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03/20/2001 - City Council Special.. :~~ ~..:. MEMO ~~ city of eagan TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCILMEMBERS FROM: CITY ADMINISTRATOR HEDGES DATE: MARCH 16, 2001 SUBJECT: SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING/MARCH 20, 2001 A Special City Council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 20, at 4:30 p.m. to consider a recommendation by the Design Team and City's architectural firms for the Community Center design. COMMUNITY CENTER DESIGN The Community Center Design Team has been meeting on a regular basis with the City's architects, TKDA and Moody Nolan, to determine a final schematic design for the Community Center. The Facilities Design Team last met on Wednesday, March 7, and has agreed on a design for the Community Center which will be presented at the City Council meeting. ACTION TO BE CONSIDERED: To provide direction as this item will be considered as a part of the March 20 regular City Council agenda. CONSIDERATION OF REPEAL OF MINOR SUBDIVISION ORDINANCE At the Mayor's request, this item has been added to the agenda for consideration by the City Council. For your information and consideration, she requested copies of the information and minutes associated with the adoption of this ordinance and a brief report on what has happened with applications that have been considered since the adoption. There have been six applications, three of which have been approved. Two applications are in litigation and the sixth application was denied. Attached on page ~ are minutes from the meeting at which the ordinance was adopted (April 4, 2000) and also attached on pages ~ through is a copy of the October 24, 2000 Special City Council meeting discussing modifications to the minor subdivision regulations. The City Attorney has been contacted to research the legal process necessary to consider repeal of the ordinance. ACTION TO BE CONSIDERED: To provide direction to the city staff regarding potential repeal of the minor subdivision ordinance. OTHER BUSINESS There are no items scheduled for Other Business. /S/ Thomas L. Hed City Administrator TLH/vmd a 41~1~ ORDINANCE AMENDMENT -CITY OF EAGAN (MINOR SUBDIVISIONS) City Administrator Hedges provided an overview on this item. Senior Planner Ridley gave a staff report and stated that an additional requirement that minor subdivisions would also be subject to standard dedication requirements (i.e. park dedication, water quality) should also be included in the ordinance. Councihnember Bakken moved, Mayor Awada seconded a motion to approve an Amendment to Chapter 13 (Subdivision Regulations) of the City Code that would establish a minor subdivision procedure and direct the City Attorney to prepare an amendment suitable for publication. Mayor Awada said that most cities provide for a minor subdivision process. She stated that she did not want to have people request to split 200-foot lots and questioned if a $5,000 fee would prevent this from happening. Councihnember Carlson asked for clarification between the standard subdivision procedure and the minor subdivision. procedure. Senior Planner Ridley responded that the minor subdivision process ~~ill be a one-step process whereas the standard subdivision process is a two-step process that requires a public hearing at the Planning Commission. He added that the standard subdivision application requires a more substantial escrow amount and more detailed plans than that proposed for the minor subdivision. Councilmember Carlson expressed concern with large lot subdivisions that may result in parcels not consistent with adjacent properties. She questioned if it would be possible to do more than one minor subdivision per parcel. Senior Planner Ridley stated that the APC raised this as a concern. Councilmember Bakken suggested that language be incorporated into the ordinance to limit the number of times that a minor subdivision could occur on a given piece of property. A vote was taken on the motion. Aye: 5 Nay: 0 3 Special Cit} Council Minutes October 24. 2000 Page 1 or 4 MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL MEETING OF THE EAGAN CITY COUNCIL EAGAN, MINNESOTA OCTOBER 24, 2000 A special meeting of the Eagan City Council was held on Tuesday, October 24, 2000, at 5:00 p.m. in the City Council Chambers of the Eagan Municipal Center Building. Present were Mayor Awada and Councilmembers Blomquist, Carlson, Bakken and Masin. Also present were City Administrator Hedges, Assistant City Administrator Verbrugge, Senior Planner Ridley and Administrative Specialist Hertel. ROLL CALL & AGENDA ADOPTION Councilmember Blomquist moved, Councilmember Carlson seconded a motion to approve the agenda with the addition of Administrator's Update to Other Business. Aye: 5 Nay: 0 REVIEW THE NEW