07/02/1996 - City Council SpecialAGENDA
SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING
Tuesday
July 2, 1996
5:00 P.M.
ROLL CALL & ADOPTION OF AGENDA
VISITORS TO BE HEARD
REVIEW CONCEPT FOR SOUTH HALF OF DART PARCEL
PARK REFERENDUM UPDATE/
SPECIAL PARKS BOND REFERENDUM TASK FORCE
OTHER BUSINESS
ADJOURNMENT
MEMO
city of eagan
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR & CITY COUNCILMEMBERS
FROM: CITY ADMINISTRATOR HEDGES
DATE: JUNE 28, 1996
SUBJECT: SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETINGITUESDAY, JULY 2, 1996
A Special City Council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, July 2, 1996 at 5:00 p.m. The
purpose of the meeting is to hear a "brief' presentation by Dan Oren regarding a concept
he is considering for the south half of the Dart property and an update on the park
referendum by the Parks Bond Referendum Task Force.
REVIEW CONCEPT FOR SOUTH HALF OF DART PARCEL
The City Administrator and both Senior Planners met with Dan Oren on Tuesday, June
25, to review a concept he has for the development of the south half of the Dart property.
Mr. Oren would like approximately 10-15 minutes to present the concept at the meeting
on Tuesday. He is looking for some direction regarding the type of use so he can
continue marketing the property. Staff will not be preparing a memo or report regarding
the concept; however, issues such as airport noise, noise mitigation relative to county
roads, the comprehensive guide plan and other policy consideration should be given full
study by staff if the Council has an interest in changing the land use designation to some
type of mixed use that would consider retail and residential.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune had a series entitled, "Clustering - for land's sake" that
addresses the new urban' ' n clustering c ncepts, similar to Mr. Oren's poral; a
cop is enclosed on pages through. Also enclosed on pagesy through
is a Minneapolis Star Tribune article entitled, "Revisiting villages" which is the
second part of the "Clustering" article.
Mr. Oren has been advised that this item will only be afforded 20-30 minutes for
presentation and discussion.
PARK REFERENDUM UPDATE/SPECIAL PARKS BOND REFERENDUM
TASK FORCE
The Special Parks Bond Referendum Task Force met on Wednesday, June 26, at 5:00
p.m. to discuss the status of the proposed park bond referendum. The task force has
been asked to address the two dates which include the primary election scheduled for
September 10 and the general election which will be held on November 5. City
Councilmembers have also requested more specific information about the purpose of the
park bond referendum, as an example, what properties are under consideration for
acquisition and how the funds will be designated in the proposed referendum.
The purpose of the meeting is to bring closure to a date for the referendum, identify how
acquisition and betterment will be designated and presented to the community, address
questions that were raised by the Chamber of Commerce and Small Business Association
and any other issues specific to the proposed referendum.
It may be necessary for the task force to meet one additional time before the July 16 City
Council meeting to complete its findings and information requested by the Council at the
workshop.
In summary, the resolutions regarding the date of the election and the question will be
finalized for Council consideration at the July 16 meeting.
ACTION TO BE CONSIDERED: To provide direction to
Referendum Task Force to prepare the appropriate information
consideration and ratification at the July 16 meeting regarding
referendum.
/S/ Thomas L. Hedges
City Administrator
the Special Park Bond
and resolutions for final
the proposed park bond
Innovative ideas in suburban development are reaching the Twin
Cities area as planners and developers experiment with clustering
houses - instead of gobbling up farmland for sprawling subdivisions.
Star Trbune Photo by Mice Zerby
Computer projection by Matt Mega and Doug Snyder of the Minnesota Extension Service.
Large -lot houses sprinkled across the countryside, such as these now Marine on St. Croix, left, often replace the rural landscape people come to
enJoy. With clustered housing, as in this theoretical plan at right, houses we grouped together and woods and farmland are kept open.
Clusterion or land's sake
By Dennis Cassago
Star Tribune Staff fj`'Writer
Ralph Dittman and Till Greenhaugh live in one
of the charming neighborhoods of Stillwater, at
once one of the oldest communities in Minnesota
and, with the rest of Washington County, one of
the fastest-growing.
They want to move to a place where "a true
community is even more possible," a place where
they can raise their two children near the country,
Dittman said. They want to be able to walk to the
store and over to a village garden where they can
buy fresh vegetables even before they are plucked
from the ground. "And we're committed to the
idea of conserving land for agricultural use and
green space," Dittman said. "What's happening in
the metro area now is so much urban sprawl."
No mere idyllic dream for them, he was de-
scribing a project *by developer Robert Engstrom
that is likely to be under construction this year on
the edge of Lake Elmo.
The 226 -acre project is to include houses clus-
tered together on 1 -acre lots, others on smaller
lots and still others as townhouses. He expects the
houses will range from $140,000 to $250,000, with
some as high as $650,000. The development also
contains 135 acres of undeveloped land, a tree
nursery, community gardens and open prairie. A
Civil War -era barn will be a community center.
