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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-14-17 City of Farmington A Proud Past-A Promising 430 Third Street Future • Farmington,MN 55024 Committed to Providing High Quality, Timely and Responsive Service to All of Our Customers AGENDA PLANNING COMMISSION March 14, 2017 7:00 PM City Hall Council Chambers 1. CALL TO ORDER 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES (a) Approve Planning Commission Minutes 3. DISCUSSION (a) Discussion of Potential Ordinance Amendments 4. ADJOURN 41104, City of Farmington d 1 430 Third Street Farmington,Minnesota 651.280.6800 -Fax 651.280.6899 '4r.,, e www.cifarmington.mn.us TO: Planning Commission FROM: Tony Wippler,Planning Manager SUBJECT: Approve Planning Commission Minutes DATE: March 14,2017 INTRODUCTION Attached, are the minutes from the February 14, 2017 regular meeting. DISCUSSION NA ACTION REQUESTED Approve the minutes from the February 14, 2017 regular meeting. ATTACHMENTS: Type Description o Backup Material February 14, 2017 Regular Meeting Minutes • Planning Commission Minutes Regular Meeting February 14,2017 1. Call to Order Chair Rotty called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Members Present:Rotty,Bjorge,Franceschelli,Kuyper Members Absent: Rich Also Present: Tony Wippler,Planning Manager a) Election of Officers MOTION by Kuyper,second by Bjorge to nominate Dirk Rotty as Chair. MOTION by Kuyper,second by Bjorge to nominate John Franceschelli as Vice Chair. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. b) Appointment to Committees. Member Bjorge accepted the Empire/Farmington Planning Advisory Committee. Member Franceschelli accepted the Castle Rock Discussion Group. Member Kuyper accepted the Eureka/Farmington Planning Group. Members Kuyper and Rich accepted the MUSA Review Committee. MOTION by Franceschelli,second by Kuyper to accept these appointments. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 2. Approval of Minutes a. Approval of Planning Commission Minutes MOTON by Franceschelli second by Bjorge to approve the special meeting minutes of January 24,2017. Voting for: Rotty,Bjorge,Franceschelli. Abstain:Kuyper. MOTION CARRIED, 3. Public Hearings—Chair Rotty opened the public hearings a. Application to Amend Comprehensive Plan from Low Density Residential to Commercial and Rezone Property from R-1 (Low Density Residential)to B-4 (Neighborhood Business) The address is 20522 Akin Road,owned by Craig Bongard. The property has a special exception permit granted in 1976 for an equipment,maintenance and storage non- commercial use. The owner can utilize the property for storage of maintenance equipment they own. Mr.Bongard is currently using it for his trucking operation. The B-4 zoning would allow for a better opportunity for him to sell the property. Staff feels the B-4 uses would be compatible with the surrounding properties. Member Kuyper received a question regarding the possibility of a bar,dog kennel, strip club,adult book store. Staff noted these uses are not allowed in this zoning. Ms. Stephanie Monville,20575 Akin Road,from the description provided,would you build a shopping area with sections that could be rented or sold with various businesses or would there be individual businesses built on the property. Staff assumed there would be one use on the property. Mr.Brian Baldwin,20449 Akin Circle,currently there is a deceleration turn lane for other streets off Akin.Road except for their street. He asked if there would be something Planning Commission Minutes February 14,2017 Page 2 similar for this property on the other side of the street. Staff stated depending on the type of business,the engineering department would review that. The types of businesses would not generate a large amount of traffic. Ms.Dawn Baldwin,20449 Akin Circle, stated the reason they are concerned about these deceleration lanes,when heading south on Akin Road to turn into their cul-de-sac,cars are travelling quite fast. She suggested reducing the speed limit. The cars coming behind them come close to hitting them or cars pass in a no passing zone. Chair Rotty noted staff will bring this up to the engineering department. Commission members were in favor of this comp plan amendment and rezoning. Mr.Gary Monville,20575 Akin Road,stated he would like a copy of all the types of businesses that could be on the property. Staff will provide that information. Ms.Dawn Baldwin thanked the commission for hearing the residents. MOTION by Bjorge,second by Kuyper to close the public hearing. APIF,MOTION CARRIED. MOTION by Bjorge,second by Kuyper to recommend approval to the City Council of the requested comprehensive plan amendment and rezoning the property from R-1 to B-4 for 20522 Akin Road. APIF,MOTION CARRIED. b. Variance Request to Reduce the Required Setback for a Monument Identification Sign within the B-2 Zoning District The site address is 508 Third Street which is the Dakota County Farmington Library. They are requesting a variance setback for a monument sign. The sign will be 36 square feet with a height of 6.5 ft.which meets the sign requirements. The code requires a sign setback of a minimum of 10 ft.from property lines and cannot be located within the 30 ft. triangle of visibility at an intersection. The sign will be set back 10 ft.from Third Street. The variance is required for a setback of 4 ft. 3 inches along Spruce Street. The sign would not be in the 30 ft. triangle of visibility. Commission members had no concerns with the request. MOTION by Kuyper,second by Franceschelli to close the public hearing. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. MOTION by Franceschelli,second by Bjorge to approve the requested variance to reduce the required setback for a monument identification sign at 508 Third Street subject to approval of a sign permit application. APIF,MOTION CARRIED. 4. Adjourn MOTION by Bjorge second by Kuyper to adjourn at 7:36 p.m. APIF,MOTION CARRIED. Res ectfull submitted,/ J nthia Muller Administrative Assistant 4114146, City of Farmington 4 430 Third Street Farmington, Minnesota 651.280.6800 -Fax 651.280.6899 ►..,, .° www.cifannington.mn.us TO: Planning Commission FROM: Tony Wippler, Planning Manager SUBJECT: Discussion of Potential Ordinance Amendments DATE: March 14, 2017 INTRODUCTION Staff would like to discuss two potential ordinance amendments with the Commission. DISCUSSION The potential ordinance amendments are described below: 2(Downtown Business)district lot area and width requirements This past January staff and the Commission had an initial discussion on this topic. The Commission at that time was not comfortable with moving forward with a public hearing for these changes but wanted to have the entire Commission be able to have input on the potential changes as well as have staff look at ways of gaining input from the affected property owners. Staff is bring this back to the Commission as a discussion in hopes of getting consensus from the entire Commission to possibly move forward with a public hearing for the potential changes. Below, is a recap of the information that was provided to the Commission at the January 24, 2017 Special Planning Commission meeting: Section 10-5-14(B)of the city code(attached)outlines the bulk standard requirements (i.e., lot area, lot width, setback,etc.)fro the city's downtown business zoning district. The potential amendment would be to the lot area and lot width requirements within this zoning district. Currently,the minimum standards for lot area and width within the B-2 zone are 5,000 square feet and 50 feet,respectively. Staff feels it may be more appropriate to not have minimum standards for lot width and area in this zoning district. As the Commission is aware, downtown's (Farmington's is no exception)are typically veryunique in how they are setup and tend to be one of the oldest areas of the community. With that being said, downtown's typically have lots that vary widely in lot area and width. Farmington's downtown has a number of lots that currently do not meet the minimum standards for lot area and width. Any development or expansion on these"substandard" lots would require approval of a variance from the commission. One way to eliminate the need for variances in these instances is to not have minimum standards for lot area and width. The practice of having no minimum standards for lot area and width in a central or downtown business district is not new. Many communities institute this practice into their zoning codes largely due to the uniqueness that downtown's present. Nearby examples include the cities of Lakeville and Rosemount. If the Commission provides direction to staff to move forward with a public hearing, staff will reach out to all affected property owners with a short survey trying to obtain their opinions on the suggested changes. This would be in addition to the required published notice for the public hearing. The survey would include the date and time of the public hearing as well. The addition of Warehouse Facilities as a conditional use in the B-3 (Heavy Business)district Staff was recently contacted by a broker of a development that is currently zoned B-3 (Heavy Business) within our community. The question was asked if the city would entertain amending the code to allow warehousing facilities within the B-3 zone. A warehousing facility as defined in city code is "a building and/or facility used primarily for the extended storage of goods and materials" . Warehousing facilities are currently allowed in the IP(Industrial Park),I-1 (Industrial)and the Business/Commercial Flex zones. It is allowed as a permitted use in all three zones. As the Commission is aware the B-3 zone is the city's Heavy Business District which lends itself to certain commercial and industrial uses that are more intense and not generally compatible with uses identified in the city's other commercial zoning districts. If the Commission were to be receptive to amending the B-3 zone to include warehousing facilities it would be staffs recommendation that this use be allowed as conditional uses. ACTION REQUESTED Discuss the potential ordinance amendments and provide direction to staff.