[0:18] all right how's everybody doing I saw two thumbs up only can we

[0:24] get okay we got a few more all right that's good welcome everybody to the March 26 6 2025 City viina Planning

[0:33] Commission meeting on behalf of the rest of the commission we are grateful that you are here in person and to those

[0:39] tuning in remotely I say it that every time but it's your curiosity your participation

[0:46] and your feedback that is crucial to this process as we navigate um how to use our land in the

[0:53] best way so without I guess further Ado we

[0:59] have three public hearings tonight they cover a range of items uh sign variances a building

[1:07] expansion and a rezoning subdivision and site plan for

[1:13] Opus it's important to know that your feedback matters uh we have an

[1:18] engagement website with the city ww. better together.org that is your portal to sharing

[1:25] information to learning about upcoming projects ones that are in process process and ones that have already

[1:32] finished any feedback that's shared there makes its way to us and we commit

[1:37] to you guys that we consider that feedback as we make recommendations tonight regarding those public hearings

[1:45] I'm going to do a quick rundown of the agenda so you know what to expect and then we'll get right into it we'll begin

[1:51] with a call to order a roll call and approval of tonight's meeting agenda followed by the prior meeting minutes we

[1:58] have special recognitions and presentations tonight which is the election of our officer something we do

[2:05] annually then we have Community comment which is your chance to talk about a matter not on tonight's agenda you'd

[2:12] have three minutes to do so after that we have the three public hearings and I'll get into the specific

[2:18] process of those and what to expect when we get to that point then we wrap it up with chair member and staff comments and

[2:26] then adjournment with that we'll call this meeting to

[2:32] order and then roll call commissioner Nelson here

[2:37] commissioner elire here commissioner Padia here commissioner Smith here

[2:43] commissioner day here commissioner Bornstein here commissioner phelp here

[2:48] commissioner hanaman here chair Bennett here next we have roll call or sorry

[2:54] that was roller call next we have the approval of uh tonight's meeting agenda motion to approve the agenda

[3:01] second all those in favor say I so moved next we have the approval of the prior

[3:07] meetings minutes motion to approve uh the prior

[3:13] meeting minutes second second all those in favor say I I so moved all right next

[3:20] we have special recognitions and presentations and this is the election of officers we discussed this briefly

[3:27] last time uh toward the end of the meeting meeting and just wanted to give a little transparency to the process but

[3:34] the the Planning Commission is a an appointed Body by the city council

[3:39] there's kind of a round of interviews and uh they strategically pick to get a

[3:45] very wide breadth and depth of residents here so every one of us is volunteering

[3:50] their time and effort and passion and experience and skills uh for the future

[3:56] viina and so we have elect s and new appointments that happen around March so

[4:04] commissioner Miranda rolled off of the Planning Commission which is typically a three-year appointment and you can serve

[4:10] up to three sets of those and we welcomed a new commissioner commissioner

[4:15] Nelson last time and commissioner Miranda was the vice chair I serve as

[4:21] chair so we need to find a a new person to step in for vice chair and to kind of

[4:27] think about the future and what we talked about last time is since I've

[4:32] kind of filled a vacated role to begin with and I've served on the commission for about 9 years I don't plan on

[4:39] serving as chair the whole way through and then just leaving I'll step down

[4:45] probably in a year so I conclude my last two years as kind of a past chair role

[4:50] so just keeping that in mind um this Vice chair that will be electing is uh

[4:56] is someone who is expected soon to kind of car forth with these

[5:01] responsibilities and then the incoming Vice chair after that as we just think ahead would be the next one in line and

[5:08] so there was two particular Commissioners that were interested commissioner elire and commissioner

[5:15] Smith and from what we talked about last time

[5:20] um there's kind of mutual support for commissioner elire to step into the vice

[5:26] chair role and i' I'd offer again time to both commissioner Al and commissioner

[5:32] Smith just to chat about that and then I'd be happy to make a motion for

[5:37] commissioner Al's Vice chair uh after that but just let you guys get to know a

[5:43] little bit about your Commissioners here I could

[5:49] start uh thank you chair Bennett I know uh in the last meeting we did discuss uh

[5:55] a vice chair role and you know being on the commission for about about 2 and 1/2

[6:00] years or so I certainly wanted to support and step up and support the work that we do um uh and so I put my name in

[6:08] a hat and I know uh commissioner alq did as well and he served on the commission

[6:14] for a much longer time period and so he has a lot of experience and same kind of

[6:19] passion and and I think he'd be a great chair so I think as a team we all kind of felt pretty positive that

[6:25] commissioner alq could step in as as Vice chair um and and hopefully succeed

[6:32] uh when commissioner uh Bennett uh leaves so uh with that I am in full

[6:38] support of commissioner alqa uh moving into the vice chair

[6:44] position thanks commissioner Smith and uh chair Bennett I can't remember exactly what I said two weeks ago but

[6:51] just in a nutshell um as commissioner Smith said I have some experience both in this term

[6:57] and a prior term before I went to Utah and I don't have any Grand agenda for

[7:03] change I think Jimmy does a fine job uh so I I feel like it's more a

[7:09] continuation and I do have the the interest and the capacity I don't really have a day job

[7:16] except maybe 15 or 20 hours a week uh so I'm uh excited and honored to have the chance

[7:22] and that's about the long and short of it great thank you guys

[7:30] uh anyone else have any comments otherwise I'd be willing to I guess

[7:36] move uh to nominate commissioner alare to Vice chair

[7:43] second all those in favor say I I opposed all right motion

[7:51] carries and then do we have to confirm you need to elect a chair and a

[7:56] secretary okay we have a current Secretary commissioner Borstein and you're good serving that

[8:03] out again it's up to everybody else but I I signed one document over the last

[8:09] two years I've served I think in that capacity I'm happy to continue doing that if people feel like that signature

[8:14] I put on that piece of paper was you know up to speed well with that I definitely nominate

[8:20] you vigorously second yeah uh all those have very say

[8:25] I so moved all right I guess then reelect myself as chair but I can't do

[8:33] that I'd make a motion to elect uh Jimmy Bennett as chair second all in favor say

[8:41] I I so moved all right thank you guys thanks for bearing with us hope to give

[8:46] a little transparency to the process and with that we're moving on so Community

[8:52] comment like I mentioned this is a chance for anyone who is here in person to testify about anything not on

[8:58] tonight's agenda you have 3 minutes to do so please come up to either Podium

[9:04] when the light turns green you have 3 minutes State your full name address and

[9:09] when it turns red your time is up and we'll ask you to wrap it up is anyone here for Community

[9:21] comment how long do I wait till someone comes up all right I think that's good

[9:26] we will move on from Community comment into our public hearings so like I mentioned we have three public hearings

[9:33] and what you can expect for each one uh again we take

[9:38] feedback uh not just for projects but also process and we've had feedback over

[9:44] time like what can we do to kind of speed this process up besides me rambling on and on and on um one of the

[9:51] things that we can do is kind of combine some of the Q&A that we have for staff

[9:57] and Then followed by the developers so we're going to try that tonight so for what to expect uh with a public hearing

[10:05] an applicant which could be a resident the city a municipality a developer um puts in an

[10:13] application to do something that doesn't conform to our current codes staff puts

[10:19] together a bunch of facts and findings in a staff report and then they consolidate that into a presentation

[10:25] that you're about to see tonight for us uh and so how we'll switch it up tonight

[10:31] is after they do that then we'll offer the chance for the developer the applicant or whoever to come up give

[10:37] their presentation and then both parties can kind of stand for questions so we

[10:43] can be a little more efficient with time there um after that is the public

[10:48] hearing so that's your chance for anyone who's here in person or tuning in remotely and we'll we'll give you the

[10:53] password and stuff once we get to that uh to testify about the matter so you'd

[10:58] have 3 minutes to do so similar to community comment after that's up then

[11:03] it comes back to the Planning Commission to deliberate and we'll make our decision which is a recommendation for

[11:09] approval or denial of the requests at hand and with that plan a rock or take

[11:14] it away thank you chair members of the Planning Commission uh this is a

[11:20] variance request for 4,300 West 66 Street it is the Adina Aquatic Center

[11:27] it's actually the pump house building so this is the site um we have the Adina

[11:34] Aquatic Center the pump room is over here on the east side closer to the North part of the uh

[11:42] facility there's West 64th Street that comes around the parking lot and around

[11:48] the swimming pool and it's in between the pond and the pump house and then

[11:54] goes north and then continues on um so the request

[12:00] is for a new or expanded portion of the existing pump house this slide shows you

[12:07] the in blue are all the water bodies in the Aquatic Center in the upper level and then in the lower level uh the red

[12:14] portion is the existing pump room and the green portion is the addition most

[12:20] of the existing building is underneath the pool deck so you only see a small portion of it when you're looking at the

[12:27] East side of the building so these are the existing conditions

[12:32] this would be looking down at um The Pump House you don't see most of it again this is the only portion of the

[12:40] pump room that you do see currently there's a loading dock and um access

[12:45] drive on the South Side here are some photographs of the

[12:51] existing conditions this is the east side of that pump house building this is the portion of the building that is

[12:57] actually um Not underneath the pool deck you can see the pool deck um further

[13:02] back um with most of the building um underneath that pool deck and again

[13:09] driveway um loading area some more views the pump room site

[13:16] as you're looking Northbound on West 64th Street also Southbound on West 64th

[13:22] if you're up on the pool deck looking down um East over by the pond and then

[13:28] um again an East Elevation the applicant hga Architects

[13:35] and Engineers on behalf of the client city of Edina is requesting an 11 1/2t

[13:41] variance from section 36-1 1268 requiring a 50-ft setback from the

[13:47] ordinary high water elevation of the pond for a proposed Pump House room

[13:53] facility replacement um and expansion The Pump House room room is

[13:59] located east of the original Pump House room and situated between uh West 64

[14:06] Street and um the pond so here are some photographs of the

[14:15] existing conditions and the interior of the building

[14:20] um and another

[14:26] one the following slides include the the exterior and interior photos of the current building HDA Architects and

[14:32] Engineers were contracted by the city uh to perform conditions assessment of the

[14:38] existing pump room the report outlined several critical deficiencies and you can see them in the photographs to the

[14:45] structure U mechanical and physical condition and it's operationally outdated the Aquatic Center opened in

[14:53] 1958 with some of the current infrastructure 67 years old the original

[14:59] pump room has undergone retrofits over time and additions um over decades but

[15:04] years of exposure to the corrosive gases and a very limited Headroom in

[15:10] height um in a range of about 8 feet to 9 and 1/2 ft makes the space unsuitable

[15:15] for current equipment this is a slide of the proposed main floor of the site plan um

[15:23] of the expansion um it shows the setbacks of the new portion of the

[15:28] building uh the minimum setback is 50 ft you can see the blue line which is the minimum

[15:35] uh setback from the pond um this is the portion that overlaps into the setback

[15:41] area the closest point is at 38 feet 6 in uh the the corner that is to the

[15:48] south of the new building is at 40 a little over 45 ft so um it's sort of a

[15:56] triangular portion that is overlapping into the sep this is the upper

[16:02] deck of the um addition which will have an amenity space with um pool

[16:09] Cabanas um so it's the deck area above the building similar to what's there right now in the existing um pump room

[16:17] um however it'll be uh much more enhanced there will be a loading area on

[16:23] the north side of the building and you can see that here uh with the driveway

[16:31] access and a more detailed um building floor plan it gives you an idea of what

[16:38] sort of equipment uh and Facilities that will be included in the new

[16:44] building so these are some renderings elevations of the new building new

[16:51] structure shows the amenity Deck with the pool Cabanas this would be looking Northbound

[16:57] um you see the lower level which houses the pump room uh with all the mechanical

[17:02] facilities and then the upper deck um there will be a the Cabanas uh further away and then

[17:09] an upper deck um that is on the east side of the Cabana

[17:16] area so this is sort of a bird's eyee view um this is the area that we're

[17:21] referring to this is also um a covered area for lounge chairs

[17:29] um but this is that Cabana area above the pump room and then uh an elevation of the

[17:36] south side of the building this is a slide of the hard

[17:41] drawn um elevations and a comparison so they're

[17:47] not to scale to one another um this is the ex an existing cutaway of the pump

[17:55] room and it shows that there's ceiling Heights of 8 ft F and 9 and 1/2 ft which

[18:00] are uh subpar for um the equipment that needs to be installed and then excuse me

[18:07] the um proposed building uh with an increased ceiling area and again uh a

[18:14] med deck above so this is the materials and color

[18:20] palette that's going to be used and um it will be consistent with

[18:25] the bath house that is above um along the pool deck um this will all be um uh

[18:33] graffiti resistant um for the pump room

[18:39] area so staff does recommend approval uh staff recommends approval of a variance

[18:45] from the ad city code for Section 36-12 68 to allow for an 11 and 1/2t

[18:52] variance um for the requirement of a 50ft setback from the ordinary High Watermark of a naturally curring Lake

[18:59] Ponder stream to allow a setback of 38.5 ft at the closest point of the pump room

[19:05] facility approval is subject to the following findings that the proposal for the pump room expansion is reasonable

[19:12] the use is part of a permitted use in the single dwelling unit district the Aquatic Center and all of its necessary

[19:19] parts are compatible uses within the single dwelling unit district the use is consistent with the future land use

[19:26] designation for low density residential in the country comprehensive plan the variance is needed due to the

[19:32] functionally obsolete size of the existing building built in 1958 constructed under different setback

[19:38] requirements which are current hold over from conditions that were not created by the applicant or the Aquatic Center

[19:45] prior to 1990 the sent back required from the ordinary high water elevation of the pond um for the pump room was 25

[19:52] ft and conformed at the time the variance is to allow the expansion of

[19:58] the proposed Pump House space um that will not alter the essential character of the locality the new pump house with

[20:04] the upper Pavilion will enhance the user experience of the center and address current uh operational deficiencies with

[20:11] minimal intrusion into the setback um approval should be subject to the survey plans and Engineering

[20:17] submissions attached to the staff report dated February 21st 2025 uh Watershed District approval and

[20:25] conformance with the city Engineers building permit review and conformance with the tree plan as part of the

[20:30] building permit and with that I will stop and answer questions you may have

[20:36] thank you very much Chris great presentation um like I mentioned we're

[20:41] going to offer it up to the rest of the project team or applicant to come

[20:47] forward if there's anything else you'd like to add

[20:53] no I see a lot of head shakes to the side now no all right going going gone

[21:00] okay um I guess if any Commissioners have questions right now for staff or

[21:05] the rest of the project team this will be the time Comm wish your

[21:11] day you know why we changed from 25 to 50 ft in 1990 for the setback it was

[21:17] mandated by the Department of Natural Resources it's not a not something that the city had a choice okay all right

[21:29] commissioner Nelson if you I I'm assuming you had some preliminary discussion with Watershed District engineering has

[21:37] they've been very working very closely with the Watershed District on it as has

[21:43] I believe HDA has as

[21:51] well there

[21:57] other can you tell tell me a little bit about swimming pool pond is that an official name or is that what city calls

[22:05] it yeah the swimming pool pond um it uh it does collect runoff from the

[22:14] facility um I am not as well versed on that particular Pond as some others um

[22:21] it is considered it does require a setback which means it was a naturally occurring Lake Ponder or stream and and

[22:29] um I mean it's currently surrounded by

[22:35] roads and can I ask what's going to happen with the existing pump

[22:43] room well they're they're going to be removing it and rebuilding it in the same location with the

[22:49] expansion so it's going to be utilized as to there will be equipment in it as

[22:55] well yes okay and the whole um ship half

[23:01] ship is going away no nothing on the amenity on oh on

[23:06] the deck is going to change with the exception of the addition of the Cabana here comes the team here we go I can I

[23:13] can answer some of these um yeah uh so the pump room is gonna the existing pump room will also be utilized with the

[23:20] expansion so that space will continue to be used for equipment and then as I was coming up I missed oh so the deck above

[23:28] the pirate ship the half pirate ship staying yeah the pirate ship is staying I couldn't see it in the renderings it

[23:34] it was it's just an oval it's hard to see in the drawings okay I could see it in the pl but not in the um so you're

[23:41] rebuilding the whole you're rebuilding the pump room and the deck up above we're expanding the pump room you're

[23:47] expanding the pump room reutilizing the existing and then the deck um is being expanded because of the pump room and

[23:54] that's where the Cabanas will be otherwise the deck is remain remains essentially the same okay cuz there was

[24:00] corrosion in that room in the existing pump room correct you're going to address that but most of that structure

[24:06] is going to stay yeah and some of the structure has already been addressed the issues structurally but um the equipment

[24:12] replacement is going to help control some of the corrosive gases that are going on there we're going to ventilate

[24:17] it better okay and as part of that you said there's pipes coming out that make

[24:25] it difficult to put some equipment in that room can you a little bit yes excuse me um the

[24:33] pool the existing water bodies have drains and supplies that are already of course attached to those water bodies

[24:39] and they come into the existing pump room now so we'll continue to utilize

[24:44] those and can they [Music]

[24:49] um I'm just wondering you know we've had previously a couple of projects

[24:58] um where people wanted to put patios in um a setback from a body of

[25:06] water and um we've said no to those so I'm kind of wondering about the process

[25:13] that you went through to kind of get to this point rather than maybe um rebuild

[25:20] that existing pump room if it needed work um to kind of

[25:26] utilize that to kind of keep the this set back from the water can you go through that yeah maybe I'll start and

[25:33] you can try in okay um so the existing pump room is too small for the expanded

[25:39] um equipment that needs to be installed so we needed to expand in some way um of

[25:45] course keeping the the pipes coming in as they are that are already connected underneath for the drains of the

[25:52] existing water bodies made it made it difficult to try to think about moving those because you'd have to rebuild the

[25:57] water bodies if we were to move the existing pump room so the expansion

[26:03] ended up where it needed to be because of that uh adjacency with the existing location of utilities under under the

[26:10] pool um the Cabanas above um are taking advantage of and

[26:16] this is a great um renderings to show are taking advantage of that space that's extending the deck um and they

[26:24] are the the main wall there is set back from that um furthest point where we're

[26:30] asking for the variance but it's still is it still in the maybe clarify okay yeah um we are

[26:40] building the Cabanas on top to take advantage of the the addition um it will be set back but it'll still be about 8

[26:47] ft away from the edge of the pump house and so it will cross a little bit into

[26:53] that zone too and I just want to add to the the existing pump pump house is not tall

[27:00] enough the new pump house will be taller by going deeper so it'll be down further

[27:05] from the existing

[27:17] yeah I'm going through my questions um so there is no way to kind

[27:25] of scoop Out Underneath existing pump room and use it is that where the pipes

[27:30] come up they come in yeah I mean there there are filters in these rooms so the

[27:36] water is going from the pools there's several pools goes into the pump house it's filtered and sent back there's no

[27:43] way to really dig deeper in the existing pump house because we'd be undercutting the main pool it's built right up

[27:48] against the edge of the pool MH so the um the edge of the pump house is the

[27:54] pool wall so we can't really reasonably dig deeper right there we'd be

[27:59] undercutting the pool and be very expensive to try and um reinforce the

[28:04] pool probably have to rebuild some of it okay thank you can you tell me a little bit about the burs too there's a there's

[28:12] a part of this that was talking about doing uh digging out for water infiltration

[28:20] Basin yeah yeah yeah so um right now the the water from the drains around the

[28:25] pool let's say the pool deck they they drain out to the pond MH and um with

[28:32] this project we're going to be adding a an infiltration Basin and 5,000 square

