all right wow hello yeah okay welcome everybody lots of people out there uh today is Wednesday the June 12th city of din Planning Commission meeting it is the year 2024 I'll get into the Rhythm I missed the last meeting so here we go uh like most Planning Commission meetings we welcome you and we thank you for being here whether in person or tuning in remotely your participation curiosity and feedback is vital to this process as we navigate change together uh specifically regarding the ways in which we'd like to use our land it's important to know that your feedback however you sent it in whether it was through the engagement website better together.org or through email it got to us and we will have reviewed it and considered it tonight before we make our recommendations we have one public hearing on the agenda and when we get to that I'll give you some of the instructions if you're tuning in remotely with how you can jump into the queue uh if you're quick you can look at the screen now and call that number get that access code and password in and then you'll hit star three when you're ready to speak but we'll get there in a little bit all right so without further Ado we will call this meeting to order and roll call um commissioner Aly here commissioner Pia here commissioner Smith here commissioner Schultz here commissioner day here commissioner Bornstein here commissioner hannaman here chair Bennett here next order of business is the approval of tonight's meeting agenda welcome a motion motion to approve the agenda second all those in favor say I I I so moved next we have the approval of the prior meeting minutes as well as the special work session on May 22nd uh we'd welcome a motion to approve both minutes unless there proposed changes I'd like to make a motion to approve the minutes however there are one or two changes to name that were in the minutes that were sent to us which Liz knows about and will change they're just small spelling errors um so she's going to change those so motion to approve With The Changes Liz will make second all those in favor say I so moved all right next we have the community comment period of the agenda and that is your opportunity for whoever is here in person to speak about any matter that is not onto tonight's agend agenda and you can come up to the podium State your full name address you have 3 minutes to speak and we'll let you know when your time is up hey no one behind that screen all right we're safe to move on from that one and now we have the public hearing portion of tonight's agenda like most public hearings there is an application uh whether that's a resident a developer or it's the city of itself or one of its uh departments and staff will have done their research Pro put together a report for us to read through and uh consider staff will then provide a presentation to us we'll go back and forth with some questions and then if there is a separate applicant we'll have a chance to let them present too and have some questions back and forth again and then we'll open it to the public public hearing and that's when if you're here in person you can speak about this matter or if you're tuning in remotely that's where you can uh type in or you can use your phone and call in to participate after that we'll close the public hearing we'll turn it back to the Planning Commission for us to deliberate and make a recommendation for approval or denial so with this one public hearing it is for a conditional use permit and varans for South Metro Public Safety Training Facility at 75 25 Brar Boulevard and go away Emily um thank you chair and members of the commission the South Metro Public Training Facility is requesting a conditional use permit and a building height variance from 20t to 27 ft 9 in to build a 5,536 ft tactical cent center training facility at 7525 Brar Boulevard the subject site is located within the larger 42 acre Brar golf or Brar Arena parcel the property is zoned R1 and is guided as open space in the comprehensive plan the proposed building is located within the existing fenced in area of the South Metro training facility located just south of the fire training Tower and the main building in range the site for the proposed building is not visible from any public RightWay and is located um where the South Metro training facility is currently using um the site for K9 training um the proposed building will provide indoor tactical training space and indoor space for vehicle stop training the center will be used for training that involves indoor and outdoor scenarios and on scene vehicle arrival training the proposed Building height is 27 feet 9 in tonight the additional height is being requested to go above the allowable 20ft height requirement due to the nature of the building the training center building needs a minimum interior clear height of 20 ft to be able to create two-story scenarios inside whether they're training for residential or commercial scenarios the training involves going up and down stairs and includes all elements or all different elements of stairs and that additional height allows for overhead observation and teaching from above the pitched roof is also important and included to help move air to the peak of the building as air exhaust points are at the high point of the roof and this will help facilitate heat removal but also help aid in the removal of smoke and other um items that are used in those trainings the proposed building material is metal siding or corrugated steel and the proposed building is similar to other buildings on the subject site