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City of Falcon Heights • Planning Commission Minutes Apri124, 2007 PRESENT: Commissioners Rodich, Noble, Salzberg, Watkins. Also present was Staff Liaison Deb Jones. ABSENT: Commissioners Lukermann, Long and Mercer-Taylor, Council Member Kuettel, all with notice. The meeting was called to order by Chairman Rodich at 7:00 p.m. The minutes of the February 27, 2007, meeting were approved with minor corrections. PUBLIC HEARING: Proposed amendment to R-1 zoning regarding composting. Staff Liaison Jones presented background information on this issue. Residents planning the new community garden are concerned that the language in the code excludes the composting they would like to do at the community garden and does not represent current "best practice" for organic gardening. Fruits and vegetables and plant-based kitchen trimmings are excellent additions to compost, but Falcon Heights excludes these and allows only garden waste. The proposed amendment to Section 113-174 replaces the phrase "of leaves, grass clippings, and plant trimmings (not including fruits and vegetables)" with the following: "of plant • material including leaves, grass clippings, plant trimmings, fruits, vegetables and peels, but excluding animal derived materials such as bones, eggshells, mean scraps and dairy products." The only person to speak at the hearing was Council Member Peter Lindstrom, the Council's liaison to the Environment Commission. Mr. Lindstrom said he attended a community garden fair and was surprised to find out that Falcon Heights does not allow kitchen scraps in compost. He found on the Internet that most cities do (that allow composting), and it is considered a "best practice" in gardening. He supports the change to the City's code. Commissioner Noble asked if the size restriction of 5 feet by 5 feet will be large enough for the community garden. Mr. Lindstrom said they would actually be using a standard compost bin, which takes a much smaller space. This will be monitored very carefully. These bins work very- quickly in the summer. There being no one else present who wished to speak, the public hearing was closed. DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATION: Proposed amendment on compost Commissioner Salzberg said that while he understands the desire for simplicity in differentiating between plant and animal material, he proposes eliminating eggshells from the list of excluded materials because they are good for composting and not likely to be as much • of a problem as the other materials specifically excluded. There was a brief discussion, with the consensus conclusion that simply eliminating the word "eggshells" would keep the simplicity and not change the intent of the amendment. City of Falcon Heights -Planning Commission Meeting of Apri124, 2007 -Page 1 of 2