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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01 Introduction Chapter_12-31-19 1-1 I. Introduction and Vision Introduction Edina is a preeminent community for living, learning, raising families, and doing business. A strong and healthy community grows and evolves in response to its residents’ needs and wants; changing demographics; emerging social needs; environmental awareness; advances in technology; and market- based trends, realities, and demands. Additionally, communities within the Twin Cities metropolitan area, in order to maintain and ensure the future health and prosperity of the region, grow in response to thresholds identified by the Metropolitan Council. These are the premises upon which this 2018 Comprehensive Plan Update is based. Regional Planning Minnesota State law requires that cities’ comprehensive plans must be reviewed and updated at least once every 10 years. The updated Edina Comprehensive Plan must be submitted to the Metropolitan Council by December 31, 2019 or according to a date acceptable to the Council if later than December 31. This Comprehensive Plan fulfills the City’s responsibilities in growth management as required by the Metropolitan Land Planning Act (Section 462.355, Subds. 4, 473.175 and 473.851 to 473.871), in concert with Thrive MSP 2040, which presents the Metropolitan Council’s vision for Twin Cities metropolitan area (our region) over the next 30 years. Adopted on May 28, 2014, Thrive MSP 2040 anticipates future needs in the region and identifies each community’s role and responsibility in bringing the region’s vision to life. About Thrive MSP 2040 Under state law, the Metropolitan Council prepared Thrive MSP 2040 as the long-range plan for the Twin Cities region. This plan set the policy foundations for systems and policy plans developed by the Council, specifically for four regional systems: • Housing (Chapter 4) • Transportation (Chapter 5) • Regional parks (Chapter 6) • Water resources (Chapter 7) In accordance with the Metropolitan Land Planning Act, the City of Edina’s 2018 Comprehensive Plan Update duly responds to regional mandates. Resilience Resiliency is having the capacity to respond, adapt, and thrive under changing conditions. Consideration of vulnerabilities - and responses to those vulnerabilities – can only strengthen a community’s ability to prepare for and respond to unforeseen occurrences. Toward that end, Thrive MSP 2040 additionally encouraged communities within the region to plan for climate change, for example, and to develop climate mitigation strategies as part of their comprehensive plan updates. It was suggested that climate- related strategies might: (1) promote land use and development patterns that will contribute toward achieving Minnesota’s adopted greenhouse gas emissions goals or (2) recognize changing rainfall patterns that require additional storm water management capacity. While resilience was not identified as a required element in comprehensive plan updates, the City of Edina elected to include a vigorous discussion of current conditions, goals, and polices that will better Edina Comprehensive Plan 1. Introduction Draft 12-31-19 1-2 position the City to meet climate-related challenges in a proactive manner. (See Chapter 8: Energy and Environment.) Economic Competitiveness As with Resilience, consideration of the region’s ability to compete in a global economy was not identified as a required element in the comprehensive plan updates. The City of Edina, nonetheless, elected to address its responsibility to the region through consideration of factors that drive the regional economy and how, by aligning itself appropriately, regional and local economic benefits can be realized. (See Chapter 10: Economic Competitiveness and Economic Development.) While the Metropolitan Council does not assume an active role in economic development, the Council’s role in providing regional infrastructure, services, and amenities that serve as a foundation for economic growth is intended to align with and support ongoing economic development efforts to the greatest extent possible. As acknowledged in Thrive MSP 2040, regional economic competitiveness is a core element of the region’s sustained prosperity. Collectively, cities in the region must provide great and suitable locations for businesses to succeed; particularly for those industries that export products or services beyond the metropolitan area and bring revenue and jobs to the region. Chapter 10 recognizes and plans for Edina’s responsibility to the region (and its local economy and tax base) by addressing its ability to retain, attract, and grow businesses that bring wealth into the community and region. Developed in Chapter 10 are goals for retaining businesses and industries located along major transportation facilities and strengthening relationships with organizations such as Greater MSP, economic development authorities, industry associations, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), and chambers of commerce. Local Planning The City of Edina currently uses its 2008 Comprehensive Plan to guide its policy-making and decisions. However, as Edina moves towards the future, the needs of the City and its residents will change. The changes need to be reflected and addressed in an updated Comprehensive Plan to better serve the community, i.e. its current citizens and new residents and businesses that will come here in the future. Thus, the 2018 Comprehensive Plan Update has not only been prepared to meet requirements codified in State statutes but also (and as importantly) to define and reinforce local concerns and preferences