08-01-2011 Council Minutes (2) - Laserfiche WebLink

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CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION August 1, 2011 APPROVED 1 CITY OF LINO LAKES s- 2 MINUTES 3 DATE : August 1,2011 4 TIME STARTED : 6:23 p.m. 5 TIME ENDED : 7:10 p.m. 6 MEMBERS PRESENT : Council Members Rafferty, O'Donnell, 7 Mayor Reinert 8 MEMBERS ABSENT : Council Members Roeser and Gallup 9 10 Staff members present: City Administrator Jeff Karlson; Community Development 11 Director Michael Grochala; City Engineer Jason Wedel; City Planner Jeff Smyser; Public 12 Safety Director John Swenson; City Clerk Julie Bartell 13 14 1. 7301 Apollo Court—Zoning Violation,Jenmar Equity, LLC-Community 15 Development Director Grochala reviewed the situation regarding the property at 7301 16 Apollo Drive. The property owner, Mark Deitz of Jenmar Equity LLC, and his attorney 17 Mr. Bill Griffith, informed the council at a recent Open Mike of certain concerns about 18 the city's finding of violations at the property. The city has found that the existing 19 outdoor storage on the property is in violation of the city zoning ordinance and that the 20 property would not qualify for a conditional use permit to allow the outdoor storage to 21 continue. The property owner is requesting that the council allow the condition to 22 remain, however, Mr. Grochala explained that the council doesn't have the authority to 23 do so except by approving a zoning ordinance amendment impacting all like properties. 24 The council viewed photos of the site and the location. The mayor noted that the city 25 council generally does not consider variances as a way to solve zoning issues but rather 26 prefers to look at code changes when that is considered appropriate; at this time it hasn't 27 been determined that it is appropriate in this case. When the property owner asked about 28 obtaining an interim use permit (as is done in other cities), staff explained that it would 29 require a code change but he added that one was accommodated recently for the I35E 30 batch plant operations. Such a permit would have a time limitation and this situation may 31 not be open to change even in a three year period. The property owner's attorney offered 32 that the owner would be willing to move things that are located outside as quickly as 33 possible through the industrial process and also to add fencing to the area; they would 34 understand the need to look again at the situation again after an interim period such as 35 three years. When a council member asked for an explanation of what's going on in the 36 building, Mr. Dietz explained the operations, pointing out that there is no room inside the 37 facility for the materials in question. 38 39 The council concurred that they are interested in helping a viable business to remain in 40 the city and recommended that the matter be referred to the Planning and Zoning Board 41 for review with a recommendation that it will be key to have an"end game" in any 42 solution. Community Development Director Grochala noted that he will recommend to 43 the owner that he apply for a code amendment to get that process going. 1