[0:03] Please, excuse me, please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance, a Pledge of Allegiance

[0:16] which is

[0:17] a foundation under God, indivisible for everybody and justice to all.

[0:25] Thank you and welcome. Let it be known that Commissioner Lamont, or Sheila Lamont is on

[0:36] an excuse absent today and not able to attend. We have six commissioners present. Any additions

[0:46] or deletions to agenda? I do have one. One of our second project here, Apple Lakes Business

[0:56] Park Building 9 has been tabled. So if anybody is here for that project, please know that

[1:04] that has been tabled.

[1:05] Any, does any of the commissioners have any additional deletions?

[1:10] You need a motion for that?

[1:12] No, I was told that we don't need a motion for it.

[1:27] There's no additions or deletions.

[1:30] I'll go to the consent agenda.

[1:33] Can I get a motion for the consent agenda?

[1:38] Move the consent agenda.

[1:40] It'll be moved by Commissioner Lente.

[1:42] any. So excuse me, seconded by Commissioner Pequette. Any discussions? Okay, I call the

[1:51] motion. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Those against say nay. Okay, hearing none, the motion

[1:58] for consent agenda is passed 6 to 0.

[2:05] I have two items in the new business. I can say

[2:10] one of them has already been tabled. Now we have won the Heritage Christian Academy.

[2:18] We're doing an update on the City Council?

[2:22] Thank you. The Council Member is not here today.

[2:29] Mr. Kuo, do you have any update?

[2:32] I can just mention, Mr. Chair, that all items were passed as presented at the

[2:38] the last council meeting on March 18th.

[2:41] This included the Rush Hollow North residential development,

[2:45] as well as the top line federal credit union,

[2:49] which is in the Southwest Crossroads.

[2:52] Thank you.

[2:53] Thank you.

[2:55] Okay, now we get to the new business.

[2:59] This is a public hearing

[3:01] and Heritage Academy, I think, is you, Mr. Croll.

[3:20] All right, thank you, Mr. Chair

[3:22] and members of the commission.

[3:25] The applicant tonight is Heritage Christian Academy.

[3:29] They're requesting a conditional use permit

[3:31] for a 38,000 square foot addition to its existing facility.

[3:35] The CUP also includes rezoning preliminary plat

[3:39] and final plat for a separate lot just south

[3:42] of the school facility.

[3:45] There's a two and a half acre lot just the south.

[3:57] There we go.

[3:58] Okay, as far as the building addition,

[4:00] The plans show a two-story addition located at the south end of the school.

[4:04] As mentioned, it's a 38,000 square foot addition.

[4:08] It would provide many improvements to the school, including a 600-seat performance hall.

[4:15] Seven additional classrooms. There would be an expanded office area, as well as a large atrium that would double as the cafeteria.

[4:25] I'll show a floor plan of the the first floor here so you can see the auditorium or performance hall would be on the far

[4:33] South End as mentioned a 600 seat auditorium

[4:37] The large atrium slash cafeteria would be right here and a new office area with a new south entrance would be at it as well

[4:48] the upper level very similar layout, just more classrooms and storage opportunities and

[5:01] I should

[5:02] mention that there would be a the gym was previously shared as a cafeteria so that would it would

[5:09] provide a new dedicated gym area and a storm shelter adequately sized storm shelter would

[5:16] be added to the school which was lacking previously so a nice update there.

