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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPZ Minutes; 10-12-15Lake Elmo Planning Commission Minutes; 10-12-15 City of Lake Elmo Planning Commission Meeting Minutes of October 12, 2015 Chairman Dodson called to order the meeting of the Lake Elmo Planning Commission at 7:00 p.m. COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Dodson, Dorschner, Fields, Haggard, Larson, Williams, Griffin and Kreimer COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: None STAFF PRESENT: Community Development Director Klatt and Interim Administrator Schroeder Approve Agenda: The agenda was accepted as presented. Approve Minutes: September 28, 2015 M/S/P: Williams/Dorschner, move to approve minutes as presented, Vote: 7-0, motion carried unanimously. Zoning Ordinance Use Classification Review Klatt started the discussion by stating that the City Council wanted to review the Cemetery use, and it was a good time to take a comprehensive look at all uses. Staff is recommending that the Planning Commission look at the Cemetery use and that it not be an allowed or conditional use in AG or RR. Staff is recommending that the Cemetery use only be allowed as a conditional use in the Public Facility zone. Klatt stated that he hoped the Commission had time to review the chart and will bring forward items for discussion. Klatt explained the differences between allowed, conditional and interim uses. Kreimer asked about the discretion of approving CUP’s. Klatt stated that it is somewhat difficult to deny those uses. There was a general discussion of CUP’s. Williams asked why Public Facility and mixed use along I94 were not in the chart. Klatt responded that mixed use along I94 is handled via a PUD overlay and the Public Facility has not been revised yet and is in a different table. 2 Lake Elmo Planning Commission Minutes; 10-12-15 Haggard would like to see the changes from 2013 taken back out until such time as the public has a chance to weigh back in. Klatt stated that it would be difficult to notice people as it potentially affects every property in the City. Williams asked if it might be a good idea to deal with the cemetery issue and then possibly schedule a workshop. M/S/P: Dorschner/Griffin: move to recommend that a public hearing be scheduled to eliminate the cemetery use in AG and RR zones. Vote: 7-0, motion carried unanimously. Williams is against the motion as presented. He thinks that the definition can be changed and cemeteries could be allowed in a limited way. Fields agreed and asked if it could be changed to be conditional. Klatt stated that if it is made conditional, it is subject to Council approval. M/S/P: Williams/Dodson: move to make a friendly amendment to change the definition of cemetery to read “ Land used or intended to be used for the burial of the dead and dedicated for cemetery purposes, including columbariums, and mausoleums not over 8 feet in height”. He would also like the use category to be revised to conditional in AG and RR. Vote: 7-0, motion carried unanimously, after amendment. Yvette Oldendorff, 5418 Lake Elmo Ave, There is no public demand for a local cemetery. They circulated a petition and 147 people signed who feel that a cemetery is a poor use of property. Also, on another note, should there be any of these commercial uses such as commercial Kennels and commercial stables in a residential district? Saxe Roberts, there is no demand for cemeteries. Cremations are on the rise. There is 60% more land for cemeteries than is needed. They are already allowed in the public facility zone. Dodson withdrew his second to Williams friendly amendment. Haggard decided to second the friendly amendment. Williams stated that there is already a provision in the code to allow it in public facility, so he doesn’t feel it needs to be in AG & RR. M/S/P: Williams/Dodson: motion to amend his amendment to just change the definition of cemetery and leave the original motion to remove the use from AG and RR would stand. Vote: 7-0, motion carried unanimously. M/S/P: Dorschner/Dodson: motion to amend the amendment to strike “not to exceed 8 feet in height”. Vote: 7-0, motion carried unanimously. 3 Lake Elmo Planning Commission Minutes; 10-12-15 The complete action taken, including amendments, was to recommend that a public hearing be scheduled to remove cemetery as an allowed use from AG & RR and to change the definition to: “Land used or intended to be used for the burial of the dead and dedicated for cemetery purposes, including columbariums, and mausoleums”. The Commission continued discussion regarding the use chart. Dodson asked abou t the manufactured home park use in MDR. The Commission had some discussion regarding this. There was some discussion regarding secondary dwellings and if those are located in the most reasonable zones. M/S/P: Dorschner/Williams: move to make secondary dwelling an allowed use in RT, AG, RR, RS, RE, LDR, MDR, HDR & VMX, Vote: 6-1, motion carried with Haggard voting no. Reason given was that she is not clear on the definition and the discussion of attached vs detached was not fully finalized. Schroeder stated that with this being the last meeting with Klatt and that the Commission might want to consider a deeper discussion once the new staff is on board. M/S/P: Dorschner/Fields: motion to table this discussion