for life in Edina. This update is largely about the City, its residents and visitors, its workforce, its residential areas, its commercial areas, and its design and appearance. Areas of Change As a fully developed first-ring suburb of Minneapolis, Edina, at nearly 16 square miles in area, is largely built with established land use patterns. It is anticipated that the majority of uses and development patterns will not change. Approximately 93 percent of the City’s land area will be unaffected by the 2018 Comprehensive Plan Update. The 2008 Comprehensive Plan, however, did identify six areas within the community where change was anticipated to occur. This update to 2008 plan followed direction provided earlier by recognizing existing land use would remain constant except for the following six nodes: • Wooddale & Valley View • GrandView • 44th & France • Greater Southdale Edina Comprehensive Plan 1. Introduction Draft 12-31-19 1-3 • 70th & Cahill • 50th & France A development framework plan was prepared for one of these areas (the GrandView District) in 2012, and small area plans were developed for four of the areas (Wooddale & Valley View, 44th & France, 70th & Cahill, and 50th & France) between 2015 and 2019. A district plan was developed for Greater Southdale in 2018. These plans were developed to provide guidance for the changes that may occur: guidance in the areas of land use, density, transportation, economic vitality, and design and appearance. Outcomes from the framework plan and the small area and district plans have informed and influenced the development of both Edina’s locally-focused and regional planning. These small area and district plans are incorporated by reference in the 2018 Comprehensive Plan Update and can be accessed electronically with hyperlinks. Relationships Across Local Systems As directed by the Edina Planning Commission and the City’s other commissions, an important focus of this 2018 update has been placed on the relationships that exist across the City’s systems. Viewed as opportunities to design programs and provide services more efficiently and effectively, enhanced integration of the City’s various departments and divisions presents potential to further enhance the community’s livability. Efforts to call attention to these relationships are presented in the plan’s goals, policies, and implementation steps; through hyperlinks; and in a matrix shown in the Appendix that shows where and how the City’s systems and programs can be better linked. Edina: A Community of Learning An additional focus of Edina's local planning is "EDUCATION." The quality and achievement levels of Edina's public schools are highly regarded in the State of Minnesota, and this element of life in Edina has long served as a major attraction for families who decide to move to the community. But the Planning Commission has asked, "Why should high quality education be limited to the public schools? Shouldn't education be woven into the fabric of the community in as many ways as possible; in artistic and cultural expressions, in the parks, in public infrastructure, in community gatherings, in community health, in policing, in heritage preservation, etc.?" Thus, goals, policies, and implementation steps presented in this plan update place an emphasis on information sharing, exhibitions, communication, and expanding residents' awareness of how the City works, how it has been and will be developed, and the interrelatedness of its program and services. Each chapter of the plan includes examples of how EDUCATION and the benefits of learning can be extended beyond the formal classroom, across generations, and into the fabric of the community. How the Comprehensive Plan Update was Prepared Comprehensive Plan Task Force (Planning Commission) and Work Group According to Edina City Code (Sec, 805.02, Subd, 1), the Planning Commission is responsible for preparing, reviewing, and making recommendations on the Comprehensive Plan, including its required updates. The Comprehensive Plan Task Force, comprised of residents who are currently on the Planning Commission, oversaw the preparation of the updated Comprehensive Plan and addressed both the Metropolitan Council’s regional planning requirements and local planning concerns. The City’s local planning efforts documented in this Comprehensive Plan update were predominantly focused on five small area plans and one district plan. Work Groups made up of community members appointed by City Council guided the small area plan and district plan studies and the development of Edina Comprehensive Plan 1. Introduction Draft 12-31-19 1-4 the plans. Two members of the Comprehensive Plan Task Force co-chaired each of the five Small Area Plan Work Groups, and three members of the Comprehensive Plan Task Force participated with the Greater Southdale District Plan Work Group. Work Group meetings were attended by City staff and consultants. Each Work Group conducted a series of internal work sessions (which were opened to the public) as well as community meetings where members of the public could participate and provide input. These meetings are documented in the five small area plans and the district plan, which are posted on the City’s website. • GrandView Development Framework (2012) https://www.edinamn.gov/DocumentCenter/View/3984/Grandview-Development-Framework-FINAL-April-2012-lo- res?bidId= • Small Area Plan for the Wooddale-Valley View Neighborhood Node (2015) https://www.edinamn.gov/DocumentCenter/View/6373/Wooddale--Valley-View-Small-Area-Plan-?bidId= • Greater Southdale District Plan (2018) https://www.edinamn.gov/DocumentCenter/View/6182/Greater-Southdale-District-Plan-12-18-18?bidId= • Small