Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Good evening, everybody. We're going to call this meeting to order. My first agenda item this evening is the open forum. So the open forum is an opportunity for anyone to address the commission on an item that is not on the agenda and not in an application form coming to the commission at a future date. Is there anyone in the audience who'd like to address the planning commission on an item that's not on the agenda and not in an application that will be coming to the commission at a future date? I don't see anybody. Last call. Okay, we'll move on to adopting the final agenda. Let's see, commissioners, our next item is adopting the final agenda. Could I have a motion to adopt the final agenda?

So moved.

Thank you, Commissioner Alderster. Can I get a second?

I'll second.

Commissioner Rehm, thank you. All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. The next item is 4.1 to approve the Planning Commission meeting minutes of June 2nd. Could I get a motion to approve the minutes?

Can I just say before we go there, I did not see the minutes attached as part of the packet. Were they distributed separately? Because I may have missed them, but I didn't see them.

Let me check the agenda. Yeah, you are correct. They were not attached. So why don't we table that item to our next meeting? And then we will have those attached for you. Let's do that. Thank you.

Do you, I mean, there are they substantial or can we pull them up and read through them? Um, you'd like to table them.

I'd like to table them just so everyone has time to read and absorb them.

Fine. Thank you. We'll table, we'll table that, uh, minute approval 4.1 the next time. Next item for discussion is item 4.2 to consider a final plan and conditional use permit for the Hotel Victoria.

Chair, do you mind if we go back and take a motion and get a second and a vote on tabling?

Oh, sure. Yeah. So I would like a motion to table the minutes.

So moved.

Thank you, Commissioner. Can I get a second?

Second.

And a second. All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Thank you. So we've tabled them correctly this round. Moving on to the, considering the final plan and conditional use for permit for Hotel Victoria. After a staff presentation, we'll give the applicant an opportunity to speak and then open the public hearing for those in the chambers that wish to speak on the request. So Brian McCann, please give us a staff presentation.

Absolutely, thank you chair and commissioners. Tonight we are looking at a final plat and a conditional use permit request for Hotel Victoria. Typically you wouldn't see a final plat or hold a public hearing on a final plat, but you're seeing that tonight because they have an additional conditional use permit request. So typically we are reviewing the final details of the development here. It typically goes straight to council, but we need your guys review first for this request. So we are looking again at a final plat and conditional use permit for shared parking agreement for five parking spaces. The location and existing conditions of the request, it's at 7929 Victoria Drive, which is a single parcel, which currently occupies the Winchester and Rye building. with some vacant green space to the north where the hotel would go. It is surrounded by streets on all sides, as you can see in the image on the left. It also is within close proximity to the Lake Minnetonka Regional Trail and within 1,000 feet of Stiger Lake, and is approximately 50% impervious as it stands today. And then just as a quick refresher of what the project is for everyone, they are proposing a 46-unit boutique hotel with various amenities, including covered parking for 41 parking stalls, fitness center for the occupants, as well as a lobby and breakfast bar and multiple meeting rooms and spaces. They did add some changes since the last time that the Planning Commission reviewed this based on requests by City Council. They've added some on-street parking modifications to the north side of Steiger Lake Lane, but they are keeping the changes to Randy's Way the same. There's also a building overhang encroachment here, as well as some portion of the balconies here that require an encroachment agreement to be approved by the City Council. So here is the final plat. It's pretty simple. Lot two would consist of Winchester and Rye. Lot one would be the hotel site. And then a single out lot here consisting of public sidewalk and portions of parking spaces here. Looking at the landscaping and tree preservation, they are exempt from our open space minimum planting requirements. They typically would require boulevard trees planted every 35 feet. City staff and the applicant have been working on this and due to the urban nature of this area We don't anticipate any boulevard trees being necessary besides the one that they're showing here And then just highlighting the changes to the north side of Steiger Lake Lane that you're seeing here. They're currently about six parallel parking stalls within this area they have decided to incorporate a retaining wall here with a sidewalk extension and angled parking spaces to help them get to a net zero of on-street parking. Before, you may recall, they were down four spaces on their previous plan with some parking space removals on Steiger Lake Lane. This is the way to get those four stalls back. So here meets our on-street parking. But the reason that they are requesting the conditional use permit tonight for the five shared parking spaces is because they are required to have 46 parking spaces per our code. They only have 41 in their underground parking garage. So that shared parking request is for five spaces. The spaces that made the most sense to staff are the five parallel stalls directly on the south side of Steiger Lake Lane right in front of the hotel here. OTHER THAN THAT, THE PROJECT BASICALLY REMAINS THE SAME FROM WHAT YOU HAD SEEN LAST TIME. THEY'RE STILL EXPANDING RANDY'S WAY TO 20 FEET WIDE ON THE EAST SIDE AND ALL THESE PARKING AREAS REMAIN THE SAME, EXCEPT FOR THEY DID ADD ONE STALL RIGHT HERE IN FRONT OF THE BUILDING THAT SHOULD BE NOTED. So, yes, here is. Exhibit highlighting those 5 spaces for consideration by the playing commission tonight. We believe that all 5 of these spaces and the shared parking agreement would meet our general conditional use permit requirements. With that we did properly notice the public hearing in the June 4th edition of the Waconia Patriot We mailed out notices to affected property owners within 350 fee of the request It was an online and at City Hall and at this time staff have not received any comments on the request. I So with that, I have some suggested conditions. If the Planning Commission chooses to recommend approval of the request, I've highlighted a few that are noteworthy for the Planning Commission to consider. Number one being that the conditional use permit allows for those five parking public spaces to be in a shared parking agreement, that a staging plan must be reviewed and approved before the city would sign off on the milars for the final plat. They would have to coordinate with 1600 Arboretum Boulevard for the project staging and contractor parking that was reviewed last time. They would also need to receive approval from Carver County for those modifications to the north side of Steiger Lake Lane because it's within their property boundaries. The city actually doesn't own that area. that they would be proposing to put those angled parking stalls in, and then they would also have to provide a sidewalk connection from Arboretum Boulevard to Cuamaclit for that contractor and parking scenario. So with that, I do have a sample motion for you on the screen this evening. I can stand for any questions you have, and there are some representatives of the application in the audience as well.

