HomeMy Public PortalAbout01-08-2013CITY OF MEDINA
PLANNING COMMISSION
Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
1. Call to Order: Commissioner Charles Nolan called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
Present: Planning Commissioners Charles Nolan, Robin Reid, V. Reid, Kent
Williams, Mark Osmanski and Randy Foote.
Absent: Martin
Also Present: City Councilmember Elizabeth Weir, City Planner Dusty Finke, and
Planning Assistant Debra Peterson
2. Public Comments on items not on the agenda
No public comments.
3. Update from City Council proceedings
Weir updated the Commission on recent activities and decisions by the City Council.
4. Planning Department Report
Finke provided an update of upcoming Planning projects.
5. Approval of the December 11, 2012 Draft Planning Commission meeting
minutes.
Motion by Foote, seconded by V. Reid, to approve the December 11, 2012 minutes
with the changes noted. Motion carried unanimously. Absent: Martin
6. Public Hearing — Daniel and Jill Johnson — Request a Comprehensive Plan
Amendment from Rural Residential to Agriculture and a Rezoning from RR,
Rural Residential to AP, and Agricultural Preserve for the three properties
located at 2505 Willow Drive (PID 16-118-23-42-0007, 16-118-23-31-0001, and
16-118-23-42-0006).
Finke presented the application.
Nolan said he understood the Comprehensive Plan as it relates to Agricultural
Preserve and Rural Residential. He said it appears to be reactionary since it's already
been decided.
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Foote asked why the applicant would want to apply for the change. Finke said the
applicant would explain his reasons. Nolan asked about requirements of agricultural
production. Finke said there weren't any requirements. Williams concurred the
property wouldn't have to produce anything and asked how many buildable lots
existed on the Johnson lots. Finke said the minimum was around three lots, but he
would have to review title paperwork to verify.
Daniel Johnson, the applicant, stated he purchased two of the three parcels ten years
ago from the Piper family. He said they just acquired the third parcel last May of
2012 and wants to preserve the land. He said he feels fortunate to live where he lives
and wants to do organic farming. He said he has no hidden agenda but wants to
preserve the openness of the land, though he felt the land could be further subdivided
in the future.
Williams asked Johnson if they were aware of the conditions placed in the report by
planning staff and he said he hadn't read them yet. Williams proceeded to go down
the conditions list and Johnson said he was ok with the conditions. He said he paid
rural residential pricing rather than agriculture pricing. He said when he sat on the
City Council he felt they approved other properties similar to his request and felt his
application was consistent with the Metropolitan Council guiding and Greenway. He
said he desires a less intense use at this time.
V. Reid asked how much of the land they were planning to use. Johnson said they
will produce hay, plant apple trees, raise chickens, and possibly sheep and alpacas.
He said the 9.6 acre parcel would be for organic farming which requires special
preparation since it can't have chemicals on it for at least seven years.
V. Reid said under the application there really weren't any terms or requirements to
do anything with the land. Finke stated that was correct.
Finke clarified cutting of trees and that the subject properties would not exempt them
from the City's regulations for tree removal. They would be required to follow the
City regulations.
Public Hearing was opened at 7:30 p.m.
Public Hearing was closed at 7:31 p.m.
Foote asked if the applicant could reapply to put the property back into the RR zoning
and if so would it likely be granted. Finke said the property will have restrictive
covenants recorded on the property to remain in the agricultural district. He further
said Statute allows either party to pull it out of the district after eight years from
giving the County notice of pulling it out of the Agricultural district.
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Finke said if the owner wanted to remove the restrictive convenants it doesn't mean
the land use changes unless it's approved by the City. Nolan said this was the same
issue with the Wally Marx application.
V. Reid asked Finke if he knew the reduction of tax dollars if the classification
changed. Finke said it would be around $6,000.00 less to the City's portion of the tax
levy.
Williams said he was in favor of the change since it met the City's Rural Residential
character vision.
Williams moved to approve the Comp Plan Amendment from RR to Agriculture and
zoning map amendment with two conditions in the staff report.
V. Reid said she wanted to back up to discuss it further. She asked if the application
was approved would there be policy implications or is it a case by case basis. She
said she didn't want the applicant to be exempted from clear cutting the property.
Foote asked how much of the property was covered by trees. Johnson reviewed the
aerials and said it did have "Big Woods" which are around 200-250 year old maples.
He said more than half of the 16 acre parcel was hardwood trees. He said some
portions were agriculture and farmed at one time and the property also has a nice trail
that goes around the lake. Foote asked if other property owners could start asking for
Agriculture Preserve and Finke said yes they could, but they have to be 40 acres or
greater in size to qualify.
