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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-24-17 Planning Commission Minutes Special Meeting January 24,2017 1. Call to Order Chair Rotty called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Members Present: Rotty,Bjorge,Franceschelli,Rich Members Absent: Kuyper Also Present: Tony Wippler,Planning Manager 2. Approval of Minutes a. MOTON by Rich second by Franceschelli to approve the minutes of December 13,2016. ANT,MOTION CARRIED. 3. Public Hearings—Chair Rotty opened the public hearings a. Conditional Use Permit and Variance Request—Independent School District 192 ISD 192 requested a conditional use permit and variance for Alvin Road Elementary School at 5231 195th Street W. The expansion would be 3,000 sq.ft.for an additional two classrooms. They have met all the requirements for a CUP. • A 50 ft. front yard setback is required from 195th Street. The school district is requesting a 5 ft.variance resulting in a 45 ft. setback. A representative from Wold Architects explained the need for the additional classrooms is due to all day kindergarden and the learning requirements of that age group. Commissioner Fransechelli appreciated the school staying within the footprint of their campus. FIe approved the request. Commissioner Bjorge appreciated the need for this addition. Commissioner Rich asked about the relationship of the setback to the property line. Staff explained the property line runs along the south side of the sidewalk. He agreed with the request. Chair Rotty noted the timing of the request is appropriate now that the roundabout is finished. Schools are a conditional use in the R-1 zoning district and prove to be good neighbors. There are no issues with site lines so he also supports the request. MOTION by Franceschelli,second by Bjorge to close the public hearing. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. MOTION by Bjorge,second by Rich to approve the conditional use permit and variance for the expansion of the school building at 5231 195th Street W with the condition they obtain all necessary building permits. APIF,MOTION CARRIED. V Planning Commission Special Minutes January 24,2017 Page 2 b. Conditional Use Permit Request—Independent School District 192 School District 192 requested a conditional use permit for an addition to Farmington Elementary School at 500 Maple Street. The property is zoned R-2 and schools are a conditional use in this district. The school district would like to add 3,000 sq.ft.for two additional classrooms on the southeast corner of the building. The proposal meets all the setbacks and lot coverage requirements. All the requirements for a conditional use permit have been met. Commissioners supported the request. MOTION by Franceschelli,second by Rich to close the public hearing. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. MOTION by Franceschelli, second by Rich to approve the conditional use permit for the expansion of the school building at 500 Maple Street. APIF,MOTION CARRIED. 4. Discussion a. B-2 Downtown Business District Lot Area and Width Requirements The city's downtown business District(B-2)has minimum requirements for lot size of 5,000 sq. ft.and width of 50 ft. Any expansion or development of these lots would require a variance. Downtowns are unique and also the lots. The majority of downtown lots do not meet these requirements. Staff recommended changing the ordinance so that we would not have minimum lot width and area requirements for the B-2 district. A number of other communities also do not have these requirements. Chair Rotty asked what area this would cover. It would be approximately from First Street to Fifth Street and Willow Street to Spruce Street. Chair Rotty explained changing this ordinance would make the city more business friendly by not requiring a variance. Staff did not see any negatives to doing this. Commissioner Rich asked about the delay that would be incurred if this was not changed. It is typically a six to nine-week delay. A lot of variances have not been issued. This requirement is typically not found in downtown districts. Commissioner Rich asked if there are any tools we would be giving up,or are there ways staff would not be supported. Staff explained if it were a re-development the applicant would go through a site plan approval. If there is a change of use,they would need a conditional use permit. All of these would be reviewed by the commission. Commissioner Rich agreed with removing barriers. Commissioner Franceschelli asked what is to prevent a lot owner splitting his property down to a smaller size and putting in a second business. Staff stated then it becomes a matter of function and will their proposal work in the space. If the change is made,they could do a lot split which is approved administratively. If it is a new building,the site plan would come to the commission. The downtown lots are small already,so staff doesn't expect this would happen. Commissioner Franceschelli stated if a property owner put in a small bistro and decided to wall off half of it and have another business on the side,would that would be acceptable. Staff stated it would. Commissioner Planning Commission Special Minutes January 24,2017 Page 3 Franceschelli was not sure he would support this,but is willing to listen. Staff noted height requirements would not be changed,only width and lot coverage. Commissioner Bjorge stated the setbacks are zero feet. Could you really have two buildings on an existing lot? Staff explained we do allow 100%lot coverage in the downtown. If someone bought two lots downtown,they would do a lot combination through the county. Commissioner Bjorge asked what the triggers would be if a proposal did not conform to the downtown. Staff stated we do have downtown design standards for any new commercial property. Commissioner Bjorge was comfortable with the proposal as long as staff has triggers to fall back on. This does not change the vision of the downtown and gets rid of some hurdles. Chair Rotty asked about the timing for this change. Staff would like to bring it to the commission's February meeting for a public hearing. Chair Rotty noted commissioner Kuyper is not here for this discussion and commissioner Rich will not be at the February meeting. He asked if the business owners should have an opportunity to weigh in before a change is made. Staff will contact the businesses for any comments before bringing this back. 5. Adjourn MOTION by Franceschelli,second by Bjorge to adjourn at 7:39 p.m. APIF,MOTION CARRIED. Respectfully submitted, Cynthia Muller Administrative Assistant