Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-08-22 CITY OF FARMINGTON PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES REGULAR MEETING February 8, 2022 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Chair Rotty at 7:00 p.m. Members Present: Rotty,Lehto,McAbee,Tesky,Windschitl Members Absent: None Staff Present: Tony Wippler,Planning Manager Chair Rotty welcomed the Planning Commission's newest Commissioner,Rebecca McAbee. a) Election of Officers Planning Manager Wippler asked for nominations from the Planning Commission for the election of Chair and Vice-Chair for 2022.MOTION by Tesky,second by Lehto to nominate Dirk Rotty as Chair.APIF,MOTION CARRIED.MOTION by Rotty,second by Windschitl to nominate Krista Tesky as Vice-Chair.APIF,MOTION CARRIED. b) Appointment to Committees Commissioner Windschitl will serve on the Empire/Farmington Planning Advisory Committee. Commissioner Lehto will serve on the Castle Rock Discussion Group. Commissioner Tesky will serve on the Eureka/Farmington Planning Group. Commissioner Rotty and McAbee will serve on the MUSA Review Committee. MOTION by Windschitl,second by McAbee to approve the appointment of Commissioners to committees.APIF,MOTION CARRIED. 2. APPROVAL OFMINUTES a)Approve Planning Commission Minutes MOTION by Lehto,second by Tesky to approve the Regular Meeting minutes of the Planning Commission from January 11,2022.APIF,MOTION CARRIED. 3. PUBLIC HEARINGS Chair Rotty opened the public hearings. a)Variance Request From The Interior Side Yard Setback Within The Fairhill Estate At North Creek Development M/I Homes of Minneapolis/St.Paul,LLC is seeking a variance of 0.29 feet(3.48 inches) from the interior side yard setback for the construction of a home to be located on the property addressed as 19187 Crystal Terrace and legally described as Lot 1,Block 1,Fairhill Estate at North Creek 2nd Addition.The subject lot was platted with a width of 50.12 feet at the front property line but narrows to 49.5 feet at the rear property line.The house that was sold for this particular lot meets the side yard setback requirement at three corners of the proposed house,but it does not at the southwest corner. The Planning Commission shall not approve any variance unless they find "practical difficulties"as defined in City Code using nine criteria.Planning Manager Wippler reviewed Planning Commission Minutes Pagel of 3 Regular Meeting February 8,2022 all nine criteria noting that criteria#4 and#S cannot be met with this variance applicant. Planning Manager Wippler concluded with giving the Planning Commission two options to consider which are to approve the variance contingent upon obtaining all building permits or to deny the variance since the request for variance does not meet all nine criteria outlined in code. Emily Becker with M/I Homes represented the applicant for the variance request and noted that this was an oversight on M/1 Homes's part and that the request is very minimal on the side of the house where no single-family home or structure will be placed adjacent to it.No utilities are located in the area seeking variance as well. Commissioner Tesky is comfortable with the variance request due to the nature of no structures or utilities being impacted adjacent to the side lot of the property.Commissioner Windschitl inquired if the variance of three inches is granted to benefit M/I Homes as a business if there is anything in return that the city will get as a benefit.Commissioner Windschitl also inquired why the house configuration cannot change to meet the Fairhill PUD requirement of five-foot setbacks. Ms.Becker stated that the house floor plans are pre- designed and difficult to redesign.The other option for this property is to adjust the lot lines to get the house to fit.They are customer focused and have sold the property with a specific home type so they wanted to request a variance from the city. Commissioner Lehto inquired if the Planning Commission denies the variance,will no home be built on the lot or will M/I Homes have to provide a different housing structure on the property which meets the setback minimums.Commissioner McAbee concurs with the comments from her fellow Planning Commissioners. Chair Rotty will support the variance, but let Ms.Becker be aware that this is a one-time occurrence. MOTION by Tesky,second by Lehto to close the public hearing.APIF,MOTION CARRIED. MOTION by Tesky,second by McAbee,to approve the variance request allowing a 0.29-foot (3.48 inch)variance to the interior side yard setback within the Fairhill Estates at North Creek development APIF,MOTION CARRIED. b)Vermillion Valley Development Preliminary and Final Plat Stantec on behalf of Adelmann Farm LLC has submitted the Vermillion Valley Development Preliminary and Final Plat.The subject property is located at 4755 220th Street W.The Vermillion Valley Development Preliminary and Final Plat consists of 5 outlots (A- E) and right-of-way for 220th Street W.The property to be platted contains 80.57 acres of land and is mixed zoned.The zoning districts within the property include MUCR(Mixed Use Commercial/Residential),P/OS (Parks and Open Space),and R-3 (Medium Density Residential).The necessity for this outlot plat is due to the anticipated acquisition of three of the outlots (B,C,and D)by Dakota County for land preservation and trail purposes. Commissioner Windschitl and Tesky had no questions.Commissioner Lehto inquired about flood zone in the area.Planning Manager Wippler noted that there are not currently any flood zone issues to note and there is a future city park noted in an outlot not being acquired by Dakota County adjacent to the river so no residential structures would be built in that area.Commissioner McAbee had no questions.Chair Rotty inquired about utilities. Utilities will be brought forward to the property line with River's Edge development. Planning Commission Minutes Page 2 of 3 Regular Meeting February 8,2022 MOTION by Lehto,second by Tesky,to close the public hearing.APIF,MOTION CARRIED. MOTION by Lehto,second by Windschitl to recommend approval of the Vermillion Valley Development Preliminary and Final Plat and forward that recommendation to the City Council.APIF,MOTION CARRIED. 4. DISCUSSION a) Sapphire Lake 4th Addition Final Plat Sapphire Lake Development Company,LLC is proposing to plat 30 single-family lots within the Sapphire Lake 4th Addition. The 30 single-family lots are located to the east of the previous 101 lots platted as part of Sapphire Lake 1st,2nd,and 3rd Additions.The Sapphire Lake 4th Addition final plat corresponds with the preliminary plat that was approved by the Planning Commission on August 15, 2018 and the City Council on August 20, 2018.The average lot size is 8,589 square feet in size with the smallest lot being 6,996 square feet and the largest being 14,454 square feet.The property is zoned R-2 (Low Medium Density Residential)which requires a minimum lot size of 6,000 square feet with a minimum lot width of 60 feet.All lots proposed within the 4th Addition meet these required minimums. The final plat shows the extension of both 213th Street W and Spruce Street.Spruce Street will extend to the right-of-way of the future Biscayne Avenue located on the eastern border of the development.Five-foot-wide sidewalks will be provided on the north side of both 213th Street W and Spruce Street.An eight-foot-wide trail will be constructed through Outlot C. John Anderson representing for the developer and property owner looks forward to completing the subdivision this summer.Commissioner Lehto,Tesky,Windschitl and McAbee had no questions. MOTION by Windschitl,second by Tesky to recommend approval of the Sapphire Lake 4th Additional final plat and forward that recommendation to the City Council contingent upon the satisfaction of all engineering comments and the execution of a development contract between the City of Farmington and the applicant.APIF,MOTION CARRIED. b) Open Meeting Law The Planning Commission is a publicly appointed commission and Commissioners must comply with the Open Meeting Law provided by the League of Minnesota Cities.Planning Manager Wippler reviewed the Open Meeting Law with the Commission. S. ADJOURN MOTION by Windschitl,second by McAbee to adjourn at 7:40 p.m.APIF,MOTION CARRIED. Respectfully submitted, Kalley Swift Community Development Specialist Planning Commission Minutes Page 3 of 3 Regular Meeting February 8,2022