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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPL AGENDA 03192002 Meeting Sheet IIIIIIVIIIVIIIVIIIVIIIVIIIIIII IIII iossia Box: 34 Folder: PL MINUTES AND AGENDAS 2002 Document: PL AGENDA 03192002 Planning Commission Meeting Minutes February 19, 2002 Page 1 CITY OF ST. ANTHONY 2 3 PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING 4 5 FEBRUARY 19, 2002 6 7:00 p.m. 7 8 9 I. CALL TO ORDER 10 Chair Melsha called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. 11 12 II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE. 13 Chair Melsha invited the Council and the audience to join in the Pledge of Allegiance. 14 15 III. ROLL CALL. 16 Commissioners present: Chair Melsha; Vice Chair Stille, Commissioners Hanson, Hoska, 17 Steeves, Tillman, and Thomas. 18 19 Absent: None. 20 21 Also present: Assistant City Manager Susan Henry. if IV. ELECTION OF CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR 24 Chair Melsha indicated that the Planning Commission needed to elect a Chair and Vice Chair. 25 26 Chair Melsha indicated that he was interested in serving another year as Chair. 27 28 Motion by Tillman, second by Thomas, to elect Melsha as Chair of the Planning Commission for 29 the year 2002. 30 31 Motion carried unanimously. 32 33 Vise Chair Stille stated that he would gladly serve another year as Vice Chair. Chair Melsha 34 nominated current Vice Chair Stille to serve another year as Vice Chair to the Planning 35 Commission. 36 37 Motion by Melsha, second by Tillman, to elect Stille as Vice Chair of the Planning Commission 38 for the year 2002. 39 40 Motion carried unanimously. 41 42 V. PUBLIC INPUT. 43 Hearing no comments, Chair Melsha moved forward with the agenda. 0 Planning Commission Meeting Minutes February 19, 2002 Page 2 VI. APPROVAL OF AGENDA. 2 Motion by Chair Melsha, second by Commissioner Steeves, to approve the meeting agenda. 3 4 Motion carried unanimously. 5 6 VII. MEETING MINUTES. 7 7.1 Review/Approval of the Planning Commission meeting minutes of December 18, 2001. 8 Vice Chair Stille made the following correction: Page 3, line 19: "produce"to be 9 changed to"eliminate." 10 1 1 Motion by Commissioner Thomas, second by Vice Chair Stille, to approve the Planning 12 Commission meeting minutes of December 18, 2001, as amended above. 13 14 Motion carried unanimously. 15 16 VIII. COMMUNICATION WITH CITY COUNCIL. 17 8.1 Designate a Planning Commission member to the City Council regular meeting of 18 February 26, 2002. 19 Chair Melsha indicated that Commissioner Thomas was available to attend the next City 20 Council meeting on February 26, 2002. 21 IX. PUBLIC HEARINGS. 9.1 Request for Side Yard Variance-Ray Whitehill, 3601 Roosevelt Street. 24 Chair Melsha opened the public hearing at 7:07 p.m. 25 26 Susan Henry stated the applicant, Ray Whitehill, 3601 Roosevelt Street, is requesting a 27 side yard variance for construction of a new single family home. She indicated that 28 Whitehill is working with Michael O'Connell of Timbercraft Homes on the construction. 29 30 Henry explained that Whitehill is asking for an 18 foot side yard variance to construct a 31 new single-family home on his property located at 36`h and Roosevelt. Henry stated that, 32 in order to meet the side yard setback established by city ordinance, the proposed home 33 would need to be a 20 foot pad in width; city ordinance says the side yard setback is 30 34 foot from the property line. Henry stated that the proposed home would extend into the 35 setback area by 18 feet. 36 37 Henry noted that the existing home on the property encroaches into the side yard setback 38 by 11 feet. She added that the applicant says it is not economically feasible to remodel 39 the existing structure. She also indicated that the existing home has been deemed 40 substandard, and that any improvements to the existing home would require a similar 41 variance. 42 • Planning Commission Meeting Minutes February 19, 2002 Page 3 Henry continued that, for hardship,the applicant states the property cannot be put to 2 reasonable use under the city ordinance because the new building area would need to be 3 15 feet in width. Henry indicated that the applicant states that the lot size is 45 feet in 4 width and a corner lot, a diminished building pad is created by the ordinance. Finally, 5 Henry stated, the applicant states the subject property was a lot of record prior to 6 adoption of city ordinance and it is now considered substandard. 7 8 Henry concluded by indicating that staff recommends approval of the variance request, 9 given the unique facts and restrictions of the subject property. She added that this project 10 would provide a redeveloped lot with private investment. 