on the metro metro um South Metro training facility and then within the larger um Brar parcel area circulation of the site um and site access is not changing um with the additional building there is associated parking that's being built with the proposed building but overall the site will lose two parking spaces and this this is all within the controlled access area of the site um that's currently all fenced in and there is no additional parking requirements that um with this application all setbacks requirements are met with the application and setbacks are measured um to the greater parcel lines and range um from setbacks that are roughly 400 feet to 4,000 ft um tonight's request for the conditional use permit and Building height variants so per the city code a conditional use permit should not be granted unless the establishment maintenance and operation of the use um will not have an undue adverse impact on governmental facilities utilities services or existing proposed improvements and staff believes this criteria is met the project is located within the existing fenon area that's utilized by the South Metro training facility joint Powers the area will be used for first responder training and the existing utilities are adequate to serve the proposed use and will not have adverse impacts on other governmental facilities services or utilities the second criteria is that it will generate traffic within the capacity of the streets serving the property staff also believes that this criteria is met the proposed project will not generate any additional traffic and will be used by existing members of the facility no additional traffic is anticipated with the additional training facility building the third criteria is that it does not have an undue adverse impact on public health safety or welfare staff does not believe this project um would have any adverse impact on public health safety or welfare access would be um through existing access points and the proposed building is located within the existing fenon area that's currently being used as K9 training space the fourth criteria is that it will not impede normal and orderly development and Improvement of other property in the vicinity and staff believes that this criteria is also met the proposed development would enhance the training opportunities of the property and will fit well within the site the proposed use is allowed within the R1 zoning district and the building is not visible from any public right away the fifth criteria for a conditional use permit is that it conforms with to the applicable restrictions and special conditions of the district in which it's located and this project meets all city code Provisions with the exception of the accessory Building height which is the reason why they're requesting a variance tonight publicly owned um Public Safety buildings and accessory buildings that are greater than a th000 square fet are conditional uses in the R1 zoning District and this project is consistent with the comprehensive plan which is the last criteria as you're well aware Minnesota statute and Ed codes require that certain conditions also be met to Grant a variance and staff believes that the variance criteria is also met in this situation um the criteria to Grant a variance is that the application must relieve practical difficulties that present prevent reasonable use from complying with the ordinance requirement the height of the building at 27' 9 in is required to be able to create two-story residential commercial training scenarios and to allow for teaching from above in those scenarios and the pitch of the roof is important and included to help move air to the peak of the building to help EX air exhaust points and help facilitate heat and smoke removal the second and third criteria is that the applicant or the request will correct extraordinary circumstances applicable to the property but that are not applicable to other property in the vicinity or within the zoning District and that there are circumstances that are unique to the property but not common in every similarly zoned property and staff believes that this is reasonable and unique due to the nature of the Public Training Facility and these circumstances are not applicable to other R1 zoned properties the last um criteria to Grant a variance is if the variance will alter the essential character of the neighborhood and staff believes that granting the variance will not alter the essential character of the neighborhood the subject property is currently used for a variety of public Public Safety and first responder training and the size and scale of the proposed building is other or similar to other existing buildings on the surrounding site and the Brar parcel the location of the building was chosen to be near wooded Hill to provide additional screening and with that tonight's um staff's recommendation is that the Planning Commission recommend that city council approve the conditional use permit for the track to Tactical center training facility um to the campus of the South Metro training facility and the associate Building height variance from 20t to 27 F9 in at 7525 Brar Boulevard subject to the findings and the conditions that are listed in the staff report I will note that um staff added a fifth condition here tonight and that is number five and that's compliance with the Sustainable Building policy as applicable and with coordination with the sustainability division of the city and with that I can answer any questions um there was not any better together comments but a link was included