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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPL MINUTES 07191977Meeting Sheet 105662 Box: 35 Folder: PL MINUTES AND AGENDAS 1977 Document: PL MINUTES 07191977 CITY OF ST. ANTHONY PLANNING BOARD MINUTES July 19 , 1977 The meeting was called to order by Chairman Hiebel at 7 :53 P.M. when there was a quorum of members present. Present for roll call: Rymarchick, Hiebel, Marks and Johnson Absent: Cowan, Letourneau and Bowerman Also present: Jim Fornell, Acting City Manager Motion by Mr. Rymarchick and seconded by Mr. Marks to approve the minutes for the June 21, 1977 Planning Board meeting. Motion carried unanimously. Wil Johnson will represent the Board at the July 26, 1977 Council meeting. Dick Gay of Gay Realty and Harry Schroeder, project architect, appeared to present the site plans for the 17,280 square foot assembling and • warehousing building proposed to be erected for Cassidy Products, Inc. , and an undetermined tenant on Lots 6 and 7, Block 3, St. Anthony Office Park Addition. Since the proposed tenant would be a warehousing type use which does not typically require a great number of parking spaces and Cassidy's actual parking needs are estimated to be only 10, the 34 parking spaces provided in the plan seemed to be adequate. However, Staff felt the City should establish an occupancy review procedure whereby a change of tenant could be reviewed regarding operations and such requirements as parking, fire protection, water service, etc. Mr. Schroeder's contention that unrealistic parking quotas were set for warehousing and office businesses were supported by staff 's sugges- tion that parking space provisions in the zoning ordinance should be modified to provide additional categories of uses. Mr. Hiebel said he would like the matter put on the agenda for a meeting sometime soon when time can be taken for a thorough discussion of the occupancy re- view procedure and parking space categories. Motion by Mr. Johnson and seconded by Mr. Hiebel to 'recommend approval of the site plans for the Cassidy Products building as presented, sub- ject to Board approval of the final landscaping, lighting and signing plans with the right reserved to the Board to review the proposed tenant of the space not utilized by Cassidy. Motion carried unanimously. . Mr. Gay responded to Mr. Mark's comments on the unkept condition of the park entrance by promising better maintenance and saying formal land- scaping for that area had been deferred until after County Road C has �� been rebuilt. • At 8:10 P.M. , Mr. Hiebel opened the Public Hearing to consider re- zoning Lot 19 , Block 12, Mounds View Acres Second Addition, from L. I. (Light Industrial) to R-4 (Multiple Dwelling Residential) so that Randy Mikkelson, 3917 Foss Road, the potential buyer, might remodel the existing two-family structure to accomodate three families. Mr. Mik- kelson who will use the new basement apartment himself, was the only person present to speak for or against the proposal. There was no one who should have been notified of the hearing who reported not receiving such notification. The applicant stated that he was interested in rezoning the property only if a "variance" was granted to the City's requirement for garage space for each unit and only if he did not have to remove the existing barn behind the duplex. He felt "the City is legally required to act on his request as presented in the application" . Mr. Mikkelson said he may not want to purchase the property from Jeffrey Olson if he has to provide the enclosed parking facilities expressly required for new construction in the R-4 zoning district and in reality would prefer to leave it zoned Light Industrial. He said adding garages for a temporary project would not be economically feasible since the existing structures will eventually be razed and an apartment building with self contained garages probably built there instead. Putting a garage on the property now would only create a hodge podge of buildings of differing architectural styling. The proponent also said he needed the existing barn for storage space and might even • convert the lower section to laundry facilities with a slight possibility of the upper portion being made into a summer porch. He will make all changes suggested by the Fire Marshal as well. The Board felt they were required to respond to the purpose for which the Public Hearing was called which was for rezoning with no mention of the variance, if necessary, for parking spaces. They were especially reluctant to act on the possible variance since it was not clear whether such a variance was legally necessary for the existing noncon- forming usage. There was some question of whether such non-conformance might have been