05-21-91 CCM - Laserfiche WebLink

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LAKE ELMO PLANNING COMMISSION/CITY COUNCIL JOINT MEETING WITH CITY ATTORNEY MAY 29, 1991 Mayor Johnson called the meeting to order at 7:15 p.m. in the Council Chambers. Present City Council: Dave Johnson, Dick Johnson, Williams, Hunt, Mottaz. Present Planning Commission: John, Johnston, Conlin, Enes, Stevens, Weeks, McLeod, Schubert, DeLapp. Also present: City Attorney Filla, City Planner Black, Administrator Kueffner. Mayor Johnson turned the meeting over to City Attorney Jerry Filla. Mr. Filla stated he wanted this meeting to share some ideas, and for everyone to understand the development process better and how the city is involved in the process. The purpose for developer regulations and zoning is to allow people to enjoy their property as best they can without creating a nuisance to their neighbors. In Minnesota, most of the litigation involving development regulations involves a balancing of the public's right to adopt legislation against the rights of property owners to use their property. If you do a very good job of adopting regulations which are reasonable, then you can restrict use. The other thing that is very clear in Minnesota is that the legislature has said, and the courts agree, you have to move the development process along. Not only can you adopt reasonable regulations, but you have to apply them fairly and in a reasonable time frame. It's not fair for a developer to have to wait a year and a half for development approval from a City. Time is money, and typically the development proposals that this City sees are not that complicated. The process for development approval, in Minnesota, should not take more than 120 days from the beginning of a completed application to preliminary approval. The city can adopt regulations that define a completed application. A completed application means that the developer have A,B,C,D,E,F all lined tap, and once the developer has everything together then the time period starts. The City has adequate time to review a proposal as long as the City makes stare the application is complete. The development process means any application for zoning, rezoning, code amendment, subdivision, variance, building permits, anything that requires approval from the City. Most importantly, when someone comes to the City for development approval that they have EVERYTHING we will need BEFORE being put on an agenda. We should not put development applications on Planning Commission agendas or City Council agendas until the item is ready, it's not fair to the City to present an incomplete application, and it's not fair to the applicant.