in your packet and and Scott Neil the city manager is here tonight and he'll have a brief project overview and he's also here to answer any questions if you have them thank you very much any questions Quincy thank you um thank you for being so efficient um just a question on the height does the height go up to the peak of the roof or to the stack the highest point so not the not the um exhaust pipes off the top but to the highest point of the roof gotcha okay thank you sol the question or do you have more that it well I think you covered it pretty well I think um number five was the Sustainable Building policy cuz I was thinking about that actually um with the corrugated um uh steel uh you know in terms of I'm guessing this building would be used all year around winter time summertime and I know that type of Steel generates a lot of heat and so I'm pretty sure there's insulation and you know meeting all kind of energy requirements for the building to operate effectively um then you also covered I think in the report screening cuz my concern was the reflectivity of the sun coming off off for that building onto the street onto the highway um with that kind of material it could be very reflective sometimes um and depending on the angle of the sun you know drivers coming up on the highway um might you know get blinded by it but could you talk more about the material the the reflectivity of it and do you think that's going to be an issue at all uh Shining Light back into the highway I can't speak specifically to the reflectivity but I can speak to the building's location and you can see um on the screen one thing or one of the reasons why the site was chosen within the South Metro training facility site as a whole um is the location due to the wooded Hill and so it sits you can kind of see on the screen here it sits beyond that Hill you can also see that um the proposed building will be just south of the fire training Tower and that isn't visible from this angle or this location either so it is quite um hidden from the public RightWay so I don't think reflectivity would be an issue as far as any um sight lines or blinding people people on the highway or anything like that great thank you any other questions right well well thank you we'll welcome city manager Scott Neil to the stand full name and address no I'm kidding take it away thank you good evening Mr chair members of the Planning Commission my name is Scott Neil I'm the city manager in ad and I'm here in a dual capacity as the city manager and also as the chair of the board of the South Metro Public Safety Training Facility to ask uh for your support for the conditional use permit and variance for the new project at the South Metro Public Safety Training Facility campus at 7525 Brar Boulevard the South Metro Public Safety Training Facility operates under a joint Powers agreement comprised of the cities of Eden Prairie at Dina Bloomington and the Metropolitan airports commission I've been on the training center board of directors since since the training center opened in 2004 and I've been the chair of the training center uh since 2011 the board of directors of the South Metro Public Safety Training Facility is requesting the conditional use permit and building variants uh from 20 to 27 ft 9 Ines in order to build the 5,500 squ ft tactical Training Center facility the purpose of the proposed facility is to expand the training capabilities of the facility so we can meet current and future training needs of the First Responders that serve our emergency medical and our law enforcement needs the project adds a new building to the training center campus the proposed tactical training facility will provide indoor flexible tactical training space and indoor space for vehicle stop training for and also for other vehicles that don't excuse me for also other training opportunities that don't involve Vehicles the proposed training facility is located within the fenced area as as Miss do rimple uh indicated uh in know it's in the 402 acre Edina Brar Park uh the building the building is being placed on a section of the site that's currently underused uh an expansion area for the training Center's canine uh training program the building will meet in immediate need however uh that's more important to the people that use the building the site of the new uh building facility was chosen because of the wooden Hill and because of the wooded Hill and also because it does kind of block off any any view from the public uh this project has gone through already a significant level of review before reaching uh the Planning Commission tonight the project was reviewed and endorsed by the city councils in Adina Eden Prairie Bloomington and the board of the Metropolitan airports commission it was reviewed in quite some detail uh by the capital investment committee so the Minnesota House of Representatives and the Minnesota Senate and ultimately approved by the by Governor walls twice uh the Minnesota excuse me the project received two rounds of grant funding from the state of Minnesota's bonding bills once in 2020 and again in 2023 both grants were for a million dollar the training center staff and Consultants are working closely with the State's Department of Public Safety on design and construction standards for the building we expect the $2 million in state grant funding to cover the entire cost of the building thank you for your time and consideration I'm happy to answer any questions you might have thank you very much any questions yeah commissioner Pia thank you very much nice to see