11 12 O'Connell came forward to address the Commission regarding the side yard variance 13 request. He expounded upon the information provided by Henry. He added that they 14 explored the area of remodeling, and that Mr. Whitehill would discuss some of those 15 issues with the Commission. 16 17 Whitehill stated that the home was built back in the 1940's, and did not feel that the 18 home could be remodeled due to the actual structure of the house which is slowly 19 diminishing. He indicated that re-building would be a much safer option. 20 21 Commissioner Thomas asked if the proposed home would meet the lot coverage ratio. 46 O'Connell stated that it would meet the lot coverage ratio. 24 Commissioner Thomas asked how the neighbors felt about the proposed project. 25 Whitehill indicated that one of the neighbors was out of town for the winter, and another 26 rents her home. 27 28 Commissioner Thomas asked if the new home would fit in to the current architecture on 29 the street. O'Connell cited a few architectural features that would make the new home fit 30 in with the current housing stock on the street. 31 32 Commissioner Thomas asked about the height of the proposed home. O'Connell stated 33 that it would be 22.6 inches above grade. He stated that he did not feel that it would 34 impede very much light on the surrounding homes. 35 36 Commissioner Tillman asked how much closer this home would be to 36''than the home 37 to their north. O'Connell stated that the house next door was located 30 feet from 36th 38 Avenue, and the proposed new home would be in about 27 feet from the curb line,which 39 is about a 15 foot difference due to the property lines. 40 41 Vice Chair Stille asked about the history of the lot, and how he acquired it. Whitehill 42 stated that his father bought the lot after World War II, and his grand-father built the 43 home that is on the lot. He stated that it has been in the family since the mid 1940's. He added that part of the reason for the proposed one-level design was that his father would 16 eventually move-in with him. 46 Planning Commission Meeting Minutes February 19, 2002 Page 4 Commissioner Hanson asked about the anticipated start date and move-in date. 2 O'Connell stated May 1, 2002, with completion around the beginning of September, and 3 moving in mid-September. 4 5 Chair Melsha closed the public hearing at 7:24 p.m. 6 7 Chair Melsha stated that he felt that the request was very straight forward, and sound. 8 9 Motion by Commissioner Hoska, second by Commissioner Steeves,to recommend 10 approval of the request for the side yard variance based on the following findings: 11 12 0 Dimensions of the property are unique for the area,making it very 13 difficult for the construction of any home in compliance with the code. 14 0 Problem not created by the applicant; current structure precedes the 15 option of the code. 16 9 Strict compliance of the code would prohibit any reasonable use for the 17 property, even in it's current structure it does not comply with current 18 setback provisions. 19 0 Granting variance would not alter the essential character of the 20 neighborhood,rather the character would be improved. 21 0 Granting the variance would not violate the spirit, or intent of the code. 46 Motion carried unanimously. 24 25 X. INFORMATION AND DISCUSSION. 26 10.1 Northwest Quadrant Redevelopment Update. 27 Susan Henry indicated that the City Council selected the developer for the Northwest 28 Quadrant redevelopment project. Pratt Ordway Dominium 29 30 She stated that it was important to remember that the City has selected a developer and 31 not a development for the project. Henry added that there were still a lot of decisions to 32 be made regarding the redevelopment. 33 34 Councilmember Sparks stated that, after Saturday, the decision was pretty easy. She 35 added that seeing the older properties was what they found to be most encouraging. She 36 stated that the apartments they saw by Dominium were under constant updating and 37 renovation,which was very reassuring. 38 39 Commissioner Thomas asked for clarification on which city they saw the Dominium 40 apartments. Councilmember Sparks stated that she needed to check her notes to be 41 certain. 42 43 10.2 Housing Point of Sale Ordinance. Henry stated that Vice Chair Stille attended the City Council goal-setting session where 16 the point-of-sale ordinance was discussed. 46 Planning Commission Meeting Minutes February 19, 2002 Page 5 Vice Chair Stille stated that the Planning Commission needed to sell the reasons as to 2 why it was important to the Planning Commission to instill a housing ordinance. He 3 stated that, if the Commission feels strongly about the ordinance, than they should take a 4 step back and research other communities and the point-of-sale ordinances that are in 5 place in order to determine what really works. 