HomeMy WebLinkAboutCouncil Information Memorandum 02-23-2017CITY OF PLYMOUTH
COUNCIL INFO MEMO
February 23, 2017
EVENTS / MEETINGS
Planning Commission Agenda for March 1st ..................................................................................... Page 2
Open Book Meeting to be Held on April 19th .................................................................................... Page 3
Official City Meeting Calendars ......................................................................................................... Page 4
Tentative List of Agenda Items ........................................................................................................... Page 7
REPORTS & OTHER ARTICLES OF INTEREST
Several Metro Cities Start Clothing Recycling Program, Kare11 ....................................................... Page 8
So Long, Surface Lots: Parking Areas Redeveloped in Twin Cities Suburbs, Star Tribune ............... Page 9
Exurbs Seek Relief After Sewer Facilities Built for Growth Come Up Short, Star Tribune ............ Page 12
Citizens League Report Hopes to Break the Transit 'Logjam', Star Tribune .................................... Page 17
Minnesota Rubber & Plastics Names New CEO, Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal .............. Page 20
PLANNING COMMISSION AGENDA
WEDNESDAY, March 1, 2017
WHERE: CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS
Plymouth City Hall
3400 Plymouth Boulevard
Plymouth, MN 55447
CONSENT AGENDA
All items listed on the consent agenda are considered to be routine by the Planning Commission
and will be enacted by one motion. There will be no separate discussion of these items unless
a Commissioner, citizen or petitioner so requests, in which event the item will be removed from
the consent agenda and considered in normal sequence on the agenda.
1.CALL TO ORDER – 7:00 P.M.
2.PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
3.PUBLIC FORUM
4.APPROVAL OF AGENDA
5.CONSENT AGENDA
A.Approve the February 15, 2017 Planning Commission meeting minutes.
B.Station 19 Architects. Approve a site plan amendment to allow building additions, a
parking lot expansion and related improvements at Glory of Christ Lutheran Church located
at 4040 County Road 101. (2017004)
6.PUBLIC HEARINGS
A.Creekside Plymouth LLC. Rezoning and preliminary plat for “Creekside Woods Phase II”
for property located at 17125 and 17135 Old Rockford Road. (2016098) (Continued from
the February 15, 2017 meeting.)
B.Xcel Energy. Rezoning, site plan and conditional use permit for the construction of a
substation and related site improvements for property located near the northwest
quadrant of Interstate-494 and Schmidt Lake Road. (2017003)
7.NEW BUSINESS
8.ADJOURNMENT
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CITY OF PLYMOUTH
ASSESSMENT NOTICE
Important Information Regarding Property Assessments
This may affect your 2018 property tax payments
Notice is hereby given that the Open Book Meeting for the City of Plymouth will meet on
April 19, 2017, from 4:30 p.m.-7:00 p.m., at Plymouth City Hall, 3400 Plymouth Blvd. in the
Medicine Lake Room. The purpose of this meeting is to determine whether property in the
jurisdiction has been properly valued and classified by the assessor.
If a property owner believes the value or classification of his/her property is incorrect, they may
contact the Hennepin County Assessor’s Office to discuss their concerns or attend the Open
Book Meeting at the time and place as noted above.
