[0:06] call the regular meeting of the oakdale

[0:08] city council to

[0:09] order uh march 6 2025

[0:13] roll call please pearson here wilenbring

[0:17] here campbell is absent mccauley here

[0:21] data here hagen also absent and wilson

[0:26] here

[0:28] uh pledge of allegiance

[0:32] please i pledge allegiance to the flag

[0:35] of the united states of america and to

[0:38] the republic for which it stands one

[0:40] nation under god indivisible with

[0:43] liberty and justice for all

[0:50] okay i call for approval of the agendas

[0:52] any changes anybody needs to make or we

[0:54] just approve it

[0:57] make a motion for approval of agenda

[0:59] second all those in favor i any opposed

[1:03] thank you approval of the minutes anyone

[1:06] have any changes to the minutes uh that

[1:08] they need to make

[1:11] make a motion to approval of minutes

[1:12] second

[1:14] all those in favor i i any opposed

[1:17] motion passes thank you call open forum

[1:21] this is a time chance for anybody who is

[1:24] in the in attendance who wishes to make

[1:26] a comment that's not on the agenda to

[1:28] come forward and speak but again it's

[1:30] not on the agenda anything that's not on

[1:32] the agenda does anyone wish to come

[1:35] forward seeing none i close the open

[1:39] forum uh we have no old no old business

[1:43] so we will start with new business a

[1:44] public hearing for the ethiopian

[1:46] evangelical church in minnesota

[1:49] 736033rd street north a conditional use

[1:52] permit for a place of

[1:55] worship thank you chair so i will have

[1:57] the uh presentation slides up here in

[2:00] just a moment so the location of the

[2:02] site is 7360 33rd street it's the former

[2:05] la fitness site uh the zoning for this

[2:09] property is planned unit development or

[2:10] pud and the purpose of the request is to

[2:13] establish a place of worship or a church

[2:16] and places of worship are allowed in all

[2:18] zoning districts through the conditional

[2:20] use permit process i would like to note

[2:22] that there is federal law that also

[2:23] provides some guidance here it's um our

[2:26] lupa or the religious land use and

[2:28] institutionalized persons act of 2000 it

[2:31] essentially requires that religious

[2:33] assemblies and institutions be treated

[2:36] equally as non-religious assemblies and

[2:38] institutions for example um city

[2:41] buildings or school district or school

[2:43] public school district buildings uh they

[2:45] all have to be treated um equally so

[2:48] access to the site it there is an

[2:50] existing access off hemingway so as you

[2:53] probably know the intersection of

[2:54] hemingway and 34th street can be a

[2:56] little bit tricky to navigate because

[2:57] there is no left turn lane off hemingway

[3:00] to go westbound on 34th street so at the

[3:03] request of both the city and the

[3:04] washington county public works

[3:06] department the developer commissioned a

[3:08] traffic study uh for the proposed change

[3:10] in use and i'll talk a little bit more

[3:12] about the traffic situation in just a

[3:15] moment so here's a look at the site in

[3:18] question it's outlined in red the

[3:20] existing building is approximately

[3:22] 45,000 square ft i'll show the concept

[3:25] floor plans in just a moment but the uh

[3:26] the main assembly hall would be able to

[3:28] accommodate up to 915 people so however

[3:32] the church which is currently located in

[3:34] st paul uh it currently has about 700

[3:38] congregants and that this figure

[3:39] includes not just adults but also

[3:41] children uh now for parking requirements

[3:44] which is based on the size of the

[3:45] assembly hall and the office space

[3:47] that's associated with the church 247

[3:51] parking spaces are required this site

[3:53] has 300 existing parking spaces so there

[3:57] uh the parking requirements aren't

[3:59] met so here are some photos of the

[4:02] property when it was previously

[4:04] operating as a commercial gym and the

[4:06] applicant has stated that there will be

[4:08] no exterior building expansions or

[4:10] additions all renovation work will be