you um how um often is this facility used the current facility or yeah or and po fa the proposed facility as well the current facility is probably used um six days a week uh by one by one or more of the the partner organizations okay and then the the proposed yeah I would less than that um because that's going to be there there there's some activities such as um the firing range where you can go as an individual uh training and do some training by yourself there probably aren't going to be the same kind of trainings that will happen in this new building so I would suspect that's going to be less probably a once or twice a week if I had estimate um and then one of the conditions is about um in coordination with the the Forester so are there any changes to the tree will there be trees removed uh we have conferred already with with our city Forester and I and I there might be trees removed but not very many if any right there's not any trees within the fencon area but I know that theyve um had to do in the last year I don't think it was any tree removal it was more brush removal on that wooded Hill area okay so I did have questions about the cost but I think you answered them that it's fully will be fully funded by the through the state grants and the The Joint Powers agreement that governs this yes um how long does that agreement go so I assume there's no changes to the agreement you're just looking for another building here that's correct right so the city of Adina serves as what I would call the managing partner of this joint Powers Authority uh we provide the facilities um support the it support the HR Support I'm the chair of the board uh we divide up the costs equally but we we perform some of those administrative and overhead tasks uh on behalf of jpa and are the three cities um they share the training I mean so all the three cities get an equal amount of training or the training is distributed or each City decides what training they need is that they do and then there's a big meeting each Police and Fire Department has a a training officer there's a meeting that happens a couple times a year where they look out into the future and they divide up their times uh so that people get the right amount of time they need for for their training yes and this is done in conjunction with the post board it is not done in conjunction with the postp okay separate okay thank you for all the clarifications thanks for thanks for joining us tonight just a couple quick ones um who actually owns the land first and second is this a unique the proposed new facility is that unique in the Metro or is it filling a gap that these three cities have compared to other cities in the Metro the land I'll start with your first question the land is still maintained and owned by the city of Adina uh the building we operate and own together as a as a jpa uh the building that we're going to build is it unique um I think there are a couple like this when we built this facility in 20 uh in 2004 uh it was one of the first kind of metro area public safety training facilities now there's a number of them around the cities uh but this facility I think there might be another one on the east Metro in a Cottage Grove Woodberry kind of jpa but this is this would be unique to our side of the Metro thank you any questions this way crickets good no questions from thank you thank you all right this is a public hearing as mentioned so we will open it up to that uh first we will just get all the right information up on the screen so anyone who might be tuning in virtually uh can get in the que to speak so hopefully up on the screen there's some info if not please call 312 535 8110 enter access access code 2631 891 3533 password is 5454 and press star three on your telephone keypad when you'd like to speak so we'll give you time to do that now and then we'll we'll open it up here in person for anyone who came and would like to speak about this public hearing uh please come to the podium you have three minutes State your full name address we'll let you know when your time's up anyone here that would like to speak okay cool so that's probably been about 20 seconds for people that are getting the queue maybe we'll give them another 45 and then if no one's there we'll close the public hearing that sounds great I will start the timer right now e we're just talking about who's going to sing for the elevator music next time so maybe you Scott okay nice sound like a good baritone over there just so it has been past the 45 seconds and nobody is in our room to speak so I believe it's safe to proceed all right look for a motion to close a public hearing from someone motion to close the public hearing second second all those in favor say I I I so move public hearing is closed thank you all right now we'll turn it back to the Planning Commission to deliberate um any comments any motions would welcome them I think you're about to speak David sorry but okay say um seems as you know looking at the staff report the conditional use uh requirements were sufficiently met variance requirements sufficiently met really don't have much to add to that to be honest um I think it's pretty pretty cut and dry so you know full support and I think this one's pretty easy I think probably most of us are thinking the same thing so I'll try a motion and then see if there's more discussion that comes from that so a motion to recommend the city council approve the conditional use permit with a height variant subject to the findings and conditions outlined in the staff report second any further discussion