Thank you. Does the applicant wish to speak? Sure, I would love to.

Thank you for the insight. Thank you for having me. We're very excited to move forward with the hotel. I just want to give the planning commission just a brief overview of the schedule so that you're aware as you know, residents inquire, uh, we have, once we get our final approval, which we're anticipating that on Monday at the city council, we then have, uh, approximately two months of, uh, final engineering and structural drawings that will happen. AND THEN THERE IS A FULL BIDDING PROCESS THAT HAPPENS. IT'S A FINAL BIDDING PROCESS. AND THAT PROCESS TAKES FIVE WEEKS. THAT BRINGS US INTO AUGUST, EARLY SEPTEMBER. THEN WE BELIEVE THAT WE'LL BE ABLE TO TURN IN FOR PERMIT. THE PERMITTING PROCESS IS AN ADDITIONAL FIVE WEEKS. AND THE TIME FRAME TO GET EVERYTHING DONE WOULD BRING US TO DECEMBER. AND SO WE ARE LOOKING, IT TAKES APPROXIMATELY FIVE TO SIX WEEKS TO DEPLOY EVERYTHING AND HAVE IT STARTED. SO WE'RE LOOKING AT A FEBRUARY 1ST, 2027 START DIG. THE ROAD CLOSURE FOR THE HIGHWAY HAPPENS APRIL OF 2027 FOR HIGHWAY 5. And that road closure goes all the way till January of 2028. We anticipate being done very shortly within a month of that road closure being done. So it aligns nicely to be able to get the hotel open and running March of 2028. Your road closure will go till January of 2028. So that gives us, and then it gives us time for a soft opening March and April. And then you're really gonna go into your bookings May, June, July, August, September, October. So we're right at the tail end of being able to hit that season. And that, if everything goes through, it will be a 2028 opening.

Any questions?

Thank you.

Thank you. I have one for Brian when it's appropriate.

We'll just, uh, we'll do the, um, public hearing. We can now open a public hearing. If there's anybody in the chambers who wishes to comment on this item, I'll just remind you, uh, if you do wish to speak, you'd be given three minutes and then we'll kindly ask the next individual to have a chance until everybody's had an opportunity. I will ask our planning commission for a motion to close the public hearing. And then just note that the planning commission and city staff will want to engage in, uh, back and forth just, uh, information gathering. So, um, with that, if there's anyone in the chambers who would like to speak this evening, no brave souls last call. Okay, I see no additional public input, so commissioners, can I have a motion to close the public hearing?

Motion to close the public hearing.

Do we have a second? Second. A motion to second. All those in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed? Thank you. So we've closed the public hearing, and now we can open the floor for the Planning Commission to discuss. Commissioners, have at it.

Brian, I do have a question for you regarding the parking. So we're making up for a deficiency in the 46 spots through the five shared parking spots. We all know that parking in Victoria is at a premium, especially in the summer months. My question is, what does it mean to have a shared parking spot right in front of the hotel? That's one question. Is it going to be signed as available for public use?

Chair and commissioners, that's my understanding is that we understand that those are prime spots for the hotel being placed right out front for it so uh... it would be signed for the hotel but open to public use if available.

Okay, thank you. So if the hotel is charging occupants for using the parking facility in the hotel, wouldn't that mean that naturally people are going to use the five shared parking spots first? I just wonder if this is really a facade and are the parking spots really available to the public?

Chair and commissioners, that's a fair question. I guess we haven't got that far in evaluating if the valet parking would be a service for the hotel free to the occupants or if that would be a charged service. I don't know if the applicant is willing to speak to that.

Hello, commissioners. We have not made a decision. We have to wait and get all of our bidding, get everything done. I think it's important to know that the shared parking is done exactly how the city has done all the shared parking. We are not an exception. You approved Rich Gannon's project with shared parking all along the street here. You've approved the restaurant that's come in. WITH SHARED PARKING, AND WE ARE NO DIFFERENT. WE ACTUALLY CREATED ALL OF THAT PARKING THAT IS AROUND THE SITE. THAT ALL BELONGED TO THE CREAMERY, AND I PUT ALL OF THAT PARKING TO THE CITY. SO WE'RE FOLLOWING ALL THE RULES THAT YOU'VE APPLIED TO ALL OF THE WONDERFUL GENTLEMEN THAT HAVE COME BEFORE YOU. THANK YOU.

Fair point. I'm just concerned that parking is at a premium, and people are naturally going to take advantage of free parking if it's available.

Just one more thing. I think if you take a look, there's another thing just to really weigh in here as you're assessing this. The parking that we provided is underground parking. It's millions of dollars for this hotel. You can drive from Victoria all the way to the airport. And I don't know if you're going to see a hotel that was able to financially put in an underground parking. And so for us at 41 spots, we have 46 rooms. The hotel is typically at 65% occupancy. So for us to be able to provide 41 spots of underground parking IS ACTUALLY EXTRAORDINARY FOR THE CITY. AND SO, AGAIN, THAT IS HOW THE SHARED PARKING ORDINANCE WORKS. AND WE ARE NO DIFFERENT. AND I DON'T KNOW IF RICH GANNON IS GOING TO CHARGE FOR HIS PARKING EITHER. I DON'T KNOW WHO CHARGES. I DO KNOW THAT ROE, I THINK THEY CHARGE FOR THEIR UNDERGROUND PARKING. THEY CHARGE MONTHLY. But yet you did shared parking for them, and I don't know if you had those same questions. Thank you.

Brian, can I ask a couple clarifying questions? Just, I mean, is there overnight parking? One question, just in general in town.

In general downtown?

Yeah, I believe no.

Correct.

So in terms of someone wanting to park it and just kind of walk away, I think that kind of caveats that. Is there anything the city can do in terms of hourly limitations, as well as another thing to encourage kind of migration or mobility?