[4:12] limited to the inside of the building

[4:14] only i would like to note that uh any

[4:16] changes to signage would require a sign

[4:18] permit through the

[4:20] city so here's a look at the preliminary

[4:24] floor plans for the church and again the

[4:25] main assembly hall would is expected to

[4:28] seat up to 915 people there will be

[4:32] approximately 3,000 square ft of office

[4:34] space a mom/family room connected to the

[4:37] assembly hall seven sunday school

[4:40] classrooms an infant and toddler room

[4:42] restrooms a gym an entryway a gathering

[4:45] area and also a kitchen

[4:48] so here's another look at the

[4:50] preliminary floor plans which show the

[4:52] existing uh partitions and rooms which

[4:54] is kind of in the lighter outline it's

[4:56] very difficult to see on on this screen

[4:58] so i apologize about that um but moving

[5:01] on so as a reminder conditional use

[5:03] permits are subject to certain review

[5:06] criteria that's found in the city's

[5:07] zoning ordinance and i'll just briefly

[5:10] summarize those review

[5:11] criterias the first one is compliance

[5:14] with the city's comprehensive plan next

[5:17] is uh compatibility compatibility of the

[5:19] use with the zoning district in which it

[5:21] is located no nuisance effects generated

[5:25] no traffic congestion or parking issues

[5:28] and again i would like to note that

[5:29] again the uh the applicant worked with

[5:31] the traffic engineer to prepare a

[5:33] traffic

[5:34] study uh moving on with the criteria the

[5:37] use must be adequately served by public

[5:40] services no excessive costs incurred for

[5:43] public services or infrastructure and

[5:45] finally minimal impacts to environmental

[5:47] and natural

[5:49] features so with that said staff finds

[5:51] that the conditional use permit review

[5:54] criteria of the ordinance has been

[5:55] satisfied as detailed in the staff

[5:57] report on file uh staff recommends

[6:00] approval subject to the following

[6:02] condition of approval and if you're

[6:04] following along on the in the agenda

[6:06] packet i'm on page 20 last page and it's

[6:08] uh in the draft resolution and again

[6:10] it's just one condition of approval so

[6:13] wayfinding signage shall be added at the

[6:16] intersection of 33rd street north and

[6:18] hemingway avenue north and along 33rd

[6:20] street

[6:21] north so the wayfinding signage is

[6:24] intended to help direct drivers who are

[6:26] looking to go westbound on 34th street

[6:28] and essentially trying to avoid having

[6:30] them um make that turn um at the

[6:33] intersection of hemingway 34th they

[6:35] would be redirected further east in that

[6:37] neighborhood so that they could make a

[6:39] proper left turn at the intersection of

[6:42] marketplace and 34th

[6:44] street uh one final note so although

[6:47] there is only one condition of approval

[6:49] staff is suggesting but is not requiring

[6:52] that the applicant implement the

[6:53] recommendations that's found in the

[6:55] traffic study and these include adding

[6:58] excuse me adding a feature sidewalk

[6:59] connection from the church to hemingway

[7:01] avenue developing a shared parking

[7:04] agreement with the adjacent

[7:05] property conducting further traffic

[7:07] analysis adjusting internal driveway

[7:10] alignments and also working with

[7:11] washington county on potential future

[7:13] traffic improvements and as a reminder

[7:16] this is a public hearing the applicant

[7:17] is here in attendance and i'd be happy

[7:19] to answer any questions thank

[7:21] you okay anyone have any questions

[7:29] i don't one question one one question i

[7:31] have

[7:33] though so the traffic study is going to

[7:35] be limited to just sort of those two

[7:38] parking lot that you are conditioning to

[7:40] be um shared like a shared parking

[7:42] agreement or we talking maybe highway 14

[7:45] or that 34 uh typically it's a

[7:48] right-hand turn on 34 uh going east to

[7:52] loop around to go uh west or you're

[7:54] looking at creating an intersection

[7:56] there at hemingway and 34

[8:00] so yeah in terms of u i guess if i'm

[8:03] understanding the the question correctly