Sandra R. Engdahl, MMC
City Clerk
City of Plymouth
Posted on February 16, 2017
Published in Official Newspaper on April 6, 2017
Page 3
SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT
1 2 3 4
3:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Fire & Ice Festival
Parkers Lake Park
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
26 27 28
SUN TUES MON WED THUR FRI SAT
February 2017
3400 Plymouth Boulevard
Plymouth, MN 55447 OFFICIAL CITY Phone: 763-509-5000
Fax: 763-509-5060
7:00 PM
PLANNING
COMMISSION
MEETING
Council Chambers
7:00 PM
ENVIRONMENTAL
QUALITY
COMMITTEE (EQC)
MEETING
Medicine Lake Room
7:00 PM
PARK & REC
ADVISORY
COMMISSION
(PRAC) MEETING
Council Chambers
7:00 PM
PLANNING
COMMISSION
MEETING
Council Chambers
(CANCELLED)
7:00 PM
HOUSING AND
REDEVELOPMENT
AUTHORITY (HRA)
MEETING
Medicine Lake Room CITY OFFICES
CLOSED
7:00 PM
REGULAR COUNCIL
MEETING
Council Chambers
6:00 PM
SPECIAL COUNCIL
MEETING
Cantel Medical Concept
Plan & EDA Update
Medicine Lake Room
7:00 PM
REGULAR COUNCIL
MEETING
Council Chambers
PRESIDENTS
DAY
Page 4
SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT
1 2 3 4
5
1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
HEALTHY LIVING
FAIR
Plymouth Creek
Center
6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
26 27 28 29 30 31
March 2017
3400 Plymouth Boulevard
Plymouth, MN 55447 OFFICIAL CITY CALENDAR Phone: 763-509-5000
Fax: 763-509-5060
7:00 PM
ENVIRONMENTAL
QUALITY
COMMITTEE (EQC)
MEETING
Medicine Lake Room
7:00 PM
PLANNING
COMMISSION
MEETING
Council Chambers
7:00 PM
HOUSING AND
REDEVELOPMENT
AUTHORITY (HRA)
MEETING
Medicine Lake Room
5:00-7:00 PM
Board &
Commission Social
City Hall Lobby
7:00 PM
REGULAR COUNCIL
MEETING
Council Chambers
SUN TUES MON WED THUR FRI SAT
7:00 PM
PLANNING
COMMISSION
MEETING
Council Chambers
7:00 PM
REGULAR COUNCIL
MEETING
Council Chambers
11:00 AM—2:00 PM
WEDDING EXPO
Plymouth Creek
Center
Page 5
SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT
1
2 3 4 5 6 7
8
9 10 11 12 13 14 15
16 17 18 19 20 21
PRIMAVERA
Plymouth Fine
Arts Council
Show
Plymouth Creek
Center
22
PRIMAVERA
Plymouth Fine
Arts Council
Show
Plymouth Creek
Center
23
PRIMAVERA
Plymouth Fine
Arts Council
Show
Plymouth Creek
Center
24 25 26 27 28 29
April 2017
3400 Plymouth Boulevard
Plymouth, MN 55447 OFFICIAL CITY CALENDAR Phone: 763-509-5000
Fax: 763-509-5060
7:00 PM
PLANNING
COMMISSION
MEETING
Council Chambers
5:30 PM
SPECIAL COUNCIL
MEETING
Plymouth Creek Center
Feasibility Study
Medicine Lake Room
7:00 PM
REGULAR COUNCIL
Council Chambers
7:00 PM
ENVIRONMENTAL
QUALITY
COMMITTEE (EQC)
MEETING
Medicine Lake Room
7:00 PM
PLANNING
COMMISSION
MEETING
Council Chambers
4:30 PM-7:00 PM
Open Book Meeting
Medicine Lake Room
7:00 PM
HOUSING AND
REDEVELOPMENT
AUTHORITY (HRA)
MEETING
Medicine Lake Room
SUN TUES MON WED THUR FRI SAT
5:30 PM
JOINT COUNCIL/EDA
MEETING
Workforce, Senior and
Affordable Housing
Medicine Lake Room
7:00 PM
REGULAR COUNCIL
MEETING
Council Chambers
CHANGES ARE NOTED IN RED
6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
PLYMOUTH HOME
EXPO
Plymouth Creek
Center
9:00 AM - 1:00 PM
PLYMOUTH HOME
EXPO
Plymouth Creek
Center
30
Page 6
Note: Special Meeting topics have been set by Council; all other topics are tentative.