[28:38] ft of area is going to drain into the new infiltration Basin will be filtered

[28:45] and cleaned and then it will go into the pond and is that going in where that

[28:50] kind of parking area is you're take so you're not kind of cutting into any

[28:56] you're just taking out that part area for the infiltration Basin and not cutting into the okay um when are you

[29:03] planning on doing this so we want we're almost done with the CDs we're going to

[29:08] be putting it um it's going to be bid on they're looking for a CM right now and

[29:13] then in the fall we'll be bidding because there was talking there like some trees I know A din is has a

[29:23] tree ordinance and they're very careful with their trees and people have to go through it right and so like the best

[29:29] time to cut roots for burs is in the spring and I suspect there's some Roots

[29:34] kind of heading towards the pond um rather than the other way um so that's

[29:40] my question about the burs

[29:46] um so the CM hasn't been hired yet but there is a potential because that that

[29:52] work wouldn't disturb the pool opening you know you know being used per perhaps

[29:58] there could be um a way for the trees to be removed

[30:03] before Real Construction starts in the fall so there that could speed up but then I know there's other issues with

[30:10] nesting birds and things we'd have to take into account yeah you're not thinking of taking down the burs I don't

[30:15] I don't think so sorry I just know there's there's some where the Basin is um trees we do have a yeah

[30:24] okay okay thank youor yeah not to confuse the

[30:33] matter any other questions yeah commiss CH sorry um I just did want to make one

[30:39] more note uh obviously it's um in the staff report it says you this pump house

[30:45] must be located here obviously it really needs to be located here there would be

[30:51] extreme expense to move it and put it somewhere else you're talking about rebuilding pools and relanding it the

[30:58] only other comment I really wanted to make was that I'm I'm going to abstain here Don L did propose on this project

[31:03] so I'll be abstaining just yep thank

[31:09] you Comm hman perhaps a dumb question

[31:15] but the the point of the setback as I understand it is in part to keep things

[31:21] out of um a high water event are we concerned at all that we're digging down

[31:27] and spending all this money to put equipment that isn't going to like water in the case of a a heavy rain and flood

[31:34] event right that's a good question and although we are crossing the setback um

[31:41] we are building the floor 30 in above grade so it would still be above the

[31:46] flood

[31:54] zone hi thanks again uh it's a quick question about safety you know when I I

[32:00] would always frequent this I have a membership by you know summertime it's the best time um to visit the Aquatic

[32:07] Center there's a ton of kids running around um I'm looking at the Cabana I

[32:13] just want to get a your sense of safety right so we have the railing there um do you have any concerns at all

[32:20] with you know kids climbing over that thing running out into the street climbing up to to get into the aquatic

[32:27] Senator just talk to me a little bit more about you know the design and and just the the thinking and how it's going

[32:34] to be used and any concerns at all you have with with safety folks getting in or or getting out from from that side

[32:42] yeah that's a good question we the Cabanas will be a floor up from the street Below on the east side and

[32:50] there'll be guard rails 42 in high minimum um to protect people and then in

[32:57] terms of people sort of climbing in and out with there is a chain link fence that goes around the

[33:04] perimeter it runs up to the Cabanas area and then it continues again on the south

[33:11] side of the Cabanas area so um it will it will help prevent people from sort of

[33:18] scaling the wall and trying to get in but there is a gate also that we're providing that's a staffon gate it will

[33:25] not be used by the public it'll be locked and then the Cabanas themselves will be

[33:31] locked when they're not in use they have to be reserved uh the staff will open them up for a function for a reserve

[33:38] function and then um they would be shut again after the that party is done using

[33:44] the facility thank

[33:50] you any other questions thank you appreciate it great

[33:57] presentation this is a public hearing and so we will move to that part of the public hearing so just for those who are

[34:04] tuning in remotely uh to participate take out your phone call the

[34:12] following number 312 535

[34:17] 8110 and enter access code 2868

[34:24] 688 0356 the password is

[34:30] 5454 and then press star three on your keypad to jump in the queue to speak little context on uh these very long

[34:38] instructions uh We've inquired about trying to make that quicker for people

[34:43] um but we get a really good deal so it's as simple as that like if you

[34:49] want to spend more money um you could argue with the city but we seem to support that

[34:56] reason uh that should be up on your screen so you can reference that and

[35:01] while we give you time to uh to jump in the queue we will open it to whoever might be here in person that would like

[35:07] to testify uh you have three minutes to do so similarly please come up State

[35:12] your full name

[35:17] address all right seeing no one rushing to the stand do we have anyone in the queue yet

[35:25] we do not should we give it one minute yeah we'll give it a

[35:30] minute if anyone knows a great elevator music person for all years

[36:21] it has been 1 minute and nobody has joined the call so I believe it is safe to

[36:26] proceed um motion to close the public hearing anyone motion to close the public hearing second all those in favor

[36:33] say I I so move public hearing is closed take it back to the commission to

[36:39] deliberate any thoughts

[36:45] yeah so as I was kind of mentioning you know uh I use this pool all the time I

[36:50] think it's a great resource for the c um in terms of the the design I think it

[36:58] makes sense where the pump room is going to be located we want to maintain as much of the infrastructure as we can and

[37:04] we're going to leverage that moving all the pipes to a new location would certainly be way more expensive for the

[37:09] city and may not get us a whole huge amount of value um it's just curious

[37:15] that you know the roadway I think it's like 7 ft from the edge of the road to

[37:21] the actual proposed pump line pump room wall the closest point and I think I

[37:27] think generally speaking the ride of way and the setback requirements is like around 5 ft roughly for most buildings

[37:34] that are 8 ft tall so if this was a house it probably would be okay in that

[37:40] location um I know it encroaches a little bit beyond uh what the state

[37:48] recommended but given the location the infrastructure what they're trying to build here and the amenities the uh cool

[37:57] deck expansion and the Cabana I think those things are really positive for the city and so um it just seems like you

[38:06] know I'm totally in favor of this I think it makes sense and I think we just have to work with any constraints that

[38:12] we have so I'll be in favor of um of this of this uh

[38:19] addition thank you any other comments commissioner phel

[38:31] um congratulations on the design I think the design is absolutely beautiful um I

[38:37] think the Candance would be lots of fun I'm kind of struggling because we

[38:43] have previously on a couple of occasions in the city has recommended against

[38:48] putting things in um high water level high water level

[38:54] areas and um one of them was for patio structure and we've so we've kind of

[39:02] towed the line on some of those um and I understand

[39:09] that the pool is an important piece of the city um and

[39:16] it is for the enjoyment of quite a few people so so I'm struggling with it a little

[39:25] bit I mean I there's been no kind of cost benefit analysis or social benefit

[39:31] analysis to this piece about

[39:38] um about whether or not this could have been done in a different way because I

[39:44] think if we as a city are asking um residents not to do this I think we have

[39:50] to spend a lot of time kind of justifying why we can do it and I

[39:56] suspect this will probably pass because I think a lot of people I mean it is a public amenity

[40:03] um but I think in this one I'm just going to take the side of the

[40:08] conservationist because we've been doing that for the past couple of years so that's where I'm going to come down on

[40:13] this one but it is it is a beautiful project and it looks it'll look a lot better than what's there now so I agree

[40:20] with that thank you Comm hman that that's a very good

[40:27] point Maryweather that I hadn't um hadn't considered I guess um I maybe

[40:32] this is back to the applicant or what was the impetus of doing this now how

[40:40] like how did the city come to the decision that it um we needed to sort this out last year that amount of rust

[40:46] right that's been there for a while I mean clearly it's an aging problem so to merryweather's point what was the

[40:53] evaluation that occurred to get us to this as our option for all intents and purposes

[41:00] because of the cost to do something

[41:07] different I we could get the answer I I just want to interject with maybe a way

[41:12] to think about this too um maybe taking a step back you know with with variances

[41:18] there's the Pyramid of discretion we don't we didn't show it but what it means is you know every project is

[41:24] unique and the bigger the ask um the more discretion we have to make

[41:30] decisions and you can kind of hear already there's some opposing thoughts um but when I look at the conditions of

[41:38] what what needs to be achieved to secure a variance to me this is a very

[41:43] straightforward approval and as I look at the conditions for practical difficulties meaning are

[41:51] there practical difficulties in complying with the code and that doesn't mean is there a different use that could

[41:58] be put forward that does comply it is is the proposed use reasonable in nature

[42:06] one this is reasonable then two is the pl of the

[42:11] land owner duee to circumstances that are unique to the property or similarly

[42:17] zoned properties and this is an extremely unique situation um it was built when it

[42:24] complied and now the code changed and it doesn't and there's a lot of other nuances of to

[42:30] do something else would just be irresponsible like financially and then

[42:36] if granted it will not alter the central character of the locality and I think the alternative like it's the opposite I

[42:43] think there's a great creative adaptive reuse to capture more space above and

[42:49] bring more benefit to the public so to me I just see it just easily knocking the conditions for a variance um

[42:57] and we don't need to necessarily know how many you know thousands or hundreds

[43:03] or dozens or just a few different things were considered it's just is this reasonable number one I think it is I

[43:11] don't know if that helps anyone or not maybe not other comments yeah commissioner

[43:19] elare I'm glad commissioner phelp brought that up and just for what it's worth uh two

[43:27] and I I also support what cheer Bennett just said there was two ways of thinking

[43:32] about it that might help might not one is that compared to the other instances

[43:39] that you mentioned from not too distant past this project delivers a public benefit rather than a private benefit

[43:46] and you you alluded to that I think the the second thing which is compelling to me is

[43:51] that um the main feature of the land

[43:57] between the new pump house and the pond is a two-lane road and that's certainly a different

[44:04] circumstance than anything we have seen in residential applications around ponds

[44:11] and I think we might have looked at some of those differently if there was a two-lane road between the patio and the

[44:17] and the pond so for what it's worth just sharing some

[44:23] thoughts yeah I think that is all absolutely Fair

[44:29] um I think I just want I personally want to see a little bit more from the city when when they

[44:38] are suggesting that they can get a variance from the um high water mark and

[44:44] not for residential so I just I just want a little bit more background and and that's why I do see I think that's

[44:52] very fair yeah and we should hold ourselves to higher standard regardless

[44:58] great Point any other comments or proposed

[45:06] motions did we close the public hearing yes we did yeah okay so um I still

[45:14] going I'd like to make a motion to approve the variance for the D Aquatic Center water treatment building

[45:20] expansion second uh all those in favor say I I

[45:27] opposed nay abstaining

[45:32] I motion carries yeah yeah it's that double

[45:40] negative i a okay thank you great work congratulations to the I guess the

[45:46] residents in the city for advancing this public benefit got to take care of our

[45:52] stuff all right next we have our second of three public hearings this is a sign

[45:57] variance for Meeting House Church 6200 Colonial way all right take it away thank you

[46:05] chair and members of the Planning Commission the request tonight is for two sign variances for two signs at

[46:10] meeting house church located at 6200 Colonial way 6200 Colonial way is located at the southwest corner of

[46:16] Olinger Boulevard and Colonial Way North of Highway 62 and west of Countryside Park the 13 Acre Site is owned R1 single

[46:25] dwelling unit district and is the existing exting site of Meeting House Church the church is currently in the process of replacing their existing sign

[46:31] of John site and the church is proposing to install three Monument signs along their three Street frontages oer

[46:38] Boulevard Colonial way and Highway 62 currently on site there's two existing signs um at a time in the past there

[46:44] wasn't a third sign adjacent to Highway 62 but um over time it has fallen um the first variance request

[46:52] tonight is for sign one um it's located at the intersection of Olinger Boulevard and Colonial way there is an existing

[46:58] sign in the similar location that will be removed and replaced with the proposed sign the variance request

[47:04] tonight is a 30-ft variance request to the 50-ft setback requirement from the ordinary high water elevation of the

[47:10] naturally occurring water body this would allow the proposed sign to be placed at least 20 ft from the ordinary

[47:15] high water elevation engineering staff has reviewed the proposed location of the sign and did not have any concerns

[47:22] with the location of the sign in proximity to the body of water in this instance the 50ft setback as well as the

[47:29] required 20ft setback from the curb for signs would not leave any space for a free standing sign at the corner this

[47:36] intersection there's also a 10-ft drainage and utility easement that the applicant is avoiding with the proposed

[47:41] location of the sign the second variance request tonight

[47:47] is aign height variance for sign number three the proposed sign that's adjacent to Highway 62 the request is for a 6ot

[47:55] height variance to allow a 14 foot tall Monument sign the applicant is requesting the additional height for

[48:01] sign three uh due to the elevation of Highway 62 the additional height will allow for the sign to sit 8 feet taller

[48:07] than the center line elevation of Highway 62 which is the allowable height for Monument signs in the zoning

[48:13] District the proposed signage um meets all of the requirements of the city sign code and it is a condition of approval

[48:20] that the signs that are illuminated would have to meet the illumination requirements of the city sign codee

[48:26] staff believes that the requested variances are Justified um the per the purpose and the intent of the code is to

[48:32] allow for Monument signs that provide visibility without causing impacts on safety or sight lines the requested

[48:38] variances would be in harmony with the general purpose and intent of the code and the use of the property would remain

[48:43] consistent with the comprehensive plan there are practical difficulties in complying with the city's ordinance the

[48:49] elevation height for sign 3 is reasonable due to the difference in elevation of Highway 62 versus the

[48:55] subject property the applicant is requesting the additional height so the sign is visible 8 ft taller than the

[49:01] elevation Center Line of the road the additional height for that sign is needed for

[49:07] visibility the location of sign one is in a similar location of the existing sign on the site at the corner of

[49:13] Olinger and Colonial way the proposed location of the sign sits much higher than the body of water and won't have

[49:18] any negative impacts like I said the city's engineering department did review the sign location and didn't have any

[49:23] concerns with the sign in proximity to the body of water um in each situation the circumstance is

[49:29] unique to the property and is not created by the land owner and the proposed signage will not alter the essential character of the locality so

[49:37] tonight staff's recommendation is to approve both of the requested variances based on the findings and conditions

[49:42] outlined in the staff report and I'll note again that one of the conditions of approval is that the illuminated signs

[49:47] would need to meet the city's illuminated sign requirements of the sign code and with that I can answer any

[49:53] questions and the applicant is also here tonight we'll welcome the applicant forward to if there's a separate

[50:00] presentation or if You' just like to share some words please come

[50:09] for you just introduce yourselves thank you

[50:15] hi my name is Mike casbo I'm the acting sign consultant for Meeting House Church

[50:22] I'd be happy to answer any technical questions you have um so I'll just turn over to Eric and my name is Eric Hansen

[50:29] I'm the facility manager facility manager at Meeting House Church um so I'm representing the The church here

[50:36] tonight and the replacement of these signs I I think she did she did a

[50:43] wonderful job summarizing um anything that I would would want to put in there in terms of detail but I'd be happy to

[50:50] answer any questions about that as well these are signs that were permitted back in N think 197 7 when the

[50:57] church was originally built and we're basically just trying to replace the ones that are there in the same locations with um similar

[51:06] signs thank you any questions Commissioners for either

[51:13] party all right commission elare so if I understood the um

[51:20] materials correctly the signs one and two are video signs and sign three is not correct okay

[51:27] and the sign three in probably 90% of the images I saw was parallel to the

[51:35] highway but one of them looked like it was perpendicular so it is parallel to the highway right correct one point we

[51:41] were looking at maybe a double-sided but we have arrived at just

[51:47] doing a a single sided basically parallel to

[51:53] 62 and that sign we are intending to to illuminate with um solar energy and just

[52:00] backlit the uh backlit the lettering on the signs so it would be just backlit with LED lights okay is that the old

[52:06] sign line on the ground there it is and yep it just fell over one

[52:12] day thank you very much it's a challenge because the the

[52:19] ground there is is really swampy it is around the church as well and it keeps decaying we lose about an inch a year in

[52:26] in height the V sign so that's why that one went down mics won't go down for sure just

[52:33] real real quick Earl all the signs appear to be singles sided it was a little hard to tell the one over on

[52:38] Olinger if it was double-sided or not but it backed up to trees so I assum it's not correct that one will be

[52:44] double-sided it has been single sided a at a little bit of an angle as you as you drive in there but this one will

[52:50] will be double-sided it'll be perpendicular and perpendicular to only a and double-sided okay y

[53:01] any other questions Comm

[53:08] f for being here are you planning on

[53:13] keeping the signs lit or electrified 24 hours a day

[53:20] or what's the plan for I think the plan really is to um uh to go with the city rules and

[53:28] regulations on those um we may we may just turn them off at 10 o'clock at

[53:33] night I mean there's no reason probably it has to be on but right really don't want flashing lights I'm sure the

[53:38] neighbors don't either so um it's mainly so we can change some of our things once

[53:44] in a while with different Services different things going on it's not to not to be a billboard that's advertising

[53:50] all the time okay that'd be nice if it was turned off at 10 I don't know what the what are the

[53:59] yep the hours of operation or hours are that the signs turned off between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. unless the the use is

[54:07] open okay thank you and just to note that with the video

[54:12] board it's also um not allowed to be changed more than once an hour unless it's the time or date or

[54:23] temperature hopefully the temperature is accurate you guys remember those back in

[54:29] the day where it's like 900 Dees out hopefully you guys don't have those struggles um any other

[54:37] questions thank you thank you for the presentation this is a public hearing so we're going to go to that part again for

[54:45] those who might have just joined us uh to participate remotely take out your phone and call the following number 312

[54:53] 535 8110 enter access code

[54:58] 2868 688 0356 the password is

[55:06] 5454 and press star three to get in the cutest speak that should pop up on the

[55:12] screen give you some time to do that and while we wait we'll open it to those who

[55:17] might be here in person that'd like to testify about this matter similarly you got 3 minutes to do so please come up to

[55:23] either Podium full name address dress anyone here that would like to

[55:31] testify all right see none I guess we'll just go to

[55:37] the queue do we have anyone in it we do not I have the timer going right good

[56:22] it has been 1 minute and nobody has joined the call so I believe it is safe to I would concur do we have a motion to

[56:29] close a public hearing motion to close the public

[56:35] hearing second all those in favor say I I so moved public hearing is closed bring it back to the commission to

[56:41] deliberate any comments

[56:47] motions yep commissioner Smith so thank you for the presentation and I was just making a comment here to uh commissioner

[56:55] Al that he has a really good eye I spent literally almost an hour yesterday

[57:00] trying to find that third sign I you yes I went on to Google and

[57:07] and and everything and I and I was like where is this sign because it just seemed odd to me but it was literally

[57:13] less laying down in the image and and I and I I didn't catch that

[57:19] um yeah so like the reason why that's important is you know this is a church

[57:25] where you can could clearly see the bridge and the steeple from from 494 so

[57:30] if I'm trying to find this church um I could see it on on my Approach easily

[57:36] and and that bridge is very iconic you could you know it's kind of a thing that that you that you clearly see so I was

[57:41] questioning why do we need a third sign if you have all the markers of where this church is going to be but since you

[57:50] know commissioner alai have found it uh after I spent so much wasting time on

[57:55] that it makes sense now um so there's a need for it so I'm guessing that some P

[58:02] patrons uh maybe have trouble seeing it maybe coming through having that sign just confirms that it's there um and so

[58:09] that totally makes sense that you're replacing it and since it's at the uh

[58:14] Highway level and it's a depression you you really can't see that from the street that well so raising it up so

[58:20] it's more visible totally makes sense um so sign number three uh for those