Area Plan for the City of Edina’s 44th & France Neighborhood Node (2018) https://edinamn.gov/1536/44th-France • Small Area Plan for the City of Edina’s 70th & Cahill Neighborhood Node (2018) https://www.edinamn.gov/DocumentCenter/View/5955/View-the-70th--Cahill-plan-adopted-January-8-2019-PDF • Small Area Plan for the City of Edina’s 50th & France Neighborhood Node (2019) https://www.edinamn.gov/DocumentCenter/View/6296/Download-the-50th--France-Small-Area-Plan-adopted-April- 2-2019 The small area plans and the district plan, by virtue of their incorporation by reference, carry the full weight and authority of other elements of the Comprehensive Plan. 2015 Visioning Edina’s Mission and Vision While work on the first small area plan (Wooddale/Valley View) began in September 2014, an important early step in developing the 2018 Comprehensive Plan began a month earlier in August of the same year. That is when the City contracted Future iQ, an international firm specializing in future visioning, to lead a process through which residents, organizations and businesses would explore: • What is unique and important about living in Edina? • Where is there opportunity or need to evolve or change? • How can we continue to progress to keep the City relevant and attractive to current and future residents and businesses? • What is our competitive edge? Edina Comprehensive Plan 1. Introduction Draft 12-31-19 1-5 The visioning program conducted by Future iQ would continue until May 2015, when the final visioning document (City of Edina Strategic Vision and Framework) was approved.1 https://www.edinamn.gov/DocumentCenter/View/1629/Strategic-Vision-and-Framework-PDF?bidId= The City’s mission and vision statements are provided below. Mission Statement: “Our mission is to provide effective and valued public services, maintain a sound public infrastructure, offer premier public facilities and guide the development and redevelopment of lands, all in a manner that sustains and improves the health and uncommonly high quality of life enjoyed by our residents and businesses.” Vision Statement: “Edina holds a well-earned reputation as a city of choice. It is the model of a successful, mature, and progressive urban community, that strives to lead in a modern and evolving world. We maintain our heritage and attractiveness, and afford our residents the highest quality of life, while actively embracing the future.” The visioning process conducted by Future iQ included extensive community outreach activities (focus group meetings, community-wide surveys, think tank meetings, community meetings, etc.) and demonstrated wide spread community support for the vision and strategic framework. Eight strategic focus areas identified in City Of Edina Strategic Vision and Framework are listed below. • Residential Development Mix • Transportation Options • Commercial Development Mix • Live and Work • Educational Focus • Population Mix • Environmental Stewardship • Regional Leadership Bridging Edina’s Vision and Comprehensive Planning With Edina’s vision document already two years old, there was a desire to give community members an opportunity to revisit City of Edina Strategic Vision and Framework and provide additional opportunities to define a future vision for the City. It was determined by the Edina Council that earlier visioning outcomes should be revisited in two workshops in order to ensure a bridge between the City’s vision and the 2018 Comprehensive Plan Update, prior to actually launching the comprehensive planning process. 1 Planning studies and the development of plans typically begin with visioning exercises. With a visioning statement already developed, work on this Comprehensive Plan update (i.e., small area and district planning and regional planning) began in January 2017 without the customary visioning activities. Edina Comprehensive Plan 1. Introduction Draft 12-31-19 1-6 The diagram below illustrates relationships between visioning, the previous (2008) Comprehensive Plan, small area planning, and the 2018 Comprehensive Plan Update. Big Ideas Workshop and Mapping Edina’s Big Ideas The purpose of the first workshop, held April 19, 2017 was to encourage new “Big Ideas” and connect them to the eight key strategic focus areas cited above with an ultimate goal of propelling Edina toward its “Nodes and Modes” preferred future. The purpose of the second workshop, held on April 22, was to determine where and how earlier defined “Big Ideas” would be located on the landscape of the City. The Big Ideas Workshop began with a review of major conclusions reached in earlier in City of Edina Strategic Vision and Framework. Participants were asked to rank which major strategic focus areas should be a priority for innovation in Edina over the next 5 years. Participants ranked Environmental Stewardship (25%) and Transportation Options (25%) as the top two innovation priority areas, followed Edina Comprehensive Plan 1. Introduction Draft 12-31-19 1-7 by Education Focus (18%), Commercial Development Mix (11%), Residential Development Mix (9%), Regional Leadership (6%), Population Mix (4%), and Live and Work (1%). Next participants were asked to identify Big Ideas under each strategic focus area and then rank them. The Big Ideas with the most votes, under each focus area, are listed on the following pages. The Big Ideas that are reported on the following pages are just some of the projects and initiatives that might be implemented in Edina. It is anticipated that other Big Ideas will emerge; some in response to needs, threats, and constraints, and others in response to opportunities, new technologies and innovations. It is not possible to identify all the Big Ideas that will be implemented as time progresses and as Edina changes over time. The important “take away” from the Big Ideas workshop sessions was the earlier identification of key strategic focus areas and the community’s recognition that they are relevant, as corner stones, of actions that will be taken as the City moves forward…. and that each Big Idea is connected to a larger strategy that encourages exploration, investigation, customization, fine tuning and refinement, and ultimately a commitment to implement. 