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HomeMy WebLinkAbout3/13/07 Planning Commission Minutes Regular Meeting March 13, 2007 1. Call to Order Chair Rotty called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Members Present: Rotty, Barker, Oswald, Fitzloff, Larson Members Absent: None Also Present: Lee Smick - City Planner; Tony Wippler - Assistant City Planner, Krista Fleming-Newland Communities, Michael Bischel, Kimberly Sperling 2. Approval of Minutes a) February 13,2007 MOTION by Barker, second by Oswald to approve the February 13, 2007 Minutes. Voted for: Barker, Rotty, Oswald and Fitzloff Abstained: Larson, MOTION CARRIED. 3. Public Hearings a) Amend Section 6-1-54: Water Flowing Upon Public Streets and add 8-10-11 Discharges into Storm Sewer System. Applicant: City of Farmington The Engineering Department is requesting a text amendment to Section 6-1-54 of the City Storm Water Code and the addition of Section 8-10-11. The proposed amendments provide a detailed description of what type of discharge is allowed into the system. MOTION by Barker, second by Larson to close the public hearing. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. MOTION by Larson, second by Barker to approve the proposed amendments. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. b) Variance to Minimum Lot Width - 601Sth Street Applicant: Michael Bischel Mr. Michael Bischel is requesting a 15 foot variance from the minimum lot width in the R-2 zoning district. Mr. Bischel would like to construct a twin home on the property located at 601 8th Street. The minimum lot width requirement for a two family home is 75 feet. Staff is recommending that the Planning Commission deny the request for variance due to the fact that all of the requirements for a variance have not been met. The property meets the width requirement for a single family home so there is no hardship. Mr. Michael Bischel, 705 5th St., stated that he purchased the property in question with the intent to build something else there at a later date. He felt that City Staffhad indicated that the lot would be appropriate for his intended uses. He would like to build a twin home on the lot or possibly convert them to office condominiums if the adjacent property becomes a commercial use in the future. He does not feel that he would be able to sell a single family home if he were to build a new home on the lot. Commissioner Larson stated that he agreed with Staff that there is no land use Planning Commission Minutes March 13,2007 Page 2 hardship in this case. Chair Rotty said that he would have Staff research the easement located on the property. Kimberly Sperling, from Edina Realty, stated that Mr. Bischel believed that he would be able to build a twin home on the lot when he purchased it. She stated that the property is not conducive to building and selling a new single family home due to the properties located around it and its proximity to Highway 3. She feels that Mr. Bischel's plans for the property will be an improvement. City Planner Lee Smick stated that the area will be reviewed as part of the Comprehensive Plan update process. There is a potential for this area to be Comprehensive Planned commercial, although there is no guarantee that it will be. Chair Rotty instructed the applicant that at this point he has the option of either going ahead with his variance request this evening or withdrawing the request at this time to see what happens during the Comprehensive Plan update process. Mr. Bischel asked why there is a 75 foot lot width requirement. Staff replied that this is based on bulk requirements. Mr. Phil Gisch, 513 8th Street, stated that he would be against commercial use ofthis property as well as any type of dwelling that would be higher density than single family residential. Commissioner Barker stated that he did not see a hardship in this case. Commissioner Fitzloff and Commissioner Oswald also stated that they would not be able to approve this variance. Chair Rotty asked Mr. Bischel ifhe would like to continue this item until a later date or if he would like the Planning Commission to take action at tonight's meeting. Mr. Bischel stated that he feels that this property is a unique situation due to the easement on the lot and the home's position on the easement. He stated that he checked with Staff when he bought the property to verify that he could build a twin home on the lot. Mr. Bischel stated that he would like the Planning Commission to proceed with the Public Hearing this evening. MOTION by Barker, second by Fitzloffto close the public hearing. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. MOTION by Larson, second by Oswald to deny the variance request. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. Chair Rotty instructed Staff to have the City Attorney prepare findings of fact. He also advised the applicant that he has 10 days to appeal the Planning Commission's decision to the City Council and that the request must be in writing. 