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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Packet 05-26-2015 SpecialCITY OF PLYMOUTH AGENDA SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING MAY 26, 2015, 5:30 p.m. MEDICINE LAKE CONFERENCE ROOM 1. CALL TO ORDER 2. TOPICS A. Comprehensive Plan Process Update B. Set Future Study Sessions C. Quarterly City Manager update 3. ADJOURN Special Council Meeting 1 of 1 May 26, 2015 2A rp)City of To: Dave Callister, City ManagerPlymouth Addg Quality to Life From: Barbara Thomson, Planning Managerin Memorandum Date: May 26, 2015 Item: Comprehensive Plan Update The May 26 study session is intended to set the stage for the upcoming update of Plymouth's Comprehensive Plan. To assist the City Council in this effort, the following memo: 1) provides background on the comprehensive plan — its purpose, requirements in state law, reasons for the update, and a snapshot of the city's current plan; 2) raises potential issues/opportunities associated with the upcoming update; and 3) outlines potential use of consultants and a tentative schedule. Comprehensive Plan Background A comprehensive plan is a community guide, as opposed to a regulation. It assists in decision-making and problem solving. It is long range, broad, and interdisciplinary. It describes where and what a community wants to be. As defined in the Minnesota Municipal Planning Act, a comprehensive plan is a compilation of policy statements, goals, standards and maps for guiding the physical, social and economic development, both private and public, of a municipality. It may include, but is not limited to, statements of goals, policies and standards, a land use plan, including proposed densities for development, community facilities plan, transportation plan, and implementation plan. The act authorizes but does not require a municipality to prepare a comprehensive plan. The Metropolitan Land Planning Act of 1976 takes the municipal act a step further and requires local units of government in the seven county metropolitan area to prepare and submit comprehensive plans to the Metropolitan Council for review. In passing the act, the legislature found since problems associated with urbanization and development transcend local government boundaries, there is a need for local governments to adopt coordinated plans, programs and controls to protect the health, safety and welfare of the region. The act directs the Metropolitan Council to review local units' plans for: conformity with metropolitan system plans for wastewater, transportation and regional open space; consistency with other adopted plans of the Council, including the Housing Policy Plan; and compatibility with plans of affected and adjacent jurisdictions. The Metropolitan Council can review and comment on the latter two, but it has the authority to require a local unit to modify its plan if it has a substantial impact on or a substantial departure from a metropolitan system plan. In 1994, the legislature added a requirement that local units review and if necessary, amend their comprehensive plans every 10 years to ensure continued conformity with regional plans. In conjunction with the decennial review, the land planning act also authorizes the Metropolitan Council to prepare a metropolitan system statement for each affected local unit. The statement contains information relating Page 1 Comprehensive Plan Update Page 2 to the local unit and appropriate surrounding territory that the Metropolitan Council determines necessary for the local unit to consider in reviewing its comprehensive plan. The statement may include: the timing, character, function, location, projected capacity, and conditions on use for existing or planned regional facilities as specified in metropolitan system plans, and for state and federal public facilities to the extent known to the Metropolitan Council; and the population, household and employment forecasts that the Metropolitan Council used as a basis for its metropolitan system plans. Plymouth can expect to receive a new system statement this fall. Why Update? Although state law requires local units to review their plans every 10 years for continued conformity with regional plans, changes in the city over the past 10 years are equally if not more important reasons for Plymouth to update its plan at this time. Despite the recession, which hit housing particularly hard, Plymouth added more than 2,600 new housing units over the last 10 years, increasing the housing stock by 10 percent. This recent pace of new residential development may have implications for the phasing of infrastructure. As the existing housing stock ages, the city is seeing an increasing number of the new units resulting from teardowns. Teardowns have been an issue in several suburban communities. Addressing teardowns in the comprehensive plan may help avert similar issues in Plymouth. The city is experiencing more requests for redevelopment, notably of commercial/industrial properties. Recognizing this change, the City Council has made economic development a priority. The last comprehensive plan update was based on information from the 2000 Census. The 2010 Census showed that Plymouth is becoming increasingly