03-13-2014 Planning Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES PLANNING COMMISSION MARCH 13, 2014 Duray reported that he visited the site and there appears to be a lot of stuff stored behind the building. Duray indicated that it did not appear that fire lanes had been maintained. Stockness stated that snow has made it difficult to keep the site orderly. He indicated that every spring he works with his tenants to clean up the storage area, establish the fire lanes, and keep the property orderly. Duray stated that if additional outdoor storage is allowed, Stockness would have to keep the fire lanes maintained within the storage area. Schwalbach asked how long the property has been zoned I -P. The Planner estimated that it was rezoned in the mid- 1980's. The Planner stated that when the City has established the I -P District boundary based on property visibility from South Owasso Blvd. At that time this property and several others were vacant. Schwalbach asked if any other I -P properties in this area have been rezoned to 1 -1. The City Planner reported that the parcel immediately to the north was rezoned from I -P to I -1 three to four years ago. That property has been developed prior to it be zoned to I -P in the mid- 1980's. Therefore, the I -P standards were applied after the property had been developed under I -1 standards. When the Stockness property was rezoned to I -P, it was vacant. Therefore, it was developed under the I -P standards. Schwalbach noted the precedent would be set in granting the requested Variance. The City Planner stated that Variance findings are more difficult in this situation as there would need to be unique conditions cited to avoid the precedent issue. Schwalbach noted that under a Variance, the outdoor storage allowed could be limited to 35,000 square feet. With a Rezoning, outdoor storage would be allowed up to 60% of the property. Fischer asked how the outdoor storage request is processed if the property is rezoned. The City Planner indicated that if the property is rezoned to 1 -1, then Stockness would have to apply for a Conditional Use Permit for outdoor storage. A site plan would be submitted with the CUP application, and the outdoor storage rules for the 1 -1 District would apply. Fischer noted that under the I -1 District standards outdoor storage would be allowed by CUP on the entire back portion of the parcel. Duray asked if the amount of outdoor storage area could be limited to less than 60% of the parcel as a condition of the rezoning. The City Planner stated that from a practical matter, the City cannot place conditions on a rezoning. Once a property is rezoned, then the rules of that particular zoning district apply. The Variance option would allow a limit to be placed on the amount of outdoor storage. However, the criteria for granting a Variance is a more difficult standard. -4-