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Home My WebLink AboutPZ Minutes; 4-14-14Lake Elmo Planning Commission Minutes; 4-14-14 City of Lake Elmo Planning Commission Meeting Minutes of April 14, 2014 Chairman Williams called to order the meeting of the Lake Elmo Planning Commission at 7:00 p.m. COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Williams, Dodson, Kreimer, Larson, Haggard, Yocum, Dorschner, and Lundgren COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Morreale STAFF PRESENT: Community Development Director Klatt Approve Agenda: The agenda was accepted as presented. Approve Minutes: March 24, 2014 M/S/P: Williams/Dodson, move to approve the minutes as amended, Vote: 5-0, motion carried. Yocum, Dorschner and Lundgren did not vote as they were not present. Public Hearing: Zoning Text Amendment – Commercial Wedding Venue Klatt started his presentation by giving some background on this item. Staff has made some modifications to previously presented versions based on feedback from the Planning Commission. The wedding venue would be considered an accessory use and would be regulated by an IUP with a set time frame. It would be allowed on land zoned AG or RT over 10 acres. Public Hearing opened at 7:34 pm. Tara Cadenhead, 12190 Marquess Lane, would like more clarification regarding the food and receptions. From a safety perspective there are concerns regarding more people back in that area of the bike path. Sarah Ziemer, 12136 Marquess Lane, has numerous concerns due to previous events. Traffic is a concern and noise was an issue. The amplified noise is disruptive. Use of alcohol is also a concern. Is it a ceremony or is it a reception? 2 Lake Elmo Planning Commission Minutes; 4-14-14 Mark Citsay, 12108 Marquess Lane, shared that it is disconcerting to think that every weekend their quiet can be violated for another person’s profit. He is also concerned with the trail safety and the beer cans and activity by the pump -house in the area. Chip Longacre, 12058 55th Street N, mentioned he only had 2 events last year and one was a friend’s wedding. He acknowledged that he needs to be more sensitive to the noise and trash issues. Maybe the person holding event can make sure there is no trash in surrounding area from event. Pam Chickett, 5711 Linden Ave, via email, is concerned about running any commercial business from a residential property. There have been issues wit h traffic from the past events. There is poor access to both of these properties and is especially concerned about emergency vehicles getting there in an emergency. She is concerned about the noise and traffic that could be generated if both properties h eld an event on the same day. Public Hearing closed at 7:49 pm. The Planning Commission had concerns with enforcement, food and alcohol, noise, frequency of events and traffic. They would like to see the initial IUP be for a 1-year trial period. Motion was made by Dodson to recommend approval of the draft ordinance for commercial wedding venue. Motion failed for lack of second. M/S/P: Williams/Lundgren, move to remove items #3 & #4 and substitute the sentence “service of food and beverages should be limited to during the ceremony only and must meet any applicable federal, state and local licensing requirements.” Vote: 5-2, motion carried, with Dorschner and Haggard voting no. M/S/P: Haggard/William, move to limit the length of ceremonies to a maximum of 3 hours and substitute the word ceremony for events. Vote: 7-0, motion carried unanimously. M/S/P: Haggard/Dodson, to change the wording in item 13 from two days for tent removal, to one, Vote: 4-3, motion carried, with Williams, Larson and Kreimer voting no. M/S/P: Haggard/Dodson, add language that no other commercial activity on the property, Vote: 6-1, motion carried, with Larson voting no. M/S/P: Larson/Dorschner, move to recommend approval of the draft ordinance for commercial wedding venue, with reconsideration in one year. There were the following friendly amendments made: 1) Change the word music to sound in regards to amplified sound and include the definitions for ceremony and reception 2) make traffic 3 Lake Elmo Planning Commission Minutes; 4-14-14 management a separate item 4) add the word ceremony to the general description 5) change profit to remuneration. Vote: 7-0, motion carried unanimously. Business Item: Wildflower at Lake Elmo Sketch Plan Klatt started his presentation with describing the location and specifics of the development. This