EDA refers to the Economic Development Authority
Tentative Schedule for
City Council Agenda Items
March 14, 5:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m. City Hall Lobby
•Board and Commission Recognition Social
March 14, Regular, 7:00 p.m. Council Chambers
•Recognize Board and Commission members
•City Manager’s quarterly update following regular meeting
March 28, Regular, 7:00 p.m. Council Chambers
April 11, Special, 5:30 p.m. Medicine Lake Room
•Plymouth Creek Center Feasibility Study update
April 11, Regular, 7:00 p.m. Council Chambers
April 25, Joint Meeting with HRA, 5:30 p.m. Medicine Lake Room
•Workforce, senior, and affordable housing
April 25, Regular, 7:00 p.m. Council Chambers
May 9, Special, 5:30 p.m. Medicine Lake Room
•Lodging tax
May 9, Regular, 7:00 p.m. Council Chambers
May 23, Regular, 7:00 p.m. Council Chambers
•Oaths of Office to Police Officers Kasey Beran, Brady Hector, Paul Nystrom, and Brianna
Bannon
June 13, Regular, 7:00 p.m. Council Chambers
•Continued hearing on lodging tax
June 27, Regular, 7:00 p.m. Council Chambers
July 25, Regular, 7:00 p.m. Council Chambers
August 8, Regular, 7:00 p.m. Council Chambers
August 22, Regular, 7:00 p.m. Council Chambers
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Page 8
WEST METRO
So long, surface lots: Parking areas
redeveloped in Twin Cities suburbs
Four Seasons Mall in Plymouth, photographed in 2013, has sat vacant for years and is now slated to be redeveloped into two hotels, senior housing, retail, offices, a bank and restaurants. — Joel Koyama - Star Tribune file
By KELLY SMITH , STAR TRIBUNE February 18, 2017 - 11:04 PM
Some car-centric suburbs are saying so long to sprawling surface parking lots. Faced with soaring land costs and desiring to boost walkability and density, places from Edina to Excelsior are looking at revitalizing their acres of vast parking lots, a trend more often seen in cities like Minneapolis. Suburban developers are transforming parking lots into apartments, restaurants, retail space and offices.
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But it’s not always an easy sell for suburbs that continue to see a growing demand for parking, along with residents’ opposition to taller buildings. “Development is great, but the parking ... is even more valuable,” Excelsior City Manager Kristi Luger said. “It’s hard to weigh ... what has the greatest value.” On Tuesday, Excelsior city leaders will ponder what to do about future redevelopment in their quaint downtown, following a proposal to turn a parking lot there into a two-story building. The Lake Minnetonka community, only one-square-mile wide, has struggled with a parking crunch in recent years owing to its popular restaurants and events. In Minnetonka, Ridgedale Center has submitted a proposal to turn some of the mall’s parking lots outside Macy’s into restaurants. It’s similar to what Southdale Center did in Edina, where a luxury apartment building was built on the edge of the mall’s parking lots with the aim of drawing residents who want to be able to walk to shopping. And in Plymouth, vacant parking lots that surround the abandoned Four Seasons Mall will be converted this year into a dense “urban-type village” called Agora. Two upscale hotels, offices, retail, restaurants, a bank, senior housing, a mini plaza and 339-space ramp will replace the lots and the 1970s-era mall. “I’ve seen it all over the Twin Cities,” Plymouth City Manager Dave Callister said of the trend. “That’s what people are used to with wide open spaces and parking. ... [but] we don’t want to see parking lots sit empty.” The trend isn’t just driven by developers looking for convenient and affordable land. It’s a change in the amount of parking that suburbs are deeming acceptable, said Sean Hayford Oleary, a Richfield Planning Commission member. “The philosophy is changing at the city level; cities are getting more tolerant of allowing less parking,” he said. Parking lots, he added, “tend to be way over-supplied ... it makes sense to fit it right.” Surface lots generally are seen as an eyesore, so redevelopment boosts not just the tax base but the look of the community. Losing valuable parking, though, can be a trickier balance for a suburb, with its car culture, than a city. Plymouth has relaxed some parking rules for certain developments, requiring fewer spaces for cars. But some residents near the Agora development are more concerned about the size of the four-story hotels planned near their neighborhoods. Lowell Lankford, developer of the Agora project, said Plymouth will still have plenty of examples of expansive surface lots. On Lake Minnetonka, Wayzata is turning a surface lot into a ramp that will more than double the number of parking spots, while also planning to convert another lot into a pop-
