Roseville planning commission approves Sunrise Office Center at 705 Sunrise Ave.; residents raise traffic, tree and flooding concerns

The Roseville Planning Commission on Jan. 9 approved entitlements for the Sunrise Office Center at 705 Sunrise Avenue, authorizing a new 7,300-square-foot medical office building, a flood encroachment permit and a tree permit for the removal of three protected oak trees.

The project site is a 2.63-acre parcel that currently contains a 4,700-square-foot medical office building. Staff told the commission the proposed new building would bring the two structures to about 12,000 square feet of medical office space and would expand the parking area to 80 spaces. Shelby Maples, associate planner for the City of Roseville, described the requested entitlements, the project’s site constraints and staff’s recommendation to approve the permits with conditions.

Why it matters: The site sits adjacent to the Terraces of Roseville senior housing and is partially encumbered by Kirby Creek and an existing storm drain. Neighbors and residents said the project’s parking, new traffic and removal of mature oaks could affect emergency access, quality of life and local drainage; commissioners pressed staff on alternatives, parking reductions and floodplain impacts.

Shelby Maples of the city planning staff told commissioners the site is bounded by Sunrise Avenue to the south, Kirby Creek to the north, an existing medical office and parking on the parcel, and the Terraces of Roseville to the east. Maples said the new structure would be sited “as far as from the floodway boundary as the parcel can accommodate,” that activity areas would be placed above base flood elevation, and that the public works floodplain management division recommended conditions requiring flood-resistant materials and measures to avoid raising off-site water surface elevations. Maples said the project includes…