Let's see here. Are you guys ready? Uh we're going to call to order the planning commission meeting for Wednesday, October 15, 2025, 6:30. First uh order of business is a pledge of allegiance. Please rise. >> I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Okay, we um need a motion to approve the agenda. >> Make a motion to approve the agenda as written. >> Second. >> Okay. Um all in favor? >> I. >> Motion passes. Uh next up is approval of the minutes. Motion to approve the meeting minutes of Wednesday, October 15th, 2025. I'll >> second. >> All in favor? >> I >> I >> Okay. And then um first uh up here is then the um planning uh public hearing for the um registered land survey. We have a city staff report. Okay. Good evening everyone. >> Um, tonight the planning commission is being asked to make a recommendation on registered land survey 132. Um, but before we get into the application, I just want to give a little bit of background on the process. Um, why does a registered land survey need to go through the minor subdivision process? Uh, typically an application that requests a lot line adjustment or a division can be uh processed administratively. Um, however, because this property is torrent, the county has required that it be processed via a registered land survey and the city reviews registered land surveys through the minor subdivision process uh per state statute. So, that's that's why we're reviewing this one today. Um for a little more context, I don't think we've had an RLS in front of us for um a few years, so 2021 or 2020. So the applicant for this uh proposal is Chama Mission LLC in John Pisha. Uh the property is at 3481 Livern A. The location um is in the old village. So the request today is to reconfigure the property boundaries to ensure that the former crearyy building, the building on the west side of the site is fully contained with its own within its own parcel. Um the existing zoning is VMX and the future zoning is also VMX. Um a little bit of history, the western building on this site was formerly the Lake Elmo crearyy and the east side of the site was previously used as a lumber yard. Currently the buildings are used for storage and there is no proposed change in use at this time. So, here's an image of the proposed RLS on the left and an aerial of the the RLS on the right. And this is also in your packet. I'll leave it here for a second. And then again, another sidebyside version is illustrated here. And you can see that the RLS is separated into tract A and track B on the right to address um to address the creamy building. So outlined here is the minor subdivision criteria. I'll go through that with you quickly. The RLS um will result in no more than four par parcels. So this property will become two parcels. The RLS will not require any new right ofways or streets. The existing right of way will be dedicated um to clean up the area, but it's not a new rightway. Easements will be dedicated where applicable. The request will meet the city's VMX zoning lot dimension and bulk building requirements. Um again the buildings already existing on the site and the request will comply with the city of Lake Elmo's access and spacing um location. No new driveways or access points are proposed with this request. So this went out for agency review at the end of September and we received comments back from the agencies listed here. Uh conditions have been added where appropriate and we'll go over those in a few slides. Um, so the public hearing notice went out for this on September 30th, 2025. Public public hearing notice was published in the city's official paper on October 3rd and staff have not received any comments at this time. So, moving on to those conditions, some of these are fairly standard and some are unique to the site. Um the first is that the applicant must obtain all necessary city, state, and other governing body permits, approvals prior release prior to the release of the recording of the RLS. Two is the city attorney comments set forth in the RLS opinion should be addressed prior to the release of the RLS for recording. Three, any special assessments currently levied on the property should be transferred or play paid in full um before recording. Fourth is that the city's engineer comments in the uh memo dated 923 should be addressed prior to the release of any building permit to the satisfaction of the city. Five, prior to recording the the registered land survey, the applicant must dedicate right away to the satisfaction of the city engineer. Six, all proposed easements shall be subject to review and approval by the city prior to the release of the RLS for recording. seven and eight. Um they kind of go together and they are that um both properties must obtain sewer and water permits and pay associated fees um prior to issuing any building permit and plans. They must be approved by the city engineer. And finally, uh the applicant should record the registered land survey and resolution within 180 days after approval or and provide proof to the city if not recorded. uh this would become void unless a uh