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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-11-20 Minutes MINUTES OF THE Edina Transportation Commission Thursday, November 20, 2008 Edina City Hall 4801 West 50th Street Council Chambers MEMBERS PRESENT: Les Wanninger, Paul Mooty, Warren Plante, Steve Brown, Geof Workinger, Tom Bonneville, Jennifer Janovy, Julie Sierks MEMBERS ABSENT: Jean White, Marc Usem, STAFF PRESENT: Jack Sullivan, Sharon Allison I. Call to Order The meeting was called to order by chair Workinger. II. Comments a. Chairman Comments Chair Workinger asked Commissioner Brown to give an update on the Greater Cornelia Area/ West 70th Street Traffic Study. Commissioner Brown explained that at the Study Advisory Meeting (SAC) of November 6, they had excellent feedback from the consultant and residents with over 50% of them returning their survey. He said they decided to hold off their recommendation to the ETC until January so that they can gather more information on roundabouts, which the consultant will present at the next SAC meeting (December 15). He said they expect to have a recommendation for the Council and ETC by January. b. Public Comments None. III. Old Business None. IV. New Business a. Aloft Edina Hotel – 77th and Hwy. 100 Assistant City Engineer Sullivan explained that the proposed Aloft Edina Hotel is to be built on a site that currently has five buildings. He said this proposal is part of a larger re-development that extends from Parklawn Avenue to the east, to Hwy. 100 to the west, and from the Fred Richards Golf Course to the north, to W. 77th Street to the south. He said discussion regarding re-development of the site began in 2007 and a required AUAR study ensued in a 3-step process. He noted that preliminary approval was granted on November 15, 2007, and overall approval on December 21, 2007. Mr. Sullivan said the re-development of the site will be done over a 10-year period and this final step in the approval process is specifically for the proposed hotel site at W. 77th St. and Hwy. 100. 2 Mr. Sullivan said the traffic study completed by Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc., showed that trip generation will decrease by 168 and increase by 1,226 with the 150-room hotel; however, the A.M. peak trips are expected to be only 54, while the P.M. peak will be 69 trips, and these he said, are not significant increases. Also, the Southeast Edina Synchro model was used to check the traffic study and additionally, the City is entering into a developer’s agreement to put in writing many of the infrastructure needs created by the overall development. Mr. Sullivan said staff and the City’s traffic consultant, Chuck Rickart of WSB, are in agreement that the traffic study fully addresses their concerns with the site. Additionally, he said intersection or site modification that is typically done to mitigate traffic is not the developer’s responsibility in this instance due to the distance of the issue area to the developer’s site, but rather the responsibility of the City and County. Furthermore, the developer will be making significant infrastructure improvements as the development progress over the next 10 years. The following issues and/or questions were raised during discussion:  Has any consideration been given to a right turn ramp coming off Hwy. 100 going on to W. 77th Street? Mr. Sullivan said Mn/DOT has conceptual long term plans for the area, but it does not include a right turn ramp.  Traffic distribution of 1226 trips and 59 peak were determined using the ITE’s trip generation based on studies of similar used sites where peaking for a hotel is probably later in the mornings and evenings.  Developments in the City of Bloomington that could impact traffic in Edina were taken in consideration including the Burgundy Place and Ryan Office in its third phase. The AUAR Study accounted for these and other traffic impacts out to the year 2020.  The intersection at W. 77th Street and the northbound Hwy. 100 on-ramp will need a second right turn lane in the future and the developer is required to set aside right-of- way for this purpose. Preliminary plans are underway for the right-of-way dedication.  Are improvements to Hwy. 100 and W. 77th Street being piecemealed? Due to limited funding, the work has to be spread out; however, all improvements by the developer as well as the City will be completed before the site opens. If the improvements are not made, the levels of service will remain as it is today, even with the additional cars.  Chris Hickok, Wayzata Properties, said the anticipated building start date is next spring and the process should take 12 months.  It appears the levels of service will decrease overtime at W. 78th Street and France. This is an intersection that was identified as needing improvements and it is expected that levels of service will decrease overtime even without the hotel. Mn/DOT, Bloomington and Edina is responsible for W. 78th Street and will work together to make improvements.  JoNette Kuhnau, Kimley-Horn Associates, Inc. said the overall development plan includes intersection improvements as each incremental phase is done as part of the developer’s agreement. Commissioner Wanninger moved to accept staff’s recommendation. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Brown. Commissioner Janovy asked that part of the last sentence of staff’s recommendation be struck or a qualifier added because she is not certain what levels of service they will have in the 3 future even though they were told that the levels of service will not change. The sentence reads ‘…and that the transportation system is not adversely affected by this development.’ The following will be added: ‘…that the various modeling done by staff, consultant and developer indicated that the transportation system is not adversely affected by this development.’ Staff’s recommendation is a follow: If so desired by the Transportation Commission, adopt a motion recommending that the development application has satisfied the staff and WSB review memorandums and that the “Phase 1 Final Development Plan – Aloft Edina Hotel” Transportation Impact Analysis is within the parameters set forth in the AUAR Study, Preliminary Development Plan and Overall Development Plan and that the various modeling done by staff, consultant and developer indicated that the transportation system is not adversely affected by this development. All voted aye. Motion passed. V. Approval of Minutes a. Regular Meeting of September 18, 2008 Commissioner Wanninger moved to approve the minutes of September 18, 2008. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Brown. All voted aye. Motion passed. Commissioner Wanninger said he recalls a discussion regarding SAC minutes being distributed. Mr. Sullivan will look into this. Commissioner Janovy said important discussion took place about the YMCA that was not included in the minutes and suggested that key points should be included. Chair Workinger concurred. Chair Workinger noted that Appendix A-8 was missing from the Phase 1 Final Development Plan for the Aloft Edina Hotel. He requested that a copy be distributed to them and that the Planning Commission review this page. VI. Planning Commission Update (Commissioner Brown) Commissioner Brown said their agenda has been fairly light recently with the YMCA being the only agenda item. Additionally, he said the proposed final draft of the Comp Plan was received. Commissioner Wanninger asked if there were significant changes in the Transportation Chapter from what the ETC had approved. Mr. Sullivan said the chapter is fairly intact. Changes included reducing the document length of the circulator service and including the entire Bike Plan as an appendix. Mr. Sullivan said the final proposed draft will be posted to the website by next Monday and copies would be mailed out to each Commissioner. VII. Bike Edina Task Force Update (Commissioner Janovy) Commissioner Janovy showed a map from the Three Rivers Park District showing the legs that they are considering for the Nine Mile Trail; to be built and maintained by them. She said one leg will run from Londonderry Road to Hwy. 169 and along Nine Mile Creek; if so, efforts would be coordinated with the Nine Mile Watershed District to do bank stabilization in some areas. Additionally, a main portion of the trail may be on West 70th or West 77th and it would not be 4 on-street, therefore, she asked that this be kept in mind as discussion is taking place on these streets. Commissioner Brown asked how soon will they make a decision regarding which street will be selected because of the impact it will have on the W. 70th SAC. Commissioner Janovy responded that the Action Team, comprising Director Wayne Houle, Director John Keprios and a Three Rivers District staff are evaluating the proposed locations to identify the best routes and Director Houle would be better able to respond to the impact it will have. Commissioner Bonneville said he has safety concerns with the bike lane on W. 70th and Commissioner Wanninger said in previous discussions, residents had a strong desire against giving up their front yard for a bike lane and he hopes this will be passed on. Commissioner Janovy said the Bike Task Force will be forwarding minutes to the ETC to keep them informed. VIII. Staff Updates (Mr. Sullivan) A public hearing is scheduled for December 2 for the Comp Plan. The next SAC meeting is scheduled for December 15, 7-9:30 p.m. at a new location, the Braemar Golf Center. The purpose of this meeting is to formulate a recommendation for the ETC. The Traffic Safety Fundamental Handbook that was sent to the ETC is a comprehensive handbook that covers crashes, safety, roundabouts, intersections, etc. that will serve as a handy reference guide in the future. It is published by Mn/DOT. IX. Open Discussion Chair Workinger asked if they should hold the December meeting; he said there are no known agenda items at this time. All the Commissioners were in favor of cancelling the December meeting. Commissioner Janovy asked Mr. Sullivan for an update on the recently held meeting for the France Avenue Sidewalk. Mr. Sullivan said in 2007 a petition was received for a sidewalk along France Avenue, between W. 48th Street to Sunnyside Avenue, which is a missing link in the City’s sidewalk network. He said a feasibility report was completed and submitted to the Council; an open house was held last night that was attended by approximately 25-30 residents; and a public hearing is scheduled for December 2. X. Adjournment Meeting adjourned at 7:27 p.m.