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up park to host events. City Manager Jeff Dahl said it’s unclear how much of it could be converted into green space. “It’s heavily utilized now so there’s some concern about losing it,” he said. Wayzata’s old Bay Center Mall, a 1960s-vintage shopping center on swampland near the lake, began to have its vast parking lots converted in 2013 into the suburb’s largest redevelopment project ever. Developers, striving for a project to promote walkability, built a hotel, retail, offices, senior housing and condos. “The land is more valuable ... so it’s a better way to maximize the land, which equates to a more vibrant downtown,” Dahl said. Back in Excelsior, the Bayview Event Center is up for sale, with potential buyers interested in renovating the restaurant and event center and redeveloping its parking lots into residential housing next to Lake Minnetonka. And a developer wants to convert a 10-space parking lot off the city’s main drag, Water Street, into a mixed-use development of offices, apartments and retail. It would replace the lost parking with four new parking spots underground. “It needs to be developed,” Mayor Mark Gaylord said of the parking lot. “It’s going to be good for the city.” Kelly Smith • 612-673-4141 Twitter: @kellystrib
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SOUTH METRO 414212473
Exurbs seek relief after sewer
facilities built for growth come up
short
An idea by the Metropolitan Council 15 years ago to rein in sprawl by offering
wastewater service to rural mini-cities hasn't panned out. It spent upward of $40
million building the sewer pipe for Elko New Market and a wastewater plant in East
Bethel that the communities now can't afford.
By Eric Roper Star Tribune FEBRUARY 20, 2017 — 9:43AM
RENEE JONES SCHNEIDER, Star Tribune
A road built for growth ends in farmland outside Elko New Market. The city is asking the Met Council to cap its debt from a
sewer line.
Wash your hands in Elko New Market and the water that rushes down the drain snakes through miles of
farmland at the edge of the metro area in a large pipe built for a boomtown.
Page 12
But the boom stopped too early — halting development meant to pay for the pipe — and water users
An idea hatched by the Metropolitan Council 15 years ago to rein in sprawl by offering wastewater service
to rural mini-cities hasn’t panned out as expected. The agency spent upward of $40 million building the
sewer pipe for Elko New Market and a wastewater plant in East Bethel but growth has so far fallen short of
aggressive projections, leaving those edge communities stuck with projects they can’t afford.
The projects, which the cities requested, came with special requirements to repay the Met Council. Faced
with financial doom from the mounting debt, East Bethel won a reprieve last year covered by regional
ratepayers. Elko New Market is now preparing to make a similar request to cap its debt at $1.2 million
instead of watching it rise to $10.7 million or more.
“The whole structure of the agreement was based at a different place and a different time … that did not
anticipate the recession and what the world looked like following the recession,” said Elko New Market
City Administrator Tom Terry.
The situation illustrates the complexities of planning long-term infrastructure for an evolving region, while
raising questions about taming sprawl and the future demand for suburban-style homes carved into
cropland 30 miles from Minneapolis.
The Met Council’s large wastewater pipes, known as interceptors, shape and respond to development
patterns. The area they serve — boundaries monitored closely by cities, builders and anti-sprawl advocates
— traditionally grew outward in concentric circles. That changed with a proposal in the waning days of the
Jesse Ventura administration to offer service to small cities in otherwise rural areas.
It was a controversial idea. Lakeville sued to block Elko New Market’s pipe when it was proposed in 2002.
