HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes07_0123City of Falcon Heights
Planning Commission Minutes
January 23, 2007
PRESENT: Commissioners Long, Lukermann, Mercer-Taylor, Noble, Rodich, Salzberg, Watkins, City Council Liaison Kuettel. Also present was Staff Liaison Deb Jones.
The meeting was called to order by acting chair, Commissioner Barbara Lukermann at 7:05 p.m. Commissioner Lukermann welcomed the new commissioners and the viewing audience and asked
each commissioner to introduce herself or himself. Commissioners gave brief introductory statements on their backgrounds.
The minutes of the November 23, 2006 meeting were approved.
Election of Commission Chair for 2007
Commissioner Rich Rodich was elected Chair of the Commission for 2007.
INFORMATION AND ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Staff Liaison Jones announced upcoming training opportunities for new (and continuing) Commissioners. Classes are offered by Government Training Service in the spring. GTS courses are
highly recommended. The City will subsidize training for commissioners who have not already gone through a training. An alternative is to arrange for a customized training for Falcon
Heights. Two years ago GTS gave a special half-day training for Falcon Heights on variances, and it was very well-received. Commissioners expressed an interest in arranging a customized
training session especially for the Falcon Heights planning commission. Ms. Jones said she will contact them and find out what would be possible, with perhaps some time spent on this
next month. Commissioners expressed interest in including the following topics: planning process, conditional use permits, variances, large institutional landholders.
In response to a question from Ms. Lukermann, Jones said that there is a steering committee working on the new comprehensive plan. The planning commission’s role is very formal: to hold
a public hearing and make a formal recommendation to the Council. The steering committee’s role is to gather input from the public and formulate the vision for future planning in the
City. There will be some overlap: Commissioner Long is a member of the steering committee and Commissioner Mercer-Taylor attended their workshop in December.
In response to a question from Ms. Mercer-Taylor, Jones said that the steering committee will be holding neighborhood meetings to gather input from residents. Letters will be going out
soon to the whole community. Anyone is welcome to go to any of the meetings. Information will also be on the City website. Ms. Lukermann asked if there is a timetable for a draft. Mr.
Long said next fall or early winter is about the expected time. Jones added that consultants have been hired to write the technical sections (transportation, stormwater, etc.) and this
matches their timetable. SEH is the consultant firm.
Copies of the new zoning code were distributed to commissioners, with a copy of the current comprehensive plan. The Council is scheduled to vote on the new code tomorrow evening;
then it will be in effect immediately. A City code is never set in stone; already there are changes that will be incorporated in the first supplement, which will be published soon.
Following approval by the Council, the entire code will be available on the web and will be searchable. The City has arranged for Municipal Code, the recodifying company, to provide
any future reprints to people who are interested in ordering them.
Commissioner Salzberg asked if there are any plans to deal with the electronic signs that are currently controversial in other cities. Jones said there were no plans, that it has not
been an issue in Falcon Heights yet. Ms. Lukermann pointed out that with two major highways this might become an issue here. It was suggested that commissioners might read the sign section
of the new code.
ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 7:32 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Deborah Jones, Staff Liaison