Planning Commission Minutes 02-06-2001
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MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING - MONTICELLO PLANNING COMMISSION
Tuesday - February 6, 2001
7:00 P.M.
Menlbers Present:
Dick Frie. Rod Dragsten. Robbie Smith and Council Liaison Clint
Herbst
Members Absent:
Richard Carlson and Roy Popilek
Staff Present:
Jeff O'NeiIL Fred Patch. Steve Grittman
I. Cal] to Qrder. Chair Frie called the meeting to order at 7 pm.
) Approval ofminules of the rel!ular meetinl! held January 2.2001.
A MOTION Wi\S MADE BY ROBBIE SMIlIl AND SECONDED BY ROD
DRAGSTI~N TO APPROVE TIII-:: ~IINUlES OF THE REGULAR PLANNINCi
COMMISSION MFETING OF J/\NlJ/\RY 2. 2001. Motion carried unanimoLlsly.
Dick Frie noted that Councilmember I Icrbst had been absent the prior t\VO meetings and
that the Planning Commission needs his regular input. Councilmember I---{erhst noted that
he views his role as Liaison as very important hut noted that on occasion things come up
that interfere \vith his volunteering as Council Liaison. Dick Frie recognized that the
meetings are not mandatory and he expressed appreciation for Herbst's involvement and
requested that Herbst contact stall in advance if he is not going to make the meeting.
Herbst noted that he will try to notify staIr in advance. but he docs not always know until
the last minute if he will not attend. The size of the agenda and the relative importance of
the items vvill influence whether or not he attends.
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Consideration of adding items to the al-!,enda.
Rohbie Smith Iwd a question regarding Cahin Fever entertainment. This was placed as
item g on the agenda.
Clint Herbst would like to hear comments on the overflow parking at Sunny Fresh. This
was placed as item 9 on the agenda.
Update on new signage at the law office hy Fred Patch. This was placed as item lOon
the agenda.
4.
Citizens COlllments. None forthcoming.
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5.
Considcration of a Development Sta!2e PUr) to nermit the expansion of a bus serviee and
sales facilitv. Apnlicant: Ilogluncl Bus Companv.
Steve Grittman rcported that Iloglund Bus has applied for a Development Stage PUD
approval continuing their proposal for an expansion of their lacilities between Oakwood
Drive and Interstate 94. The site plan which has been submitted proposes a 10.680 square
f()ot building addition. with a significant alllount of paving added to the site in the areas
oftrafJic circulation and parking. (;reen areas are designated on the site plan. and a
number of trees are proposed along the west and southwest boundaries. /\ gravel bus
staging mea is located to the west of the building addition, and the bulk of the bus sales
display area on the east portion of the site would remain grass and unchanged.
The layout generally complies with discussions which staff has had \vith the property
O\vners. ^ few details should be added to the plan to conli:)l"Jl1 to those discussions. as
well as eommon PUD standards:
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Steve noted that the applicant is asking that the curb requirement be waved
however certain areas such as driveway throats and parking stalls should have
curb stops installed. /\ few of the areas arc noted on the plan. These areas should
be delineated and striped. I-lolly Klein, Hoglund Bus. indicated that they
supported installation of trees hut that they did not want to put curb stops in due to
the problems created J(lr plowing. Stt:ve Cirittman noted that the temporary curb
was proposed in lieu of more expensive curb and that they are necessary to
channel trafJic.
Clint Ilerbst asked why thcy me wrapping trees around the li'oll!. why arc they
putting trees along the fi'ee\\ay. It docs not make sense to screen the sales area.
Grittman noted that the intent is not to screen and the trees wi]j be located some
distance li'om each other. In addition. the applicant supports planting of trees at
the locations proposed.
· Rod Dragsten stated that the bus staging area on the eastern boundary should not
be covered \vith a gravel surJ~lce and should be left. as a grassy area. He felt that
the curbing should be put in as proposed.
Robbie Smith asked for a clarification on curbing. Why are we not requiring full
installation? Steve Grittmannoted that the discussion previously established thc
l~lCt that the site wi]j transition to a future use and that it docs not make sense to
Illakc a big investment in curbing given the potential redevelopnlent. Making a
large investment today could deter the changc-over to another use. Clint Herbst
noted that the fact that there is minimal use of ccrtain drive areas by the public
could be reason to justify elimination or modification of the curb requirement.
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Robbie Smith noted that the entrances could be spruced up with curbing rather
than curb stops. I Ie explained that you need to create a nice looking view li.om the
right-or..way and that curbing should be required under the PUD. Robbie
suggested installation or curbing at aecess points and at eurb stops throughout the
rest of the site.
· Holly Klein noted that they \\<ould see to it that the bus storage area is mowed.