diverse. In 2010, almost 16 percent of the city's population was a minority. This is compared with a little under 10 percent in 2000 and 5 percent in 1990. Plymouth's population is also aging. The average age in 2010 was 39.5 years compared with 35.9 years for the rest of Hennepin County. Demographic changes have potential implications for the kinds of facilities (e.g. sidewalks, trails, pedestrian crosswalks) and services e.g. recreation programs, cultural programs) the city provides. They also have implications for future housing needs and demands and associated commercial and service needs. Comprehensive Plan Elements Plymouth's current plan is organized into two books. The first and shorter of the two covers background on the city and includes goal and policies, plans and implementation strategies for land use, housing, surface water, transportation, parks, water supply, sanitary sewer and public facilities. The second book provides more detailed background information on each of the plan chapters. A summary of the contents in Book 1 follows: Page 2 Comprehensive Plan Update Page 3 Community Background sets the stage for the rest of the plan. It identifies the city's planning area designation within the larger region; includes growth forecasts and major trends; provides an overview of the physical setting; and presents the city's vision statements. The Land Use Plan is the basic building block of the plan. It identifies where people will live, shop, work and play. The two key focal points in the plan are the development approach for the areas of northwest Plymouth added to the urban service area as part of this plan and the development approach for areas within the existing urban area where change is anticipated over the 20 -year planning period. Both development and redevelopment anticipated in the plan drive the need for infrastructure — e.g. sewer, water, roads and parks. The Housing Plan includes standards, plans and programs to meet existing and projected housing needs in the city. It also identifies strategies to promote the development of low and moderate income housing as required in the Metropolitan Land Planning Act. Unlike other plan chapters, only a small part of the city's Surface Water Management Plan is contained in the comprehensive plan. The comprehensive plan contains an extensive purpose discussion as well as goals and policies and implementation. The actual plan is a stand alone document and responds to the myriad of federal, state and watershed requirements governing water quantity and quality. The Transportation Plan lays out how the city will provide for an integrated transportation system that will serve the future needs of its residents and businesses, support the city's development plans and complement the portion of the metropolitan transportation system that lies within the city's boundaries. It covers the improvements to the roadway system, transit system, and bicycle system. The Parks, Trails, Open Space and Recreation Plan outlines the recreation and open space needs in the city and how the city will meet those needs. It includes park and open space facilities and as well as park programs. The Water Supply and Distribution Plan assesses the capability of the city's water system to provide safe, reliable drinking water and meet current and future water demands. It includes improvements to the distribution system, water supply wells and water treatment plant. The current plan also provides a staging plan for providing water to the part of northwest Plymouth that was added to urban service area as part of this plan. The Sanitary Sewer Plan provides an analysis of the city's existing sewer system and a guide for expanding and upgrading the system to accommodate future development and redevelopment. It also provides for the expansion of the urban service area to include all of northwest Plymouth. The Public Facilities Plan identifies the city's public facilities not covered by other plan elements. It also evaluates the future needs for these facilities, which include the City Hall and Public Safety complex, the public works building, fire stations, Plymouth Creek Center and the Parkers Lake Cemetery. Issues and Opportunities Page 3 Comprehensive Plan Update Page 4 Land Use Densities: The Metropolitan Council's regional development plan, Thrive MSP 2040, designates Plymouth as a Suburban Edge community. Other Suburban Edge communities include Blaine, Chaska, Cottage Grove, Inver Grove Heights, Lakeville, Maple Grove, Shakopee and Woodbury. Thrive 2040 describes these communities as ones that experienced significant residential growth beginning in the 1990's and continuing today. Thrive states that Suburban Edge communities have significant amounts of land remaining for future development. It also states that the role of Suburban Edge communities is to plan and stage development for forecast growth through 2040 and beyond at overall average net densities of at least 3-5 dwelling units per acre. The minimum density required for the 2030 comprehensive plan was 3 units per acre. Meeting the low end of the minimum density range may be challenging for Plymouth, based on: location not near services, employment, major roads or transit) and