[58:25] reasons I think I think made sense sign number one uh you know it's just

[58:30] replacing it on the same spot um that water body is is you know I would

[58:36] typically uh play baseball uh there in in in uh chaan Park no uh uh what's the

[58:43] name of that park again Countryside Park and I would park there and I would see that sign

[58:49] sometimes um and and on that little depression where it is it's it's not

[58:55] usually filled with water that much right um and so I see replacing that sign making complete sense as well so

[59:02] based on what you're trying to do on verances that you're asking for with you elevating the sign to see it from the

[59:11] highway and replacing the signs closer uh on

[59:17] Olinger uh makes sense and so I'm I'm again in favor of of this

[59:27] thank you uh any other comments here Mr

[59:34] D uh I'll just I guess summarize real quick and then probably make a motion um

[59:40] you know as far as going through each of these signs and the ordinance suround

[59:45] signage nothing here stands out to me as something that would be negatively impact you know safety sight lines

[59:51] nuisance Etc um you know there's obviously the difficulties in terms of of the road grade so that you want to be

[59:57] able to see the sign the body of water nearby um obviously I think the use of

[1:00:02] the property is consistent with the comprehensive plan so my mind we fulfill all the necessary requirements for

[1:00:09] variance to be granted and um I would motion to approve the requested Varian

[1:00:15] is to allow the setback from the ordinary high water elevation of sign one to be at least 20 ft and to allow

[1:00:21] sign three to be 14t in height okay

[1:00:29] we have any more comments or discussion I said 394 man 62 sorry

[1:00:40] okay I guess I just had one comment i'

[1:00:47] likely in terms of elevating that sign and Illuminating

[1:00:55] it it it just seems like I know we've had similar things in the past where there's been a double ask like that that

[1:01:02] just makes me a little uncomfortable with the discretion I have typically

[1:01:09] um we don't need to favor Illuminating like for the highway sign see

[1:01:15] illumination an ass or like in terms of something that would be beyond the current sign requirement I

[1:01:21] mean they're backlighting the signage but that's not this isn't above and beyond there's nothing restricting them

[1:01:27] from doing so yeah so they'd conform to the current

[1:01:33] right so the only ask is

[1:01:44] VAR all right I think that's all I needed to here anything

[1:01:50] else all right and uh I guess yeah it was already second it so uh all in favor

[1:01:56] say I I opposed so moved motion carries good

[1:02:02] luck with your project thank

[1:02:10] you all right next we have our third and final public hearing similar process to the previous this is for a few requests

[1:02:19] for 5100 Eden Avenue planner T take it away thank you

[1:02:28] okay thank you chair members of the commission this is a site you're familiar with in the Grand View District

[1:02:35] uh it's Unique it's the uh Eden 100 building also known as the building on

[1:02:40] stilts located on Eden Avenue just on the west side of highway 100 so it's a

[1:02:45] very unique site in that it's surrounded on all four sides with roadways there's

[1:02:50] the offramp off um off Veron and Highway 100 the entry ramp Eden Avenue and

[1:02:58] Arcadia it's just east of the former public work site that sits vacant today

[1:03:04] here's a look at the building mainly all paved today parking underneath the building

[1:03:12] it's guided in the comprehensive plan for a mixed use Center all this purple

[1:03:18] area the current zoning on the site is planned office District the orange area

[1:03:24] the public work site to the the East is planned industrial district to the north

[1:03:29] uh planned commercial District you may recall this site received a preliminary

[1:03:35] rezoning from the Pod to a PUD it was for a housing project and I'll show some

[1:03:41] slides of what that looks like here in a minute same goes for the public work site preliminary resoning was granted

[1:03:48] for that site for um The Cooperative housing the restaurant and a park both

[1:03:55] of those projects did not move forward so there was no final rezoning so the existing pod is the zoning on the

[1:04:03] site within the Grand View District development framework um also mixed use

[1:04:09] and these are some graphics of what was um contemplated for possibility of uh

[1:04:16] being built on that site housing uh along the street some renderings with

[1:04:22] some housing there was also some thought of a chair Bennett's favorite slide

[1:04:28] [Laughter] here um but talk of either residential or office on the site as we went through

[1:04:35] that process we also did the Transportation uh study in this district there is a new

[1:04:42] Frontage Road planned on the west side of highway 100 all of that can be accomplished within the existing Highway

[1:04:49] 100 right of way so there's no additional land needed with this project here's a look at the housing

[1:04:56] project that was approved it's uh six and seven stories um seven stories on

[1:05:02] one level there was a little retail space along Arcadia located right

[1:05:09] here here's a site plan so the mass of that building is quite a bit larger than

[1:05:15] what's being proposed also note the setback here there was a 10t setback for

[1:05:21] the this entire length of the building so here here's a look at the

[1:05:26] proposed structure so they would tear down that existing building it's about 38,000 Square ft the existing building

[1:05:34] and uh build this 112,000 foot office building there also would be retail

[1:05:40] space potentially about 6,000 square fet potentially a restaurant also uh located

[1:05:47] here on the corner so note the expanded sidewalks Green Space along the roadways

[1:05:55] the applicant as part of their presentation actually their pictures are a little better than this so you'll see

[1:06:01] some enhanced imagery as part of their

[1:06:06] presentation primarily uh glass

[1:06:13] building here is a look at the site plan so with one access off Eden Avenue here

[1:06:20] another off of Arcadia the bulk of the building is set

[1:06:27] back with that one-story uh commercial space located

[1:06:32] here so this request requires uh rezoning from planned office District to planned commercial District 2 a

[1:06:40] subdivision or a new plat there's seven Lots currently on that site so they're going to consolidate them into one with

[1:06:46] a new plat a site plan uh variances on all four sides uh for the building a

[1:06:54] variance from our floor area ratio requirement of two they're proposing 1 Point excuse me 1.5 as the requirement

[1:07:02] they're asking for two uh variance on height to allow 81 feet um 48 is

[1:07:09] required and a variance for the building materials as I mentioned it is primarily

[1:07:15] a glass a glass building also a variance for screening and setback requirements

[1:07:21] for Utility Equipment so looking at our pyramid of discretion this is a rezoning

[1:07:26] so the city does have discretion here uh variances and the subdivision also have

[1:07:32] some discretion as well so I wanted to show the compliance

[1:07:39] table and compare the proposal um with that pre previously

[1:07:44] approved PUD I talked about the setbacks um setbacks basically flexibility

[1:07:50] through the Pud uh was granted on that project the previous project was 82 feet

[1:07:58] tall this is 81 feet building coverage is about the same a little bit less the

[1:08:04] floor area ratio of that previous project was 3.2 this is two parking is

[1:08:10] code compliant what even if a restaurant goes into the site this the uh project

[1:08:15] would be code compliant for parking spaces they would meet the first floor

[1:08:20] Building height they there was some flexibility there for the Residential Building uh 13 ft was the first floor

[1:08:26] this one would be uh 20 ft and again flexibility on the uh the

[1:08:33] materials um or a variance so here is the required setback

[1:08:41] the solid red line so the encroachment into the setback is just these kind of

[1:08:48] Point intrusions into the setback and in this location here it's not that solid

[1:08:54] wall that was uh previously approved there's some unique circumstances with this property um all four sides with

[1:09:03] Street Frontage we've got the the highway Frontage to the north and to the east there's also quite a large right of

[1:09:10] way along Eden it's about 30 feet so the building from the road as as you uh walk

[1:09:17] or travel down the building would be set back a little further um perception even

[1:09:23] though a two foot setback is uh needed right here would be 21 feet back from

[1:09:30] Arcadia this is a 35 foot requirement here and the mechanical equipment where

[1:09:36] a variance is also sought is for this material right here they are proposing

[1:09:42] to screen it within the right of way um this would need to be approved by mot to allow that screening within the right of

[1:09:49] way but that's where that variance uh is located so primary issues is the

[1:09:56] rezoning uh to plan commercial District 2 I see a typo there uh is that

[1:10:01] reasonable and are the variances Justified so we'll start with the

[1:10:08] rezoning uh staff does believe that they are um that it meets our criteria for

[1:10:14] rezoning it is consistent with the comprehensive plan the site is guided mixed use Center the uses contemplated

[1:10:21] within that District are all Allowed by the pcd2 zoning District the project

[1:10:26] would Advance comprehensive goals to create a vibrant pedestrian oriented uh

[1:10:33] development in the area um IT project would not be

[1:10:39] detrimental to surrounding property it would actually benefit some of the commercial areas with more uh employees

[1:10:45] during the day a traffic and parking study was done by stantech Ed terhar I

[1:10:51] believe is on the call with us this evening to answer any questions that you may have but the study does conclude

[1:10:56] that the existing roadways uh can support this project the roundabouts

[1:11:01] were all designed with development in mind um on this site I mentioned the

[1:11:08] f um is consistent or it it's less than the previously approved plan but it is

[1:11:15] consistent with uh recently approved projects the mson green is 2.5 avador

[1:11:22] 2.2 um and that senior housing project uh at

[1:11:29] three the pcd2 zoning is consistent with the with the properties to the north and

[1:11:35] Northwest uh second issue is in regard to the variances there's a number of

[1:11:41] variances um proposed here the staff report included an analysis of each one

[1:11:47] I'm not going to go through each of those but kind of bunch them together um

[1:11:52] in terms of the findings we do believe that the the variances are Justified the

[1:11:58] property owner proposes to use the property in a reasonable manner um there are circumstances that are unique here

[1:12:05] uh that I mentioned with the large right of way um property um Street Frontage on

[1:12:11] all four sides and the project wouldn't alter the essential character of the area um setbacks are generally

[1:12:18] consistent with recent uh proposals and development in the area the avador

[1:12:24] project is actually 4 feet and the graphic here indicates from Eden Avenue that's from

[1:12:30] the property line um there's a 4 foot setb there uh the former public work

[1:12:37] site that was approved at 5 feet on Eden and Arcadia and the previous appro uh

[1:12:44] building for this site was 10 feet I touched on the mass of the building the

[1:12:49] fa is less than the previous proposal and consistent with uh exist with recent

[1:12:55] developments in the district the height is consistent again with that previous

[1:13:01] appro uh previous approval on the site and is comparable to some of our recent

[1:13:07] projects the Meson green is 76 feet tall uh the project that was approved on the

[1:13:13] public work site was 83 feet um and again um this one being

[1:13:19] 82 in terms of the building materials

[1:13:25] this is a primarily brick or excuse me uh glass building so to add brick

[1:13:32] accents um exchanging a small amount of the metal panels uh really wouldn't

[1:13:38] significantly alter the appearance of this building the intent of that code is to um for the city to have um high

[1:13:45] quality buildings constructed which this would be again this would be the corporate headquarters for Opus we

[1:13:51] talked a little bit about that in the sketch plan um the intent of the screening setback and the setback for

[1:13:57] the Utility Equipment um we really want to screen those uses and this one is

[1:14:04] located adjacent to that freeway offramp and they would be adequately screened uh

[1:14:09] so we believe that that variance is reasonable as well and so staff is recommending

[1:14:15] approval of the rezoning the uh subdivision the site plan and the variances if the planning if the

[1:14:22] Planning Commission has any issues with any of the VAR expences you can separate them out make a separate motion um we

[1:14:29] can talk about that when we get to that point but with that I will stop there and the applicant also has a

[1:14:36] presentation and we'll provide a little more detail thank you Carrie for the presentation welcome you guys uh if

[1:14:42] you'd like to just you know introduce yourselves uh go over your presentation

[1:14:48] I think it'd be helpful on the heels of that to just kind of discuss any

[1:14:53] feedback that's been Incorporated since last time both from the Planning Commission and city council and share

[1:15:00] anything new you know stuff you've learned what makes this more compelling

[1:15:06] uh and thank you again great thank you good evening thank you director Teague uh chair Bennett Commissioners great to

[1:15:11] be in front of you all again on this site uh I count it I think this is the seventh time we've been up here on this

[1:15:17] site so excited to share some of the changes that we made as you suggested chair Bennett um we uh we've had our

[1:15:24] neighborhood meeting obviously our sketch plan both uh Planning Commission as well as Council uh took some feedback

[1:15:30] and took your comments and what we heard and have made some changes so we were going to run through some of those

[1:15:35] changes uh from the first time uh that we were here uh I realized I didn't introduce myself Nick fand with Opus

[1:15:41] nice to see you all again uh Bob lokan and Matt aan with ESG as well uh we are going to run through some of those

[1:15:47] changes from sketch plan and then we were going to touch on uh we had worked with City staff on a handful of other

[1:15:53] variances that we had that um I think all of them actually are off of there now so just some changes that they

[1:15:58] helped us make that uh some smaller variances we were able to eliminate so uh I think with that I'll turn it over

[1:16:04] to Matt just to run through some of the architectural changes from our blocking diagram to our our building today yeah a

[1:16:11] little bit different looking building from the last time you you had seen it so um really I think that the kind of

[1:16:17] primary comments that sketch plan were this emphasis on Arcadia and and really

[1:16:22] kind of celebrating that um in pedest estan realm and really um kind of amping that up a little bit so a big part of it

[1:16:29] was Shifting the building and the podium itself to really increase that setback along Arcadia um we shifted that Podium

[1:16:36] piece 17 fet Inward and then the the building kind of proper as it kind of touches the ground was also ins set four

[1:16:43] feet um that also allowed us to create this sort of recessed level one Frontage

[1:16:49] along Arcadia there's a sort of arcade um Breezeway that expands itself into a

[1:16:55] um a wraparound porch um that is part of this Podium condition here um there's

[1:17:00] also balconies added at the southwest corner again we really wanted to kind of celebrate Arcadia strengthen the

[1:17:06] connections activity and vibrancy along Arcadia and then obviously um articulated all the facades um with

[1:17:13] specific building materials we'll talk about that a little bit later but mixed use of glass metal panel shading

[1:17:19] fins um this next site plan which um was also in the the previous presentation

[1:17:25] but um we moved the front door on onto Arcadia as well um we talked a little bit last time about creating that

[1:17:31] paracity and that connection directly on Arcadia we also moved what was some surface parking lot uh some surface

[1:17:37] parking stalls 20 ft away from that property line alleviating the variants um that we had we had kind of worked

[1:17:45] through with staff um and then additionally the if you can kind of see it at letter H there that is the new

[1:17:51] proposed location of our loading dock so the loading uh the vehicles will actually be tucked under the building so out of public view so that was also one

[1:17:57] that we were able to kind of work through with staff and then also we we we shifted the

[1:18:03] sidewalk inward a little bit oh there you go uh shifted the

[1:18:08] sidewalk inward a little bit to really create an opportunity for some sight trees along the edge there which uh

[1:18:14] currently don't exist but in in doing so with the building shifting we still had

[1:18:20] ample space um between the building and the sidewalk to really celebrate the ground landcape and um and really

[1:18:27] hopefully some of these renderings will show it um have some really unique landscape elements um so this one is just really

[1:18:34] quickly just to kind of talk through what is the the design concept summary so overall the building massing is

[1:18:40] relatively simple it's this this portion in green here is kind of sliding in and

[1:18:45] being tucked under the building proper and um just so that we're all kind of talking the same lexicon we started

[1:18:51] naming this the doc um it kind of represents the it's a more natural material um when we see it in the

[1:18:57] renderings and it kind of juts out onto almost like a body of water within this

[1:19:02] sort of sea of um of greenery and we really like the idea of celebrating the sort of Minnesota Minnesota ties with

[1:19:08] this dock reference and then um again still celebrating the building on stilts or the P te um from the previous

[1:19:17] building and then when it comes to Landscapes we've worked with Damon Farber and our whole team to really

[1:19:22] start to kind of dive into what is the planting pallet intermixing shrubs pollinators tall grasses um and creating

[1:19:30] a little bit of color and variance in the

[1:19:35] landscaping and again the additional setbacks from sketch plan that we had had worked through with with um with

[1:19:42] your team really allowed us to to really celebrate the landscape here and create

[1:19:47] more opportunities for those pollinators and create a little bit of uh of kind of color in the landscape we've also still

[1:19:53] proposed kind of an area of respit um at the crust of the um the pocket

[1:19:58] park so to speak here with this this seated bench element that's pulled off from the roundabout to allow for a

[1:20:04] little bit more safety um from the road uh this rendering just showcases

[1:20:10] the topography as it um as it moves north to south so you can kind of really see um the topography as it drops off

[1:20:17] and the and the dock element as it sort of protrudes out into the space here is the the primary entry

[1:20:24] again we relocated the door to be on Arcadia itself so that we can celebrate the Arcadia streetcape um as an

[1:20:30] opportunity to kind of pull people in and then additionally once you're up on that Breezeway you can make your way all

[1:20:36] the way across onto that elevated Terrace uh here is a view of the north

[1:20:42] side from the frontage road and then lastly here just um kind

[1:20:48] of our hero shot of of this of the stock element coming out what could be a really celebrated space with um you know

[1:20:55] beautiful landscaping and um hopefully a great asset to the residents of

[1:21:02] Adina I think that's everything so we are uh open to comments questions and here to answer any questions you have

[1:21:09] well thank you very much it's nice seeing you guys come back so soon sometimes it's a long period of time

[1:21:15] between sketch plan and formal application so we're hoping something

[1:21:20] successful goes there uh any questions for the applicant team or Carrie right

[1:21:28] now would be the time I had one for Carrie do you know how tall the still building is

[1:21:36] currently I do not greater than or less than what

[1:21:42] they're proposing it should be it's definitely okay thank

[1:21:47] you m Pia nice to see you gentlemen again so

[1:21:54] thank you for for all that uh additional information it looks like a a beautiful building um there was a lot of

[1:22:01] discussion in um the work that we looked at about um

[1:22:08] how close you are to Transit um and there was most of the information said

[1:22:13] it was a quarter of a mile and I understand that that gives you um let's you change the parking numbers function

[1:22:21] of how close you are to Transit but then in the trans Transportation memo it said that was a half a mile so I was

[1:22:27] wondering do we know is it a quarter a mile or half a mile and the second part of that

[1:22:34] question is is there adequate pedestrian access to the transit stop that is

[1:22:40] impacting the uh number of parking

[1:22:47] spaces ready any I'm seeing quarter mile just on Google maps on Google M okay cuz

[1:22:54] Transportation memo which I believe it's a qu mile but we'll have to check on

[1:23:00] that it's just off Eden by the

[1:23:06] library okay so Alum it's a quarter of a mile and and that was just a

[1:23:12] um maybe a misprint in the in the transportation memo

[1:23:21] um so it would be across from the roundabout then they'd have to walk by

[1:23:26] the roundabout to get over by to the bus stop by the library no they just uh you could walk the north side of

[1:23:33] Eden right to it wouldn't that depend upon which direction you were

[1:23:39] going I guess well yeah I guess you'd cross a roundabout by the north side of the roundabout

[1:23:44] okay um and it mentioned that you're going to be the lead tenant in the

[1:23:50] building do you have any idea about how much space you'd be occupying and how much how much you'd be looking to lease

[1:23:55] out yeah we would lease about 30% or so give or

[1:24:00] take so likely a building that would have it depends on the overall tenant mix but I could

[1:24:06] see maybe four or five

[1:24:15] others we do have a lot of preliminary interest which is been great so you know

[1:24:20] yeah that's terrific um in terms of

[1:24:26] um like building materials um why glass why so much glass how do how do you make

[1:24:31] that determination is that a function of utilities or or exposure or cost or sure

[1:24:39] from the development standpoint and I'll certainly let the Architects weigh in as well um the the All Glass facade from a

[1:24:44] leas ability standpoint within the office space is is certainly the most desirable um that space is is what