grandfathered in when the property was rezoned in 1964 . Mr. Mikkelson was advised that the City Attorney could probably clarify these questions during the Council consideration of the request. Motion by Mr. Rymarchick and seconded by Mr. Marks to recommend to the Council approval of the rezoning from Light Industrial to R-4 of Lot 19, Block 12, Mounds View Acres Second Addition. Motion carried unanimously. Motion by Mr. Rymarchick and seconded by Mr. Marks to recommend the City Council refer to the City Attorney the question of whether variances are required under the R-4 zoning requirements to allow the proposed remodeling of the existing structure at 3821 Foss Road. • Motion carried unanimously. (2) At 8: 56 P.M. , Chairman Hiebel opened the Public Hearing to consider a • proposal to rezone the Salvation Army Camp at 2950 West County Road E from R-1 (Single Family Residential) to ROS (Recreational/Open Space) . Mr. Fornell told the Board the rezoning had been instigated by the City Council and the variance to the ROS, for which another Public Hearing had been scheduled that evening, had been requested by the owners of the camp. No one present reported no receiving notification of the hearings. Jim Brown, manager of the camp, presented the rezoning proposal. Also present, but not speaking were the contractor for the project, Clifford Kommendahl, and three residents on Silver Lake. Mr. Rymarchick and Mr. Hiebel said they felt the ROS rezoning was only a vehicle for allowing the Salvation Army to build a gymnasium. The former said he was concerned when he viewed all the buildings which have been constructed in the camp to date that a possible change in ownership might open the way to other uses which are permitted under a ROS. He wanted some assurance that the open spaces would be maintained and that the present usage wouldn't change so that the natural beauty of the area would be preserved for the use of the community. Mr. Hiebel said he was concerned that the City now has almost no public access to Silver Lake which is located almost completely within the • City boundaries. Both wanted to see the comprehensive plan for the Salvation Army's in- tentions towards the camp and wanted some guarantee that other less desirable uses might not develop there later. Mr. Marks and Johnson said they felt the ROS zoning of this land was the best assurance the City could have that the usage would continue and the best protection against the land being later developed for heavy residential usage. Mr. Johnson felt the camp as it is proposed to be expanded will be only an asset to the City and Mr. Marks felt it would aid in keeping St. Anthony as a desirable residential community. Mr. Johnson indicated complete approval for the project even though he conceded the other side of the coin was the fact that with a resi- dential development of that large area, especially multiple dwellings, the City' s tax base would be broadened as compared to the tax exempt status of the property when owned by the Salvation Army, a point also made in Mr. Fornell 's memorandum of July 15th. The Acting Manger responded to the request for assurance that the City will continue to have access to the camp by citing the contract the City signed with the Salvation Army when the nature walks were built cooperatively and said the Council had reviewed the "Master Plan" for the area at that time. Motion by Mr. Marks and seconded by Mr. Johnson to recommend approval to the City Council of the proposal to rezone the Salvation Army Camp (3) from R-1 to Recreational/Open Space. • Voting on the motion: Aye: Marks and Johnson Nay: Rymarchick and Hiebel Motion not carried. Motion by Mr. Johnson and seconded by Mr. Rymarchick to table action on the variance which will permit the fieldhouse proposed to be built by the Salvation Army 100 feet from the lakefront until the rezoning of the Salvation Army campgrounds is resolved. Voting on the motion: Aye: Johnson, Rymarchick and Hiebel. Nay: Marks Motion carried. ,;Bernard Blanske presented site plans for the addition he proposes- to build to the St. Anthony Millworks at 3901 Foss Road. He discussed the parking, exterior lighting and landscaping aspects of the proposal and • agreed with Mr. Johnson that all lighting should be of low density. Dennis Engle of the Mirror Lake Condominium Owners Association joined in the discussion of height of the building and landscaping plans, and expressed concern about the addition blocking the view from some of the condominiums and also favored security lighting. Motion by Mr. Rymarchick and seconded by Mr. Marks to recommend approval to the Council of a building permit for the proposed addition to the St. Anthony Millworks building at 3901 Foss Road as presented and sub- ject to compliance