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Home My WebLink About06-16-2010PROCEEDINGS OF THE MOUNDS VIEW PLANNING COMMISSION CITY OF MOUNDS VIEW RAMSEY COUNTY, MINNESOTA Regular Meeting June 16, 2010 Mounds View City Hall 2401 Highway 10, Mounds View, MN 55112 1. Call to Order The meeting was called to order by Chair Stevenson at 7:00 p.m. June 16, 2010. 2. Roll Call Members Present: Commissioners Cramblit, Meehlhause, Miller, Rundle, and Stevenson. Absent and Excused: Commissioners Schiltgen and Smith. Also Present: Planning Associate Heidi Heller and Community Development Director Ken Roberts Index to Minutes Page VR2010-002 Consideration of a Variance for Reduced Lot Widths in a Wetland District 2 3. Approval of Minutes May 5, 2010 MOTION/SECOND: Commissioner Cramblit/Commissioner Miller. To approve the minutes of the May 5, 2010 regular Planning Commission meeting as slightly amended. Ayes — 5 Nays — 0 Motion carried. 4. Citizens Requests and Comments on Items Not on the Agenda None. Mounds View Planning Commission Regular Meeting 5. Planning Cases June 16, 2010 Page 2 A. VR2010-002 Consideration of a Variance for Reduced Lot Widths in a Wetland District Applicant: Eichi, Inc. represented by Paul Harstad Planning Associate Heller stated the applicant and property owner, Eichi, Inc. wants to subdivide a 7.14 acre parcel into single-family lots that would all front Longview Drive. This property is located in a wetland district. The City requires properties in wetland districts to be a minimum of 125 feet wide and 20,000 square feet in area. These standards are larger than the lot size requirements for properties in non -wetland districts. The applicant is requesting a variance to allow for reduced lot widths in order to subdivide the frontage on Longview Drive into 10 lots. Without the variance, the owner could subdivide the property into a maximum of eight lots fronting Longview Drive. She stated the city has wetland zoning regulations with density standards that include minimum lot size, minimum lot width, and building setbacks. This is the fourth request by the applicant for a subdivision of this parcel. The City denied the first two proposals but the City approved the last request for a 15 -lot subdivision in 2003. This approval has since expired because the applicant did not complete the final plat process. She stated the new subdivision with the variance request would only have driveways along Longview Drive. The applicant has received approval from the Rice Creel, Watershed District for the current plan. She stated with any variance request the applicant needs to demonstrate substantial hardship or practical difficulties associated with the property. The property is located entirely on a wetland district, the applicant could not control that it is a wetland district, granting the variance would not confer upon the property owner a special privilege, and approval of this variance request would not be materially detrimental to the code or other property in the area. Chair Stevenson asked when the variance was approved in 2003 how many lots were along Longview Drive and how many were on Silver Lake Road. Planning Associate Heller stated there were eight lots on Longview and seven lots on Silver Lake Road with the 2003 plan. Chair Stevenson asked if there has been a hydrology study of the impact of putting eight to ten single family homes on the wetland. Paul Harstad, applicant, stated the watershed district is strongly concerned with the water quality of the wetland. He indicated with the new plan it is very beneficial to have houses only on one side. The new proposal does not have a storm water holding pond. The new plan has biofiltration basins instead. This design would filter the water running off driveways and would push it through engineered soil. He added soil borings were performed in the early 1970's, and should be adequate with the biofiltration basins. Chair Stevenson opened the public hearing at 7:27 p.m. Dave Tillman, 5166 Longview Drive; stated there are ordinances in place for a reason and as city representatives these ordinances should be upheld. Mounds View Planning Commission Regular Meeting June 16, 2010 Page 3 Ann Tillmann, 5166 Longview Drive, questioned if there was an approval from Rice Creek Watershed for this subdivision. She also asked if the approval from the watershed should have been obtained before Mr. Harstad applied to the City for the variance. She stated she has concerns for the quality of the water on the wetland. Planning Associate Heller stated Rice Creek Watershed District has made the determination that the approval can be an administrative approval instead of a board approval because the board determined that there has not been any substantial changes from the 2003 plan. She stated the City typically processes the planning application concurrently with the watershed district process. Amy Hermanek, 2760 Wooddale, stated she has concerns for the impact on the neighborhood with the additional traffic. She indicated she would like to hear the criteria for the hardship. Justin Johnson, 5178 Longview Drive, stated his concerns about the impact of the existing homes and the impact of filling the front side of the wetland with homes. Michael Pugh, 5164 Longview Drive, stated he has lived in his house since January 2010 and assumed this land was owned by the City and suggested that the City possibly buy this parcel to maintain the natural look. Community Development Director Ken Roberts, stated the City is in no financial position to purchase this land. He added that the applicant would have to come back to the Planning Commission with a subdivision request along with many engineering reports to be reviewed and confirmed by city staff. Chair Stevenson asked for the history on why the city requires the expanded width requirement for the wetland area. Director Roberts stated the larger lots have less impact on the wetland than smaller lots. Commissioner Miller questioned why in 1966 there were ten water and sewer hook-ups installed. Director Roberts indicated that staff has researched the records from 1966 and there is no indication why there were ten water and sewer hook-ups installed. Commissioner Meehlhause stated with the new development the tax income could increase the tax base for the City of Mounds View. Commissioner Cramblit questioned if any other anti -flooding technique was included in the proposed plans. Mr. Harstad stated they would set the building elevations as part of the development plans. He stated the design is to drain the water run-off to the lowest point of the development. This basic idea would be implemented with the grading plans. Mounds View Planning Commission Regular Meeting June 16, 2010 Page 4 Commissioner Cramblit asked if the new houses would be elevated higher than the existing homes. Mr. Harstad stated that the water currently drains down Longview Drive to a manhole on Longview Drive. He added that the City will not allow new development to adversely affect neighboring properties. He also added the biofiltration basin was a suggestion from the watershed district. He stated this is the most desirable solution for drainage. There would be one of these basins for every two lots of the new development. Chair Stevenson stated he is having a problem with the hardship criteria and does not feel comfortable setting precedents with the proposed variance. Mr. Harstad stated his family has owned this property for a very long time. He added he is asking for a variance for lot width and not lot size. He added he felt this is a fair request and the concerns regarding granting the variance is related to hardship. This new plan is better for the public safety of Mounds View. The original approval was for 15 lots on this land and the new plan has only 10 lots, Ann Tillmann, 5166 Longview Drive, stated she is concerned about the impact on their property as well as the wetland area. She added that she understands that there will be homes built on this parcel someday but she felt she wanted these to be built the right way. Public hearing closed at 8:33 pm MOTION/SECOND: Commissioner Cramblit/Commissioner Miller. Denying Resolution 927- 10 for a Variance to Allow for Reduced Lot Widths for New Lots in a Wetland District for the Longview Estates Property; Planning Case VR2010-002 Ayes — 5 Nays — 0 Motion carried. 6. Other Planning Activity None. 7. Next Planning Commission Meeting: A. July 7, 2010 B. July 21, 2010 Mounds View Planning Commission June 16, 2010 Regular Meeting Page 5 8. Adjournment to Agenda Session There being no further business before the Plaiming Commission, Chair Stevenson adjourned the meeting at 8:50 p.m. (The meeting immediately adjourned to the Agenda Session) Respectfully submitted, Ken Roberts Community Development Director Transcribed by: Barbara Suciu TimeSaver Off Site Secretarial, Inc. C O NO Z c L O � C E W o (/1 ru 14 -0 ol W a) d c ra a- s W � CD rn o a m M s c