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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPL MINUTES 12161980 •i f Meeting Sheet I .s i" 1 i i 1 102150 'i Box: 21 Folder: PL MINUTES AND AGENDAS 1980 Document: PL MINUTES 12161980 PQ CITY OF ST. ANTHONY PLANNING CODIMISSION MINUTES �. December 16 , 1980 The meeting was called .to order at 7 : 32 P.M., by Chairman Pro Tem .Jones .. Present for roll call: Peterson, Jones , Sopcinski, Enrooth. Absent: Makowske, Bowerman, Bjorklund. Also present: Ron Berg, Administrative Assistant. Motion by Mr. Peterson and seconded by Mr. Sopcinski to approve the minutes for the Planning Commission .meeting held November 18 , . 1980 . Motion carried unanimously. Mr. Bjorklund arrived at 7: 33 P .M. and assumed the Chair. Mr. Bjorklund will represent the Commission at the Council 's December 23rd meeting. There being neither proponent nor opponent present for the scheduled 7: 35 P.M. public hearing in regard to the Hub Manufacturing proposal , the Commission agreed to delay the hearing until later in the meeting. The next item of business was the Furniture Barn sign variance request. Mr. Berg summarized the request for the 176 square foot sign proposed to be placed on the most southern easterly facing portion of the old Wards building in Apache Plaza. He stated that because of a technical point in the sign ordinance, the 25 ,000 square foot store is allowed 1/2 the normally allowed signage area because the store had no outside frontage. If it had, it would beiallowed ..27.0-.-square feet of signage. __Because it didn 't, only 135 square feet is allowed and thus the 41 square foot variance request for which staff recommend approval. - - In response to questions by the Commission, Mr. Berg stated he felt there would still be ample space available for the signage of the six or seven other potential stores in that area after this 4 foot X 44 square foot sign was erected; that he did not believe Apache management had any formal sign plan; and that he had not contacted Apache management in regard to this sign and felt if the sign was a problem, it would be between the tenant and' manage- ment with which point Mr. Jones disagreed. Mr. Rich Feneis of Scenic Sign Corporation was present to speak as the sign consultant, and agent for Furniture Barn. He felt Furniture Barn will be a major tenant-; that this is a unique situation (large store with no outside frontage) ; that it will.. be -constructed in conformance with all codes with no blinking, flashing lights. In response to questions from the Commission, he stated the sign is individual four foot internally lit white plexiglass letters to be _2_ placed on the existing blue background and depending on Apache 's policy, hopes the sign can be lit until midnight. He also stated the Furniture. Barn management had indicated to him they did not • desire south facing signage. He also stated he had presented two sign. plans to .the management and they had preferred the one line - - sign. The alternate proposal was for stacked wording, i .e. ; Furni- ture above, Barn below, with no increase in square footage. During the: Commission' s discussion on the matter, the members were in general agreement that the stacked word sign would be preferable to the one 'line proposal in that it would allow more space for the signage of the other potential stores in that area. Mr. Feneis thought the stacked type sign would probably be acceptable to the Furniture Barn management and that he would present that plan .and know for sure before the City Council 's December 23rd meeting. Motion by Mr. Jones and seconded by Mr. Sopcinski that the St. Anthony Planning Commission recommends to the Council to grant a variance of 41 square feet of signage to Furniture Barn which signage is to be placed on the easterly facing side of Apache Plaza and is for the alternate stacked sign per exhibit A signed by the Chairman. This variance is conditional on the written acceptance by the. C. G. Rein Co. of this proposed signage and that it meets their sign criteria for- this area of Apache Plaza. It is under- stood that the proposed stacked wording sign proposed by Furniture Barn will be. placed directly above the southerly most entrance on the east side of the building. The granting of this variance is based on the nature of the Furniture Barn 's business, that is , one ® stop shopping.. The Planning Commission- finds that the granting of the variance will not be detrimental to the public welfare or injurious to other property in the neighborhood or village; that denying