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HomeMy WebLinkAbout6/10/08 . Planning Commission Minutes Regular Meeting June 10,2008 1. Call to Order Chair Rotty called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Members Present: Rotty, Bonar, Barker, Stokes Members Absent: Larson Also Present: Tony Wippler - Assistant City Planner, Lee Smick - City Planner 2. Approval of Minutes a) May 13,2008 Meeting Minutes MOTION by Barker, second by Stokes to approve the May 13,2008 minutes. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 3. Public Hearings a) Variance to allow the construction of a hard surface driveway within the required five foot setback in a residential area. . Applicant: Francis Valek 607 Oak Street Farmington, MN 55024 The applicant is seeking a variance to encroach into the 5 foot setback with a concrete driveway. The concrete apron for the existing gravel driveway was installed when Oak Street was reconstructed in 1994. The concrete apron was poured by the City of Farmington and is located on the westerly property line. Mr. Valek would also be pouring a patio area that would not require a variance. Commissioner Stokes asked if drainage would be negatively affected by the non-pervious surface. Staff replied that this should not create any additional drainage issues. MOTION by Barker, second by Bonar to close the public hearing. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. MOTION by Stokes, second by Bonar to approve the variance request. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. b) Preliminary and Final Plat - Allina Medical Addition Applicant: Allina Hospitals and Clinics 2925 Chicago Avenue, Mail Route 10909 Minneapolis, MN 55407 . The final plat has been submitted for the property owned by Allina Hospitals and Clinics that will be split into two lots with the northern portion of the property (Lot 1) to be purchased and developed by Anna's Banana's Daycare. The southern portion ofthe property is the location where the new Allina Medical Clinic will be built (Lot 2). Lot 1 will be 1.34 acres and Lot 2 would contain 2.25 acres. There is no park dedication requirement and the City Engineer has reviewed the plat and recommends approval of the preliminary and final plat. The approval would be contingent upon the following items: 1. Satisfaction of any Engineering and Planning Division comments. . Planning Commission Minutes June 10, 2007 Page 2 2. The applicant must vacate any existing easements. The vacating of the easements will be taken to the July 7, 2008 City Council meeting so that the required two week notice can be issued. The preliminary and final plat can be taken to the City Council with these same contingencies. Anna's Banana's will not be able to apply for a building permit until the vacations are recorded. They would be able to start grading between June 16th and July 7th. MOTION by Bonar, second by Barker to close the public hearing. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. MOTION by Barker, second by Stokes to send a favorable recommendation to the City Council. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. c) Conditional Use Permit to operate a church within the B-2 Zoning District Applicant: River Church P.O. Box 214 Farmington, MN 55024 . The applicant would like to operate a church in the B-2 downtown business district at 408 Third Street in a portion of the building commonly known as the Dueber's Building. The space would consist of roughly 5,800 square feet in the southern portion of that building. The congregation is approximately lOO individuals and services would be held on Sundays from 10:00 a.m. until 11 :00 a.m. and they would also have youth activities on Wednesday evenings. There would be a sanctuary and some office space in the leased space. There are no parking requirements in this district. There is parking on the north and east sides of the lot as well as the 2nd Street parking lot. The approval of the conditional use permit would be contingent upon the following: 1. The applicant obtains all necessary building permits for the conversion of the space to a church. 2. A sign permit shall be required for any sign to be placed on the site. A letter was received from resident Jackie Dooley regarding the conditional use and it was presented to the Commission for their review. Pastor Mike Abros of the River Church shared a blueprint of the proposed space. Commissioner Bonar asked if there are currently any churches in this zoning district. Staff stated that the First Presbyterian Church on Elm Street is also in this zone. Pasto Ambros stated that they hope to begin holding services in the space in September 2008. MOTION by Bonar, second by Stokes to close the public hearing. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. MOTION by Stokes, second by Barker to approve the conditional use permit. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 4. Discussion a) Cell Tower Discussion The Parks and Recreation Director has been contacted by T-Mobile regarding the placement of cell towers in City owned parks. They have proposed a 90 foot tower to be placed in Daisy Knoll Park. The Park and Recreation Advisory Commission (P ARAC) discussed this issue on May 14, 2008 and they agreed that the towers should be allowed. Currently the City of . . Planning Commission Minutes June 10, 2007 Page 3 Farmington only allows cell towers in the A-I and I-I zones. The current code is antiquated due to the new technology that is available. The setback requirements currently in place are extreme and are not in line with other communities throughout the metro. We have a 4:1 foot setback requirement whereas other communities are requiring a 1: 1 foot setback. The towers can be modified to include lighting and the towers can be a potential source of revenue for the Park Improvement Fund. Staff would like to discuss the possibility of towers being located in the Park and Open Space zones and direction to begin looking at updating the existing code regarding cell towers. Staff would recommend that cell towers remain a conditional use. . Kelly Swenseth from FMHC Corporation which represents T-Mobile stated that the reason that they have an interest in going into parks is because they are typically located in residential districts. She said that there has been an increase in the use of cell phones in the home and use of cellular phones as the primary home phone rather than a land line. There is a potential for increased institutional use as well, including placement of antennas in bell towers and on flag and light poles. Chair Rotty asked what kind of screening is provided for the accessory equipment. Kelly stated that T - Mobile would work with the City to design the screening based upon the park requirements. Pat Conlon stated that the equipment could be camouflaged in any way that the City feels appropriate. The heights of the poles are determined by the topography and availability of tall structures. The tower being proposed would be 75 feet in height. Commissioner Bonar asked if the PARAC vote was unanimous. Staff stated that it was. Commissioner Bonar asked how he could obtain more information regarding the market. Pat Conlon stated that she would only have access to information regarding T-Mobile's sites. For information for the other carriers there is a web site called www.crowncastle.com that has a very extensive list of sites in the metro area. They may not have information on every site however. The site proposed would provide opportunities for co- location. Commissioner Barker asked if we would be able to make restrictions and requirements for screening and other items as part of the conditional use permit. Staff stated that the code would need to be written that way, but yes that would be possible. Chair Rotty stated that he would like to have staff look at other opportunities for locations such as athletic fields and churches, etc. Commissioner Barker stated that he is concerned that if the locations are opened up to private land the city will lose a great deal of control over what is put up. Staff will work on the ordinance and will bring this item back. T-Mobile would like to install their tower in late 2008. . b) Ken Gertz -Expansion of Non-Conforming Pole Building Mr. Gertz lives at 20380 Akin Road, just south of the Mattson Farms development. Mr. Gertz would like to determine what the Planning Commission's opinion would be ifhe were to put an addition on the back side of his pole building where there is currently a lean-to. He would be building a 16' x 21' addition to the existing structure. The existing building is a non- conforming use and he would need to obtain a variance. Mr. Gertz stated that he would like to have inside storage for an airboat that he has purchased. He . Planning Commission Minutes June 10, 2007 Page 4 will need to raise the door opening whether he does the addition or not. He feels that if he is going to raise the door he would like to do the addition at that same time. He stated that the addition would maintain the 10 foot required setback from the house. He stated that based upon the location of the house on the property he is limited as to what he can do to add storage space. He stated that the airboat really needs to be stored inside due to its design with an exposed engine. He stated that there are not residences on the parts of the properties adjacent to the building in question. MR. Gertz stated that if he raised the building he would be able to get the airboat into the existing building. Commissioner Stokes stated that he would look at this variance if staff could find a hardship. Commissioner Barker stated that because this is a non-conforming building he would hesitate to encourage a variance and does not see a hardship. Commissioner Bonar stated that he does not see a qualifying hardship. Chair Rotty stated that a public hearing could be held for a variance if staff is able to identify a hardship and this item could be heard at that time. . c) Downtown Residential Driveways The Valek variance that was heard earlier has raised concerns regarding the high number of driveways in the same situation throughout the downtown. The downtown is typically comprised of older homes on smaller lots and the five foot setback requirement is not particularly feasible in this portion of the city. The setback requirements was developed more to pertain to the new homes being built in the northern portion of the city. Staff would like to look into amending the code as it pertains to the downtown residential area. All of the Commissioners were in favor of looking at making modifications to the code. Staff will begin working on amendments to the code to address this issue and bring this item back as a discussion item at a later date. d) 2008 Comprehensive Plan Work Plan - scheduling work session - verbal Staff is working on their matrix for the Comprehensive Plan work plan. They would like to schedule a workshop for June 25th to discuss this item. Chair Rotty stated that he will be out of town on that date. Staff will check with the other commissioners to see if they can be present. 5. Adjourn MOTION by Barker, second by Bonar to adjourn. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. . Respectfu~ submitted, " """ \, Approved ".,,,.,,, ""''- ,") Lisa Dargis C,.,""T" Administrative Assistant " ,<:::.'" .,<. \ c". '-.,