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5.Planning Commission Memo - Recomended Amendment to the Subdivision RegulationsPage 1 of 3 City of Scandia 14727 209th St. N. PO Box 128, Scandia, Minnesota 55073 Phone (651) 433-2274 Fax (651) 433-5112 http://www.ci.scandia.mn.us MEMORANDUM DATE: January 4, 2021 TO: Planning Commission FROM: Ken Cammilleri, City Administrator RE: Ammending the Development Code to allow Street and Road Dedication for Minor Subdivisions and to Ammend the Minnimum Subdivision Design Standards to Limit Environmental Impacts Minor Subdivision Improvements for the 2040 Comprehensive Plan The City’s 2040 Comprehensive Plan, adopted in December of 2019, suggests that future growth and development of the Community should be concentrated within the designated Rural Center, “AKA” the Village Center. The idea behind this element is to preserve agricultural and open spaces while maintaining an opportunity to support residential and commercial growth opportunities (See Chapter 2 Land Use. Pgs 9-10). Given that a significant amount of the area intended for higher density is within the Village Center’s existing developed area, it is reasonable to expect that “in fill” opportunities will likely be needed to accomplish this goal over the long term. The minor subdivision ordinance, in current form, limits the opportunity for infill by preventing the addition of new road and right-of-way within the minor subdivision process. To meet future densities identified under the Comprehensive Plan additional lots will be required as only one principle structure is allowed per a lot, short of a planned unit development. The provision of the code in question states, “(SDC Ch.3 Section 6.2 (8)) No new public rights-of-way or streets shall be necessary for or created by the subdivision.” This limitation forces what would be possible through a minor subdivision process to move to a major subdivision procedure, which is more intensive and costly. Thus potentially discouraging the will to undertake infill opportunities. In addition, the prohibition of new right-of-way or street in the minor subdivision process is unusual, and is not found in many other communities, such as Afton, who is also seeking to maintain similar densities to Scandia. Although I have been unable to confirm this, I suspect this limitation may have been intentionally included to provide further growth and development in rural areas, which is a logical objective that can be achieved with such a restriction. So, I am recommending that provision be reworded to allow right-of-way and street dedication at least within the rural center areas identified in the Comprehensive Plan. Page 2 of 3 City of Scandia 14727 209th St. N. PO Box 128, Scandia, Minnesota 55073 Phone (651) 433-2274 Fax (651) 433-5112 http://www.ci.scandia.mn.us Additionally, it makes sense that the ordinance empowers the City to require dedication of roads, easements, rights-of-way for the purposes of meeting compliance of state, city, or watershed requirements. Subdivisions should always require the dedication of rights-of-way abutting existing prescriptive easement held streets and roadways that meets minimum design standards as required by City Code. The existing language suggests that this is not possible, which is extremely problematic. The Commission may also recommend removing this prohibition entirely, as it is not likely to increase the frequency of minor subdivision requests. Most often, lot size requirements and the 4 buildable lots for every 40 acre requirement per original quarter-quarter section tends to be the most frequent hindrance to minor subdivision requests in most parts of the City, especially rural areas. The deviations from density standards can NOT be granted through a variance. Rather, it requires a zoning district map amendment to a zoning district designated to host a developer’s desired density. Given most zoning is consistent with the future land use map, there is also the added hurdle to making this change. It requires obtaining an amendment to the future land use map from the City and Metropolitan Council, and should that change be approved, a rezoning request with the City to follow it. Recommended Changes to Minimum Design Standards (SDC Ch.3 Sec. 13) The City maintains a set of standards for roadways constructed both in urban and rural areas. Such standards are conducive to making sure developers provide adequate roadways to serve their developments and to build out roadways that will eventually meet Municipal State Aid Road standards when the City eventually qualifies for program participation. Eligible roadways must be at least 60 feet in urban areas and 66 in rural areas. Minimum lane width requirements vary between 11-12 feet., and shoulders of between 1-4 based on average daily traffic on a road. However, not all of the City’s roadways will be eligible for this financing mechanism. Future requirements should also consider attempting to meet conformity with State Fire Code Requirements, which do require that fire access roads be a minimum width of 20 feet for unobstructed 2-way traffic. State Fire code also suggests 120-foot depth Hammerheads and 96-foot diameter cul-de-sacs. These later requirements are generally the most ideal for maneuverability and staging, but are not necessarily the minimum necessary. Larger cul-du-sacs also increase the amount of impervious surface areas. To accommodate fire trucks, this means a bare minimum of 35 feet of turning radius. So, residential areas could benefit from a small standard. Keeping a larger radius for roads that may have larger trucks such as industrial areas, however, still makes sense. Allowing these roads to maintain a smaller width of 20 feet within impacted areas can allow for road extension with less environmental impacts, but still accommodate two-way traffic for fire trucks. Page 3 of 3 City of Scandia 14727 209th St. N. PO Box 128, Scandia, Minnesota 55073 Phone (651) 433-2274 Fax (651) 433-5112 http://www.ci.scandia.mn.us Strictly applying larger road standards may not be appropriate in all areas. This is especially the case for existing roadways within existing wetland and ordinary high water level (OHWL) setbacks. In some cases these roads present the only feasible access points for development, but if these were required to be a wider width in environmental areas, it could be more harmful in terms of development impacts versus the benefits from having more ideal roadwidth. I recommend consideration be made to re-evaluating these requirements to balance the needs to meet generally accepted standards and incorporating ways in which we can prevent unnecessary environmental impacts. Please let me know if you have any questions.