the request would result in a hardship to the tenant and .that the situation here is unique in that the major tenant with a large amount of floor area 'has no outside frontage. Motion carried unanimously. The Commission also directed staff to contact the C. G. Rein Co. to determine their sign policy- and/or their interest in developing a comprehensive sign plan for the store. For the next item of business, Mr. Berg explained that the -temporary. , variance - and sign permit for the .signage at the Slumberland Store will be expiring the 31st of December. He stated staff had contacted the management and they are requesting another year 's extension on the 25 square foot variance for the 180 square foot sign. Staff , in its December 11th memo, recommended approval of the extension request based on the reasons given in 1979; that the sign had apparently aided their business (as stated in Slumberland' s request) and because of the impending study of the area by the City. During the Commission' s discussions on this subject, it was noted the previous year' s recommendation was based in part on the • management' s stated interest in developing a comprehensive sign plan for the Center. Mr. Berg stated that Mr. Ravelson, the sign consultant for Slumberland and also the consultant with whom the . -3- management of the Center had spoken to in regard to developing a comprehensive sign plan, had told him that the management. was still . . interested in developing such a plan. All members agreed a compre- hensive sign plan would be desirable for this area but also acknowledged that it would be difficult to pursue at the moment with the pending Kenzie Terrace study. . Mr. Enrooth voiced his objection to the extension, feeling, that it amounts to a permanent temporary sort of situation by which the management would only come back again in a year seeking another extension. Motion by Mr. Jones and seconded by Mr. Peterson to recommend to the Council that Slumberland's variance and permit be extended one year to December 31, 1981. . Following further discussion on the matter, motion by Mr. Peterson to call the question. Motion carried unanimously. Voting aye on the motion of -recommendation: Peterson, Jones; Bjorklund, Sopcinski. Voting nay.:' Enrooth. Motion carried. The meeting was recessed at 8 : 28 P.M. and. resumed at 8 :33 P.M. • The Chairman thanked Mr. Peterson for his excellent report on the Sixth Annual Planning and Zoning Institute Conference held Decem- ber 12th. Motion by Mr. Sopcinski and seconded by. Mr. Bjorklund to have copies of the report to the City Council. . Voting on the motion: Aye: Bjorklund, Sopcinski, Jones , Enrooth. Abstaining: Peterson. Motion carried. An "informal -motion was made by Mr. Bjorklund and seconded by Mr. Jones to forward the Commission's wishes of a Happy Holiday Season to the City Council. Motion carried unanimously. The Commission next had a discussion in regard to the signage at the Sibley -Store. It was noted that the Sibley Company will probably be vacating the store at the first of the year. The Commission directed staff to research what means the City has to direct the non-conforming signage be removed upon vacation by the tenant.. • The Commission next discussed the appointment of a Chairman and Chairman Pro Tem for 1981. Mr. . Sopcinski said the Commission is relatively young in regard to years of service and in consideration -4- of the excellent job Mr. Bjorklund has done during the past year and his understanding- of the rules and procedures in conducting Commission business, he felt the Commission, Council and the City would benefit were Mr. Bjorklund to serve an additional term. Motion by Mr. Sopcinski and seconded by Mr. Enrooth to nominate Brad Bjorklund as Chairman of the Planning Commission for 1981. Mr. Bjorklund felt that all members of the Commission were very capable people and thanked the members for their confidence in him. He assented to serve, if it was the consensus of the Commission, - one more year. There being no other nominations , motion by Mr. Peterson and seconded by Mr. Jones to close the nominations. Motion carried unanimously. Voting on Mr. Bjorklund's nomination: Aye: Peterson, Jones, Sopcinski, Enrooth. Abstaining: Bjorklund. Motion carried. Mr. Sopcinski stated' Mr. Jones is one of the "elders" on the Com • mission in terms of service time and that he has the experience and capability to do an excellent job as Chairman Pro Tem. Motion by Mr. Sopcinski- and seconded by Mr. Bjorklund to nominate Mr. Doug Jones as Chairman Pro Tem of the Planning Commission for 1981. There being no other nominations, motion by Mr. Sopcinski and seconded by Mr. Peterson to close the nominations. -- Motion carried unanimously: - --- - - -- - - -- .