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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-12-17 Planning Commission Minutes Regular Meeting September 12,2017 1. Call to Order Chair Rotty called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Members Present: Rotty, Bjorge, Franceschelli,Kuyper,Rich Members Absent: None Also Present: Tony Wippler,Planning Manager 2. Approval of Minutes a. MOTON by Franceschelli, second by Bjorge to approve the minutes of August 8,2017. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 3. Public Hearings—Chair Rotty opened the public hearings a. Aldi,Inc. Site Plan and Conditional Use Permit The location is Vermilion River Crossings at the southeast intersection of Knutsen Drive and Dushane Parkway. The grocery store size would be 22,245 sq. ft. The property is zoned Spruce Street Commercial and a grocery store is listed as a conditional use. The commission reviewed the building elevations, off-street parking and transportation, landscaping, solid waste, engineering,lighting plan and site signage. There will be 96 off-street parking spaces located in the front of the building. Acces$ will be from the north off of Knutsen Drive and a shared access with the CDA property to the south. An access easement will need to be executed with the CDA for this access. The loading dock will be on the south side of the building. A storm water pond is located to the south so additional screening is not required. Two monument signs are proposed. One in the northwest corner of the site and the second near the entrance to the south. The proposed plan meets all the criteria of the conditional use permit. Staff recommended approval of the site plan and conditional use permit subject to the following contingencies: 1. An access easement must be executed with the CDA and filed with the city for use of the southerly access. 2. A sign permit shall be submitted and approved for any exterior signage to be placed on site. 3. The satisfaction of all Engineering comments. Mr.Ryan Anderson, ISG,the engineer for Aldi,Inc, stated they have reviewed the plan with city staff and plan on a successful development. Mr. Jack Webke,a resident of Vermillion River Crossing, stated he was shocked to see the entrance on the south side of the property, which appears to be access for the trucks to get to the loading dock. They will be sharing the driveway with the residents. The entrance is tight now. We have senior people using that access. We also have pedestrian traffic with residents walking on the sidewalk. He doesn't think the safety concerns have been adequately addressed. The residents welcome development,however,not at their expense with regard to safety. He spoke previously at a City Council meeting about a stop light on highway 50 and Dushane Parkway. He understood that is a county access. He felt that needs to move forward quickly if Aldi is coming which will increase traffic. A few other residents from the audience also expressed concern about trucks using the CDA entrance. They welcomed Aldi coming, but could not imagine proposing the southerly access. Mr.Anderson stated regarding the truck traffic,trucks will enter off of Knutsen from the north,traveling through the site and back into the loading dock. Trucks will not be entering off of Dushane. There are two trucks a day. Customers will be able to use the southerly access for entering and exiting. Chair Rotty asked about the process for the southerly access easement. Staff explained it would be through the owner of the CDA. The CDA was made aware of the joint access when their site plan was approved. Mr. Webke stated it would not be a surprise to the CDA,because they were made aware of it and the residents were not aware of it until tonight. One of the county commissioners is on the CDA board and the residents will be addressing him tomorrow as to why they have not told the residents and what they can do. We do not want to sacrifice our aesthetics or the safety of our property. Commissioner Franceschelli thanked the residents for their comments. He did not notice any fencing for the back. Staff stated it is not required. They have a guardrail along the loading dock because it is recessed. Commissioner Franceshelli asked if the vegetation around the building will be able to handle the parking lot runoff before it gets to the pond to provide filtering. Staff did not see that as an issue. Commissioner Kuyper thanked the residents. He is happy Aldi's is coming. The entire area is zoned commercial and that can cause conflict when people live there. As far as the access, only two trucks per day is not much traffic. As Vermillion River Crossing keeps developing there will be increased traffic. Once a road cannot handle the capacity, that is when they look at making it safer. When people use sidewalks for walking and riding bikes,the onus is also on them to do so safely. The drivers are supposed to yield to them,but pedestrians have to be aware. There will be increased traffic as the entire area develops. He would like to see stoplights on highway 50 at Flagstaff and Vermillion River Crossing. It has to meet warrants. The size of the store is similar to the store in Apple Valley. It meets the zoning requirements and we want development. Commissioner Bjorge appreciated the neighbors' comments. She asked about the tinning. Mr. Anderson stated hopefully the store will open in November 2018. Commissioner Rich asked if there were any unique design elements. Mr. Anderson stated the site is a simple design and fits their plan nicely. The building facade has unique items as far as the tower. It will be the standard size and shape. Commissioner Rich thanked the residents for their comments. In looking at the south drive,he cannot imagine it is a surprise to anyone. If you look at the curbing and how wide it is,it has always been designed to serve both properties. You would never build that wide of a lane to just serve Vernnillion River Crossing. This