extension is in writing and approved by the council. So with that, I'll leave you with the recommended findings, which is that staff recommend that the planning commission consider the the following findings. The RLS 132 is consistent with the the Lake Elmo comprehensive plan and the future land use map for this area. and second that the registered land survey 132 meets the requirements of the city's registered land survey minor subdivision regulations. Um and with that I will leave you this motion and the applicant is here should you have any questions. Is there any new separation needed between buildings as far as a firewall or anything or >> Yeah, that would have to be addressed with a building permit, but the applicant is also um required to submit a party wall agreement for to separate both buildings and they they're already working towards that. >> So, as it stands right now, it's okay, but if they did anything different would be a building permit or still that wall would need to be addressed, >> right? That would be addressed with the building permits. >> Okay. Any other questions? >> Is the applicant here? >> The applicant is here. >> Okay, >> here he is. Do you want to speak? >> Um, sure. >> Okay. Want to step up to the podium and give us your name and >> All right. Yeah. >> Tell us about it. My name is John Pichcha and um I so I own the little green building on the north west side of the track or where am I? southeast side of the tracks and um I from I have a couple tenants in there now, but I was officing out of there for a while and uh yeah, I just I for the past four years or so have been slow slowly pursuing some plans for the crearyy building and um now we're finally at this point and my goal is at this point to um just clean it up and do what I can to find a good tenant in there that would be good for that part of town. So, yeah, that's the long and short of it. Yeah. >> Okay. Any questions for him? >> No, I don't have any. >> No. >> All right. Cool. Thank you. >> All right. Well, then we will open the public hearing at 9 uh 6:39. >> A motion to open the public hearing. >> Yes. >> Motion to open the public hearing. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> I. >> Okay. Okay. Public hearing is opened at 6:39. And since we don't have we don't have anybody who sent anything in or any comments. >> That's correct. >> Uh well then we'll go ahead. Um we need a motion to close. >> Motion to close the public hearing. >> Second. [snorts] >> Okay. Um so and it is clo the motion um closes the public hearing at 6:39. All right. Um then we need to um do we have a motion? Uh we have a motion on the table. >> Sure. I will move to recommend the approval of the proposed registered land survey number 132 for the property located at 3481 Leverne Avenue based on the findings of fact and the conditions presented in the staff report. >> I'll second that. >> Okay, we have a motion and a second. Um let's vote on that then. >> All discussion. >> Uh okay. any comments? >> Uh, I don't see any reason not for this not to go forward. There's plenty of conditions that uh are put on it, I think, to um make it satisfactory to every all the parties involved. Um, and I'm encouraged by the fact that Susan Dunn is also for it. So, it's got to be good. >> Oh, yeah. [laughter] >> Questions, comments. Okay. >> Um, okay. Well, then, uh, let's see. We Where are we at? We need a vote on that then. All in favor? >> I >> I >> I >> I motion passes unanimously. >> All right. >> Okay. So, that'll go to city council. [clears throat] When we have a date on that? >> Uh November 5th. >> Okay. Great. Thanks. All right. And then we have a second hearing public hearing uh regarding uh an amendment text for a tree fund. >> Well, good evening. This is a uh zoning tax amendment to add a tree fund to our zoning code. So, the background is that the uh tree fund was presented at the June 20 um at the June workshop this year uh the council workshop. Uh the city received, if you may recall, $50,000 payment from Stillwater Schools for treatment mitigation when they um built when they're, you know, were approved for the new elementary school. And currently the code allows for a fee and loo payment, but it doesn't specify how the fund should be spent. There's three different ways um pots of where where it could go. Um using the funds to replace trees was discussed during the approval process. So, there was an expectation at the time that we would use the funds to replace trees. The city does not have a tree fund currently um separate than the park dedication fund. Also, the city does not have a rightway boulevard tree replacement program, but that was something that was also discussed at the workshop. It's not part of this text amendment, but we're working on bringing that forward and having that passed by the city council. Um, just high level, it's basically an area where t typically you would have a boulevard tree that died. It's for subdivisions that are beyond their warranty period, the two-year warranty period. The the idea would be that we would open it up to people