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Planning Commission Minutes 03-07-1995 . . . MINUTES REGULAR MEETING. MONTICELLO PLANNING COMMISSION Tuesday, March 7, 1995 Members Present: Dick Frie, Rod Dragsten, Jon Bogart, Richard Martie, Richard Carlson Staff Present: Jeff O'Neill, Gary Anderson, Wanda Kraemer, Steve Grittman, City Planner 1. At 7:00 p.m. the meeting was called to order by Chairman Dick Frie. a. Dick Frie suggested the Commission select a vice chairman in case the chairman is absent. Everyone agreed. JON BOGART MADE A MOTION TO NOMINATE DICK MARTIE FOR VICE CHAIRMAN. SECONDED BY ROD DRAGSTEN. Motion passed unanimously. b. Dick Frie also informed the Commission that he would like the date of the April meeting changed to April 18th because of a conflict. It was discussed by the members and agreed that the April meeting could be changed. Jeff O'Neill, Assistant Administrator, did state that it is important to keep to the scheduled meetings, if possible, because of the information prepared for applicants that states the Planning Commission meetings are the first Tuesday of each month. DICK FRIE MADE A MOTION TO CHANGE THE APRIL MEETING TO THE 18TH OF APRIL. SECONDED BY JON BOGART. Motion passed unanimously. c. Dick Frie added the following two items to the agenda: 1. Discuss scheduling quarterly meetings with all commissions. 2. Discuss the misuse of conditional use permits. d. Jeff O'Neill, Assistant Administrator, stated that Planning Commission was invited to attend the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) meeting that was scheduled for March 16th. This meeting will be a workshop for the City Council, HRA, and Planning Commission to develop a better understanding of TIF. Pagel . e. Planning Commission Minutes - 3/07/95 J eff O'Neill, Assistant Administrator, also informed the Commission that Orin Thompson is interested in developing in Monticello and would like to take the Planning Commission on a tour of one of their developments. 2. Consideration of aDDrovine: minutes of the ree:ular meetine: held February 7. 1995. RICHARD CARLSON MADE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE FEBRUARY 7TH MINUTES. SECONDED BY DICK MARTIE. Motion passed unanimously. 3. Discuss "Off-Site outside storae:e in 1-1 and 1-2 zones. . . At the previous meeting, the commission tabled action providing specific direction to Jay Morrell with regard to designing an ordinance amendment that would allow off-site outside storage in an industrial zone. Jeff O'Neill, Assistant Administrator, explained the different approaches for the commission to review. 1. Adopt an ordinance that allows outside storage to occur as a conditional use in an 1-2 zone (currently it is allowed only as an accessory use). 2. Adopt an ordinance amendment that allows outside storage as an accessory use on a parcel other than the parcel on which the principal use is occurring. 3. Adopt an ordinance that allows outside storage as an interim use. 4. Other alternatives the Commission may decide upon. 5. The Planning Commission may decide that the ordinance is fine the way it is an reject the notion of providing any guidance to Morrell to assist him in designing an amendment to the code. Under this alternative, Morrell would prepare a zoning ordinance amendment for review at the next meeting of the Planning Commission. The Planning Commission would review and make recommendations to Council for review at the first meeting of the City Council in March. Enforcement action would be initiated at such time that the Council acts to deny the ordinance amendment necessary to legally support Page 2 . Planning Commission Minutes - 3/07/95 Morrell's use of the land. Enforcement action has been delayed based on the advice of the City Attorney. It is his view that the City should first determine whether or not to change the ordinance to allow the use before taking legal action. He has noted that the culmination of the legal action will occur after the decision on the zoning ordinance amendment is made; therefore, it would be premature to take legal steps at this time. Steve Grittman, City Planner, explained that it is possible to change the ordinance in just one district. The Commission could allow interim use in the industrial areas only. The city ordinance does not handle this as parking because trailers are storage - they cannot be driven away. Jay Morrell, owner of M & P Transport, stated he did not know if storage of trailers would be storage or parking. Morrell thought a conditional use permit with stipulations such as screening, would be acceptable. The problem with an interim permit would be the time limit. The time the storage will be needed is not known because the economy will dictate the expansion of the business. . The commission discussed the advantages and disadvantages of using conditional use permits verses interim permits. The interim permits could work well because a time limit could be used to end the use. This type of permit has been legal for four years and are typically used for non- conforming uses. There was some concern that the permit would be hard to revoke. With the conditional use permits, conditions can be attached but these conditions would need to be enforced by the city. If violated the ordinance states that violations of conditional use permits are treated as misdemeanors and would need to be handled by the sheriffs office. RICHARD CARLSON MADE A MOTION TO DIRECT STAFF TO ASSIST JAY MORRELL IN PREPARING HIS APPLICATION FOR AN AMENDMENT THAT WOULD ALLOW OFF SITE STORAGE IN AN 1-2 ZONE. SECONDED BY DICK MARTIE. Motion passed unanimously. 