Sure. Chair and commissioners, this is a conditional use permit request. So you can require reasonable conditions, such as hourly restrictions, if you'd like, for consideration by the city council.

Isn't the do any of the other shared parking spots have any restrictions not to my knowledge and see that's the thing I wouldn't be proposing it if it wasn't but just as one of those things again to kind of get that you know, most people are parking for a few hours to go for dinner or for Going to get ice cream or you know things. I think it's it's helping me with duration and overnight Trying to get out of paying for valet parking for a little bit. It's probably a hard one to get around.

the other thing too is that like we know we're gonna be in this time of frustration with everybody with parking especially as like the road is closing on five for a while and we have all this construction going on that like it's just gonna be frustrating for everyone but as long as we can keep the goal you know hopefully by 2028 we'll have quite a bit of parking up and going by that point um things should be smooth so

know i don't see a problem with we've already approved other this kind of situation with other sites so why should we treat this one any differently i don't think we should treat it differently my point simply is that parking is at a premium and i don't know of a long-term solution at this point and as we add more businesses and the hotel parking is going to be even more at a premium

I would say that the council, and Brian, you can comment, is looking at several different parking options to increase the availability of parking in downtown Victoria and to the west.

Chair and commissioners, that's correct. If you haven't been part of the parking survey and the open house that was recently conducted a month or two ago, we are still analyzing all parking options, so stay engaged if you are interested in downtown parking and viable options for the city.

I think one of the slides commented on some updates or changes to the proposal. Go back to that.

Chair and Commissioner Graham, I'm not sure which slide. Maybe I misread it.

Just going to the list of criteria, could you bring that one up? Because I think, you know, I know I read through, like, some of these, Carver County was, hadn't confirmed, but they're amenable to the idea of that land possibly, you know, as being a point of discussion if it moves forward. There was kind of a negotiation about

of maintenance agreements for the portion on the north or the east side i guess so those are all part of this chair and commissioners yeah we've reached out to carver county about this ahead of time and they said they were absolutely open to discussing the idea they generally know what the plan is entailing we just haven't sat down with them to finalize the details yet That's why it's a condition of approval tonight. We'll want written approval from the county.

Any other comments or questions? Okay, commissioners, hearing no more discussion, I'll ask for a motion.

I'll make the motion to recommend the City Council approve the request for Hotel Victoria.

Thank you. Can I get a second? I'll second. All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. Okay, on to item 4.3, the sketch plat for Astoria Lake Town. Just a reminder, the sketch plat reviews the initial stage of review for the Planning Commission. And there are no formal actions or recommendations taken by the commission at the time of the sketch plat review. The review process is intended for the applicant to receive initial feedback from the planning commission and city council in advance of any necessary preliminary plat or rezoning applications. So back to city planner Brian McCann for a staff presentation.