[5:25] Okay,

[5:25] looking at the lot combination as mentioned there's a two-and-a-half-acre lot just to the south this would be combined with the existing school property and

[5:33] rezone to R2

[5:36] Not much of that that self lot would be used

[5:40] It would really just be used for additional parking and a drive aisle as you can see the the property line is right in this area here

[5:50] 37 additional parking spaces would be added and

[5:53] and as well as some improvements with circulation during drop-off and and

[5:59] pickup for parents dropping their students off and picking up. The plan for

[6:06] that is is for all traffic to come in off of Nottingham Parkway to the west

[6:10] here. That's the current layout and procedure now so parents would be

[6:17] familiar with the process here. They would come in from the west and drop down

[6:24] here and form two lanes. So this additional parking area would provide

[6:29] more on-site vehicle stacking for traffic. As it came around this

[6:37] parking island on the east, traffic would kind of merge into one lane

[6:43] and then approach the drop-off area and pick up pick up area

[6:47] And then students would exit onto the sidewalk or or near the entrance and go into school there

[6:53] The opposite for picking up of course and then traffic exits back on to Nottingham Parkway as well

[7:01] As I mentioned, that's the current

[7:03] Sequence that that parents are used to and not much would change there. So there wouldn't be a

[7:09] surprise or anything when when construction is completed

[7:14] So 37 parking stalls are added.

[7:17] There would be a total of 280 parking stalls

[7:20] on the property for students, staff, visitors.

[7:25] The day-to-day uses would be well-parked.

[7:30] Now the addition of a 600 seat auditorium

[7:36] will require a minimum of 203 parking stalls.

[7:39] So there is adequate onsite parking the only concern was was if an event in the gym were to take

[7:46] take place at the same time as the new auditorium the site would be under parked so the school is

[7:53] well aware of this and staff is also requiring a condition of approval that these two events

[8:00] and vent in the auditorium cannot take place at the same time as an event in the gym they

[8:06] would be offsetting by school policy as well as the condition of approval tonight.

[8:12] So as I mentioned the school is well aware of that and prepared for that and that was

[8:19] really the only concern with parking but it appears it can be addressed by offsetting

[8:25] schedules of the two uses.

[8:31] Landscaping they are proposing to replace many of the trees that would be removed

[8:35] in this new addition area there is some landscaping that would be disrupted

[8:40] there the new landscape plan shows new trees would be planted the southern lot

[8:46] however is is heavily treed and not many trees would be removed for the the

[8:52] additional parking so they would definitely meet their minimum tree

[8:57] requirements so staff is not really concerned with that and then the

[9:04] architecture. The building is brick now and the addition would blend into that. It would

[9:10] be a relatively seamless transition. So it would appear very similar to the existing

[9:18] building there.

[9:22] There's one correction on the final plat. It will require a vacation

[9:28] of an easement and that staff is, sorry, the applicant is currently working on those

[9:32] corrections, and that would be a separate process, that application process that they're working on.

[9:39] Otherwise, staff did not receive any public comments on the proposed project, and we are recommending

[9:44] approval. I'm happy to answer any questions you have, and the applicant is also here tonight to

[9:49] answer any questions you have.

[9:52] Thank you, Mr. Call. Does there any commission I have a question? Commissioner Pequette?

[9:59] Yeah, Mr. Cora, I saw that they were going to have a kiln in the building for my assume firing up for pottery

[10:05] So has the fire department made any comments about that or?

[10:09] Fire to um, excuse me the fire department review did not include any comments on on indoor kiln

[10:16] I'm not sure on the just like having an oven in there and usually when it comes to kitchen

[10:21] I know they take a little extra interest in making sure all the extra fire suppression and stuff is in place

[10:27] Correct. I think anything like that would be addressed at the building permit review. I'm fired apart won't have another opportunity to look at the

[10:34] Plans in more detail

[10:37] Thank you any comments

[10:39] Yes, sir. Mr. Coro. I

[10:42] Not that I think there's going to be any issue

[10:44] But what is the enforcement mechanism if there are two things going on at the same time a how would we know and be

[10:52] Once it's built what can you do?

[10:54] You know and this also goes not only this but there's been some other projects that have been doing things that haven't necessarily

[11:00] Sat with their PUD. So, you know, what what is the enforcement mechanism?

[11:07] Right, so yeah, this would not be anything that the city is going to

[11:11] enforce or police

[11:13] It's a good good faith effort by the applicant and then you know, it's being acknowledged by staff at this point

[11:19] Okay. Thank you

[11:31] I'm just curious, is that entrance southerly of the median so that there's that that's that's full turning movement there. And does the staff have any concern about that location?

