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VII.1. Draft 2040 Comprehensive Plan Update – Cultivate Hopkins; Lindahl September 4, 2018 City Council Report 2018-098 Draft 2040 Comprehensive Plan Update – Cultivate Hopkins Proposed Action: Both the Planning & Zoning Commission and staff recommend the City Council adopt the following motion: Move to adopt Resolution 2018-072, accepting the Draft 2040 Comprehensive Plan Update – Cultivate Hopkins and authorizing its release for the statutorily required six month review period. Overview Staff is pleased is present for consideration the Draft 2040 Comprehensive Plan Update – Cultivate Hopkins. Council members can review the plan on the City’s website by clicking here. This draft plan represents the culmination of over two years of planning, engagement, research, and community conversation on a broad vision for the community. Council members may recall reviewing and endorsing the draft goals and policies during a joint workshop with the Planning & Zoning Commission and Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee back in March of this year. Those same goals and policies were revised based on comments from the joint workshop and are included in this draft plan. The Planning & Zoning Commission held a public hearing to review this item during their August 28 meeting. The attached memo from Haila Maze with Bolton & Menk (the city’s consultant on this project) summarizes both the draft comprehensive plan and comments from the Planning & Zoning Commission meeting. Ms. Maze will present this information during the meeting and staff will accept feedback. Both the Planning & Zoning Commission and staff recommend the City Council accept the Draft 2040 Comprehensive Plan Update – Cultivate Hopkins and authorize its release for the statutorily required six month review period. Primary Issues to Consider • Review Process • Alternatives Supporting Documents • Resolution 2018-072 • Summary Memo from Haila Maze, Senior Planner with Bolton & Menk, Inc. • Draft 2040 Comprehensive Plan Update – Cultivate Hopkins _____________________ Jason Lindahl, AICP City Planner Financial Impact: $ N/A Budgeted: Y/N ____ Source: _____________ Related Documents (CIP, ERP, etc.): _________________________________________ Notes: City Council Report 2018-098 Page 2 Review Process This will not be the only opportunity for the public or the City Council to review the draft plan and provide comment. Council members should not feel the need to fully review and analyze the entire plan and provide complete comments during the meeting. Rather, you should review the document for completeness and consider a motion to accept the draft plan and authorize its release for the required six months review period. The Metropolitan Council requires that a six month inter-jurisdictional review period prior to submittal of the final plan to them for their review. This is intended to provide an opportunity for adjacent jurisdictions to provide feedback. During this time the City will also make the draft plan available at City Hall and online and accept comments from the public. At the end of the six month review period, the Planning & Zoning Commission will hold another public hearing to review any comments prior to making a recommendation to the City Council on the final plan. The overall review timeline for the draft plan is summarized below. • August 28, 2018 – Planning Commission open house, public hearing and review • September 4, 2018 – City Council review and accepts draft plan and authorize release for the statutorily required six month review period. • Mid-September 2018 to Mid-March 2019 – Six month review period • March 2019 – Final City review and approval & submittal to the Metropolitan Council Alternatives 1. Approve a motion to accept the Draft 2040 Comprehensive Plan Update – Cultivate Hopkins. By accepting the draft plan, the Council will authorize its release for the statutorily required six month review period. 2. Deny a motion to accept the Draft 2040 Comprehensive Plan – Cultivate Hopkins. By denying the motion, the draft plan will not be released for the six month review period. Should the City Council consider this option, it must also identify specific findings that support this alternative. 3. Continue for further information. If the City Council indicates that further information is needed, the items should be continued. CITY OF HOPKINS Hennepin County, Minnesota RESOLUTION 2018-072 A RESOLUTION ACCEPTING THE DRAFT 2040 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN UPDATE – CULTIVATE HOPKINS AND AUTHORIZE ITS RELEASE FOR THE STATUTORILY REQUIRED SIX MONTH REVIEW PERIOD WHEREAS, Minnesota Statutes section 473.864 requires each local governmental unit to review and, if necessary, amend its entire comprehensive plan and its fiscal devices and official controls at least once every ten years to ensure its comprehensive plan conforms to metropolitan system plans and ensure its fiscal devices and official controls do not conflict with the comprehensive plan or permit activities that conflict with metropolitan system plans; and WHEREAS, Minnesota Statutes sections 473.858 and 473.864 require local governmental units to complete their “decennial” reviews by December 31, 2018; and WHEREAS, on April 1, 2018, the City Council of the City of Hopkins approved Resolution 2018-038 requesting additional time within which to complete the Comprehensive Plan “Decennial” Review Obligation; and WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Hopkins created an advisory committee made up of a diverse group of Hopkins citizens to oversee development of the draft comprehensive plan; and WHEREAS, the City Council, Planning & Zoning Commission, and the City of Hopkins Staff have prepared the Draft 2040 Comprehensive Plan Update – Cultivate Hopkins intended to meet the requirements of