HomeMy WebLinkAboutPL MINUTES 07162002 Meeting Sheet
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Folder: PL MINUTES AND AGENDAS 2002
Document: PL MINUTES 07162002
Planning Commission Meeting Minutes
• July 16, 2002
Page 1
1 CITY OF ST. ANTHONY
2
3 PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING
4
5 JULY 16, 2002
6 7:00 p.m.
7
8 I. CALL TO ORDER.
9 Chair Melsha called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
10
11 II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE.
12 Chair Melsha invited the Council and the audience to join in the Pledge of Allegiance.
13
14 III. ROLL CALL.
15 Commissioners present: Chair Melsha; Vice Chair Stille, Commissioners Hanson, Hoska,
16 Steeves, Tillman, and Thomas.
17
18 Absent: None.
19
0 Also present: Assistant City Manager Susan Hall.
22 IV. APPROVAL OF AGENDA.
23 Motion by Commissioner Thomas, second by Commissioner Hoska, to approve the meeting
24 agenda.
25
26 Motion carried unanimously,
27
28 V. PUBLIC INPUT.
29 Hearing no comments, Chair Melsha moved forward with the agenda.
30
31 VI. MEETING MINUTES.
32 6.1 Review/Approval of the Planning Commission meeting minutes of June 18, 2002.
33 Commissioner Thomas requested the following changes:
34 Page 3, line 23: "north" and "left" to be changed to "south" and "right".
35 Page 4, line 24 to be added: "Commissioner Thomas asked about the developer receiving
36 a $314,000 subsidy from the city, and why he could not comply with the
37 recommendation from DSU."
38 Vice Chair Stille requested the following change to Page 6, line 17: "Commissioner
39 Stille" to be changed to "Commissioner Steeves."
40
Motion by Chair Melsha, second by Commissioner Hanson, to approve the Planning
46 Commission meeting minutes of June 18, 2002, as amended above.
43
44 Motion carried unanimously.
Planning Commission Meeting Minutes
July 16, 2002
•
Page 2
1
2 VII. COMMUNICATION WITH CITY COUNCIL.
3 7.1 Designate a Planning Commission member to the City Council regular meetingof July
4 23, 2002.
5 Chair Melsha indicated that he and Commissioner Hoska would determine who, between
6 them, was available to attend the next City Council meeting on July 23, 2002.
7
8 VIII. PUBLIC HEARINGS.
9 8.1 Drs. Hellickson, Larson, Portis and Associates: Signage variance to allow fora around
10 sign consisting of 60 square feet for two copy surfaces, for a total of 120 square feet,
11 exceeding City Ordinance by 40 square feet.
12 Chair Melsha opened the public hearing at 7:07 p.m.
13
14 Susan Hall stated that the petitioner Drs. Hellickson,Larson, Portis and Associates,
15 located at 3909 Silver Lake Road, is requesting a sign variance to allow for two copy
16 services, for a total of 120 square feet.
17
18 She added that the petitioner's current sign at 80 square feet is not meeting the business
19 needs, which is why they were requesting the larger sign of 120 square feet.
0 According to City Ordinance, buildings with two or more businesses/tenants are allowed
22 80 square feet of copy surface area. Hall indicated that the petitioner states in the request
23 there will be no change in landscaping and no change in the location of the enlarged sign.
30 Dr. Karen Portis came forward to further explain the need for the request. She stated that
31 the current sign has only two of the three tenants listed.
32
33 She added that the letter size of the current sign is also very small, and they.would like to
34 see it enlarged for greater visibility from the street.
35
36 Chair Melsha asked if the doctors have thought about not listing their individual names,
37 but the name of the clinic instead. Portis indicated that they would take that route, if
38 necessary. She added that one of the problems in doing so is that the dentist group is sub-
39 leasing space in their office to two other doctors, who would like their names displayed.
40
41 Chair Melsha asked if turning the sign from a vertical position to a horizontal position
42 would meet their needs. Portis stated that she thought that horizontal positioning of the
43 sign would be better, but that they would still be forced to take off all of the names.
44
Planning Commission Meeting Minutes
July 16, 2002
• Page 3
1 Chair Melsha asked about a comment made by one of the doctors that their sign needed to
2 compete with the other signs along the Silver Lake Road corridor. Portis stated that she
3 was unable to personally respond to the comment.
4
5 Commissioner Thomas stated that he thought that Chair Melsha made a good point that
6 re-configuring the current sign would be beneficial. Portis stated that they could that, if
7 the variance was not granted.
8
9 Chair Melsha stated that his personal feeling was that there was not a true hardship to
10 warrant approval of the sign variance request.
11
12 Resident Martin Lunde, 3425 33`d Avenue Northeast, came forward and asked what
13 precedence was for other professional signs in St. Anthony. Chair Melsha stated that he
14 could not think of any other businesses in a building of this size in St. Anthony that listed
15 the individual names.
16
17 Chair Melsha closed the public hearing at 7:17 p.m.
18
19 Vice Chair Stille stated that his feeling was that he would be looking for an address when
20 going to his doctor, rather than the names of doctors on a sign, and stated that he could
0 not find hardship in the request.
23 Commissioner Hoska stated that he agreed with Vice Chair Stille, and would be looking
24 for an address, not names, on a sign.
25
26 Portis came forward to propose a different sort of sign to represent the different offices
27 within the building. Chair Melsha stated that they would need to work with staff on the
28 issue.
29
30 Commissioner Hanson urged them to go with a new horizontal sign, rather than a vertical
31 one.
32
33 Motion by Commissioner Thomas, second by Commissioner Hoska, to deny the sign
34 variance request by Drs. Hellickson, Larson, Portis and Associates for a sign variance.
