Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutPL AGENDA 09181979 Meeting Sheet IIIIIIVIIIVIIIVIIIVIIIVIIIIIIIIIII 106003 Box: 36 Folder: PL MINUTES AND AGENDAS 1979 Document: PL AGENDA 09181979 CITY OF ST. ANTHONY PLANNING BOARD MINUTES September 18, 1979 The meeting was called to order by Chairman Marks at 7 : 37 p.m. Present for roll call: Bjorklund, Marks, Sopcinski and Enrooth. Absent: Rymarchick, Bowerman and Jones (arrived at 7 : 38 p.m. ) . Also present: Jim Fornell, City Manager; Bill Soth, City Attorney; and Ron Berg, Administrative Assistant. The minutes for the Board meeting held August 21 , 1979 were amended as follows : Mr. Soth requested Paragraph #2 of Page 6 should be clarified to indicate that Mr. Hedlund and his attorney, Mark Haggerty, had "agreed that the Concept Plan as modified was acceptable to them and they were willing to abide by the Plan" . When Mr. Soth put the question directly to them, Mr. Haggerty said "the modifications agreed to represented their willingness to accept the Concept Plan as modi- fied since it represented a compromise which would provide more con- trol for the City but less restrictive covenants for Mr. Hedlund and, as proposed, was acceptable to him" . When Mr. Soth pressed him as to whether "it is understood by them that the Detailed Plan must conform to the modified Concept Plan" , Mr. Haggerty said "since the modifications included the right of Mr. Hedlund to be construed as the first "B" user to permit a substantive "C" usage , a point which had been the primary stumbling block for Mr. Hedlund, now that stumbling block had been removed, Mr. Hedlund could live with the Concept Plan" . Mr. Soth directed that the minutes should indicate "Mr. Haggerty and Mr. Hedlund had agreed the Concept Plan as modified and as inter- preted was acceptable to them and that the entire development will conform to that Concept Plan" to which there was no objection raised by either Mr. Hedlund or Mr. Haggerty. At the suggestion of Mr. Sopcinski , Paragraph #6 of Page 4 was amended to add "only the types of use as specified by the Concept Plan" at the end of the motion following the words "specific tenants" . Motion by Mr. Sopcinski and seconded by Mr. Jones to approve the minutes as amended for the Planning Board meeting held August 21, 1979 . Motion carried unanimously. Mr. Sopcinski will represent the Board at the next Council meeting September 25, 1979 . -2- Prior to the calling of the public hearing on the Hedlund PUD at • 7: 47 p.m. , the Manager told the Board the Council had accepted all their recommendations for modification of the Concept Plan as in- dicated in the minutes of the Council meeting which had been omitted from their agenda packets . He confirmed that all application, publication and notification re- quirements set for such a hearing in the City Zoning Ordinance had been met. No one present reported failure to receive nor objected to the contents of the notice. Mr. Marks told the more than a dozen residents present for the hearing, that the purpose of the hearing was to get their input regarding the detailed submissions from Gordon Hedlund for the development of ap- proximately one-third of the commercial component of the PUD. The developer then showed the site plans and perspective drawings for the one story speculative building for which he has no specific tenants . He said ,he anticipates the building might have as many as five tenants orerha s only P p y one and said he expected such tenants to be business types such as realtors, doctors and dentists, but "no heavy retail nor restaurants since they are not permitted in the PUD" . He answered a question put to him by Ruth Nelson, 3916 Macalaster Drive, by saying, "The PUD specifies there can be no more than 50 percent of any one building devoted to "C" usage and only 33 percent of such usage allowed in the entire commercial por- tion" . She indicated she preferred to have the usage referred to • as "service office" rather than "commercial" . Entrances and exits for the building will depend on the type of tenants and screening in the back will consist mainly of the existing trees, Mr. Hedlund said, and, he said, cost will be the major factor in determining where the utilities for the building will be located. This point and the type of roof on the building were points of great interest to those who were present with Lloyd Hedman, 3924 Penrod Lane, favoring a gabled roof on the building "to keep the utilities off" . Mr. Hedlund answered concerns regarding the exterior of the building by saying the building will be "new" cedar wood. K Marlin Johnson, 4008 Penrod Lane, was concerned whether the property will be better maintained than it is now and Ruth Thompson, 3015 39th Avenue N.E. , and Kathy Cooper, 3908 Macalaster Drive, said they were disappointed with the "strip-like building" and the fact it is not "more home-like" and wanted more plantings to serve as screening for the building from the homes on Penrod. Whether the height of a gabled roof might be in conformance with the PUD was discussed at length and-Mr. Marks read A and B of VII , Design, of the Concept Plan, as a reference. Mr. Haggerty reminded those present that the appearance and maintenance of the building will be the deciding factor in the rentability of the building. The public hearing closed at 8 : 24 p.m. • Mr. Hedlund said the commercial area has been named "Apache East" and a sign identifying it as such will be the only ground sign. He added, though, there will be tenant identification on each building. -3- The