and they could request a tree. And then in the spring, we would have a our um landscape consultant, HKGI, manage the project. But essentially, we would try to plant as many trees as possible. And it would be up to the homeowner to water the tree. they would get a tree bag and try to keep it alive for the you know typically for the first two years. So that that's the how that program was presented to the council. So we're going to continue to work on that and hopefully if this gets approved we'll uh have that program launched by the end of the year and planting in around April May. So the issue before the commission is should the city of Lake Elmo consider a zoning tax amendment to create a tree fund and the proposed language it's currently we have a chapter for tree preservation. So this would just add section G to the end uh which is a tree fund and the purpose the purpose is to provide a dedicated fund for tree replacement throughout the city funding sources. The primary funding source will be from fee in le of tree replacement funds allocated by the city council and individual and business donations. uh eligible expenses fund shall be spent on programs approved by the city council which include but are not limited to a boulevard tree program. So something there too is the expectation is that we possibly could also receive individual [clears throat] donations, business donations. Someone who receives a tree would have the opportunity [clears throat] to donate and pay it forward. Um this is pretty common in other cities where you would see like corporations donating um to tree funds or doing some type of tree giveaway. We had this uh was you know it's a public comment was included in the paper. We did not receive any public comments on this tax amendment. And then the recommendation is that uh staff recommend the planning commission hold a public hearing for this item and consider the following recommendation to city council for approval. And then this is the um motion just move to recommend city council approve the tax amendment to create a tree fund. It's pretty straightforward. It's just an ability for us to move this and also accept more donations to create a fund so we can continue to replace trees in the boulevard. [clears throat] Okay. So, because this is a public uh hearing, we need to open the hearing. Uh do we have a motion to open the hearing? >> Move to open the public hearing. >> Second. >> All in favor? I >> I >> I um motion passes and we don't have anybody here and we don't have any comments. So um >> motion >> I've got a question. >> Go ahead. >> Okay. >> Um you mentioned about the $50,000 from the school district which is all of us of course we're paying we're paying into this for the tree replacement for down on the corner of of Lake Elmo Avenue and and 10th Street. But what about the money that came from 3M? Because whenever they went in clearcut there, there was supposed to be money that was paid to Lake Elmo. Do you know what fund or where that money went? >> I could look into that. I'm not sure about that >> because I know it's I think it's over $200,000. >> Okay. So, I would appreciate somebody just checking into that to see what happened to that [clears throat] because they did not selectively go in and choose, you know, save like black walnuts or oaks or something. They just went and clearcut everything, but they were they paid the city to be able to do that. So, I'd like to get some amount. >> Do you know what year that >> whenever they did that whatever they did to Tartan Park or whatever they call it now? >> Yeah. with the Royal Golf >> developmental royal golf course. Yeah. >> Would it be likely that that went into the parks fund at the time? >> It possibly could have been placed there because that's typically >> there was but but I just I'm just thinking should something like that go into the tree fund? >> It could be if the tree funds established then the council could guide that when they go ahead and approve the tree replacement. >> Yeah. Something like that. [clears throat] And and just just number two, um whenever they came in and redid roads and so on, some streets got trees put in because that was part of the the original plan from the county or whoever it was. But in other cities, other streets maybe where private homes were, they took out trees. Those never got replaced because they were told that they didn't have that in their their estimates or their their their costs. So would something like that be eligible to request red tree? >> It's possible. It'd have to be currently within the public right away or [clears throat] >> public right away. >> Public right. >> Yes, that that would be possible. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Any anyone else? All right. So, um >> move to close the public hearing. Second. >> Okay. Um all in favor? I >> I >> Okay, public hearing is closed at 6:47. >> And um do we have a motion then? >> I'll move to recommend the city of council approve the text amendment to create a tree fund. >> Second. >> Okay. And all in favor? >> Discussion. >> Okay. I mean, I don't see any problem with creating a place for tree money to go to to be used for more trees. So, >> and we're supposed to be a tree city. >> Yeah. >> I mean, we used to have a plaque out there saying tree city. So, >> I I think it's a great idea. I I really like the fact that if we create the program where a homeowner can request a replacement tree for that or blew over in a storm or whatever and and that others can donate to it. Like you said, a lot of other cities have a program like this. So I think we should have one as well too. >> So I assume there's there's or will be a process for how things are prioritized or tracking where the dollars because since it's a line item in the budget then I assume there's something build how do we spend it. >> So right now the discussion is only for this rightway tree program. >> It's only okay. >> So that's that's the only conversation that we're having. So hopefully that will get approved by the council and then the way this is structured if they wanted to create another program that would go back through the council and they would have to approve it. >> Okay. >> So the idea here is it would be um a first come first serve. We don't really know what the demand's going to be. We have limited funds. So it we're just going to open a form on the website. Um, we've talked about, you know, add your address, all your contact information, give, um, homeowners list of like types of trees and they can kind of specify and we'll go through. One thing that we do have to review is [clears throat] just the location to make sure it meets the planting standards. There needs to be certain distance from the curb, certain distance from sidewalks, utilities. So, >> we'll look at that. Gotcha. >> Okay. >> Yeah. It's really good because at one time there's quite a canopy over a lot of our streets and that's gotten lost over the last maybe 10 years or so. So, it'll be nice to see that get and it's getting to be restarted again. So, this is a good idea. >> Agree. >> Okay. >> All the questions. >> Okay. Uh let's take a vote then. >> All those in favor? I I >> I >> opposed. >> Yep. And uh motion passes unanimously. >> Yep. >> All right. So, >> thank you. >> Thank you. >> Um new and unfinished business. >> Anything? [snorts] Nothing. >> Okay. Communication updates. >> Great. Yes. So, we just uh launched our public GIS tool. So, as you know, you may know that the county has a public GIS and you can look up parcels and other information. We've been working with our consultant Bolton M on creating one for the city. And essentially the way it works is what you're seeing now on the screen is it pulls those data points from the county and puts it on a city map, but we have more um information from the city that's relevant to residents and also developers. As you may know, we spend a lot of time talking to developers. We have a lot of development activity. So, it's good to be able to send them to one site and talk over the phone and kind of guide them through different issues that they would see. So, if you look at the public viewer right here, we could just zoom in closer to city hall in this general area and the plat show every plat that the county has. This [clears throat] is also on the county map. So, you could you could click on the plats and look at the different plats. Utilities. This is important. This is just basic um water lines, sewer lines, drainage lines. So people, developers specifically will know whether or not there are utilities close to a site. There's the parcel data. So if you just click on the old city hall parcel, they give you information, tax history. All this information is pulling from the county's website. So if something happens at the county, they updated automatically updates with the refresh. address points. And then [snorts] we have a planning. This is the big part of why we wanted um the parcel the city parcel viewer because this will show you shoreland buffers. You can see there's a shoreline buffer over here >> at Northstar. >> That's nice. Very good. >> It shows the subdivisions. Shows the Musa boundary. It also shows the the phasing for the Musa. So the green areas mean go. you can go ahead and develop. And as you can see, the other ones are pushed out phases. So, we get this from time to time. Specifically on the parcel next to us, you know, to the south of Northstar, we get calls on that parcel all the time. Currently, it's not in the um >> sewer phase, right? So, you would actually have to amend it, put it into the current phase if someone wanted to develop it. So, that gets brought up a lot. Shoreland, obviously, just talking about that parcel gets brought up. [clears throat] So, these are all the things that we we talk to developers about. This is awesome. