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From YouTube: April 23, 2015 Zoning & Planning
Description
Minneapolis Zoning & Planning Committee Meeting
A
You
good
morning,
I'll
call
to
order
our
regular
meeting
of
the
zoning
and
planning
committee.
Today's
April
23rd
2015
I'm
Lisa
bender
I,
chair
the
committee
and
I'm
joined
by
council
members,
Reich
Goodman,
Andrew,
Johnson
and
councilmember
Asami.
We
are
a
quorum
of
the
committee.
We
have
two
items
today
on
discussion.
Both
are
environmental
assessment
worksheets
and
the
first
is
for
the
Ritz
block
development
at
three-fifteen,
nicollet,
mall,
I
think
for
each
will
have
a
brief
staff
presentation,
Thank.
B
You
chair
vendor
and
good
morning
committee
members
at
the
first
eww,
that's
before
you
this
morning,
is
basically
determination
on
the
adequacy
of
the
eaw
for
the
ritz
black
and
the
ritz
black
is
the
subject
parcel
that's
outlined
in
red,
it's
bounded
by
a
nickel
at
mall,
4th
3rd
and
then
marquette
avenue.
It
is
a
full
black.
It
is
about
two
and
a
half
acres
in
size.
It's
currently
at
254
space,
surface
parking.
C
B
And
has
downtown
zoning,
and
it's
also
in
the
nicollet
mall
overlay
and
the
downtown
parking
overlay
district.
The
proposed
project
is
proposed
to
be
developed
in
two
separate
phases.
With
the
first
phase
located
adjacent
to
nicollet
mall,
an
act.
Completion
would
provide
up
to
728
million
units
about
12,000
square
feet
of
commercial
space
and
approximately
900
off
street
parking
spaces.
B
They
did
provide
also
an
alternative
concept
in
which
they
be
proposing,
potentially
an
office
component
as
part
of
the
second
phase,
with
nearly
360
thousand
square
feet
of
office
space
instead
of
the
residential
units,
each
phase
would
be
taken
through
the
city's
design,
an
approval
process
separately.
Of
course,
the
phase
one
will
be
coming
probably
provided
you
determine
that
there's
no
e
is
necessary
would
be
coming
through
the
city
process
relatively
quickly.
B
This
is
basically
a
concept
of
the
proposed
first
phase
of
the
development,
as
I
previously
mentioned.
They
would,
at
this
point
in
time
when
they're
spending
their
eew,
the
proposing
to
have
their
development,
will
killed
along
nicollet
mall
I'm,
with
the
Future
site
adjacent
to
Marquette,
again,
nicollet
mall
central
library
is
located
across
the
street
third,
fourth
and
marquette
org
and
the
bounding
streets
for
the
black.
B
This
project
was
required
to
go
through
the
environmental
assessment
worksheet
process
and
because
of
the
fact
that
it
has
certain
thresholds
that
are
exceeded
for
residential
units
and
then,
when
you
look
at
the
combination
of
the
commercial
and
residential
components
in
the
fact
that
it's
also
a
phase
development
under
current
or
common
ownership,
there
were
four
comments
that
were
received
during
the
30
day
comment
period.
We
do
refer
these
documents
out,
as
required
by
the
state.
B
B
Of
issues
that
were
raised
during
that
comment
period
for
a
couple
of
clarifications,
I'm,
just
noting
the
adjacency
of
the
site
to
the
warehouse
district,
the
fact
that
it's
proximate
to
various
properties
that
are
on
the
national
register
of
historic
places
and
just
asking
for
consideration
of
that
during
the
development
review
process.
Other
than
that
there
were
no
issues
again
that
were
identified
within
those
letters
that
required
on
the
specific
attention
and
through
the
TDM
p.
Really.
B
That
was
the
only
issue
that
the
city
identified
as
being
an
issue
was
just
making
sure
that
we
had
a
TDM
p
that
was
consistent
with
adapted
city
policies
and
goals.
Basically,
the
results
of
that
TD
MP
showed
that
even
with
full
build-out
of
this
site
and
the
traffic
operations
are
expected
to
perform
roughly
at
the
same
levels
of
service,
they
currently
do
the
mean
issue
that
the
city
did.
Identify,
however,
was
also
that
we're
concerned
about
the
design
of
the
development.
Again.
B
This
will
be
something
that
the
Planning,
Commission
and
staff
will
deal
with
once
land
use
applications
are
cited
to
the
city
were
concerned
about
the
fact
that
there's
a
large
podium
of
parking
adjacent
to
nicollet
mall
and
we've
identified
that
issue
reputedly
with
the
developer.
So
just
acknowledging
that
again
this
morning
and
lastly,
there
was
one
omission
within
the
document
in
regarding
Skyway
connections
and
just
acknowledging
that
the
developer
will
indeed
be
providing
a
way
to
connect
to
the
central
library,
as
envisioned
as
part
of
the
adopted
downtown
plans
for
this
area.