characteristics (topography, wetlands) of remaining undeveloped land and recent lower density development history. Affordable Housing: The Metropolitan Land Planning Act mandates that local units prepare a housing element that provides adequate housing opportunities to meet existing and projected local and regional housing needs, including promoting the availability of land for affordable housing. This summer the Metropolitan Council will be adopting a new set of affordable housing goals for sewered communities in the region. The goals will be included in their updated Housing Policy Plan. The draft plan indicates that for Plymouth to meet its share of low and moderate income housing, the city needs to guide sufficient land at minimum densities of 8 units/acre* to allow for the development of 942 affordable units. Guiding sufficient land to meet this goal will be challenging given the limited amount of vacant land already guided LA -3 (6-12 units/acre) and LA -4 (12-20 units/ace) and the limited potential to identify additional vacant land appropriate for higher densities that is currently guided for lower density. There is potential for Plymouth to consider split guiding of selective redevelopment sites to help meet the goal. Split guiding is a strategy that the city has not used in the past. Ground Water: The Metropolitan Council's draft Water Resources Policy Plan includes an integrated strategy for water resources, which addresses wastewater management and operations as well as water supply and surface water management. The addition of water supply, including groundwater, to the regional water resources plan will result in additional work for Plymouth in areas such as ground water monitoring and identification of conservation measures. Economic Development: Last fall the City Council identified a desire to become more proactive in the area of economic development. Recently, the council authorized the hiring of an economic development manager to spearhead this effort. With this new priority, the plan update offers an opportunity to identify an overall plan and strategy to help guide the city's economic development efforts. Consultants During the last comprehensive plan update, the city limited the use of consultants to the transportation, sanitary sewer, water and parks elements. For this update, staff anticipates using consultants on these same elements, but likely at a somewhat reduced level of effort. Staff researched and wrote the remainder of the plan elements and also edited those prepared by consultants. Staff expects to follow the same course with this update. Page 4 Comprehensive Plan Update Page 5 The plan offers cities the option of guiding sufficient land at a minimum density of 12 units/acre to meet the need for households at 50% or less of area median income and a minimum density of 6 units/acre to meet the need at 51%-80% of area median income. Page 5 Comprehensive Plan Update Page 6 The Community Development Department budget includes $20,000 annually for comprehensive plan preparation. Based on past experience, the city will have sufficient funds to cover the costs of hiring consultants to assist in the update. Schedule The initial steps in the update process will occur between now and the end of the year. First steps will include collecting and analyzing the most recent demographic information and reviewing and potentially commenting on the city's metropolitan system statement. Additional early steps will include preparing a draft vision statement and land use plan, including land use goals and policies. Part of the land use planning task will include identifying special areas to analyze, e.g. redevelopment sites or areas and City Center. At the end of January 2016, staff is anticipating reviewing the draft vision and land use goals, policies and plan with the Planning Commission and City Council. After making any requested revisions, staff will then schedule informal public meetings on the vision and land use plan, followed by Planning Commission review in early June and conditional City Council approval in mid-June. Throughout this update, the Planning Commission and City Council can expect to review the various elements of the plan as they are drafted. As in the past, public review will also include public meetings in addition to those held at the commission and council. Broader communication efforts will occur through the city's website and possibly through social media. These latter forms are becoming increasingly popular as access to electronic media expands. In 2016, staff is anticipating the updating of the transportation, sewer and water and parks plans. In February, staff will prepare and send requests for proposals to consultants for assistance preparing the technical information that supports these plans. Following City Council authorization in mid -year, the selected consultants will start work on the updates and complete that work by the end of 2016. During this same time period, staff will begin drafting the community background, land use, housing and public facilities elements of the plan. Once the technical information is available on the transportation, sewer and water and parks plans, staff will begin drafting the text for those plans