12-12-2013 Planning Comm. Minutes

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MINUTES PLANNING COMMISSION DECEMBER 12, 2013 feet high. Knudsen noted that if the City allows stacks to be 20 feet high, it must assume that they will be that high. Knudsen again pointed out the concerns raised about water flows. Schwalbach asked if improved access roads and increased water flows addresses the Fire Marshal's concerns. He also asked if the Wenner's are agreeable to having a fire protection engineer do a study as recommended by the City Engineer. The City Planner reported that he asked the Fire Marshal the same questions, and the Fire Marshal indicated that with improved access roads and adequate water flows, he would be comfortable with approval of the PUD Amendment. Wenner indicated their willingness to comply with the Fire Code, but indicated that they would have to consider the associated costs. He was not sure what the study would cost, as well as resulting improvements that might be necessary. Wenner also indicated that the cost of paving the access lanes would be hundreds of thousands of dollars. Wenner again indicated that improving the gravel base would be his preference. Knudsen noted that the Commission is missing a vital piece of information at this point relative to fire flows. He indicated that the Commission has three options: approve the request with conditions, deny based on concerns allowing the application to move forward to the Council, or table until all the information is available. Duray reported that he visited the site and commented that there is a lot of wood stored on the property. He asked the length of time the wood was in storage. Wenner replied that the business sells wood in its original form as well as remanufactures wood into something else such as pallets and sells it. Wenner indicated that the inventory turns every 30 to 40 days. Duray stated that before acting on this application, he would like the recommended additional information. Duray stated that he would be more inclined to allow the relocation of existing outdoor storage areas to help improve efficiencies rather than addition more storage. Knudsen stated that while the City wants its businesses to be successful, he would be more inclined to approval a PUD Amendment that relocates outdoor storage and results in no increase in the amount of outdoor storage. Wenner stated that in light of the City Engineer's recommendations and the discussion this evening, they will have to give their proposal some thought. Fischer asked about the company's safety record and asked if increasing the stack heights increases the safety risk. Wenner reported that they have -5-