Declaration of Easements provided by Mr. Hedlund was discussed • with the decision that it should be mainly concerned with providing access across the site in question for the benefit of the Bona and Blanske properties to the north. Mr. Haggerty suggested the Detailed Plan and Final Plan might be com- bined into one step so as to avoid delay if a major tenant is found for the property and Mr. Hedlund indicated his understanding that if this is authorized he will be required to start '.construction on the building within one year. He said he was agreeable as long as an extension is possible. His tentative timetable for a building is a year at this point of time. Motion by Mr. Jones and seconded by Mr. Bjorklund_ to recommend Council approval of the items submitted by Gordon Hedlund as the Detailed Plan for the south 230 feet of Lot 12 , Block 1, Penrod Addition, with these items also to be considered as the Final Plan for the PUD and to grant approval of the Detailed -Plan and Final Plan as being in conformance with the Concept Plan, as modified, subject to the following conditions: 1) Attachment "A" site plan (dimensions and spacial rela- tions) only. No perspective view submitted. Square foot- age of building is corrected to be 5,400 square feet and not 5, 700 square feet, as indicated on the plan and the exterior of the building shall be cedar on all four sides . • 2) Signage as per Detailed Concept Plan. 3) Provision of 27 parking spaces as per site development plan "A" . 4) Prior to installation of heating and air conditioning equipment, the developer shall submit specifications to the city staff for their approval as to noise level and location and screening of the equipment. 5) Easement specifics for two additional buildings and the Bona and Blanske properties north of the PUD site shall be submitted for city staff approval . Easements of approxi- mately 16 to 20 feet for the driveway shall be detailed. 6) Trash control shall be located at the service area per site plan A. 7) Letter of Credit shall be submitted before a building permit is released. Motion carried unanimously. Mr. Soth left when the meeting was recessed at 9 : 35 p.m. • -4- When the meeting was reconvened at 9 :50 p.m. , Mr. Marks opened the public hearing on the vacation of the alley which runs through the property owned by Bernard Blanske. Mr. Fornell confirmed that all applications , publication, and notification requirements of the City Zoning Ordinance had been met and no one present reported failure to receive nor object to the contents of the notice. Mr. Blanske told the Board he was requesting the City vacate the alley so he may replat his property into one 90 foot wide corner lot as required by City Ordinance, and two lots 75 x 120 feet deep to align them with the new residential development in the Hedlund PUD south of him. The alley also runs through the property owned by Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Bona who are also interested in having it vacated according to Mr. Fornell who said their request would have been considered at this hearing if the notice of the hearing had not encompassed only the Blanske property. Mr. Blanske reported Mr. Hedlund would not oppose the vacation of the alley. Motion by Mr. Bjorklund and seconded by Mr. Sopcinski to recommend Council approval of the vacation of all that part of the alley as platted in Soo Marie Park Addition, Block 17 , Ramsey County , which lies between Lots 1 and 6, and Lots 25 through 30 finding that: the adjacent property owners are in agreement with the vacation and no other property will be adversely affected and that the vacation is in the best interests of over all development quality and future consideration of the property. • Motion carried unanimously. At 10 :05 p.m. the Chairman -opened the public hearing on the preliminary platting of the Blanske property. Mr. Fornell read the notice which appeared in the St. Anthony edition of the New Brighton Bulletin and confirmed that all application and notification requirements of the City Zoning Ordinance had been met. No one present reported failure to receive the notice nor objected to its content. Mr. Blanske reiterated his plans to replat the property into three lots and said he planned to tear down the existing house on the corner lot. Mr. Bjorklund said he would prefer to see the property split up for four residential lots since he was concerned with the suggested development of the corner lot and whether it will fit into the comprehensive planning for that area. The Manager said it is the property owner's prerogative to plat the property as he sees fit since there will be no variances involved. The public hearing was closed at 10 :11 p.m. 4 Motion by Mr. Jones and seconded by Mr. Sopcinski to recommend Council approval of the Blanske preliminary platting as proposed in the sur- vey dated August 7 and revised August 28 , 1979 . • -5- Mr. Sopcinski suggested the motion be amended to state "finding that the platting line follows the residential placement of property between 39th Avenue N.E. and Silver Lane and Mr. Blanske 's plans for future development of the northeast corner of Lot 1 on the corner of Penrod Lane and Silver Lane to be in conformance with the property development on Penrod, i .e. , residential, and the remainder of Lot 1 on Silver Lake Road could conceivably be utilized in a manner similar to -the Hedlund PUD" . Mr. Jones agreed to the amend- ment, but following protests of Mr. Marks and Mr. Bjorklund to the amendment's suggestion that the property be