with all building codes and City ordinances. Motion carried unanimously. �No -on appeared to discuss the proposed submission requirements of the Residential Component of the Detailed Plan which had been submitted for the Hedlund P.U.D. and the Board agreed to review the documents and provide the staff with their appraisals within 10 days so a Public Hearing can be scheduled for the Board' s next meeting August 16th, if all submission requirements are met by the applicant. Mark Tritschler, Project Engineer for Rauenhorst Corporation, 7900 Xerxes Avenue South, discussed plans for the Local No. 49 union hall his company proposes to construct on Lot 2, Block 1, St. Anthony Office Park Addition. He was seeking concept approval of this proposal to • develop the 2 acre site which is just west of Werner Continental. The plans called for a two level building with the top level being built (4) . into the upward slope of the grade at that location. The structure will house offices for business managers and a staff of about 12 regular employees. There will be an assembly room which will accomodate 500 persons in the lower level. Mr. Tritschler said that, though the local has 13,000 members throughout a 3 or 4 state area, only approxi- mately one hundred could be expected to attend the monthly evening meetings which start at 7 : 30 P.M. Even a larger attendance would pro- bably no.t pose a parking problem since the office park is normally al- most empty at that time. Recommendation was made to Mr. Tritschler that arrangements might be made with other businesses in the park for a grade off of parking spaces should the number of parking spaces pro- posed for the project prove to be insufficient for an extraordinarily large attendance of union members. Mr. Rymarchick wanted the contractor to make sure his client understood that the Police Department would in all probability tag anyone who parked on the street. Consideration was given to providing more greenery for the proposal in place of parking spaces since the parking lot would probably be almost empty most of the time. Mr. Fornell also reiterated his suggestion that the building be moved approximately 20 feet to the south because Ramsey County intends to acquire addition right-of-way to the immediate north of the proposed building. The Board indicated a basic agreement of approval of the concept as presented. The meeting was recessed 10: 05 P.M. , and resumed at 10 : 10 P.M. to consider difficulties two property owners have experienced in • becoming owners of record for property which connot be conveyed by metes ,,,and bounds under City ordinances. Mr. Fornell discussed his memorandum of July 15th wherein-he=pointed -_out the problems which had arisen when the property on 39th Avenue N.E. owned by Apache . Corporation was purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Ed Buetz for a car wash and approved by the City. The options he listed were dis- cussed with Mr. and Mrs. Buetz and C.W. Bartlett of the Speciality Equipment Company, Inc. , manufacturer of the car wash equipment. Re- platting will slow up the construction timetable and the new owners felt they should not forego the expense of bonding to guarantee re- platting since they felt that should have been taken care of by the seller. No one was present to discuss the conveyance problems of Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Lofgren who had purchased the 11 foot strip of land and wished to be able to record title to it. The Board indicated they would have no objections to having the City conveyance ordinance changed to accomodate clearly worded conveyances, if it were legally feasible to do so. Motion by Councilman Rymarchick and seconded by Mr. Hiebel to recommend that the City Council seek the advice of the City Attorney regarding the legal aspects of allowing clearly defined metes and bounds descrip- tions to be utilized (or recognized) for conveyance purposes. Motion carried unanimously. • (5) J Mr. Fornell ' s July 19th memorandum regarding a variance request from Hardy Morningstar which will allow him to construct an enclosed swimming pool building on his property at 3031 Croft Drive was discussed but the Board was reluctant to act on the request without more specific information since they could see no real justification for placing the proposed building where it would require a variance. Mr. Fornell will convey to Mr. Morningstar their suggestion that he replan the project to meet City regulations. There was also some question in the Board members ' minds of whether the request fell under the Zoning Ordinance or the Pool Ordinance or both. Motion by Mr. Marks and seconded by Mr. Rymarchick to adjourn the meeting at 10 :46 P.M. Motion carried unanimously. Helen Crowe Secretary • (6)