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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-16-2003 PROCEEDINGS OF THE MOUNDS VIEW PLANNING COMMISSION CITY OF MOUNDS VIEW RAMSEY COUNTY, MINNESOTA Regular Meeting July 16, 2003 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., July 16, 2003. ______________________________________________________________________________ 2. Roll Call Members Present: Commissioners Stevenson, Scotch, Hegland, Song, Zwirn, and Johnson Members Absent: Miller (excused) Also Present: Community Development Director Ericson ________________________________________________________________________ Index to Minutes Page Planning Case VR03-005 2 Location: 2229 County Road H2 Planning Case MI03-002 3 Location: 8430 Knollwood Drive Special Planning Case SP-114-03 4 Discuss Proposed Modifications to Proposed Ordinance 711, Pawnshops _____________________________________________________________________________ 3. Approve Minutes a. June 18, 2003 MOTION/SECOND: Johnson/Zwirn. To Approve the Planning Commission Minutes for June 18, 2003 as Presented. Ayes – 6 Nays – 0 Motion carried. ______________________________________________________________________________ Mounds View Planning Commission July 16, 2003 Regular Meeting Page 2 ________________________________________________________________________ 4. Citizens Requests and Comments on Items Not on the Agenda None. ______________________________________________________________________________ 5. Consideration of Resolution No. 733-03 Approving a Variance to Allow a Reduced Front Yard Setback to Construct an Addition. VR03-005 Community Development Director Ericson explained the applicant’s request and indicated that the homes in the area are all setback at 50 feet from the property line and are 75 feet from the street. He then indicated that he had included the letter from the applicant explaining her request and addressing the issue of hardship in this case. Director Ericson indicated that Staff reviewed the criteria and feels that sufficient hardship exists to meet the requirements and recommends approval. He then indicated that this matter was set for public hearing and there are residents in attendance for the issue. He further commented that the Planning Commission would need to determine whether it feels that the hardship requirements are met and, if so, can act on Resolution 733-03 approving the variance. Commissioner Zwirn asked whether 2191, 2185, and 2295 are set back at the 50 feet because it seems the lots are shorter there. Director Ericson indicated that he had not measured all the properties on the block but it appeared that all were at the same distance from the street. Chair Stevenson opened the public hearing at 7:08 p.m. Joan Bosard addressed the Commission and indicated that the street is at an angle to the properties and she does not think that those houses are as far back. She then said that the two- story house to the right of hers has a porch that sticks out six feet from the house. Director Ericson handed out copies of the plans for the expansion of the home for review. Christy Moore of 2234 Lambert said she feels this is a good plan to improve the property and the tax base for the City and she would hope that the Commission would approve this improvement. She then commented that she will want to expand her small home in the future and would be faced with a similar set back issue and would look to the Commission for support of a variance in the future. Commissioner Johnson asked why the City’s Code is so strict on this and said that all new developments stagger the houses rather than setting them all back at the same distance. Director Ericson indicated that the City’s Code was drafted back when it was the norm to set all the houses back the exact distance. Mounds View Planning Commission July 16, 2003 Regular Meeting Page 3 ________________________________________________________________________ Commissioner Johnson indicated he would like to know if other cities are still doing this and said he thinks the City gets better housing stock out of not doing it. Director Ericson indicated that often times there are constraints with setbacks when expanding existing housing so the City may want to look at the Code to encourage reinvestment in its residential housing stock. He then indicated that once the City has a planning associate on board the City could poll neighboring communities for how they handle this type of issue. Chair Stevenson closed the public hearing at 7:16 p.m. MOTION/SECOND: Johnson/Zwirn. To Approve Resolution 733-03, a Resolution Approving a Variance to Allow a Reduced Front Yard Setback to Construct an Addition. Ayes – 6 Nays – 0 Motion carried. ______________________________________________________________________________ 6. Consideration of Resolution 734-03 Recommending Approval of a Minor Subdivision. MI03-002. Community Development Director Ericson indicated that this case is a request for a minor subdivision and noted that the applicants own the property at 8430 Knollwood Drive and would like to subdivide it to create one additional lot. Director Ericson indicated that the lot to be created and the remaining lot are large enough to meet the City’s Code requirements and he feels that a nice house could be built on the new lot as it is a very nicely wooded lot. He then said that there are no issues that would not warrant approving the minor subdivision and Staff is waiting for a 2003 value for the property before determining the required park dedication fee. Director Ericson indicated that Staff is waiting for the RLS or Certificate of Survey to be submitted for review by the City Attorney before this item would be brought before Council for final approval. Director Ericson reviewed the stipulations for approval listed in the Resolution. MOTION/SECOND: Zwirn/Song. To Approve Resolution 734-03, a Resolution Recommending Approval of a Minor Subdivision. Ayes – 6 Nays – 0 Motion carried. ______________________________________________________________________________ Mounds View Planning Commission July 16, 2003 Regular Meeting Page 4 ________________________________________________________________________ 7. Discuss Proposed Modifications to Proposed Ordinance 711, an Ordinance Relating to the Zoning of Pawnshops. Special Planning Case SP-114-03 Community Development Director Ericson indicated that the City Council had asked that the Planning Commission discuss the issue of overlay zoning for the pawnshop and other adult oriented businesses. He then pointed out on the map the two proposed areas for the overlay district. Director Ericson asked for input as to which overlay location the Commission would prefer and what types of uses the Commission felt would be appropriately located in such an overlay district. Commissioner Johnson indicated that he did not like the second option because it is too close to too many residents. Director Ericson indicated that a lot of people have expressed a preference for option one because it is separated from any residential, churches schools, daycares and separated from the heart of the City. Director Ericson indicated that the City would have to notify the City of Blaine as they may have some