Thank you chair and commissioners. Tonight we will be reviewing a sketch plot proposal for a residential development. I'm not quite sure if any of you were, I think maybe one of you was on the commission at the time that Amira was last reviewed. That was the former project for this site. So I'll talk a little bit of the details about that, but some of this information might look familiar to some of you who were on at that time. So Tonight, we're reviewing a sketch platz just to get feedback back to the applicant. There aren't any approvals or actions taken tonight. We just want to provide them guidance as they start moving forward with any other potential future submittals. The site in total at 2285 Arboretum Boulevard consists of four parcels, just over 56 acres in size. There are two existing single family homes on the site. There's one here just at the end of Sky Drive and then there's another one back here central to the site. The southern two properties here, you see this long strip consisting of approximately seven acres is part of an easement that the city has for the future Lake Minnetonka regional trail corridor. There's also significant wetland coverage on the site with a stream connecting Lake Auburn to the north and Carl Cray Lake down to the south. West off the screen here. The former Amira site was here consisting of a 147 unit senior age restricted 55 years or older apartment building. But that project was unfortunately not able to move forward after preliminary plat approval. So the property owner sought out a potential new developer for this site. So that's why we have Ebenezer development in front of us this evening. They are proposing a 76 unit cooperative senior housing apartment building. as well as six senior housing townhomes or duplexes here. There's two units in each of these buildings shown, as well as two single family homes, one of them being new and one of them being the existing structure here. They are proposing 167 parking stalls with this project, 63 being in the surface level parking lot, and 104 of those stalls are underneath the building. They are also proposing access from Sky Drive due to MnDOT restrictions to Highway 5. Access there just isn't feasible for the project. Then for the zoning and comprehensive plan, the site is currently zoned planned unit development with underlying central business district. That was part of the Amira rezoning that happened a few years prior. So the applicant is proposing to rezone that to PUD with underlying R4 high density residential district instead with different PUD standards. IS ALSO CURRENTLY GUIDED IN OUR 2040 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN AS A MIXT OF DOWNTOWN MIXED USE, OPEN SPACE, AND PARKS FOR THE SECTION OF THE LAKE MINNETONKA REGIONAL TRAIL. They would likely need one change from that comprehensive plan amendment that was approved a few years ago, changing that downtown mixed-use designation to high-density residential instead. The project is at about 17 units per acre, so they're under the downtown mixed-use designation's requirement of 24 minimum, but they fall within that range of high-density residential. Otherwise, the uses that they're proposing comply with the R4 district and the 2040 comprehensive plan. Then looking at the shoreland overlay district, they are within 1,000 feet of Six Mile Creek and Auburn Lake, so they fall within the shoreland requirements. We anticipate them requesting a residential shoreland planned unit development as part of their PUD request. With that, they would need a 100-foot building setback from the stream, which they are well beyond that. You can see in the image on the left here, the center line is actually the stream location, and all the other blue lines outside of that is 300 feet. The building would be roughly around this area, so they should have no problem meeting that 100-foot setback. But they also need to have 50% open space for the development, and they will need to conduct a analysis to verify that they aren't going over the maximum density allowed for the project per the DNR's requirements. And then with that, the impervious maximum, anything outside of the central business district is subject to a 25% maximum impervious. We are anticipating that to be higher with their proposal. So that will likely be another deviation anticipated with the residential shoreland plan development. Then looking at building material lightings and signage, it's too early for those submittals, so just note that those will be coming with any potential preliminary plat applications. We would like to see street light and building light locations as well as any proposed wall signage or monument signage at this time. And then for landscaping and tree preservation, these are all the lists of requirements that we anticipate seeing with any landscape plan that is submitted in the future. They would need a minimum 25% development open space that's likely very achievable based on the existing wetland coverage out there. They would also need one tree and one shrub for every thousand square feet of that 25% required open space. They would need foundation plantings around the duplexes or townhomes and the apartment building. They would also need a landscape buffer along the north side of the site adjacent to Highway 5 that meets our requirements with a three to one slope. and then they would also need a 25 foot buffer adjacent to the single-family homes here on the west side of the site and We would also need boulevard trees every 45 feet along city streets. So if I actually back up a couple slides, I should note that this here is anticipated to be a public cul-de-sac bulb. Everything outside of that is within their single property, so we would require boulevard trees along this section of the cul-de-sac, but anything after that would be considered a site tree. And then any off street parking area. So that parking lot they had on the north side would need to be screened from highway five that could likely be achieved with the buffer. But if they want to include some four foot tall plantings there to deter any additional headlights, that would be recommended as well. And then tree preservation requirements, as you're all aware, they can remove 20% without having to mitigate them. Anything over that 20% they will need to mitigate with additional tree plantings. Then regarding streets and parkings, as I mentioned just a moment ago, the blue area here in the image on the left is anticipated to be a public cul-de-sac, and then everything else would be a private street. entrance and then looking at our parking requirements senior housing requires one space per dwelling unit plus one additional space for every five dwelling units requiring 92 spaces for the cooperative building As I mentioned, they're proposing 167, so they're well over that minimum requirement. And then the single-family homes and duplexes will have driveways, and we anticipate at a minimum the single-family homes will have garages. We'll need to evaluate the townhomes to verify that garages are part of that proposal as well to meet their parking requirements. Overall parking looks good, too. And then regarding pedestrian connections, I put on the image on the left here, this would be a public sidewalk meeting our six foot concrete standard. And then everything else internal to the site is anticipated to be private for their residents or if they want to open it up to the public to walk through the site, especially as this sidewalk has a future connection shown down to the Lake Minnetonka Regional Trail Corridor. That would be up to the applicant. And then moving on to parkland dedication. As I mentioned, there is an easement over these two properties for the future extension of the Lake Minnetonka Regional Trail. We evaluated all the proposed residential uses with this project and came out to just under an acre of required parkland dedication or 98,000 dollars. The developer would be exceeding that requirement by dedicating 7 acres of parkland to the city for this. Future trail corridor and then just as a side note, we've been getting questions from the public on this regarding. if the developer is required to actually do the grading, clearing, In construction of the trail, that is not typical here. We only take the land in parkland dedication and that's up to city, county, other partnerships to actually do the work out here to construct that trail. So that's not something the city is anticipating asking the developer at this time. And then additionally, there are a couple properties off screen here within the Lake Minnetonka Regional Trail Corridor that are under private property ownership. City is not asking them to acquire those properties as part of this project either since it is not directly owned by the same group that is developing this site and Then looking at wetlands, stormwater management, and site utilities, they're subject to the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District's rules and regulations. So they have to put wetland buffers within outlots that are deeded to the city. So here you can see one of their proposals include that wetland buffer within the actual lot lines of the single family homes. We've since asked them to change that, which they have. It's just not shown here. I just wanted to show you this example so that you understood they may be coming back with some PUD requests for the single-family homes. That's because they are required to put this area in an outlot to the city per our code. Otherwise, they are proposing a underground stormwater system shown in green here and utility connections highlighted in yellow from Highway 5 and Sky Drive. Last night was a busy evening for this project. They had a neighborhood meeting and I presented this item to the Parks and Recreation Committee as well. Jen attended the neighborhood meeting and noted approximately 15 attendees at that meeting last night, stating concerns regarding the feasibility of the acquisition and construction of the Lake Minnetonka Regional Trail Corridor. They also expressed concerns with increased traffic on Sky Drive and Lakes Parkway, since Lakes Parkway would be the direct connection to Highway 5 for this project and the Lake Bridge neighborhood. And there was also some support noted for a lower density concept than what Amira proposed. We're going from 147 units to 82 total, so it is a much less dense project than what was previously approved. But people are also excited about the dedication of that trail corridor, which is a big step in getting that future of the Lake Minnetonka Regional Trail extended. Or in that, we did receive three, actually four now, public comments before the packet was post, or after the packet was posted. I did print copies of those. Leave them all on the dais for you all this evening. So hopefully you had a chance to review them We typically don't receive public comments at scatch plat But I thought it was important for you guys to have those and they will be included with the council packet as well for next week and then the Parks and Recreation Committee reviewed this last night and they recommended the City Council accept the trail corridor as the full dedication for the project and so with that i have some general questions here to help guide the discussion if needed these were included in your packet otherwise i can stand for any questions you have and there are representatives of the application audience tonight thank you with the applicant like to speak

Absolutely. Thank you for welcoming us here tonight. I'm representing Leap Development, my company, as well as Astoria Cooperatives, which is a product of a partnership of myself and Ebenezer Development with this project. And so we're really excited, obviously, It's a beautiful property, one we're pretty excited to be pursuing. It's not often that you get to develop or look at a property like this one where you're as close to a downtown area but sitting on 40-plus acres. And so we're excited to be talking about that with you here tonight and learning as much as we can for our next submittals. The neighborhood meeting was very helpful for us last night as a team. We learned a lot. Our architect and civil engineer were there as well. Architect on the project is Koss Wilson. And the civil engineer is Civil Site Group. Both great groups. And Civil Site Group in particular had a connection to the AMIRA project that was proposed before us as well. So there was a lot of learning that they had done through that process as well. So the trail connection is a big one. It was the biggest topic last night at our neighborhood meeting. It's important for us too, which is evidenced by the dedication that the group is making. And so we're allies with the neighbors in terms of hoping that our project moving forward would allow some more discussions with Parks and Rec and the city about finally getting that in so that all those residents out there can enjoy all the amenities in downtown Victoria. So with that, I think Brian covered things pretty well, but I would be happy to answer any questions that the commission would have. So thank you. Thanks.