[8:04] so the traffic study yeah one of the

[8:08] suggestions was um i'll i'll take the

[8:11] parking first the the question on the

[8:13] parking uh it's just a suggestion that

[8:16] um the church work with the property

[8:19] immediately to the east so that's the

[8:20] the multi-tenant building just for the

[8:22] cross parking

[8:23] agreement and then um the actual

[8:27] condition of approval for that

[8:28] wayfinding signage um it's just a a a

[8:34] couple signs is really all that it would

[8:36] amount to to help direct traffic um

[8:39] instead of going taking a a a left turn

[8:43] if you're exiting the church taking a

[8:45] left turn or going north on hemingway

[8:48] really trying to prevent that and have

[8:49] them go closer or um take take a

[8:54] right-hand turn go south on hemingway

[8:56] and then east towards target and then uh

[8:58] going to that intersection okay all

[9:00] right thank you it's good but there

[9:02] wouldn't be any blockage for them to go

[9:04] up hemingway and turn right to go east

[9:06] along 34th

[9:09] no you could still make that right turn

[9:12] going north on hemingway and then east

[9:14] on 34th

[9:16] is there any other there's a pylon sign

[9:20] down further by the gas station is there

[9:23] a pylon sign near there for pins or

[9:26] anything like that i believe there is a

[9:28] pylon sign there's several pylon signs

[9:30] in that

[9:31] neighborhood um and then there there's

[9:35] the old la fitness pylon sign as well

[9:37] that's close on the the west side of the

[9:39] site along the interstate

[9:45] go ahead michael i was just going to ask

[9:48] is there an apartment complex that's

[9:50] being built directly to the south of it

[9:52] or am i thinking

[9:54] of like to the south southeast of it

[9:57] southeast okay i was just thinking of

[9:59] like the adjacent parking workout or

[10:03] traffic uh analysis there but looks like

[10:06] it's just the gas station that's right

[10:07] next to it that' be the only the a

[10:10] doctor's building that was minimally

[10:13] used but they've got uh some parking

[10:16] facility in there as well okay but it's

[10:18] just during the day not not on the

[10:20] weekends i believe and i can bring up

[10:22] the location map here in a moment

[10:27] um so where my cursor is that's the new

[10:31] apartment that just opened back in

[10:32] november and then the gas station to the

[10:34] to the north so there is a bit of a

[10:36] separation distance from uh the proposed

[10:38] church to the th those two structures

[10:46] any further questions just as as a

[10:50] thought traffic and parking was my only

[10:52] issue with this and could there be

[10:56] a on a new onramp lane i don't know how

[11:00] i'm saying this on the corner of um

[11:02] hemingway and 34th going east just

[11:05] because you know there's going to be a

[11:06] higher traffic there adding a little bit

[11:08] larger lane as traffic turns onto there

[11:11] it gives a little more of an on-ramp

[11:13] there

[11:14] so 34th street is it's also it's a

[11:17] county road so it's also called county

[11:19] road 14 um i my understanding is there's

[11:23] no immediate plans for improvements at

[11:26] that intersection but it's it's it's

[11:27] certainly on the county's radar in terms

[11:29] of making improvements and as this area

[11:31] continues to build out

[11:36] anyone

[11:37] else if not then i guess i'll proceed to

[11:40] ask if there's anybody in the audience

[11:41] who wishes to come forward to speak to

[11:43] this matter

[11:50] my name is chuck blair i've been i'm an

[11:52] attorney i've been assisting the church

[11:54] on the acquisition of the property and

[11:56] the conditional use permit um and i

[12:00] think some of the the issues with the uh

[12:02] traffic i i i reviewed too and i think

[12:05] the thing with the county uh what was

[12:08] recommended to us and through the city

[12:10] engineer and also our own engineer was

[12:13] that the the county most likely would

[12:16] start by retiming some of the lights

[12:19] that hasn't been done for a long time

[12:21] and especially on sunday so the church's

