2010.07.22 PC Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

Planning Commission Minutes — July 22, 2010 Page 3 stick to guidelines or not have them. He pointed out a project in Victor Gardens that didn't follow the design criteria and was still approved by council. He also thinks that the reason that big box stores were discouraged wasn't only because of size but because of the volume of people and activity. Arcand questioned why Hugo wouldn't want them. McRoberts stated that it is because some of the people wanted to preserve the rural, small town feel. Arcand asked if maybe that is changing in Hugo. Rosenquist and Gwynn both agreed that it has indeed changed. Schumann thought that the big box stores would stick out by the Interstate and not no close to Hugo. Bryan stated that the duty of the Planning Commission is to find the right balance for guidelines and how far should we go. He added that when guidelines are not met and approved that may lower the bar for future design standards. Arcand stated that he wanted to see more than just prohibiting steel buildings for design guidelines. Rosenquist asked staff to give the Planning commission some samples of building design and give some options to the Commission. Schumann stated that themed guidelines, such as Victor Gardens, are different than design guidelines. Rosenquist doesn't think we should have themed design. McRoberts likes the example idea from staff to start with. Arcand asked if other cities have guidelines we could use as a starting point. Rachel answered that there are cities that have guidelines but there is a lot of variation between them. Rosenquist thought it might be appropriate to have different guidelines for different zoning districts. Bryan pointed out that a big building may not exactly mean big box. It can be a same size as a big box with multiple tenants. McRoberts said that it wasn't necessarily the size of the building it is the nature of it. He is more