MINOR SUBDIVISION REGULATIONS City Administrator Hedges gave an overview. Councilmember Bakken suggested that Council and staff look to the past examples because the times that are most noteworthy are the ones when proposals have been turned down. He stated that the City should find a way to codify the standards and aim for lot size consistency in neighborhoods. Councilmember Carlson stated that the City should get rid of the ordinance and all preliminary subdivisions should go through the full preliminary and final subdivision process. She expressed concern about property owners that divide their property, sell and leave Eagan; she further stated that the neighborhoods and the City would benefit from the full public notification process. Councilmember Masin asked if it was true that the area property owners were not noticed regarding the subdivision proposals that had come before the Council. Senior Planner Ridley stated that, per the ordinance, all property owners contiguous to the property require notice. Councilmember Masin asked if there had been any surveys of the subdivision applicants after the process was complete. Senior Planner Ridley responded that the City conducts quarterly surveys of all development projects completed during the previous quarter in the City. Councilmember Masin stated that she had received a complaint that the subdivision process took too much time. Mayor Awada asked that the Council provide direction to Community Development and the City Attorney so they would be able to prepare a draft with the Council's changes. Councilmember Bakken stated that the City should proceed with adopting an ordinance that sets standards for neighborhood consistency, but if it is not legal or feasible to do so, the ordinance should be eliminated. Councilmember Carlson asked that the staff and City Attorney write a set of standards that regulates setbacks and other related subdivision components. Senior Planner Ridley stated that the City can 9 Special City Council Minutes October 24. 2000 Page 2 of 4 likely write the ordinance in a way that requires use of average neighborhood lot sizes as the standard. REVIEW MVTA PILOT KNOB/YANKEE DOODLE ROAD TRANSIT SITE FINAL DEVELOPMENT City Administrator Hedges gave an overview. Senior Planner Ridley reviewed the picture representation of the proposed development and explained that the City could retain control of the easement for future development for future streetscaping purposes. Mayor Awada stated that her primary concern was having the ability to do streetscaping according to a yet undefined streetscaping plan, but wanted to retain the flexibility to do so in the future. Councilmember Carlson expressed concern about who would pay for the development of that easement since it had been MVTA's responsibilit}~ according to the development agreement. Councilmember Masin asked if the City would have to pay for the clock on the structure. Senior Planner Ridley stated that the MVTA or the developer would pay for the clock. Councilmember Masin stated that the intersection should have benches and a community space for gathering. Councilmember Carlson stated that the intersection is busy and loud and not conducive to public gatherings. She restated her concern about who would pay for the streetscaping. Councilmember Blomquist stated that the clock tower on top of the building was unique. She commented that the MVTA may not assume responsibility for maintenance of the easement if they do not develop it as part of the agreement. Mayor Awada stated that the Council can require maintenance as part of the development agreement. Councilmember Carlson stated that the Council should hold the MVTA responsible for maintenance of the easement. Councilmember Blomquist echoed her comments. Councilmember Masin informed the Council that they comprised 1 /6`~' of the MVTA and should consider the development as a partnership. Councilmember Bakken cautioned that the development would not look like the picture after the addition of signage and traffic to the busy intersection. Councilmember Masin suggested the MVTA escrow the amount it would have spent developing the easement to the City. Mayor Awada moved, Councilmember Bakken seconded a motion to require MVTA maintenance of the easement, a clock feature with four faces on the grid above the proposed structure, and the MVTA to escrow the amount to spend on the easement development to the City for future use. Aye: 5 Nay: 0 DIRECTION RE: CONSULTANT RFP PROCESS City Administrator Hedges gave an overview. He stated that the engineering RFP is overdue, but noted the Council's decision to delay the RFP in 1998 due to the workload. Councilmember Blomquist stated that the Council needs a "report card'' to ensure that the City is getting the best value for its' citizens' dollars. She commented that 5