just want to clarify one thing real quick so we the sustainability uh Sustainable Building condition was added in during the presentation but it wasn't technically on the staff report we were given so that would of course be added to this motion of course right yes and um if it's included in the motion tonight it will be included in the staff report for city council Mr chair U member day um I can tell you that uh the the one of the conditions of the grant funding we received from state government is that it is that it's built to the B3 standards and so we're working through that with the Department of Public Safety right now that's when I said we're working with them on design standards that's what it's for part of it so yeah we're supportive of that we'll and we'll comply with that certainly okay all right would you commissioner aler would you welcome that modification to the absolutely do we want a new motion or just take that as amended yeah take that as amended then I guess look for a new second second then all in favor say I I I opposed motion carries congratulations to the cities and all the other departments for this going forward thank you thank you so much for coming all right now on to yep an empty rest of the agenda so we have no other reports or recommendations or anything like that so it is now time for chair member comments so this is your time to speak if you got something I want to know how I get the assessor that assessed 402 Acres at $1 million to come and assess my property value deal me too anything else anyone yes clear is it possible to look into how we could have the dial in password code number be less lengthy um having had the opportunity to dial in myself it it is cumbersome um and a and certainly a lot of digits to get through um so I just put that out there if that's something this is could think about great comment I think they can look at that for sure yeah commissioner El here I went to the open house last night briefly so I'm wondering if commissioner day would just give us a top line on how it went yeah sorry I it's so much fun and just kind of just you know um so we did have our open house for Lincoln londondary uh last night from 5:30 to 7:30 uh I was was able to take along on the bike ride or be one of the tour guys for the bike ride so that went really well uh we had good attendance I I thought it was impressive turnout um Claire and David both showed up um we had a couple of City Council Members also show up as well uh residents I gave a lot of good feedback I saw a lot of activity on the boards that we had had posted um idea leaves Etc um the tour that I was on went really well you know we explained kind of the function of the small area plan and a small a plan group should I say um saying you know we're not buying the land and dictating how it's going to be used but you know we set a vision and work with the city to to meet that Vision um popsicles were were were very good as well provided by men uh men did a fantastic job setting up uh boards that they had informative boards um really organizing the event in total um and you know we have the Better Together Dino site for Lincoln London are in case anybody's watching right now um people can contribute there uh a lot of people you know were saw that for the first time last night um and it's you know I think even some residents commented that this is better organized even than other small year plans where they didn't have that page set up and maybe this kind of Engagement and everything so I think we're getting better as we go along um yeah exciting event and hope to keep the momentum going great sound sounds awesome yeah commissioner Smith yeah just a couple comments um one is just like a general observation I know it's been pretty rainy uh these last couple weeks and I know there's a lot of soccer games in the Parks and everything like that and I don't know if you guys noticed but there's a lot of mosquitoes and so I know the city um does a lot of spring and trying to manage that but I don't know um if uh city manager Scott has any uh you know anything that the city is doing to I guess manage the bug situation when it comes to outdoor activity actually most spraying in in DIN and throughout the metro area is done by the mosquito control district so a separate level of government um they have they have a schedule that uh uh they use and we should be in it right now if they're hatching and and out like they are um we can find out when and why they haven't been here already and when they're coming great another Point um I know uh before the meeting I know we were kind of chatting before about the traffic situation I know on France Avenue right at 60th in France yeah I think there's some temporary um stop lights that were put up which is helpful right it kind of helps man man traffic in and out I don't know if you have any comments on how long that's going to be there and like what the project is exactly in that section of the city 60th in France putting in a permanent L it's only temporary it's it's temporary it seems like it's on a a set of wheels on like a frame so I think it's not buried in it it it may be part of the detour work that's going on there and associated with the brt stations that are being built on France Avenue most of that work is going to happen in June and July so I think they may be diverting it maybe their detour actually they're diverting people to to xer season 60th in that area and then up to the cross up to the Cross down is that what you're asking commissioner Smith yeah I'll encourage you guys to drive