the Metropolitan Land Planning Act and Metropolitan Council guidelines and procedures; and WHEREAS, the Hopkins Planning and Zoning Commission, pursuant to published notice, held a public hearing on the Draft 2040 Comprehensive Plan Update – Cultivate Hopkins and reviewed such draft plan on August 28, 2018: all persons present were given an opportunity to be heard; and WHEREAS, the Hopkins Planning and Zoning Commission approved a motion to recommend the City Council accept the Draft 2040 Comprehensive Plan – Cultivate Hopkins and authorize its release for the statutorily required six month review period; and, WHEREAS, Minnesota Statutes section 473.858, requires the proposed Comprehensive Plan be submitted to adjacent governmental units and affected special districts and school districts for a six- month review and comment period; and NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of Hopkins accepts the Draft 2040 Comprehensive Plan Update – Cultivate Hopkins and authorize its release for the statutorily required six month review period. Adopted by the City Council of the City of Hopkins this 4th day of September 2018. ATTEST: ______________________ _______________________ Amy Domeier, City Clerk Molly Cummings, Mayor 1 MEMO To: Honorable Mayor and City Council Planning & Zoning Commission From: Jason Lindahl, City Planner and Haila Maze, Senior Urban Planner Date: September 4, 2018 Subject: Cultivate Hopkins Comprehensive Plan Draft for Review Overview & Plan Organization A draft of the City of Hopkins 2040 comprehensive plan, Cultivate Hopkins, is now complete and ready for review. This represents the culmination of over two years of planning, engagement, research, and community conversation on a broad vision for the community. When complete and adopted, Cultivate Hopkins will replace the City’s existing comprehensive plan, and become the lead policy document for the next decade. While it fulfills a similar function to the existing plan, it departs in terms of format and focus - as detailed below. This plan has been organized to put the most impactful elements in the main body of the document, with supporting data and information in companion appendices. This is done for readability and accessibility, as the amount of information is extensive. The plan is divided into the four environments – built, social, natural, and economic – with a series of elements covered within each. For each element the plan includes: Introduction – the purpose of including this element, including a definition of what it includes and its role in the city. Main Ideas – included as part of the introduction section, these are issues that have risen to the top through the planning process in terms of importance to the community; supporting information is included in the appendices. Trends and Challenges – overall existing and emerging patterns that are impacting the City’s role, creating opportunities for innovation and new directions. Goals and Policies – guidance for a range of subtopics, addressing current conditions and opportunities. The final element is Implementation, which lays the groundwork for how the City will implement the plan. This section takes the policies outlined in earlier elements to the next level, with more specific implementation steps tied to timelines and responsible parties. Since this is a comprehensive plan, not 2 all specifics are spelled out – and some follow-up work on specific areas will be needed. However, this does provide a place to start when tracking progress and ensuring the plan remains relevant and impactful throughout its life cycle. Purpose of the Plan The purpose of this plan update is to provide long range guidance for growth, development, and investment in the City of Hopkins. It will replace the City’s current comprehensive plan which was adopted in 2009. This comprehensive plan envisions the growth and change the community will see by 2040, and creates a framework for what the City needs to do to get there. To do this, the plan interweaves guidance from City-established goals, public comments and feedback, past plans and initiatives, and analysis of data and trends. As a community within the seven county Twin Cities metropolitan region, Hopkins is required by state statute to update its comprehensive plan every ten years, as part of an overall regional planning cycle managed through the Metropolitan Council. This plan will fulfill all requirements of this cycle. Over the next ten years, the City will make numerous decisions related to development, infrastructure, public services, budgeting, and many other topics that need to be aligned with its overall goals. This plan provides a framework for this decision making process – to ensure consistency, and progress toward longer range goals. Cultivate Hopkins Vision The concept for Cultivate Hopkins came out of a desire to continue to cultivate and grow the City of Hopkins as a distinct and meaningful place. Based around principles of sustainability, resilience, equity, and complete and connected communities, it provides a framework for preparing for the future. The plan emphasizes retaining what is valued, while proactively addressing and welcoming change. The vision statement for Cultivate Hopkins is: “Hopkins will cultivate the best elements of the Built, Natural, Social, and Economic Environments into a complete and sustainable community that is rooted in tradition, characterized by vibrant and unique places, physically and socially connected, and resilient to changing conditions.” The plan also reflects the 2018 Hopkins City Council Goals and Strategic Plan, adopted by the City Council in 2017. While these goals do not provide detailed guidance for every area covered by the plan, they focus attention on important elements for consideration and action. Sustainability Framework The vision for Hopkins is that of a sustainable