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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPL MINUTES 12151981 meeomq sneer 100217 III I I II II VIII VIII VIII II III Box: ss Folder: Document: PL MINUYE512151981 CITY OF ST. ANTHONY PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES December 15 , 1981 The meeting was called to order by Chairman Bjorklund at 7 : 30 P.M. Present for roll call : Bowerman, Enrooth , Bjorklund, Sopcinski , Peterson and Makowske. Absent: Jones . Also present : Ron Berg , Administrative Assistant. Motion by Mr. Sopcinski . and seconded by Mr. Bowerman to approve as submitted the minutes for the Planning Commission meeting held November 17 , 1981. Motion carried unanimously. Mr. Bjorklund indicated he intends to resign his position as Chairman of the Commission and would like to serve as the Commission' s re- presentative at the Council ' s January 5th meeting so he can deliver his assessment of the preceding year and discuss the issues he believes will involve the Commission next year. At 7 : 32 P.M. the Chairman reconvened the public hearing on the variance request from the required density for the St. Anthony Court which had been tabled at the November 17th Commission meeting. He read the notice which had again gone out to -all property owners within 200 feet of the site . No one present reported failure to receive the notice or objected to its contents . As reported in Mr. Berg' s November 13th memorandum and in testimony taken November 17th by the Commission, . a density problem was created for the townhome development approved for the Hedlund PUD when during the title search for the final platting of the property it was dis- covered Mr. Hedlund had dedicated a 10 foot easement along Silver Lake Road to Ramsey County , a fact that apparently was not known by the City, the Developer, or even Ramsey County officials until the platting process was begun. Mr. Berg said the County has agreed to provide written assurances to the City that the ten feet is not planned for widening 37th Avenue and could be used for landscaping , sidewalks or snow storage , which letter has not reached the City offices to date . But , since the easement represents only a 5 . 90 portion of the total site area, and will in all probability never be used by the County, the Administrative Assistant stated that if Mr. Johnson could be allowed to include the space in his original calculations , there would be sufficient open density provided to satisfy ordinance requirements for the 25 unit project; whereas an unnecessary hardship may be imposed on the developer if the variance is not granted, since he will have to resite his buildings , with a loss of some units , and will be forced to negotiate the resiting with the Rice Creek Watershed District. The economic difficulties being experienced by builders should also be taken into consideration, according to Mr. Berg , who also told Mrs . Makowske there is little likelihood the County can be persuaded to sell that strip to the developer since County officials have indicated to him they view -2- retention .by the .County to also.be a benefit for the City. Mr. Bower- man indicated .he did not see concern about how. the properties to the north will be developed is germane to this request , since there is no firm evidence the County holds a similar easement on those sites and he pointed out that, unless the County widens the bridge over the railroad tracks near 37th Avenue N.E. , the easement they hold on this property will be of no real value to them. Mr. Bjorklund indicated, because he wants to protect the other property owners on Silver Lake Road, he cannot vote to grant the variance until the City has written assurances from the County that they have no plans to widen Silver Lake Road. The Chairman questioned whether it is consistent for the County to construct .sidewalks along 37th Avenue a few blocks from this site and not along Silver Lake Road. Mr. Berg told him the City is joining with the County, in the costs with CDBG funding and .the balance will be assessed to the private property owners . The owners of the properties north of this site will have to fit their proposals for construction to the land they own, he told Mr. Sopcinski. Mr. Jones arrived at 7 : 55 P.M. Mr. Johnson was the only person present to speak for or against the variance request. He apologized for not being present at the first hearing. He stated he didn '.t see the existence of the easement as affecting the construction .plans he had proposed. According to his measurements , the building closest to Silver Lake Road will be sixty- one feet from the roadbed .and believes the City is in error when it figures there are only two feet in addition to the 10 foot easement between his property lines and the road, insisting instead that there ' are twenty feet between the site stakes and the road, which he sees as sufficient for. both a sidewalk and -snow storage. He cited the letter from Ramsey County which the City has on file which indicates the County only needs 120 feet for Silver Lake Road, and said he and Mr. Hedlund have both had verbal assurances from County officials that they will never use the easement for roadway. He said the failure to grant