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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/11/1989 P&Z MinutesPLANNING AND ZONING MEETING January 11, 1989 Acting Chairperson Charles Prokop called the regular meeting of the Lino Lakes Planning and Zoning Board to order at 7:04 p.m., Wednesday, January 11, 1989, at the Lino Lakes City Hall. Boardmembers present: Alan Irwin, Jeff Joyer, Elmer Crohn, Charles Prokop and new members Fred Chase, and Gordon Girtz. Also present were: Mayor Ben Benson; Councilmembers Harold Bisel, Bill Bohjanen; City Planner, John Miller; Building Official, Pete Kluegel; City Engineer, Ron Stahlberg; and Secretary, Laura Elken. Members Absent: Dave Cody Chairperson Dave Cody submitted his resignation effective January 11, 1989. Charles Prokop welcomed the two new members Fred Chase - 6184 Wood Chuck Circle, and Gordon Girtz - 6065 Ware Road. Consideration of Minutes Page 2, 3rd paragraph, should read: Graiziger and Bodger have purchased a parcel of land on the northeast corner of Main Street (County Road 14) and 35E. Both sites are zoned Light Industrial "L -I ". Twice the word abstained was misspelled. Pg. 4, 9th paragraph, last line was requested to read be comfortable with... not find comfortable with. Pg. 6, should read: Mr. Prokop seconded the motion, and the motion was approved unanimously. Pg. 8, 9th paragraph should read in light of the fact... Mr. Prokop moved to approve the minutes of December 14th as corrected. Mr. Joyer seconded the motion, and the motion was approved. Mayor Benson addressed the board. He received a resignation letter from Dave Cody and Jeff Joyer. On Monday, January 9th Council reviewed annual appointments. Two liaisons were appointed for the Planning and Zoning board for 1989. The two liaisons are Ben Benson, and Harold Bisel. Mayor Benson stressed that the P &Z is a very important board, that needs to be covered, and felt that by having 2 liaisons at each meeting would be best. Action was also taken at the January 9th meeting to appoint two new members to the P &Z board. All the candidates were very well qualified. There are two current vacancies on the P &Z board. Mayor Benson hopes to retain some of the Page 1 • • PLANNING AND ZONING MEETING January 11, 1989 leadership the board had before. Ben Benson stated that a member of the Planning and Zoning Board is a difficult job, overwhelming at times, but a good learning process. To be a member of the P &Z is even more difficult if you are new to Lino Lakes. Mayor Benson stated that the council will elect two new members at the next council meeting and suggested that the board abstain from electing a Chairperson and Vice - Chairperson until the P &Z board meets in February. The last couple of years the council has requested the individual boards to appoint their own Chairperson and Vice - Chairperson. Mayor Benson stressed that communication is very important, and stated that during the new year the board will encounter many challenging issues. Benson supports you, and encourages you to take your time, so as to make good decisions. MOTION: Jeff Joyer moved to postpone the election of Chairperson and Vice - Chairperson until the Planning and Zoning board meets in February. Elmer Crohn seconded the motion, the motion was approved unanimously. Request from Paul Howard to rezone land on Hodgson Road Application #89 -01. Paul Howard operates the Baldwin Lake Court, mobile home park. Presently the park covers 19.5 acres and is the site of 75 homes. There are no vacancies in the park at this time. The original park was constructed in the late 1950's and Mr. Howard took possession in 1967. The park was expanded by 21 sites in 1984 -85, and by 3 sites in 1987. Recently the applicant purchased the approximately seven acre Webster Riding Stable property adjacent (on the south) to the mobile home park. He has petitioned to have the land rezoned so that the park can be expanded by approximately 20 sites. A site plan would have to be approved by the city before the expansion. Howard has estimated that without rezoning, he could subdivide the Webster property and construct eight stick -built homes on the land. Paul Howard's land is zoned R -1 Single- Family Residential. He is requesting a rezone to R -6 Manufactured Home Park District. Mr. Howard felt that if stick -built homes went up in this site, they may not sell well , considering they would be built next to Rehbeins Transit. John Miller, City Planner explained that within a half mile Page 2 • • • PLANNING AND ZONING MEETING January 11, 1989 of Paul Howard's property the city rezoned two areas to the R -1X district and a preliminary plat was recently approved for development in one of the parcels. Within a mile of the Baldwin Lake Court the city discouraged construction of entry -level housing. Also within the last year the city rezoned an R -7 manufactured home district to an R -5 PUD residential district. This was done at the owner's request and sales of homes in the new R -5 district have been good. One of the conditions in the R -5 PUD agreement was that the homes be built to R -1X specifications. This land is within 3/4 of a mile of Howard's property. John Miller continued by saying that what this all means is that within the last year the city has sent a clear and consistent message that its plans and goals are to upgrade its housing stock. The success