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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPZ Minutes; 02-8-16 Lake Elmo Planning Commission Minutes; 2-8-16 City of Lake Elmo Planning Commission Meeting Minutes of February 8, 2016 Chairman Kreimer called to order the meeting of the Lake Elmo Planning Commission at 7:00 p.m. COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Dodson, Haggard, Kreimer, Dunn, Larson, Griffin and Williams. COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Fields STAFF PRESENT: City Planner Stephen Wensman & Interim Administrator Schroeder Election of Officers: M/S/P: Williams/Dunn move to nominate Tom Kreimer for Chairperson, Vote: 7-0, motion carried unanimously. M/S/P: Kreimer/Haggard move to nominate Todd Williams for Vice Chairperson, Vote: 7-0, motion carried unanimously. Approve Agenda: The agenda was accepted as presented. Approve Minutes: January 11, 2016 M/S/P: Williams/Kreimer move to postpone consideration of the January 11, 2016 minutes until clarification of the vote on the November 23, 2015 minutes is brought forward, Vote: 7-0, motion carried unanimously. M/S/P: Williams/Dodson move to amend the agenda to include consideration of the January 25, 2016 minutes, Vote: 7-0, motion carried unanimously. Approve Minutes: January 25, 2016 M/S/P: Dodson/Griffin move to approve the January 25, 2016 minutes, Vote: 4-0, motion carried, with Larson, Haggard and Williams not voting. Public Hearing Zoning Text Amendment – Commercial Wedding Venue. 2 Lake Elmo Planning Commission Minutes; 2-8-16 Wensman started his presentation regarding the Zoning Text Amendment for the Commercial Wedding Venue. The zoning text amendment addresses changing the number of venues per week from 2 to 4, eliminating the owner to be on site at all times, to exempt them from the commercial parking code requirements and to change the minimum criteria for sites to 10 acres or greater. Wensman explained the rationale for these changes. Wensman started discussion regarding the Hecker IUP application. There will be conifers to the north that will act as a sound barrier. The access to the facility will be off of 50th. The driveway will branch off to a new driveway for guest access to barn parking. Wensman reviewed the City Engineer Comments and traffic control measures. The applicant is requesting turf parking for 66 cars. The 100’ setback for parking does not apply because the property to the North is currently Agricultural. There are some draft conditions of approval that will be stricken if the Commission feels they should be exempted from Commercial standards. Dodson asked if the City can reserve the right to revoke the permit. Wensman stated that if they are following the conditions, the City can not revoke, but can re-evaluate the standards at the 10 year marker. Haggard asked if there is a definition for wedding ceremonies yet and wanted to know what the current noise ordinance is. Wensman stated that there is a definition and read it for the commission. Williams asked if there is a definition for “responsible party” and would like to know what the applicants response is to the engineers letter. The Planning Commission wanted to see the Concept plan of the Legends development and where the road will be. Kreimer asked about the fire safety and the suppression system. Kreimer asked about the trail. It sounds like they are required to give the right of way and build the trail. Danielle Hecker, 11658 50th Street, addressed the zoning text amendment. She would like the code to be changed to not require the owner to be present at all events, but a responsible designee. She wants the number of events to change from 2 -4 to make this viable. She also feels that a full asphalt driveway and parking lot takes away from the feel of the event and neighbor is opposed to this as well. As far as the handicapped space, the building code will dictate that. For the IUP, she is in agreement with most of the staff requirements. Williams asked about her reaction to the 18 foot 7 ton driveway. She stated that she is working on that and they might have secondary access through the Legends 3 Lake Elmo Planning Commission Minutes; 2-8-16 development. Williams asked about the noise requirement. Hecker stated that there is equipment that you can cap and that was a recommendation that she got from another venue. There was discussion regarding parking if the number goes over 66 cars. Griffin suggested they talk to VBWD to see what options there are for pervious surface. Williams asked Hecker about the setback for the parking and the barn and the fact that it doesn’t meet the setback. She stated that she ta lked to the previous Community Development Director regarding the barn and he assured her that it