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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPL MINUTES 05151980 Meeting Sheet IIIIIIVIIIVIIIVIIIVIIIVIIIIIIIIIII 102167 Box: 21 Folder: PL MINUTES AND AGENDAS 1980 Document: PL MINUTES 05151980 Ab • CITY OF ST. ANTHONY PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES April 15, 1980 The meeting was called to .order by Chairman Pro Tem Bowerman at- 7 : 35 P.M. Present for roll call : Peterson, Bowerman, Sopcinski and Enrooth. Absent: Bjorklund, Jones and Makowske Also present: Jim Fornell, City Manager, and Ron 'Berg, Administrative Assistant. The minutes for the March 18th Planning Commission were amended to include the motion- of approval for the February 19th minutes : "Motion by Mrs . Makowske and seconded by Mr. Enrooth to approve as corrected the minutes of. the Planning Commission meeting held February 19, 1980. Motion carried unanimously." Motion by Mr. Peterson and seconded by Mr. Enrooth to approve as amended the minutes for the March 18 , 1980 Planning Commission • meeting. Motion carried unanimously. Mr. Sopcinski will represent the Commission at the" Council meeting to be held April 22. J.A. Cadwallader of Cadwallader .-Realty Company appeared to discuss his application for a .sign ,variance for the signage he proposes to replace the existing signage at 3901 Silver Lake Road. He is joining the. .Realty World franchise. and the proposed sign to be hung. on a 10 foot high post is the trademark of that franchise. The . 49 . 5 square foot of signage _is .almost identical to the surface area of the existing sign. However, the pole will be positioned on top of the existing berm which is estimated to be between 24 and 30 inches high. Mr. Bowerman pointed out that the sign originally erected on the berm by the Herfurth Realty Company, which had been changed to identify Mr. Cadwallader's real estate office , was actually in violation of the City ordinance and the conditions under which the variance was granted to Herfurth because of the berming. The existing sign is also a "monument" or "groundhugging" type where the new sign will be freestanding. In his memo of April 11th, Mr.. Berg had advised the Commission that Mr. Cadwallader' s main contention is that he should be allowed "comparable visibility" to .other signage in the same area such as • Twin City Federal whose sign is estimated to be eleven feet high. The realtor .further insisted "The initial use of the land in this area has changed drastically with Twin City Federal and" the Hedlund PUD since the existing signage was permitted. " He anticipated -2- resistance on the part of Realty World to further change their logo since concessions .had already been made to him regarding the lighting for the sign. Mr. .Jones arrived at 7: 40 P.M. and Mrs . Makowske at 7 :45 P.M. during this discussion. Mr. Enrooth questioned .whether the precedent set for Twin City Federal should be a matter of concern .in -this instance especially in view of the fact that Twin City, Federal 's -sign` s�.total height is less than proposed .here and theirs .is -a "monument" type sign. He :also pointed out the .Goodyear .sign which the City had insisted be cut down in size before approval ,and which is also monument rather than a freestanding sign;. Mr. Sopcinski .to.ld Mr. Cadwallader the City had in the past alway,s .sought a balance between the size of the sign and the building .it identifies and in this case saw the proposed signage as "really out of proportion" . Mr. Cadwallader suggested that .instead of tabling the matter, the Commission make .-"some sort of recommendation to .which the Council may react, rather than .delay. the..matter for another month" . Motion by Mr. Jones and seconded. by Mr. ..Enrooth to recommend Council approval of signage for the building .at 3901 Silver Lake Road which will result in .a "monument" type .of sign not to exceed 6 1/2 feet • in height from the top of .the existing berm, with._"monument" defined as "a sign mounted on a .fiill scale base with no .visibility between the bottom of the- ..sign and the base on which it is anchored which base can be larger than the sign itself" . There must be no overhead suspension of the sign itself. In recommending -approval the Com— mission finds -that: . (1) The signage as- described -will not be detrimental to the public welfare or injurious .to other 'property in the neighborhood or the City since its .size will. not differ substantially from the existing signage it replaces. (2) 'Not granting the signage may result in a hardship for the applicant since .better .visibility of the sign is needed so traffic proceeding north .along Silver Lake Road .will be able. to recognize the realty office in time to make the turn on 39th Avenue rather than having to .come back on .the. residential street, Penrod Lane, having missed the turn. the first time. (3) The signage will .conform to that for other properties in the surrounding area. Motion carried unanimously. Ed .Brown, 2702-33rd Avenue .N.E..,_ .,was present to seek concept approval of his proposal to develop .the three back yards of his property • and those of his neighbors, David Taylor and Mrs . Thomas Clark, 2700 and 2608 - 33rd Avenue N.E. , _into two buildable lots of 75x131 .25 each to be sold for single family dwellings . Variances for lot size will be necessary since this division will result in the lots -3- with the existing residences .to .be .reduced to 6, 610 , 6 ,579 . and 7, 363 square feet where 11 ,000 , ..9.,000 and 9 ,000 are required by City Ordinance. - The applicant, his wife and Mr. Taylor defended the non conforming front -yards size .saying the homes are in the 50 to 60 year old range and were .built for .members of one family, long before Belden Drive was constructed producing a corner lot for the property where Mr.