10/12/1993 - City Council Special AGENDA
SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING
Tuesday
October 12, 1993
5:00 p.m.
Eagan Municipal Center Building
I. ROLL CALL & ADOPTION OF AGENDA
II. MUNICIPAL CENTER/PUBLIC SAFETY BUILDING
PROGRAM
III. COMMERCIAL STUDY
III. OTHER BUSINESS
IX. ADJOURNMENT
MEMO TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCILMEMBERS
FROM: CITY ADMINISTRATOR HEDGES
DATE: OCTOBER 8, 1993
SUBJECT: SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING/TUESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1993
A special City Council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, October 12, 1993 at 5:00 p.m. to
discuss the following items:
1) Continued review of municipal center/public safety building program
2) Request to retain a consultant for preparation of a commercial retail study
3) Other business
Building Program
The Steering Committee, consisting of Department Heads, Assistants to the City
Administrator and City Administrator, met with Dewey Thorbeck and Mike Stowe on
Thursday, October 7, to further discuss the public safety/municipal center building.
Concerns raised by the City Council at the special meeting on Tuesday, October 5, were
reviewed in detail, in addition to other issues raised by the Steering Committee. The
architect will be presenting five (5) alternates while addressing such policy issues as: quality
of materials, building image, ten year versus twenty to thirty year design and a variety of
options for remodeling the existing space. The City staff and consultants are confident that
the cost will be reduced from the original projections presented at the Wednesday,
September 29 meeting and again reviewed at the October 5 workshop. It should be noted
that the cost presented to the City Council and staff alike on Wednesday, September 29,
were based on a building quality that was higher than a mean construction such as
Burnsville, but not as high as recent buildings in Minnetonka and Plymouth. The numbers
also project a total build-out for municipal center, law enforcement and fire administration
needs as presented by the various focus groups, comprised of City employees,who analyzed
space needs for a first pass review by the architect.
Additional information will be provided at the meeting on Tuesday.
Commercial Study
The City Administrator held a staff retreat Thursday, October 7, for the purpose of
discussing development, redevelopment and in-fill development policies. It is the intention
of the City Administrator to have several meetings in which the full team can build on the
theme of creating a City-wide interdepartmental team approach to development issues while
dealing with both short-term issues and long-term philosophy/vision. Once the management
team has had an opportunity to meet on several occasions and work on the short-term/long-
term issues relating to service delivery, and framing the long-term vision for the community,
it is intended that a joint meeting be held with the City Council to address data and analysis
as well as long-term visioning.
Simultaneous to this process is the need to address the impact certain commercial
applications may have on the community. As staff and City Council engage in a visioning
process to help identify the next several years of community development, there are three
pending applications that could impact that development and the long-term direction of the
community. It is the recommendation of the Community Development Director and the
City Administrator that the City Council authorize a commercial study allowing the Council
and staff to further analyze the short and long-term effects these applications could have on
the integrity of commercial retail development and other undeveloped/development land
areas within the community. By engaging in this study, the Council will protect the vision
process and react to the applications with the benefit of the insights this process will
provide. The pending development applications are referenced in the attached memo
prepared by Director of Community Development Reichert.
ACTION TO BE CONSIDERED ON THIS ITEM: To secure quotations and authorize a
commercial retail study by an independent consultant firm under the direction of the
Director of Community Development.
/S/ Thomas L. Hedges
City Administrator
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MEMO
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TO: TOM HEDGES, CITY ADMINISTRATOR
FROM: PEGGY REICHERT, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
DATE: OCTOBER 8, 1993
SUBJECT: NEED FOR COMMERCIAL LAND USE STUDY
There are three rather significant commercial development projects in various stages of
discussion or review at this time. Each of these projects raises issues specific to the
immediate site and its surrounding environment; but from a broader perspective, these
developments together raise questions about the City's commercial land use policy and
its vision for commercial development. Questions regarding the nature of the City's
commercial development vision were raised during the discussion between the City
Council and Economic Development Commission last week. At that time, I believe several
Councilmembers, including the Mayor, expressed a belief that there is a need to clarify
the City's commercial development vision. Given the proposals before us and their
potential significance, staff concurs with these observations. It would be helpful to have
some formal direction from the Council concerning the initiation of some type of
commercial land use study.
