Planning Commission Minutes 05-23-1978
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MONTICELLO PLANNING COMMISSION
Tuesday, May 23, 1978 - 7:30 P.M.
Members present:
Fran Fair, Dave Bauer, Jim Ridgeway, (ex-officio) Loren Klein
Members absent:
Denton Erickson, Fred Topel
1. & 2. Public Hearing - Consideration of Ordinance Amendment, and
Public Hearing - Conditional Use Permit - James Refrigeration Company.
Mr. Charles James has requested a conditional use permit to build a convenience
food store and a self-service gas station on the Southeast corner of Intersection
of Highway 25 and Oakwood Drive. This area is currently zoned B-3 (Highway
Business).
According to current ordinances, a convenience food store is a permitted use
in this area, but the regulations regarding motor fuel stations do not include
a double use such as motor fuel/convenience stores. It was recommended that
Ordinance Section 10-13-4 be amended to read as follows:
10-13-4 (C)
(C)
MOTOR FUEL STATIONS, MOTOR FUEL STATION CONVENIENCE
STORES, AUTO REPAIR - MINOR, TIRE AND BATTERY STORES,
AND SERVICE PROVIDED THAT . . .
A motion was made by Bauer, seconded by Fair and unanimously carried to
recommend that Ordinance Section 10-13-4 (C) be amended to include Motor
Fuel Station Convenience Stores as a conditional use in a B-3 zone.
Mr. James has submitted plans to the Building Inspector for review, and it
appears that all requirements will be met.
Hearing no other objections, a motion was made by Fair, seconded by Bauer and
unanimously carried to recommend a conditional use be granted to Mr. Charles
James for the Tom Thumb Superette and self-service gas station.
3.
Public Hearing - Conditional Use Permit - Leo Nelson.
Mr. Leo Nelson requested a conditional use permit to build a tri~plex apart-
ment on the Northeast corner of 4th and Wright Streets. This area is
currently zoned R-2 and would require a conditional use permit for this
type of building.
The lot area requirements are nearly double that of the ordinance requirements,
and hearing no objections, a motion was made by Bauer, seconded by Fair and
unanimously carried to approve the conditional use permit for a tri-plex for
Leo Nelson.
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4. Public Hearing - Variance Request - Ron Peters.
Mr. Ron Peters has applied for a variance to build a garage on the lot line
of his property at 503 West 6th Street. Mr. Peters indicated that he would
like to place the garage as far as possible to the east side of his property
to allow room for future expansion of a patio between the house and garage
at a later date.
Letters have been obtained by Mr. Peters from abutting neighbors indicating
they have no objection to his proposal.
Dick Dwinell, Planner for the City, indicated that the garage should be
placed far enough from the property line so that any water running off of
the roof would not intrude on the abutting property.
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A motion was made by Bauer, seconded by Fair and unanimously carried to
recommend that this variance be approved provided the : drip line of the
roof stays within the applicant's property line.
5. Public Hearing - Preliminary Plat - Commercial Plaza 25.
Mr. Samuel peraro has submitted preliminary plans for Commercial Plaza 25
consisting of five (5) lots located South of I-94 along Highway 25. The
preliminary plat has been reviewed by the City Ehgineer with recommendations
that a utility easement on the Northside of Lot 1 be obtained for future
development.
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The preliminary plat shows that access to the individual lots will be
accomplished by using the existing driveway approaches with a frontage road
being constructed between lots 1 and 4. Dick Dwinell, consulting planner,
recommended that the final plat indicate the easement for the frontage road.
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Motion was made by Bauer, seconded by Fair and unanimously carried to approve
the preliminary plat for Commercial Plaza 25 as presented contingent upon the
access road and frontage road easement be show on the final plat.
6. Zoning District Amendment - Public Hearing.
At the Public Hearing held by the City Council on the revised comprehensive
plan, an area of approximately 120 acres located between County Highway 75
and Interstate I-94 North of Prairie Road was recommended for rezoning from
R-l (Single Family Residential) to I-I (Light Industrial). Because of the
testimony received at the Public Hearing against such rezoning, the City
Council recommended that the Planning Commission further study this area
before any action would be taken. The Council asked that the Planning
Commission review the size of the area proposed for rezoning or the
possibility of reducing the area to a smaller scale.