� and Mrs. Brown now reside. . Mr. Sopcinski ' s concern regarding the life .expectancy of the existing structures was not considered germane - to the decision since the lot sizes were grandfathered in. Mr. Brown estimated all existing structures to be within the required .setbacks . Whether ample parking space will be provided with the division was also explored. The Manager suggested the properties will .have to be surveyed and all easements identified if the City Attorney determines the lots can be sub- divided by' netes and bounds . Otherwise the property will have to be platted. There was a consensus of approval of the concept as long as the nec- essary surveys are made. The meeting was :recessed from 8 : 40 to 8 : 47 P.M. when the Public Hearing on the City' s proposed Comprehensive Plan was resumed from the March 18th meeting. Mrs . Makowske .disagreed with .the .other Commission .members that further • hearings .on the .Plan should not -be held in view of the absence of any persons other than the staff and Commission to provide input that evening. Mr. Fornell -said the hearings .had been .fully publicized in the City' s newsletter and .the. St... Anthony Bulletin .and all other ways available to the City and he saw no justification for incurring additional publication .expenses for further hearings. The Plan will be publicized .in the newsletter going- out with the April water bills and the public is welcome to attend the next Commission meeting where the final recommendations .regarding approval of the Plan will. be made as well .as those- Council meetings where the Council will give its consideration to, the Commissions ' recommendations. In addition to Mrs. Makowske ' s written suggestions on the P1an, . Mr. Bjorklund and Mr. Peterson had provided their comments in written form. Other Commission members will get their comments to .Mr. Berg before May 1st so he-.can coordinate all suggestions into a final draft of the Plan for the May 20th meeting. Motion by Mr. Jones and seconded by Mr. Enrooth to close the Public Hearing .on the proposed Comprehensive Plan for the City. Voting on the motion: Aye : Jones, Enrooth, Sopcinski and Peterson Nay: Makowske Motion carried. • Action on .the sign variance request for Fas Gas had been tabled from the March 18th meeting- until the question of whether Ramsey County' s plan for rebuilding the intersection of 37th Avenue N.E. and Silver -4- Lake Road should be a factor in consideration of the sign change at the .gas station. In .his .April .9th. memo Mr-. Berg had advised that, although the property where the existing sign is .located will probably be acquired by the .County for the rebuilding of 37th Avenue N.E. , perhaps in .1982, the sign atthat time would probably only be moved by the County and .the nominal . increase in value of this sign would not, be a factor .in. the moving .cost. Also, .any increase in value before probable acquisition ..should .not be a valid reason for denying the variance. . He .therefore recommended . approval of the variance for a change..in image .for the sign. Motion by Mr. Peterson and seconded by Mr. Sopcinski to recommend the Council grant ..the owners of the .Fas Gas station at 3001 . - 37th Avenue N.E.. -permission .to :use their existing 6 x 6 foot freestanding sign for the proposed price cost identification, with the understanding the total area square .footage will remain 36 square feet .as has existed since 1973 but .will now allow the station to .advertise the current four figure gasoline price. ' _In recommending approval of the nec- essary variance the -Commission . is asking into consideration the recent Commission and Council .action on the MICO'.price identification sign and finds denying the variance may create a hardship for Fas Gas who can not now .use the .standard additional price numbers in their existing sign. Motion carried unanimously. • There was a .lengthy discussion .of the .extent .of the City's role in developing the alternatives proposed in the Comprehensive Plan for the redevelopment of the Kenzie-.Terrace commercial area. Mr. Bowerman and Mrs. Makowske urged caution on the City ' s part before committing City funds for effecting changes. in the area where "even the owners don' t seem interested in salvaging" . Mr.' Jones and Mr. Fornell saw the City as having to provide the tools for any redevelopment, if any is to -occur, later, when themoney markets opens. They saw an advantage for the City to develop goals and plans to present to a developer rather then waiting to react to a specific proposal from a developer. Mr,. Peterson agreed .saying he thought at least the condition .of the soil should be determined to decide whether any major redevelopment is feasible for the area. Mr. Enrooth left at - 9 : 35 P.M. Mr. Sopcinski .saw the plan as only a set of guidelines which will probably be out of date before they are even approved. He wanted as much attention devoted to other problems detailed in the Plan for the City and thought the Plan should be utilized as a means of attacking foreseeable problems .in all areas. The _Commission had been .provided copies of Mr. Berg' s comments regarding Ramsey County' s .Comprehensive Plan. He reported a meeting, to further discuss the plan, was .scheduled with .the •Ramsey County Department of Public Works in the St. Anthony. .City Hall April 23rd, and that he would present another -report to .the Commission after that meeting. Hennepin County' s response to the City's Comprehensive Plan was • discussed and the -Commission agreed with Mr. Fornell ' s suggestion that the City consider having the county take over St. Anthony Boulevard, south .of .State Highway. .88 , be included in- the final draft of the Plan. The Commission .reacted very ,positively to -the plans for the St. Jude Medical building proposed to be .b.ui-lt _in New Brighton.:across County Road E from the ,Salvation ..Army Camp seeing an anticipated work force of 2, 000 as a very positive plus for- the City' s future. However, some concern was expressed regarding the possible buildup of traffic on Silver Lake Road.. Wri.tten .comments .of- individual Commission members will be provided .staff within the week. Motion- by- Mr. Peterson and- seconded .by- Mr. Sopcinski to adjourn the meeting -at 10 :00 .P.M. Motion carried unanimously. Respectfully submitted, Helen .Crowe, Secretary