Planning Commission Minutes

CITY OF VICTORIA
PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING
FEBRUARY 7, 2006

MINUTES

Pursuant to due posted and mailed notice thereof, the Victoria Planning Commission met on February 7, 2006, at 7951 Rose in the Council Chambers.

Vice Chair Vogt opened the meeting at 7:00 p.m.

Members Present: Commissioners Tom Vogt, James Donadio III and Bud Hiivala

Members Absent: Chair Gordy Simanton and Commissioner William Mead VI

Others Present: Eric Zweber, City Planner; Angie Perera, Assistant Planner; City Councilmember Rick Tieden; and Tanya Schmieg, Recording Secretary.

A. Adopt Agenda

A motion was made by Hiivala, seconded by Donadio, to adopt the agenda as presented. Vote: 3 Ayes, 0 Nays. Motion Carried.
 

#2 APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

A. Minutes of January 17, 2006 Planning Commission Meeting.

Commissioner Hiivala asked that the last sentence on page 3 be removed.

A motion was made by Donadio, seconded by Hiivala, to approve the Minutes as corrected above. Vote: 3 Ayes, 0 Nays. Motion carried.
 

None.
 

A. Review a Request by Pemtom Land Company and Hartman Communities, LLC for Final Plat Approval for the First Phase of a subdivision of property to be known as Krey Lakes.

1. Agenda Statement No. 06-05
2. Exhibits

Mr. Zweber stated that on November 30, 2005, the City Council approved an 86 lot first phase of an eventual 187-lot subdivision. Tonight, Pemtom Land Company and Hartman Communities, LLC is asking for the Final Plat of a revised 74 lot First Phase of an eventual 172-lot subdivision. They are asking for the reduction in the number of lots so that they can have one type of lot similar to our standard PUD lot instead of the two type of lot design (both 80 to 85 foot wide and 60 to 70 foot wide lots) subdivision of the original plat approval. This single lot design would allow them to move away from the custom home development, which is currently soft in today’s housing market, to a more semi-custom home development similar to The Gallery at Victoria/K. Hovnanian Homes development.

Mr. Zweber provided a diagram of the map that was previously approved.

Mr. Zweber stated that tonight Hartman Communities and Pemtom are requesting to modify those lots by increasing the size of the lots. This would create a subdivision with all the lots the same size.

Mr. Zweber noted that the proposed revised plat does not change any of the original approved street, park, berm, land trust lot dedications, designs, requirements, or guarantees. He stated they are just taking the old lot lines and revising them. The developer is pledging two land trust lots.

Mr. Zweber stated the setbacks and lot requirements are the same as previously approved.

Mr. Zweber noted that the water core fees will drop in the charge, but will still pay the same amount per unit.

Mr. Zweber stated that the recreational facility fees will go up. This is because they are taking from the same pool of money so the fees increase slightly.

Mr. Zweber mentioned that this is a three phase development.

Mr. Zweber stated that the only issue is that one final plat can be approved per year. They are requesting their second phase also be approved in 2006. The revised plat was originally submitted in 2005, so Mr. Zweber thinks this is a reasonable request.

Mr. Zweber stated that this information was brought forward to make the Planning Commission aware of what the changes are. He said the land needs to be purchased by March 1^st of this year.

Mr. Zweber stated that the Commission will be looking at the preliminary plat at the meeting on February 21^st and will then be approving all the lot line adjustments in the development.

Commissioner Hiivala asked for a recap on the trails and parks. Mr. Zweber provided a graphic map of the previous approval and noted that there are no trail changes. There is burming on Highway 5 and landscaped separation between one trail and Sky Drive. There is also a trail on the north and west side of the collector road that could go north into Carver Park in the future. Mr. Zweber noted that a regional trail was built on the old railroad corridor. There is also a large neighborhood park in the center. Commissioner Hiivala asked about the topography of the park. Mr. Zweber stated that part of the park is relatively flat and other parts have topography. Mr. Zweber showed the gas line easement. He also mentioned there is space for a softball field and a hill coming off of the pipe line. Mr. Zweber noted that this would be a good snow sledding hill.