A new suburbia
>•
s
Turn to CLUSTERS on A10 for.
—Why some developers and cities are breaking
away from the large -lot subdivisions of the past. >
Also on Al D:
—Are neu- concepts the answer or more sprawl?
— Afeet planner Randall Arendt. ...
3
First gf'two parts
Monday.,
Revisiting villages: Old-
style. pedestrian -friendly
neighborhoods are getting
new attention.
Middleton Hills: A look at
the urban village that's
closest to the Twin Cities.
Andres Duany: Meet a
leading advocate of the
concept of new urbanism.
CUJ MS from Al
Clustered
dousing may
be finding •
h home here
Developers likefrom,
kopie like Dittman and cities
e lake Elmo in metropolitan
dreas nationwide are starting to
t)reak away from the large -lot
musiin�g projects, shopping malls
and office parks that have been
ayweiing people to the suburbs for
i4Thersidea reaches back to a
lified time and community
chat existed before can were ap-
+endages of most adults and
apany teenagers, when parents
Gould ask their kids to ram down
* the comer store for a loaf of
Tread.
owft d111111tw*
The interest in re-creating that
and in preserving at least
parts of the rural landscape Is
lrraerating discussions in the
iw,r, Cities metropolitan area
$om Wyoming in Chisago Coun-
ty to Chanhassen in Carver Coun-
tq, from Goodhue County to St.
Croix county, wis.
I There are two principal con-
gepts for creating that kind of
acmmuniry. Clustered housing is
4eing advocated by Randall
Aaeadt, a planner from Media, Pa.
And Miami -based planner Andres
Duany and his wife, Elizabeth
Dater-Zyberk, are leaders in the
movement called new urbanism.
Clustered housing is intended
to preserve open space that
would otherwise be tart up Into
typical suburban lots. The as-
sence of the new urbanism or
alrban village development style
Is to promote a sense of commu-
N-�, and to reduce reliance on the
automobile.
Neither idea is new. The urban
tillage design basically replicates
old, compact airy neighborhoods
such as St. Anthony Park in St.
Paul or !laden Hills in Minne-
aappolis, where shops, schools and
eburches are within walkingg dis-
tance. Since the 1990s, Washing-
ton County has passively all
clustered housing.
The concept isthe
most atteadon to then Cities
area.
'What's new is that we Waal to
build in incentives so it's more
economically attractive to devel.
opers,'said lute Harper, a Wash-
ington County planner.
A dustered MakV plan for Lake em
rade at,
aAitF atav
i11tYf0iNU T1YP.
P
ftTrAmid
Pumararlt
PraFb
l t� 9�ppor0ed
•1'—.•
_
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�•% •
1
a+.rtaeu+ aaotloa yet
t �
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t�re�as
Is
7 ,/�
aaarkca aalipsrafty
i
woodw
t,
L Elmo
r ,,� , aaoom,ry
st
K ao�r+ ar.
arsr=tteertf+phrroaa WAN
1,Istr
ILM IM1TTtlIMfWV.
at.
tree a'arc ar:r+r rraerrrs
That incentive may be permits.
don to build more houses in a
smaller area than otherwise
would be allowed, giving the de.
oeloper more profit but still con.
suming less land.
Lice DW &CU
Engstrom and five other devel-
opers were lined up for months
waiting for lake Elmo to adopt an
ordinance requiring clustered
housing In certain areas. It was
adopted this month.
C,enttal iaues in arty clnatering
project are the sizes of the lots,
the number of houses to be built
and the amount of laud that must
remain undeveloped.
The City Council decided that,
in the rural area where the ordi-
nance will apply, the minimum
lot size will be one-half to 1 acre,
ailo`tag for eight to 10 houses
per 20 acres, and at least half of
the buildable land (not Including
Wetlands or steep dopes) must be
left open.
A perpetual conservation ease-
ment must be placed on the open
land to prohibit development. It
must be signed over to a land
trust group such as the Minneso-
ta land Trust or the Minnesota
Department of Natural Resources
to ensure that the land is not
developed.
Ann mg Terwedo, the city
planning director, said that provi-
sion means the land trust will
have unofficial but inherent au.
thority In guiding the design of a
project because it could retvrae to
accept an easement that does not
meet its own conservation goals.
For example, a land trust
might accept an easement that'
would permit bocce bell on an
Ster Tftm ftw or qiu Pm
A daterad a+ "iq; plan for Lana Wm hatuns a CMWar-ers "neat
Tadd "Mm in as a commudty owder and warming Iowa for skatittg. 0"
+t+w Robert fa49ftom ls awarding olty aMelah' action on tM 226 -me alan-
Mora then lust! of Ow land would remain as open Spann, with a co wwvvoon
aaament. There also would be a commuNty garden.
open field, but not one that
would permit motorcycle races. It
could also influence a developer
onsuch things as the placement
of houses in relationship to a
wetland.
