05-12-05 Planning Comm. Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES PLANNING COMMISSION MAY 12, 2005 would resolve the compliance issues pending with Orius. Gleeke] again requested that the Commission address the outdoor storage issue and pass it on to the Council at this meeting so that it might be possible to get the moratorium lifted allowing McGough to make application for Che June cycle. The City Planner reviewed his May 12`x' report on a point by point basis. The first point discussed was the fact that current code allows the size of the storage area to not exceed 75% of the gross floor area of the principal structure or 25% of the lot area, whichever is less. The Planner indicated that when this standard was developed, the intent was to preclude a site to consist of a small building with a huge outdoor storage area. The Planner indicated that the Orius outdoor storage area is at the maximum, 75% of the gross floor area of the principal structure. Currently, however, Orius has spread their outdoor storage area beyond the boundaries of what was allowed under the CUP. Duray felt it was reasonable to limit the outdoor storage area as currently provided for in the code. Knudsen agreed. Socha asked if there were other properties in the I-P District that had CUP's for outdoor storage. The Planner recalled three properties: Slumberland, D & T Trucking, and Precision Tree. The Planner noted that of these three properties, there are compliance issues with the Precision Tree site. Knudsen felt that the issues the City is having with outdoor storage seem to relate more to enforcement. Duray agreed, and felt the provisions of the ordinance may be fine, it is just that some property owners are not complying with the Code. The Planner reviewed the second and third points outlined in his report which deals with fencing and screening of outdoor storage areas. The Planner indicated that the current ordinance allows for wood or masonry fencing. The Planner noted that the Orius outdoor storage area is fenced with achain-link fence with slats. This portion of the code was changed after the Orius CUP was issued. The existing code also puts fence heights at 8 feet. The Planner noted that the current code does not define screening, noting that screening could be either fencing or landscaping or a combination of the two. Knudsen asked why fence heights are limited to 8 foot maximums. The Planner replied that this is a standard height maximum since anything higher would have to be an engineered fence to support wind loads. The Planner also noted that once a fence exceeds a certain height, it has more of a structure or building appearance than a fence appearance. -8-