of this action was shown by the 1988 building data. Jeff Joyer feels Mr. Howard's proposal is reasonable, the city did see a need for this type of development in the past. He suggested the board could have input regarding the site plan. Joyer felt that it didn't seem reasonable to subdivide and build 8 homes. Joyer didn't feel it would look very attractive. John Miller stated that in the last year the city completed a citizen survey that among other things showed that many people in Lino Lakes believed the city already had its share of low and moderate income housing. And even prior to this the members of the Planning and Zoning Board and City Council increased minimum house size in the R -1 zone and created the R -1X Executive Housing district. In 1988 Lino Lakes built more houses than in any previous year and they were higher value than ever before. Mr. Howard wrote to the neighboring property owners stating that he intended to request to rezone to R -6 and they would be notified of future public hearings. He asked that if anyone had questions, to contact Mr. Howard. Mr. Howard stated that at the present time he hadn't heard from any of the property owners. Mr. Miller stated there are two points of access to the applicants property. 1. Highway 49 2. Extension of Laurene Ave. After considerable discussion a motion was made. MOTION: Jeff Joyer moved to recommend to City Council approval of Application 89 -01. Since the only area of manufactured housing has recently been rezoned to prevent Page 3 PLANNING AND ZONING MEETING January 11, 1989 manufactured housing and; Since the cities inventory of manufactured housing lots have been exhausted, and; Since this area of land is bordered on the north by land that is currently zoned R -6, manufactured housing, and; Since its bordered by the south by land that is zoned Single - Family, but currently vacant, and; Since this land is bordered on the east by a major highway, and west by a lake, and; Since a rezoning of this kind would preserve the secluded traffic pattern on Laurene Ave; Therefore it is recommended that approval be given to accept Application #89 -01 for Paul Howard to rezone land on Hodgson road. Elmer Crohn seconded the motion, and the motion was approved 4 to 2 with Girtz and Prokop voting no. Bob Lichscheidl - 6259 Laurene Ave. lives a few hundred feet away from the mobile home park. He is concerned about his property value decreasing if the expansion went through. He felt the homes in this area wouldn't mix with the mobile homes. Ron Stahlberg, City Engineer stated water and utilities will be coming into this area in the near future. Request from Goertz - Klosner Partnership for a site plan review for an industrial building expansion at 448 Lilac Street, Application 89 -02. The Goertz - Klosner Partnership wishes to sell a pole barn it owns at 484 Lilac Street. The building is located in the Lino Industrial -Park and is currently used by the partnership. Plans submitted show two frame construction additions to the current 42 x 98 foot building. The first would be an approximate 30 x 30 foot bi -level office addition on the front of the building. The second would be an 42 x 50 foot warehouse addition in the back of the building with a 16 x 43 foot covered loading dock. Long range plans are to totally enclose the dock. The applicant will cover the frame construction with steel so the building addition will have an appearance similar to that of the existing structure. presently the building has two overhead doors facing the street, however the applicant will remove one of them. There Page 4 • • • PLANNING AND ZONING MEETING January 11, 1989 are four overhead doors on the back or south side of the building that will be removed and replaced with a single but larger overhead door. There will be an additional 8 x 8 overhead door leading to the dock area. The site plan shows that the parking areas will be asphalt. However, the site plan does not show the use of concrete curb. Landscaping improvements are proposed for the front of the property. The Goertz - Klosner building is served by two driveways. The driveway on the west side of the property services the two overhead doors at the front of the building. The second is a shared driveway and leads to the rear of the site. Goertz explained that the state of Minnesota forced Goertz to install a shared driveway, he had no other alternative. Goertz received an estimate for the landscaping that John Miller requested for $6,416.00. Goertz felt this was too high, he already has spent $2,000.00 for trees and shrubs, and added that the new buyer didn't want landscaping at all. Mr. Miller felt that the Planning and Zoning, EDC, and City Council is concerned about increasing industrial and retail opportunities in Lino Lakes. The city can and should start to fix up the industrial parks now, to improve the area, so the area will be more desirable to interested parties who may wish to build in Lino Lakes. Miller stated the ordinance states you cannot increase the size of a pole barn by more than 50 %, in addition it states that you cannot increase the structure if it has pole barn steel by more than 50 %. Miller recommended to the board that the applicant be allowed to make this addition. The addition will be a frame construction, although the exterior will be pole barn steel, having all the same steel will look nicer, and appear to