City Council Recap
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2025
CHANHASSEN CITY HALL, 7700 MARKET BOULEVARD
5:30 P.M. - WORK SESSION (Fountain Conference Room)
All councilmembers were in attendance.
Commission Applicant Interviews
The City Council interviewed nearly a dozen candidates for commission vacancies. Terms begin in April 2025 and are for three years. The Park & Recreation Commission has one, 3 year position open. The Commission on Aging has three, 3-year positions available and one, 1-year position. The Environmental Commission has two, 3-year positions available. And the Economic Development Commission has two, 3-year positions available.
The council will interview another round of candidates at its March 10 meeting.
7:00 P.M. CITY COUNCIL MEETING (City Council Chambers)
All councilmembers were in attendance.
The Council unanimously approved all items on the Consent Agenda. They were:
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Resolution 2025-XX Providing for the Sale of an Amount Not to Exceed $13,185,000 General Obligation Temporary Sales Tax Revenue Bonds, Series 2025A
One individual rose to encourage councilmembers to support cannabis businesses in Chanhassen. The individual said that cannabis stores can successfully operate while effectively preventing access by minors and maintaining strong security measures.
Mayor Elise Ryan congratulated Chanhassen City Manager Laurie Hokkanen on recently being nominated and appointed to serve on the League of Minnesota Cities’s Insurance Trust Board. The League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust (LMCIT) is a self-insured cooperative made up of member cities, offering affordable coverage tailored to the specific needs of municipalities.
Ryan also praised Community Development Director Eric Maass for his recent work on a Planning Commission handout designed to provide the public with insight into the Planning Commission and Public Hearing process.
7:30 P.M. - WORK SESSION (Fountain Conference Room)
Review and Discuss New Chanhassen Senior Center Rebranded Name
Parks & Recreation Director Jerry Ruegemer and Senior Center Coordinator Mary Blazanin presented findings from a recent public survey on the potential renaming of the Senior Center. The city has been considering renaming the Senior Center to better reflect its mission, services and community identity as a "Community for Life." This initiative was introduced at the Commission on Aging in November 2024 in anticipation of moving into a new, updated space to serve the 55 and older population.
Many new names for the new facility were offered during the public outreach, but many residents also expressed their preference to keep “senior” in the name in order to avoid confusion.
The council reviewed the results from the public survey and decided to keep the name “Senior Center” on the outside signage of the new Civic Campus for ease of recognition, but said it remained open to an ongoing dialogue with both the public and the Commission on Aging about how to best communicate and market the Center’s mission of serving the active 55+ community.
Market Blvd Improvement Project
Director of Public Works / City Engineer Charlie Howley provided council with the latest update on the Market Boulevard Improvement Project, including results from a recent survey of targeted downtown businesses, a review of the current design layout and a potential scope of work for 2025 and 2026 construction. Howley asked council for direction on a final layout in order to allow three project components to move forward: To finalize design on potential 2025 work, to advance design on 2026 work and to complete design work on a potential Laredo Drive extension.
The council said that it largely supported the project’s current design, but asked Howley to come back with additional alternatives including a full-sized roundabout or traffic signals with two traffic lanes in each direction in order to make sure it felt that it had fully discussed all possibilities before making a final decision. The council suggested the railroad crossing work be delayed until 2026 to have only one full closure for the work at the Market Street intersection. They did support the idea of reconstructing the intersection of Market Blvd and W 78th Street in 2025.
Density Bonuses Amendment
The city's 2040 Comprehensive Plan calls for the city allowing density bonuses in exchange for the creation of affordable housing. In order to utilize that policy in the Comprehensive Plan, the city must establish rules and regulations for the program in city code. Community Development Director Eric Maass presented council with a draft ordinance for their consideration that would allow for up to 25% increased density for residential projects in the R-8, R-12, R-16, PUD-R, and CBD zoning districts if those additional units were affordable at 80% Area Median Income (AMI). The ordinance, as drafted, would incentivize affordable housing in certain zoning districts by allowing bonus units for developments that include income-restricted housing, with requirements for long-term affordability, ensuring fit, finish and location of affordable units within a project are consistent with their market rate counterparts, financial feasibility considerations and unity type consistency with market-rate units. Maass also discussed a potential addition to the ordinance that would potentially provide some relief to parking requirements for the additional units.
The council appreciated the city’s efforts to support affordable housing and suggested the council have a larger conversation on the topic so that the city could come up with policy that was consistent across Chanhassen. Council asked Maass to look further into what kind of objective criteria the city could rely upon to support or deny the use of density bonuses.
Maass presented council with an update on the city’s efforts to create an ordinance that would guide how the city handles cannabis retail stores (dispensaries), especially with regards to buffers from nearby schools and residential treatment facilities, as requested by the Council during previous work sessions
The council supported an option that would adopt a buffer of 500 feet. This buffer would also apply to tobacco and liquor stores (although affected stores currently in existence would be grandfathered in). The ordinance, as drafted, specifically indicates that the 500 feet buffer determination shall be made from the perimeter of the principal structure of the school/treatment facility to the perimeter of the cannabis retailer. For multi-tenant buildings, the measurement will be to that specific suite number.
A formal Ordinance regulating cannabis businesses will be prepared and be considered for adoption at the March 10 City Council meeting. An ordinance to add a 500 foot buffer for alcohol and tobacco retail sales will also be considered at a future date.