BACKGROUND: As mentioned above, there are three rather significant commercial
development projects in various stages of development at this time.
1. Safari at Eagan -This development adjacent to the Thomas Lake Shopping Center
includes proposals for a major restaurant, second-run movie theater, and a 24-
hour health club. A Preliminary Plat for this development was discussed at the last
Planning Commission meeting and both the Commission members and the
adjacent residents raised many questions regarding basic land use compatibility
of the proposed project. The Blackhawk P.U.D. governing this area has been
amended many times in a very incremental fashion over the past fifteen years. The
time period for the P.U.D. has now expired and there is some question as to
whether this area is appropriately designated for development as a Community
Shopping Center.
The entire area has developed over time at a lower intensity of both commercial
and residential development than envisioned in the original P.U.D. Development
of this final piece of property in a manner compatible with the surrounding area is
an issue.
2. O'Neil Property The Dial Corporation has been discussing with City staff a
proposal to develop a major retail center north of Town Center. This development
would include some 467,000 sq. ft. of retail space which represents a significant
increase in retail area over that set forth in the approved P.U.D. for the site. This,
in turn, raises issues of traffic capacity. Different levels of retail development in this
area will require different levels of traffic improvements. Tom Colbert and I are
currently looking at how the necessary traffic studies related to this project and the
development of the entire area will need to be carried out over the next several
months.
3. I-35E & Diffley Road - The HealthSpan/Health One Corporation is looking at the
southeast corner of I-35E and Diffley Road for a major satellite health services
center. Health Span Corporation is the result of the merger of United and Abbott
Northwestern Hospitals. This proposed development is not consistent with the
City's adopted land use plan as it currently stands, but may be a very good use
of this property. That determination, however, can only be made in looking at the
overall City land use development and specifically, the commercial land use plan.
While each of these development proposals raises issues specific to the immediate site,
together they also raise broader questions:
• How do all of these developments together fit and express our vision for
commercial land use in this City?
• Is the aggregate amount of retail development proposed here supportable in
Eagan at this time?
• Is the distribution and location of these various developments compatible with our
City's transportation capacity?
• Is this location and distribution of commercial activity conducive to a strong
commercial development sector and continuation of strong, healthy
neighborhoods?
In 1988, the City contracted with Laventhol and Horwath to conduct a citywide
commercial market study. This study looked at the year 2010 build-out population and
assumed it would be over 90,000 persons. It would be useful to update this study now
because commercial development and trends have changed somewhat, but more
importantly,the build-out population of the City has been significantly reduced. This study
was also to be used as the basis for articulating the City's commercial development plan,
although that step does not seem to have been fully implemented.
CONCLUSION/NEXT STEPS: In summary, staff believes that we need to step back and
take a look at the status of our existing commercial areas and our potential future
commercial development patterns. We need to initiate this effort immediately because of
these pending development proposals. We would hope to complete this analysis within
the next two to three months. It is important that we give the Council adequate
information so they can evaluate these proposals, and in the course of this evaluation
clarify the City's commercial land use development policy and vision. If the Council were
to concur with this need and general direction, I would propose that staff scope out an
approach within the next two weeks. We may be able to carry out much of the analysis
in house and basically update the Laventhol and Horwath study. We may also want to
bring in some outside experts in the commercial market area to provide some over-the-
shoulder advise and consultation on trends and feasible commercial development options
in the 1990's.
Please let me know if you need any additional information on this issue. Thank-you.
/C-?- 1`-'&4-12'(-11
Direct& of Community Development
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