Mr. Zweber suggested that the applicant and others in the audience come forward to speak.

Commissioner Vogt stated that this Commission normally doesn’t look at preliminary plats and asked what would come forward on the 21^st. Mr. Zweber stated that because of the phasing, only the final plat would come forward which is a third of the approval. Mr. Zweber said that on the 21^st this would be revisited and the other two thirds would be reviewed.

Commissioner Vogt asked if they are looking for a recommendation. Mr. Zweber said yes, an approval or denial of recommendation would be brought forward to the City Council. Mr. Zweber noted that staff recommendation is to recommend approval of the revised first phase final plat of Krey Lakes.

Mr. Hartman, Hartman Communities, LLC, asked for cooperation in modifying the plat. He stated that this is a unique situation of asking for less than more.

Commissioner Vogt asked if there is any other information on types of homes or prices. Mr. Hartman stated that none of that would be changing. These are large, custom homes in the price of $500,000 and above.

Commissioner Vogt stated that they have discussed this project many times in great detail and are satisfied with everything.

A motion was made by Vogt, seconded by Hiivala, to recommend to the City Council the approval of the revised First Phase Final Plat of Krey Lakes. Vote: 3 Ayes, 0 Nays. Motion carried.

B. Potential Revisions to the Current and Future City of Chaska and City of Victoria City Limits.

1. Agenda Statement No. 06-06
2. Exhibits

Mr. Zweber stated that in the past few years, there have been a number of issues that have resulted from the location of the shared City Limits of Chaska and Victoria. One of them is the reconstructed 86^th Street between Kochia Lane and Bavaria Road which was constructed by, paid for, and is maintained by the City of Victoria while half of the street is in the City of Chaska. Another is the location of the proposed Minnesota Valley Electric Cooperative (MVEC) Substation that has been approved by Carver County to be constructed in Laketown Township within an area that is designated to City of Victoria but is located east of County Road 11. These issues, and possible future issues, remain unresolved.

Commissioner Hiivala noted that this was a difficult topic to understand and had to be hard write, but asked for some background information. Mr. Zweber provided some background with the Hamlets of Lakeshire. He explained that over a history with the City of Chaska, similar to other cities, you get into issues because of where city limits fall. This has provided some direction to explore what are some of the possibilities are and could be a win, win for both cities. The proposal is to detach the right-of-way to 82^nd Street east of Edelweiss Road and the wedge of land annexed east of County Road 11 with the Laketown Subdivision to the City of Chaska in exchange for the detachment of the right-of-way to 86^th Street to the City of Victoria. The City of Chaska maintains 82^nd Street so it seemed logical that they would get it. Commissioner Donadio asked if that was a gravel road. Mr. Zweber responded yes. There would also be the area of land within the Hamlets that would be north and west of, and include, the right-of-way of the Kochia Lane extension from 86^th Street to Victoria Drive at Deer Run Drive. In exchange all area south and east of Kochia Lane and all areas east of County Road 11, with the exception of the MVEC Substation, will be given to the City of Chaska. Mr. Zweber said that this would create a clear visual boundary between Chaska and Victoria.

Mr. Zweber noted that MVEC needed a substation to serve the City of Victoria and that would stay in Victoria.

Commissioner Donadio asked who would have jurisdiction for Kochia Lane. Mr. Zweber responded that Victoria would.

Mr. Zweber stated that this would come forward when the Hamlets of Lakeshire was brought forward. The agreement would need to be approved with the City of Chaska, Laketown Township and the City of Victoria. Mr. Zweber mentioned that he and the City Planner from Chaska went to Laketown Township to discuss this. He stated that every landowner would be treated equally and properly.

