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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004-02-28 Council Minutes CITY OF CORCORAN SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING FEBRUARY 28, 2004 1 The Corcoran City Council held a special council meeting on February 28, 2004 at City Hall in Corcoran, Minnesota. Present were Councilors Bucher, Guenthner, Lymangood and Thomas. Councilor Gageby was excused absent. Also present were Planning Commissioners Andersen, Ebert, Johnson, Kluck, and Stieg, Wastewater Commissioner Cossette, Administrator Vergin, Clerk Tillmann, Engineer Vander Top, Planner Lindahl, and Attorney Carson. Mayor Guenthner called the meeting to order at 2:12 p.m. Mayor Guenthner advised that the agenda would consist of discussion regarding premature subdivisions. The discussion was for informational purposes only because there had not been sufficient time during regular Council meetings to address this topic. Council would take no action at this meeting. MOTION by Thomas, seconded by Bucher, and carried unanimously to approve the agenda as presented. Premature Subdivisions Planner Lindahl advised that the City had received two letters regarding premature subdivisions. One letter was from Hope Community Church, addressing policies that would allow premature subdivisions. Attorney Carson also submitted a letter on behalf of Councilor Gageby regarding his viewpoint on the subject, due to his absence from this meeting. Planner Lindahl addressed five concerns with allowing premature subdivisions. • Premature subdivisions would create underutilized land – allowing lower densities than the maximum allowed has a significant impact on the City’s tax base. • Premature subdivisions would cause a leapfrog effect of developments – By not allowing premature subdivisions, development occurs consistent with the phasing outlined in the Zoning Ordinance. Public infrastructure is also affected by development and the City can focus financial resources in the areas according to the phasing. • Premature subdivisions could cause issues with land equity. Land in the Corcoran area is very valuable, even with well and septic. This shouldn’t be considered as a reason to provide an exception to the ordinance. If an exception to allow a premature subdivision is made for one property or group, the Council should be prepared for additional requests. • A complete cost analysis has not yet been completed. Engineer Vander Top is currently working on the cost analysis on a per foot and square footage basis. • Premature subdivisions could create road issues, specifically because regional road issues are complicated and the City is unsure of the County’s intent for future roads in certain areas, like the northeast district. Call to Order Roll call Agenda Approval Premature Subdivisions CITY OF CORCORAN SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING FEBRUARY 28, 2004 2 Engineer Vander Top added that staff is not in favor of allowing premature development, based on the five issues identified by Planner Lindahl and issues associated with those. Attorney Carson added that development could be difficult for the City if not done in an orderly fashion, consistent with the Comprehensive Land Use Plan. It is hard to understand today what issues and effects could be caused by premature development in the future. Councilor Thomas questioned if the City would be forced to open other areas of the City prematurely if Hope Community Church was allowed to proceed with their concept plan. Mayor Guenthner stated that the Council’s responsibility is to develop a process to fit needs of the City while still following the process outlined in the Comp Plan. He added that this discussion wasn’t about the Hope Community Project, they just happened to be the first one to approach the City. There are other projects out there waiting to come forward. Council has to define the principles to follow and then apply those principles to projects as they come forward. There are strong pros and cons to allowing premature development, and t he Hope Community Project would be a strong test case. The general consensus of the group was that it is a good project and something the Council would like to see, but is not sure if this is the right time. Councilor Thomas added that if the City would have to allow premature development throughout the City if this project was approved, the City cannot move forward with the Hope Community project. Engineer Vander Top suggested that for discussion purposes, the group focus on what hurdles would have to be overcome and what issues would the City face if the project went ahead. If the overall flavor of the project were amenable to the group, it wouldn’t matter who or where it was. What issues would have to be considered? Commissioner Ebert added that Parks and Trails are an unknown at this time. How would the trails and open space areas of the project tie into the City’s overall Parks and Trails Plan? Will there be a community center in Corcoran at some point in the future that might provide the same or similar purpose? Is the senior housing proposed by Hope Community in a location that the City envisioned it would be? Commissioner Andersen questioned if it was the City’s intent not to depart from the phasing outlined in the Comp plan at all, or would there be circumstances where it would be considered or allowed, and what would those circumstances be? Mayor Guenthner questioned what benefit escalating the timeline for development would create? If a project met all other criteria, what would it do for the City by being completed prematurely? Comments were heard from Brian Lother, Pastor, Hope Community Church, 19951 Oswald Farm Road. Pastor Lother stated that their letter tried to identify exceptions or substantive criteria that could be applied to all applicants when evaluating if premature development was acceptable, as follows: Public Comments CITY OF CORCORAN SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING FEBRUARY 28, 2004 3 • The project should identify a here and now need. Senior Housing is a need identified in the City’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan. Commissioner Stieg questioned if there has been much interest from Corcoran residents for a senior housing facility. Pastor Lother added that Hope Community has not polled the community, however, the Oswalds were hoping to stay in the community after they sold their land to the church, but there was no place available. Other residents and congregation members have also expressed an interest in the facility. • The project should be an expansion of a current program or building already in existence within the City. Hope Community Church already exists in Corcoran with a Church building and active ministry programs. Councilor Bucher stated that he feels senior housing is not an expansion of the current facility because there is no senior housing currently at Hope Community. This project would require rezoning and the intent is totally different from the main use of the facility, which is a Sunday morning church service. Pastor Lother added that they feel senior housing is an extension of the ministry provided by Hope Community Church. Commissioner Andersen added that Word of Peace Church in Rogers recently rebuilt their church to include a senior housing facility on site with the church. • The project should be self-supporting and not require any investment from the City for infrastructure, nor should the City have to expend funds for maintenance. Councilor Lymangood questioned what other cities allow premature subdivision and under what circumstances? Added that there needs to be a distinction between what is good about a project and what is the right thing to do. Feels that allowing premature development is not the right thing to do. The City should not tailor the Subdivision Ordinance to meet a project’s need. This is a significant departure from the process followed. Pastor Lother countered that the City also needs to remain flexible as needs arise, and will have to address exceptions in the future. If the project is not Hope Community Church, it will be someone else coming forward asking for an exception. Councilor Thomas stated that right now, the City does not have a concrete tool to address the look and feel of the downtown area. Questioned if senior housing would be better suited closer to the downtown area to allow for walking traffic to local businesses. Added that the City needs to be further along in understanding what Corcoran will look like before making exceptions. Mayor Guenthner concurred, stating that the City needs a more precise vision for Phase I (the downtown area) before granting any exceptions. At this time, it appears that there is not sufficient support from the Council to change the process. However, Councilor Gageby is not present at this meeting, and has stated, through Attorney Carson’s memo that he would be in favor of considering premature development. CITY OF CORCORAN SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING FEBRUARY 28, 2004 4 March 25, 2004 Council Meeting Mayor Guenthner advised that he has a schedule conflict with the March 25, 2004 meeting to consider adoption of the ordinances. Would like to discuss the possibility of calling a special meeting to consider the ordinances so he can be present. Discussion will be held at the March 11, 2004 meeting. MOTION by Bucher, seconded by Thomas, and carried unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 3:27 p.m. _____________________________ Kary Tillmann, City Clerk/Treasurer Consideration of special Council meeting Adjournment