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City Council Minutes 11-27-1978MINUTES REGULAR MEETING - MONTICELLO CITY COUNCIL November 27, 1978 - 7:30 P.M. Members Present: C. 0. Johnson, Arve Grimsmo, Dan Blonigen, Gene Walters, Philip White. Members Absent: None - Except Arve Grimsmo absent for Items 2, 3, 4 & 5• 1. Public Hearing - Consideration of Off -Street Parking Variances and Condi- tional Use Permit Request for Addition to Trinity Lutheran Church. The Trinity Lutheran Church, of 449 West Broadway, requested a conditional use permit to allow a 9,800 square foot addition to their existing church. The new addition would serve as the Worship center accommodating approxi- mately 313 people. Since the Church is now located in an R-2 zone, a conditional use permit was required. In addition to the conditional use permit requested, the proposed site plan as presented required the following variances also: A. City ordinances require that parking lots abutting residential property be effectively screened. According to the proposed site plan, there were provisions for some landscaping to screen the parking lots from the view of the abutting residential areas, but the screen does not meet the current City ordinances requiring an effective screen since landscaping that is proposed is not continuous. B. A variance was requested from the hardsurface requirements and curb and gutter on perimeters of parking lots. Current ordinances require all parking lots to be hardsurfaced with a curb barrier, but the Church requested that they be allowed to sod or seed these parking lots on West River Street instead of having them hardsurfaced with concrete or pavement. The Church felt that if the parking lots along West River Street were left in a natural state with grass, there would be less detrimental effect to the surrounding residential property owners. C. A variance was requested by the Church from the number of off-street parking spaces required. According to City ordinances, 98 parking spaces would be required based on the seating capacity along with the number of classrooms proposed. The present site plan provided for 75 parking spaces. The Church currently only has about 30 parking spaces provided for its membership, and requested that a variance be allowed to provide 75 instead of the 98 as this would still be an improvement over the present situation. D. A variance was requested from the frontyard setbacks for the parking lot along West Broadway, as current ordinances require a 30' setback in the front yard in an R-2 zone district. Minutes — City Council 11/27/7$ Consulting Planner, Howard Dahlgren & Associates, felt that since the Church is not a new development and since it is an existing situation, the development as proposed would certainly be an improvement and an asset to the neighborhood. Both the Planner and the Planning Commission felt that by allowing the parking lots along West River Street to remain in a grass status, the parking lots would blend into the residential character of the neighborhood. It was also recommended by the Planning Commission that all variances requested be approved in the event the conditional use permit is granted. Motion was made by Arve Grimsmo, seconded by Phil White and unanimously carried to approve the conditional use permit request for the Trinity Lutheran Church addition, along with the following variances: A. A variance from further effectively screening the parking lots along West River Street from abutting residential properties. B. A variance from the hardsurface requirements for the two parking lots along and abutting West River Street. C. A variance requiring only 75 parking spaces on site, compared to the 98 required in the ordinances. D. A variance from the 30' setback requirement along Broadway for the parking lot allowing the parking lot to be closer to the property line. 2. Public Hearing — Variance Request for an Addition to a Home in a B-4 Zone. Mr. Roger Mack, who lives on West River Street on the North a of Lots 11 & 12, Block 50, requested a variance to allow for a room additkn onto his pre- sent home. Since this home is in a B-4, Commercial, Zone, a variance was necessary for any additions. Mr. Mack indicated that all work would conform to building codes and ordinances if this variance was granted. Motion was made by P. White, seconded by D. Blonigen and unanimously carried to approve the variance request. (Arve Grimsmo was not present for this item). 3. Public Hearing — Consideration of a Variance Request to Exceed 1,000 Square Foot Maximum on an Accessory Building. Mr. James Murray, of 524 West Fifth Street, requested a variance from the ordinance restricting a garage to 1,000 square feet on his property — Lots 8, 9 & 10, Block 10, which is currently zoned R-3. Mr. Murray's plans are to build a garage of 1,728 sq. ft. for the purpose of housing his moving van and miscellaneous other equipment. Mr. Murray has stated that there would be no repair work done in this building, and it would be used strictly for covered off—street parking. It was noted to the Council that the proper public hearing notices to the surrounding property owners may not have been mailed as required, and thus, this item was deferred until the next meeting so that proper notices may be mailed. — 2 — Minutes — City Council 11/27/7$ 4. Public Hearing ; Variance Request for Off—Premise Sign for St. Peter's Lutheran Church. St. Peter's Lutheran Church requested a variance to allow a sign to be put at the intersection of Highway 25 and Third Street in Monticello. Initially, therrequest was to allow the sign within the right—of—way, but the Planning Commission felt that no sign should be within the public right—of—way, and therefore, recommended approval of this variance if the St. Peter's Lutheran Church could get permission from one of the property owners abutting this intersection allowing them to erect the sign. Paul Klein, a representative of St. Peter's Lutheran Church, indicated to the Council that he had not been able to get approval from one of the four property owners as of yet, and requested that this item be recessed until a future meeting. 