Commissioner Vogt stated that they have seen several versions of the Hamlets of Lakeshire and the Kochia extension was never referred to. Mr. Zweber stated that it is new and was actually a request by both Chaska and Victoria. Mr. Zweber stated that County Road 18 and 86^th Street is a collector street from Bavaria to Kochia, which is less than a quarter mile spacing between the two. He said that the intersection is not going away. The second access would take any traffic on the south and put it on a collector road. Mr. Zweber noted that they are not being pushed by them. Commissioner Vogt said that he understands the clarification and the point made at the last meeting on the Hamlets of Lakeshire was that Laketown Township had not approved any kind of negotiations of the land and the hookup of Kochia and Deer Run had not been part of that discussion. He asked if anything was resolved as to any development in that facility. Mr. Zweber said there has been discussion since that meeting. Mr. Zweber stated that Chaska has brought clarity to how they are going to deal with the annexation. Mr. Zweber said that one of the requests is to hold a public meeting for the Laketown Township, which will occur next Thursday at the City of Chaska at 7:00 p.m. They invited all the Laketown residences, City Council and anyone who is interested in attending.

Commissioner Vogt mentioned that he is concerned with this route being heavily traveled. People would take Kochia instead of going down to County Road 18 and the same if you are coming south from Bavaria Road. He asked if it would make sense to do some kind of traffic study. Commissioner Vogt noted that this intersection could be the busiest in Victoria. Mr. Zweber stated that the developer, at the request of the City Council, is doing a traffic study. Mr. Zweber said that if this area is going to be developed, Kochia is better than 86^th Street. Kochia is designed to be a busy road and it is a collector road. It is important that it gets constructed as part of this development.

Commissioner Hiivala noted that it looks good to him.

Mr. Zweber stated that they don’t need a recommendation and would keep the Planning Commission informed as things progress.

Commissioner Donadio addressed some of the questions that Chair Simanton had emailed and asked if this is a fair deal and if there are any advantages and disadvantages for either city. Mr. Zweber stated they are looking at this as an opportunity for both to win.

Mr. Zweber stated that most of the issues have been resolved with the water and the sewer and he would not bring it forward unless they were resolved.

Commissioner Hiivala asked about the mention of a park and if it would be something residents of Victoria could use. Mr. Zweber stated that it would be in the City of Chaska, but would be open to the public. He also noted that the park is actually closer to Victoria residents. Mr. Zweber said that the City of Chaska is looking at doing an improved boat access and park in the future on Lake Bavaria as well.
 

Councilmember Tieden had no update.
 

A. Communications.

Mr. Zweber stated that the City Council was very complementary on the work done with the transportation and they adopted all five components. They are recommending that the City Attorney look into it and find a legal way to develop the fees.

Mr. Zweber stated that the meeting on February 21^st is a joint workshop with the City Council and is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. At the request of Hartman to get the deal done by March 1^st, the Planning Commission will need to review the preliminary plat and hold a public hearing. Mr. Zweber asked if the Commission would like to get together before or after the meeting. Commissioner Vogt said he would personally prefer to have the meeting before the regular meeting. Mr. Zweber will set up the meeting for 45 minutes before at 6:15 p.m.

Mr. Zweber noted that the map provided tonight was just the process and has to be noticed. Commissioner Donadio commented on going back and re-approving something. Mr. Zweber said it would be a different set of plans. Mr. Zweber also stated that this is not affecting anybody on Maple Drive.

Commissioner Vogt asked if this document could be altered inexpensively to show the street names and key items. Mr. Zweber said that it would not be hard to put the street name layer on this map. He will have a revised map by the February 21^st meeting.

Mr. Zweber will send an email to Chair Simanton and Commissioner Mead to make sure they can come at 6:15 p.m. The meeting will only address Krey Lakes with a workshop at 7:00 p.m. on the land swap.

Commissioner Hiivala asked what’s happening with Mary Meuwissen. Mr. Zweber said that they are meeting with her on the February 28^th and plan to bring that information forward to the second meeting in March.

B. Other.

Mr. Zweber stated that there is also a meeting on February 16^th for the Three Rivers Park District and they will be giving approval of the land swap. The meeting is in Plymouth at 7:00 p.m. Mr. Zweber will get information to anyone who is interested in attending.
 

A motion was made by Hiivala, seconded by Donadio, to adjourn the meeting at 7:52 p.m. Vote: 3 Ayes, 0 Nays. Motion carried.

Respectfully submitted,

Tanya Schmieg
TimeSaver Off Site Secretarial, Inc.