Loading...
City Council Minutes 12-18-2013 Joint PCMINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING — MONTICELLO CITY COUNCIL AND MONTICELLO PLANNING COMMISSION Wednesday, December 18, 2013 — 5:00 p.m. North Mississippi Room, Monticello Community Center Present -CC: Clint Herbst, Lloyd Hilgart, Torn Perrault, Glen Posusta, Brian Stumpf Present -PC: Bill Spartz, Brad Fyle, Charlotte Gabler, Grant Sala Absent: Sam Burvee (Planning Commission) Others: Angela Schumann, Eric Miller (SRBC Building Company), Steve Grittman (NAC) 1. Call to Order Mayor Clint Herbst called the Joint Special Meeting to order at 5 p.m. 2. Purpose of Meeting: Joint review of application for Collaborative Planned Unit Development (PUD) at 503 Maple Street; Applicant: SRCS Building Company (Swan River) Angela Schumann introduced the discussion for a review of the application for Collaborative PUD at 503 Maple Street for Swan River School, explaining that this is part of the process under the new zoning code for a PUD application. The discussion should establish the goals of the project. Angela Schumann turned it over to Steve Grittman for leading the discussion. Steve Grittman talked about the background information that was provided to Council and Planning Commission members in the agenda report. He explained that the purpose of collaborative PUD is to come up with baselines for the project and whether the public values are met for this project. Glen Posusta asked if Swan River is planning to build on the entire lot. Steve Grittman confirmed that is the plan. Angela Schumann noted that the PUD would encompass the existing school building and the new construction and how those two facilities would work together. Eric Miller from SRBC Building Company spoke to the group. He talked briefly about the Swan River history and how the original project was implemented. He indicated the financing features that are part of their school system including commitments to the city for use of the community center. Swan River consists of a building board, which owns the property, and the school, which cannot own property. The school leases the property from the board and pays rent to the building board (SRBC). SRBC derives their income from the lease; otherwise they do not have revenue sources. The school is a public charter school and receives payments from the state on a per pupil basis. The school is at full capacity and has been from their start up. They have quite a few students on their waiting list. They must meet all the same criteria that any other public school does. They received an "A" rating on their financial status from the state and are in good financial condition. They have purchased some additional lots in the vicinity of the school: some land north and west of the railroad tracks and recently the lot across Maple Joint City Council- Planning Commission Special Meeting Minutes — December 18, 2013 Page 1 Street, which was purchased as a tax forfeit property. They have already secured a commitment for financing improvements on the lot across the road. Eric Miller mentioned that Charter schools tend to draw interest from children that struggle in a regular school environment. Currently Swan River has about 25% of their students in special education and had not anticipated this need when they first developed. Due to state requirements, they are in need of expanding to gain space allotment for special education. Steve Grittman asked Eric Miller to describe the building plans. He noted the size of the building as a single story 48 foot by 80 foot and the type of post -frame construction that is planned. The exterior will simulate the current building using lumber and brick. Although they are expanding the space they need, they are not planning to expand the enrollment. Eric Miller mentioned that the area to the north of the railroad tracks will be used for a play area and the cement slab will be removed. Clint Herbst asked what SRBC would do with the property if the PUD was denied. Eric Miller said they would sell the lot. Eric Miller explained that the first lots they purchased (north of the tracks) carne to their attention in a hurry and they closed quickly. Grant Sala asked if they had considered purchasing the church school on Fourth Street and renovating it. Eric Miller explained that it is too far for the children to walk there from the current building and they would have to cross two streets. Steve Grittman explained that the land at 503 Maple is zoned for residential so this would be a little bit of a shift for zoning. Tom Perrault confirmed that the new building would be architecturally similar to the current building. Eric Miller explained that they don't have any room on the current site to expand so that is why they are looking at the lot across the street. Torn Perrault asked Eric Miller to describe the special education students that they serve. Eric Miller explained that those students could be downs syndrome, difficulty reading, behavior issues, autism, etc. Tom Perrault asked if this would require more teachers and where they would park. Eric Miller explained that they would shift the special education teachers to the new buildings. They are not adding students so