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Mr. Voss stated they have retained architects and a civil engineer, which is the civil engineer of <br />record for the master developer, so they can take advantage of that overall knowledge of the <br />project area. He added Shingobee Builders have been involved in the project for over a year. He <br />stated he supports Assistant Community Development Director Trudgeon's recommendation not <br />to request action at this time. He advised they have created some visual imagery to get the <br />Planning Commissions first impressions. He stated he would like to go through the evolution of <br />the site plan, then have dialog and comments on specific concerns. <br /> <br />Jeff Ishland, RSP Architects, stated he has been involved in this portion of the project for several <br />months. He explained the access points, noting they want to play up the architectural features. <br /> <br />Vice Chair Johnson asked them to walk them through the original plan, which the Planning <br />Commission is familiar with, and what the market is telling them that has led to this new plan. <br /> <br />Mr. Ishland stated the reality is a lot of smaller retail relies on destination anchor tenants to draw <br />business. He indicated that as you progress from the west, they have tried to maintain the <br />pedestrian feel and connection. As people come in with their cars into the auto related <br />destinations, you then move away to the scaled down more pedestrian friendly areas. <br /> <br />Mr. Voss stated they need to keep focus on the area within the development that is being <br />discussed. He indicated there is considerable dialog taking place between the master developer <br />and Staff to fix some of the keyhole areas, including the area in question. He stated they are <br />talking to several grocery stores, and could not convince any of them to go with a parking ramp. <br />He indicated they have been told the grocery stores could not finance the store with a ramp, and it <br />is too far from what they normally would do. He stated two studies have shown a 45,000 to <br />60,000 square foot store is the appropriate size for the area, and they are currently looking at a <br />63,000 square foot grocery store. He indicated they are in serious negotiations with Cobum's, <br />and Shingobee Builders have worked with them before. <br /> <br />Mr. Voss indicated the next thing they did was look at the concept of front door and back door <br />retail. He stated Arbor Lakes is an example, where there are doors on the front for pedestrians, <br />and parking in the rear. He advised this forces retailers to have two entrances, which has already <br />posed a problem at Arbor Lakes. He indicated they tried to break up the retail into nodes to <br />avoid this. He stated when you force a retailer to have two entrances you have to have two points <br />of sale, which increases your staff needs. <br /> <br />Vice Chair Johnson stated as he looks at the new plan, he does not see ramps readily identified. <br /> <br />Mr. Voss indicated they were never identified to be in this portion of the site. He indicated Staff <br />and consultants are working on a ramp plan. He stated one other deviation they are suggesting <br />may occur is a change to the residential. He indicated they are working with the theory the <br />residential / commercial line is a soft line. He stated they are looking at how residential relates in <br />this area, and more engineering documents are needed, but they are in general asking for a <br />change to the TC-4b boundary line. <br /> <br />Planning Commission/April 1, 2004 <br /> Page 19 of 22 <br /> <br /> <br />