The city administrator warned a legislative committee that it would encourage sprawl and put added
burdens on schools and the transportation system.
“It just seemed really outside of what the plan was and the rules that everybody else had to follow about
orderly development,” said Dakota County Commissioner Mary Liz Holberg, then a state representative.
Page 13
Graphic: Exurb sewer investments
Growth roller coaster
At the time, Elko and New Market were two separate towns off Interstate 35 south of the Twin Cities,
watching rapid growth strain a local water treatment system that drained into the Vermillion River. Their
population grew from 804 in 2000 to more than 3,700 in 2007, the year the two towns merged. The Met
Council forecast in 2004 that Elko New Market’s population would reach 13,000 by 2020 and 20,800 by
2030 — making it about the size of Northfield.
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Then, in 2008, the growth dried up. Houses were expected to surround a new elementary school built amid
farm fields, but today intersections on the new road there turn into open land.
The wastewater pipe went online in 2011. Planners expected revenue from 840 new hookups by now.
There have been 178.
Even assuming growth ratchets up slightly, a consultant projected that Elko New Market’s debt to the Met
Council could swell to $10.7 million and tank the city’s credit rating. A proposal expected to reach the Met
Council this spring caps the debt, while still paying the Met Council for development that does occur. It
would also freeze a rising hookup surcharge in the future. The council estimates the proposal amounts to
an extra 43 cents a year until 2030 for each of the region’s ratepayers.
“This seems like the Met Council actually doing something good for cities,” Elko New Market City
Council Member Josh Berg said during a presentation this month.
In East Bethel, the Met Council capped the city’s debt for its wastewater facilities at $2 million after
lackluster growth. It could have risen to $28 million if the city’s growth stopped altogether.
Still, City Administrator Jack Davis said growth would have leapfrogged outside the seven-county metro
area to the north had East Bethel remained completely rural. When growth does pick up, he said, the
utilities will encourage more density.
“We’re a piece of geography that’s bound for development at some time,” Davis said.
The council’s latest regional plan says it will solicit feedback from the region’s ratepayers before pursuing
another rural city wastewater project.
‘Going to pay dividends’
Former Met Council Chairman Ted Mondale, who led the body when the change was made, said the
policy was intended to invest in more compact areas to combat the spread of developments with 2.5-acre
lots. Those houses are generally derided by regional growth experts, since they rely on septic tanks at risk
of failing but are too costly to serve with sewers.
“The metro area’s growing and there’s a need for affordable housing,” Mondale said. “I obviously have no
expertise on what size the [Elko New Market] pipe should be — and it sounds like it was too big — but
sooner or later that’s going to pay dividends.”
Page 15
Graphic: Elko New Market forecasts vs. reality
But the council brought sewer service to rural cities without doing enough to halt that unsustainable — and
often cheaper — development around them, said Myron Orfield, a University of Minnesota professor and
former state senator who researches Twin Cities regional planning.
“They provided these really expensive sewer pipes to rural growth centers and the growth never occurred,”
Orfield said. “And one of the reasons the growth never occurred is because people just continued to build
on septics where [the Met Council] blessed it.”
The Met Council has guidelines for new housing developments in rural areas, but local planning assistance
manager Lisa Barajas said the agency’s ability to curb large-lot development is limited.
Met Council Member Wendy Wulff, who represents the south metro, said the Elko New Market situation
was unique because the old wastewater system there was becoming a hazard to the Vermillion River, a
designated trout stream.
“The council, I think, did the best it could with the information that it had available at that time,” Wulff
said. “And now we’re dealing with the aftermath of the recession and changing development patterns.”
eric.roper@startribune.com 612-673-1732 StribRoper
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LOCAL 414404383
Citizens League report hopes to
break the transit 'logjam'
A local think tank put forth ideas to break the Capitol stalemate on a fractious issue.