community – defined as one that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs. It is also envisioned as a resilient community – defined as one that is able to respond to social, economic, and environmental changes and disruptions while maintaining its integrity and purpose. The City of Hopkins consulted several best practice materials to shape and inform the framework for the comprehensive plan update. The primary source was Sustaining Places: Best Practices for 3 Comprehensive Plan (American Planning Association, 2015). This document details national best practices for creating a sustainable, resilient and complete community. Traditionally, comprehensive plans were developed from a top-down approach with separate stand-alone chapters focused primarily on land use and physical development. By comparison, Hopkins is using the Sustaining Places document to further enhances the City’s existing work and ensure the new comprehensive plan fully embraces the topics of resilience, system thinking, community engagement, equity, adaptation and measurable implementation practices. To supplement this framework, the following resources have been used to provide more detailed information, implementation strategies, and best practices. • STAR Community Rating System. The Sustainability Tools for Assessing and Rating Communities (STAR) system, developed by STAR Communities, is used to rate community performance on a range of topics related to promoting local sustainability. • GreenStep Cities. Minnesota GreenStep Cities is a voluntary program for cities that helps them achieve goals in sustainability and quality of life. • Regional Indicators Initiative. Hopkins has participated in the Regional Indicators Initiative, which helps participating communities to benchmark their status on a range of metrics, to measure progress against itself and peer communities. • Climate Resilience Workshop Series. In early 2017, Hopkins participated with six other cities in a workshop series designed to identify opportunities to build resilience related to local climate change. What’s New? The vision for this plan contributed to the decision during the planning process to go over and above what is required by the Metropolitan Council for a comprehensive plan, to include some new elements not previously featured. These sections, detailed on the following page, include: • New element on quality of life in Hopkins, facilitated through cross-sector and cross- discipline collaboration, including safety and emergency preparedness, community facilities and infrastructure, and public health • New element on sense of community, exploring equity, race, and social connectedness, and the role of the city in addressing disparities and encouraging engagement and connections. • New details related to natural resources and environmental responsibility, including renewable energy, climate change and resilience, and sustainable building practices. • Expanded focus on economic competitiveness, including community economic development, business development, education, and disparities. The table below summarizes the change in plan format: Existing Plan: Stand-Alone Chapters New Plan: Interconnected Elements Preface and Goals Introduction Community Demographics Community Profile (appendix) Built Environment Land Use Land Use Transportation Transportation Housing Housing 4 Social Environment Quality of Life Sense of Community Natural Environment Water and Solid Waste Sustainability and Natural Resources Parks and Trails Parks and Trails Economic Environment Economic Competitiveness Downtown Downtown Implementation Implementation The Four Environments Sustainability may be new to comprehensive planning but not to Hopkins. The City Council Goals and Strategic Plan and many of the City’s existing practices and planning documents incorporated various aspects of sustainability. The Cultivate Hopkins 2040 Comprehensive Plan Update seeks to fit together the City’s existing vision, goals and policies with comprehensive planning best practices in a more relatable, interconnected and measurable comprehensive plan for the future of Hopkins. Rather than traditional individual chapters focused on land use and physical development, the Cultivate Hopkins plan looks at the community’s through four environments detailed below. Built Environment The built environment is defined as all human-made elements of a space where people live, work, and play. It includes sections on land use and development, multimodal transportation, and housing and neighborhoods. This is the most traditional element of city planning – and the land use map and supporting descriptions are at the hub of the planning framework. This includes Land Use, Transportation, and Housing elements. Social Environment The social environment is defined as human interaction and engagement in the community. It includes sections on public services and facilities, education, public health, community connections, equity, and arts and culture. Much of the content for this element is new to the Hopkins comprehensive plan this time around, motivated by the City’s focus on related issues as citywide priorities. This includes Quality of Life and Sense of Community elements. 