there would not be a huge impact on parking and no additional spaces would be required with the shared MCC parking. Eric Miller also discussed the requirements for special education and mainstreaming of those students. He emphasized that they deal mostly with students that are either advanced learners or have special needs. Glen Posusta asked if this type of building construction would meet building code. Eric Miller noted that he is a contractor and this type of building is constructed in all 50 states. This building would have no bearing walls so it allows the flexibility that may needed in future years. The building would have a pitch roof made of steel, but would look like it is shingled. The building would be sided with wood rather than steel. The SRBC is trying to construct as green as possible and would use geothermal heating and cooling. Brian Stumpf asked if they plan to fence in the new building. Eric Miller said they are not planning to fence that property and would utilize landscaping for separation from adjoining properties. Brian Stumpf asked if the zoning code addresses landscaping Joint City Council- Planning Commission Special Meeting Minutes — December 18, 2013 Page 2 adequately. Angela Schumann stated that PUDs require an enhancement over ordinance requirements as part of flexibility allowances, but also noted that the new code also requires an increase in overall landscaping features over the previous. Angela Schumann noted that Swan River is looking at native landscapes, which are not allowed under current zoning code. Eric Miller explained why they would like to use native landscapes, which is mainly to conserve money that would have to go toward mowing, plowing, and other outdoor maintenance. The building committee cannot give the school money for those tasks. Therefore it would save the school money if they didn't have to hire those tasks to be done. Charlotte Gabler asked about the request for a crosswalk. Eric Miller explained that they do plan to request that with their application. Eric Miller also talked about the parking and drop off areas and also mentioned the bump -in on the east side of Maple. They would also like to create a bump -in on the west side for short term parking for 5 -6 cars. Brian Stumpf asked if this would require a rezoning. Steve Grittman said it would need to be rezoned to PUD. Brian Stumpf asked how that would be handled if they wanted to make further changes down the road. Steve Grittman explained that they would need an amendment to the PUD. Eric Miller reminded the group that the city has the right of first refusal on the school property if Swan River would cease to exist. Angela Schumann noted- that the building department has contacted the state and all plans for this additional building would have to be reviewed by the state. Brad Fyle talked the size of the lot compared to the building size. Eric Miller explained that the lot is almost one -half acre and the building would be approximately 4000 square feet, which is about 20% of the total lot area. Eric Miller again stated that there is no interest in expanding the school population; this project is simply an effort to meet needs of the current student population. Clint Herbst commented on the burn that was done by the Fire Department. He felt that burns within the city should come to Council prior to the burn taking place. Clint Herbst would also like to see the neighbors notified so they could attend a meeting to discuss the burn. Brad Fyle asked if the PUD process would include any public hearings so that neighboring properties can hear about the project and ask questions. Angela Schumann explained that there will be two public hearings, unless the concept and development applications are requested concurrent in which case there would be one hearing. Steve Grittman explained some of the steps to be addressed as part of the PUD process. Eric Miller commented that they are looking at a spring ground- breaking and encouraged anyone to call if they have additional questions. Lloyd Hilgart asked how any future rezoning would work if the PUD is zoned for use as a school. Steve Grittman explained that the PUD is essentially an ordinance just for this use, covering the school facilities, and would be subject to approval of new zoning or amendment if there would ever be a new owner with a new use. Joint City Council- Planning Commission Special Meeting Minutes — December 18, 2013 Page 3 Steve Grittinan reviewed the notes that he listed as part of the Public Values Statement that he will develop for the following: • Land use for school purposes; accessibility; parking • Landscaping; screening • Architecture of building • Crosswalk and safety issues; curb realignment • Traffic control on Maple Street Steve Grittman's summary noted that there appears to be a general consensus to move forward to the next step to consider the PUD application. 3. Adiournment TOM PERRAULT MOVED TO ADJOURN THE SPECIAL MEETING AT 5:56 P.M. GLEN POSUSTA SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED 5 -0. Recorder: Catherine M. Shuman Approved: January 13, 2014 Attest: X/,Ainistrator Joint City Council- Planning Commission Special Meeting Minutes — December 18, 2013 Page 4