is intended to be a commercial retail area. He asked if the CDA came along after the original plan for the area. Staff stated the original Spruce Street master plan was completed in 2004. The CDA came around 2010 and we amended the Spruce Street Commercial district to allow multi-family. Commissioner Rich understood the concern about the loading dock. There isn't another way to locate the building on the property and you have to work with the land. Screening is the business owner's responsibility. Ire understood the screening to the south towards the pond is being waived because it is city property. Staff noted the commission can require additional screening. Commissioner Rich stated the plan does not violate the area and it is not unanticipated that we will have traffic. He would like the developer to consider the residents' concerns with the loading dock and perhaps do some additional noise mitigation. Commissioner Franceschelli asked if the developer has looked at relocating the loading dock to come in off Knutsen Drive. Mr. Anderson stated this is the only layout that works for the building. We cannot hit the parking counts and get the orientation we need with a different design. As far as the noise from the loading dock, there shouldn't be much noise. As far as visual,we are happy to provide further screening. Commissioner Franceschelli noted the developer can lose a few parking spaces and still meet the requirements. Mr.Anderson will bring the suggestion back to the developer. Chair Rotty was excited for Aldi. He enjoyed the questions from the residents and they are very well thought out. We spoke earlier about the CDA being aware of the entrance and it was probably not communicated frequently, but it is there. The joint access will need to be approved by the CDA. He suggested letting that process play out. The current plan is what he will recommend passing onto the City Council. He agreed screening should be done on your own property and not rely on someone else's. He would like the commission to reconsider adding additional screening as a condition. Staff noted the site plan and conditional use permit do not require City Council approval. All approvals are through the Planning Commission only. MOTION by Franceschelli, second by Kuyper to close the public hearing. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. Chair Rotty suggested adding the condition for additional screening along the southern boundary. MOTION by Rich, second by Bjorge to approve the site plan and conditional use permit including four contingencies. APIF,MOTION CARRIED. Staff stated the next step is for the applicant to apply for a building permit provided it is constructed according to this plan. b. Ordinance Amending Section 10-6-12 of the City Code as it Relates to Allowable Fencing Material The ordinance amendment removes metal sheeting from the prohibited materials list and adds decorative metal as an accepted fencing material. This change is made due to a code violation. Mr.Dustin Hemaur, stated he did his due diligence when putting up a fence in their yard. They could not locate exact rules for fencing so they contacted staff asking about the process. At the time staff stated a permit process was not in place and provided information on heights and setbacks. After the fact they were informed some of the fencing material they used was not allowed. After researching the issue, Farmington,is the only city within the area that does not allow corrugated metal. Had he known this material was not allowed, it would not have been used. He suggested having a fence permit process so plans can be reviewed. Commissioner Kuyper agreed with making this revision. Commissioner Bjorge also agreed and asked about the wording"accepted in the fencing industry." Staff noted a list is also provided of unacceptable materials. Commissioner Rich asked for clarification that there is no permitting process for having a fence. Staff stated a permit is not required unless it is above a certain height,then a building permit is required. Commissioner Rich was not in favor of amending the ordinance to add this material. He would allow an exception because of the situation. Commissioner Franceschelli had an issue with metal fencing because where he grew up this material was used and it looked like a junk yard. When he was on the HPC,they looked at fencing and they could not come up with a good definition of decorative fencing. He would like to see staff come up with a definition of what decorative metal fencing could be or is in the other communities. He was leaning towards not amending the ordinance. The fence is nice looking, so perhaps an administrative exception is in order. He would like to table this until we have a more definitive definition of what is decorative metal fencing. We originally started out with no sheet metal; corrugated metal is sheet metal just a different type. He asked what type of protection is on the fence to ward against rust. Mr. Hemaur stated the metal is 60 plus years old already. The framework is cedar treated lumber. Commissioner Franceschelli asked that this be tabled for staff to do some research. Chair Rotty told Mr. Hemaur to not take the fence down and we will do some research. MOTION by Franceschelli, second by Kuyper to table the ordinance for further research. APIF,MOTION CARRIED. 4. Discussion a. 2040 Comprehensive Plan Update Mr. Jeff Miller,Hoisington Koegler, was in attendance to provide an update on the comp plan process. He spoke about the Plan Vision,Land Use and Housing chapters. This is stage three of the process and the draft for these chapters should be finished in October. b. ULI Development Panel Discussion The Planning Commission is invited to a City Council work session with the Urban Land Institute. It will be held November 13,2017. 5. Adjourn MOTION by Franceschelli second by Kuyper to adjourn at 9:00 p.m. APIF,MOTION CARRIED. Respectfully submitted, Cynthia Muller Administrative Assistant