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HomeMy WebLinkAbout8/14/07 . . . Planning Commission Minutes Regular Meeting August 14,2007 1. Call to Order Chair Rotty called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Members Present: Rotty, Oswald, Larson, Barker Members Absent: None Also Present: Tony Wippler - Assistant City Planner, Lee Smick - City Planner, Joe Espino, Robert Hessler 2. Approval of Minutes a) July 10, 2007, Regular Meeting July 19,2007, Planning Commission Workshop MOTION by Larson, second by Oswald to approve the July 10, 2007 and July 19, 2007 minutes. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 3. Continued Business a) Variance to location of wall sign Applicant: Pederson Auto Shop 101 3rd Street Farmington, MN 55024 This item was heard at the last regular meeting on July 10, 2007, but the public hearing was never closed. MOTION by Barker, second by Oswald to close the public hearing. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. b) Conditional Use Permit to locate an off-premises directional sign Applicant: Church of St. Michael 22120 Denmark Avenue Farmington, MN 55024 This item was heard at the last regular meeting on July 10, 2007, but the public hearing was never closed. MOTION by Barker, second by Oswald to close the public hearing. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 4. Public Hearings a) Conditional Use Permit application for Red Oak Manor to place 10' X 12' storage shed on a commercially zoned property. Applicant: Red Oak Manor 315 Spruce Street Farmington, MN 55024 Planning Commission Minutes August 14,2007 Page 2 . The applicant has requested a Conditional Use Permit to place a 120' storage shed on their property. Due to the fact that the property is zoned commercial, there is a requirement for a CUP for a storage shed. The shed proposed meets all ofthe accessory storage structure requirements. The principal structure is sided with brick and wood. The shed would be sided with an engineered wood product and Staff feels that this meets the consistency in exterior material requirement outlined in the City Code. All setback requirements will be met. The structure would be used to house maintenance equipment. The following conditions would need to be met: I. The shed would have to be anchored in place as approved by the Building Official. Mr. Joe Espino from Red Oak Manor stated that the placement of the shed needs to be modified slightly to accommodate a tree on the property. Staff did not have any issue with the new location. Commissioner Oswald asked ifthe exterior consistency requirement addresses the issue of color. Mr. Espino stated that the shed will be painted the same color as the principal building. MOTION by Barker, second by Oswald to close the public hearing. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. MOTION by Larson, second by Barker to approve the Conditional Use Permit with the stated contingency. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. . b) Variance application to reduce the side yard setback in order to construct an attached garage. Applicant: Robert and Shawna Hessler 605 Centennial Court Farmington, MN 55024 . The applicant is requesting a variance to reduce the side yard setback in order to construct an attached garage. The property is configured in such a way that it does allow for placement of the garage further back on the property without extending into the setback area, or a detached garage could be placed elsewhere on the lot. There would potentially be mature trees on the lot that would need to be removed to accommodate the other options available, but Staff does not feel that this issue meets the requirement for a hardship. Consequently, staff is recommending denial of the variance. Mr. Bob Hessler stated that he is trying to make the house look appealing to the neighbors and maintain consistency with the neighborhood. He said that there are other homes in the neighborhood that do not have the required setbacks from the garage to the property line. Mr. Hessler's neighbor to the south stated that he does not have any problem with the proposed location for the garage. Mr. Hessler told the Commission that there had been a detached garage in this location that had been removed. The previous garage was also only about five feet from the property line. Commissioner Oswald asked if the entire structure would be in the setback area or if the rear of the garage would be outside of the area. Mr. Hessler stated that the front eight feet of the garage would be the portion that would be within the setback. Commissioner Larson stated that he does feel that there is a hardship in this case due to the size of the lot frontage. Chair Rotty stated that because the neighbors are in Planning Commission Minutes August 14, 2007 Page 3 . support the plan, and because this is an attached garage so there is less of an option for where it can be placed, he would support the variance. MOTION by Larson, second by Barker to close the public hearing. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. MOTION by Barker, second by Oswald to approve the variance. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. c) Revise Section 10-5-12 (A) concerning purpose statement ofRD zone, 10-15-12 (B) adding lot width requirement to other types of uses and adding net dwelling unit per acre requirements. Applicant: City of Farmington 325 Oak Street Farmington, MN 55024 The proposed change was brought to the July 10, 2007 meeting and the public hearing was not closed. A recommendation to the City Council also needs to be made. There was no one in the audience to comment on this public hearing at tonight's meeting. MOTION by Oswald, second by Barker to close the public hearing. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. MOTION by Barker, second by Larson to make a favorable recommendation to the City Council regarding the proposed text changes. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. . d) Revise Section 8-1-5 (A) & (B) and 10-6-10 (F) & (G) concerning the City's Boulevard Tree Policy. Applicant: City of Farmington 325 Oak Street Farmington, MN 55024 The City Council approved changes to the Boulevard Tree Policy on April 2, 2007. Boulevard trees are those that are located between the curb and the property line. The proposed change would require that the trees be located on private property and would be referred to as Lot Frontage Trees. The trees would need to be located outside of the front drainage and utility easements. If the existing boulevard trees that die would need to be replaced as Lot Frontage Trees. There are designated Boulevard Tree Routes throughout the City where trees would be able to be replaced in the boulevard. The placement for Lot Frontage Trees in new developments will be ten feet from the property line and parallel to the lot line. Currently, trees are allowed in the drainage and utility easements on the side and rear ofthe property. The Commissioners discussed if the code should be changed to reflect that trees can not be placed in any of the drainage and utility easements. Commissioner Barker stated that the change might greatly reduce the options for some homeowners to place trees on their property. City Planner Smick stated that she would like to bring the drainage and utility easement language back to the next meeting to be discussed separately. . Staff discussed the Reforestation Advisory Commission verbiage and whether or not there is still a need to have this Commission. The Commission has not been populated and does not meet. This item will be brought back to the next meeting. Planning Commission Minutes August 14,2007 Page 4 . Chair Rotty stated that he would not have a problem with discontinuing the Reforestation Advisory Commission as long as someone else is handling those responsibilities. With regard to the changes in the Boulevard Tree Policy, Commissioner Barker stated that he is concerned about the existing developments. The utilities are most likely located in the front yards and that may complicate Lot Frontage Tree placement. He stated that he feels that we may end up with few trees in front yards in the future. The rest of the Commissioners expressed that they would like to see how some of the possible complications are going to be handled and they would like to know ofthe specifics regarding who will be responsible for enforcement. Staff stated that this item could be continued to further examine the impact on existing lots. MOTION by Oswald, second by Barker to continue this item to the next meeting. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. e) Revise Sections 10-5-6 (B) 2, 10-5-7 (B) 2,10-5-8 (B) 2, 10-5-9 (B) 2,10-5-10 (B) 2,10-5-11 (B) 2, and 10-5-12 (B) 2 concerning the minimum and maximum size of detached garages and the maximum size of accessory storage buildings, and revise Section 10-6-6 (A) & (B) concerning accessory buildings. . Applicant: City of Farmington 325 Oak Street Farmington, MN 55024 The proposed changes would include adding another category of garages called "Garage Detached". The Private Garage description includes a requirement for a paved driveway. The Garage Detached would not require a paved driveway. There was discussion regarding changing Private Garage to "Attached Garage". There were issues regarding how homes with breezeways to the garages would be classified and whether or not this would raise any issues in the future. The Commissioners felt that the existing language that requires that detached garages not be larger than the primary structure should remain. The changes for Accessory Structures would include classifying storage sheds, gazebos, and detached garages in this category. Chair Rotty asked how many storage structures a homeowner can have. Staff stated that one storage shed and one detached garage would be the maximum. The verbiage will be modified to remove gazebos from this category. The size limitation for sheds will be increased to 200 square feet. The height requirements will not be changed. There were no residents in attendance for comments. MOTION by Larson, second by Barker to close the public hearing. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. MOTION by Larson, Second by Barker to recommend the revisions with the noted changes to the City Council. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. . t) Revise Section 10-6-3 (B) 1,2,3,4,5, concerning Residential, Business, Industrial Park, Spruce Street Commercial, Mixed-Use, and BusinesslFlex zoning districts and Section 10-6-3 (C) 5 and (C) 7. Planning Commission Minutes August 14,2007 Page 5 . Applicant: City of Farmington 325 Oak Street Farmington, MN 55024 This item was heard at the last meeting. Portions of the changes were approved at that meeting. Three more changes have been proposed. The revisions would include removing the home occupation wall signs. The Commission felt that the wall signs should be left in. Regarding monument signs, verbiage would be added allowing one sign per street frontage if the lot is adjacent to more than one street. The secondary street frontage sign could only be 60 square feet in size. There was a requirement added for submittal of a sign plan. MOTION by Barker, second by Oswald to close the public hearing. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. MOTION by Oswald, second by Barker to recommend approval with the noted changes to the City Council. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. g) Revise Section 10-2-1 concerning revisions to definitions. Applicant: City of Farmington 325 Oak Street Farmington, MN 55024 . The proposed changes have in large part already been discussed this evening. The revision regarding net density would describe major roadways. The "freestanding sign" would be given definition in the code. There would be definitions added for schools, defining public, parochial and private schools. There were no resident in attendance to comment. MOTION by Oswald, second by Barker to close the public hearing. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. MOTION by Oswald, second by Barker to recommend approval ofthe proposed changes, with the changes discussed earlier to the City Council. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 5. 6. Discussion Adjourn MOTION by Larson, second by Barker to adjourn. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. RespectfullYS~itted, ~ \ "-- "I '~'r--"--'-'"'''' ......,. ,i' ----/./ ..' \>\7 .... 'S. / /"'- ,.,..' 'v' S i/ '. ~:::.~"".^"., "'-,:;~": L Lisa Dargis"" .... .~ .',_ Administrative Assistant . . Approved .