35
36 Motion carried unanimously.
37
38 IX. INFORMATION AND DISCUSSION.
39 9.1 Discuss amendment to city ordinance relating to the definition of"garage" and "accessory
40 building" and to regulate the size of garages in residential districts.
41 Chair Melsha invited resident Stan Nelson to come forward and address the Commission.
42
It Nelson, 3504 Maplewood Drive, came forward and invited every commissioner to visit
his home and see the view of the house at 3501 Downers from the back. Vice Chair Stille
45 has already been to Nelson's home to see his view.
46
Planning Commission Meeting Minutes
July 16, 2002
• Page 4
1 Nelson stated that he has taken the proposed change in the city ordinance that is
2 recommended, and added his recommended changes to the changes already proposed for
3 select sections of the city ordinance.
4
5 Nelson's recommendation included the deletion of the last line of Section 1605,
6 subdivision 31. He added 2 options to subdivision 31:
7 • Floor Area Determination, Option 1: The garage is included as floor area in the
8 comparison calculation to determine compliance with the maximum floor area
9 allowed.
10 • Floor Area Determination, Option 2: An attached garage need not be included in
11 the area calculation to determine compliance with the maximum floor area
12 allowed, providing that the garage height does not exceed xx feet when measured
13 from the garage floor to its roof peak.
14
15 Nelson stated that he believes that his additions/modifications to the currently proposed
16 ordinance change provide a needed degree of protection so that new homes or remodeled
17 homes cannot be built that turn out to be visual eyesores.
18
19 Nelson added that he was not making direct reference to the house at 3501 Downers as,
20 structurally, it does meet the building codes.
0 Nelson stated that his ultimate goal was to soften the profile that is seen from the rear.
23
24 Resident Lunde asked if, in determining floor area for the lot, is it total floor area in the
25 house, or ground floor projected area. Chair Melsha stated that it does not count the
26 basement, but it does count all of the other floors.
27
28 Lunde asked how they deal with tuck-under garages. He added that he thought that it is
29 the architectural design in blocking and massing is what makes the difference in
30 designing a house.
31
32 Lunde suggested that they keep aesthetics in mind when they make this amendment.
33
34 Vice Chair Stille stated that a Design Review Board might be a viable option to help with
35 this problem. He added that he spoke with a builder who stated that most communities
36 are maintaining a 1000 square foot maximum on garages.
37
38 Vice Chair Stille asked if staff has looked into other communities and how the issue is
39 handled. Hall indicated that they have not looked into other cities, but that it was an
40 option.
41
2 Commissioner Thomas came forward with photographs of a several different homes. He
stated that he does a lot of research regarding preserving neighborhoods versus building
4 monster homes.
45
Planning Commission Meeting Minutes
July 16, 2002
• Page 5
1 Commissioner Thomas suggested that a neighborhood meeting take place for the purpose
2 of discussing how a new house will fit into an existing neighborhood be part of the
3 application process.
4
5 Commissioner Thomas stated that certain design features need to be set. He added that
6 they need to maintain the lot size ratio, and examine the option of a greater floor area
7 ratio (FAR).
8
9 Commissioner Thomas recommended that the city get a student from the Department of
10 Housing to do a housing and neighborhood analysis this fall. The study should examine
11 the age, size, physical condition, neighborhood characteristics, demographics,etc.
12
13 Commissioner Steeves stated that he would like to see what some other communities are
14 doing with regard to FAR and their code, versus hiring an architect to draw some
15 examples. He added that some of Commissioner Thomas' other comments were
16 valuable.
17
18 Chair Melsha stated that he agreed with the City Attorney that an attached garage, or a
19 detached garage should be treated the same.
20
The Commission questioned what they should pass along to Council. It was determined
that they would recommend postponement of the second reading of the amendment.
23
24 Lunde asked what the function of FAR was. Chair Melsha stated that it was the ratio of
25 the amount of floor space versus the lot size.
26
27 Lunde stated that a lot of communities have an architectural review board where people
28 volunteer their time for a couple of years. He added that he liked the idea of talking to the
29 neighbors.
30
31 Chair Melsha stated that it would be a good idea to have staff pull together some
32 information for City Council, perhaps comprise a sub-committee to come up with a
33 recommendation.
34
35 It was determined that they would provide the Council with a summation of what some
36 other cities are doing regarding FAR and Design Review Boards.
37
38 Vice Chair Stille and the rest of the Commission thanked Nelson for his work presented
39 this evening.
40
41 9.2 Northwest Quadrant Redevelopment Update.
2 Susan Hall stated that the City Council submitted a Metropolitan Council Livable
Communities Grant this past Monday.
4
Planning Commission Meeting Minutes
July 16, 2002
• Page 6
1 Hall indicated that the development team and the city meet every two weeks. They are
2 currently working out feasibility issues, and other issues related to property acquisition,
3 funding, etc.
4
5 Hall stated that if residents are interested in housing, they should contact the developer,
6 Pratt-Ordway at (651)631-8059.
7
8 X. ANNOUNCEMENTS.
9 Commissioner Hanson stated that some beautification was happening at the shopping center this
10 evening. He added that the shop owners were going to meet next Tuesday and see what is
11 possible for green space down at the shopping center.
12
13 Commissioner Thomas stated that he felt it was a very productive meeting.
14
15 XI. ADJOURNMENT.
16 Motion by Commissioner Steeves, second by Commissioner Hoska, to adjourn the meeting at
17 8:12 p.m.
18
19 Motion carried unanimousiv.
20
0
23 Respectfully submitted,
24
25
26 Courtney Seesz
27 Timesaver Off Site Secretarial, Inc.
28
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