met the setback. As far as the parking, she believes it meets the setback to agricultural property, but would like to work with the developer on that. Public Hearing opened at 8:03 pm. Brett Thompson, 11491 50th Street, he is concerned that originally it would only be 2 events a week and now it is 4 because of financial reasons. He lives close to the property and is concerned about the noise. Chip Longacre, 12058 55th Street, feels the noise ordinance is very clear in the existing code. He feels the City is being too difficult on the restrictions. No written comment was received Public Hearing closed at 8:09 pm. Williams has no problem having the parking being exempt from the surfacing requirement, but is concerned with the setback issue. He believes that even though it is currently zoned agricultural, they can’t ignore the proposed development. He is ok with increasing the number to 4, but thinks it should be no more than 2 per day. Haggard would like to talk about the ordinance first. She feels that the 2 should not be meshed together. The ordinance doesn’t just apply to these 2 properties, but any property that this code would apply to. Williams would like a definition for responsible designee. Wensman brought up the current noise ordinance 130.46. Williams pointed out that the current allowed noise level is very low. Williams would like the following text added under ownership after responsible designee “there shall be a family member, employee, or contractor of at least 21 years of age”. 4 Lake Elmo Planning Commission Minutes; 2-8-16 Commissioners would like to see 4 ceremonies per week, but no more than 3 on any given day. Commissioners are fine with exempting the commercial wedding ceremony venues from the commercial surfacing and curbing requirements of the parking. M/S/P: Williams/Dodson move to recommend approval to amend the Lake Elmo Code of Ordinances, Section 154.310, Subd. D, limiting ceremonies to no more than 4 per week and no more than 3 per day, requiring the operator or responsible designee, with amended definition, to be on the premises for the duration of each event, exempting commercial wedding ceremony venues from the commercial surfacing and curbing requirements for parking, and changing the minimum criteria to sites ten acres or greater, Vote: 7-0, motion carried, unanimously. Public Hearing – Interim Use Permit Application – Commercial Wedding Ceremony Wensman stated that it is 10 years that the applicant is asking for, but the Commission can use any length of time. Williams feels that they should be allowed to use the current driveway as is until such time as they can connect to the Legends development. There would need to be an agreement with the Legends development. Williams would like condition 11 reworded to have a circular drive with a minimum 45’ radius with a 12 foot, 7 ton standard as shown on the site plan circling the barn . Public Hearing opened at 9:07 pm. No one spoke and there was no written or electronic correspondence. Public Hearing Closed at 9:08 pm. Williams would like condition #10 to be reworded that the existing driveway be used until a road is constructed to serve the adjacent development. When that road is constructed, the existing driveway will not be used for the wedding venue, but will access the venue from a new driveway that will be 18’ wide and a 7 ton standard, off the new road according to the engineers letter dated 12/7/15. Williams suggests condition number 13 to read that the proposed parking location is allowed provided a written agreement be provided to the Cit y between applicant and adjacent property owner to provide additional screening along the North property line equivalent visually to at least a double staggered row of 4 season plantings such as spruce. 5 Lake Elmo Planning Commission Minutes; 2-8-16 M/S/P: Williams/Dodson, move to recommend approval of the interim use permit for a commercial wedding ceremony venue to be located at 11658 50 th Street North based on the findings of fact and 13 conditions of approval as amended, Vote: 7-0, motion carried Unanimously. Council Updates – February 8, 2016 Meeting 1. None Staff Updates 1. Upcoming Meetings a. February 22, 2016 b. March 14, 2016 2. February 9, 2016 the City Council will be discussing the OP ordinance. Commission Concerns Williams would like to see the reports for applications have the findings of fact and conditions to be a little more clear. Dunn is concerned that the Village area will get over buildt when the moratorium comes off. Haggard would like the homeowners agreements to have something in them that the City would not be responsible for sound proofing from the airport. Meeting adjourned at 10:03 pm Respectfully submitted, Joan Ziertman Planning Program Assistant