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In reviewing this item, Dick Dwinell, consulting planner, felt that Light
Industrial would be more appropriate use for this area considering it was
next to the existing NSP Plant. Mr. Dwinell also felt that County Road 75
and the railroad tracks would provide an adequate buffer-zone between the
I-I zoning and the Residential zoning. In addition, he did not feel that
zoning half of the property to either commercial or multiple family residential
would be well suited for the area.
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5/23/78
The following testimony was presented in regards to the rezoning:
Jim Maus - a property owner in the area considered for rezoning, indicated
that he would be in favor of Industrial zoning for this area. He also
mentioned that there are two residential plats recently developed in the
area, and neither of the owners have indicated they would be opposed to
Industrial zoning.
Bud Schrupp - a Hillcrest resident indicated that he felt rezoning of this
property to 1-1 would be well suited for the area.
Based on the facts that the abutting property developments have not opposed
Industrial zoning in the area, and due to the natural buffer-zone now
existing with the railroad tracks and County Road 75 and because of the other
industrial uses now in the area, a motion was made by Fair, seconded by Bauer
and unanimously carried to recommend to the City Council that their original
recommendation of rezoning the entire 120 acres West of Prairie Road from
R-l to 1-1 would be appropriate. In addition, the concensus of the COmmittee
was that no matter how much of the area would be eliminated from 1-1 zoning,
there would always be an abutting property owner with Residential R-l
zoning and the Committee felt that the railroad tracks would provide a much
better buffer-zone than any other area.
7.
Rezoning Consideration - Public Hearing.
Lots 1 through 5, Block 37 and the entire Block 30. At a previous Plarming
COmmission meeting held April 11th, the concensus of the members was to hold
a hearing to further discuss rezoning of Lots 1 through 5, Block 37 and
the entire Block 30 from B-4 (Regional Business) R-B (Residential Business).
Several of the property owners that lived in the area of Block 30 indicated
that they would rather be rezoned to R-l or R-2 instead of Residential
Business.
Mr. Kirscht, owner of a home in Block 30, indicated that the area should
be rezoned to R-2 residential considering the fact that the entire block
is now residential homes with no business intrusion as of yet. He felt
that there are a considerable number of blocks in tow that are zoned for
regional business that have not been fully developed as of yet, and that
it would seem that a residential area would be more suited for this property.
Mr. McKinnon, another property owner in Block 30, indicated that he was never
aware that his property was ever zoned to business and had always assummed that
it was a residential zoning.
Richard Goranson, representing the United Methodist Church, spoke in favor
of rezoning to R-B. Although, he did not like to see intense retail develop-
ment take place in this block, he also would be against a strict R-l zoning
as the Church may possibly like to expand in the future and felt that R-B
would be a well suited compromise.
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Leo Stokes, property owner in Block 37, indicated that he had purchased his
home in 1956 primarily because of the B-4 COmmercial zoning and now uses
his home for commercial uses in his business for boat storage, and indicated
that he would like to see it remain B-4.
Ken Maus and Jim Maus both felt that the present zoning should remain and
that they had built their business in the area knowing that the zoning
was commercial and felt that the area may be used for future expansion for
businesses since River limits expansion to the North and the railroad tracks
limits expansion to the South.
Also, Marn Flicker, speaking for the Ibwntown Retailers, and Bud Schrupp,
a downtown businessman, both indicated they would favor the zoning remain
as is.
John Sandberg, also spoke in opposition of rezoning of this property to
anything but R-l, as he felt the area is now strictly used for residential
purposes and the wishes of the property-owners should prevail.
In order not to create any hardships on the residences that are there now,
the Planning Commission felt that a transitional type zoning from regional
business to residential business may be appropriate. As a result, Bauer
made a motion, seconded by Fair and unanimously carried to recommend that
Lots 1 through 5, Block 37 and the entire Block 30 be rezoned from B-4
(Regional Business) to R-B (Residential Business).
8. Building Permit Application - Wrightco Products.
Chairman Ridgeway indicated that since he would not be voting on this
issue and a quorum could not be met, this item was tabled until a future meeting.