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Where is this on our website? >> This is on our website. I'll show you how to navigate. >> Thank you. >> Yeah, this is really great. And I'm sure it's >> it's >> can cut staff usage time down by half saying like >> here. Just go here first. This will answer most of your questions and then call me back. >> Where is it pulling that shorland buffer from? Is that at the county as well? >> That shorland buffer is something I believe >> created but off of >> we had a lot of these data files but um I did the check. I I believe that was created through a different agency though. >> Okay, that's really helpful. >> Dead zoning, future land use, and then let's see, we get through here. Some of the easements are shown here. Um, we also have a parks and not this is going to be presented to the parks commission too, but there's another parks and trails map separately, but we wanted to show that because we have residents talk to us, email us all the time about where the trails are in the parks. So, you see that public works asked for irrigation zones. >> What are irrigation zones? Um, it's when when you're allowed to water. Yeah. So, A zones get to water this day and that day. And then B zones are different. So, that >> not everyone's watering at the same time and draining the water towers. >> So, if you see the B zone right here, Tuesday and Friday, and the times, so you can just go there and look at that. >> Yeah, this is great. super [clears throat] and I have to make a comment about I really like how it's phased >> like the 2035 to 2040 for that section >> south of Northstar. I think that's a good idea and that should be kept there. >> Any other parcels you want to make sure there? [laughter] >> I sure. No, I I I I want this is something that's really bothered me because one of the issues that we had as we [snorts] moved into this transition area was we were leapfrogging all over the city and I think it was unfair for our maintenance group. I think [clears throat] it was unfair for the guys that were plowing and stuff because it was just like, you know, it was like splatball. They'd throw something up where it stuck and whoever said, you know, gave the best show and tell and promised everything kind of got what they wanted. So I think the phasing was really a smart thing and for many many years I s always said phasing go slowly phase certain sections not just open it all up to the whole world [clears throat] but you know that's how it is but I think the phasing things for the residents who are here that's really important that that gets held too because that's the expectations of the city and other new residents are coming in they would expect that too. So, it's just my comment, but I really do like this. This is an This is a awesome program. >> Thank you. >> But thank you for making sure that got done. >> So, one of the things just bring up, it's interesting when you see all these layers, it starts to tell a story of, you know, this one site around Kramer Lake is really difficult to develop. Right. So, you have shoreline buffers. It's not in the current phase. Fifth Street would come through here. That's a connection that's required. It's a larger um wider roadway, but you can see all these different parcels. So, it's a challenge. We we talked to developers and they're trying to assemble these parcels. So, it's just one of those things that's really difficult. And you can kind of see when you look at the map why certain things are happening um and why others aren't. And you can see this area over here is in the current phase. You're starting to see development >> um in the souththeast corner. So, it's just a lot of good information. Um, >> you know, obviously you can look at the parcel information too and and and see who owns properties if you want to buy properties. So, I'll show you just if you go to the main website and you go to government. It's just under GIS maps and data. So, we have mapping applications. This is new and we have the old printable maps. We're updating these maps and these are just old PDFs. Um, so you just click on either of these. So if you wanted to look at the parks and trails app, you click here and it sends you to our site. We have a subscription to a mapping um, EZRI. It's called RJS. So we have a basically a community account, a city account where we can host and hold data and create maps within it. And then this is a platform. It's called a web web application that could be created. So that's what we're seeing here. So this is the parks and trails map. I haven't spent much time on it, but it's essentially that layer, but just on its own. So, um, people that are really interested in the parks can kind of see. >> Is there a key on here that tells what these different color of trails are? >> I know it's really confusing. Um, yes, there's a legend. >> Okay. >> So, you can go to the legend. That's something maybe talk about. Jump back to public viewer. I think it's all the same, but you can measure. So if you're measuring measuring acreage, you can go here. >> If you're looking at, you know, different sections, >> you can change base maps. There's different types of maps. >> You can print, draw, >> there's a legend. There's also you can search by property ID and address if you know a look at those trails. >> Yeah, it's right there on on our main >> in a good way. You can go down. That's