City Council Minutes

Pursuant to due call and posted notice thereof, the City Council Workshop of the Victoria City Council was called to order at 5:00 p.m. by Mayor Hershberger Thun in the Council Chambers at 7951 Rose Street.

Present: Mayor: Mary Hershberger Thun; Councilmembers: Tim Amundsen, Tom O’Connor, Jim Paulsen and Kim Roden. Planning Commission Members: Gordy Simanton, James Donadio III, Bud Hiivala and Tom Vogt.

Staff Present: Don Uram, City Administrator; Holly Kreft, Community Development Director, Mike Norton, City Attorney, Cara Geheren, City Engineer, Dick Thompson, TKDA.

Others Present: Unsie Zuege, The Chanhassen Villager, and Sue Orsen, The Victoria Gazette, Peter Coyle, Marsh Lake Hunt Club, and Dan Marckel, 1000 Friends.
 

Ms. Kreft stated the public hearing to adopt the Comprehensive Plan will be on April 13^th pending the outcome of the meeting tonight.

Ms. Kreft said the Comprehensive Plan is complete. She noted issues relative to the density and said the City has not met the Metropolitan Council’s policy of 3 units per net acre.

Ms. Kreft talked about the parks and said the Carver Park Reserve Master Plan includes a number of privately owned properties as inholdings. She said that the Met Council and Three Rivers Park District have recommended that the properties be guided as Parks and Open space. Staff’s recommendation is that the park maps be updated to include these inholdings as future Park Reserve. Staff recommends that these properties not be guided as Parks and Open Space to avoid potential litigation such as a takings claim.

Ms. Kreft reviewed the items that were incomplete. She said the first section was the housing. The table in the packet shows that the city does not have sufficient units within Met Council’s recommendation of medium density. She said it was noted that the City will continue to provide affordable housing opportunities at every density level.

Ms. Kreft talked about the surface water management and said the plan needs to be updated.

Ms. Kreft stated there were minor changes needed for the highway and transit sections of the transportation plan.

Ms. Kreft said that Carver County only commented on the transportation section. Three Rivers Park District commented on the Carver Park Reserve boundaries and the removal of the trail on the east side of County Road 11.

Ms. Kreft commented on the concerns with the affordable housing. She stated the allocation is a guideline and not a requirement. She noted the two ways to meet the goals are the land trust program and the Livable Communities Act.

Ms. Kreft talked about the Marsh Lake Hunt Club and said the language was drafted in partnership with the Marsh Lake Hunt Club. She said the Marsh Lake Hunt Club has an existing conditional use permit to operate in Laketown Township.

Ms. Kreft noted the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance is included throughout the document and in the Implementation Chapter.

Ms. Kreft commented on the city owned 94 acres and referred to exhibit 5 in the document which shows this property in the 2030 staging plan to reflect the extension of utilities south along County Road 11 and County Road 10.

Ms. Kreft noted the executive summary from the TH 5 corridor study was included as an appendix.

Ms. Kreft reviewed the next steps and said the joint public hearing would be on April 13^th and then submitted to the Met Council would do the formal review.

Councilmember Roden questioned the comment stating the City will need to complete a local water management plan. Ms. Kreft explained that they are waiting for a TMDL (total maximum daily load study), which comes from the MPCA.

Councilmember O’Connor asked about the vision statement on page 21. Ms. Kreft said that is meant to be a vision statement relative to this plan. She noted they will take all the comments and do another draft prior to the public hearing.

Councilmember Roden asked if the Met Council has thought through any changes with metrics due to the economy. Mr. Thompson said they haven’t changed any of the metrics, but they do recognize the growth has slowed down.

Councilmember O’Connor asked if the citizens are going to be satisfied with the required densities. Ms. Kreft said in order to meet the metrics there has to be higher densities. Councilmember Roden responded that she doesn’t think the community would be satisfied. The group talked about the "Watermark" type of developments. Ms. Kreft referred to exhibit 3 on page 43 and said all of the area in yellow is 1.5 to 5.9 units per acre, which would permit development similiar to the Gallery and Applewood neighborhoods. She noted the Marsh Lake area has low density with a conservation PUD required.

Councilmember Amundsen talked about the inabilities to meet these requirements with regards to the transportation and the impacts. The group talked about Highway 5 and accommodating more households. Mayor Hershberger Thun said a statement about the transportation should be made in the housing section. Commissioner Donadio said they also need to make a point with staging the density they are assuming transportation improvements. Mayor Hershberger Thun said they also need to make sure that Highway 212 will be able to carry the traffic from County Road 10. Chair Simanton asked about the amendment process. Mr. Thompson said amendments can be done at any time. Mr. Norton said the concerns could be put in the document. Councilmember Amundsen said the concerns need to be in one place. Mr. Norton said the concerns could also be in the appropriate places in the document.

Councilmember Paulsen commented on the Marsh Lake Hunt Club and said he is concerned with the language in the document. Mr. Norton said that can be revised to keep some concepts but get it back in comprehensive plan language on what the area is planned for.

Commissioner Hiivala commented on the land use and developers and asked how the Planning Commission would respond if the developer wants something different. Ms. Kreft said that if a developer came forward and did not meet the guidelines then a private developer could request a comprehensive plan amendment. Councilmember Roden noted that happens now.

Commissioner Hiivala talked about schools. Ms. Kreft said the history with schools is they don’t plan geographically where they are going. She said that comprehensive plans have not shown where schools are going. Commissioner Vogt said that if the school district has property in Victoria it would be good to know. Mr. Thompson said that school districts don’t think that far ahead. Mr. Uram noted now may be a good time to talk to the school district with the change in leadership. Mayor Hershberger Thun said there needs to be a statement about working directly with the appropriate school districts.

Ms. Kreft said staff will try to get revisions out next week. Councilmember O’Connor suggested that the joint public hearing be delayed to the April 27^th meeting to give more time for review.

Councilmember Paulsen asked about the feed lots. Ms. Kreft said feed lots are regulated in the zoning ordinance. Mayor Hershberger Thun asked staff to call and get updated language on the feed lots.

The Comprehensive Plan Workshop adjourned at 6:10 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Tanya Schmieg
Recording Secretary
TimeSaver Off Site Secretarial, Inc.