[1:24:50] people want a lot of natural light um you know you're seeing a lot of office spes transformed since Co and a lot of

[1:24:57] uh you're seeing a lot of more open functional spaces that are kind of neighborhoods they they typically call them with inboard offices and when you

[1:25:03] have a lot of Glass on the exterior you're able to get a lot of that light into the center core of the building so

[1:25:09] really you can illuminate the whole floor and and create a much better work environment from a leas ability

[1:25:14] standpoint and I think too just when we kind of talked a little bit on the on the massing diagram I think what makes

[1:25:21] this building successful is the juxtaposition of the component that is kind of protruding out from underneath

[1:25:27] the building and then the building itself so we really celebrated um more call it filigree or more opacity at the

[1:25:35] the podium element our dock so to speak um and then and then letting the the building proper be more glassy so that

[1:25:41] we can really create a nice Jos between those two elements and then additionally just to uh to contribute to um the

[1:25:48] sustainable sustainability aspect of an all glass building both East and West sides will have horizontal shading fins

[1:25:55] um you can kind of see them in this elevation you see them a little bit more here um so that when you get that that

[1:26:01] warm Western Summer Sun um you'll get some um reprieve within the building

[1:26:07] um so yeah um and there was a an article

[1:26:14] um I don't not sure if you saw it in today's uh I think it was today's Business Journal about um potentially

[1:26:21] potentially potentially potentially the city of Edina um having to kind of

[1:26:27] bail out the um construction project it's on the corner of 70th Street that cause causes

[1:26:35] some of us you know some great concern in terms of moving forward with these projects um

[1:26:43] so with particularly the cost of construction materials and glass in

[1:26:49] particular um how what kind of assurance can you provide that

[1:26:55] this is going to work economically uh good question um we have

[1:27:00] uh studied that this will be our headquarters we need space by the end of next year uh we will be moving forward

[1:27:06] with this assuming that we get through the entitlement process we've run uh the returns and the math on our end and

[1:27:11] we're confident with uh the building that we've proposed today um you know there are factors that we looked at we

[1:27:17] we looked at a bigger building a smaller building more parking less parking really kind of dialed into what the

[1:27:22] market demands are of today and we feel comfortable with this project moving forward and um we we do not have a tiff

[1:27:30] ask uh out to the city for this project so we will be fully moving forward uh private

[1:27:35] financed okay

[1:27:42] thanks is that it bunny bunny do you have any more no okay

[1:27:48] uh any other questions for yeah okay we'll just keep going down there commissioner okay thanks for coming

[1:27:56] again this evening can you go back to that west elevation yeah that one so it looks

[1:28:03] like well first let me back up the first image you showed had a toest restaurant

[1:28:08] is that just a placeholder or is that that's a placeholder yes okay so it's it's a step up from tenant yeah D we had

[1:28:16] a conversation about we don't like when it just says tenant so okay that's top this is good choice okay so here we're

[1:28:23] on the west elevation the the doors under the

[1:28:29] Arcadia uh word seem to be the only pedestrian entrance to the

[1:28:34] building is that right jump to the site plan um that is

[1:28:39] the main pedestrian entrance is going to happen here as you suggest um did we we

[1:28:44] also maintained a door to the north here so that you'd have a drop off area if somebody was say taking an Uber um you

[1:28:51] know there could also be uh there's likely to be a door uh somewhere where we break from the

[1:28:57] lobby to the retail commercial and then there also is kind of a more back a house entrance um that one I wouldn't

[1:29:03] count as as a typical pedestrian entrance but if somebody's parking here they could come in that way because we may have a direct access to that

[1:29:09] restaurant there as well but if I'm coming in from Eden I would have to walk in with cars

[1:29:17] right correct cuz where f is is a basically it's a parking lot entrance

[1:29:22] that is correct so the only if I'm walking up truly like if I come over there and park at the district parking

[1:29:28] walk across the bridge on foot I'm going to come in the main door yep okay can we look at the west elevation

[1:29:36] again so where about would that other door that you just mentioned be it would

[1:29:41] be be two more doors um just cuz for some erress like right where that cursor

[1:29:47] is now there'll be an additional entry into the lobby space and then there will also be an additional door to the right

[1:29:53] of that for the commercial space on grade so three points of entry on that

[1:29:59] okay and also just to note that the intent of this is that this that um if

[1:30:05] you were going to the commercial retail space you still would also be able to use the main office entrance the idea is the office is a the office lobby is open

[1:30:13] to the public and open to the restaurant space so your security checkpoint to get into the office is just before the

[1:30:19] elevator so the idea is that this is really all public space lobby area that flows into to a

[1:30:24] restaurant okay what I was mainly wondering about is like I understand I can go in that door but the side of the

[1:30:31] building it seems like could should tell me pretty clearly where I'm supposed to go in and I wasn't clear about that it

[1:30:37] looks from what on that drawing it looks like I'm supposed to go in the main door because I didn't see any other doors

[1:30:42] sure yeah I think this you know we've got the Landscaping here you're likely going to have tenant signage right and

[1:30:48] there'll be a there'll be a restaurant door over there which looks like a restaurant door okay that's I think that's pretty important so second

[1:30:54] related question if I'm on my bikee where am I going to access the

[1:30:59] site so if you're an employee of the office we have a bike room here and then

[1:31:05] we're exploring uh locations for bike um public bike stalls we had parking here

[1:31:11] before that was that needed to be set back 20 so it scooted over I think we wanted to explore some bike parking here

[1:31:18] and then also looking at some um of the kind of bike corals right at the front door somewhere with okay so likely both

[1:31:25] on Eden and Arcadia yes that would be the int and something else to note too

[1:31:31] um is that those four parking stalls to the left of f there um are likely going

[1:31:36] to be temporary parking stalls only and um so the intention would be if you're

[1:31:41] walking or biking for instance you have a relatively safe pathway once you get up the kind of secondary entry piece

[1:31:49] there you can that whole dark green space would be paved and so you can get to that V in that bike room without

[1:31:55] having to Traverse Vehicles okay thank

[1:32:06] you okay well thanks for being here um this is my second meeting so I was not

[1:32:11] here at the last time so nice to meet yall

[1:32:17] um while I'm new to the commission I'm I've got a fair amount of history with this the Grand View area as I pr the

[1:32:24] people that were on the plant that uh small area plan or Grand View plan area

[1:32:31] um Grand View area plan I was I think the only commissioner

[1:32:36] that was on that at the time um we talked you we talked for I don't know it

[1:32:41] seemed like years on that plan so we we we had a lot of vision for it uh

[1:32:47] obviously that rendering we saw earlier showed housing it wasn't locked in at housing or anything but um so I think I

[1:32:55] I do like a few things about this um I don't want to get real negative or anything

[1:33:01] but um you know the fact that this office is great um I I I like bringing

[1:33:07] you know 300 or several hundred people into the area help support uh Grand View

[1:33:13] and the and the folks that are there uh the other businesses that are there

[1:33:20] um kind of like the dock that whole walking area the front area where you

[1:33:25] have the little seating and and then what you call the dock coming out and all the planting the the the Landscaping

[1:33:31] is uh really looks nice um it's nice to have the welcoming Dora on

[1:33:37] Arcadia um initially I didn't you know looking around I didn't see that and

[1:33:42] then I as you look at that that elevation you did did see that so that was nice

[1:33:49] um the one thing we talked about pretty at length on this site um was that this

[1:33:56] is the one location in Grand View where height is really seemed to

[1:34:02] be it wasn't a bad thing I mean could have gone you know my feeling was that

[1:34:09] this site could could support we always talked about going up to the height of the the Jerry's Tower you know that is

[1:34:16] being kind of the maximum and I don't know what that end up being if it was a 10 or 11 stories uh it seems like that

[1:34:23] was what it was um and again that's that's fine you didn't go all the way up seems like it could have gone up a

[1:34:29] little bit higher just uh you know number one it's a little bit of a buffer to the the freeway

[1:34:35] um and and it's a low sight so it's it's the lowest site on the property except for the former uh Public Works

[1:34:44] land um so again it could have gone higher again you did your study to figure out what size is there my thought

[1:34:51] was that the footprint could have been a little bit smaller height got up but uh again you have your reasons for making

[1:34:57] the footprint the size it is um

[1:35:06] the building materials uh not a huge fan of of that glass I

[1:35:13] kind of understand what you're saying about tenants and liking to see out and having the natural light come in um and

[1:35:19] and glass is fine it's just that there's a lot of glass and there's not

[1:35:25] um not a lot of the materials that that we kind of had in that Grand View area

[1:35:30] plan uh the stone the the the Brick and again on the first level there's a

[1:35:35] little bit more of that the other piece that concerns me a little bit is the back toward the garage areas of

[1:35:42] course there's Concrete in the garage because that's what you're driving on but um those panels some of those panels

[1:35:48] look like they're concrete um pre-cast or some some some

[1:35:54] sort of uh concrete panels they might be colored um they might not be um again it

[1:36:01] seems like an area that you could add stone or add some kind of flavor to that would um pick up the appearance of the

[1:36:09] building a little bit

[1:36:17] um seems a little and again I'm not familiar with it it seems a little overp

[1:36:23] parked in my opinion how many layer how many levels does it go down we go down two and up one so the parking is driven

[1:36:31] primarily by the market needing three per thousand for the office yeah and I guess the the thought was when we went

[1:36:36] through the plan is that the um the the Jerry's lot the the ramp over there

[1:36:42] again it's a block and a half away uh two blocks maybe um was kind of thought

[1:36:48] to pick up some of that uh needed excess needed parking but again I I went

[1:36:53] through numbers and I I see that you have the 330 spots again uh you're going to need the

[1:36:59] two two down and one up at least but again I I think you you could have made a little bit smaller and gone a little

[1:37:05] taller in in my opinion but um that's where you're at

[1:37:11] today um yeah it's just the the concrete we we've got a couple ramps in town that

[1:37:18] that made it through this and the Cil and got built

[1:37:25] that aren't the prettiest in town I me I'm think of the Southdale medical office building ramp that they threw up

[1:37:32] they made them some a little bit of detail on it and then the Galleria ramp it

[1:37:37] two pretty poor uh poorly looking poor looking ramps in my opinion again ramps

[1:37:44] are ramps and there's a lot of concrete usually so you're not getting in a real beautiful product out of it but there

[1:37:50] are things that could be done to it and again that's where I'm kind of coming with that some other appearance at least at the

[1:37:55] entrance or something to show that stone or brick um in my opinion would would be

[1:38:01] nice and and again maybe carrying it up uh through elements of the building and

[1:38:07] either columns or somehow showing that

[1:38:13] um and really that I mean I I went on and on I actually I read through this a

[1:38:18] few nights ago and I I the the renderings I think it seemed like you saw rings from the freeway somewhere I

[1:38:25] don't know if you had those or it it it it gave me a uh it looked

[1:38:34] like a a cut off IDS Tower you know a shrunk down blast building that didn't

[1:38:41] really fit the area I mean across the way we've got the brand new

[1:38:46] um residential building that's there um just over here

[1:38:53] which you know they put a lot of effort in into what they did for finishes um yeah yeah that one

[1:39:03] um again I guess that's just my comment the the the materials the height could have been different different the mass

[1:39:09] is so appears to be so massive on the site at least from here um it's just

[1:39:16] just a few thoughts I have on it again I I I like the fact that there's office being proposed to go in here I really

[1:39:23] like this uh pedestrian area and uh and the idea of having a

[1:39:31] little bit of retail in there to help help support uh the folks that are in there so really I I'll just leave it at

[1:39:37] that I didn't want to ramble on forever but um I've made a lot of notes and I wanted

[1:39:42] to try to try to start with some some of the positive there that yeah where you got the entrance and that just looks to

[1:39:49] be you know plain concrete panels as does and that might I don't I don't I'm not

[1:39:55] sure what the top is there it looks like the same now those might be metal panels there yeah um but again if if you know

[1:40:03] that material could change um be my my vote but thank you thank you

[1:40:10] for your presentation thank you did you speak to the material of those like what can you

[1:40:16] confirm what it is and availability to change or so the material you're seeing

[1:40:22] on the yeah van white here you go um that is the same metal panel that is on

[1:40:28] the on the building above so the idea of of not letting that be like a a stone or

[1:40:33] a brick material for instance is that we really wanted the building to feel like it touched the ground to create some

[1:40:39] some grounding elements in the building so we felt that in drawing a line so to speak and having the bottom portion be

[1:40:45] brick we we are kind of further creating like a Podium building um whereas we

[1:40:51] really wanted to celebrate this as an opportunity to touch the ground material the building

[1:40:58] above and I guess to follow up on that what is the material of the dock that we're seeing so um we are currently

[1:41:05] studying a whole bunch of materials for that the idea is that this is um like a wood look material we're looking at a

[1:41:11] phenolic product which is like a high pressure laminate we're looking at um real veneer sheets that are

[1:41:18] um pre pressed with polycarbonate we're looking at um some actually recycled

[1:41:24] wood fibers that are on an aluminum core so that one would actually feel like real wood and then Additionally you know

[1:41:30] metal panel that is um that is a woodl metal panel as well we're kind of

[1:41:35] running the gamut right now on on pricing various options guess going down yeah any

[1:41:41] questions

[1:41:47] for so did you guys have any precedence for the building in terms of other other

[1:41:54] buildings yeah um I I think the the dock portion really kind of was stemmed from

[1:42:00] a more Scandinavian style if you look at buildings there specifically with the louvers and the sort of light tone wood

[1:42:06] is certainly a more Scandinavian gesture and then the um the building above again

[1:42:12] just kind of playing a little bit with the um the Scandinavian material so one thing that maybe isn't super apparent

[1:42:19] but those those fins those vertical fins are clad with a similar material as the dock itself see if I can find a good

[1:42:26] image there you go and then additionally for again some solar control there is a a horizontal fin that goes all the way

[1:42:33] around that slab edge condition and that is also um of that same material type so in Li of it being just a a gray metal

[1:42:41] panel we like bringing in these accents and these ribbons of that that wood look material as well and then obviously the

[1:42:46] underside of the offet you know it reminded me of the John Deere building in m no in

[1:42:54] especially the one elevation the really long massive elevation yeah yeah

[1:43:01] um and I looked it I looked it up today because it was so like I'm like same number of stories same kind of metal so

[1:43:08] it reminded me a lot of that I'm actually okay with all of the Open Glass

[1:43:13] um I do want to ask about lighting though making sure that any kind of ceiling lighting or you know will all of

[1:43:21] the lighting will be on occupancy sensors okay so specifically you know in the evening when folks aren't working

[1:43:27] all the lights will shut down okay and then like when people are driving up and down the street um or especially 100 um

[1:43:35] that everything is kind of shielded so in terms of reflectivity yeah yeah

[1:43:41] yeah our our generally based spec is going to be something somewhat low reflective so that we don't have to

[1:43:47] worry about you know Sunshine kind of blinding car so okay this will certainly not be a mirrored building from the 80s

[1:43:53] okay okay okay so um how many employees 30% you think you're going to have 30%

[1:44:00] of yeah about 30,000 ft how many employees are going to be within a few miles within a few miles oh I'd have to

[1:44:07] pull that number I know the majority of our employee base is all Southwest everybody most of the 105 call it

[1:44:14] employees I'd say it's it must be over 75% or within

[1:44:19] three or four miles so I'm going to bring up the bike again um right cuz if I and I asked you

[1:44:28] last time about the biking if I biked here to go to the toas restaurant because I would go to a Tois restaurant

[1:44:34] sure I'm going to go behind City Hall and I'm going to go on the Southside and

[1:44:39] I'm going to park in the back and I'm going to go in the back doors yes just

[1:44:45] letting you know that yeah we we had a long conversation about that and making sure that this uh entrance is not a back

[1:44:52] of house entrance and that it feels you know I I feel like I've used um the Bridgewater bank and um Hazelwood

[1:45:00] example quite a bit quite a bit and they have you know a couple different access points to their office building and I think this is similar in that way where

[1:45:06] you're going to have people coming from a few different parts of the of the uh Community because you know similar to

[1:45:11] that one if someone's cominging from Motta Vista and walking there it's a different experience than if they're coming from the back similar to this we

[1:45:18] want people to be able to come through kind of the F area if you will on this plan still feel that that kind of

[1:45:24] Welcome presence as they come in and be part of the public realm and not be in back of house where deliveries are yeah

[1:45:30] yeah or like right in the restaurant itself rather than through the office building or something okay so I think a

[1:45:37] little bit more procity would be great there um I'm going to go back to the bikes

[1:45:43] again your parking decks are flat would you ever consider converting right

[1:45:50] because if we kind of add any kind of bike infrastructure along France or 50th or

[1:45:58] Vernon which I would love and people were biking a little bit more

[1:46:05] um I think it'd be great if we could right adjust the parking yeah it's a

[1:46:12] flat plate um at one point we had a bike room on the North uh area which I think would be another Natural Area if we felt

[1:46:18] we needed more the Bike Room currently is is down in this corner okay you certainly could pretty easily add an

[1:46:25] area you've got the capability of doing that I would love it if that if that happened

[1:46:35] um okay um the other one I want to talk to you about the variance for the 200

[1:46:41] foot do you have a view from the Northwest You've Got A View From the

[1:46:48] Northeast don't believe we have a Northwest oh maybe in the city presentation

[1:46:54] one which elevations are you asking for the variant for the 200 ft yeah it's both North and South the

[1:47:01] North elevation I think is 212 yeah and then the South elevation is

[1:47:08] 25 feet long so both of those are just over the 200 can you bring those up you

[1:47:15] can kind you can kind of see it here that's the north otherwise you probably have to do the actual elevation oh sure there you go yeah the nor that was the

[1:47:23] Northeast I think it's the next one right this one so that's that's the north elevation

[1:47:30] okay to image so that's the I believe that's the longest run is what you were referring to and the South elevation has

[1:47:37] those balconies on it yes back yeah and those for me break out that 200 feet so

[1:47:44] you're really close to the 200 feet sure would you consider doing balconies on

[1:47:49] that northwest corner

[1:47:55] um no nor the Northeast is the highway the Northwest is over the you know that

[1:48:01] uh we looked at that at one point um you know can they were trying to keep a

[1:48:07] relatively Square plate for rentability and for what we see in the market and we also have seen some instances and I

[1:48:13] won't name buildings where balconies on highways are empty all the time they get yeah not on the high oh you were saying

[1:48:20] on the west not on the North on the northwest I

[1:48:26] see I I do feel like it just given the size of those plates it might be a little over balconied for if you like

[1:48:33] were to compare Interior Space versus exterior space yeah it makes me a little nervous

[1:48:38] to chop up the plate again you know taking out the one corner I think was manageable I think if we started doing

[1:48:44] it again it would be challenging yeah because that's the only one you know the 200

[1:48:50] foot uninterrupted more than 200 foot under I mean that was that's there for a

[1:48:56] reason um so that's the variance that I having a little bit more trouble with I

[1:49:01] don't have trouble with any of the other variances um and one of the reasons I

[1:49:07] and I'll talk about this in comments on have to talk about it now um and then tell me about the screening for the

[1:49:15] um for the um yeah the Transformer yeah that Transformer that was one um

[1:49:21] unfortunately that's where the power comes and that's where Excel is requiring we have the Transformer you've got no choice there yeah so if we I'm

[1:49:28] trying to find the best angle I don't know if it catches it there yeah it would be kind of here yeah but um maybe

[1:49:34] Matt do you want to talk about the actual screening of it yeah sure you know we're we're kind of yeah currently

