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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-12-17 MinutesMINUTES OF THE Edina Transportation Commission Thursday, December 17, 2009 Edina City Hall 4801 West 50th Street Council Chambers MEMBERS PRESENT: Geof Workinger, Jennifer Janovy, Tom Bonneville, Jean White, Usha Abramovitz, Michael Schroeder MEMBERS ABSENT: Julie Sierks, Marc Usem, Warren Plante STAFF PRESENT: Jack Sullivan I. Call to Order The meeting was called to order by chair Workinger. II. Comments a. Chairman Comments Chair Workinger noted that the Star Tribune did a story on the West 70th Street Traffic Study titled “City agrees to take action to calm traffic on W. 70th Street.” He said this project was recently approved by Council for implementation. b. Community Comments None. III. Old Business None. IV. New Business a. Election of Vice-Chair Chair Workinger said the responsibilities include being available to chair the meetings in the absence of the chair. Commissioner Janovy nominated herself and nomination was seconded by Commissioner Schroeder. All voted aye. b. Complete Streets Resolution Assistant City Engineer Sullivan explained that Mn/DOT has completed their study which was mandated by the legislators in 2008 to determine costs, benefits and feasibility of implementing a Complete Streets Policy. Mn/DOT’s purpose of a Complete Streets Policy, Mr. Sullivan said is to provide a transportation network that promotes physical activity, accessibility, environmental quality, safety and mobility. Mr. Sullivan explained further that while the City does not have a Complete Streets Policy, the practices of the engineering and planning departments are consistent with the Complete 2 Streets philosophy as documented in the 2008 Comprehensive Plan Update and when planning for redevelopments and neighborhood reconstruction, etc. Mr. Sullivan said a resolution was before the Commissioner for approval showing support of a Complete Streets Policy statewide. After discussion, Commissioner White motioned to approve the resolution as modified by Commissioner Janovy, deleting the last paragraph from the December 17th resolution and replacing it with the last paragraph from an earlier version which reads as follow: NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the City of Edina encourages the Minnesota legislature, with input and guidance from the Minnesota Department of Transportation, to authorize the development of a statewide Complete Streets program, which would provide for the development of a balanced transportation system, through appropriate planning, that integrates multiple transportation modes, where appropriate, for transportation users of all types, ages and abilities. And recommend approval to the Council. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Bonneville. All voted aye. V. Approval of Minutes a. Regular Meeting of October 15, 2009 Approval was deferred until next meeting. VI. Planning Commission Update (Commissioner Schroeder) Commissioner Schroeder said they are working on developing a process for dealing with Small Area Planning as a result of updates in the Comprehensive Plan that identifies several commercial neighborhoods for redevelopment. He said there are no current statutes; therefore, the Planning Commission has recommended to the Council that a citizen advisory team, including an ETC member, be formed to formulate a process. He said the Small Area Planning Process would be used on areas such as the old public works site, beginning as early as April. He suggested adding this to the next meeting’s agenda for a broader explanation of the general process that the Planning Commission is proposing. Secondly, he said they are in the process of updating the Zoning Ordinances and looking at the development review process. While taking input from the community and others, Mr. Schroeder said it is clear that they are seeking clarity in the development review process and a question was raised regarding the role of the ETC. He said generally, the ETC and the Planning Commission does not hold public hearings or provide notices. He said the ETC reviews traffic studies internally and then makes recommendation to the Council which eliminates the public hearing/input process. Mr. Schroeder said the Zoning Ordinances Update Committee, which is essentially the Planning Commission in a committee role, is considering taking over the role of reviewing traffic studies. He said a review of the Planning Commission ordinance shows that this fits with their role of project related issues, where the ETC is more system-wide rather than project related. Chair Workinger asked that discussion be held over for the next ETC meeting so that the Commissioners can think about the value of having traffic concerns on development projects handled by the Planning Commission and not by the ETC and changing their focus to system- 3 wide issues. Commissioner Schroeder suggested including the minutes from the Zoning Ordinances Update Committee’s meeting in the next packet of information to the ETC. VII. Bike Edina Task Force Update (Commissioner Janovy) a. Bike meeting minutes (November 12, 2009 Commissioner Janovy said December’s meeting was cancelled. VIII. Staff Liaison Comments (Sullivan) a. City is accepting applications for ETC positions. Mr. Sullivan said the City is soliciting applications until January December 23rd for all the boards and commissions, including two positions for the ETC. Commissioner Comments Commissioner Janovy reminded staff that part of the Neighborhood Traffic Management Plan (NTMP) process is to notify residents of the deadline to submit applications. Commissioner Bonneville suggested looking ahead at the end of each year to identify issue areas to be worked on so that they are not dependent on redevelopments. Meeting adjourned.