[12:24] use by and large is going to be pretty

[12:26] minimal uh they have one service sunday

[12:29] morning late in the morning until i

[12:31] think just afternoon and then otherwise

[12:34] uh they have religion classes where like

[12:36] 40 50 students show up and then they

[12:40] have some events here and there so i

[12:41] think by and large the only traffic uh

[12:44] concern is going to be on that sunday uh

[12:46] coming and going during those limited

[12:48] times when i i suspect that traffic

[12:51] overall may be lessened because it's a

[12:52] sunday rather than a weekday um so we'll

[12:56] be working with the the engineers on

[12:58] that and then as far as the way uh

[13:00] finding signs as a condition is uh

[13:03] perfectly fine i think the only thing

[13:05] we'd want to do is kind of get some

[13:06] direction on what that means and when

[13:08] that should be done i think in talking

[13:10] to luke the thought was we'd do a bit of

[13:13] a wait and see approach to see what's

[13:15] necessary and what would be best based

[13:17] on some

[13:18] experience so i'm not sure how that

[13:20] would work into the approval um but

[13:23] other than that we have the architect

[13:24] here if you had any questions about the

[13:26] internal renovations um but otherwise i

[13:29] think it's all uh well set out and luke

[13:32] did a great job of presenting it so i

[13:33] don't really have anything to add the

[13:35] only question i would have for the

[13:37] engineer would would be a off the

[13:39] subject question as to what you going to

[13:40] do with the pool because it's it's

[13:42] marked it's marked my understanding it's

[13:44] going to be filled it's not going to be

[13:46] built in yeah they're not going to use

[13:48] it as a pool no i think they went to

[13:50] just building a floor over it or taking

[13:51] it all out basically just infill it

[13:54] saying insulation and then this concrete

[13:56] over the top okay answers my question

[13:59] okay thank you

[14:03] anyone else have any questions for them

[14:06] one question here is the second floor

[14:08] demo too also

[14:10] the mez the mezzanine it's marked it's

[14:12] actually marked in there for seating as

[14:13] well oh that's what they call a

[14:14] mezzanine yeah that's what it is okay

[14:16] all right got it

[14:19] anyone else have a question for

[14:22] me okay i'll bring it back here for uh

[14:26] final final questions amongst the commit

[14:29] amongst us uh anybody have any final

[14:32] comments

[14:33] none okay then i look for a motion

[14:38] move to recommend the approval of the

[14:39] conditional use permit to establish a

[14:41] place of worship at

[14:44] 7360 33rd street north

[14:49] second second all those in favor i any

[14:53] opposed motion passes thank you very

[14:55] much

[14:59] our staff leazison update

[15:02] yes thank you so really just one update

[15:06] here so i expect that we will have an

[15:08] april planning commission meeting we

[15:10] have two applications or um two requests

[15:14] so one is a senior condos proposal by um

[15:18] fourth and ideal or the oak meadows uh

[15:22] apartment if if you're familiar with

[15:24] that and then we have another

[15:25] conditional use permit for an oversized

[15:27] garage that's all i have thank you thank

[15:31] you commissioner updates so anyone have

[15:34] any updates that they wish to express no

[15:37] since uh you mentioned april i would

[15:40] actually not be available at that

[15:42] meeting i'll be on vacation okay thank

[15:44] you

[15:46] that's all

[15:48] council

[15:49] liaison miss wenbring

[15:54] nothing new to report but happy to

[15:56] answer questions

[15:58] i have no questions for you no questions

[16:01] nice to see you again yeah yeah it's

[16:03] been a long time what's that i said it's

[16:05] nice to see you again oh yeah thank you

[16:07] yeah i was out of the country for a

[16:08] while oh nice

[16:10] [Applause]

[16:12] okay thank you very

[16:14] much uh move to adjourn so moved all

[16:19] those in favor i all those opposed

[16:23] we stand adjourned

[16:27] quick meeting quick meeting

[16:30] 18 minutes