be constructed at the same time. Joe Torgelson addressed the board. He is a resident of Lino Lakes. He doesn't see the merit of landscaping the rear of the building, he also felt that curbing around the pond would be a waste of money. MOTION: Mr. Girtz moved to approve the site plan review for an industrial building expansion based on Mr. Millers proposal as discussed in his memorandum dated January 4, 1989. Motion fails due to no seconded. Jeff Joyer encourages the applicant to look at an alternate Page 5 • • PLANNING AND ZONING MEETING January 11, 1989 are four overhead doors on the back or south side of the building that will be removed and replaced with a single but larger overhead door. There will be an additional 8 x 8 overhead door leading to the dock area. The site plan shows that the parking areas will be asphalt. However, the site plan does not show the use of concrete curb. Landscaping improvements are proposed for the front of the property. The Goertz - Klosner building is served by two driveways. The driveway on the west side of the property services the two overhead doors at the front of the building. The second is a shared driveway and leads to the rear of the site. Goertz explained that the state of Minnesota forced Goertz to install a shared driveway, he had no other alternative. Goertz received an estimate for the landscaping that John Miller requested for $6,416.00. Goertz felt this was too high, he already has spent $2,000.00 for trees and shrubs, and added that the new buyer didn't want landscaping at all. Mr. Miller felt that the Planning and Zoning, EDC, and City Council is concerned about increasing industrial and retail opportunities in Lino Lakes. The city can and should start to fix up the industrial parks now, to improve the area, so the area will be more desirable to interested parties who may wish to build in Lino Lakes. Miller stated the ordinance states you cannot increase the size of a pole barn by more than 50%, in addition it states that you cannot increase the structure if it has pole barn steel by more than 50%. Miller recommended to the board that the applicant be allowed to make this addition. The addition will be a frame construction, although the exterior will be pole barn steel, having all the same steel will look nicer, and appear to be constructed at the same time. Joe Torgelson addressed the board. He is a resident of Lino Lakes. He doesn't see the merit of landscaping the rear of the building, he also felt that curbing around the pond would be a waste of money. MOTION: Mr. Girtz moved to approve the site plan review for an industrial building expansion based on Mr. Millers proposal as discussed in his memorandum dated January 4, 1989. Motion fails due to no seconded. Jeff Joyer encourages the applicant to look at an alternate Page 5 • • • PLANNING AND ZONING MEETING January 11, 1989 proposal on the curbing. He feels it is difficult for the board to reach a compromise proposal. The applicant is pressed for time, and tabling would be detrimental to him. Curbing is not part of the City ordinance. The ordinance simply states the parking area should be a hard surface. A fifteen minute recess was called, at which time the City Planner, and the Applicant will revise the plan, and reach a compromise. The applicant will meet with Mr. Miller again in the near future regarding changes that will be made. Basically, they added a curb faced sidewalk across the front of the building, the applicant will install a five foot berm in the back corner for screening, and plant evergreens in the berm. MOTION: Mr. Irwin moved to recommend to City Council to approve the request from Goertz - Klosner Partnership for a site plan review for an industrial building expansion at 448 Lilac Street, Application 89 -02, based upon the revised site plan the City Planner, P &Z board, and applicant worked out at this January llth meeting. A final revised plan will have final approval by the City Planner, and City Council. Also recommended that a common driveway easement be exchanged. Mr. Crohn seconded the motion, and the motion was approved unanimously. Request from Gary Uhde for a variance from side lot setback requirements for property located in South Reshanau Lake Estates and for vacation of easements allowing for construction of a single dwelling on two lots. Application 89 -03. The applicant has a purchase agreement for the sale of lots 7 and 8 in block 2 of Reshanau Lake Estates South, 2nd Addition. The buyer of the lots would construct a single family home with a value of more than $200,000. The house would straddle the lots. John Miller visited with Bill Hawkins, the City Attorney, about this issue and he stated that before a building permit could be issued, two things would be necessary: 1. The easements between the two lots should be vacated. 2. The setback requirements would need a variance - obviously if the house straddles Page 6 PLANNING AND ZONING MEETING January 11, 1989 411 the two lots, it violates the side yard setbacks. • Mr. Miller stated that the city's zoning ordinance has the land placed in the R -1 Single Family zoning district. Section 6, Subdivision 5 (2) (C) (iv) states that the side yard setback requirements are ten feet. Section 5, Subd. 7 states in part that the city can grant variances from the literal provisions of the ordinance in cases, "...where their strict enforcement would cause undue hardship..." The ordinance requires that in granting variances ,the city must make the following findings of fact: 1. That the property in question cannot be put to a reasonable use if used under conditions allowed by the official controls. 