5. Consideration of Subdivision of Mel Worth's Stor—A—Way Property. Mr. Mel Worth applied for a subdivision to divide the lot where the present Stor—A-Way building is along Highway 25 into two parcels. The division would create two parcels, one of .924 acres which would con— tain the present Stor—A—Way Building, and the newly created lot would be 1.186 acres. The certificate of survey presented indicates that all front and sideyard setbacks are sufficient, and Mr. Worth has indicated that a park dedication requirement would be paid in cash. Motion was made by P. White, seconded by D. Blonigen and unanimously carried to approve the subdivision of Mel Worth's Stor—A—Way property into two parcels provided that the park dedication is paid in cash based on 10% of the value of the land. (Note: from this point on, Arve Grimsmo was present for the remainder of the items. 6. Consideration of Contract for Police Service for 1979 with Wright County Sheriff's Department. A new contract for police protection with the Wright County Sheriff's Department for 1979 was presented to the Council. The sample contract along with an accompanying letter from Sheriff Darrell Wolff indicated that the police service rate will increase to $10.50 per hour compared to the 1978 rate of $9.00 per hour. As a result, the total contract using the current hours of police protection will increase from approxi— mately $60,000 in 1978 to $70,000 for 1979, or an increase of approxi— mately 16-21-0/o. The Council discussed the amount of the increase over the previous year, and noted that they probably didn't have any choice but to accept the new rate schedule. It was also noted that in future years, the possi— bility of the City being involved in the negotiations for any increases should be attempted prior to accepting a contract. — 3 — Minutes - City Council 11/27/7$ Motion was made by D. Blonigen, seconded by P. White and unanimously carried to approve the 1979 contract for police protection with the Wright County Sheriff's Department. (See Supplement 11/277$ Al). 7. Consideration of Ordinance Amendment - On Street Parking. Current Monticello City Ordinances prohibit parking on any street bet- ween the hours of 2 A.M. and 6 A.M. year round. This provision is in addition to another ordinance which prohibits parking on City Streets which impedes snow removal operations at any time. The Council discussed whether or not this ordinance prohibiting parking from 2 A.M. to 6 A.M. year round should be enforced now that the curb and gutter kproject is completed. The Wright County Sheriff's Department representatives have had some concerns in enforcing this parking during the winter as they would like to be consistent with this ordinance during the summertime also, then. After discussing the possibility of only enforcing the 2 A.M. to 6 A.M. parking ordinances during the winter months, it was the consensus of the Council that no action would be taken to amend the ordinance, therefore the ordinance will be enforced year round. It was also noted that property owners will be responsible for providing off-street parking spaces for their residents. 8. Consideration of Final Payment to Arcon Construction on 1977-1 Improve- ment Project. Consulting Engineers, Orr-Schelen-Mayeron & Associates, recommended that final payment to Arcon Construction for the 1977-1 Improvement Project be made. The engineer recommended approval contingent upon receipt of an affidavit and various state forms for withholding along with waiver of all lien rights from Arcon Construction. Motion was made by P. White, seconded by D. Blonigen and unanimously carried to approve the final payment in the amount of $16,116.58 on the 1977-1 Project bringing the total payments on the contract to $431,047-30. 9. Consideration of Assigning Name to Park in Country Club Manor and Renaming Street. Mr. Howard Gillham requested the City of Monticello name the park within the Country Club Manor as Gillham Park. The present developer of the land, Marvin George Builders, Inc., has not indicated any disapproval of this park name. Motion was made by C. Johnson, seconded by P. White to name the park within Country Club Manor as Gillham Park. Voting in favor: C. Johnson, G. Walters, A. Grimsmo, P. White. Opposed: D. Blonigen. 10. Vacancy on H.R.A. Committee. Chairman of the H.R.A. Committee, Jean Powers, recently submitted a letter of resignation as Chairman. The primary reason for her resigning was her new duties as Board Member of the Hospital District. No action was necessary by the Council as the new Council will have to appoint two new members to the H.R.A. Committee on January lst, one to fill Mrs. Powers vacancy and one to fill the vacancy of the term which expires January 1st. -4- Minutes — City Council 11/27/78 11. Approval of Bills. Motion was made by P. White, seconded by A. Grimsmo and unanimously carried to approve the bills for November 1978 as presented. (See Supplement lV27/78 #2)• 12. Approval of Minutes. Motion was made by A. Grimsmo, seconded by P. White and unanimously carried to approve the Minutes of the special meeting held 11/8/78 and the regular meeting held 11/13/78. 13. Discussion on Old Senior Citizens Center Vacant Lot. The Council discussed the possibility of selling the old senior citizen center vacant lot. It was noted that inquiries have been made to some of the Councilmen as to whether or not this property will be for sale. It was the consensus of the Council to have the City Administrator get an updated appraisal of the property value and report back to the Council for possible consideration of sale. Meeting adjourned. Richard Wolfsller Assistant Administrator RW/ns - 5-