4. UDdate on Council action on ordinance ree:ulatine: steel and Dole buildine:s in commercial and business camous zones. Jeff O'Neill, Assistant Administrator, reported that the Planning Commission is asked not to take any formal action on this matter pending additional input from business owners that attended the previous Council . Page 3 . . . Planning Commission Minutes - 3/07/95 meeting on February 27. The following is provided as an update in anticipation of the item being placed on the agenda for formal consideration at the regular Planning Commission meeting in April. At the Council meeting on February 27, 1995, the City Council reviewed the Planning Commission recommendation which called for prohibiting pole and steel buildings in commercial districts and prohibiting pole buildings in business campus district. Council acted to refer the matter back to the Planning Commission for further review. At the meeting, a number of business owners were in attendance voicing concerns related to the costs associated with construction and associated higher taxation resulting from conventional construction. The city will be putting together different alternatives for another public hearing. The business owners that attended the council meeting will be notified of the next public hearing. No action was taken on pole buildings at this meeting. 5. Discuss ootions for maintainin2' aooearance of boulevards alonl!' doubleM frontinl!' lot. At the previous meeting, the Planning Commission reviewed the proposed ordinance amendment that would regulated placement of accessory structures in rear yards. In response to the draft ordinance, the Planning Commission indicated that this measure would not likely solve the problem. It was suggested that perhaps additional landscaping or berming could be employed to create a visible separation between the boulevard and the back yard areas. Under this alternative, the developer of the private lots would be required to build a low berm and plant at least two trees along the rear yard lot line on each private lot. This planting would be in addition to the two trees that are already required by ordinance in the front yard area. The City could match the tree planting done by the developer by planting at least two trees along the boulevard as part of the construction project. The cost of the trees could be incorporated into the public improvements costs which are paid by the developer as well. For existing boulevards, the City could establish plants along such boulevards as a priority area for tree planting. The Planning Commission discussed the options and had questions on how Page 4 . . . Planning Commission Minutes . 3/07/95 the double fronting lots had become a problem. The Commission could not remember double fronting lots as a problem in the past because cul.de.sacs were built instead. JON BOGART MADE A MOTION TO REVIEW THE SUBDIVISION DESIGN STANDARDS IN CONJUNCTION WITH UPDATING THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN. THE REVIEW SHOULD EXAMINE THE POTENTIAL OF ENCOURAGING CUL.DE.SAC DESIGN OVER DOUBLE FRONTING LOT DESIGN. THE MOTION ALSO INCLUDED THE RECOMMENDATION TO CREATE AN ORDINANCE AMENDMENT REQUIRING ADDITIONAL TREE PLANTING ON DOUBLE FRONTING LOTS AND COLLECTOR ROADS BE ADDED TO THE SUBDIVISION REQUIREMENTS. SECONDED BY RICHARD CARLSON. Motion passed unanimously. 6. Consideration of a reauest to allow off-site Darkinll in a business zone. Jeff O'Neill reported that no action is requested at this time. The following is a brief update on an item that the Planning Commission may be formally addressing at an upcoming meeting. The problem is according to preliminary review of the ordinance, it is not possible to develop a parking lot at a location apart from the business that it serves. To do so would be to allow parking lot as a principal use of a parcel. The ordinance is designed to assure practical use of the parking lot by the business that is expanding, and it assures the City that the two uses (business and parking) remain connected. In other works, if the parking lot and business are located on the same parcel, it is not possible to sell off the parking area once the building has been constructed. An exception to this rule is the case of a joint parking arrangement between two businesses that operate at different/opposing hours. An example of this situation is the arrangement between the Muller Theater and Marquette Bank. In this situation, the Muller Theater parking is provided by joint agreement by the bank. This situation was allowed as a conditional use permit process. DICK MARTIE MADE A MOTION TO DIRECT STAFF TO REVIEW OFF SITE PARKING IN THE B.3 AND B-4 ZONES. SECONDED BY ROD DRAGSTEN. Motion passed unanimously. 7. RaDon from commissioners on recent trainin2'. Page 5 . . . Planning Commission Minutes - 3/07/95 Rod Dragsten and Dick Frie attended the annual planning institutes seminar on the basics of planning and zoning. Both commissioners thought it was worth the time and would use the information that was presented. 8. ComDrehensive Plan uDdate. Steve Grittman gave an update on the interviews that were done for the comprehensive plan. A wide variety of people were interviewed but this is only the beginning stages. The next report will give a draft of the issues and the goals the city will be looking at. 9. Assistant Administrator reDon on various Droiects. Jeff O'Neill was going to do an update on all the projects currently in process, but because of the time this was delayed until the next meeting. 10. Parks Commission activity uooate. The Meadow Oak Park will be built this summer. This five acre park, located directly south of the 1.94 railroad overpass, will include two youth baseball fields and a soccer/football field. The Parks Commission is requesting City Council to complete a detailed facilities study in conjunction with the comprehensive plan update. Dick Frie decided to wait until the next meeting for the items he requested to discuss at this meeting. 11. DICK MARTIE MADE A MOTION TO ADJOURN THE MEETING AT 9:45. SECONDED BY JON BOGART. Motion passed unanimously. Respectfully submitted, ()) O;rwk, j(MffifJ1bl Wanda Kraemer Development Services Technician Page 6