27. That'll be at least a two-year. And if um history repeats itself, it may take longer than two years. Uh without Quincy here, I mean, do people feel okay with approving the work plan next meeting or is it okay that we wait till the first one in October? It's probably okay.

Is I mean, it won't take a lot of time for us to approve it. And I like if Quincy had something to say that might tweak the work plan, I I want to give them a chance with everyone else to discuss. So if we can if everyone's good to that, push it till October. But you do have one more meeting still in September. Yeah. Yeah. Then that's what I mean. So like he could be there for that meeting and we can discuss it again. Yep. Okay.

Not necessarily looking to add anything to our work plan. I'm just kind of wondering how we go about pushing the importance and what I feel is the importance of the lack of storm water uh access in the western 1/5 16th the vina uh that we've run up against. Um I I guess it's really just a question how do how do we how do we work toward that? I understand that the tickets a very large ticket item, but um like if we're going to do any redevelopment in that London area all the way down to the high school and around we've seen the map um that we have to start addressing that at some point.

Yeah. and our work plan it's you know until I doubt something like that would ever be a part of it but there there could be something we just do annually I mean we meet with the city council during work sessions throughout the year one to talk about our work plan um usually they keep things short but we could kind of have like a parking lot of just items and issues kind of like community comment where we just here are the top five pressing issues of 2025. You know, it's beyond what we just do or even the work plan, but like are you thinking about these? What are you doing to them? Because people for that one particularly, a lot of people have questions and there's no answer except no. So, thanks for bringing that up. All right. So, we'll just table that and we if you can just keep this on the report and recommendation for next meeting.

We'll do. All right. Chair and member comments. Anyone got anything to share? I know you mentioned Fall into the Arts last time. Didn't you mention that? I did. Uh it was a successful uh weekend at the Centennial Lakes Fall into the Arts and uh don't really have anything to report. I I did sit with the uh the police and fire folks for that Saturday morning. Somehow avoided the rain that came in the afternoon. But uh it was it was a great event.

We do need more bike parking around there though because you had trouble finding a sparking spot for your bike on Sunday. So by the pavilion that would be better if we had some more bike infrastructure over there. Uh any other comments from commissioners? All right. Uh staff comments.

There were no uh action items by the city council, but just wanted to update you on a project that was approved by the city. That was the Vernon town homes down here um just south of of Highlands. You recall that was a comprehensive plan amendment. We just received notice today that the Met Council has approved that. So um that one may be proceeding. That's it for me. Thank you. All right. One last second to second. Those in favor say I.

I. So move the meeting's been adjourned. Thank you everyone. Thank you. What was that?