9.
Consideration of Building Permit Application - River Terrace Trailer Park.
Ri ver Terrace'_ Trailer Park requested a building permit to continue construc-
tion of a seasonal gameroom and storage building addition.
COnstruction of this building was started sometime before the application
for permit was made. Since that time, a permit application was made and
prints submitted for approval. The building inspector has indicated that
all codes and ordinances appear to be met.
In light of the fact that construction was started knowingly without a permit,
the building inspector suggested that the permit fee be doubled as required
by the Building Code.
Motion was made by Fair, seconded by Bauer and unanimously carried to
recommend approval of the building permit to Rick Bouley of River Terrace
Trailer Park.
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10. COnsideration of Building Permit Application - Flicker's TV and Appliance.
Marn Flicker applied for a building permit to erect a new store building on
the North ~ of the old Fullerton Lumber Company property. This area is
currently zoned B-4 and would be a permitted use. The building inspector
has reviewed the preliminary plans and indicated that all codes and ordinances
would be met. Mr. Flicker also indicated that he would be providing all of
the required off-street parking on the property location except for two
spaces which would be picked up under the '74 Parking Assessment.
A previous conditional use permit had been granted to Mr. Flicker to
enable him to use the storage buildings on the property for rental to other
businesses. Mr. Flicker indicated that once the new building was built,
the accessory building would no longer be rented out but would be used
primarily for his own storage.
Motion was made by Fair, seconded by Bauer and unanimously carried to
recommend approval of the building permit application for Flicker's
TV and Appliance.
11.
Consideration of Policy Change Regarding Building Permit Application Review
by Planning Commission and City Council.
Presently, policy used in dealing with building permits requires any appli-
cation other than conforming single family dwellings to go to the
Planning COmmission and COuncil for approval. The building inspector
has indicated that at times, particularly during the busy period of
building, this may cause considerable del~s to developers. A project
submitted to the building inspector for approval may 'take as long as
six to eight weeks to begin construction depending upon when the Planning
COmmission and COuncil meet.
It was recommended by the building inspector that one of the committees
be eliminated in reviewing each commercial or industrial building permit
application.
The recommended policy change request would deal only with permits that
conform to all codes and city ordinances and any item that would require
rezoning, variances or other gray area situations would still be recommended
for Planning Commission approval before City COuncil action. Since the
Committee felt that the building inspector would be responsible for seeing
that all codes and ordinances are met, a motion was made by Bauer, seconded
by Fair and unanimously carried to recommend the Planning Commission review
of all building permits would not be necessary.
12.
Consideration of Sign Ordinance Provision for Directory Signs.
On past occasions, a directory sign at the entrance to the Oakwood Industrial
Park has been proposed. by both the Oakwood Industrial Park and current
businesses in the Park. The type of directory suggested would be one
that would give information as to the names of the organizations within
the Industrial Park, so that someone wanting to seek an industrial occupant
of that area would have an easier time of finding the business or organization.
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Because of the possibility of such a directory being similar to a billboard,
which are currently not allowed, the Planning Commission felt that a sign of
this type should not be considered at the present time.
Should the Oakwood Industrial Park corporation or property owners in the Park
specifically request at a future date a directory of this nature, the item
will then again be reviewed.
13. Consideration of Changing Lot Lines - D:>err Estates.
Mr. Henry Doerr requested to move a lot line in his subdivision to change
a lot size down from 110' to 96' in width and widen the abutting lot
from 80' to 94'. His intention was to make two lots, one which is now large
and one which is small, into approximately two equal size lots. This change
would not require any additional park dedication and is permissible under
our subdivision ordinances.
Motion was made by Bauer, seconded by Fair and unanimously carried to
approve the moving of the lot lines of these two lots provided this is
recorded with the registrar of deeds.
14.
Special Meeting.
A special meeting was set up for June 12, 1978 at 5:00 P.M. for the purpose
of reviewing a building permit application for the Overhead Garage D:>or
Company.
15. Minutes.
Motion was made by Fair, seconded by Bauer and unanimously carried to
approve the Minutes of April 18, 1978.
Motion was made by Fair, seconded by Bauer and unanimously carried to
. adjourn the meeting.
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