Appreciate it. Commissioners, discussion?

Just a reminder of the context of having direct access of the property on Highway 5 was turned down by the DOT originally.

That's correct, yes. As part of the AMIRA project as well, I went back in the project folder and looked at it tonight because we've been hearing a lot of questions about requiring a traffic study as part of this. So just some additional context for the group, a traffic study was conducted for the AMIRA project. And it noted that during the peak AM and PM hours, it would only generate an additional 21 vehicle trips based on a senior use out in this area. So we anticipate that number could potentially be even lower due to the reduced unit count here. So something to consider. Highway 5 access still won't be feasible, but we anticipate less traffic than what was actually done with Amira.

Ryan, help me understand, where is the access point then to this new neighborhood?

Yes, let me go to a better aerial. So here, Lakes Parkway here would be the main access from Highway 5, and then you would turn onto Sky Drive to come into the development sites. The cooperative building would be here, townhomes here, single family here.

So you're not going through the neighborhood except for maybe 100 yards? Correct.

And it's not by any of the neighborhood houses either.

And that cul-de-sac you showed, does that become a drive-through? Correct. So you drive through what was a cul-de-sac, it looks like.

Correct, yeah. So to get into the cooperative site, you would pull directly through that cul-de-sac. Okay, that's helpful. Thank you.

Could you go back one slide just for context? Okay, so that one there. So the easement for the trail, the seven acres, goes all the way up to the right side, and then there's... Two parcels that are still three of those three there that are still to be negotiated. Correct trail to actually go through. So a big gesture. Correct.

Chair and commissioners, just to give a little bit more context to the city has approached them in the past or has had discussions with them in the past about possibly acquiring those properties to help facilitate that trail extension. At that time, I, DON'T KNOW THE LAST TIME IT HAPPENED. IT WAS BEFORE MY TIME OVER THREE YEARS AGO NOW, BUT NONE OF THE PROPERTY OWNERS WERE INTERESTED IN SELLING TO THE CITY FOR THAT EXTENSION.

I READ SOMETHING ABOUT THE HEIGHT OF THE APARTMENT BUILDING, THE TALLER BUILDING WOULD EXCEED THE ZONING CODE'S MAXIMUM HEIGHT

Chair and commissioners, so our R4 district is actually a little bit unique. Our downtown height requirement, as you might know, is 50 feet. Our R4 standard in code right now is 55 feet. I understand that the applicant is proposing somewhere around 53 feet. So they would be meeting the requirements of the R4. They just don't meet the central business district height requirement as it stands today. Good.

I have another question. In Lake Parkway, is it proposed any modification to allow all the extra cars that are gonna turn in to the left?

Chair and commissioners, that's a good question. There aren't any proposed modifications being applied to lakes parkway, which is that main entrance from highway five, uh, as they were showing, they would finish out the cul-de-sac here on sky drive, but no changes to lakes parkway.

Brian, can you, is it possible to share the previous Amera MnDOT study and or I'm interested if it contemplated emergency vehicle traffic and if when that study was conducted, if the population and anticipated growth with all the new development that's happening materially changes any of the entry and exit findings that they might have.

Sure. Chair and commissioners, so we haven't engaged MnDOT yet on this. They typically don't review sketch plats. It's something we can certainly send them now since it's been three years since the Amira project. Maybe sentiments or parts of their evaluations have changed. So we will definitely be sending it to them as part of the preliminary plat submittal. We can engage them sooner if the Planning Commission thinks it would be beneficial for them to look into that before the applicant starts preparing preliminary plans.

Brian, you mentioned that the impervious maximum is going to be a challenge. Do we know the percentage of impervious coverage that we'll likely have?

uh... development wide don't anticipate more than fifty percent based on what they're showing in the current site characteristics uh... so won't be an extreme number especially uh... when we're talking about the site itself for the development itself But if we're talking about a site-specific analysis, if we're talking about just their site boundaries, which doesn't include this hatched area down here, that percentage could be inflated up to potentially 80%, which would be like our central business district requirement. So it's what it's guided for today, but they would have to change the designation to high density residential, but the impervious would likely still match something of a central business district nature.

How does that compare to the Amira project? Is it more or less?

It would be similar. As the applicant stated, they have the same architect working on, or the same engineer working on the project, so I would guess that the engineer likely tried to keep the same figure.

If I could speak to that, too. We feel for our program, we are over-parked. And so that has been a discussion. I would assume that when we come with our next submittal, some of the surface parking is going to be removed just for more green space for our future members, just because we are over-parked for what we typically shoot for. And we are above and beyond the one-to-one underneath. Every share, every co-op member gets a parking space with their share. And then additionally, there's a first-come, first-served basis. And we have, I think it was 104 underneath or 106 underneath?

104.

With 76 units in the building. So we have an abundance of underground parking. And so it would be my hope to be able to minimize some of that surface parking as well to help with some of that. Thank you. Very good.

In this image on the northeastern side, it looks like the part of the driveway kind of just ends. Is there anticipation for continual of that, or is it just like that's it?

Chair and commissioners, that's a good question. I should have pointed that out in our staff report, but that is actually necessary for a fire truck turnaround. Brian.

Go ahead.

I was just gonna say there aren't additional buildable acres on the site. The rest of it is in wetlands, so there's no future proposal for additional units there.

Brian, given the Met Council's density requirements. Where are we at given just overall density requirements to kind of adhere to their guidelines, especially given the withdrawal of other projects around Victoria and this one coming in a little bit under proposed densities?