comment as it is adjacent to them and the same would be true for New Brighton if the other district were selected. Commissioner Hegland said he is concerned that such a large area is being designated for the overlay district because even though right now there may not be many places to locate within that overlay district future uses of that property is unknown to the City and it opens the City up to allowing more of these types of uses because there would be room available. Director Ericson indicated the reason Council suggested a large area is to minimize legal risk for the City because creating a very small district within which it would be impossible to locate could open the City up to a legal challenge. Commissioner Hegland suggested that the area could be smaller because Mounds View is a small City overall and there should be some consideration for that in figuring the size for the district. He then said that he would like to do further research into the requirements and issues surrounding the creation of an overlay district before he is prepared to vote on it. Commissioner Zwirn indicated that he agreed with Commissioner Johnson with regard to option one because it is away from residential areas. He also noted that option two may interfere with New Brighton’s proposal to build residential and senior housing in the area. Chair Stevenson indicated he was not in favor of either one. Commissioner Scotch indicated she was not in favor of either one. She then said that she feels the proposed area is too large. Mounds View Planning Commission July 16, 2003 Regular Meeting Page 5 ________________________________________________________________________ Commissioner Johnson asked how other cities do this. Director Ericson indicated that most cities have it as part of their commercial district and only Hopkins has an overlay district. Commissioner Johnson questioned why there is not a pawnshop already in New Brighton if they are not doing something like this. Director Ericson indicated that some cities prohibit pawnshops but that is against the law and opens the City up to legal action. Commissioner Hegland indicated he would like to know a little more about this overlay district before making a decision because it may not be any more defendable than the approach of simply not allowing a pawnshop. Director Ericson indicated that Staff could get an opinion from the City Attorney and pull case law but the problem is anything can be challenged and there is always a level of risk and no attorney would counsel as to the spectrum of risk. Commissioner Zwirn asked the status of the Mounds View Square pawnshop. Director Ericson indicated there has been no change as far as he has heard. He then said that the City has until September to come up with language for the Ordinance but could extend that another year if the City feels it needs more time to research the matter. James Nelson of 2242 Lambert indicated he came for the addition discussion but would like to speak on this matter as well. He then said that when you allow a pawnshop a certain type of business owner runs those and it seems they are of lower class and it starts a blight in the area and soon the whole thing looks run down and low class. He further asked the City to be very careful where the pawnshop is allowed to locate to prohibit this type of problem. Commissioner Song suggested raising the fees as high as possible to ensure that only those that intend to run a serious business and can afford to do so apply. Director Ericson indicated that Council has recommended that the license fee be elevated to $10,000 and that may be high enough to deter those that are not as serious or those that do not have the funds to run an above-board facility. Commissioner Hegland questioned why the attempt to govern where pawnshops are located has grown into other adult uses. Director Ericson indicated that was the direction from Council. Mounds View Planning Commission July 16, 2003 Regular Meeting Page 6 ________________________________________________________________________ Director Ericson indicated that back in 1996 the City went through a similar process for adult uses and that was included in the Staff report. He then said that seven years later the City has not had any requests for adult uses and that may be because of the strict licensing requirements and it may make it easier to locate here if the overlay district comes in. He further commented that he is concerned with what might happen if a red light district is created but perhaps others do not mind that. Chair Stevenson indicated he did not feel it made sense to lump in adult uses when those are already addressed in the Code. He then said he would like to leave that out and address where to zone or where an overlay district for a pawnshop should be located. Commissioner Johnson indicated the only way he would want to lump adult uses into the overlay district is if it made things more restrictive than the current Code. Director Ericson indicated that the owner of the proposed pawnshop is opposed to an overlay district but he has received no update from him on the pawnshop. Commissioner Zwirn asked whether there was a legal reason to tie the adult uses to the pawnshop discussion. Director Ericson indicated that a Council Member had asked that the Planning Commission consider adult uses that may not be acceptable to the average resident at the same time as the pawnshops are being discussed. Chair Stevenson commented that at one meeting the Commission restricted the space to allow a pawnshop to 4,000 square feet and now the City is talking about an area that is several acres. Commissioner Hegland indicated that the City could no longer limit it to one pawnshop with that large area. Director Ericson indicated that Mounds View Square is approximately seven acres and the both overlay districts are much larger. Director Ericson indicated he would draft a recommendation for the Council separating out adult uses from the pawnshop and take a second look at the proposed overlay district and scale it back to something that is reasonable but not overly permissible for how much space there is. He also said he would get feedback from the City Attorney. Commissioner Scotch said that she feels 4,000 square feet is too much and she would prefer to restrict it to 2000 or even 1000 square feet and not worry about the overlay districts. Director Ericson indicated that Council is opposed to the location in Mounds View Square regardless of the size so the Commission needs to determine an overlay location. ______________________________________________________________________________ Mounds View Planning Commission July 16, 2003 Regular Meeting Page 7 ________________________________________________________________________ 6. Next Planning Commission Meeting: August 6, 2003 ______________________________________________________________________________ 7. Adjournment to Agenda Session There being no further business before the Planning Commission, Chair Stevenson adjourned the meeting at 8:08 p.m. (The meeting immediately adjourned to the Agenda Session) Respectfully submitted, Jim Ericson Community Development Director Transcribed by: Joan Lenzmeier TimeSaver Off Site Secretarial, Inc.