B
With
that,
I
think
I
will
conclude
on
this
one,
and
this
is
basically
the
design
that
I
was
mentioning
before
that
we'd
like
to
see
a
bit
refined,
and
this
would
again
be
facing
a
nicollet,
mall,
central
library
here
and
third
straight
down
here,
so
basically
showing
that
big
podium
of
parking
adjacent
to
nicollet,
mall
we'd
like
to
see
activity
adjacent
to
nicollet
mall,
and
with
that
I
will
close.
We
believe
that
the
information
that's
provided
within
this
disclosure
document
is
adequate
and
that
there's
no
need
to
have
any
is
on
this
project.
C
You
manager,
this
site
was
in
my
word
for
18
years,
so
the
entire
time
I've
been
on
the
council
up
until
a
year
ago.
It's
really
great
that
actually
something's
happening
here.
I'm
going
to
move
approval
of
the
staff
recommendation
to
not
record
with
yes.
I'll
also
note
that
there
clearly
are
some
design
issues
that
can
be
dealt
with.
The
Planning
Commission
I
personally
have
absolutely
no
objection
to
building
as
much
parking
as
they
want,
or
as
little
as
they
want,
there's
no
requirement
or
minimum
or
maximum.
C
If
they're
going
to
do
it,
it
has
to
be
integrated
in
a
very
constructive
way
in
terms
of
how
it
looks
on
nicollet
mall,
with
our
regulations
not
to
be
very
technical
at
mall
as
it
pertains
to
Windows
retail,
curb
cuts,
etc,
but
if
let
them
build
parking
to
their
heart's
content,
it's
expensive
and
and
but
if
they
don't
want
to
build
undie.
That
would
be
okay,
too.
From
my
point
of
view,.
A
A
Or
sisters
next
Thursday,
sorry
well,
I,
look
forward
to
that
discussion.
I'm
sure
our
planning
commissioners
will
have
a
lot
of
feedback
about
the
parking
on
the
clip
mall
without
any
further
discussion.
Seeing
none
all
those
in
approval,
please
say:
aye
I
any
pose
name
that
carries
then
we'll
move
on
to
item
number
two,
which
is
another
eew,
this
time
on
the
superior
plating
site.
B
Thank
you
again,
this
eew,
that
is
before
you.
Let
the
determination
of
the
need
for
the
EIS
is
a
superior
plain
sight.
This
is
a
little
bit
different
in
that
this
is
a
Superfund
site
that
has
been
personally
remediated.
Obviously,
it's
been
extensively
documented
that
there
are
a
lot
of
an
environmental
contamination
issues
on
the
specific
site
which
we
do
address
within
the
eew.
This
specific
site
encompasses
the
subject,
parcels
315,
first
avenue
northeast
and
several
other
smaller
parcels
that
basically
are
addressed
at
fourth
and
fifth
street
northeast.
B
Basically,
it's
a
five
and
a
half
acre
site
in
total,
again
formerly
occupied
by
secure
plating.
It
does
anticipated
to
be
a
proposed
in
two
separate
phases:
up
to
750
attached
residential
units,
75,000
square
feet
of
commercial
space
and
up
to
a
thousand
parking
spaces
would
be
constructed
on
this
site.
B
There
were
similarly
to
last
eew
the
threshold
sort
of
kicked
in
on
this
one
because
of
the
number
of
residential
units,
and
then
the
combination
of
residential
commercial
on
that
particular
quotient,
as
well
as
connected
and
phased
actions,
because
again,
these
properties
were
under
common
ownership.
There
were
four
Commons,
also
received
on
a
specific
eew
you'll
note
that
one
major
omission
to
this
was
the
MPCA.
B
They
did
not
comment
on
the
aw
during
the
30
day
comment
period,
which
was
which
was
kind
of
odd,
so
I
did
contact
them
to
try
and
solicit
some
feedback
on
this,
just
saying
which
I
typically
don't
do
as
part
of
an
eew.
If
you
don't
comment
during
the
30
day
period,
I
usually
don't
ask
for
questions,
and
issues
to
address
I
did
call.
I
did
eventually
get
to
the
person,
who'd
reviewed
the
document,
and
they
basically
said
they
were
comfortable
with
the
material.
They
would
not
be
issuing
any
sort
of
letter.
B
Gay
earning
on
this
particular
projects.
I
just
wanted
to
address
that
off
the
bat
additionally
MnDOT,
the
Met
Council
shippo
again
and
hennepin
county
also
commented
on
this
specific
eew.
A
Hennepin
County
had
the
most
robust
comments,
and
basically
they
were
just
asking
for
some
clarifications
about
where
this
particular
project
is
in
the
MPCA
a
process
regarding
the
response
action
plan
for
the
contamination
on
a
specific
site.
Shippo
did
also
note
that
the
subject
parcel
that
is
not
part
of
the
development.
At
this
time
that
is
considered
in
the
eaw
again.
B
B
Has
there
been
over
30
environmental
studies
that
have
been
conducted
and
basically
there's
both
soil
and
water
contamination
on
the
specific
site,
both
on
parcel
one
and
parcel
to
is
you
can
actually
see
in
this
overhead,
though?