until such time as new staff is available. Vote: 4-3, motion failed. Fields asked if there were any other areas that might be of urgency. Larson feels that the public assembly and religious institutions should be dealt with. M/S/P: Dodson/Haggard: motion to remove public assembly as a use from the Business Park Zoning. Vote: 7-0, motion carried unanimously Williams and Haggard would like to go through and highlight areas that others are concerned with so that they can all be thinking about them. Williams would like to look at agricultural sales, garden center and Building supply sales. He thinks commercial vehicle repair should be allowed somewhere. Wondering why adult establishment is allowed in Business Park. Williams thinks the drive through item should be looked at further. Motor Freight and Warehousing seems similar to commercial vehicle repair. Research and testing is only allowed in Business Park and he feels it should be allowed in other business. OP-alt was removed from the comp plan and should also be removed from the zoning code. Klatt stated that we currently don’t have an industrial zone for more intense uses, and that might be something we might want to look at as we re-do the comp plan. Williams thought we might want to consider an industrial park. 4 Lake Elmo Planning Commission Minutes; 10-12-15 Haggard would like to look at group home as a use. Klatt stated that this is something regulated by state law and it has to be allowed anywhere we allow single family homes. Klatt stated that we may also need to add that use to the other residential zone s as well. Haggard is concerned about any commercial type uses in the AG & RR zones. She is not sure why a golf course would be allowed in LDR. Kreimer would like to look at funeral homes in MDR. He is not sure they belong there. Would like to discuss the greenhouses non-retail in RR and what it is we are allowing with solar equipment which is permitted across the board. Williams brought up changes for the definitions section. The Commission discussed those possible changes. Comprehensive Plan Update Discussion Klatt started his discussion with a map south of 10th street showing the current land use map of what went into the comprehensive plan. This map has changed a little bit as the alignment of 5th street has changed. 5th street was going to be the dividing line between low density and more intense densities. It has been discussed to possibly eliminate the high density housing and possibly add a business park in the general area south of Oakland Junior High. It was also discussed to possibly change some of the medium density to either low density or expanding the commercial. Klatt presented an analysis of what these changes would be in regards to numbers. This would make the City very close to what the Met Council is looking for. Klatt is looking for feedback from the Met Council and also from the general public as this will impact property owners. Klatt stated that he is focusing on I94 because of the moratorium. The Bus Rapid Transit line will also have an impact. There are certain standards for what needs to develop around the transit stations. Klatt discussed what the opportunities are for development in the rural areas. It is limited by the amount of land that is available. The Commission should start thin king about what they want that area to look like, what types of developments we want to allow and what size of lots should be allowed to subdivide. Kreimer pointed out that this does not take into consideration what might ha ppen with Tartan Park. If it was developed into residential units, that would be a significant amount. Council Updates – September 15, 2015 Meeting 1. Kleis Minor Subdivision – Passed with an additional condition that the assessments will need to be paid in full. 5 Lake Elmo Planning Commission Minutes; 10-12-15 2. Halcyon Cemetery – Denied. Staff Updates Schroeder gave an update regarding staffing. There has been a new building inspector hired and a new truck will be purchased or leased. The City Planner and Community Development jobs will be filled and there will be one admin position upgraded and another admin position will be hired. Tartan Park has been sold, but the purchaser has not been made public knowledge yet. They will bring that back once it is known. 1. Upcoming Meetings a. October 26, 2015 b. November 9, 2015 Commission Concerns Williams stated that the Planning Commission members received a letter from the Bradley family asking to be removed from the moratorium restrictions. This property is actually in phase III. Schroeder stated that they would actually have to come forward and petition the City to be removed from the moratorium restrictions, so no action has been taken. Dorschner thanked Kyle for his service and is concerned that we will not have a City Planner or Community Development Director. Klatt st ated that as part of the transition Ben Gozola will be working on projects and the City has asked him to be at the City as much as he can. Dodson also thanked Kyle for his service and professionalism with the Planning Commission. Klatt stated that he has enjoyed working with the present and past Planning Commissions and appreciates all the hard work that people put into the volunteer position. Meeting adjourned at 10:30 pm Respectfully submitted, Joan Ziertman Planning Program Assistant