Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-11-28 Joint Board MIN STILLWATER CITY AND TOWN JOINT BOARD MEETING November 28, 2012 7:00 P.M. Supervisor Johnson called the meeting to order at 7:07 p.m. Present: Stillwater City Councilmember Polehna and Mayor Harycki Stillwater Township Supervisors Dave Johnson and Linda Countryman Absent: None Staff present: Community Development Director Turnblad Deputy Fire Chief Ballis APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion by Mayor Harycki, seconded by Supervisor Countryman, to approve the May 2, 2012 Joint Board Meeting Minutes. All in favor. NEW MEMBER Supervisor Johnson welcomed new Joint Board Member Mike Polehna. PUBLIC HEARINGS Case No. 2012-04. National Guard and City of Stillwater Fire Station. Consideration of requests for: 1) rezoning to RB, Two-Family residential; 2) amendment to City’s Zoning Ordinance to allow armories and fire stations by Special Use Permit in the RB Zoning District; and 3) Special Use Permits for National Guard Armory and City of Stillwater Fire Station. Community Development Director Turnblad presented background information on the project. The City of Stillwater has been working with the Minnesota Army National Guard for a number of years to provide property suitable for a new readiness center (armory) to replace the existing facility in downtown Stillwater. The City has also been considering the construction of a new fire station for many years. In November 2012, these two independent projects came together when the City purchased a site that could acco mmodate both the new armory and a new centrally located fire station. A new public road will be constructed connecting Boutwell to Maryknoll Drive. There are two proposed public entrances to the facility: the south entrance for the reception area of the fire station and the armory classrooms, and the north entrance which will be the primary public entrance to the armory. The building footprint is designed to accommodate a gymnasium expansion, should the City decide to construct that in the future. Community Development Director continued that the armory will be served by three parking lots, two for armory personnel and public use, and one for a small military vehicle pool behind the armory. The fire station will have two lots for use by fire station personnel. Sidewalks will connect all parking areas to the two public entrances. There is also a sidewalk to the new public road which will connect to the planned trail which will link the existing trail on CSAH 12 with the existing trail on Boutwell Road. The crossing of Joint Board Meeting November 28, 2012 Page 2 of 5 CSAH 12 will be made possible by the installation of signal lights and a crosswalk. There are plans to extend the trail down to the Eagle Ridge neighborhood. In order to proceed as proposed, the following actions would have to be taken by the J oint Planning Board: 1) Approve rezoning of the property to RB, Two-Family Residential; 2) Approve amendment to the City Zoning Code allowing armories and municipal fire stations by Special Use Permit in the RB, Two -Family Residential Zoning District; 3) Review and comment on a Special Use Permit for the armory; and 4) Review and comment on a Special Use Permit for the municipal fire station. Community Development Director Turnblad stated that traffic, landscaping, exterior lighting and sirens from the fire station are the biggest concerns from neighbors. A traffic study found that, except for Boutwell and Manning, all intersections currently are operating at an acceptable level of service and this project won’t reduce any of those intersections below their current level. But because Manning is a problem at rush hour, the County plans to signal the Boutwell and Manning intersection in the future. He explained Croixwood residents’ concern that, with the addition of the through street, traffic from north of Boutwell will cut through Croixwood. Traffic consultants believe people will soon realize this doesn’t save any time. The study estimated there will be another 50 -75 cars per day going northbound cutting through Croixwood, or one car every 8-12 minutes during rush hours, less during the day, which consultants don’t feel is significant. The intersection of Boutwell and Myrtle is proposed to become right-in, right-out. Regarding landscaping, Community Development Director stated the biggest issue is how to deal with headlights on the perimeter of the property. Currently there is a double row of fairly mature pine which would screen headlight wash for residents in the Newberry neighborhood. While the landscape architect suggested removing the double row and planting a mix of coniferous and deciduous, staff wants to leave the double row of pines if possible. This is a condition of approval. The edge of the fire station parking lot also will need some landscaping to buffer headlights from the homes planned for the area. He also reviewed lighting plans. Regarding noise in the neighborhood, the fire department doesn’t use sirens for every call - only those where life safety is involved. Supervisor Johnson opened the public hearing at 7:44 p.m. David Adams, 172 Boutwell Court North, commented that his main concern is traffic and speeds on Boutwell. He feels that the new road probably will address that. Community Development Director Turnblad replied there will be a right-in, right-out with a median at the Boutwell/Myrtle intersection, so no one will be able to turn left from Myrtle onto Boutwell. Mayor Harycki noted this was a compromise with the County, which originally wanted Boutwell dead- ended in a cul de sac. Ann Terwedo, Transportation Planner for Washington County, added that limiting Boutwell to right-in, right-out provides more opportunities for a future signalized intersection at Eagle Ridge. The County plans to improve from Eagle Ridge to the Maryknoll intersection in 2014. That may be moved into 2013 as this project moves forward. Dennis Arntson, Minnesota National Guard Project Manager for the Readiness Center, said two Guard units will be stationed here. Weekends could see as many as 170 personnel; weekdays, about 26 personnel will be in the building; anything beyond that would be rentals such as weddings. The majority of the Guard members would be coming from outside Stillwater. Joint Board Meeting November 28, 2012 Page 3 of 5 Lara Boucher, 7699 Minar Avenue, said they bought their home for the quiet and open space and are concerned about additional noise. Mr. Arntson responded that the training the Guard does