Chair and commissioners, that's a good question. Overall, we're still right around that 3 and 1 half, which will be our 2050 comp plan requirement. This proposal, putting it in a district that is slightly less dense would bring down our overall density a little bit. I don't know how drastically it could, but it's something I could discuss with our sector representative to see if it's going to be a drastic change for our future projections.

Something that we need to, council needs to keep in mind overall for all projects moving forward.

The other thought I had is looking at this, and I'm pretty sure the new roundabout for 5 and Steiger Lake, that's that top right corner, right? The north?

Correct. Victoria Drive and Highway 5 roundabout is under construction here at the moment.

I would love to see a part of the trail system from all of this or a sidewalk connecting to that so that residents here could easily walk and have an easier way of crossing the road there.

I will, when I reach out to MnDOT about that, I will ask them as well about that possibility. If I'm understanding correctly, what I've heard from past staff members is that MnDOT wasn't interested in a trail in that section, but I can certainly ask the question again to see if sentiments have changed.

It actually would facilitate connection to downtown west as well for all of the neighborhood areas. Mm-hmm.

I just feel like right there would probably be best anyways because that's, traffic's already slowing down with the roundabout, so a little bit easier for pedestrian crossing.

Brian, is there any contemplation or to the developer on the entry, the current proposed entry and exit on Lake Bridge for either traffic control signs, stoplights, and if there's going to be any requirements around you know, resurfacing, reconstructing that, given that there's a big, you know, central planting in that middle, in that, you know, right at that entry exit there, which I don't know how that would impact either emergency vehicles or heightened traffic. Has that been contemplated, or is that present in any of the packets, either for this or AMIRA?

it was present in the packet for amira as i said there was a traffic study that was conducted for that project they determined that the i looking at it again earlier today the worst level of service meaning a is the best f is the worst the worst was a left turn out of lakes parkway onto highway 5. At the peak pm hour when everyone's commuting home from work, but that was still only a level service c after Construction, which is a fairly average Traffic designation so that doesn't warrant any additional improved intersections When that project or study was done was this neighborhood already built out fully or Correct, that's my understanding. The Lake Bridge neighborhood just to the west here started construction, I believe, 16 years ago, so they've been built out for a bit of time. So that study considered all of this neighborhood as well as the Amira project with impacts to the Highway 5 and Lakes Parkway intersection.

So to that point, just for, because I don't remember, but did it quantify how many vehicles were moving through that area? intersection in the early periods of 21 additional you know what percentage because that's kind of the counterbalance it's like how big is the community that is serving relative to this new additional you know impact um is it proportional you know is it

That's a good question. I did not get that far. So I will look into that and have a better answer for you.

What I was wondering is like, yeah, how big is that neighborhood? I can't, you know, I don't know what everyone that flows that way. We all know what it's like in some mornings.

And that traffic study is part of the Amira development. I can tell you that was reviewed in July of 2023. If we want to go back and look at that packet, that traffic report is part of that.

Got a question for you is that there's a pond there and then how close is this getting to Six Mile Creek?

Six Mile Creek is the stream that actually runs through the site here This is a 300 foot distance. So the building itself is probably 400 500 feet away from the stream

The footprint of the building on this would be inside the light, not touching any of the dotted blue. Correct. By another 100 feet? Potentially, yeah. And what about the pond there? Is that considered a... No, no, up. It's next to the house.

Oh, this one? That is not on the DNR's list of registered waterways. So that could just be... wetland and not stream. There is a difference between the two. DNR doesn't care as much about wetlands as they do streams. But there are wetland buffer setbacks that the applicant would have to comply with the district's requirements. So Minnehaha Creek will look at this section, but DNR will look at the rest of it, if that makes sense.

So is that a potential issue? Have they come on site and looked at this

Yeah, they did with the Amira proposal. I don't know if the applicant has engaged Minnehaha Creek watershed district yet, but they will be required to as part of their preliminary plot Can remember something about that but not the details I know is looked at though so good for context What were the

What were the trail concerns at the meeting last night? What more could you do?

So I think it was the trail concerns were probably less about our proposed property and more about the fact that when that development went in many years ago I think the developer had shared won't this trail be great to access downtown Victoria 16 some years later still not complete a number of factors leading to that I think but certainly this property now being up for sale on us proposing this project it feels like a good opportunity i think to share those frustrations and concerns to say hey can we fix this now uh... and certainly we we would support that with with the dedication and and he mentioned uh... Minnehaha Creek Watershed District. That's some discussions we've had. While we haven't talked to them yet about that pond structure, Civil Site Group was on that project as well. So they were likely involved with that. And so those are some of those learnings. But additionally, we understand that we would like to reach out to them to talk about a potential funding source too. So that in August, when the city parks and rec meetings start, hope to have a seat at the table. I'm sure the neighbors will also have a seat at the table along with the city and hopefully be bringing up those ideas of, hey, how do we finally solve this for everybody?

Thank you. Can I ask another question? Brian, can you get a little bit bigger view? Of this image on the left? Basically the top side of the trail. I'm sorry. Is there another slide that you have that shows a more zoomed out view?

Yeah.

Yeah, that might do it. Is there the potential to run the trail to the north of these not tied up lots and make the curve a little bit different. I mean, in this general area. So the curve would go a little bit higher, kind of parallel five.

There's potential with that. Um, I think the city owns this slot. I could be wrong. Um, we own one of these four and we own this one. Um, but if it did have to go from here, um, all the way up and connect back down here or something that could potentially be achieved with a boardwalk. It would be a pretty expensive boardwalk.

Why boardwalk? Because it's wet. Correct.

Yeah. Everything back here is wet. And then we would still be working with two different property owners here because these are industrial properties that own all the way back through these wetlands.

I guess the only point would be on the developer of this if we'd be able to contemplate that budge of that land if we needed it, because if we run into a full stop on one of those and we find some, you know, some property owners that are interested in working with the county to move the trail around that corner, Solution to connect it which is the goal.

Yeah, I'm chairing commissioners. I'll note that will likely be a city Responsibility that areas outside the scope of the applicants project. So if there's interest in that I can certainly bring that up to Senior staff here at the city. We talked to these other property owners on the north side about a Not to my knowledge. I could be wrong.