After discussion. A MOT/ON WAS MADE BY ROD DRAGS1TN AND SECONDED
BY ROBBIE SMITH '1'0 APPROVE 'lHE DEVFLOPMENT STAGE PI)D WITH TI IE
FOLLOWINC; CONDITIONS:
I. Additional tree planting throughout the property as identified in the Planner's"report.
2 Parking stall striping per the site plan with modifications as requested by stall.
3. Drivcw<lY entranccs be installed with curb and gutter frolll cxisting curb along roadwa)
10 a point within thc property equnl to the front yard setback in a B-3 District (30').
Curb stops to be installed in other areas as defined in the pl<lnner's report.
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4. A drainage plan must be provided to the City Engineer for review and cOlllment.
Drainage plan to properly accomnlodate rUIl-offfrom nearby hotel.
5.
I .arge grassy area idcntitied li)r bus display/storage to rcmain a grassy area. The owner
should maintain grass leYels in compliance with public nuisance ordinance.
M()T/()N BASED ON THE FINDING THAT TI IF DEVELOPMENT AS PROPOSED
IS C'ONSISTENT WITl-l THE COMPREI ILNSIVE PLAN. REDUCTION IN SITE
IMPROVEMENT REQUIREMENTS ARE ALLOWFO IN RECOGNITION THAT
HYDEVEI.OPMENT OF TillS SITE MA Y OC'CUR RELATIVFL Y SOON. IN
ADDITION. THE PUBLIC DOES NOT RFGULARLY USE OR VIEW AREAS
WIIERE CURB AND PA VlNG ARE NOT RI':QUIRED UNDER TillS PLAN. Motion
carried unanimously.
6. Consideration of a Development Sta~e PUD to accommodate a 63 unit townhouse proiect
in Klein Farms Estates 2"d Addition. Applicant: Eaf-!,Ie Crest.
Steve Grittman reviewed his report noting that Eagle Crest received a Concept PUO
approval at the recent Planning Commission and City Couneilmeetings. They have
submitted a Development Stage pun plan based on that approval. StalThas had the
opportunity to rcview the plan and makes the Ii:lllowing comments:
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Thc easterly access road should be moved to the east boundary and loop around the end
un its. filth is way. the enti re eastern ha I f of the project could be served by a continuous
loop road without thc dead-end section This is an issue for City trash rcmoval service.
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as \vell as ti)r general circulation. This change should not result in a loss of units. since
units '15-iP could be shifted west slightly.
2.
The westel'll-nlOst driveway should bc continul:d around to loop back and connect with
tlK westerly access rO<ld. This \vill avoid a long dead-end driveway and pennit the
narrO\ver pavement widths proposed. The driveway should be moved slightly to the west
to allow for adequate backing movements out of the garage and driveway areas. A
distance of 42 feet from face of garage to edge of pavement is suggested. 'Ihis driveway
may bl: I g feet in width if this change is made.
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The t\VO dead-end interior driveways in the quad-unit area should be continued to
intersect with Farmstead Drive. The spacing of buildings in this area should be a
minimum of 60 feet from face of garage to face of garage. The driveway widths of ] g
feet \\ould be mkquate in this arrangement to permit backing and restricted access to the
residents and service vehicles.
4.
;\11 driveways and roads in tlK projl:ct must be paved and curbed. 'IlK only exception to
clll'bing is fix the 20 to 22 foot long driveways which lead directly into the garages from
the access driveways. Except for the I X foot wide driveways specifically mentioned in
points 2 and 3 above. all other private streets and drives must be a minimum 01'24 feet in
width, filce of curb to face of curb.
5.
Provide additional visitor parking spaced throughout thl: development at a Ininimum ratio
(Jf (Jne space per three un its, a total extra parking supply of at least 2] spaces. Because
narrowcr private streets do not accommodate on-street parking, these spaces are
necessary to al:commodate overllow from the unit driveways which provide the only
other visitor parking supply.
6. Provide a 5 foot wide concrete sidewalk <llong Farmste<ld as shown on the pbn from the
trail connection on the east to the west boundary of the property at Edmonson Avenue.
Although the primary pedestrian access currently leads to the south through Klein Farms
Estates ]'d Addition. future connection to other land uses to the east is a probability. If
that area develops with comnKrcial snvices. it is likely that residents of this project will
want to walk in that direction. The applicants hnd previously discussed with StalTthe
possibility of terminating the sidewalk at their westel'll-most driveway instead of
extending it all the way to Edmonson Avenue,
7. Significantly enhance landscaping within the foundation planting areas around the
buildings. The current plan shows a per-unit planting of only four shrubs around the
entry sidewalk. Much lllore planting <lround the building is suggested where none is now
proposed.
X. Enhance planting along the Fannstead Drive exposure with a buffer planting similar to
that prov ided by Staff as an exh ibit to th is repoli. Th is bu ITer is designed to prov ide an
'.open" screen f()r the rear yard spacl:s which filee the public roadway.
9.
