4.1 PCSR 03-22-2016 DRAFT MIN - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Planning Commission Minutes Page 5 February 23,2016 Discussion of the "green"rooftop proposal followed. Mr. Hartung stated that rainwater will be used on site and rainwater would be collected from any hard surfaces and used for irrigation. Vice Chair Konietzko asked if the project could be completed in phases. Mr. Hartung stated that he felt the stormwater for his site and the Yale Street extension could be contained and handled by the existing stormwater. Mr. Carlton stated that he cannot verify whether or not that is correct. Mr. Hartung stated that his engineers used the original documents for the Yale Street extension to do their calculations. He stated that even though the building is large, the green roof has not been taken into account. Mr. Carlton stated that the calculations used by the applicant's engineer were done under different requirements than are used currently. He explained that the storm water runoff cannot exceed the current conditions. He stated he is not saying the applicant's proposed plan cannot handle the stormwater,but staff does not know at this time. He stated that if the Planning Commission moves forward with a recommendation for approval, the issue can be looked at further. Mr. Carlton stated that the stormwater study was done as a comprehensive project, and not intended to be completed in phases. Mr. Carlton stated that the parking at Granite Shores is not a true comparison, since there are city-owned parking lots the residents and businesses of Granite Shores can utilize. He also noted that Elk River is more of a bedroom community,where people need their cars to drive to get to work. Vice Chair Konietzko asked if the 2.0 parking stalls per unit was based on the hope that the applicant could acquire the additional property. Mr. Hartung stated yes,but that if that was not possible, they would have to reconfigure the layout and the number of stalls may go down to 1.92. He noted that none of these numbers figure in the on street parking,which would be in addition to that provided on site. Commissioner Crook asked how much parking the Co-op is proposing to need. Mr. Hartung stated that the proposed restaurant will be small and they felt 25 spaces would be adequate. Mr. Carlton stated that the ordinance requires 45 spaces. Mr. Hartung stated that with 1.34 stalls available at Granite Shores, they have more parking than they need. He stated that the apartments are predominantly 1-bedrooms and will likely have 1 car per apartment. He stated that he felt that the future of transportation was that cars are on the way out, and he plans to implement the car-to-go concept,where residents could rent one of several cars to use when needed. Commissioner Thiel stated that he was reluctant to dismiss the parking issue. He stated he was not in favor of the proposal due to the issues of parking, stormwater, and the DNR's concerns. Commissioner Larson-Vito stated that having restaurants that you can walk to was a concern when she lived in an apartment.