DEVELOPMENT BUSINESS - Bryan K. Schafer, Planning and Community Development Director
Title
GRANTING PRELIMINARY PLAT APPROVAL TO SUBDIVIDE 93.6 ACRES INTO TWO (2) LOTS AND ONE (1) OUTLOT TO BE KNOWN AS INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT 16, LOCATED AT DAVENPORT STREET NE/105TH AVE NE. NATIONAL SPORTS CENTER AND SPRING LAKE PARK SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 16. (CASE FILE NO. 17-0006/BKS)
Schedule of Actions
|
Planning Commission (Public Hearing) |
03/14/17 |
|
City Council (Preliminary Plat) |
04/06/17 |
|
City Council (Final Plat) |
TBD |
|
Action Deadline |
04/10/17 |
Planning Commission Action
The Planning Commission voted 5-2 (Ouellette and York) to approve the preliminary plat. There were no comments offered at the public hearing.
Background
Spring Lake Park Schools (Ind. #16) has reached an agreement with the National Sports Center to purchase an 11 acre site at the SE corner of 105th and Davenport. Once purchased the school intends to build and operate a Pre-K thru 4th grade elementary school. The school itself would be a 2-story design with approximately 96,000 square feet.
The applications that have submitted and that require review are:
• A preliminary plat application to subdivide the NSC’s 93 acre south campus into two lots and one outlot. Lot 1(11 acres) would be the site of the school. Lot 2 would remain the NSC property. Outlot A (the site of the velodrome) is under an option for the school to purchase at some point in the future. The velodrome use is intended to continue for 2-3 more years.
• The school requires a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) to operate in the RR (Regional Recreation). The City is currently processing a code amendment to the RR text to add “Elementary School” to the list of allowed uses.
Preliminary Plat
The proposed plat, while fairly straight forward, does represent a few issues that need to be addressed as part of the plat. Both lots (1 and 2) will meet the RR size standard of five (5) acres; however Outlot A (the velodrome site) does not meet the minimum lot size. Given that nothing is proposed at this time for the outlot, that issue will not need to be addressed until such time as the school or NSC decides they wish to build something new on the outlot. At that time, the outlot will need to be re-platted into a lot in order to obtain a building permit. Given that the lot is too small the owner runs the risk of a future City Council not permitting the re-platting.
Additional right-of-way is required for the western edge of the plat along Davenport Street. Because Davenport is the service road alignment in this area there are current and future improvements such as turn lanes that may need to be added as background traffic continues to grow in this area. Currently the City does not have sufficient r-o-w for the future improvements. The platting process allows the City the opportunity to establish the correct r-o-w boundaries. Additional right-of-way is also being dedicated to match the design of the proposed 105th Avenue reconstruction.
Site parking is typically more of an issue for the CUP but in this case the parking issues are more apparent with the NSC campus than the school itself. Attached to this item is a traffic report and parking analysis prepared for the NSC and school by SRF Consulting Group. The site parking is impacted by the construction of the school in that 650 parking stalls, that are currently available for NSC use, will be removed from the site. The school will build 175 stalls on their 11 acre site for their use which is adequate for the school. Those stalls will also be available for the NSC when school is not in session. The NSC will also be building a new parking area in the NSC’s SW corner which will add approximately 250 stalls. This will leave the NSC south campus with approximately 225 fewer stalls while at the same time adding the school use.
This reduction in the number of parking stalls is concerning for those of us that have seen the parking areas full at different times of the year. While additional parking is being built on the north campus those stalls are not generally available in the winter periods. The parking analysis provided by the applicant attempts to answer those questions. A condition to the plat has been added that recognizes that any future construction on the south campus that is thought to increase the demand for parking will have to either add sufficient parking or justify to the City why that is not necessary.
With the platting and creation of Lot 1 park dedication will be due and payable at the commercial rate of $8,704 per acre. Since a portion of Lot 1 will remain as soccer fields for the time being that area will be deducted from the land area calculations.
There are a number of other plat or NSC related issues that are handled as conditions on the plat which include hauling of fill material in and off of the sand mining pit, establishing a clear closure plan for the mining operation, access control on Davenport Street and handling of existing assessments on Davenport Street.
Conditional Use Permit
The proposed conditional use permit will permit the construction and operation of a Pre-K thru 4th grade elementary school. Because adequate parking for the school will be built on the school property there are only a few site issues that are not sufficiently handled by the RR zoning standards or the formal Site Plan Approval process.