5 A Plan for the Whole City As is traditionally the case for comprehensive plans, the task of developing the document is being led by the planning staff of the city. However, as this is a plan for the entire city, there are elements which apply to the work of all city leadership and staff. Ways this plan will be used across the entire city include: • Provides support for any major new initiatives or investments • Guides priorities for capital project budgeting • Puts short term implementation in context of longer term goals • Establishing a framework for making decisions This plan has been developed to reflect direction for all city operations, although some topics are covered in more detail than others. Planning & Zoning Commission Feedback On August 28, 2018, the Hopkins Planning and Zoning Commission met to review the draft plan and to consider a resolution to recommend that the City Council accept the draft plan and authorize its release for the statutorily required six month review period. The meeting was preceded by a public open house, and also included a public hearing. Natural Environment The natural environment relates to natural systems and resources, including land, water, air, habitat, and ecology. In addition to addressing policies around these specific systems and resources, it includes direction for practices that are specifically aimed at protecting or improving the natural environment, including guidance for parks and open space, renewable energy, and climate change resilience. Economic Environment The economic environment covers the economy, jobs, businesses, income and poverty, and affordability. This section includes economic development and competitiveness, and guidance for Downtown Hopkins (as the city’s economic hub). Issues related to affordability and poverty are covered in overlapping sections in the built environment (housing) and social environment (equity). This includes Economic Competitiveness and Downtown elements. 6 While the resolution passed unanimously, Planning & Zoning Commission members indicated a number of comments they would like to see addressed in the draft plan before it is finalized. These are summarized below, with page number references as appropriate. • Table of Contents: add page numbers • Land Use (page 28): include reference to the fact that the land use approach is different than in other communities, and add percentages of land use acreages (note: this information is in the appendix and can be brought forward to the main document to make it more visible) • Land Use (page 31): du/ac should be spelled out as “dwelling units per acre” • Land Use (page 36): clarify policy on preserving and enhancing existing housing units to make it clear it is not intended to imply direct City subsidy • Transportation (page 45): add transit policy language that supports the development of a bus circulator route between LRT stations and Downtown; also clarify the definition of demand responsive transit and include examples • Housing (page 55): clarify that enforcing housing and yard maintenance is not intended to represent a change in practice that is more proactive than the current system; also clarify what it means to protect single family neighborhoods from “encroachment” – ensure that new description references specifically development • Quality of Life (page 69): do not specifically call out affordable housing for artists; artist housing is not consistent with racial equity goals due to typical tenant mix; if it is included, emphasize need for diverse residents; in general, focus should be on affordable housing for everyone; counterpoint: artists bring vibrancy and usual perspectives that add value to the community so should still encourage artists to live here • Natural Environment (page 74): need to define how “environmentally sensitive” areas are determined (note: some of this information is in appendix and can be brought forward to main document) • Economic Environment (page 94 and others): since the city does not directly benefit from adding jobs, need more emphasis in this section on tax base, including specific goals around creating sufficient value to sustain public infrastructure and system. In addition to growing the tax base, should also emphasize using limited resources and infrastructure more efficiently; also ensure this is reflected as possible benchmark value in the implementation element • Downtown (page 100): move “remaining unique” to the top of the list; this is very important and a key differentiator for Hopkins; central social district is also very important. Should indicate that the unique downtown is an important marketing tool for Hopkins – and it keeps getting nicer. • Implementation (page 106): move parking requirements study to short term; any zoning related one should be in the short term too • Implementation (page 113): move affordable housing implementation steps into the short term timeframe, rather than medium term – these are high priorities In addition, two people spoke at the public hearing. Their comments are summarized below as well. • There is an intersection between affordability in Hopkins and keeping older buildings up to date. Renovated properties may increase in value/rent, making them less affordable. Plan should acknowledge the challenge in balancing these priorities. 7 • The ICA food shelf has 55% of its clients in Hopkins, which means around 17.8% of Hopkins residents at least occasionally use the food shelf – though not all are regular users. • The plan addresses both ownership and rental housing. From experience with the community, it seems that renters are typically here because they are committed to this community and want to stay here. Some have rented in the area for many years. • The region has entrenched racial and economic disparities, which reflect past actions by cities – which in turn have a responsibility to address them • The comprehensive plan generally reflects values around equity and disparities, though it may need stronger language in terms of policies and more clarification as to roles and responsibilities. Policies should reflect that 66% of housing is currently rental, so rental-related policies benefit the majority of the community. Need more clarification in terms of new public sources for preserving existing housing stock and policies for new housing such as inclusionary zoning and right of first refusal. (note: individual indicated afterwards that more specific comments to this effect will be forwarded to the City during the comment period)