[1:49:40] focused on um a couple of options be it um an aluminum screening element or you

[1:49:46] know potentially it's uh a material akin to what the doc is doing so that we have some continuity with material

[1:49:53] okay and and bringing that wood look over there might be a nice opportunity versus it just being a painted aluminum

[1:49:58] good so you're thinking through that yeah okay

[1:50:06] um that's it for my questions thank you I think it's a handsome building thank

[1:50:14] you other questions yeah H hman um so these uh images are really helpful I

[1:50:21] wish I'd seen them and been able to digest them in our packet a little bit um but lacking that I went back to the

[1:50:30] 2023 Proposal with the building and I'm trying to compare different visuals of what we had last time what was approved

[1:50:37] with the apartments and then what I understood about what was before me and I guess it would

[1:50:42] be you know the last two years from I went back and rewatched all the videos

[1:50:48] the consistent um comment has been activation and engagement on the west

[1:50:54] side I think there was even um some questions when you did the apartment which opened up to the West Was that

[1:51:01] enough so I guess um I'm having trouble and maybe you can

[1:51:08] explain why we can't Orient the public space more to

[1:51:15] the north and west because I think um chair Bennett had even mentioned like we don't care about the setback on the

[1:51:22] highway side push it that direction push the height why can't we preserve some of

[1:51:28] that space on the west for that engagement since this is supposed to be the jewel box and the entrance into

[1:51:34] Grand View I think kind of two things for that one of them is our storm water

[1:51:39] mitigation strategy our storm water really the only place we could get it to fit was on the east side so there's a

[1:51:45] limitation on how much we can shove our building East we did it as far as we possibly could the last go around to get the additional space because of of depth

[1:51:52] underground or what do you mean size no um um we can only locate it

[1:51:58] within our property so we've we've put the the storm water tanks as far um east

[1:52:04] east as possible and the building so we we we've moved that building we moved

[1:52:09] the entire building about three or four feet and then in addition when we set the the first floor back um I mean the

[1:52:17] interesting thing to note is that at the first floor the portion that is set back actually

[1:52:23] complies with the 35 ft setback requirement along Arcadia um somewhat of

[1:52:29] a happy accident would but but but yeah so I think I think what we were trying to do is we were totally embracing the

[1:52:36] idea of activating and engaging Arcadia um I think I think the amount of

[1:52:42] vegetation and the amount of relief we have from the from the street is I think

[1:52:47] it is I think it is going to be welcoming but at the same time we really wanted

[1:52:53] um we wanted to Define that street Edge and we're thinking ahead of of what might be developed across the street and

[1:52:59] really embracing the idea that this might feel like a like an outdoor room with with with framed by buildings on on

[1:53:07] both sides I I think one of the biggest challenges we saw in the housing portion when we tried to kind of do a park over

[1:53:13] there as well for those maybe who remember was it was starting to feel very difficult to maintain a grade with

[1:53:19] the grade change from the north to the South all of a sudden the park was starting to feel like it was going to be

[1:53:25] very um hardscaped you know step a lot of steps down and a lot of concrete um so that's another challenge that we have

[1:53:32] is just that that grade from north to south I don't I think it was 20 feet 18 feet something in that range maybe even

[1:53:38] more than that so there was a challenge to try to create something here you know do you kind of cut into that hill and

[1:53:44] you know if you do anything wider than five feet you're you're stepping and you're stepping and you're stepping and it just didn't feel like it was going to

[1:53:51] work very well on that West side and then just something to note that we hadn't talked about um

[1:53:57] previously was that if you see the steps that are kind of directly below the Arcadia signage is to the right of that

[1:54:04] there's a series of sort of cascading benches as well so there's a seating element there and then everything up on

[1:54:09] the Breezeway um there's going to be some public seating up on that as

[1:54:14] well yeah that's probably a good note if you look at the floor plan

[1:54:20] um sharing that you know that one part of the arcade is is more public than

[1:54:25] private

[1:54:30] um yeah yeah just that yeah there you go um that that area you know before you

[1:54:36] get to the restaurant space if it is a restaurant that hopefully has outdoor seating that that that's more of a

[1:54:41] public area that's kind of as as Matt mentioned up the bench and up the stairs there got it

[1:54:47] um going back a little bit just to the storm water just for my own edification if the Green Space was on the West Side

[1:54:55] the storm water tank couldn't go under that it it could and originally we put

[1:55:01] it there but then we learned that we can't have trees there and it occupied so much we really fair enough yeah got

[1:55:08] it um the sidewalks are smaller here now right we've lost they're all down to

[1:55:13] 8T okay um I wanted to reiterate the uh

[1:55:19] comments of uh commissioner Nelson and um I emailed Carrie just the other day

[1:55:26] driving down 62 is that op opum and uhg buildings those were not from the 80s

[1:55:32] and those are pretty glary um so I do have a real concern I mean it's beautiful um but it is right next to a

[1:55:39] highway so um not that I don't believe you but those buildings weren't built 50 years

[1:55:46] ago and they were still you know you're doing this while you drive in the morning so and I think it's it's you

[1:55:52] know working with you folks as well like we we've heard it now a couple of times and and we know that from a creature

[1:55:59] Comfort perspective inside the building you don't really want to have a highly reflective building because you don't

[1:56:04] get as much uh visible light transmission through the glass so I think we're kind of at least collectively on board with with doing

[1:56:11] less reflective glass but I guess I would also I think

[1:56:16] at least I've observed buildings During certain times a day I think there's really almost nothing you can do about

[1:56:22] glare with a certain angle from from Windows and I've observed this even with buildings that are primarily um opaque

[1:56:31] with punched Windows you'll still get that glare and it can still be a little blinding well absolutely and you can't

[1:56:37] build any building just for One Moment In Time on you know one week of the year but

[1:56:44] um it feels like a very Suburban office building beautiful as it may be it

[1:56:50] doesn't seem to have the quasy Urban walkable neighborhood kind

[1:56:57] of um Vibe because of so much glass it

[1:57:02] feels very modern that way and so I um would just challenge whether or not we

[1:57:07] need quite so much um at least facing the highway um I

[1:57:15] think all my questions for now thank you thank you

[1:57:22] forgot to mention I do think you solv that southwest corner elegantly the

[1:57:29] sidewalk doing a little place to a respit place there was nice thank

[1:57:37] you I just have quick so what are you guys uh hearing about like interest you

[1:57:46] know from tenants not who specifically but like what type of what type of business or what like what type of

[1:57:52] situation would a company you know be in where they'd want to move into this building like what situation are they

[1:57:59] coming from and what are they looking for yeah I think what size are they and that type of thing I'm just curious like

[1:58:04] what type of tenants this might attract under what circumstance no it's a good question we've kind of seen all across

[1:58:10] the board uh whether it's kind of either Financial groups or um real estate groups or are kind of a wide array but I

[1:58:16] think you're seeing in some of the larger tenants that are looking they're typically actually downsizing they were

[1:58:22] maybe in 80s or 90s Office Buildings with floor plates that didn't work anymore and they're going from 40 or

[1:58:27] 50,000 down to the 25,000 foot plate because they can be so much more efficient than they used to be um so I

[1:58:33] think we're starting to see that a little bit um you know I think that it's typically there's we're seeing a flight

[1:58:39] to Quality um for folks that are moving um that there's um there's pretty high

[1:58:44] demand for new office and there's not a lot of new office um and then of course being in Idina is a is a huge win for a

[1:58:50] lot of Corporations so I know uh the Craftsman down on uh down on France has seen some great interest as well um they

[1:58:57] they've they've already signed a handful of of tenants uh there that wanted to be in Edina wanted new construction and if

[1:59:03] you want new construction and you want to be in it's your choices are are fairly fairly limited yeah and with you

[1:59:09] guys or just with Opus um and all the just interest you're seeing are these

[1:59:14] people coming from Industries where people are working in the office now you know and and not working from home or

[1:59:20] you know I know there's been some some shift around on on that concept but like do you do you envision this being full

[1:59:27] of people like all day throughout the week I think the investment that those tenants would make there we we typically

[1:59:34] ask that question of you know how often are your employees in the week and I think across the board we've heard uh

[1:59:39] the least we've heard is four days a week and the majority we've heard five okay um but I think this is this is the

[1:59:44] type of asset that if the companies making the investment that they've got the employees that will be there okay all right thank you

[1:59:52] I'll I'll just say Matt and I um officing in North Loop green brand new

[1:59:57] um you know high quality office building it's now I think maybe 70% occupied and

[2:00:05] it's populated that Fitness room is getting it's getting

[2:00:14] nuts all right welcome back um most of my questions have been answered already but I'll hit on something a little

[2:00:21] differently um the rooftop patio and that and how that's sketched out so I've

[2:00:26] seen it portrayed a few different ways um you know there being an arbor up

[2:00:32] there there being just that corner the roof what is your vision for that in terms of who uses that how often access

[2:00:39] to there Etc and why is the footprint limited to say just that that corner of the rooftop sure I can I can start with

[2:00:46] the use um about 2third of that patio maybe even more maybe 3/4 would be for

[2:00:52] all of the building uh tenants so it's a a kind of a shared communal space that would likely be attached inside to other

[2:00:58] amenities whether that's Fitness or kind of a club room feature and then there's a small portion maybe maybe a quarter of

[2:01:05] it that we did reserve for one of the tenants on that floor so that if a tenant did want a larger outdoor patio

[2:01:11] they'd have that as well um the size F you know we've started to program it and I think um I'll let them speak to

[2:01:17] exiting and code but um felt like the right size um for the size of the building you know as we start to program

[2:01:23] what would the uses be out there you know some grilling areas some outdoor seating um codewise I assume there's

[2:01:28] also a function of not needing another exit yeah it's it's kind of twofold with with needing another exit and just

[2:01:35] travel distance back to it within the building I will say that this image is depicting um a more conservative size I

[2:01:41] think in reality we're probably there and then all the way across um obviously subject to change

[2:01:49] based on our our um our code and life safety view but it will likely get larger and the it's all going to depend

[2:01:56] on the depth it goes away from the building and the travel distance back inside the building okay so you'd be limited

[2:02:02] essentially do you think by code by actually like if you were to have that entire surface area covered by pad in

[2:02:08] terms of being able to get back into okay I think we even I when we looked at I think you'd even have to look at you know an exterior stair that comes off

[2:02:14] the building to straight out as opposed to going back through the travel uh the path of travel inside okay okay well and

[2:02:21] and I think I mean it you know it may look like a small area here but when we've started to program it like it like

[2:02:28] you can fit a lot of stuff up there we've got like game like a game lawn we've got a grill we've got bar area

[2:02:37] Lounge Area fire pit it's it feels it feels uh pretty

[2:02:45] generous okay that's it thank you other questions

[2:02:55] you don't uh yeah I think most were answered thanks again for coming back great

[2:03:01] presentation um just getting back to kind of that east

[2:03:06] side I mean it'll go it'll fuel some of my comments I feel like there is opportunity there but um regardless of

[2:03:13] what you do and how you treat storm water um one of the ideas with previous

[2:03:19] project and kind of answer some of this like navigation it's like if you're biking or

[2:03:24] walking and you're coming from the East but you want to go north is there a reason that you guys

[2:03:31] didn't consider continuing the sidewalk around that north side of the building down to

[2:03:38] Eden there's kind of like just a swath of just landscape and for infiltration

[2:03:43] if you're serving you know everything coming in through pipes it's you can cover that in a sidewalk no problem is

[2:03:50] there is there a reason I I think I mean I think a a a bold Intrepid user who's

[2:03:56] familiar with the building might might use that route but it struck us the fact

[2:04:01] that that it is parking there aren't active uses there aren't eyes on the street it just seemed like a I don't

[2:04:08] know a liability to to invite pedestrians to go on that um unvisible

[2:04:15] those unvisible sides of the building and and what we did is we just what we wanted to do is just put all our eggs in

[2:04:22] the basket of of enriching Eden and Arcadian and inviting people to to

[2:04:27] circulate that way there is you do have to um go through a little more grade

[2:04:33] change you have to go down and go up one of the things we did study which we heard about in the um in the sketch plan

[2:04:39] review was to try to um short circuit some of that grade

[2:04:44] um but what we realized is we need to since we need to hit those existing crosswalks it just we couldn't we

[2:04:51] couldn't minimize that grade change you did slightly yes slightly slightly yes yeah

[2:04:59] we tried to bring it away from the roundabout we we had heard either at Planning Commission or Council of that kind of you know the roundabout when

[2:05:05] you're right next to it feels a little dangerous as you know you're coming around that corner um I I know we had that sidewalk before I think we were

[2:05:11] really trying to celebrate the the more Grand sidewalk I think you know long term if if the frontage road that um has

[2:05:19] been discussed ever does go in and you know hover many years you'd certainly have the ability to add it yeah I guess

[2:05:24] I guess I'm thinking like in this built circumstance like on day one I just

[2:05:30] can't imagine like the why someone would circulate along the along the east and

[2:05:36] north like there's it seems like they I don't know if that it's actually a shortcut to get

[2:05:42] anywhere but oh yeah I mean just distance-wise it's shorter and there's no elevation change so I mean you think

[2:05:49] of people who use an urban area they're going if they're going to commute they're going to take the shortest route

[2:05:56] possible and without it available you're inviting people through the building and the parking instead if

[2:06:03] they're going to try to cut it off and I think that's a wrong you know result of

[2:06:09] like you don't want that um maybe in the winter people want to do that walking

[2:06:15] you know you're walking through covered space but now again you're just inviting people to kind of walk through the

[2:06:20] parking area versus right cuz you still have stilt it's still like open right on that East

[2:06:27] Side it is yep so yeah I I mean doesn't seem like you're I guess walking along a

[2:06:35] wall it's kind of open so I I was curious and you know again I would I wouldn't care about that if that

[2:06:40] building was shifted All the Way East and took all that space out of there but now that you're leaving it there there's

[2:06:47] definitely more to be desired um

[2:06:53] we want to just keep maintaining for sets of a building even if it's like against a highway you know like it just

[2:06:58] offers more mobility and kind of maybe provides other options of like maybe you

[2:07:04] prefer to park your bike on that north side and whatever um you make it easier

[2:07:09] to get yeah you want to tie on to that yeah just to add on to what

[2:07:15] um uh Jimmy was sharing here I know at some other buildings what they actually

[2:07:20] do is they use use those walk around the buildings as a walking meeting so

[2:07:27] typically you have a meeting in an office room you know you kind of book a room but then what I see a lot of

[2:07:32] managers do now is they use uh these spaces outside to hold your meetings so

[2:07:39] you do your one-on ones while you walk so that's just an idea of an amenity or

[2:07:44] a value that you can give your tenants that they could walk around the building and and hold meetings sure and I I think part of it

[2:07:51] was trying to bring the energy candidly to Arcadia and trying to not put it on in between a parking garage and a

[2:07:59] highway um you know there's a whole bunch of Buckthorn there today I just I don't think it's going to be a great

[2:08:04] experience over there um just you know trying to bring the energy and bring all of that to Arcadia where hopefully the

[2:08:10] the public RFP site you know gets developed and hopefully the area continues to develop and we've got a really nice Boulevard along Arcadia with

[2:08:17] some of those changes that we're looking at it's a um maybe last question it's kind of figy

[2:08:24] backs what uh commissioner felt but could you go back to the west elevation I feel

[2:08:30] like when you see this side of the building just Mass wise it it's a bit

[2:08:35] more digestible and kind of um let's just say matches maybe some more of the

[2:08:40] intent of the framework which was kind of smaller masses and getting taller you know along the freeway which we talked

[2:08:47] about and how you guys kind of decided you know to turn it the other way um but

[2:08:53] I guess seeing the one North elevation I I definitely do have concerns of you

[2:08:59] know without you know one side being taller than the other it it is just a really long

[2:09:05] continuous um run of sameness so like if we were to not approve that

[2:09:12] variance for instance like what kind of design features come to mind that you

[2:09:17] could break up without significantly increasing and cost um just so just so

[2:09:24] we have an idea of what could be feasible don't want to just say no and

[2:09:29] then not have an option for you I think it'd be something we'd have to study right now because I think given the the

[2:09:35] kind of purity of the massing as it is there's not a there's not a easy button so to speak you know there's always the

[2:09:40] idea of just shifting the glass box to be kind of two offset glass boxes but I think from an architectural perspective

[2:09:46] we'd want to vet to make sure that that's not just arbitrary um and it and it both functions on the interior and it

[2:09:53] functions a purpose on the exterior aside from just breaking it up um you know one thing just to quickly note is

[2:10:00] that that that first portion of that parking on the North side does push out so there is some depth relief um from

[2:10:07] the from the cult the podium condition to the building proper but um yeah I'm

[2:10:13] sorry did you just say it pushes like the front of those cars is open to the sky correct there's a portion of this of

[2:10:20] that has a need level that you can kind of see just the tips of the tops of cars there obviously we're going to block headlights um so those won't be visible

[2:10:28] but um yes that the portion of the podium does push out you can see it in plan actually as

[2:10:35] well there see where that dark line um oh I can do this here that's the

[2:10:41] building above is this this dark gray box

[2:10:48] here and was there a reason you did that beside Aesthetics it also was a parking

[2:10:55] efficiency as well we were utilizing the site in order to get another depth of vehicle there and and a bit of the

[2:11:00] setback as well otherwise you'd bring the building all the way back out and then you'd have a solid wall up 81 feet

[2:11:06] there right and I think you know we we certainly can study we we knew that this

[2:11:13] one would come up with the length on the north um my concern is that we're going to break it up just to break it up and

[2:11:18] if if we have to we can certainly look at it but you know we're really close I think we're 212 and it's 200 um candly

[2:11:25] we're probably going to end up with a jog that's just a jog to not have that variance um you know we would look at

[2:11:31] the architecture of course and try to find something that obviously works well you know is it is it again looking at

[2:11:36] balconies I don't think that's the right answer but um so from that other elevation you do have a a stairwell that

[2:11:42] kind of sticks up only to serve the first level it's a it's a transfer condition

[2:11:49] okay just thinking you know maybe there's something you could carry that

[2:11:57] up I definitely have a hang up with not shifting the building East and so one of the questions that I'm just still

[2:12:03] thinking about is you know sometimes with the the storm water mitigation you

[2:12:09] know it can get like buried under a portion of the building you know and you sacrifice some parking and you know you

[2:12:16] have your foundation wall kind of over to one side um was of that considered to

[2:12:22] kind of maximize because I I just see this and I think this is really great but the

[2:12:30] next step better is again to get more space on that west side and

[2:12:37] um kind of in line with the you know the soud design experience guidelines as

[2:12:42] well as this the Grand View framework of you know that that notion of stepping

[2:12:48] the building back because again as I see it you're coming down Arcadia and you have a five-story

[2:12:56] building right next to you and just stepping back that first level I feel

[2:13:02] like you guys kind of did the opposite in one way but improved it for half the

[2:13:08] building you know where you have that balcony for the main level stick out but

[2:13:13] now it's kind of stuck under the building

[2:13:19] um when you're walking there it's going to feel really tall I mean you're right up against a five-story building and

[2:13:26] getting back to the framework you know a lot of that density and height is calling to be on the freeway so I'm okay

[2:13:32] with it coming over but being right up next to the sidewalk um without much

[2:13:38] relief it it has more left to be desired I'd

[2:13:44] say so like just trying to understand of like why you tucked the dock in versus brought it out and pushed the building

[2:13:50] over over instead yeah I mean the the move of sort of tucking the dock in what we realized