The one significant site issue for the school that requires some discussion and condition of approval is the north driveway access (directly across from the National Market Center driveway). This access location experiences problems at evening peak times because it is too close to 105th and does not provide adequate vehicle stacking. Staff has evaluated this issue and believes it would be best to close this access into the school and direct traffic either to 105th or to the existing NSC driveway on the south side of the proposed school. An alternative, which has been proposed by the school, is to make the north access a right-in/right-out access. Staff has evaluated that and feels strongly that the better option for safe operation of the service road is to close the access.
NOTE: While staff is making a positive recommendation on both the plat and CUP, staff has also raised concern over the loss of 225 parking stalls for the south campus. It is recommended that the City Council carefully weigh the concerns that have been raised given not only what has been stated in this report but also the experiences the council may have had with the NSC campus over the past 15- 20 years. Additionally the City Council should consider if the conditions in the plat related to NSC obligations have been met by the attached letter from the NSC.
Recommendation
By motion, approve the Resolution.
Attachments
Unapproved Planning Commission Minutes
Zoning and Location Map
Project Narrative
Preliminary Plat
Site Plan and Landscape Plan
Building Elevations and Floor Plans
Traffic/Parking Analysis & March 2nd Addendum
NSC Narrative
Body
WHEREAS, an application has been filed by National Sports Center and Spring Lake Park School District No. 16 as subdivision Case File No. 17-0006; and
WHEREAS, said case involves the division of land described as follows:
The Northeast Quarter of the Southeast Quarter of Section 20, Township 31, Range 23, Anoka County, Minnesota. Together with the Southeast Quarter of the Southeast Quarter of said Section 20, EXCEPT the South 600.00 feet thereof. Also together with the West Half of the Northwest Quarter of the Southwest Quarter of Section 21, Township 31, Range 23, said Anoka County.
AND
The North Half of the West Half of the Southwest Quarter of the Southwest Quarter of Section 21, Township 31, Range 23, Anoka County, Minnesota.
WHEREAS, the Blaine Planning Commission has reviewed said case file on March 14, 2017; and
WHEREAS, the Blaine Planning Commission has recommended subdivision Case File No. 17-0006 be approved subject to certain stipulations; and
WHEREAS the Blaine City Council has reviewed said case file on April 6, 2017.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Blaine that preliminary plat approval per Section 74-42 of the subdivision regulations is hereby granted for Independent School District 16 permitting preparation of a final plat for approval per section 74-43 subject to the following conditions:
1. The plat and site plan to include thee dedication of an additional 20-feet of r-o-w along the entire west side of the site (Davenport corridor).
2. NSC to provide a narrative that contains the terms of a mining-pit closure plan. Provide specifics on when the City should expect complete closure and what the key steps will be in that process.
3. The north driveway for the new parking lot west of the school to be designed as a right-out exit only onto Davenport Street. Exit to be used exclusively for buses exiting the site and gated at all other times. City to approve exit and gate design as well necessary signage as part of site plan approval.
4. No subsequent permits for building expansion or building remodeling that generates increased parking demand will be approved for the south campus unless there are sufficient parking stalls added to support the expanded use or it is adequately justified and determined by the City that current parking is sufficient.
5. Park dedication for Lot 1 (the school site) will be calculated at the commercial rate of $8,704/per acre and applied to the developed portion of Lot 1 (estimated at 5.1 acres).
6. Hauling of fill either in or out of the sand mining pit site will not be allowed to utilize 105th Avenue as a hauling access once the City begins work on 105th. The City will notify the NSC in writing 30 days prior to that date and will gate off the access at the end of the 30-day period. The NSC will need to have an alternate access plan approved by the City at that time.
7. The NSC Campus Master Plan (which is to be completed this fall) should examine pedestrian access between the two campus locations and include, among the possible solutions, how a pedestrian overpass above 105th might be incorporated into the NSC facility. The plan would also include details on how pedestrians will be directed to use the overpass.
8. The existing levied assessments for Davenport Street will need to be paid or otherwise addressed as part of the lease agreement for the softball wheel prior to release of the plat for recording.
9. The site and landscape plan for the new SW parking area to meet the 25-foot setback from the new right-of way line and Performance Standards Section 33.08.
10. The minimum lot size in the RR (Regional Recreation) zoning district is five (5) acres. Any outlot that is platted with less than five (5) acres may not be allowed in the future to be re-platted or issued a building permit.
11. The new SW area parking lot to be completed and ready for use no later than October 31, 2017.
12. The Mayor, City Clerk and City Manager are hereby authorized to execute any and all necessary documents, agreement and releases related to the approval, recording or administration of Independent School District 16.
PASSED by City Council of the City of Blaine this 6th day of April 2017.