down France you'll see it um I think it's cutting off traffic going south on France and I think it is directing it away um but yeah I just so it went up like maybe a week I know like a half week ago and I you're going to see those those stations being constructed starting on the south end near The Cross down and then all the way up France Avenue all the way up to where they make the turn to go in on exceler to go into the city got you my last one here um I know uh a lot of kids have birthday parties in the Parks and again with the rain the the brush grows up pretty quickly um what is the expectation like if you book a park is it then the park director and team would Mo and clear the area like to prepare it for that booking like or it or is that just on a regular schedule and you just happen to book it on a really grassy time of a schedule the day before right and and we're experiencing the same kind of weather delays that everybody is experiencing with mowing right you get we have a lot of people that we employ to mow we've got great equipment we've got good people that are doing it and when it but when it rains and it's wet all the time it's going to be difficult for them to carry out but in answer to your question it's they're on a sequence and uh that's the that's the way that that Services provided for the most part got you thank um Mr city manager when we were at the um small area plan meeting yesterday all this talk of parks made me think of something uh I met a lovely uh resident and her son that is their neighborhood park um I don't know if you're familiar with it but it has a basketball court in the kind of middle of of the parking lot such that you couldn't throw a basketball without hitting the cars I mean the the hoop dumps straight on so I encourag the son to put the pin on the board and give that feedback to the staff as part of the small area plan he'd like the basketball court moved but just since we were talking about Parks I thought I would add it seemed um like maybe a smart practice just so somebody doesn't run into a kid or the basketball hurts a car so just thought I'd share that very odd placement what is there it's so in the parking lot they it's like they put the basketball up to use the pavement of the parking lot as the court so if the cars are parked and your ball goes into the hoop it'll land on the hood of somebody's car it's not really a city park then right correct it is more a parking lot with an oddly placed basketball hoop yeah we we run into that quite a bit actually and called saxs you know the neighborhood will put a basketball court put a basketball this is in Walnut Park in what so it's in it is in the park in the park and it's the parking lot for the park okay it doubles as the basketball court okay just that I'd mentioned seemed like a small thing that we could do I know we're doing a lot of Works in our Park um I think uh council member resarch said that we're replacing a lot of the uh Parks equipment to me while I was there because it's um can't be replaced and maintained anymore so while we're looking at our Parks I thought I would throw that out there okay thanks since we're grilling the city manager tonight yeah we're right on the 9 Mile Creek Trail and there is no bike rack readly accessible W The Ridge Park either so we were all parking our bikes against the street signs and whatnot so that' be a good addition to the park as well right right right off theing notes over there I am I am lot to remember yes so that's a situation where that trail belongs to the park district three Rs Park District but the park belongs to the city so there'd be some collaboration I'm guessing about when when and how we would install bike racks that serve the trail I just going to add one thing you know this is arguably the best time of the year for a lot of people just getting out and about and inherently it's a time for construction we have all this rain it it adds an extra element of danger to it too and I'm sure everyone heard the sad news across the border with the drowning of a little boy and Hopkins so it's just you know it's a great time of year but when it's normal and healthy there's extra dangers as part of it so I watched I guess the the the final I guess discussion with the captain who kind of shared the update afterwards in a lot of the community was just asking what they could do next time to help prevent such a tragedy and really one of the main takeaways seem to be you know as a community just if you see something out of the ordinary to say something and do something about it and likely no one did no one saw something likely but it's just that reminder you know even to like how we use our land the more we get people out and about and we build better places where people are in community more you end up having eyes on things more often so we love our Lakes our streams are rivers but they can get dangerous when we get a lot of rain and so it's just a terrible tragedy and hopefully out of that it just brings that Community closer together and same with ours cuz we have the same situation running through our city so it's definitely been on my mind since that happened and just hope that whole Community is reeling and doing doing well on the heels of it but a lot of it does impact the way in which our land is used and how you keep people together and keep places safer so figured I'd mention it any other comments this turn to staff all right so one final item adjournment motion to adjourn second all those in favor say I I I so moved meeting is adjourn thank you everyone come close e