25% 25% 18% 11% 9% 6% 4% 1% Edina Comprehensive Plan 1. Introduction Draft 12-31-19 1-8 Transportation Environmental Stewardship Education Focus Edina Comprehensive Plan 1. Introduction Draft 12-31-19 1-9 Commercial Development Mix Housing and Residential Development Mix Edina Comprehensive Plan 1. Introduction Draft 12-31-19 1-10 Regional Leadership Population Mix Edina Comprehensive Plan 1. Introduction Draft 12-31-19 1-11 Live and Work Participants in the Big Ideas Workshop Edina Comprehensive Plan 1. Introduction Draft 12-31-19 1-12 The Mapping Workshop engaged participants in an exercise where they identified important locations on a map of the City. Three mapping exercises were completed, and each was followed by a discussion where participants were able to comment on outcomes from the mapping and report on observations. The three mapping exercises were: 1. Where is important to me in Edina? (I.e., identify nodes) 2. How do I travel to important places? (I.e., identify modes) 3. Where Big Ideas should be implemented? (I.e., where are opportunity sites, where are opportunities to link Big Ideas, and does this reinforce Edina’s future vision?) Presented on page 1-13 is a City of Edina aerial base map that shows four quadrants that are defined by north/south Trunk Highway (TH) 100 and east/west TH 62 (aka Crosstown Highway); Quadrant 1 – Northwest Edina, Quadrant 2 – Northeast Edina, Quadrant 3 – Southeast Edina, and Quadrant 4 – Southwest Edina. The map identifies the following physical features that form a framework for considering the where some of Edina’s Big Ideas could possibly be addressed in the comprehensive plan. • Six existing small areas (activity centers/nodes): - 44th/France - 50th/France - Grandview - Wooddale/Valley View - 70th/Cahill - Greater Southdale • Three potential small areas for future consideration: - Lincoln/169/near Eden Prairie - Expanded 70th/Cahill - Pentagon Park • Parks and Nine Mile Creek • Golf courses • Recreation destinations • Canadian Pacific Rail alignment • Southwest LRT alignment • TH 100 and TH 62 with adjacent pedestrian and bicycle paths • Pedestrian and bicycle lids over TH 100 and TH 62 to re-connect the city’s four quadrants • Conceptual parkway (Edina Grand Rounds) alignment that forms a ring around the city and a ring within each quadrant In support of the fundamental element of Edina’s future development, existing and potential future small areas and recreation destinations (nodes) are linked by the parkway system (pedestrian, bicycle, and transit modes). Edina Comprehensive Plan 1. Introduction Draft 12-31-19 1-13 Quadrant 1 Quadrant 2 Quadrant 3 Quadrant 4 Edina Comprehensive Plan 1. Introduction Draft 12-31-19 1-14 Edina Comprehensive Plan 1. Introduction Draft 12-31-19 1-15 Comprehensive Planning Begins With work completed to ensure that Edina’s 2015 vision for the future was still relevant, work on the small areas plans and comprehensive plan update could begin. The process followed to prepare the small area plans and the overall update is illustrated on the following page. As illustrated, the Edina Planning Commission’s role was central in the development of the 2018 Comprehensive Plan Update. Edina Comprehensive Plan 1. Introduction Draft 12-31-19 1-16 How to Use this Comprehensive Plan The City Council and City departments use the Comprehensive Plan to make land use and development decisions, to initiate studies and develop programs built around the policies outlined in the Comprehensive Plan, and to establish annual goals, work programs and priorities, including Capital Improvement Plans. It will be the primary responsibility of the Planning Department to ensure that the Comprehensive Plan is consulted and its policies followed. The Planning Commission uses the Comprehensive Plan as the basis for its deliberations and decisions regarding review of development applications and for its recommendations to City Council. Most City of Edina 2018 Comprehensive Plan Update Planning Process Guided by Work Groups for: • Wooddale/Valley View • 44th & France • Southdale District • 70th & Cahill • 50th & France Edina Comprehensive Plan 1. Introduction Draft 12-31-19 1-17 importantly, this Comprehensive Plan provides guidance to those preparing zoning and other ordinance changes, whether as part of implementation of this Comprehensive Plan or as additional requests for ordinance changes arise in the future. Edina’s other advisory commissions should use the Comprehensive Plan to guide their goal- setting and programs. It is a Metropolitan Council requirement that the Comprehensive Plan will be shared with neighboring municipalities, regional and state agencies, educational and health care institutions, and other public and private entities, as a means of educating and informing them about Edina’s vision and plan for shaping growth and change. The Comprehensive plan is intended to help property owners, residents, businesses, and developers understand the kind of community Edina aspires to be and, in this case, Edina’s Comprehensive Plan goes further to suggest how equity becomes a foundational component of creating a more welcoming and complete community.