commercially developed as well as insistence of Mrs . Thompson that the suggestion "was out of order" followed by the Manager's recommendation that there be no reference to the PUD development, he withdrew his motion with Mr. Sopcinski ' s concurrence and submitted the following in its stead: Motion by Mr. Jones and seconded by Mr. Bjorklund to recommend Council approval of the preliminary plat proposed by Mr. Blanske in the survey dated August 28 , 1979 , finding that: the lot sizes meet the requirements of the City Zoning Ordinance and the usage suggested by Mr. Blanske is in conformance with that of the surrounding neighborhood. Motion carried unanimously. The public hearing on the proposed addition for the Red Owl Store in the St. Anthony Shopping Center was opened by Mr. Marks at 10 :28 p.m. • Mr. Fornell confirmed that all application, publication and notification requirements of the City Zoning Ordinance had been met and no one present reported failure to receive nor objected to its contents. In the absence of the building owner, Kraus Anderson Company, John Kuehnow, the store 's manager, and Walter Betts , also representing Red Owl, presented the request for a variance to the rear yard set- back requirements set for commercial property in the City Zoning Ordinance. The variance would permit Red Owl to construct an addition in the rear of the existing building to within nine feet of the pro- perty line. Mr. Kuehnow said the enclosed addition will be a 50-foot extension of the existing loading dock with the entire loading area now to be sprinklered. There will also be a 1514" by 74" addition on the front of the building which will require no variance. These additions are to be made in conjunction with the complete renovation of the exterior and interior of the existing building for the incor- poration of the Snyder Rexall operation within the grocery store. There was no public input and the public hearing was closed at 10 :43 p.m. Mr. Bjorklund doubted whether even the existing building meets the parking requirements of the City Zoning Ordinance within the property owned by Kraus Anderson, but this point could hot be verified. He was concerned that a good deal of the parking was on the Saliterman center property and was concerned this space might be no longer avail- able for parking if that center should be redeveloped as suggested in the Comprehensive Plan. He was also concerned about the firefighters ability to manuever down the gap between Red Owl and the Northgate Motel building and questioned whether the new addition will contribute -6- further to the lack of maintenance in that area now. Mr. Jones said he recognized Mr. Bjorklund's concerns , but was reluctant to impose stringent restrictions on the first positive development in that economically depressed area. He and Mr. Marks saw this project as a possible inducement for other businesses to upgrade their property. Mr. Fornell insisted the new addition would not increase the consumer access portion of the building and thought the parking for Red Owl was probably grandfathered in. Mr. Sopcinski saw a good grocery/drug operation as fitting in very well with any redevelopment of' the Saliterman property under the Comprehensive Plan and agreed that if the fire department could live with the proposal, he could see no reason to deny it. The store manager said he thought the signage proposed for the new operation had already been submitted to the City and promised to have the building owner present when the proposal is brought before the Council . Motion by Mr. Jones and seconded by Mr. Enrooth to recommend the City Council grant the requested 11 foot rear yard variance along the southeast property line of the Red Owl building, 2550 Highway 88 , subject to proper staff review of the building plans and their com- pliance with all building, fire and safety codes. A signage plan shall be submitted in conformance with the city ordinance and the building shall be required to meet existing parking requirements . The Board bases its findings on the fact that the addition continues • the existing building lines and the adjacent building has a similar property line setback. Motion carried unanimously. At 11: 07 p.m. the public hearing on the C. G. Hill variance petition was opened by Mr. Marks , Mr. Fornell confirmed that all application, publication, and notifi- cation requirements had been met and no one present reported failure to receive nor object to the contents of the notice . Mr. Hill said he had decided to build another 95 by 140 foot office warehouse across the street from his present company building in the St. Anthony Industrial Park where he will maintain an office of his own. However, both rear and side yard variances will be needed for the proposal. His is the last lot to be developed in that area and all the rest of the buildings have only 10 foot setbacks where 15 are required under the existing zoning ordinance. He will have to grade the entire building area and poor subsoil conditions require the positioning of the building as he proposes. The building he is in presently is a 15,000 square foot warehouse and only uses 22 of the required 40 parking spaces . He anticipates no greater demand for the 13, 300 square foot similar building he proposes to build and therefore requests he be allowed 36 parking spaces instead of the required 38. • II -7- Mr. Bjorklund and Mr. Jones suggested moving the building closer to Highway 88 so that the distance maintained between buildings would be consistent with other buildings in that