Engstrom is preserving more
than half of the total land in his
Iake Elmo project. He said he will
put a conservation easement on
that prat of the land and assign it
to the Minnesota land Trust. Part
of the area will be devoted to a
Community Supported Agricul-
ture farm, where people pay an
established price for a full sum.
mer's worth of fresh garden vege-
tables. In some cases they help
with the gardening.
opm
Why g do aciclustered project at
all?
'A lot of people want their
children to grow up closer to the
land," Engstrom said. 'People
want open apace, but they don't
want a huge lot, They want a
sense of community."
And, he said, government offi-
cials realize that If development
of 5- or 10 -acre lots continues,
•we'll consume an inordinate
amount of land, and the end
product will not be what they
envision." It will destroy rather
than treserve the 'rural atmos-
phere that people say they want
when they move to outlying ar•
nes, Engstrom said.
Clustering don not enjoy unt-
tetsal
When Marine on St. Croix
adopted is mandatory clustering
ordinance last year, a landowner
and potential developer for his
property charged that It was
adopted in order to prevent de
velopment, not regulate it, an ac.
cusation dry leaders deny.
A t,' m or tifeW
Others just beyond the hwtiei
of development see dusterer
housing as a threat. They think 11
Will attract development rather
than protea their land.
In Goodhue County, officials
expect to decide this fall whether
to adopt an ordinance allowing
voluntary clustered housing.
About 40 people turned out fox
a meeting last month in the Leor.
Township Hall south of cannot.
Falls to tell the officials that al-
lowing clustered housing in the
hilly, wooded areas in the coun-
ty s northern townships was just
about the dumbest idea they ever
heard.
'We don't want an Apple val-
ley here," one man said.
'Our land is our last re-
source,' a woman said. 'Is this
area going to look as attractive if
this clustered housing comes in?
We're going to lose our dor and
W of our wild turkeys."
Referring to a culture clash
with prospective new neighbors
from the Twin Cities area, she
asked rhetorically and sarc stical.
ly, 'Is there going to be too much
mud on the road from tractors
that will get their new little cars
After hearing such comments
for two hours, Chuck Dorwck,
the county zoning administrator,
told the crowd: "No matter what
you want, things can't stay the
same forever. Things dump.*
mp.*
An old development concept — the walkable, mixed-use
neighborhood — is finding a new audience as metro areas such as
the Twin Cities look for ways to build community and fight sprawl.
Revisiting
villages
By Dennis Cassano
Star Tribune Staff j`' ih'rater
They're building a housing
and commercial development
in Minnetonka that smacks of
new urbanism.
That's not a New Age plot. In
fact, it's a return to the old way
of designing neighborhoods
and communities.
They're . thinking about
building another in Chanhas-
sen, one that nuzzles up more
closely to the design principles
of Walt Disney's Celebration
near Orlando, Fla., which some
see not only as a restorative for
community values but as a re-
sponse to sprawl.
V1'hile a number of Twin Cit-
ies -area developers and sub-
urbs are well along the way in
A new suburbia
Second gf'two parts
building clustered housing pro-
jects, they are only thinking
about developing projects
known variously as urban vil-
lages, new urbanism, neotradi-
tional planning or traditional
neighborhood development.
The Laurel Village complex on
Hennepin Av. in Minneapolis
and elements of the Chanhas-
sen and Minnetonka projects
are as close as any in the Twin
Cities to this design.
Turn to VLLAGES on AS
Also on A6:
A new village in ih'isconsin.
Meet Andres Duany
Star Tribune Photo by %Reed
Atfove, the fow-block Laurel Village area on Hen.
nepin Av. In Minneapolis has the feel of anew ur-
ban village. An architect's drawing, left, look-
ing south from Hwy. 8 shows a possible layout
a proposed 66 -acre village In Chanhassen that
would combine commercial and residential space.
"Many of us want more options for the suburbs."
mild Nancy Mancino, city planning chairwoman.
How an urban village works
Unlike typical suburban development that sometimes lacws a sense of
communrt).the more compact neighborhoods of new urbanism
integrate housing and commerce on a pedestrian scale.
Housing
subdMsan C,ommerclal
Maii
UOU
Apartments worship Schoo:
Typical
a Piac:es to uve. work ana shop Sep-
arated ana reachaole only by car.
■ Wide streets with no sdewahs.
■ Houses spread out on big bis-
■ Housing targeted to one income
group.
• Open space is random.
■ Shops ana public buudmgs not
Poslwnea to create a sense of
communq
SourceWashington County
Houses
schoo! Worship
Apartments Commercja=
Urban village
■ Places to live. work ana shot:
connected ana waw an -
• marrow streets are penes. lan-
fnendrj.
■ Houses corse together
4 Mu of singe-farni. nooses,
apartments and townriciases_
f open Space set asioe ir. par. s
and sg6iares.
r Shops and public ouilamgs toren
a retak social cerate,
Star Troune graphic by Jane Friedmann
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