as well. After the Planning Commission and City Council have reviewed all the plan elements, the land planning act requires that the city submit the draft plan to adjacent local units and affected school districts for their review and comment at least six months prior to submitting the plan to the Metropolitan Council. Staff anticipates circulating the plan in January 2018. That will allow for the City Council to approve the plan, contingent on Metropolitan Council review, in June of 2018 and submit it for formal Metropolitan Council review in September 2018. Attachment: Draft 2040 Comp Plan Timeline Page 6 2040 Comp Plan Time Line O:/ComDev/Plan/comp plan 2040/Time Line Page 7 1 1 • 1 1 OQ©Q©000©Q©Q OQ©Q©000©Q©Q OQ©Q©000©Q©Q Q©©Q©000©Q© First Meeting with CC to Discuss Process Collect Demographic Information Determine Internal Staff Working Groups Staff Draft 2040 Vision, Goals, Polices and Land Use Plan Identify Redevelopment Sites System Statement Reviews (actual time TBD) Date of "Existing Land Use Plan" PC & CC joint meeting on Draft 2040 V, G, P and LUP Public Informational MeetingsPCRecommendApprovalof2040V, G, P and LUP CC Adopt 2040 V, G, P and LUP Draft "Early" Elements Community Background Public Facilities Possible Public MeetingsPrepareandSendRFP's (Trans/Water/Parks) Hire ConsultantsConsultants Prepare Information Draft "Consultant" Elements Introduction Transportation Water Resources (Sanitary, Water and Surface) Public Hearings at PC on Elements (CC Review) Make Updates from Meetings Submit Draft Plan to Outside Agencies for Review CC Approval - Contingent Upon Met Council Submit to Metropolitan Council O:/ComDev/Plan/comp plan 2040/Time Line Page 7 rp)City of Plymouth Adding Quality to Life SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING May 26, 2015 Agenda 2BNumber: To: Mayor and Council Prepared by: Dave Callister, City Manager Reviewed by: Item: Set Future Study Sessions At the May 12 Regular Meeting, the Council scheduled a study session on June 23rd at 5:30 p.m. to discuss transit alternatives (Hwy 55 BRT Study). Staff requests adding an update on the Four Seasons Mall site to the agenda. In addition, staff desires to conduct brief training for the Council beginning at 5 p.m. that evening on Laserfiche and how to search for records on the City's website. Staff is seeking Council approval on these changes for the study session on June 23. Council should also review the list of pending study sessions below and set meetings as desired. Calendars are attached to assist with scheduling. Pending Study Session Topics at least 3 Council members have approved the following study items on the list) Review LifeTime Fitness and Plymouth Ice Center Agreement (MB, JJ, JP) Other Council requests for Study Session Topics: None at this time. Page 1 rity Plymouth Adding Quality to Life June 2015 Modified on 05/12/15 CHANGES ARE MADE IN RED Page 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7:00 PM PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING Council Chambers 7 9 5:30 PM 10 11 12 13 SPECIAL COUNCIL 7:00 PM 7:00 PM MEETING ENVIRONMENTAL PARK & RECevelopmentlocatedon Juneau Lane south and QUALITY ADVISORY west of Trillium Woods COMMITTEE COMMISSION Medicine Lake Room EQC) MEETING PRAC) MEETING 7:00 PM Medicine Lake Room Plymouth Creek REGULAR COUNCIL Center MEETING Council Chambers 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 7:00 PM PLANNING FLAG DAY COMMISSION MEETING Council Chambers 21 22 23 24 25 26 275:30 PM SPECIAL COUNCIL 7:00 PM 8:00 AM MEETING HRA MEETING Music in Discuss Transit Medicine Lake Room Plymouth 5KAlternatives Medicine Lake Room Fun Run Hilde 7:00 PM Performance REGULAR COUNCIL Center MEETING Council Chambers 28 29 30 Modified on 05/12/15 CHANGES ARE MADE IN RED Page 2 rity Plymouth Adding Quality to Life July 2015 Modified on 01/07/ 15 CHANGES ARE MADE IN RED Page 3 1 2 3 4 INDEPENDENCE INDEPENDENCE DAY DAY 5:00 PM OBSERVED MUSIC IN PLYMOUTH CITY OFFICES Hilde Performance Center 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 7:00 PM ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE EQC) MEETING Medicine Lake Room 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 7:00 PM PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING Council Chambers 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 7:00 PM HRA MEETING Medicine Lake Room 26 27 28 29 30 31 7:00 PM REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers Modified on 01/07/ 15 CHANGES ARE MADE IN RED Page 3 rity Plymouth MENEM— Adding Quality to Life August 2015 Page 4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 2:30-5:00 PM 7:00 PM Night to Unite PLANNING Kickoff COMMISSION TBD MEETING 6:30-9:30 PM Council Chambers Night to Unite 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 7:00 PM 7:00 PM REGULAR COUNCIL ENVIRONMENTAL MEETING QUALITY Council Chambers COMMITTEE EQC) MEETING Medicine Lake Room 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 7:00 PM PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING Council Chambers 25 26 27 28 29 7:00 PM 7:00 PM REGULAR COUNCIL HRA MEETING MEETING Medicine Lake RoomZ30X31CouncilChambers IA...Ja:...l---In" 1. 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