They've
removed
the
building
that
existed
on
the
site
and
removed
much
of
the
soil
on
the
specific
contaminated
site?
Down
to
bedrock?
There
was
a
small
portion
that
still
exists
in
addition
to
the
soil
contamination,
there's
also
chrome,
water
contamination
with
heavy
metals
and
hazardous
substances,
on
a
specific
site
due
to
the
electroplating.
B
Specifically
again,
these
efforts
and
the
remediation
that's
happening
on
site
has
been
coordinated
with
MPCA.
They
do
have
approved
plans;
they
also
have
environmental
covenants
about
how
much
you
know
what
types
of
uses
can
be
on
the
site
until
the
site
gets
to
certain
levels
of
contamination.
There
are
brown
water
pump
and
treat
systems
on
the
current
storm
water
management
plan,
as
well
as
a
leachate
control
system.
B
So
there's
a
lot
going
on
in
a
specific
site,
all
under
the
oversight
of
the
MPCA
and
also
hennepin
county,
and
the
city
is
also
playing
a
minor
role
in
that
I
can
answer
more
questions
about
that
if
you're
interested,
but
that's
sort
of
where
it's
at
at
this
point
in
time
and
the
remediation
efforts
will
be
ongoing
as
long
as
it's
needed
to
obviously
get
that
level
or
the
site
to
a
safe
level
in
terms
of
environmental
contamination.
Regarding
the
traffic
issues,
I
believe,
we've
we've
come
to
work
out
some
of
the
issues.
B
The
original
issues
that
were
identified
was
the
fact
that
they
want
proposing
the
mold
split
goals
that
the
city
wanted
to
see
on
the
site
regarding
transit
and
and
singular
occupancy
vehicle
and
pedestrian
components
and
we've
alleviated
those
concerns.
At
this
point,
we
do
have
an
approval
document.
Basically,
with
this
development,
there
is
a
lot
of
congestion
in
the
area.
There
will
need
to
be
some
geometric
and
some
signal
improvements
that
are
being
that
will
need
to
be
made
as
part
of
phase
1
and
phase
2,
as
well
as
some
pedestrian
improvements
to
this.
B
But
the
site
is
slated
to
have
a
streetcar
stop
adjacent
to
it.
That's
one
consideration
not
only
for
the
design
of
the
building,
but
also
for
the
siting
of
the
building,
and
this
is
probably
the
best
one
half
of
what
they're
proposing
to
do
with
the
low-rise
units.
This
would
be
basically
looking
almost
at
the
intersection
of
university
and
first
with
the
townhomes
and
the
tower
located
a
bit
more
centrally.
B
All
in
all,
we
do
believe
that
the
issues
that
have
been
identified
in
the
eaw
and
again
acknowledging
the
environment
contamination
issue
and
can
all
be
mitigated
not
only
through
our
city's
line
use
process,
but
an
ongoing
continuation
and
coordination
with
the
MPCA
in
hennepin
county.
So
we
are
recommending
that
you
determine
that
an
EIS
is
not
necessary
this
morning
and
I'd
be
happy
to
answer
any
questions
that
you
may
have.
I
did
also
obviously
have
the
consultants
here
they
can
speak
a
little
bit
more
in
detail
about
any
of
the
other
issues.
A
A
B
B
Airbender
public
works
basically
pushes
every
development
project
to
have
that
40
5535
10
percentage,
minissha
Lee
with
the
first
two
versions
of
the
TD
MP.
They
were
not
proposing
to
have
levels
that
high
in
terms
of
looking
at
that
mode
split.
But
with
the
final
document
that
I
received
later
last
week,
it
will
be
the
same
as
what
we've
had
on
the
Ritz
and
other
developments.
It
is
something
that
both
Public
Works
and
see
ped
mandated
with
the
final
comments
that
were
sent
back
on
the
TDM
p.
So
the.
A
Final
will
be
55
crack
too.
Okay,
yeah
I
think
that's
I,
think
that's
helpful.
I
mean
it
has
to
do
a
little
bit
with
some
of
the
physical
characteristics,
but
come
summer
break
and
I
serve
on
the
TMO
and
we've
been
talking
with
them
about
some
other
ways.
We
might
be
able
to
work
together
to
apply
some
of
the
good
work.
That's
been
done
on
commercial
to
residential,
maybe
even
looking
at
working
with
Metro
Transit
to
bundle
transit
passes
or
providing
car
sharing.
A
From
the
beginning
and
program
them
to
be,
you
know:
have
less
traffic
impact,
less
environmental
impact,
so
I
appreciate
that
change
that
has
been
made
any
other
questions
or
comments.
I
will
move
out
the
staff
recommendation
and
there
any
discussion
on
that,
seeing
none
all
those
in
approval.
Please
say:
aye
aye,
any
opposed,
nay,
crime.
That
carries
thank
you
and
with
that
we're
adjourned.