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Planning Commission Meeting Minutes May 17, 2005 Page 4 1 the cemetery site and proposes a 10-acre minimum be added to the language. He stated that the 2 site itself consists of approximately 97 acres in St. Anthony and 20-acres in Minneapolis noting 3 that the concern is the changing of organic language in order to meet the limitations of the 4 acreage. He stated that they are also requesting that certain accessory uses be included as 5 permitted uses and that the ordinance be changed to include language that allows funeral home 6 mortuaries and crematorium as a permitted conditional use. He stated that the language changes, 7 proposed by Staff, are acceptable noting that they included the mortuary to be consistent with 8 other parts of the City's language. He explained that the crematorium is also a part of the 9 operation and services that a funeral home provides. He requested that any details be included 10 with the condition of use process. He reviewed the overall project noting that they have other 11 requests as they move forward through this process that includes the proposal to construct a new 12 structure on this site, which would be part of the conditional use process. 13 14 Mr. Tyson stated that they invited the public and City officials to an Open House this past 15 January noting that this was a good way for them to show the Residents what they would like to 16 do. He stated that site drawings were provided for their review and comment noting that they 17 received a lot of positive feedback and information. He stated that they have also held informal 18 meetings with City Staff to discuss the proposals and concern regarding the historic significance. 19 He stated that the City responded by hiring Charlene Roise to perform a study noting that the 20 study concluded that the building is functionally obsolete. He indicated that the report also states 21 that there was a case for removal of the building noting that individually they are not eligible for 22 the national register. He stated that this conclusion came after a very thorough study of the 23 building. He stated that they responded to the City's request to meet with the State Historical 24 Society noting that they hired Charles Nelson, former head of the State Historical Society, to 25 assist with the historical aspects of the property. He stated that John Herman is available this 26 evening to answer questions. He noted that the findings would also be part of the next public 27 hearing when they come forward to request approval for the conditional use permit. He 28 referenced the concerns expressed regarding potential encroachment of the design of the building 29 on existing gravesites and assured the Commission that he could state, without exception, that 30 this is not the case. He stated that Matt Duggan is present with drawings of the proposed site that 31 show this is not the case. 32 33 Commissioner Young asked how they came up with the 10-acre figure. Mr. Tyson explained 34 that it was based on research from other municipalities and on the size of the City of St. Anthony. 35 Ms. Moore-Sykes further clarified noting that Staff also discussed the acreage. She explained 36 that there are other cemeteries located in the City and Staff did not want to create a non- 37 conforming situation. She assured the Commission that the other cemeteries would be included 38 in the acreage before proposing final approval. 39 40 Commissioner Jensen noted their proposal includes discussion of funeral homes and mortuaries 41 as non-conforming use and asked what the differences are between funeral homes and 42 mortuaries. Mr. Tyson explained that the term mortuaries and funeral homes are synonymous 43 terms for the same use. 44