[2:13:57] is the the impediment to getting um access to multiple points along U along

[2:14:04] the west is that steeply sloping street it's very hard to to to get multiple

[2:14:10] points of entry on a steeply SL sloping street so this allowed us to sort of create a secondary Street that's

[2:14:18] parallel to um to the sidewalk on Eden but is level and then allows um multiple

[2:14:24] points of Entry I just yeah I it'll probably be

[2:14:30] more of my comments but I just wanted to understand that more because just from like the Urban Design and walkability

[2:14:36] perspective it's kind of the opposite it has that Vibe of you know like you're walking in Manhattan and you got the

[2:14:42] scaffolds over you that's it's not what you want you want the opposite where you

[2:14:47] know the lower level is coming out at you and it doesn't feel so tall cuz you

[2:14:52] don't see the top and and by doing this it accommodates one but just it feels

[2:14:59] like it's a little more imposing now and I and I I don't know I'm just wrestling with that like I didn't really see it

[2:15:06] from these but seeing the nice renderings um just just trying to see if

[2:15:12] there's any more relief that could have been done a different way and just wanted to understand if you guys

[2:15:18] consider the opposite but I I see your point with juggling the grade changes that's where I just look at I'm

[2:15:25] looking at the sight view or the site plan and it just looks like everything could still move East you know quite a

[2:15:32] bit you know at least 10 ft to the property line and that's where I would

[2:15:37] for sure give up a lot of the setbacks close to the highway so I know that's

[2:15:43] where you had the storm water but I feel like you could waste some parking and bury it under the building um yeah I

[2:15:49] don't know I mean that didn't come up I know that I don't know that if V is one of the municipalities that allows that

[2:15:58] um some municipalities do and some absolutely don't like the the building code strictly says that storm uh

[2:16:07] Plumbing or storm which is interpreted as storm water tanks need to be 10 feet away from a building Foundation but some

[2:16:13] municipalities Minneapolis being one allows you to stick it under your lowest level of parking yeah cuz if you're on a

[2:16:20] small site and you build it to the edges like you have to have it under your building somewhere so that that's just

[2:16:27] what came to mind and I I feel like if the design were that way maybe I

[2:16:33] won't have as many questions or reservations honestly so it's just kind of where I'm at um that's it for my

[2:16:41] questions any other questions yeah yeah commissioner fa to

[2:16:47] your um thought I do like the walkway

[2:16:52] the public walkway in front having that underneath I just want it to continue around the

[2:16:58] building right that's where I'd want to go and and right now you've got it kind of cut off because for the restaurant

[2:17:05] and that the public can't go all the way around oh I see um oddly enough we are

[2:17:11] uh looking at that um and possibly needing exiting so we would look at um

[2:17:17] you know it wouldn't be a sidewalk per se because obviously you know but um

[2:17:22] we're looking at a connection that would come here and either turn north to here or come down to the sidewalk okay yeah I

[2:17:29] mean because that becomes another streetcape and I think and it also provides a nice exit out of there

[2:17:36] heading towards East so and pedestrians like that I think we will be doing that it's just a matter of does it turn north

[2:17:41] or does it I think it probably turn South down to the side it's just a matter of is the character that yeah and

[2:17:48] then I agree with you about about I don't want to see uh an elevation shift or mass shift just

[2:17:56] to do a um check yeah to check a box but

[2:18:02] one of the things that has always seemed most unresolved to me um is this garage

[2:18:09] entrance when I see the the little open areas it seems like a little

[2:18:17] postmodern um happening right yeah the interest the garage and then the window

[2:18:22] spacing right above that yeah those those will uh be a separate material

[2:18:29] we're looking at you know a metal panel that likely covers those of some sort so that you won't see that but uh you'll

[2:18:34] really I mean you'll read a different material but it won't be open and it will not be okay so I'm just saying in

[2:18:42] in terms of thinking about that 212 fet versus the 200 ft CU I do think it's

[2:18:49] there for a reason and as soon as we start start letting those variances happen they'll happen I'm just saying

[2:18:55] that that feels unresolved and that 200 ft and the other thing is um

[2:19:01] commissioner alar mentioned this a little bit like finding the front entrance right now with setting it back

[2:19:09] and the kind of similar or like all cream

[2:19:14] colored you can't it's hard to see the entrance is

[2:19:20] an entrance separate than the than the other one so it just seems like it needs a little bit more so

[2:19:25] I'm those those pieces feel a little unresolved to me sure okay thank

[2:19:33] you all right I think that's it for questions this is a public

[2:19:39] hearing all right so thank you stay stay stay tuned um we'll open this to a

[2:19:45] public hearing like last time you guys can sit down and we'll probably bring you back up if we have more questions

[2:19:52] later um public hearing so for those who might have just tuned in um and are tuning in

[2:20:00] virtually if you'd like to participate and testify please call the following number 312 535

[2:20:09] 8110 and enter access code 2868

[2:20:14] 688 0356 the password is 5454

[2:20:21] and press star three on your keypad to get into the Quee to speak while we let

[2:20:26] you do that as we'll look to this room is anyone here that would like to testify

[2:20:33] in person please come forward to either Podium and you have three minutes to do so State your full name and

[2:20:47] address all right not seeing anyone good just I don't know where we're at in that minute maybe give it another 30 seconds

[2:20:55] yeah another 15 maybe

[2:21:14] okay nobody has joined the queue to speak so I think we're safe to proceed

[2:21:21] welcome a motion to close a public hearing motion to close the public

[2:21:27] hearing second all those in favor say I I public hearings close all right we'll

[2:21:33] bring it back to the commission deliberate um maybe if we have questions for each other we could start with that

[2:21:39] otherwise I'd say let's just go on line with comments um and yeah commiss Al um

[2:21:47] I wanted to just maybe it's for director Teague the the 200

[2:21:56] foot uh code where does that come from and what's the what's the objective is

[2:22:02] it entirely visual or is that related to the 200 ft mini blocks in Southdale for

[2:22:09] pedestrian experience or where's what's it all about it does come from the design

[2:22:14] experience guidelines in Southdale um the idea is yet had to not have that

[2:22:21] solid 200 foot wall um we struggled with this one a little bit because it is broken up on

[2:22:28] the main level like like we've talked about um but that's the origin of it it comes

[2:22:35] from the Southdale design guidelines maybe some other Commissioners have a point of view on

[2:22:40] this but so I've always understood it it had to do with pedestrian experience more than visual although I I can see

[2:22:48] how a large blank wall will have a visual impact as well that am I do I have that wrong or

[2:22:54] right it's both it's more of just like the cheapest way to build it is a solid wall with no

[2:23:01] articulation or feature and we just don't want to accommodate you know the

[2:23:06] cheapest version to build something because it sacrifices Aesthetics as well as if you go much over that then yeah

[2:23:13] now The Pedestrian experience is less desirable

[2:23:21] does the balcony count as a break that counts as a break in the in the

[2:23:35] measurement Comm Nelson also brought up related to materials and I I'd seem to

[2:23:41] agree more than disagree about that too um with all glass and then just in metal

[2:23:48] panels and then not kind of knowing what the next next one is I I kind of I feel like I want to know a little more you

[2:23:55] know like is there going to be some natural material like if it is kind of a wood look maybe that satisfy it but I

[2:24:01] think we do lose some maybe without grounding it in some you know stone or

[2:24:07] brick kind of coming down the level but I don't know if other people have thought about that

[2:24:16] too do you have further thoughts on it

[2:24:34] and your mic thank you yeah that I guess it's all you know

[2:24:41] it was it was just more of a break somewhere there with different materials and and looking differently more like we

[2:24:48] had it with the guideline

[2:24:56] to your comment about the cheapest thing to build is a square box in my mind if it was a very interesting exterior of a

[2:25:03] square box I would probably object less um the balconies are high up right so

[2:25:10] that doesn't create the engagement with this this rest of the neighborhood The

[2:25:16] Pedestrian environment um so in in my mind I I

[2:25:21] don't it may check a box but I don't necessarily get the benefit from a design perspective of those

[2:25:29] balconies I I agree that the variation in materials especially along the the

[2:25:35] first floor and um The Pedestrian scape are a little lacking or you're not

[2:25:40] fully developed and um commissioner Maryweather mentioned the um parking on

[2:25:45] the front the parking on the back seem really unresolved in my mind and that is

[2:25:52] part of The Pedestrian way of approaching the building um I know it's back a house but there's no renderings

[2:26:00] of it really that made me feel like I understood how walking by that was going

[2:26:05] to relate to this building in a way that felt like you weren't coming in the

[2:26:14] back a question for you guys when you were talking about Scandinavian material

[2:26:20] on the first floor I'm assuming you mean

[2:26:27] wood that's correct yeah the the lighter would look kind of like white oak material okay and and

[2:26:36] concrete yes yes yeah sorry it's it's called out in the materials of I think I believe it's called out as a wood look

[2:26:44] metal panel maybe yeah can't remember and just to be kind of clear with what we're studying is two of the options are

[2:26:50] a real wood material obviously we have to vet um both cost and durability and all the other things so when when we

[2:26:57] hear natural material would um certainly would apply to a natural material it's

[2:27:02] you know obviously executing it in a type 1 building um has its challenges and we're that's why we've got hundreds

[2:27:08] of samples at our desks right now trying to figure this out but the idea would that be this has a feel and a texture

[2:27:15] and um a warmth of a natural material

[2:27:21] was for me if there's that warmth or a little bit more of that warmth on the

[2:27:27] main level or the dock or this dock piece as it shifts through the building

[2:27:32] not just on one side but maybe all the way through and that that is at a

[2:27:40] pedestrian at height and right in if you I I think if you if

[2:27:47] you can experience the wood um at your height as you walk around this building I think that would be an

[2:27:54] attractive thing going add

[2:28:03] something mainly what kind of what's already been said really around the how the dock is set off from the rest of the building and the resolv on kind of a

[2:28:10] little bit unresolved how that's going to be play in and then also the entrance from back like commissioner Hanan said

[2:28:17] not feeling like feel we didn't see a lot of Def there see how that kind of interplays with this

[2:28:24] um so yeah in terms of like architectual how much it stands out how

[2:28:31] much it's you know um less of a glass box and more of Vis something visually

[2:28:37] interesting I just would it's more around that dock piece and how I guess you said have it's warm all the way

[2:28:43] through and how it stands out compared to the rest of the building if it's like visually I don't know intriguing

[2:28:49] compared to the B that sits underneath like that would be a good thing um but I

[2:28:54] don't know that that would that all that has been completely 100% set in stone yet use my metaphor

[2:29:04] yeah other questions for each other anything

[2:29:10] doing yeah you got something no yeah this is definitely a

[2:29:16] interesting project just a question for the commissioners on the glass box

[2:29:22] idea I know stone and brick is kind of a

[2:29:27] material that emphasizes quality you know you can kind of see it with this building a little bit on the outside uh

[2:29:33] but if we project into the future you know as we look at you know 20 years out you know what would be considered modern

[2:29:41] design in the future and and I'm guessing it might be leaning more towards glass so I guess the question I

[2:29:47] have for folks on the commission is you know is is glass that you could see as a

[2:29:54] future material for more of this area or do we still think that stone and brick

[2:30:01] is kind of what the standard should be for this

[2:30:08] region happy to jump in um the John Deere building that was done

[2:30:15] by Erol sarin in 1968 in Molen Illinois um is still a beautiful building and

[2:30:23] it's been there for can I I can't count 60 years um m

[2:30:31] vandero i mean there's been a lot of metal buildings that have been a glass

[2:30:36] um buildings that been around and part of the reason why I think I'm okay with this is because there's two or three or

[2:30:44] four there's several bills in front of the Minnesota house and the Minnesota um

[2:30:51] State Senate um that are look and they've got bipartisan support they were

[2:30:56] there last year they're there this year um they seem to be gathering a little bit more

[2:31:04] um yeah support and may make it out of house and might get voted on and and and

[2:31:11] who knows how they'll come out but some

[2:31:16] of the things they're talking about are taken away the number of public meetings that

[2:31:23] cities can H um have um a um um taking

[2:31:28] away the right of cities to kind of talk about or weigh in on um some residential

[2:31:36] development on Commercial projects that anything can be done it just has to be worked out with staff and another one is

[2:31:42] taken away um aesthetic requirements from cities and I'm starting to think

[2:31:48] that that might be the more democratic thing to do and one of the reasons I'm comfortable here is because this is op's

[2:31:54] headquarters they this is not a cheap spec building this is their

[2:32:01] saying this is what we do and so I think they're going to do it well um I think

[2:32:06] there's still a few things to kind of work out but I'm okay with

[2:32:13] this I would say currently it is in our code for material so I mean that's part

[2:32:19] of it too it's not not just a choice that you have to right first 60 feet or

[2:32:25] whatever it is yeah also though I think uh

[2:32:30] commissioner Smith to address your point in terms of what the future holds I mean

[2:32:36] part of it is according to what the requirements are and what's in the code but it also has to do with consumer

[2:32:42] demand so and I think in what I'm hearing um um from Nick is that this is

[2:32:49] what people this is the kind of thing that people want and that this has appeal to to buyers of of of the space

[2:32:56] and stuff so I think that's also a determinative factor of what the future is going to look like too and and to

[2:33:03] commissioner ph's Point um I think a very well-made point is the fact that this is their headquarters you're not

[2:33:09] going to have a developer you know developers going to have you know a headquarters that's going to be an

[2:33:14] example um you know as a building so

[2:33:21] I don't know if this answers it but there's Dimensions to that question too just about shape so I think kind of like

[2:33:28] commissioner Nelson mentioned I for one like I think it would look more

[2:33:34] appealing to have those four glass stories be eight you know and narrower on one side you know where you have more

[2:33:41] of a glass tower you know some of it's the material but also like how broad it

[2:33:48] might be across a site especially compared to nothing else around it um so

[2:33:55] there's that too and I think most of it seems it feels like most of the comments and questions are really long the the

[2:34:01] ground level and when you look at just historic places you know brick and stone

[2:34:06] have lasted Millennia in places that are storefront you know where there's glass

[2:34:12] and or something open but those materials will always last and be at

[2:34:19] least least I mean if you go by that logic will be appreciated when you look

[2:34:24] at some of the other historic areas around town and the like 50th in France

[2:34:30] you know what's nice about it right up against the RightWay or as close as we

[2:34:36] can you know to set by axes you know your proximity to those materials so like if if you're interfacing it it's

[2:34:43] like kind of the brick and stone may add more of a warmth than metal panel and

[2:34:49] con just those are typically more industrial materials if treated well or

[2:34:56] like have a fac like a faux finish like wood it can be better but I mean there's layers to you know

[2:35:03] what we want but that kind of has Benny din's guideline and you look around the city and a lot of what is built around

[2:35:09] here has more of those durable

[2:35:15] materials I mean I don't know if we wanted just go

[2:35:20] down the line and just share comments and then if there's a particular motion and just a reminder this you know this

[2:35:26] ultimately is decided upon to the city council so um if if there's a motion

[2:35:33] with like a condition or maybe one particular item isn't finding

[2:35:39] support um that's okay also we could add a condition if there's like a very

[2:35:46] particular element or part of the building or something that we want addressed better we can tack that on and

[2:35:54] then it's more of just like an asterisk to the council carry anything else worth

[2:36:00] noting uh no I I think that that sums it up you can pull out a certain variants

[2:36:06] and just vote on that

[2:36:14] um I'm struggling a little bit because these images are a lot more developed

[2:36:21] albeit there's still some pieces that um I have question marks around than the

[2:36:27] ones that are in our packet and I came in here with a set of thoughts based on those images and um I'm trying to Pivot

[2:36:34] in place um there's been a lot of really good

[2:36:40] comments I guess maybe fundamentally what I'm struggling with is I think since 2023 and the other project there's

[2:36:46] been some really clear conversation from planning from the mayor from Council

[2:36:52] about where we see variances or exceptions for this partiel sort of like

[2:36:58] easy no-brainer everybody's on board with more height closer to the highway

[2:37:04] and those aren't really the variances we're talking about here so trying to

[2:37:10] wrap my brain around um the direction that's been sort of reiterated

[2:37:15] throughout the conversations about this space and ju opposing to what they are asking

[2:37:23] for which isn't sort of the direction they've I think a lot of the conversation has been in and

[2:37:32] um still and again my bigger struggle with small area plans with these guiding

[2:37:39] documents I don't think this checks a lot of the boxes that those guiding documents created for Grand View whether

[2:37:47] or not we should be creating those that's a a separate conversation but it does feel hard

[2:37:53] to to give variances for a project that we aren't

[2:37:59] as a city getting the public spaces or the public goods or the dynamic that we were envisioning for that space

[2:38:08] um so that's just what I'm wrestling with you know honestly I would love to take this deck and just sit with it for

[2:38:14] a minute because it it does feel very different than what was in the package um

[2:38:21] um so yeah that's where I

[2:38:30] am well I I for one you know the the lot is more densely used than

[2:38:37] the guidelines and I think we want more density so I appreciate um that and I'm okay with the

[2:38:44] density variance I'm okay with the setback variances um I am okay with the glass on

[2:38:50] top I think if the um and I actually think we're getting a couple of public spaces

[2:38:57] without any kind of Tiff ask at all the corner

[2:39:02] sidewalk the reverse curve to the roundabout um or the pulling back a

[2:39:09] different kind of um diameter to that provides a little public space without

[2:39:16] the city having to pay for it and if there is an exit um so you can kind of

[2:39:23] walk up and go to the restaurant that's another little public secret space that

[2:39:29] I think we get without having to pay for it um so I think if the main floor this

[2:39:36] dock idea was a little friendlier um

[2:39:41] warmer maybe in some way and if there's some resolution to that parking entrance

[2:39:48] I think we talked about that last time as well um and if that could help with

[2:39:54] that expans of 200 ft I I mean I'm not going to die on the

[2:40:00] 200 feet I'm just saying I'm probably not going to vote Yes on that one and

[2:40:06] all the other ones I agree

[2:40:14] with I like this project I don't know I think this is a over over all like a

[2:40:19] huge benefit for this area I mean to be able to get a headquarters of a of a

[2:40:25] company and to get a bunch of other tenants and you I'm looking at an aerial view right now of Grand View and it's

[2:40:33] just like the worst you could possibly it um not to blame anybody but I mean

[2:40:39] I'm I'm looking I'm looking at all the other sites I'm looking at everything else it's the street it's a massive

[2:40:46] surface parking lot and then it's a building that doesn't have anything interesting or activating

[2:40:53] about it whatsoever and that just goes parcel after parcel after after parcel and then sometimes there's a building

[2:40:59] right in the middle of like an entire moonscape of surface proberbly around the entire thing and for this area to

[2:41:04] change like you got to like start incrementally and there's one the the avidor looks like it it did well but

[2:41:10] then this one does a lot of I think what we're looking for I mean it activates the corner nicely it puts something

[2:41:16] interesting on the corner that's not there now um you I thought you did a thoughtful job

[2:41:22] of of making it so that people could circulate around the restaurant or

[2:41:27] whatever the tenant ends up being there and sit outside and and and activate the space that way I think you did a pretty

[2:41:34] good job of activating Arcadia I me can't go the whole way up because of the the parking issue um

[2:41:40] but this is a tough area this is and I think this this checks a lot of boxes

[2:41:47] for starting to to build a structure out to the edges of these streets the right

[2:41:53] way and then hopefully like it fills in and people follow along um and the whole

[2:41:59] area kind of improves and changes along with it so and some of this stuff is a little bit subjective you know I think

