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( LAKE ELMO CITY COUNCIL MINUTES JANUARY 21, 1997 4 6. A. Ordinance No. 8151 amending Section 700 of Lake Elmo Municipal Code Attorney Fills reported the modifications to the septic system regulations are necessary for the Open Space Developments as they are being reviewed and one section on septic maintenance was inadvertently left out. M/S/P DeLapp/Conlin - to adopt Ordinance No. 8151, An Ordinance Relating to Individual and Community Sewer Systems . (Motion passed 4-0). 7. PARKS/MAINTENANCE/FIRE/BUILDING: A. Year-end update: Jim McNamara, Building Official Jim McNamara, Building Official, provided a year-end (1996) report of building permit usage. B. Update on ICBO Evaluation Services Committee Action (Jim McNamara) Jim McNamara gave a brief update on the ICBO Evaluation Services Committee meeting he recently attended in Los Angeles, California. 8. PLANNING LAND USE AND ZONING: A. Clarification on Lakewood Evangelical Free Church Proposal On December 17, 1996 the Council denied a proposal to amend the Comprehensive Plan for Lakewood Evangelical Church for a 108 acre parcel of land on the SE corner of Highway 36 and Keats Avenue. This amendment would change the Future Land Use Map from (OP) Open Space Development Area to (P) Public. The reason for denial was the proposal was inconsistent with the purpose and intent of the open space development ordinance. The Church then withdrew their application for rezoning. The Council received a letter from John Bannigan, representing Lakewood Church, requesting that the City consider a new proposal. Planner Terwedo reported the Church is proposing to change the Comprehensive Plan for 29 acres instead of the entire 108 acre parcel. Another 29 acres along the Highway 36 corridor would be placed in a conservation easement to a qualified land trust and the remaining 50 acres would remain as an open space development area. Councilor Conlin stated in 1996 the City has worked hard on developing the Open Space District which is on a leading edge of preserving open space. She felt there were good standards set and these development plans were not consistent with the vision of the Open Space District for the community and was not willing to deviate from those standards in the Comprehensive Plan. Mayor John and the remainder of the Council endorsed Councilor Conlin's comments. Council members Conlin and Delapp voiced the concern if the property were rezoned from its current Ag use to the required public facilities designation, a second comprehensive plan amendment would be needed were the property ever resold to a buyer with a non-public use in mind. Planner Terwedo stated public facilities use was simply not put in the open space district regulations, cluster housing and open space was. The Council's difficulty in this decision was defined by its classification of churches as public facilities. According to Attorney Fills, unlike a housing development which could be built on the site under its current zoning designation, churches are lumped together with other public structures like maintenance facilities and prisons. Unless the Council makes special arrangements for this project, such a comprehensive plan amendment or rewrote an entire section of the City's zoning code, Fills said it would be legally unable to approve Lakewood's requests. Cities cannot attach conditions they want to these requests.