4. Discussion a) Fairhill Plat/Final PUD Submittal Krista Fleming from Newland Communities provided an update on the Fairhill Community. Information was provided regarding the revisions that have been made to the plans. There will be a neighborhood meeting to be held during the last week of March. The notice area for the neighborhood meeting will be within 350' of the boundary. The developer is hoping to come to the Planning Commission on April 10, 2007. There is ongoing communication with the Minnesota Department of Transportation regarding connections to Highway 3 and the proposed round-a-bout. Chair Rotty asked what the proposed timeline for the project would be. Ms. Fleming stated that the earthwork for 19Sth Street will start this summer. There will be demolition of the farm property that is currently on the site. Home construction will most likely not happen for approximately a year. The hope is to have a grand opening by the February Parade of Homes in 2009. Planning Commission Minutes March 13, 2007 Page 3 There is currently a round-a-bout planned to control the intersection of 195th and Highway 3. There are public buildings planned for the park areas; these are not included in the park dedication. Some of the neighborhood parks will be private parks. There is currently a plan for Diamond Path, but there is no dedicated right of way for the roadway. There is no development planned in that area that would preclude the road being located there at some time in the future. Commissioner Larson asked when 19Sth Street would be finished. Ms. Fleming replied that the road will take 1 lIz to 2 years to construct from when it begins. The railroad bed that is within the development is now all located within the City of Farmington. Commissioner Fitzloff asked if I 95th Street would still go through to Highway 3 even ifthere is not a round-a-bout. Ms. Fleming stated that the connection will be made. City Planner Smick stated that there will be a final acquisition plat to review at the April 10, 2007 Planning Commission meeting. The grading CUP for the entire site will be applied for as well. b) Site Plan Review - Lot 3, Charleswood Marketplace (Farmington Medical) The third and final site plan for the Charleswood Marketplace will be for a proposed medical/office building. The building will be approximately 6,000 square feet in size and will be a two story structure. The building meets all of the height requirements. There are two accesses to the site. There are conditions on the secondary access because it crosses the well site on the property. The proposed building meets all of the setback requirements and lot coverage maximums in the B-1 zoning code. There are a total of 78 off street parking places. The parking standards are based on the office standards because they are more restrictive. Part of the parking area is located on a gas easement and they are working on getting the signed agreement from the gas company. There are no concerns regarding the trash enclosure location. The landscaping plan will need to be resubmitted so that additional shrubs can be added along the parking areas. Mr. Jim Kellison, 4394 129th St. N., Hugo, was present to represent the owners of the project. He stated that they will be adding shrubs on the landscaping plan. They were previously not placed there because they were not sure whether or not this would be allowed by the gas company. The primary business type that is being sought for the building space is medical. Chair Rotty asked if there were any potential issues for traffic or transportation. The developer felt that there will not be any significant issues even when the secondary entrance is closed for the construction of the well house. Commissioner Larson asked if there was a location for storm water ponding. Staff replied that this issue has been addressed on the plan. c) Possible Rezoning of 808 2nd Street Mr. Michael Bischel is trying to assess if he will be able to have the property at 808 2nd Street rezoned in order to build three twin homes on the site. The current R-2 zoning only allows for four units to be constructed on the site. Mr. Bischel would like to have the parcel rezoned to R-D. Chair Rotty asked ifthe adjacent properties to the north that currently have twin homes located on them are in compliance. Staff replied that the R-D zoning would be advantageous to those Planning Commission Minutes March 13,2007 Page 4 parcels by bringing them into compliance. Mr. Michael Bischel and Ms. Kimberly Sperling are co-owners of the property and stated that they purchased this property with the intention of building twin homes on it. The plan would be for one level units that would be available to be purchased. The units would be on a cul-de-sac. The owners feel that paying to bring in utilities and building a private road for four units would not be cost effective, so they would like to build six units. Staff stated that under the current zoning the owners would be able to build two twin homes on a private road. In order to build six units they would have to have the adjacent properties to the north agree to be rezoned R-D. There is also an issue with buffering this project from the property to the south. Staff instructed the property owners that to have the property rezoned they would need to notify all of the property owners within 350 feet. There would then be a public hearing giving the adjacent property owners the opportunity to comment on the change. The final decision would be up to the City Council. d) Reschedule of Planning Commission Workshop regarding Land Use Plan for 2030 Comp Plan Update (verbal update) Staff would like to reschedule the Comprehensive Plan workshop that had to be cancelled because of the weather. The Commission Members felt that Tuesday, March 20th would work for them. The meeting was rescheduled for Tuesday, March 20,2007 at 6:00 p.m. and there is a potential for a second meeting on Thursday, March 22ndifneeded. The meeting will be held to discuss land use. 5. Adjourn MOTION by Oswald, second by Fitzloffto adjourn. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. Respectfully submitted, Approved Lisa Dargis Administrative Support Technician