6 7 Commissioner Hanson stated that he saw a story on the news recently that the City of 8 Minneapolis was looking at potentially eliminating their point-of-sale housing code, 9 which costs them nearly$300,000 a year, due to difficult budget cuts. 10 11 Chair Melsha stated that the Commission should first evaluate the need and effectiveness 12 of the point-of-sale housing code in other cities before they proceed with the terms if the 13 ordinance. 14 15 Commissioner Thomas stated that one of the reasons that they were looking at this 16 ordinance was to upgrade the housing stock in the City. He added that there is no 17 purpose in going forward with the point-of-sale ordinance if they do not have the support 18 of the City Council. 19 20 Chair Melsha stated that he did not feel that they do not have the support of the City 21 Council,but that the Commission needs to articulate the reasons that the point-of-sale 46 housing code is necessary. 24 Councilmember Sparks stated that there is some resistance on behalf of the Council. She 25 indicated that the Planning Commission does need to convince the Council of the need 26 for the ordinance before they proceed. 27 28 Commissioner Thomas stated that he would point out the pros and cons to the point-of- 29 sale ordinance at the next City Council meeting on February 26, 2002. 30 31 XI. ANNOUNCEMENTS. 32 11.1 Upcoming Land Use Planning Workshops. 33 Henry stated that all Commissioners, except for Commissioner Hoska, have attended one 34 of the Land Use Planning Workshops. Chair Melsha recommended that Commissioner 35 Hoska attend at least one of them. Henry indicated that she would be happy to register 36 Commissioners for any of the Workshops. 37 38 Henry also informed the Commission that Essenco would be present at the next Planning 39 Commission to request an amendment to their conditional use permit. She explained that 40 the company wants to make improvements,but in order to invest the amount of money 41 necessary to make the improvements,they want an extension on the permit. 42 43 Commissioner Thomas stated that the sense he got from the Council was that there were absolutely no extensions past September 2, 2002. Councilmember Sparks indicated that 16 she may have misinterpreted what was decided,but stated that she thought that once 46 Essenco comes before the Council again, they were looking for more permanent status in 47 the City. Planning Commission Meeting Minutes February 19, 2002 Page 6 Chair Melsha stated that what Essenco has done up to this point was attain a temporary 2 conditional use permit. He added that they still need to go back before the Council for an 3 indefinite, or a permanent permit. 4 5 Councilmember Sparks indicated that she was uncertain as to what the Council was 6 going to do regarding the re-application. She encouraged the Commissioners to be 7 personally aware of the odor associated with the company. Councilmember Sparks 8 added that a major concern of hers with regard to the odor was the 700 new housing units 9 that were soon to be in the backyard of the plant, as part of the Northwest Quadrant 10 redevelopment project. 11 12 Councilmember Sparks added that the new ventilation system would reduce the smell by 13 75%. She added that they were initially told there would be no odor at all. 14 15 Commissioner Hanson welcomed Commissioner Hoska. The rest of the Commissioners 16 echoed Commissioner Hanson's welcoming to Commissioner Hoska. 17 18 Commissioner Steeves reminded that the issue on odor and Essenco was whether or not it 19 was injurious. He indicated that he would be interested in hearing testimony from an 20 appraiser, or a real-estate agent that would have professional knowledge on the issue. 21 Commissioner Steeves stated that he was pleased that they recommended approval of the side yard variance request this evening. 24 25 Chair Melsha stated that he felt that Concept Reviews should be reinstated so that the 26 Commission is better prepared and informed on public hearing requests. 27 28 Chair Melsha stated that he was very encouraged by the attendance at the Northwest 29 Quadrant open house. 30 31 Commissioner Hoska thanked everyone for the warm welcome and stated that he was 32 looking forward to working with them this year. 33 34 Henry mentioned that there is a meeting on Thursday, February 21, 2002 regarding the 35 sound problems on the cablecast. Henry indicated that there was a meeting scheduled for 36 this Thursday, February 21, 2002 to work on the problems. 37 38 XII. ADJOURNMENT. 39 Motion by Commissioner Steeves, second by Chair Melsha, to adjourn the meeting at 7:48 p.m. 40 41 Motion carried unanimously. 42 43 Respectfully submitted, 40 46 Courtney Seesz 47 Timesaver Off Site Secretarial, Inc.