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City Council Minutes 04-30-2007 Special Special Council Meeting Minutes: 4/30/07 MINUTES SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING- COMP PLAN UPDATE Monday April 30, 2007 - 5 p.m. Members Present: Clint Herbst, Wayne Mayer, Tom Perrault, Brian Stumpf and Susie Wojchouski. Planning Commission Members: Rod Dragsten, Lloyd Hilgart, Barry Voight, William Spartz and Charlotte Gabler. Members Absent: None The joint meeting of the Monticello City Council and the Monticello Planning Commission was called to order at 5 p.m. The purpose of the joint meeting was to review what had taken place thus far with the Comprehensive Plan Update, ascertain if that met the expectations of the Council and Planning Commission and get further direction from these two entities. Rusty Fifield from Hoisington Koegler said after this meeting he would proceed to prepare an update ofthe Comprehensive Plan for the Council and Planning Commission to review. The Council and/or Planning Commission may direct that the Comprehensive Plan Update go back to the Task Force for review of specific items. After review is completed it would go to the public for comment. He is allowing 4-6 weeks to prepare the draft so it should go back to the Task Force in June or July. Rusty Fifield identified some key issues for discussion. One item is future growth. For planning purposes they had assumed 300 housing units per year but the housing starts have slowed to about 190 units per year. Rusty Fifield felt the city should not overestimate the growth and felt the number of housing units used should be reviewed annually. Bret Weiss from WSB & Associates added that the Comprehensive Plan needs to address the fact that there are a number lots already platted which have to be utilized before the city can look at higher end housing. The number of housing units is a figure that impacts other things like feasibility studies and determining trunk fees and SACIW AC charges. Wayne Mayer questioned why you wouldn't use actual numbers instead of an estimated housing number in feasibility studies and other areas. Wayne Mayer felt too much emphasis was being put on the 190 units. Rusty Fifield then reviewed the industrial land use. He felt you find out where to put the industrial land first then it is easier to determine where everything else goes. Industrial land was classified into two categories I) Business campus and 2) General industry. Rusty Fifield submitted a map showing locations for possible industrial sites. Clint Herbst asked about the site for the proposed Mills Fleet Farm. On the map that site was shown as industrial. Rusty Fifield said the impact of Mills Fleet Farm coming into the city only means the city would have less land available for general industry if it was located on an industrial site. There are other existing sites available in the city for commercial development. General industry is defined as a business involved in manufacturing or processing that does not meet the standards of the business park. Rusty Fifield stated the city needs a balanced supply ofland for general industry. The Council could make the decision not to have general industry located in the city at all. It comes down to what the city thinks an area will be like in the long term. Ollie Koropchak noted that even though there aren't covenants like in the business campus, there are design requirements for other industrial sites that general industry would have to follow. Rusty I Special Council Meeting Minutes: 4/30/07 Fifield stated that if the Council and Planning Commission determine different uses for the area designated for industrial land, the Comprehensive Plan would be revised to reflect that. Residential land use was looked at. The city has expressed concerned about having "move up" housing available in the city. Move up housing generally means larger units and units of better quality. He noted there is a sameness in the housing stock in Monticello. Housing stock should be balanced and match the characteristics of the population. It was noted in the Task Force meetings that Monticello could be the primary regional center between Minneapolis and St. Cloud. In talking about residential growth it is important not to overextend the city's utilities or financing capabilities in order to extend residential growth. Rusty Fifield stated that growth north of the Mississippi was not something the Task Force had addressed. He added that Monticello has more than enough capacity for growth on this side of the river. Rusty Fifield said he would not recommend where development should take place first as he felt that direction should be coming from the Council. He reiterated that the Comprehensive Plan has to be what the City Council and Planning Commission think Monticello will be like in the future. Rusty Fifield stated that if the city wants more control over land development then they might consider guiding the land use to a less intense use, such as residential. At the time the city is ready for development then the city would put the desired zoning in place. Even though the land use plan designates a specific use, it is the zoning that is key and courts have upheld that the zoning has precedence over the land use plan designation. There are also financial issues for consideration. If the second interchange gets built it will most likely be financed by local funds. The decision on the interchange affects growth in all parts of the community. In looking at existing residential neighborhoods it was suggested that the housing type changes only if it is because of redevelopment. The city should not encourage conversion from single family units to multiple family units and the city should try to avoid conflicting land uses. Rusty Fifield cited as an example the residences along Broadway. Converting this residential area to commercial uses would impact residential areas off Broadway. Discussion of commercial land use generated the least consensus among Task Force members. Commercial use was split into two categories; the downtown area and general commercial use. The downtown area is unique and is different from any other commercial area. TH 25 is a challenge to Monticello's downtown development and it may be that the city has to look at downtown developing away from TH 25. Although Rusty Fifield had no clear alternative to the Downtown Revitalization Plan that was adopted in 1997, he felt the downtown area had to be looked at in a different way. He suggested a good mix of uses would help make it unique. The downtown area is a commercial area that the City Council needs to give value and special attention to. The market wants commercial activity where it is easy to develop and easy to get to. The downtown area will not be convenient retailing so there needs to be something special that people will come to the downtown area for. Rod Dragsten felt the downtown was an area where the city should be working with a developer rather than doing it one storefront at a time. The downtown area is for Monticello and if it is done up well it will attract others outside the area. Susie Wojchouski felt the city should pay attention to what happens with the Monticello-Big Lake Hospital Campus. With proposed hospital expansion the city may want to look at development along East Broadway. She also asked about the apartment complexes along 7th Street and expressed the 2 Special Council Meeting Minutes: 4/30/07 view that many residents did not like to see apartments in an area that was so highly visible from major roads. Rusty Fifield ended the workshop by pointing out a couple of other variables the city needs to consider such as 1) Traffic; 2) Use of the YMCA property; 3) The reality of getting a second interchange and 4) Growth north of the river. Tom Perrault brought up the city's wellhead protection plan. He indicated that the city may need to look at lining the stormwater ponds as a means of protecting the city's water resources. Another beneficial aspect of doing that would be that the stormwater ponds could be an amenity to the area. Rusty Fifield asked that ifthe Council, Planning Commission or staff had any other comments or questions that they forward them to him. The workshop session closed at 6:50 p.m. o ~ ..J:6 Recording Secretary A-D"5 ~ 0 1\ 3