development will have 143 single family homes and is located next to the Gonyea Homes development. Staff is recommending that a transportation engineer look at this development. Staff is recommending that the Planning Commission continue the discussion at a future meeting to resolve some of the outstanding issues. Bob Engstrom gave a presentation regarding the development. He explained about the natural habitat area and why it is important. The architect talked about the design of the homes and that they are mostly one story homes. They will be interesting and consistent and fit in with the streetscape. Landscaping will be a key issue and the sidewalks will be an integral part of the development. The space around the home will be maintained by the association. Bob Engstrom responded to Planning Commission questions. He stated that there would be a master homeowner association with sub-associations for each courtyard. He stated that the 10 larger lot homes would not have City sewer because there is a steep slope. These lots are ¾ of an acre, when the requirement is 1 ½ acres for private septic unless part of a Planned Unit development. The Wildflower Center would be a new building with a large open area. It would be a destination place with possibly an art center and coffee shop. Bob Engstrom would retain ownership. John Holder, 11834 44th Street, lives in Fields II and represents them. They have had many discussions with Mr. Engstrom and they have 3 concerns: 1) the issue of drainage, especially in the drainage pond is critical, 2) the access road to Hwy 5 is a big safety concern and 3) they do not want any type of retail or commercial in the Wildflower Center. M/S/P: Haggard/Kreimer, move to continue discussion of the Wildflower at Lake Elmo Sketch Plan at a future Planning Commission meeting. Vote: 7-0, motion carried unanimously. Business Item: Zoning Text Amendment – Animal Therapy Ordinance Klatt started his presentation by reviewing the proposed ordinance for Animal Therapy. 4 Lake Elmo Planning Commission Minutes; 4-14-14 He stated that in order to do Animal Therapy, you would need to have a CUP for a stable and then get an IUP for Animal Therapy. This use would be more of a medical one and would not fall under just the general stable use. There would be greater impacts than a stable would have. Chip Longacre, 12058 55th Street N, stated that he started a 501c3 for this type of business. He is very excited about the opportunity for this in Lake Elmo. Equine therapy is a rapidly growing area. This therapy could be formal or informal and would be conducted by professionals in 1-2 hour sessions. He would like it to be equine therapy and equine learning so that not only could there by serious psychological therapy for youth and adults, but there could be corporate learning as well. The majority of the Planning Commission felt that this use could be covered under the Commercial stable and should just be an allowed use. Haggard felt that it was different and more intense of a use that it should be regulated via an IUP as was suggested by staff. She wanted more information about what would be happening on the site and what impacts there would be before she was comfortable ju st allowing it as a use. M/S/P: Dodson/Lundgren, move to recommend that the Animal Therapy Ordinance as presented is not necessary and this use should be allowed under a commercial stable. Vote: 6-1, motion carried, with Haggard voting no. Business Item: Zoning Text Amendment – Shoreland Ordinance Update M/S/P: Dorschner/Haggard, move to postpone consideration of the Shoreland District Ordinance to a future meeting, Vote: 7-0, motion carried unanimously. Klatt mentioned that this item was a little time sensitive as the current code does not address the Urban districts and could limit development in the I-94 corridor. He asked the Planning Commission to review the draft and be prepared to discuss it at the next meeting. Updates and Concerns Council Updates – April 1, 2014 Meeting 1. CUP for 901 LE Ave Family Means passed. 2. Site Plan Review Ordinance passed. 3. Horning lot size variance passed. 4. Launch Properties CUP Concept Plan and Zoning Map Amendment passed. 5 Lake Elmo Planning Commission Minutes; 4-14-14 Staff Updates 1. Upcoming Meetings a. April 28, 2014 b. May 12, 2014 Commission Concerns - There was a general agreement that fewer details in the minutes should be attempted. Meeting adjourned at 10:54 pm Respectfully submitted, Joan Ziertman Planning Program Assistant