will be in classrooms inside the building. Most military vehicles will be stationed at other locations - they won’t be bringing them in. Community Development Director Turnblad added that the Armory will have little impact on property value because it will function like an office building. Within a short distance from a fire station, property values tend to go up. Supervisor Johnson closed the public hearing at 8:02 p.m. In response to a question from Supervisor Johnson, Deputy Fire Chief Ballis said that sirens are usually turned on when emergency vehicles get onto a public road, not when it’s coming out of the station. Supervisor Johnson asked about cost savings to be achieved by co-locating the facilities. Community Development Director Turnblad responded that considering shared building features, road work, sewer and water and other costs, the savings will total $1.5 to $2 million. Supervisor Countryman asked about preferred traffic routes. Community Development Director Turnblad said each potential route was studied and timed. Eventually drivers will learn the quickest, easiest routes. Supervisor Countryman asked about overflow parking. Community Development Director Turnblad responded that the only scenario that could create a parking shortage is if classrooms are used and filled to the max, all 26 full time Guard staff are in the facility, and an event is being held in the gymnasium that generates a lot of public traffic. In that case, a Joint Use Agreement between the Guard and City dictates that the Guard personnel who schedule use of the facility know they cannot schedule a non-sports event in the gym. Also there is room on the site for a back-up parking area which the City could pave if it becomes an ongoing issue. Supervisor Johnson asked if this use has greater or lesser impact compared to the previously planned use. Community Development Director Turnblad said that 45-50 homes could be put in had it been residential, with each household generating about 10 trips daily, so impact throughout the week is anticipated to be much less than had it been a neighborhood. Motion by Supervisor Countryman, seconded by Councilmember Polehna, to approve the rezoning to RB, Two- Family Residential. All in favor. Motion by Mayor Harycki, seconded by Supervisor Countryman, to amend the City Zoning Ordinance to allow armories and fire stations by Special Use Permit in the RB, Two-Family Residential Zoning District. All in favor. Motion by Councilmember Polehna, seconded by Mayor Harycki, to recommend approval of the Special Use Permit for the Fire Station and Armory with the 25 conditions noted in the staff report. All in favor. Joint Board Meeting November 28, 2012 Page 4 of 5 OTHER BUSINESS Plant Nursery Zoning Ordinance Amendment Supervisor Johnson stated the request is to amend the Stillwater Township zoning ordinance to allow ancillary furniture, antiques, and household goods relative to a commercial plant nursery use. Berry Farrington, Planner for Stillwater Township, explained the request is to broaden the types of accessory uses allowed in relation to plant nurseries. It came up because Bergmann’s Greenhouse received a request from another business to host occasional sales of antiques and household goods. All parking would be handled on the site; signs would be temporary sandwich boards. The Planning Commission would conduct the public hearing and then if the ordinance amendment is approved, Bergmann’s Greenhouse could update its certificate of compliance to conduct the business which is occurring on the property. Mayor Harycki stated the City has had no complaints. Supervisor Johnson stated the Township wants to be very respectful of its relationship with the City and doesn’t want to create a future opportunity for someone to interpret this as an allowed retail use on a parcel of property that is not designated for retail. Mayor Harycki and Councilmember Polehna said they have no problems with the amendment. Motion by Councilmember Polehna, seconded by Mayor Harycki, to accept the recommendation to approve the zoning ordinance amendment. All in favor. Discussion of Potential Annexation of Brown’s Creek Trail Corridor Community Development Director Turnblad explained that the former Minnesota Zephyr railroad line is being converted to a State Browns Creek Trail. He presented graphics showing the route. Because part of the route is in the Township, individuals have been using it for hunting which is prohibited in the City. City police can’t enforce “no hunting” on the portion that is in the Township. So the City feels it should annex the Township portion of the trail to make enforcement consistent. Mayor Harycki noted that having a 50 foot wide shooting corridor in the middle of a park does n’t make sense. Supervisor Johnson recalled the original intent of keeping that right of way in the Township was to allow the Township to control use of the property, specifically frequency of trains and lights. Now that it’s DNR property, the Township has lost the tax income from the property and he thinks it makes complete sense for the City to annex the land. Community Development Director Turnblad said part of the trail is within the orderly annexation area, but part is not, so the procedure for this annexation is that it will have to be approved by the Township Board and the City Council. They would jointly adopt resolutions that would get sent to the Municipal Board. Mayor Harycki brought up a parcel on Greeley in the middle of the intersection which is Township property and should also be annexed. Joint Board Meeting November 28, 2012 Page 5 of 5 Supervisor Johnson said there was discussion about this at the Township’s last meeting. When the intersection was redefined, a piece of open land remained Township property, which should logically come into the City. Community Development Director Turnblad brought up one other piece of Township property that was overlooked near the Stillwater Golf Club when the area was annexed, which was missed in the legal descriptions because the parcel had its own deed. He suggested adding this parcel to the annexation. Supervisor Johnson said these parcels will go on the agenda of the next Township Board meeting, December 13. Community Development Director Turnblad agreed to bring the appropriate documents to the City Council. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Supervisor Countryman, seconded by Councilmember Polehna, to adjourn the meeting at 8:56 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Julie Kink Recording Secretary