area, but the question arose whether changing the dimensions of the setbacks would be legal since different dimensions were cited in the notice of the hearing and it was felt there would have to be a ruling made by the City Attorney on the question which would delay the construc- tion start unless -a hearing was held before the Council at their next meeting. Staff agreed with Mr. Hill that the proposed 36 parking spaces seemed adequate for the proposed usage. The public hearing was closed at 11: 28 p.m. Motion by Mr. Jones and seconded by Mr. Bjorklund to recommend the Council grant a 10-foot sideyard variance on the north side and a five-foot rearyard variance on the west (Highway 88) side of the C. G. Hill building proposed to be built on Block 1, Lot 4 , except the southwest 45 feet thereof, St. Anthony Industrial Park (2924 Anthony Lane) . The Board also recommends Council approval of a variance for two parking spaces with 9 x 20 foot stalls allowed. These variances should be granted subject to the approval of the property owner adjacent to" the site on the north and City Attorney approval for waiving the public hearing. Reasons for granting the variances are the poor subsoil condition on the site, similar .-side- yard setbacks of the surrounding buildings and the substantial drainage easement on the Highway 88 side and because it does not appear there will be a conflict with the adjacent property to the north. The Board encourages the city staff to call a public hearing to coincide with the October 9 Council meeting so they may act on the matter that night, should it be necessary. Bernard Blanske again appeared before the Board to seek conceptual approval for the preliminary plans for a mini storage facility he proposes to develop on the property he owns at 39th Avenue N.E. and Sunset Lane. There will be several variances to the City Zoning Ordinance required for the proposal. When a majority of the Board expressed its dismay at such a development of "that beautiful piece of property" , which they felt was ideal for townhouses , as had been indicated in the City's Comprehensive Plan, Mr. Blanske agreed the site was too beautiful for a commercial development, but said he had bought the property because it had been zoned light industrial and he considers a mini storage facility a more profitable and easier to maintain operation than townhouses . Mr. Fornell confirmed that Mr. Blanske has always stated such intentions for the property. However, since such facilities , per se, are not addressed in the city ordinance, it will probably have to be amended to allow the mini storage building. Board members agreed they were reluctant to encourage the development proposed before the City' s Comprehensive Plan is completed and saw the building as too encompassing for the site. -1 Conceptual approval of the preliminary plans for a speculative office building in the St. Anthony Office Park was then requested by Harry Schroeder. Mr. Schroeder said the two and one-half story building would have 27, 850 square feet of rentable space for which there will be 120 parking spaces provided including six handicapped parking spaces . - i There was a general consensus of approval of the Board for the proposal as presented. Motion by Mr. Bjorklund and seconded by Mr. Jones to inform the Council that the building proposed by Mr. Schroeder to be built on Lots 5, 6 , and 7 of Block 3, St. Anthony Office Park , meets all the criteria set by the Board for such a building development and recommends Council approval subject to the proposal meeting all building, fire and safety codes . Motion carried unanimously. Jake Cadwallader of Cadwallader Realty appeared to discuss his firm's proposal to replace the existing residence at 3901 Silver Lake Road which has been converted to a real estate office under a special use Permit with a two and one-half story, 5 ,600 square foot multi- office building which would have a gabled roof. He is seeking a re-zoning of the property from "R-2" , double family residence , to "B" , service office, "in line with what is happening on the adjacent Hedlund property" . When informed of the City's dissatisfaction with the berming of the permitted signage by his predecessor, Mr. Cadwallader said he assumes the existing sign will be removed and new signage renegotiated. Mr. Jones suggested positioning the building farther back on the property to eliminate the parking to the rear and saw parking spaces #10 and #20 as almost inaccessible with the proposed driveway width. Mr. Marks said that from a land use standpoint, the proposal will continue the business office usage anticipated for the area but will be more intense and expected to meet with opposition from the neigh- boring residents as indicated by several who were still present at the meeting. Mr. Cadwallader stated he planned to submit an appli- cation for re-zoning. Motion by Mr. Bjorklund and seconded by Mr. Enrooth to recommend Council consideration of revision of Section 12, Subdivision 9 , Number 12a of the City Zoning Ordinance to permit 9 x 20 foot parking spaces where 10 x 20 foot spaces have bben required, since auto- mobile sizes have been adjusted downwards and several proposals have recently been considered with those dimensions in mind. Motion carried unanimously. The next work :session on the City's Comprehensive Plan was scheduled for 7 : 30 p.m. , October 2, 1979 . Motion by Mr. Enrooth and seconded by Mr . Jones to adjourn the meeting at 1 a.m. Motion carried unanimously. Respectfully submitted, Helen Crowe, Secretary pjr