really all I have about the, you know, to present on this, but it's it's here now. So, it's one of our I can't remember. I think it was on the EDA work plan. Yeah, it was on the EDA work plan for this year. So, I'm glad we were able to get this this done this year. >> Yeah. Well done. >> Great. >> Awesome. >> Great work. Thank you. >> So, I can move on to the next item, the TAP update. So, as you may know, you should know because I believe you're participating in it, but the tap the the Urban Land Institute Technical Assistance Panel is going to be uh conducting a TAP on October 22nd through the 24th. You should be included in the stakeholder list. I have the list here. You should have the print out. I believe you have the print out. >> So, you see that's everybody that was invited. They asked us to to find um just anybody who would want to participate. So, we're looking at obviously council, planning commission, um parks commission, EDA, and then since that site is close to Oakdale, um some Oakdale people, Connect Lake Elmo, Washington County Commissioner, uh we reached out to Wildflower Shores. Um, basically the process, it's a three-day process, but the main day is going to be the Thursday where they interview stakeholders. The way it works is you also see the panelists. So, uh, basically the way ULI works is for a tap, they'll bring on two leads. So John Slack and Mark Hug are the two leads and they're basically experts in the field and they have other people you can see like civil engineers, um planners, public finance experts, developers, brokers. So they bring them together for three days and basically ask all the questions, get um the best understanding of the area and try to make recommendations. And I believe in November. I don't know have the exact date, but they'll make the presentation to the to the council. >> I think that's going to be um November 18th. >> So that's that's basically that process. It's an intense three-day try to get as much information as possible on the site and make recommendations to the city. We have what they call a briefing book. Ashley put it together for them. Basically taking a lot of the old information and just giving them as much information as possible on the site. um that they can work off and and review prior to that. But it should be fun. Um hopefully you participate. I think the window is Ashley, is it 9 to 11 on? >> It's it's between Yeah. 9 and noon. 9:45 and noon. >> You should have received the invitation. So hopefully you'll participate. >> That's all I have for for tab for the city council updates. It's just that the Inwood town homes, the first edition final plat, that's just the townhouse, the town homes was approved at city council. We're waiting on them to sign the development agreement and also to do a pre-construction meeting to start that um to start that project. the RFP, as you know, that process was a fairly long process that we managed to get through and it was at the council and the council uh went with the recommendation of the commission or the committee, the EDA committee and awarded the fire station to tap and ladder and machete. So, it's a tap room and then also a Mexican restaurant in the old parks building. We're going to start negotiating um with them and we still have a couple steps to go to get through the phase two. The testing has been completed. Hopefully we'll get that back by November. The report and hopefully it's clean and they don't need a response action plan. Uh we have appraisal. We have to do an appraisal. We have to do a survey. There's steps that we have to do and then uh we're hope hopeful that we can close by January or February on the fire station and then they can move into construction sometime in the summer. >> What what's in the testing phase? >> So they've already tested I would have to go back. So the phase one they look at um possible contaminants just of the history. So one was like the plume behind Hagberg's um the old crearyy. uh they were concerned about that site um just in general. Uh obviously PAS or just anything and then obviously asbestous lead the common things that you would see um the foam [clears throat] pas from the um foam for the um fire suppression for firefighters anything coming off the the trucks the suits. Um so when you do that they recommend a phase two. The phase two is testing. They take samples of the building uh soil samples too. Uh just so you know that uh we went through the Washington County uh community development um authority and requested money. They have a a program for environmental assessment. So the phase one and phase two have been paid for by by the county for redevelopment. So luckily we haven't had to pay for >> Great. >> Again, nice work. Thank you. >> Very interesting. And then next is the upcoming meetings. It's scheduled for October 27th. We do not have anything as of yet, I believe. Correct. [clears throat] >> It's pending. >> All right. Does anybody have any more questions for him or anything else? >> No. >> All right. Thank you. >> Yeah. >> Yep. So, the meeting is adjourned at 7:04.