When was the last time we talked to the four property owners with the little boxes?

It was at least three years ago. OK.

There's new momentum, though. I think that's.

There's what?

There's new momentum for a conversation. Get the property. given the circumstance.

It looks like there's actually room there to make a little bit bigger turn if it were possible because, you know.

Yeah. It's tricky because we're speaking on behalf of future shareholders and owners of the cooperative, and so that's always a tricky spot that we're in right now. But I would say In general, we would support any sort of potential for additional easement discussion if that's what it required to get a safe trail connection to downtown. That's going to benefit those members in the future. And so if that's something that comes onto the table, we would be absolutely open to discussing a number of different scenarios, I think. But to Ryan's point, it is an expensive way to construct the trail, but certainly if it gets the access done. Got it. Thank you.

Anything else, commissioners?

If we got a connection to this property, would the owners be willing to make it a through connection for the other residents on the western side?

Yep, really good question and sort of similar answer. It's tricky because we're speaking on behalf of a future organization that operates like an HOA, and so obviously security and safety are going to be priority number one. But if, again, I would say that, yes, we'd be open to discussing that access coming through ours, through the cooperative's property, especially if the idea of the sidewalk and MnDOT is open to it up front, that could be a potential solution as well.

Brian, one more question. Correct me if I'm wrong, but there is currently a trail from that neighborhood through the other neighborhood. Does it go through this property?

Chair and Commissioner Schauer, yes, that's a good question. I can highlight here generally on the screen for you. This is a trail that comes from the Lake Bridge neighborhood. It comes down and connects to a dirt or gravel path here, but these two properties are still under private ownership, so there's a trail there. Maybe it shouldn't be there, but... That is how people have been connecting up to the Kelser pond neighborhood to get through and into downtown.

Gotcha. Okay.

Good for now. Okay. We don't have a formal motion so we can move on. Thank you. Yep. Thanks for the presentation. So now on to item 4.4 with some development updates and a map. Final discussion is to review the development updates and I'll turn it over to our planner Brian McCann for the staff presentation. Thank you Brian.

Thank you chair and commissioners. Last discussion item tonight, this should be a quick one. Every quarter I just like to bring forward development updates for the commission and then also have that publicly available as a resource for anyone interested on just one comprehensive what's happening in Victoria. document. So I've broken this up into five sections just for ease of reading. We're going to focus on the central business district area. I say that as area because not everything on the screen here is part of the central business district, but it's everything in close proximity to our downtown. So tonight you reviewed the sketch platform for Astoria Lake Town, that 76 unit cooperative with an additional six uh... duplexes and the two single-family homes that will be going to council for consideration of the sketch plat on monday evening june twenty second downtown west uh... they got to their third edition platts approved for those four retail buildings were working with them and construction should begin uh... be beginning shortly on those four retail buildings Downtown West First Edition is the Olivine Apartments consisting of, I believe, 145 units. They are actually having a opening ceremony later this week, I believe, but they are taking residents in at the moment, and it sounds like they're doing well. The Victoria Condos project, that was the Gannon building located within downtown for the 10 condo units, they've received final plat approval. They're still working on their pre-sales for those condos before they actually plan on beginning construction. Then for Hotel Victoria, that was reviewed tonight and recommended for approval for the final plat. That will be going to council on Monday evening as well for their 46-unit boutique hotel. Then row apartments is nearing final construction completion, especially for those retail units. I've heard that potential users will be opening at the end of July for that building. And then Victoria Gateway East, that's the hometown bank, Mocha Monkey Project, they also have final plot approval. They are planning to stage their construction around the same time that this section of Highway 5 reconstruction begins, so that will be anticipated to begin later this year. And then for the Church Lake Boulevard proposal, you may recall the Planning Commission was going to review a sketch plat for, I believe, 92 or 96 townhomes out in that area from David Weekly Homes. They've rescinded their application, and so we're getting lots of calls about these properties, but no official sketch plat submittal for those. Any questions on the Central Business District area?

Okay.

Moving on to the general Marsh Lake Road area. Shores of Marsh Lake first edition is still under construction. They're finishing the last of the homes out there. Shores of Marsh Lake second edition with an additional six single family homes receive final plat approval and development agreement approval. So that should be coming in as soon as they get their comprehensive plan amendment approval from the Met Council, they'll start construction of those six homes as well. hunters glen all the homes out there are complete and staff are working with the developer on public improvements and landscaping inspections so that one's almost complete and then 8675 county road 43 you might recall that was a minor subdivision they're putting in two new single-family homes here at the end of this street And then a new larger parcel here, which would be on septic and well. We're still in discussion with this property owner about how they are planning to move forward. They don't have all their final approvals yet, but they did receive approval from the Met Council on their comp plan amendment for that project. Any questions there? Okay, then moving on to the east area. Brookmoor is nearing final completion as well. I think they have a couple homes still under construction out in this area. Staff are doing public improvement and landscaping inspections out there. Then if you haven't driven along County Road 18 recently for the new fire station, it looks great so far I believe they are planning an open house for September this year, but it will be officially complete I believe in July so that will be exciting as well any questions there Great then victoria north only the one project here which is bell maple farm uh... this one was originally tabled by the city council for some official evaluation on their utility corridor because this is a particularly challenging developments uh... they came back and We're going for City Council consideration, but the City Council received a petition that was sent to the State Environmental Quality Board, so they had to delay it again until an environmental analysis was done on this project. The petition analysis came back stating that a mandatory nor discretionary EAW was required for this project, so the City Council approved the preliminary plot. The applicant is still working in the background and planning to submit for final plat for that project soon.

Will we see that again, Brian, or is that just go to council?

That one will just go to council. Okay. The comprehensive plan amendment was the only other section that required plan commission review along with the comprehensive plan amendment for this one. So as soon as those are approved, it would just go straight to council. Very good. Thanks.