[2:42:04] everybody had really good comments here on the commission about materials and Aesthetics and you know whatever and I I

[2:42:10] all those comments are good ones the glass itself doesn't really bother me but that's just a personal subjective preference um and the fact the behind

[2:42:17] the building on the freeway side isn't particularly activated also doesn't bother me I don't think anybody's going

[2:42:23] back there for anything um and I like I think it is right to push the attention the focus to the corner to the

[2:42:29] roundabout and to the part of Arcadia that that we hope people will be spending time on um so that like this

[2:42:35] sets starts to set a little bit of a precedent and then continues on so you know there's there's some interesting

[2:42:41] questions I think to be had around some of the specific variances and and we'll see how how people feel about that but

[2:42:47] overall I mean I think this would be um I this would do

[2:42:52] a lot for the area in a positive way so that's

[2:43:01] it uh I just want to be real quick on a question actually now that it's came up

[2:43:06] about the 200 feet piece is that actually a variance being requested that we're voting on because I don't I mean

[2:43:13] is that codified in terms of needing of Varan here because we've mentioned that multiple times now not like you just

[2:43:19] said they wouldn't support a variance for the 200 feet but I don't understand where that fits in we did notice it as a variance

[2:43:27] initially and then we've had the discussion about because it's on the

[2:43:32] main level it sticks out does that satisfy the

[2:43:38] code so I guess the question remains we could

[2:43:44] address it here okay so

[2:43:50] TBD I mean so I mean I guess that's a question then for us the commission to

[2:43:55] think about right is that is do we need a variance request for that here right that's what we're asking and whether

[2:44:01] that actually fulfills the code or not yeah and you could make a condition uh

[2:44:07] of the project that at the top level that side should meet that 200

[2:44:14] foot provision to make it clear that we're not just talking on the lower level but the upper as well okay

[2:44:23] okay okay all right I'm sure we'll talk a little bit more about that here in a second

[2:44:30] um one thing I wanted to return to was the discussion on the small area plan piece um having just come out of a small

[2:44:37] area plan recently and developing one um and thinking about how will that evolve

[2:44:42] over the next few years um and I know in the previous discussion the sketch plan review you talked a lot about Grand View

[2:44:48] and I guess you know some of the difficulty with this site for me um and I think as

[2:44:55] we think about how it integrates with the small area plan is that it's kind of the first real big thing coming in now

[2:45:01] because the bottom kind of fell out of the small area plan when the public work site kind of went right and that was

[2:45:06] kind of the anchor of which the Grand View site was built on um so seeing like

[2:45:11] you know everything was kind of your favorite sketch right was there's a public work site it's really built up

[2:45:17] and nice um and how we like interplay with that site and then one now again once that fell through okay we're kind

[2:45:24] of rebuilding this um and then here lies in the difficulty of small area plans um

[2:45:30] if if I think about Lincoln London are and in one of the corners you know somebody built a gas station and then

[2:45:37] one of the industrial tenants decided they never wanted to leave for the next 100 years uh it kind of really puts a

[2:45:42] big you know that really really hurts our small area plan and how we envisioned that coming through um and

[2:45:48] then how the planning Comm the city council kind of I guess tee off on that development and you know what happens

[2:45:54] all right if if there's a lot of change in like I guess the underlying assumptions around the smio plan um so

[2:46:03] you know as far as so as we talk about so sorry let me step back again small

[2:46:08] area plan you know I think overall the activation piece um kind of being the

[2:46:15] first in in Step here it brings more life and commun

[2:46:20] and activity to the Grand View area it's kind of like will said it's not just surface parking and you know a desert

[2:46:27] Circus parking around a building um I do think that there is a little bit to be

[2:46:32] desired on the east side kind of like you said in terms of or sorry West Side

[2:46:37] um the building being able to push East you know I think when I look at this and this is just maybe just a very personal

[2:46:44] preference thing um and I think about how the deck and the sidewalk there that big swath of green space I like

[2:46:51] vegetation don't get me wrong trees and everything but I actually think it takes away from the activation just a little

[2:46:56] bit rather than having that be like open when I think about the original proposal that was here and it was kind of like a

[2:47:03] park and there was a sculpture and stuff like that that seemed more active to me than what is here um because once those

[2:47:10] trees mature you're not might you might not see that balcony quite as much and once this really it does fill in again

[2:47:17] you're kind of on the sidewalk and there's there it's nice there's vegetation but maybe a little bit something left that we desired there um

[2:47:24] so I think if we're in a perfect world yes this would step back more um and

[2:47:29] maybe act be a little more active on that West Side um but that being said

[2:47:35] you know nothing's ever perfect um I think it's a a pretty great proposal as

[2:47:41] as it's come forward um and you know I'm sure you'll have more to say on that on

[2:47:47] that west side but yeah so recap the small area plan piece again difficulty

[2:47:52] there I don't want to get too hung up on how this does or does not fit into what was there because the small area plan to

[2:47:58] me it's kind of a little bit it's been destroyed a little bit by the fact that the public work site is not defined um

[2:48:05] and then yeah I talked about the activation piece so okay all right

[2:48:11] that's what I got thank you again for the presentation

[2:48:17] I just want to acknowledge all the hard work that you guys put into this project I could see that there's a lot of thinking a lot of thought um when I look

[2:48:24] at this site and the size of it one thing one thought comes to my mind is the theory of constraints right you have

[2:48:31] a lot of constraining things that you're trying to work within and you're trying to do do the best you can within a an

[2:48:37] irregular shaped spot that's on a slope and so I think um what you've put

[2:48:42] together here really Incorporated quite a bit of the ideas that we shared the last time um when I looked through all

[2:48:49] the variances I was on the com and the comparables like the flow area ratio um

[2:48:54] the height um all the other elements the setback requirements all those make

[2:49:00] sense to me um since these are really large streets and so um it all made

[2:49:06] sense to me from that perspective so I'm o okay with those requirements setback

[2:49:12] requirements the only um the two items that you addressed was how you would activate the dock on top and I think you

[2:49:19] covered that um with what you think the the proportion of that would be useful

[2:49:26] and the fact that you have to exit back into the building to get out which limits the amount of space on top you

[2:49:33] could activate so I think you answered my questions there um on the utility on

[2:49:38] the electrical box on the North side I Circle that one for discussion I think you cover that as well and there's going

[2:49:44] to be some screening that would go into that space um as I was kind of mentioning

[2:49:49] before with the amount of glass I'm actually okay with the glass I see that as a future type of material and I think

[2:49:57] this being your Flagship corporate site right that's

[2:50:02] important right cuz you're kind of projecting to your potential clients here's the quality of the work that we

[2:50:07] do the only thing that I think kind of kept bubbling up here was just on the materials um on the first level and so I

[2:50:16] know we have this idea of the metal that look like wood and its panels um but it seems like the Leaning

[2:50:24] seems to be more on that stone brick material so if you had a rendering of

[2:50:30] that on the first level I think that would really connect and ground as you were saying the building to the rest of

[2:50:36] the area that might be a change that I would like to see

[2:50:41] um as as as as one I one aspect here the

[2:50:46] rest of the project I like what you've done with trying to activate uh the the west side and and uh

[2:50:55] to commission as days Days point there might be some opportunities to open up that space a bit more to to activate it

[2:51:04] when you walk up the street on the west side and you look at the building it's recessed and I like that because it kind

[2:51:11] of gives some kind of depth right so it's not completely a a a glass wall in

[2:51:17] front of you and so so if you look Beyond 20 ft up then it's a glass wall

[2:51:22] but if your eyesight is between 0 and 20 ft it's recessed and it's like kind of

[2:51:27] inviting so I think recessing the dock made sense and putting the chairs and

[2:51:33] the benches and The Umbrellas and such out there really helped a

[2:51:38] lot so I think overall I really like this project I like what you guys are trying to do again it's a theory of

[2:51:44] constraints right you're trying to do as much as you can to meet all your requirements in a very uh irregular

[2:51:51] shaped site um I think considering the material

[2:51:56] choices on the first floor might be a factor opening up the activation on the

[2:52:01] West Side might be a factor that you should look at but overall I'm in support of the concept that you're going

[2:52:08] for and and and the glass idea I think that modernizes that space quite a bit

[2:52:14] so that's you know that's just my my my thoughts on Project overall

[2:52:25] uh we haven't talked very much about uh sustainability um I understand that um you are not

[2:52:34] required you know if if we um if it becomes pcd2 um you're not required to

[2:52:41] follow the sustainability um guidelines um because that only applies for uh

[2:52:48] projects and puds but um I still think it uh deserves

[2:52:54] conversation or addressing um and because you did there was a

[2:53:01] sustainability um questionnaire in there so I did not see a commitment um um to

[2:53:09] recycling even on the scrap and the demolished materials which I think is

[2:53:14] kind of a minimum effort that I would really like to see made um there's no gray water usage the only

[2:53:21] thing we heard addressed tonight was that we're going to put pollinators which is great um but in terms of

[2:53:26] building materials um um no recycling no Organics I would really like to see some

[2:53:33] effort made in the whole sustainability um there was I think one mention of um

[2:53:39] some EV charging stations um which I imagine that you'll do and hope you have

[2:53:45] more um and then um

[2:53:51] tangentially um I think you did a a great job with the um was it short-term

[2:53:56] and long-term um bike areas which is great but I was very disappointed to see

[2:54:03] that um the city doesn't anticipate putting any bike Lanes or bike paths in

[2:54:08] it's not in their five-year Capital Improvement plan which is really unfortunate because I think the area

[2:54:14] around there um is a good area to bike but I don't think that the roundabouts

[2:54:21] um lend themselves or or or um make biking any safer in that area um I do

[2:54:31] appreciate um the comparisons Carri that you gave us um with the nearby buildings

[2:54:37] and the prior approvals that were given to this area because that does give me some context even though um the zoning

[2:54:45] approvals were different it still gives me context for what um the city is

[2:54:51] considering in terms of acceptable size in F and things like that

[2:54:57] um now having all of that non withstanding um I do think it's a it's a

[2:55:03] great project and I think you bring uh diligence and tenacity to the project

[2:55:10] and to the area and I think it um really will

[2:55:16] um raise the profile of the area and I think I feel like it you know your your

[2:55:23] um presentation and a lot of the slide deck inspires confidence so I'm behind

[2:55:33] it I think it'd be really great for our city to have some top quality new office space in

[2:55:42] this location so completely on board with

[2:55:48] uh the community problem that this building solves I think it's consistent with our

[2:55:54] comprehensive plan um and also I think it'll facilitate further developments around

[2:56:01] it that will also support our comprehensive plan I think it's a good step forward for this area and for the

[2:56:09] city I don't have any problems with any of the variances I thought the staff

[2:56:15] report was very convincing and complete [Music]

[2:56:20] um and the the the variances seemed like smart ways of allowing something good to

[2:56:27] happen in our city whether or not the 200

[2:56:33] foot wall actually needs a variance or not I'm fine with that I know there are

[2:56:39] different points of view um my reason for being fine with it is that that Northern facing is going to

[2:56:46] be viewed almost entirely from a distance where most observers will not

[2:56:52] know the difference between 200 and 210 feet there's no pedestrian experience to

[2:56:58] protect uh to me it would be very different if that was really some place

[2:57:03] where pedestrians were going to be and across the street there was going to be another 210t wall that would be

[2:57:09] something that we're not trying to do to me this doesn't trouble me very

[2:57:16] much the two things that do trouble me and this is just something that I hope the I don't know if there's a need to

[2:57:22] put a condition or is something that the the group can

[2:57:27] really take a a careful look at I'm concerned about a safe and inviting

[2:57:32] pedestrian and bike access off of Eden others have mentioned that many of your

[2:57:38] customers in addition to uh commissioner felt will be coming from the East I'll

[2:57:44] be one of them and I just don't what I've seen so so far doesn't what I've seen so far makes me

[2:57:51] think that you want me to go all the way around the corner and maybe you do but it doesn't

[2:57:57] seem like the greatest way to to Market a product to people from the East the second thing that and I sort of

[2:58:04] mentioned this in the questions earlier I'm it's important that you have an inviting and obvious public access to

[2:58:11] the commercial space from Arcadia it should be I think this is in

[2:58:16] your best interest too it should should be 100% clear that the restaurant is a community amenity and not a building

[2:58:23] amenity and right now I know this is just a coincidence but where you said that the front door of the restaurant is

[2:58:28] going to be there's a tree in front of it in the drawing so let's make sure there's no trees in front of it and that

[2:58:33] when I'm looking from across the street or from the Jerry's ramp I say oh there's that restaurant that I want to

[2:58:38] go to or or whatever it ends up being I mean I would also I mean I would

[2:58:43] even like to see steps up from the sidewalk but I see what you see about the said I see what you mean about the

[2:58:49] grade and I don't know how daunting a Stairway that might be and maybe it's maybe we're better off without it but

[2:58:55] you get the point I mean people have to think that restaurant is for them not

[2:59:00] for Opus employees and for the other folks who were who were in your building that's all that's all for

[2:59:07] me all right well they uh this is a very topographically difficult

[2:59:13] site I think they've done some pretty amazing things especially from what was

[2:59:19] presented last time even though I wasn't here I did look back at what that was

[2:59:24] and the comparison you gave today it was very nice to have

[2:59:31] um again I I really appreciate the the public spaces without any dedicated Tiff to the

[2:59:39] project um a little bit of a pocket park as was mentioned there and the greenery

[2:59:46] and the the sidewalks now one thing I know it is on the rendering it probably

[2:59:51] just because it looks better but the um it stamped concrete there I I don't know if there's city code or what what what

[2:59:59] what can go there if that's really going to be stamped or not but guess it doesn't really

[3:00:04] matter um but yeah the the the public space is

[3:00:10] very nice um I like the concept of having a a a corporate headquarters in our town

[3:00:18] that brings a lot of value to the to Edina uh one thing I I noted when he

[3:00:27] spun the building around and showed that I think it was up on the North side initially I thought that was the east

[3:00:33] side we were looking at but uh the parking on that north side is a bit of

[3:00:40] an Ode to the building that's there because it almost looks like the stilt a

[3:00:45] little bit of that stilted building um parking situation there which again I

[3:00:50] don't I don't mind it's that's nice um I would like to again no control over

[3:00:58] this but I'd like to see that Highway 100 frish road on the north side of this building go away fairly

[3:01:05] soon and you didn't have that land to play with and and uh probably didn't contact mot about buying it because

[3:01:11] they're not going to give it to you so um but you know we thought it Envision

[3:01:17] this getting rid of all the different ramps that go on and off of Highway 100 and kind of limiting that

[3:01:23] um was a one of the goals of that that

[3:01:30] study um oh the parking I I asked the question

[3:01:35] about parking earlier and I apologize that was that was my air it was clearly shown on the on the Heights Building

[3:01:41] height study that there were the uh the levels there um the two below and one

[3:01:46] one above grade uh my feeling P personal again this is

[3:01:52] totally a personal feeling but ideally you know this this uh building would fit

[3:02:00] better on the public work site again that wasn't wasn't available to you but

[3:02:05] uh um again I don't want to hinder what happens on the public work site and I'd

[3:02:10] like to again see something happen over there fairly soon um again not really tied to this

[3:02:17] project so I'm getting off base here a little bit and I'm really not as concerned

[3:02:22] about the variance as as I was when I walked in here I I the the the setback

[3:02:28] variants I should say um you I think the building although it's a little

[3:02:34] oversized it it it does you know fit there and it allows for the um it looks

[3:02:39] a lot better on the West Side than it did with the previous version and and plenty of sidewalk you

[3:02:45] know circulation around at least along the street side um I'm not as concerned

[3:02:50] about the east side as some of the other Commissioners were having a a full path

[3:02:56] around the building that doesn't um ideally there'll be a be a road a

[3:03:02] little bit closer over there someday but we'll see where where where and when that

[3:03:09] happens um uh you know my feeling is this site

[3:03:16] needs to be redeveloped so I I applaud you for for stepping up and and being as

[3:03:22] diligent as you've been and been here how many time countless times it seems like to get this done I think you know a

[3:03:30] lot of buildings and a lot of space in Grand View does need to be redeveloped and I already mentioned

[3:03:36] Public Works site I'd like to see get redeveloped uh soon sooner than

[3:03:42] later and uh again I just my My overall feelings is there's just a lot of Varian

[3:03:49] of being being requested and and in a way trying to shoehorn this project in

[3:03:55] um it might just be too big for the site um but that's uh those are those are my

[3:04:02] thoughts on it commission Bennett can I ask a

[3:04:07] question oh yeah I was like what it's the voice of God yeah um am I correct in

[3:04:13] understanding that one of the things we're approving tonight is the site plan

[3:04:19] not just okay so how do we think about that when what was in our packet doesn't

[3:04:25] tie to what we were presented with tonight like I'm thinking about on the

[3:04:31] Eden side with the parking and the trucks tucking under so just I would like to be clear

[3:04:38] to under that was in the packet the the changes are that the renderings have been more revealing

[3:04:46] let's just more revealing

[3:04:53] yes didn't you say the trucks are coming in under the

[3:04:58] building that doesn't look is that the old one yeah let's just be sure

[3:05:06] here yeah where the kind of that black dashed line is

[3:05:25] there there's a revised site plan one of the attachments is labeled revised site

[3:05:31] plan which is reflective on the

[3:05:45] screen was a separate

[3:05:51] attachment what what page are you on in the you have the whole

[3:05:58] packet I just I wanted it for clarity of our motion um just to be clear what the

[3:06:05] site plan is but it may be my eror see what you're

[3:06:12] saying yeah that's incorrect

[3:06:19] that's a

[3:06:25] z-2 I don't know if you guys have

[3:06:30] that at least we can clarify what we're seeing right now should be reflected and

[3:06:37] we can at least add that condition that Mak sense yep and if if I could clarify

[3:06:43] before you get into your uh deliberation here on the 200 ft so staff believes

[3:06:51] that there's not a variance requested for that because it changes directions on the lower level

[3:06:58] however you can make a condition if that's something you're not comfortable with on the upper level to tie to the

[3:07:04] other variances for setbacks to require that that provision should be met on

[3:07:13] upper levels as well

[3:07:23] it's not clear can which specific ordinance because I I've seen the 200

[3:07:28] fet mentioned for p o and P but I didn't see it in the PCD ordinance section so

[3:07:35] I'm just trying to figure out which it reads this it the way the code reads is

[3:07:41] no building facade shall be longer than 200 ft without changing directions by a minimum of 90 degrees so it's not clear

[3:07:49] exactly is that is that in the PCD section specific section cuz I like I

[3:07:55] said I only had seen it in the p and p I hadn't seen it in the PC

[3:08:01] PCD that's why I was confused about that earlier check

[3:08:07] that and the only reason I do not mind a warehouse looking wall I mean I don't

[3:08:14] mind the 212 ft of glass and steel at all the only thing that it's bothering

[3:08:22] me about is if we have a 200t facade requirement is does the

[3:08:30] building if God forbid the hilltop goes away and they want to do a 220 foot long

[3:08:36] facade I mean I just want to make sure we're not opening the door

[3:08:41] for really long facades that's all

[3:08:52] well maybe to fill in some of this uh research time I can share some of my comments how about that you guys keep

[3:08:59] looking through that okay sweet all right you guys

[3:09:05] ready I have some comments so

[3:09:12] um let's just say more or less this is just very very exciting um this has been

[3:09:20] a property since the beginning of the framework and I served on a community advisory team as well following up on

[3:09:26] that um this seemed like an obvious site that was right for redevelopment and