By Janet Moore Star Tribune FEBRUARY 21, 2017 — 10:22PM
Sean Kershaw, executive director of the Citizens League
The Citizens League is looking for common ground on a divisive issue at the Capitol: how the metro area
funds transit.
The St. Paul nonpartisan group released a 151-page report this week exploring the ways bus and train
services are funded and offering ideas on how to improve them.
Page 17
“People were eager to talk about the topic,” said Sean Kershaw, the League’s executive director. He hopes
the “highly realistic” plan will “help break the logjam” at the Legislature, where transit often divides
lawmakers along party lines.
The tome is the work of a 21-member committee representing the spectrum from the inner cities to far-
flung suburbs. The idea was to craft “sound recommendations” that actually can be accomplished —
instead of just arguing, Kershaw said.
Among them: A two-tier sales tax, under which taxpayers in cities with heavy transit use would pay more
than those in areas with little or no service. The authors suspect this idea could garner bipartisan support.
Metropolitan Council Chairman Adam Duininck said the idea was floated during the 2016 session. “I was
open to it then, and I’m open to it now,” he said. (Duininck did not serve on the Citizens League
committee.)
Page 18
“One of the main concerns I hear is, ‘Why should I pay a sales tax [for transit] if I don’t get any benefit?’ ”
he said. “I sympathize, but even if you don’t get on a bus or a train, we, as a region, benefit from a strong
transit system. It helps us attract and retain jobs.”
The report’s other suggestions include a transportation-related general fund account earmarked for transit,
but with no reduction in the current base appropriation. Another idea, not wholly embraced by the
committee, involves metro counties raising the transit sales tax to a half cent for transportation purposes
and the state imposing a quarter-cent sales tax.
The report points out that short-term political and policy questions are “complicated” by global and
demographic trends that will shape transportation policy. These include baby boomers leaving the
workforce and living longer (while losing their ability to drive), and millennials demanding public transit.
Another game-changer: Self-driving cars, which “will certainly impact what we call ‘transit’ and
everything related to mobility,” the report states.
The Citizens League effort was prompted by “lawmakers’ inability to pass a comprehensive transportation
package” last year after a stalemate over funding for Southwest light rail.
Kershaw said the report will be given to legislators as well as Gov. Mark Dayton.
The league’s analytical team was led by Peter Bell, chairman of the Met Council from 2008 to 2011, with
former state Rep. Ann Lenczewski, DFL-Bloomington, as vice chairwoman.
Kershaw said despite heated debate, everyone stuck with the committee to the end.
janet.moore@startribune.com 612-673-7752
Page 19
Minnesota Rubber & Plastics names new CEO
Feb 23, 2017, 6:02am CST Nick Williams – Staff Reporter – Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal
Minnesota Rubber & Plastics, a maker of rubber and plastic-molded components, has named
Donaldson Co. senior vice president Jay Ward its new CEO.
Ward replaces Marlin Braun, who was promoted to the position in 2014 to succeed retiring CEO
Jim Lande. Braun is no longer with the company, a spokesperson confirmed.
Jay Ward has been named the new CEO of Minnesota Rubber & Plastics
MINNESOTA RUBBER & PLASTICS
Ward spent 18 years at Donaldson, where he led the Bloomington-based company's industrial
and engine products divisions, as well as overseeing the company's Europe and Middle East
operations. Donaldson specializes in filtration system manufacturing.
“I’m thrilled to be joining a high performing team that possesses unique technology and serves
many growing end-markets," Ward said in a statement. "MR&P has a fantastic reputation in its
served markets and it is exciting to lead a team that is energized to grow through bringing value
added products to our customers.”
Minnesota Rubber & Plastics, which is based in Plymouth and is incorporated as Quadion,
employs 1,300 across the globe and has Minnesota facilities in Plymouth and Litchfield. The
company is owned by Minneapolis-based private equity firm Norwest Equity Partners.
Nick Williams covers manufacturing, airlines/aviation, residential real estate/homebuilding and
diversity in business.
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