the variance will result in a large economic hardship for him because he will have to recalculate his site plans to accommodate an average of 238 square foot deficiency per unit which will involve the rehiring of an architect and landscaper planner as well as the difficult renegotiations with the watershed district. He pointed out the variances he had been granted for the Chandler townhome project he built in the same area where two easements were involved and said the only difference is that this was memorialized into the deed. The hearing was closed at 8 : 30 P.M. When Mr. Sopcinski expressed his concern that the three conditions set by City ordinance for granting -such variances had not been adequately addressed, he was told hardship could possibly be established inthe fact that a building .permit had -.been granted. based on the relationship of the buildings to the existing density and a topo- graphical difficulty for Mr. Johnson may be created if the variance is not granted. Mr. Jones saw a benefit to the City if the townhouse association maintains the boulevard as other homeowners do and noted -3- if Mr. Johnson requires identification of. the complex, the signage for the hair design operation may have to be taken down. The Plan- ning Commission member also pointed out that the City will be able to construct a sidewalk in the easement without going through condemna- tion proceedings . Motion by Mr. Bowerman and seconded by Mr. Peterson to recommend Council grant a 5 , 944 square -foot variance for the entire area for the continuation of construction of: the St. Anthony Court project, as proposed, on Lot 12 , Block l ; Penrod Addition (whose street address will be between 3909 - 4017 Silver Lake Road) to bring this construction into conformance with all City Zoning Ordinance requirements . This recommendation of approval is based on the fact that this construction was approved through a variance building permit granted in considera- tion of possible vacation and/or acquisition of the ten foot ease- ment held by Ramsey County along Silver Lake Road and the Commission further finds . that not granting the variance may cause financial hardship for the builder in form of costs of replatting, redesigning and recalculating his construction plans . Before a vote was taken , Mr. Bjorklund reiterated his concerns related to future plans of Ramsey County for Silver Lake Road and offered a friendly amendment that the approval be made "contingent upon receipt of a written statement from Ramsey County as to their intent not to improve the easement with a roadbed" . i The maker of the motion indicated he was unwilling to accept the • amendment because he sees "it would be unfair to project this re- striction on Mr. Johnson ' s construction" . The amendment was then formalized with Mrs . Makowske seconding the motion. Voting on the amendment: Aye : Bjorklund and Makowske. Nay: Bowerman, Sopcinski , Enrooth and Peterson. Abstention: Jones . Motion to amend not carried. Mr: Jones then called the question. Voting on the original motion: Aye : Bowerman, Peterson, Enrooth , Sopcinski and Jones . Nay : Bjorklund and Makowske . Motion carried. A joint. statement from Mr. Bjorklund and Mrs . Makowske indicated they "would have been in favor of some variance , but that particular variance was not what they had in mind" . -4- Before he left, Mr. Johnson said he was certain the County will provide the City with written assurances that should satisfy the proposed • contingency amendment and recommend the City actively seek to ascertain whether or not the County holds the same easement for the properties between his site and Silver Lane, information he has been unable to get himself. The Chairmansaid the Commission has traditionally set its own pro- cedures for. organization and, because he intends to resign as Chairman as of the January 5th Council meeting, asked that nominations be taken to fill the position at this time , with the Chairman Pro Tem to be selected during the January Commission meeting. Mr. Bowerman nominated Doug Jones to serve as Chairman of the Planning Commission during 1982 and Mr. Sopcinski seconded the nomination after being assured Mr. Bjorklund will provide parliamentary procedure guidance. There being no further nominations , it was moved by Mr. Peterson and seconded by Mr. Bjorklund that a unanimous ballot be declared for Mr. Jones , which motion passed unanimously. The meeting was recessed at 8 : 50 P .M. and reconvened at 9 :00 P .M. , during which time Mrs . Makowske left the meeting. Mr. Enrooth reported he had attended the training sessions for new public .officials and was particularly impressed with the session deal- ing with the vulnerability of city council and zoning commission members to successful lawsuits when financial loss can be proved to have resulted .from statements made in relation to matters before those bodies . Mr. Bowerman suggested the best way to avoid this problem would be for Commission members to limit their comments strictly to the matters before them and avoid what could be construed as dis- paraging personal references to persons involved in the proposals they are considering. He also saw it as imperative that extreme caution should be taken when