[3:09:31] could be transformative in a variety of ways one of which is it it's it's kind

[3:09:37] of on this prominent corner and it's a funky site but topographically and how you approach it there's just such an

[3:09:43] opportunity to kind of you know there I I'd say there's like four entrances to

[3:09:49] Grand View area from different directions and this is one of them so this this kind of is like a a Gateway

[3:09:57] into this area from like the southeast and from the south so how you have the

[3:10:02] building oriented and just that just the amount of detail that's gone into you

[3:10:08] know tearing that wall down that's out there right now and kind of bringing people back into the site is just so in

[3:10:17] enticing and beautiful I mean looking at the renderings it's hard not to smile to be like this is going to be great that

[3:10:23] that that exact image and I feel like that shines and I would

[3:10:30] say my only hang up is maybe like a two-part thing and you know any Dina when you are served cake you know you

[3:10:37] want to eat it too so obviously it's like here's this beautiful cake and now I I need to have my

[3:10:43] opinions um but this to me you know feels like what

[3:10:51] it ought to look like when you're looking at the building as you walk up Arcadia and that's kind of that image

[3:10:57] that Carrie said I would love and I love and I love referencing I think it's like page 19 of the

[3:11:03] framework is you know back to what commissioner da said you know we we put together these Frameworks and these

[3:11:09] small area plans and it's not like it's trash because the Public Works site hasn't happened it was always imagined

[3:11:16] that this looking at each other and so from what I see here this is like just a

[3:11:24] killer welcome to this area and your building and your project and I just

[3:11:30] wish that was taken I wish that was taken around the corner more and I feel

[3:11:39] like what happened with stepping it in and kind of tucking the dock under the

[3:11:44] building is you kind of almost like ate the entrance and that welcoming on that

[3:11:50] other side you know like the buildings eating it instead of letting it come around the corner and

[3:11:55] so and I think I'd be okay with the materials if if that dock actually was

[3:12:01] still over and around because as you look at the west elevation um it's not as clear and

[3:12:08] prominent that this is like this really welcoming you know commercial space it's like here's this tall building over here

[3:12:15] and again what you won't see is as you're walking down that sidewalk I mean it is five stories right next to you and

[3:12:21] I mean that's not the type of um appearance you want there or from

[3:12:29] across the street so I feel like you know like if the building

[3:12:34] shifted back the 4 feet and you added a column line where that um infiltration thing is

[3:12:45] you know and then stepped your building back back a full column line so you still had a proud thing like I would I

[3:12:52] would just be like 100% like just design wise you have kind of like this Podium

[3:12:57] that brings The Pedestrian around and you could make a much more prominent and obvious entrance commissioner Aly was

[3:13:05] saying but currently with it underneath you know the lid it's it's it

[3:13:11] just has more to be desired um that said like if this was built you know tomorrow

[3:13:16] it it's going to going to be incredible it's just I feel like one of our key jobs is to like look

[3:13:24] at the future of this area and you know there's a framework developed around it and so we have to take mind of what's

[3:13:31] West as well as what's North like right now it's this ugly frontage road but

[3:13:37] eventually that might go away and the building across the street might develop

[3:13:43] and so as you build this like we hope this is sitting here for 50 100 years but if we do the wrong thing on two of

[3:13:50] the sides and then it redevelops like you're just you're losing opportunity and just passing it down the line so I

[3:13:58] would say if if for whatever reason you can't get creative and do some shifting

[3:14:04] or prominence with kind of that west side I think you need to do something on the east side to just draw people in and

[3:14:10] around and just use that space um and I

[3:14:15] would I would be okay with the 200 foot variants on

[3:14:20] the North side like I don't I also I'm fine with that as long as you know the West Side improves so I would I would

[3:14:28] more strongly recommend a brick or stone at that ground level where the parking

[3:14:34] is I I don't think tying metal panel into the ground um is necessary I think

[3:14:42] if you had that more natural material it's just a more warm break for a

[3:14:47] pedestrian to be walking down it'll feel more inviting and warm versus a metal

[3:14:53] panel so like it's very obvious you're walking by a parking entrance but there's ways to dress that with you know

[3:15:00] brick and different material and then at least as you look at the building from the public work site that whole first

[3:15:07] level would would look different which is I think what we would want you know more

[3:15:13] than at least that would tie in that kind of public realm into that amenity of the restaurant and I think just two

[3:15:21] things if if this remains this awesome office that with multiple tenants and you have this killer restaurant there um

[3:15:29] this is going to be just crazy successful I mean it'll be like the Hazelwood that's just not any Dina you

[3:15:36] know we just want more of that kind of concoction a mixed use um site that allows people to come

[3:15:44] in and gather that don't just work there so I think it's great great

[3:15:50] job any other comments yeah I'll go down the line oh sorry I just wanted to go

[3:15:56] back to the 200 foot thing so I was looking up so I was able to find it section 36- 618 number

[3:16:04] 11 I love the I love how our code is structured out yeah yeah number 11 Point

[3:16:10] c yeah that's what there you go so have to be very specific um but it is a pretty vague

[3:16:18] ordinance in terms of how that's written um so I I think we need have to have a

[3:16:24] discussion about what the intent there is and maybe it maybe it's something

[3:16:32] that we think about when we revisit the code here soon we talk about some clarity around that piece I mean that's

[3:16:38] a very specific thing but it's something worth revisiting since we're we're kind

[3:16:43] of don't have a good good answer to it right right now um yeah commissioner

[3:16:55] fell I would hate to lose the plinth like this the secondary kind of

[3:17:01] secret public walkway the what the plint the the the level base that the whole

[3:17:08] building is sitting on where that's where the patio is and that's where they're going to continue it down the

[3:17:14] east side I think the plant is I I just think like to commissioner DA's Point

[3:17:20] like you create such a buffer between the sidewalk in the building where the

[3:17:26] building's the shortest you know it's like you actually wanted the opposite so I feel like that plinth could still

[3:17:32] extend more to the West you know like it could it wouldn't be as nice you won't

[3:17:38] Peck as many things in there but like it's a little steeper but you still could get stuff there

[3:17:45] um but having that secondary balcony really is a huge amenity and if that

[3:17:51] carries around like you mentioned um that's

[3:17:57] great any other comments any potential motions I mean is

[3:18:03] there a particular item that people would feel strong enough to condition I

[3:18:10] know commissioner Al you had a couple points and you know again a condition is

[3:18:17] mostly just a note to the council at this point so if if there's General support for certain

[3:18:24] conditions I would say there probably is it seems like there's a number of things that deal with level

[3:18:32] one you have anything yeah I've been trying to think

[3:18:38] about how to word that so my main concern is um pedestrian and bike access off

[3:18:44] Eden so uh director Teague if we wanted the

[3:18:50] council to pay special attention to that in their review how would one word a

[3:18:56] condition any coaching on that yeah I was thinking about that um

[3:19:05] good you could add a add a condition there number 14 that the applicant consider

[3:19:17] revising the plans to provide a more safe pedestrian and bike access off of

[3:19:22] Eden into the building something to that effect sounds great thanks I'm writing

[3:19:27] that

[3:19:34] down and I'd like to add to that being able to kind of walk around the plen

[3:19:41] from rather than going down the hill and up the hill if you decide to get a cup of coffee you get to shortcut

[3:19:48] you get to walk all the way around the plint and down the east side on

[3:19:54] Eden know I'm curious i p l i n t h I think you could word that just a

[3:20:01] sidewalk around the building on the on the East and North

[3:20:11] Side Y but can I follow up to to to your

[3:20:18] point though how is applicant supposed to make safer bike

[3:20:24] and pedestrian access I mean I understand and I think that's necessary and it's needed but is that not a city

[3:20:30] issue I mean what what what would you propose that that they they how would you propose that it get

[3:20:36] resolved well I think some of the things we talked about were like imagining a pedestrian or a

[3:20:43] bicyclist coming from the East how would they access the building and right now there's a driveway which is two lanes of

[3:20:49] cars so there's not an obvious pedestrian access nor is there an obvious bike access and where do they go

[3:20:55] once they're onto the property so to me it's on the property it's not off the property although there are plenty of

[3:21:00] issues off the property too yeah I mean so I'm concerned more about once you're

[3:21:05] on the property yeah because I mean literally you have to go around I would be encouraged to go around the corner at this point and I'd rather not do that

[3:21:17] do we have any concerns with the materials on the first level

[3:21:23] being stone and brick is that something that folks feel strongly

[3:21:30] about I mean I have no issue with the glass at all um but I do just because of

[3:21:37] the sheer height of the building there that just you won't be able to see or

[3:21:43] feel that right now I mean you're going to be walking a few feet away from five

[3:21:48] stories like I just don't think we need metal panel there to tie it in yeah I

[3:21:55] agree with that I I I wish I had said that thought earlier just looking at the rendering again uh the entrance to the

[3:22:00] parking or whatever that was um just felt a little uh like it didn't need that I mean I know it's subjective

[3:22:06] whatever aesthetic but i i t to agree with you what what do you

[3:22:13] think yeah I think that came up quite a bit quite a quite a bit tonight um so

[3:22:19] instead of the metal panel you know look at having stone and brick being on the first level um as a material that we

[3:22:27] want to have them consider you you mentioned that too is there was it more throughout the

[3:22:33] building or was it concentrated at the ground

[3:22:40] level I me the materials across the building across the upper levels of the building

[3:22:46] were one concern the other concern was at

[3:22:51] the the parking entrances and exits there it

[3:22:56] just yeah I mean those those were I mean I know it's 90% of the building now but

[3:23:03] um th those were you know glass AC cross it and and then those two entrances

[3:23:09] mainly I I like that doc that comes out and I like that

[3:23:16] you know landscaping and everything and I again I'm not sure if I to to talk

[3:23:22] about the biking entrance I mean I'm coming on from that East Side I'm going to come down that sidewalk and roll

[3:23:27] right in the parking lot and park my bike at a rack inside that's not going to bother me but I understand where

[3:23:34] where do you feel like you should go in the building where where does it make where do it make you s you know feel

[3:23:39] safer um but um you know there's not be cars I

[3:23:44] mean there's 330 spots there's not going to be be cars 330 cars coming and going

[3:23:49] every hour I mean there's going to be cars coming and going throughout the day but um to me I feel relatively safe just

[3:23:57] going in that that South entrance Southeast corner where where the driveway is but

[3:24:04] that's just me for the for the biking part

[3:24:10] so did we have a view from Eden in the newer fancier renderings

[3:24:24] is that like a 10:30 p.m. shot maybe we could go out and see what it looks like you kind of get this obviously as a

[3:24:31] rendering but you start to get a little bit of it here I think just that image in general would be really helpful to

[3:24:38] the conver future conversations um and understanding uh how how the pedestrians

[3:24:45] and bikes would act SS and you know other

[3:24:53] things well it seems like we have maybe a couple conditions east east axis

[3:25:01] entrance prominence and details around it sidewalk around the plinth and

[3:25:09] then and yeah and then uh the M

[3:25:15] different material choice at the ground level by the parking entrances there any like other

[3:25:22] conditions that feel like there's kind of unanimous support

[3:25:29] of that it's a topis restaurant can we put that as a

[3:25:41] condition yeah that was part of that

[3:25:59] so we got three conditions I don't think we need a variance on the 200 ft on the 200 foot

[3:26:04] part I think it's vaguely worded enough that you could legally argue that they met the requirement as staff said too so

[3:26:11] I don't think we need a variance there yeah just just I think we ought to

[3:26:17] be cautious too because maybe the council there's they do want to apply it

[3:26:22] um so I don't know maybe just be prepared you know maybe it's doing what

[3:26:29] Maryweather said I'm looking at like the west elevation maybe it is just a row of balconies that then at least bring it

[3:26:37] under 200 fet just something right yeah or maybe all the Building Services move

[3:26:42] to that North elevation

[3:26:48] no the restrooms the mechanical whatever right now it's in the middle of the building yeah

[3:26:58] just think we're so are we ready to make a motion yeah yep okay um I'll I'll take

[3:27:05] a shot at it so I will uh motion that we recommend the city council approve the resoning subdivision site plan and

[3:27:11] variances subject to the conditions that we listed off in the last 45 minutes or

[3:27:17] so um and yeah I think that covers it

[3:27:26] so want me to list off all the all the conditions the subject to the conditions that kri

[3:27:32] te has a list has written down could you read them out

[3:27:37] loud I'll take a shot and I can always go back and listen to the to the tape for for more but I've got applicant

[3:27:44] consider safe pedestrian and bike ACC access off of Eden to the east entrance

[3:27:49] provide additional sidewalk around the plin of the building on the north and

[3:27:55] east side uh provide stone or brick or alternative materials to be added on the

[3:28:02] ground level is the plinth north and east or was it North and South the plinth is

[3:28:12] on yeah didn't you want it to go to Eden which and he Nick already said they're going

[3:28:18] to do that right but Carrie said it had he said north and east didn't you mean

[3:28:24] you're west and south west and south not north and east I believe east and south

[3:28:29] you come off of this and you kind of come down east and south right got it because it already connects this way yes

[3:28:35] yeah east and south yes ask a process question um I I

[3:28:41] couldn't get enough of a sense while we were talking that there were five five of nine in favor of the materials change

[3:28:48] maybe it's academic but because I'm not I don't particularly

[3:28:54] concerned about that and I would vote against it if I could but I don't I don't know if I need to jeopardize the

[3:29:00] whole process I mean should we would you mind having a Voice vote on that one to

[3:29:05] see whether that should be included and I'm just going to say I think they've

[3:29:11] got enough direction to figure it out have enough what I think think they have enough direction from us to think

[3:29:20] through that well the the the condition is

[3:29:25] saying we think they should change the materials and I just want to make sure that five out of nine of us think we

[3:29:30] should change the materials that's my that's really my only concern oh and then I would

[3:29:38] say right I probably whatever materials they

[3:29:43] pick I don't I don't think it has to be brick or Stone so I would vote against saying brick or stone I would say

[3:29:50] friendlier or think through that plen I would just direct them to Think

[3:29:55] Through the first FL yes but that's not what we're saying

[3:30:01] we're saying they need to use breaker Stone and I'm and I'm saying I'm saying

[3:30:07] I'm one of those that would be against that natural materials wasn't the code

[3:30:13] code right so we're saying we want to follow the code and not have that VAR not for not for the

[3:30:19] first we don't want to grant that variance you need for the first 60 Fe

[3:30:27] you are granted the they're not they're not fulfilling

[3:30:34] the you would be granting the variance subject to that condition so we we would be saying yes it's approved subject to

[3:30:41] them adding more natural material which could be a way veneer on metal to make

[3:30:49] the garages look less concrete and maybe warmer other

[3:30:56] otherwise ground level okay so we're not saying brick or stone we're not saying brick or stone we're saying natural

[3:31:02] because that's what the code says

[3:31:26] I am clear on this those two conditions now yep yep

[3:31:32] three there's three there were two that I needed clarification on I got that clarification I'm I got the three

[3:31:38] conditions yes thank

[3:31:46] but we need a second second all

[3:31:51] in all in favor say I I opposed

[3:31:56] I opposed nay nay I'm motion carries

[3:32:04] so best best of luck with you guys Lu soaring through this and uh hope the

[3:32:10] meeting with the council goes very well really excited thank you

[3:32:24] all right that is that concludes our public

[3:32:30] hearing so now we got chair and member comments I'll I'll kick one off so just so everyone knows there there is an RFP

[3:32:36] out from the city for the public work site as of three weeks ago so that's out

[3:32:42] to the development community it's basically you can just Google it

[3:32:47] and find it's probably like a six-page document but it builds on kind of a mix of what was last

[3:32:55] approved at least what it favors but it wants a multifaceted developer to come

[3:33:01] in housing commercial focus on ownership that's out there bids are due

[3:33:08] April 21st I think so right is it sometime in April right that's right so

[3:33:16] anyways yeah if you know great developer po but yeah timing wise this is kind of

[3:33:24] how things go right that someone does something generates a lot of interest then it renews interest and mostly

[3:33:30] pressure like on the city because we own that site um to get it going

[3:33:37] again that's all I had for chair comments what your day yeah sorry I know

[3:33:43] we all want to go home but I just quick comment the discussion around the pump house piece I just wanted to I didn't

[3:33:49] really add much because I thought it was covered by everybody else so well um so I just wanted to commend our discussion

[3:33:55] on that because I thought what I had written down um was something that

[3:34:01] commissioner Fel articulated basically was that anytime the city comes forward and ask for a variance from its own code

[3:34:06] we should clearly make sure we articulate why and our transparent as possible um and I thought we did a good

[3:34:12] job of probing that and then responding to to that in terms of how much discretion we have and then what the

[3:34:18] situation is different and stuff so I thought if somebody had was watching a Planning Commission meeting for the first time that was a good very good

[3:34:24] discussion so yeah Kudos agreed nice Point commissioner

[3:34:31] elare less than a minute sorry I've been carrying this around waiting for a short meeting and maybe that's not going to happen so this is an article from uh

[3:34:39] Twin City business called deer Minneapolis uptown is dying here's what we should do about it maybe some of you

[3:34:44] seen it the sub head is it's time to face facts that Uptown is no longer cool

[3:34:50] and reimagine it as a local Hub to serve those who love it and AD gets a shout

[3:34:55] out in here that I wanted to share there's a paragraph towards the end I'll give Adina credit where it's due 50th in

[3:35:01] France is killing it it's a dense retail dining and entertainment area with some housing too that not only serves the

[3:35:08] local community but draws people from all over the Twin Cities why can't we do something similar for Uptown if you make

[3:35:14] it fun enticing and accessible people will come so compared favorably to up

[3:35:19] town what location was this Twin City business nice as a as a former resident

[3:35:25] of Uptown for quite a long time I feel like I've seen the the headline is Uptown dead or not cool like every every

[3:35:32] couple years used to be so cool yeah that's right everybody laments how great Uptown used to be always that's right it

[3:35:39] was always the best seven years ago right that's right

[3:35:46] you want to share about your uh so last was it this week I think it

[3:35:54] was this week no it was last week Tuesday I met with the folks at point of

[3:36:00] France and share with them the stuff that we do on the Planning Commission uh

[3:36:06] it was very well received they understand our role I think a lot better A lot of great questions um that they

[3:36:13] ask um about you know how do we fit into the city what's our relationship with the city council what do we look at

[3:36:20] what's our mandate how do we look at code they also ask questions about

[3:36:26] financing and do we have any kind of role to play in financing so I help to clarify that um you said

[3:36:35] absolutely no way we pay we don't we don't we don't touch

[3:36:42] that we just look at zoning and codes um but overall you know engaging the

[3:36:48] community talking to them about what we do as a commission it's really helpful I think folks walked away feeling like

[3:36:54] they know more and I feel like the more opportunities we have as a team to reach out and connect with members and

[3:37:00] residents the more we should do it so just wanted to share that feedback with the team thank

[3:37:08] you oh no staff comments motion I do have a

[3:37:13] couple uh nothing from city council they will um the the public library site that

[3:37:21] you all considered that goes to them next Tuesday April 1st but just a reminder to the commission that our next

[3:37:27] meeting is April 8th that's a Tuesday we'd also hopefully if everybody is

[3:37:33] there we'd like to take a a new Planning Commission photo so if you wouldn't mind coming 15 minutes early we'll send out

[3:37:40] an email reminder also um that is it

[3:37:47] motion to adjourn second all those in favor say I I meeting has been adjourned

[3:37:52] thank you

[3:38:14] everyone e