2. That the plight of the landowner is due to circumstances unique to his property not created by the landowner. 3. That the hardship is not due to economic considerations alone and when a reasonable use for the property exists under the terms of the ordinance. 4. That granting the variance requested will not confer on the applicant any special privilege that would be denied by this ordinance to other lands, structures, or buildings in the same district. 5. That the proposed actions will not un- reasonably diminish or impair established property values within the neighborhood. 6. That the proposed actions will be in keeping with the spirit and intent of the ordinance. Ron Stahlberg, City Engineer has no problem with vacating the drainage easements. MOTION: Jeff Joyer moved to recommend to City Council vacation of the drainage easements between lots 7 and 8, from the south side of the 10' easement, block 2 of Reshanau Lake Estates South, 2nd Addition, along Deerwood Lane, southerly to the north side of the easement of the rear of the lot. Lots 7 and 8 are owned by the same person. Gordon Girtz seconded the motion, the motion was approved unanimously. Page 7 • • PLANNING AND ZONING MEETING January 11, 1989 MOTION: Jeff Joyer moved to recommend approval of Application 89 -03, granting a variance to GM Development for the side yard setback, based on the desirability of the construction, its compatibility with the neighborhood, compatibility with the comprehensive plan, and based on the six findings of fact as listed above. Elmer Crohn seconded -the motion, and the motion was approved unanimously. Preliminary Plat review of Wildwood Subdivision for Elmer Crohn, Application #88 -29. Elmer Crohn owns approximately 120 acres of land north of Main Street and immediately west of the Lino Lakes Elementary School. He wishes to subdivide the land into either 2 1/2 acre lots or into sewer - available lots. The applicant has discussed the subdivision with the boardmembers on several previous occasions and concept approval has been given. Crohn has received park board approval of his plat. The Rice Creek Watershed District has scheduled its review of the Wildwood Subdivision for January 25th. A petition for extending sewer to the property has been received and the city engineer is in the process of completing the feasibility report at this time. Crohn's overlay plan shows how the land would be re- subdivided if sewer became available. The applicant wishes to proceed with the 2 1/2 acre subdivision as permitted in the Suburban Residential zoning district. The applicant wishes to develop the parcel in phases starting at Main Street and proceeding to the north. The exact size of the phases and the sequence of their development has not yet been determined. Much of this depends on whether sewer and water can be extended to the land. Ron Stahlberg, the City Engineer stated that the overlay plat of Wildwood has not been reviewed because lot dimensions were not given. He also stated that the overlay map should depict which smaller lot the house should be built on. Ron stated there is nothing in the ordinance that tells a developer to specify where the house should fit on the lot. After considerable discussion a motion was made. MOTION: Gordon Girtz moved to table the preliminary plat review of Wildwood Subdivision for Elmer Crohn, Application #88 -29 until such time as the questions of the City Engineer be resolved, it is requested for the applicant to submit a small lot preliminary plat rather than submitting a preliminary plat of 2 1/2 acre lots. Also it was suggested Page 8 • PLANNING AND ZONING MEETING January 11, 1989 that the applicant approach the board with a plat showing the individual phases for their review. Mr. Irwin seconded the motion, the motion was approved unanimously. Review of zoning ordinance amendment changing accessory building sizes in certain residential zones. At the December 14th meeting John Miller, City Planner was directed to prepare a draft ordinance amendment incorporating the changes in accessory building sizes agreed upon by the board members. The board reviewed the draft and discussion followed. Pete Kluegel, Building Official stated the only complaints he hears is from residents with just under an acre of land who wish to build an accessory building. After further discussion a motion was made. MOTION: Jeff Joyer moved to recommend to City Council to add a one year moratorium on accessory building ordinance revisions. Gordon Girtz seconded the motion, and the motion dies. 3 in favor, 3 against. New Business Jeff Joyer submitted his letter of resignation. He stated that he has enjoyed his time spent on the board, and would encourage everyone to continue the direction they have been going. He pointed out that his resignation had not been a result of the previous resignations. Charles Prokop suggested scheduling an informal meeting to get to know the new boardmembers. A meeting is scheduled for February 4th, from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Mr. Irwin moved to adjourn the meeting. Crohn seconded the motion. 10:40 p.m. meeting adjourned.