Twenty-five years into the future, planners envision an Eden Prairie Town Center complete with shops, entertainment, restaurants and office all mixed together in a walkable, connected space.

“There’s been a lot of work since 2004 on this whole Town Center planning and it has included a lot of public input,” said Community Development Director Janet Jeremiah.

“Staff has been aware for many years of the community interest in creating more of an identifiable downtown Eden Prairie.”

But, bringing about Eden Prairie’s own main street is a not-so-clear-cut endeavor.

The anticipation of such a development was an issue the Eden Prairie City Council wrestled with at its July 15 meeting.

At issue was the approval of a new development on Glen Lane. The Top Dog Country Club and Vet Clinic is planning to expand an additional 21,508 square feet from the current 18,742-square-foot space. The expansion would take up the space that was formerly Franks Nursery and Crafts.

The location is within the region established as Eden Prairie’s Town Center, a space that is west of Flying Cloud Drive, south of Lake Idlewild and north of Regional Center Road. For a drop-off animal care facility, the amount of parking planned would be sufficient, but if, at some point, it was to be redeveloped into a different use, like a restaurant or store, the amount of parking on the site would not work.

The staff recommendation would have left more flexibility for future Town Center redevelopment.

 “The potential concern is that it will make it less likely to redevelop in the future in conformance with the Town Center plans.

“The other side of that argument is that the Town Center plans are a 25-year horizon and a lot of different changes can occur in 25 years,” she added.

City staff proposed a compromised plan that would expand the facility only about 8,000 square feet, but the City Council ultimately approved the expansion plans as originally submitted.

The issue was not without some disagreement among council members.

“I guess I’m concerned going outside of the Town Center plan,” said Council Member Kathy Nelson, who was ultimately the only no vote for the expansion.

At some point, the city will pursue Town Center development. “I sort of thought we were getting to that point for new development going in there,” she said.

Mayor Phil Young was in support of what the Planning Commission recommended, which was to allow the development go in as proposed.

He noted that with the city in this period of transition, “things don’t happen overnight.”

This isn’t a project in the scope of Windsor Plaza, in which the economies of those projects can absorb costly amenities. And it’s an improvement over what it is now, he noted.

“This idea that we just say ‘no’ because of this longer term vision, I’m uncomfortable with.

 “There’s no easy answer,” he noted.

Council Member Sherry Butcher also had concerns.

“I think we have to consider precedent,” she said.

 “I’m so conflicted on this,” said Butcher, noting that she doesn’t have an issue with the business that is going in, but rather, the impact it would have on the site.

“I just want us to really think hard about what we’re doing.”

Both Butcher and Nelson wanted to set a time for the council to discuss expectations for Town Center planning.

 “I think we really need to have a strategic session on what it means when we are developing over the next 25 years,” said Butcher.

In an interview, Jeremiah noted that Eden Prairie doesn’t have all of the Town Center zoning plans in place for the Top Dog  property.

That’s why they were looking for a compromise, she said. Staff couldn’t require them to develop the property in conformance with the Town Center because those plans haven’t been adopted for the property itself.

Comprehensive Guide Plan

The reason that the zoning guidelines aren’t in place for Town Center development is that guidelines are part of the overall Comprehensive Guide Plan update, which has yet to be approved by the Metropolitan Council.

 “Once that’s done, then we can implement the Town Center zoning for this area,” said Jeremiah.

The guide plan update could be approved as early as next fall.

Implementing Town Center guidelines will follow, if the council decides it wants to apply the zoning to the properties right away.

Jeremiah noted that, in the past, the council directed staff that the preference was to put a Comprehensive Plan and zoning in place for the Town Center. But they haven’t discussed that in quite a while, she said.

“I think we really need to revisit that with them.”

Jeremiah noted that three surveys done back in 2005 cited a walkable Town Center as a priority for the area.

Those really provided the groundwork that staff uses as its recommendations, she said.

“All of this came from the community’s desire and that’s why we continue to try to facilitate it.”