09-08-11 Planning Comm. Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES PLANNING COMMISSION SEPTEMBER 8, 2011 County emergency planning, and Sheriff's Department sub - station. In addition to the outdoor storage of vehicles, the Sheriff's Department will have indoor storage of confiscated vehicles that require accident investigation or chain of custody. Higher end vehicles will also be stored inside. Knudsen asked how long a vehicle is typically held. Jim Schrier, Ramsey County Sheriff's Department, indicated that vehicles are typically held from 3 to 7 days, but some may be held a couple of months, and others up to a year on rare occasions. Many of the vehicles come from DUI stops and some are DUI forfeitures. Knudsen asked if these are operable vehicles. Schrier replied that they were. Any vehicles involved in a serious accident and are part of a crash investigation are stored indoors. While the State Patrol typically holds vehicles that are part of a crash investigation, Ramsey County does as well on occasion. Knudsen stated that given the vehicles being stored outdoors are operable, the storage will look like a typical parking lot. Schrier replied that that was correct. He indicated that the Sheriff's Department takes very good care of these vehicles, lining them up and spacing them so that they are not damaged. The City Planner noted that the property in question is zoned Light Industrial (I -1) on the north and Industrial Park (I -P) on the south. Outdoor storage is allowed in both zoning districts, although there are different standards in each. The Planner noted that the City considered a similar outdoor storage request on this property earlier this summer. That request was approved, but the property owner did not move forward with it. The Planner noted that the difference in the two requests is that the current request is for the outdoor storage of automobiles rather than semi - trucks. The City Planner then reviewed his report dated September 1, 2011 which includes a table outlining the maximum outdoor storage that would be allowed on this property based on the two zonings. He noted that, under the Code, the site is allowed a maximum of 65,567 square feet in outdoor storage. The Planner estimated that the County was showing 90,000 square feet in outdoor storage (the entire portion of the property zoned I- 1). The City Planner indicated that it appears that the County could reduce their outdoor storage area to the maximum allowed by Code and still accommodate up to 150 cars. The Planner then reviewed his recommendation to approve the request for CUP subject to the conditions outlined in his report. These include additional detail being provided on landscaping, lighting, and layout of cars in the storage area. The Fire Marshal should also verify compliance with Fire Codes. Duray asked about the usage of the building and the fencing around the property. Mangine reported that the building is 25,000 square feet in size, -2-