Just a quick question on that one. So that's the one that would, all of the access would be coming from that current Mill Creek area, right? That's that. Chair and commissioners, that's correct.

Any other questions on this one? Okay, that was for 15 single family homes, if I recall correctly. And then the last larger section of town here, this is for what we're just generally calling Victoria South. So starting at the north side here, Huntersbrook and Huntersbrook Creekside, they're still busy building homes out there. The Creekside area are the executive lots, which I believe they have two houses up down here. I'm not sure if they have any constructed yet out of these three down here. But they're getting close to completion in the Huntersbrook area, but the Huntersbrook Creekside area is still under development. And then Marsh Hollow, they have completed all the single family home rentals for a while. They're still constructing the last few townhomes out in this area. Then Victoria Ridge will be starting construction of their first 70 townhomes that were approved last year out here. The apartment building just to the south here in this section was approved. They have not come in to actually record the plot yet, so we don't anticipate construction on that one starting soon, but that was for 163 or 167 units, I believe, for an apartment building there. QuickTrip is also working through their building permit plans, should be beginning construction soon. No other updates on the Victoria commercial area. We did meet with the real estate, the commercial real estate agent out on this site to discuss possible uses that the city would like to see out here. So they will be doing some additional engagement and you guys would review any new commercial projects that come out in that area. Then West Creek Village is the Lennar development. They got their first edition approved for 56 town homes and 13 single family homes. So they've been doing mass grading out there and should be constructing soon. Then Enclave at Huntersbrook. You guys, I don't believe, reviewed this one. This is actually a section of West Creek Village that Tradition Development bought from Lennar. So they'll be constructing the 13 single family homes on the north side of Creekside Lane within that larger Lennar project. And then Kuchenmeister is still being evaluated by Pulte. A year or two ago, the Planning Commission and City Council reviewed a sketch plat there for a mix of single family homes and town homes. They've been working with the city on modifying their sketch plat. They should be coming back with a revised plan soon for your consideration. And then lastly is the Athletes Village project further down on County Road 10, Engler Boulevard. We do not have any movement on that project. So we know that they are still engaged and planning on doing some sort of sports facility out there with a future commercial component, but we don't have any recent updates for the playing commission.

Is it going to be affected by the 43 road if it changes?

Correct. Chair and commissioners, they've been engaged with Carver County, who owns County Roads 10 and 43, so the county is working with them on what their access looks like for that site, because it likely will be a large commercial user, which would generate enough traffic to require some intersection improvements with the project. What was the last that you heard on that project? How long ago? Three months, maybe. OK. Yeah.

Frank, can you remind us where the city proper boundaries go on the south side there?

Yes, so all these black lines that you're seeing are property boundaries. It's really convenient in this image on the left because this is the future line for the city. Everything south of this line that you don't see property lines for is future area for Carver. So everything that you see to the left or west of County Road 11 going north south here and everything north of this East-West Black Line is either current or future Victoria area.

Was there any further updates from the county on Engler Boulevard on when that's going to be worked on?

Yes. So that segues, if we're done with this, I've got a transportation project slide as well. Does anyone have any other questions on this? No? Great. Perfect. So starting at the south end, the county is evaluating the remaining section of Victoria Drive, County Road 11, as well as County Road 10, Angler Boulevard. I'M PART OF A TEAM WITH THE CITY ENGINEER. WE MEET MONTHLY WITH THE COUNTY AND THEIR SELECTED CONSULTANT TO DO THESE PROJECTS. THEY'RE ANTICIPATING IMPROVEMENTS TO VICTORIA DRIVE BEING DONE IN 2028 AND IMPROVEMENTS TO COUNTY ROAD 10 BEING DONE IN 2029. We're still working through the designs and alternatives of what those access and intersections look like. So nothing's been finally determined yet. I will note they are planning another open house in July. If you're able to attend that and are interested, it will be held at the Westbrook Community Church. If I back up a slide which is right on the southwest corner here of County Road 10 and 11 So if you're interested in that I highly recommend you attend that and listen to what they have to say And then other transportation projects, Highway 5 and County Road 11 North is still under construction. From what I've heard, they're still on target for July 4th opening. So that could potentially change, weather pending. We've been getting some rain recently, but... From what I've heard, this should still be opening July 4th weekend. And then later this year, they will start working on the remainder of the large highway five project. And then the state is still looking at improvements to highway seven on the north side of town with anticipated reconstruction of that happening in 2029. Any questions? Oh, that's helpful. Great. Well, that's all I had for you this evening.

Thank you. Good information. So if there's no more discussion there, that concludes our items this evening. So we'll move to the miscellaneous section of the agenda. Any staff reports?

Yeah, just a couple minor updates for you. Uh, the July 7th meeting, I will likely not be attending that meeting, but we do have two items on that agenda. Um, we potentially have a zoning text amendment request coming forward regarding fences that Travis will be presenting to you and then, uh, outdoor dining. Interim use permit which I believe Jen and Travis will be jointly presenting for that Otherwise, those are only two items as of right now for the Tuesday July 7th meeting I know that's a Tuesday after a holiday So, please let me know as soon as possible if you're not able to attend that evening we want to make sure we have a quorum because those two items will involve public hearings and

Brian, is the fences topic related to the June 2 topic that we addressed on fences? I believe so. Let's make sure that we get the notes out, or the minutes, rather, for everybody to, and it was a short meeting, but if we're following up on it. Yes, that's a great idea.

Other than that there is new art in the room today as well so I left those little slips of paper for you if you wouldn't mind taking a look and writing down which one is your favorite our city clerk for the new commissioners likes to collect these and Send out a note to everyone on what the favorite piece of art was Thank you looks good any reports from the commissioners

Has there been any community dialogue with the city about data centers? I know it's a hot topic right now, but Does that come up with our city at all?

Jerry commissioners it has not come up with our city and I can tell you in our Conversations with potential developers. None of them have approached us Just wanted to double-check

Any other items? Then I'll ask for a motion to adjourn.

I'll make a motion.

And a second?

Second.

That works. All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Thank you. Meeting adjourned.