HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes PC 05.18.1976CITY OF ST. ANTHONY
PLANNING BOARD MINUTES
May 18,1976
The meeting was called to order at 7:40 P.M. by Mr. Ken Hiebel, Chairman Pro Tem.
Present for roll call: Rymarchick, Letourneau, Hieberl, Cowan, Marks, and Johnson.
Absent: Bowerman
Also present: Jim Fornell, Adm. Asst.
Motion by Mr. Letourneau, seconded by Mr. Rymarchick to approve the minutes of the
April 20, 1976 meeting.
Motion carried unanimously.
Motion by Mr. Marks, seconded by Mr. Cowan to table action on the Poppin Fresh/
Signcrafters request for a variance to permit an enlarged free standing sign at
3701 Stinson Boulevard until a representative of either company is present to make
the request.
Motion carried unanimously.
Mrs. Richard Erpelding appeared to request that she be allowed to erect a temporary
screened enclosure on the cement slab next to the building which houses her indoor
foliage plant business at 2550 Kenzie Terrace. She said the enclosure would allow
better care for the plants and permit a walk-in service for customers. The screened
enclosure would not be used during the winter and could be dismantled if the lessees
vacate the property. The structure has been used for commercial enterprises for a
number of years and is leased by Mrs. Erpelding and her husband from the St. Anthony
Shopping Center, Inc. and a letter of permission from Mr. E. Saliterman for the use
of the property for this purpose under the lease agreement was a part of the
presentation. Mrs. Erpelding said her husband operates his business, Special Interest
Motor Cars, in the basement of the building.
There was a discussion of the non -conforming usage which had been allowed for years
on this property which is zoned R-1. It was also established that the proposed
structure would reduce the front yard setback to 16z feet which would not meet the zoning
requirements for R-1. Mr. Fornell pointed out the fact that setbacks for commercial
use are set at the discretion of the Council under the existing ordinance and felt
the property should be rezoned to "C" to make it consistent with the uses over
the past ten years. He defended the staff's recommendation for preliminary acceptance
based on the traditional commercial use of property in the past and the fact that the
requested structure would not detract further from the rather unattractive appearance
of the property at present. He mentioned the amount of the fees which would have to
be paid if the request were treated as a variance from the R-1 front yard setback
or a zoning change to "C" and asked that the staff be given some guidance in that regard.
Mr. Johnson expressed his concern with the "fruit stand" image of the proposed structure
and the entire Board felt they had not been given enough specific information regarding
construction, size and materials, signing and lighting of the structure to make a
judgment on the request, and Mr. Marks felt Mrs. Erpelding was not correctly informed
as to what was expected of her for her presentation. The Board members wondered if
some effort should be made to solve the zoning question for this area.
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Motion by Mr. Cowan, seconded by Mr. Johnson to recommend denial of the Erpelding
request as presented because of lack of detailed drawings and other specific
information regarding the project.
Motion carried unanimously.
Mr. Lloyd Bergman of Bergman, Knutson. Street and Ulmen, Attorneys at Law, 1330
Dain Tower, representing Mrs. Ina Burman the present owner of Lots 1, 2 and 3 of
Block 8, Murray Heights Addition, appeared to request that the three lots
be replatted into two lots to permit the purchase of the new Lot 2 by the present
tenant, W.W. Johnson Meat Company. Lot 1 would continue to be leased to the
Standard Oil Company with which the meat market and Deluxe Bakery have shared parking
and driveway facilities for the last 10 years.
Mr. Hiebel wondered if the proposal might be perpetuating the overuse of that
property since the proposed Lot 1 will not meet the commercial zoning requirements
of 15,000 sq. ft. since it will now only encompass 11,000 sq. ft. and Lot 2 will
now only have 14, 400 sq. ft. There was also some concern that, where one property
owner had been able to control the parking facilities, a conflict might arise from
dual ownership. Mr, Fornell said there was also a probability that such a conflict
might force the service station to increase its use of 27th Avenue N.E. for parking
the cars they service.
Mr. Bergman pointed out the fine relationship between the three businesses in
the past. He said he had a purchase agreement with the Johnson Company which was
contingent upon a conditional agreement regarding their use of the parking area
and the driveway onto Kenzie Terrace. He said Standard had indicated a willingness
to accept a modification to their lease to make this allowance and felt W.W. Johnson
Meat Company would not be interested in purchasing the property if a parking easement
was added. However, Standard would continue to have a dumping easement for their
storage tanks.
Motion by Mr. Marks, seconded by Mr. Johnson to recommend approval of the replatting
of Lots 1, 2 and 3, Block 8, Murray Heights Addition as presented as long as the
property line is modified to include the entire curb cut onto Kenzie Terrace as
part of the new Lot 2..
Motion carried unanimously.
Motion by Mr. Marks, seconded by Mr. Cowan to leave the matter of the Poppin Fresh
sign change tabled since no one had yet appeared to present the request for a variance
to the sign ordinance.
Motion carried unanimously.
Mr. Johnson then reopened the discussion of the Erpelding request saying he felt
the Board should initiate a consideration of the way the entire shopping center area
is maintained and wondered about the possibility of having that portion of the City
declared a redevelopment area.
Mr. Rymarchick was to make it a point of information to the Council the the Board
proposes to review the entirety of the St. Anthony Shopping Center area and make
recommendations for revitalizing this commercial area.
Mr. Jack Lawrence of Signcrafters Outdoor Display Inc. arrived at 9:10 P.M. and
presented Poppin Fresh request to replace the present 5 x 6 ft. free standing sign
at 3701 Stinson Boulevard with another free standing sign which would be 9 feet 3 inches
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high and 8 feet wide. He said the sign would bear the national trademark for the
company and had already been scaled down from the size used at the company's other
restaurants throughout the country to conform with St. Anthony's sign ordinance.
It was his opinion that strict sign ordinances such as St. Anthony's only allowed
for "sterile type signage".
Mr. Johnson told him that a sign 6 feet high would be consistent with other signs
throughout the community. The Board also expressed its opposition to having the
sign placed on a pole.
Motion by Mr. Rymarchick, seconded by Mr. Johnson to recommend approval of a new
monumental sign for Poppin Fresh at 3701 Stinson as long as it doesn't exceed the
square footage of the present sign and is not higher than 6 feet above the existing
grade.
Motion carried unanimously.
As were previous applicants, Mr. Lawrence was advised that the matter would be
presented by Mr. Rymarchick for Council consideration at their next meeting May
25, 1976.
Motion by Mr. Marks, seconded by Mr. Cowan to adjourn the meeting at 9:30 P.M.
Motion carried unanimously.
Helen Crowe, Secretary