[11:47] Yeah, this this image might show it a little better. It's currently just an existing right in right out. So there would be it wouldn't be a full stop.

[11:57] full a full access intersection and

[12:07] I believe as you noted on there that that

[12:09] is shut down during the morning in the afternoon rush so no one can come in that

[12:14] way they are forced to go around and go in the direction that you know is being

[12:18] established right it's not physically shut down it is the parents are

[12:24] instructed as as as to the route they they need to take and to avoid exiting

[12:29] on to there, they wouldn't be able to drop their children off before,

[12:35] sorry, they would

[12:36] have to drop their children off after that point at the intersection, after they make

[12:40] the turn back towards Nottingham, where traffic would exit.

[12:45] Okay, but there's nothing keeping people from coming in, dropping them, and then exiting

[12:49] out there at this point in time.

[12:52] No, there's not.

[12:53] There's no rule that gets coned off during pick up and drop off.

[12:57] No, and it's left open to allow traffic to go on the northern portions of the property with the parking up there as well

[13:05] They would be blocked by by stacking cars at that location if they wanted to drop their their kids off. However

[13:13] Thank you.

[13:16] I can sure let the applicant speak to the sequencing

[13:20] Occurring out there proposed and existing

[13:22] Okay,

[13:26] any additional question?

[13:31] We understand the applicant is here

[13:36] you're welcome to come up and add to Mr. Kohl's

[13:41] and answer to the question that commissioner of staffing had.

[13:52] Please state your name and address for the record.

[13:55] Thank you.

[13:56] I'm Tanya Scott,

[14:00] 15655 Bass Lake Road in Maple Grove.

[14:04] This is Paul Youngquist, and he

[14:07] is our design architect at Heritage Christian Academy.

[14:10] me. Thank you for allowing us to be here tonight, especially when your agenda is short. We're

[14:17] appreciative. Jesse mentioned the two events at one time. Our school is small, and most

[14:29] Most of our students actually participate in both fine arts and athletics.

[14:37] And so it is very reasonable that we wouldn't even be able to have two events at one time

[14:44] because our students couldn't be playing basketball in the gym and being in a theater

[14:51] production at the same time.

[14:53] And so, scheduling our events offsetting is typically what we do anyway.

[15:02] The other thing, Commissioner Ostafa, there is, they do put a chain up across part of the drive so that the people coming in off of Nottingham, dropping kids off, do have to return onto Nottingham and don't go out onto Vicksburg.

[15:21] So they don't actually close off that Vicksburg exit because sometimes people come from the north side and go out onto Vicksburg.

[15:31] But there is a control there.

[15:33] Okay. Now I remember reading about blocking something off. So it was blocking it up up top so they can't come down.

[15:40] Yeah. Or about 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the afternoon.

[15:43] Okay. Thank you.

[15:46] Any additional questions to the applicant?

[15:53] I understand that you're basically going for expansion, how many more students in traffic

[16:00] are you anticipating adding?

[16:04] As far as students, we're looking to move from two classes in the elementary at grade

[16:10] level to three classes.

[16:12] And so we could be looking at upwards of 75 more students in the near future.

[16:21] Long term, there would be space for future additions which could increase the population of students.

[16:30] But foreseeable future is probably around 75 students.

[16:35] And then a second question is, do you guys ever rent out or allow the community to access

[16:42] your facilities, including the new facilities that will be coming up?

[16:48] Maplebrook Soccer has used the gym and our soccer fields in the past.

[16:53] We have not had a performance center, and so we haven't encountered that.

[17:01] There's a possibility, I suppose.

[17:03] I think we'll also be fairly protective of the new facility.

[17:11] But we would like for it to be a community piece as much as possible.

[17:16] And so we have provisions in place.

[17:18] We have rental agreements for our gym right now.

