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MINUTES <br /> <br />City Council & Planning Commission <br />Joint Workshop <br />City Hall Conference Room <br />Thursday, September 19, 2024 <br />6 p.m <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />Mayor Weidt called the meeting to order at 6:00 PM <br /> <br />COUNCIL PRESENT: Weidt, Miron, Klein, Strub, Petryk <br />PLANNING COMMISSION PRESENT: Petty, Arcand, Lessard, Andress, Kleissler, Derr, <br />Granger <br />ABSENT: Kelly <br />STAFF PRESENT: Community Development Director Rachel Juba, Associate Planner Max <br />Gort, Consulting City Planner Kendra Lindahl, Community Development Intern Phoebe Brown <br /> <br />Solar Farm Discussion <br /> <br />Associate Planner Max Gort presented background information on solar farms in Hugo, <br />including the history of the City’s ordinance, feedback toward Hugo’s first solar farm and other <br />proposed projects, and an overview of ordinance revisions, a tabled text amendment prohibiting <br />solar farms and the 2024 moratorium. Gort explained the Metropolitan Council’s position on <br />solar farms, which seeks to protect solar access but discourage solar installation on “prime <br />farmland.” Gort explained that staff believe the current ordinance keeps visual and other impacts <br />low, but community members are concerned about the impact to the character of the area <br />regardless. Gort presented a few options to the Council and Commission, including leaving the <br />ordinance as-is, sending the ordinance to the Ordinance Review Committee to discuss more <br />revisions, and bringing the tabled amendment prohibiting solar farms to the City Council. <br /> <br />The Council and Commission discussed possible changes to the ordinance. They discussed <br />increasing to a 20-acre minimum requirement, and whether restrictions could be put in place to <br />discourage solar installation close to neighboring houses or on prime farmland. The Council and <br />Commission directed staff to send the ordinance back to the Ordinance Review Committee to <br />consider a 20-acre requirement and other changes that might help maintain neighborhood <br />character. <br /> <br />Residential Zoning Standards Discussion <br /> <br />Consulting City Planner Kendra Lindahl presented on residential zoning standards, including a <br />discussion of housing types, district uses, and multi-family design guidelines. Lindahl addressed <br />the need to update the code for usability, eliminate uses without definitions, decrease reliance on <br />PUDs, and update design guidelines. Lindahl discussed considering creating a new district with <br />smaller lot sizes and raising the building height maximum from 35 to 45 feet. The Council and <br />Commission discussed how the building height maximum impacts multi-family design, where <br />apartments and mixed-use should be allowed, and how smaller lot sizes may or may not impact <br />affordability. Lindahl explained that the next step in this discussion is a meeting with developers <br />on October 29th. <br /> <br />Respectfully Submitted, <br /> <br /> <br />Phoebe Brown <br />Community Development Intern