Enhance planting in the butferyard area along the north boundary. One of the
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considerations f()r the private street encroaching into the required butfer area is
additional buffer and screen plantings in that area. The proposal relies entirely on
e.\:isting plantings and should be strengthened. For the portion of the bufferyard \vhere
the road encroaches. an additional eight deciduous trees and 50 large shrubs would help
to incrcase the butler density.
10.
Prov ide increased plant sizes over the east port ion of the buffcryard. The grad i ng plan
shows a swale in this area which is about 3 tcet in depth. The plants should be inc.-cased
in size to accommodate the require buffcring etTcct. The zoning ordinance currently
requires 2 Y:> inch caliper dcciduous trees: 6 foot high evcrgreen species: and at least] 5'%
of all deciduous trees to be at least] Y:> inch caliper in sizc. Staffwould recommcnd that
all deciduous species in the buffcryard be at least 3 I'c caliper inches and all evergreen
species to be X feet in height to lllake up t()f' the swale.
II.
Finally. cluster lllail box locations and identify trash receptacle locations consistent with
postal and trash-removal requirements.
Atkr presentation of the items noted above, the flJllowing diseussion ensued.
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Bill (ileason stated that he was not able to review the staff report until today. I Ie noted
that by adding two access points on the main road, the need for the connecting segments
on the north side is eliminated. He felt that the plan as proposed by staff ereates too much
blaek top <lnddoes not add valuc to the development. He noted that the landscape ideas
are good and will add value to the development. I Ie is happy to follow the ideas presented
in the Planner's report.
Dick f'rie wondered if there is enough room I(lr snow storage and f(Jr elllergency vehicle
access. O'Neill noted that there needs to be a 24' drive looping through the site to allow
for garbage collection. Connecting segments on the north side of the site could be
removed if the I R' drives were increased to 24', Gleason noted that widening the interior
drives would not be possible as doing so would result in an encroachment in the yard
setback along County Road 117. Steve Grittman noted that removal of the segments
along the northern edge would move the design toward more complete compliance with
the bulTer yard requirements.
After discussion. Dick Frie suggested that the item be tabled to allow for staff and
developer to review the drive aisle pattern in morc detail and eome up with a good
solution. Bill CJleason agreed that tabling the matter makcs sense and noted that they
suggested adding a month to the process is acceptable.
A MOTION WAS MADE BY ROBBIE SMITH AND SECONDED BY ROD
DRAGSTLN TO TABLE CONSIDFRATION OF THE DEVELOPMENT S'IACE PUD
REQUEST. Motion carried unanimously.
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7.
Discuss Planninf.!, Commission involvement in upcomin!! MCP meeting.
()'Neill inl(ll'Il1ed the group that the Mep will be having a 111embership meeting in
March. The MCP is looking for specific projects to undertake that the City would like to
see completed. I Ie wondered if the Planning COll1mission would like to provide S0111e
input to the MCP prior to this meeting. Are there any planning studies that the Planning
Commission might want the MCP help process?
Dick Frie stated that there should be Planning Commission involve111ent in MCP goal
setting. lie thought that everyone Crom the Planning Commission should attend the
meeting and should provide input on MCP project prioritization.
Councilmember lkrbst suggested that the MCP give the Planning Commission a list of
possihle items I()r completion and the Planning Conllllission should help in prioritization.
Ilerbst suggest a project idca for the Mep. Why not do something with D-day. Combine
D-Day with Walk and Roll. I lave some anti-smoking celebration. Rod suggested that we
should do sOlllething with the Trumpeter Swans.
It \vas the consensus of the group to be involved in the MCP goal/project identification
process as participants. I 10weveL thc Planning ('ommission offers no specific projects at
this time.
Dick Frie noted that he will not he here for the March meeting
8. Robbie Smith had a question ree.arding Cahin Fever Entertainment.
What is with the paper on the windows? Fred Patch notcd that the business did start
remodeling the huilding without a huilding permit. After being contactcd by the building
departlnent they did provide necessary information. Fred said he has stopped hya few
times since. Patch also noted that they appear to be conducting retail operations.
therd()re the use remains acceptahle. Dick Frie asked if this item can be put on the
agenda t()r the next meeting.
9. Overllow parkin!! at Sunny Fresh.
Clint Herhst asked to hear comments regarding ovcr-llow parking. Is there a problem
and/or is there anything we want to do ahout it. Alter discussion it was determined that a
meeti ng should be set up with Sunny Fresh and that stall should analyze the problem and
corne up with some ideas. This item to be placed on the next Planning Commission
Agenda.
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10.
Update on new signal2.e at the lmv orfice.
Fred Patch reported that the MctcalULarson ovcrhanging sign is in compliance with the
City C'ode. It is diflicult to read because the applicant placcd the sign so high on the
building.
] I. There beine. no further diseussion. meetine. was adiourned.
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