discussing zoning matters with the news media. Mr. Sopcinski noted the many homes in St. Anthony which have been on the market for a considerable length of time and wondered if the Council will be pressured to acknowledge a growing trend of downgrad- ing zoning standards to provide. less expensive housing . He was especially concerned with the new movement to minimize standards for existing residential dwellings . -Mr. Enrooth said he is certain some multiple family accommodations are existent in the City now and agreed with Mr. Bjorklund that staff should be requested to research and report back to the Commission the zoning and legal requirements for basement apartments and other multiple living arrangements addressed in the City Zoning Ordinance. Mr. Jones thought careful consideration should be given to rejecting basement apartments and cautioned that, in the face of economic difficulties being experienced by the City , the Commission might possible have to reduce its demands for staff time. Mr. Enrooth believed it to be incumbent on staff to let the Commission 'know. when it has overstepped requests in this regard. Mr. Jones and Mr. Sopcinski noted the overcrowding of residential areas they had seen in Omaha, Nebraska, and believe the City should take a -5- close look at the areas where there is high density. Mr. Sopcinski reported' reading several sources where a correlation is made between lot and home size and unkept conditions and--.where density is believed to have a detrimental effect on .the area. Mr. Bowerman commented that he had personally enjoyed the benefits of the high quality of living in St. Anthony but did not want to become blind to the economics of ordinance restrictions . He believes the Commission will have to be very objective in their desire to find more taxpayers to help carry the burden of city government without throwing out all the standards which have made it such a desirable community to live in. Mr. Berg then reported the tremendous response to the single family rehabilitation grant program had been a surprise for staff since most applicants are below the $7 ,000 gross income level set for application. He then told the Commission that CDBG funds for projects such as the senior housing which was not accepted by HUD will be lost to the City if not reallocated for other purposes and recommended unexpended grants might be dedicated to these rehabilitation grants instead. If any of the projects should become viable later, future CDBG funds can be earmarked for them later. He reminded the Commission members that weatherization and upgrading of electrical and plumbing facilities of residences are the priorities for . obtaining these grants . The required public hearing on the allocation (or reallocation) of Com- munity Block Grant funds will be held at 7 :00 P.M. prior to the Plan- ning Commission meeting to be held January 19 , 1981 . Mr. Bowerman left the meeting at 9 : 25 P.M. • The Administrative Assistant then reported on issues he anticipates will be brought before the Commission in the near future , including the return of the Domalik proposal , an addition for the Central Engineering site and the proposal from Ed Brown for properties on 33rd Avenue N.E. . He said the Fisher proposal for the Clark station on 33rd and Stinson has- not expired and all communications with the Clark company indicate their intention of going along with the rezoning request , although the necessary papers have not yet been signed. Mr. Berg said he will try to incorporate the extensive modifications to the sign ordinance the City Attorney has recommended before return- ing the document to them for finalapproval and agreed to include specific illustrations of how ordinance changes will better address signage problems which exist now. Mr. Jones noted the problems with getting sign ordinance conformance. for the Craig & Co. sign saying night time lighting agreements are not being kept for that operation. Mr. Berg said he had also noted the lighting is continued past the 8 : 00 P .M. deadline and then reported the Council has extended the agreement regarding the landscaping and fencing to May 1st. Motion by Mr. Jones and seconded by Mr. Bjorklund to request staff to research the signage which may be required for the St.. Anthony Court development and the legal ramifications of previous agreements related to that signage for the Hedlund PUD. • Motion carried unanimously. -6- Mr. Berg continued his update by noting the abandoned bus on Kenzie Terrace and the truck advertising for •the Country Store are both gone •' and there have been some. improvements made in the appearance of the grounds around the upholstery shop on Kenzie. He also reported the new Occupancy Permit- is now in effect and the Fire and Police Departmet find it to be a very valuable code enforcement tool. Mr. Enrooth indicated- he has mixed feelings about leaving the Commission to serve on the Council next year, since he has enjoyed his association with the Commission members and is proud of his participation in the fine job they have done the past year. Motion by Mr. Enrooth and seconded by Mr. Bjorklund to adjourn the meeting at 9 : 37 'P.M. Motion carried unanimously. Respectfully submitted, Helen Crowe Secretary •