[17:22] So those could extend, I suppose, into the auditorium.

[17:26] Thank you.

[17:29] Thank you.

[17:30] Commissioner Piquette, Commissioner Tomlinson.

[17:32] Will you have the same parking routes

[17:35] for any activities that are happening

[17:37] so that families will use the same in and out mechanism

[17:40] for after school activities as well as?

[17:44] Or will it just, in my head,

[17:46] I just see a lot of mayhem happening at night.

[17:50] The after school activities are greatly less

[17:55] than the drop off and pick up when all the kids are there so there's no plans to

[18:02] put the chain up in front of that I guess I was meaning when the auditorium is

[18:06] being used or the gym is being used for an event do they use the same parking

[18:10] mechanisms for those events and routes they can come in from Nottingham or

[18:17] Bass Lake Road or Vicksburg I don't think there's any actual designated

[18:25] route that they would take to get to the parking spot and then walk into the building.

[18:30] Okay.

[18:34] Thank you.

[18:35] Any additional questions for the applicant?

[18:42] Okay.

[18:42] Thank you.

[18:44] If we have additional questions, we'll call you up.

[18:46] Thanks a lot.

[18:49] As we said earlier, this is a public hearing.

[18:54] The public hearing now is open.

[18:56] is there anybody in the audience that would like to speak to this? If there is, please

[19:02] come forward.

[19:06] Anybody? Okay, seeing none, I'll make a motion to close public hearing. Seconded

[19:13] by Commissioner Lente. Any comments before I call the motion? Hearing none, I call

[19:22] the motion for closing the public hearing. Those in favor say aye. Those against say

[19:28] Yeah, and then the public hearing is closed 6 to 0.

[19:34] Now on the motion,

[19:43] commissioners wants to make a motion.

[19:47] Mr. Chair, I'll make the first one.

[19:49] Thank you, Commissioner Pequette.

[19:52] I'll motion recommend the City Council direct the city attorney to draft a resolution

[19:55] approving the Heritage Christian Academy conditional use permit,

[19:58] plenary and final applied subject to conditions.

[20:01] Motion made by Commissioner Pickett, any seconds?

[20:06] Seconded by Commissioner Lente.

[20:08] Any comments before we call the motion?

[20:19] Okay, looking forward to it.

[20:21] We've been there at the Heritage Academy, so I'm just saying something.

[20:30] Good facility looks like the new addition will be even better.

[20:34] and been enjoyed being out there and some of my neighbor's kids one out there, so I visited that place, the school for a long time.

[20:47] So I will call the motion. All those in favor of the motion say aye.

[20:54] Aye.

[20:55] Those against say nay. Hearing none, the motion passed 6-0 in favor of.

[21:02] For the applicant, just know this is a, oh, is there two of them?

[21:10] Mr. Chair, Commissioner Alente.

[21:13] I move to recommend that the City Council direct the city attorney to draft an ordinance

[21:18] approving the rezoning from RA, residential agriculture to R2, single-family residential

[21:24] district.

[21:25] Motion made by Commissioner Alente, seconded, excuse me, seconded by Commissioner Klein.

[21:31] Any comments?

[21:35] Hearing none or seeing none, I will call the motion. Those in favor say aye.

[21:40] Aye. Those against say nay. Motion again passes 6 to 0. Thank you. I don't think there's any more.

[21:50] This is our recommendation. The commissioners are recommending approval and it goes to the council by next Monday.

[22:00] That's correct.

[22:01] And try to attend and the council will make a final decision. Thank you.

[22:09] That's the end of items that we have in our agenda. Now I make a motion for John.

[22:18] Second.

[22:19] Seconded by Commissioner Ostafi. All those in favor say aye.

[22:24] Aye.

[22:24] All right.

[22:25] Those against your name.

[22:27] The hearing on commission meeting on Monday today

[22:31] has been adjourned.

[22:33] Thank you.

March 25, 22024 Planning Commission meeting

Agenda

Transcript