- . __ Voting on the .nomination of Mr. Jones: Aye: Peterson, Bjorklund, Sopcinski, Enrooth. Abstaining: Jones. Motion. carried. All members stated their willingness-to serve on the Commission in 1981. Although no proponent or opponent was present to address the variance request for Hub Manufacturing, the Commission agreed to review the request. -5- At 8: 52 P.M. Chairman Bjorklund opened the public hearing on the variance request of Hub Manufacturing. • Mr. Berg outlined the specifics of the request by relating that it was for a combination office/warehouse on the •.remaining site (Lot_ l , _ Block 1) in the office park ('2825 Anthony 'Larie'- Sduth) . The proposal would site the building 34 feet from County Road C where 40 feet is required by ordinance (variance of 6 feet required) . The proposed building area is 21,675 square feet which is to be divided in half (.two tenants) with 1,000 square feet of office space in each half. Mr. Berg stated that because of the parcels particular siting, it is one of the two sites in the office park which is bounded on three sides by a road- and because of that, by ordinance, three forty foot setbacks are required. Another consideration is the poor soil conditions in the office park which becomes more acute going north to south on this parcel. He. stated, that through staff research of City records, conversations with the' County and physically measuring the area, it was determined that the 49er building, directly to the east of this site, was set back 44 feet from the County Road C curb and is 34 feet from its lot line. It was staff ' s recommendation that any motion for approval should include the stipulation that the proposed building be set no further forward than the 49er building. He stated staff had some concern with the number of parking spaces proposed (29) in case of a change of use or- ownership in the future. • However., the number is adequate by ordinance formula, the 'spaces - measure 10 X 20 and thus 2 or 3 more could be- added; the 49er parking lot has 140 spaces, few- of which are used during the day; and more spaces could be added in the front (toward County Road C) , but staff certainly prefers .the proposed landscaping. One other item was addressed, that of a proposed ingress only road off County C on the easterly most portion of .this lot. Mr. Berg stated the responsibility of acquiring a permit 'for this, from the County, _ _was with the developer and he had been led to believe this had been accomplished but in' checking with the County, noted it had not. He said any recommendation for approval -should be contingent upon acquiring this permit. He also stated the plans had been received by the City. Director of Public Works and Fire Marshal and both had indicated no problem with the plan as proposed. The public hearing was. closed at 9 :12 P.M. . The Commission questioned staff and discussed the proposal and was of consensus that the plan as proposed was - attractive, is of con- sistant' use and design and would fit and blend in well in the office park. Motion by Mr. Jones and seconded by Mr. Peterson that the Planning Commission recommend to the Council the granting of a variance for placement of the proposed Hub Warehouse/Office. facility six feet • closer to County Road C but under no condition shall the building be -6- placed closer to County Road C (29th Avenue) than the 49er building. This' ' recommendation is based .on the site and landscaping plans submitted and labeled as exhibits "A" , "B" , "C" , by the Chairman. This variance is granted due to: (1) The poor soil conditions to the south portion of the site. (2) It will conform with the setback of the building directly to the east (49er building) . (3) The, uniqueness of this site being bordered by three streets. (4) The County having. acquired 26 feet of the property for the up grading of.:County Road C. (.5) The proposal blends aesthetically with the adjacent structures in the office park. This variance is contingent upon the developer acquiring written permission from the County for an ingress only road off County Road C and that the proposal meets all standards of the City building and fire codes. Motion- carried unanimously. Motion by Mr. Enrooth and seconded by Mr. Jones to adjourn. Motion carried unanimously. • -The meeting was adjourned at 9 :28 P.M. Respectuflly submitted, Ronald 0. Berg Acting Secretary