Foote asked about the revenue loss. Nolan said it's an economic shift. He said the
City has had a lot of subdivisions approved in the last 24 months and we should find a
way to slow it down, though it is a larger policy decision. He said with the low
volume of requests to put property into Agricultural Preserve, he suggested we
welcome it.
Liz Weir said the Commission could suggest the City Council discuss making a
policy decision on these types of applications.
Foote Amended Williams Motion to see if there should be a Policy decision.
Williams said he has only seen one similar application in the past three years while
being on the Commission. He said the City should encourage and that it's rare a
property owner is willing to lock up their property for a minimum of eight years.
Finke said the City has approximately 35 parcels that are at least 40 acres in size that
could quality for the Ag Preserve zoning. He said the current application is not part
of the 35 parcels since the applicant has three lots totaling over 40 acres which will be
combined if approved.
Williams did not accept Foote's Amendment.
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Osmanski said he mirrors what Williams said and is fine with exchanging
preservation of land over the tax revenue. He said he doesn't take this decision
lightly.
R. Reid, V. Reid, and Nolan said they agreed with Williams
Motion by Williams, seconded by V. Reid, to recommend approval of the
Comprehensive Plan Amendment and Rezoning of three properties, with the note that
the City Council considers making a Policy Decision on these types of applications.
Motion carries unanimously (Absent: Martin).
7. Public Hearing — City of Medina — Requests a Conditional Use Permit and Site
Plan Review for the use of a Public Building within the Industrial Park zoning
district at 600 Clydesdale Trail (PID 12-118-23-23-0059).
Finke presented the application. He said it's a 7.1 acre site with 10,500 square feet in
office space and 58,500 square feet in warehouse/shop. He said they are proposing
some minor exterior changes along with constructing an outside detached salt/sand
storage building. He said the proposed project does not trigger stormwater
improvements, though staff suggested possibly making some improvements.
Finke explained the salt/sand storage building would be 25 feet in height and the
existing principal structure is 32 feet in height which would screen the building from
certain angles. He said the principal building is nonconforming as it relates to the
dock doors. The City plans to reduce the nonconformity but will not be bringing it
into 100% compliance at this time. V. Reid asked what percentage we were over, but
Finke said he wasn't sure of the exact percentage.
Pam Anderson, 292DesignGroup, said she is the architect working on the building for
the City. She said some of the dock doors on the building didn't function for the
PW/Police use but they need a drive-thru area for their trucks. She said the office
area is a really good fit for the Police Department. V. Reid asked if all dock doors
were needed and Anderson said that they weren't all needed but it came down to
expense. Scott Johnson said just two windows were $6500.00 which would be
needed to fill in one of the dock door areas. Anderson added infilling the dock door
openings often times doesn't match.
V. Reid asked what kind of landscaping would be going around the salt/sand
building. Anderson said a number of coniferous trees would be placed on the berms
and at full growth they would screen year round. She said that no specific quantities
have been discussed at this time. V. Reid said when they approved allowing salt/sand
buildings for Public buildings the Planning Commission asked for good screening.
Finke said an opacity level wasn't required, but could be required for this project.
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Nolan said he felt the application was consistent with what we'd require of any other
applicant.
Osmanski commented that the sand/salt building and new facility is really needed,
especially in its location.
Johnson said the current salt/sand building at 2052 County Road 24 is recalled. He
said it's not up to code and was recalled a few years ago. There is a deficiency in the
structure. He said they originally talked about moving the building to the new
location, but since it isn't to code and has a recall it wasn't an option.
Osmanski asked about fuel and if the new location would supply it there or would
they use the current location. Finke said the existing pump area at City Hall would
continue to be utilized and the City staff would also use local motor fuel stations.
Public Hearing opened at 8:04 p.m.
Public Hearing closed at 8:05 p.m.
R. Reid said she doesn't see any real issues with the proposal. She supported the
project and supports the screening requirement.
Williams said he liked how Planning staff was aggressive on wearing their Planning
hats.
V. Reid asked if staff knew how much more intense our use would be compared to
the previous users in the building. Finke said he wasn't sure.
Police Chief Edgar Belland added there are currently five loading docks and two
would be removed. He said they have a plan for a generator and if it's not inside it
would be screened. He said the building would be used for an emergency center and
would need the generator to operate. Finke said it would be rare that all three loading
docks would be open at the same time.
Motion by V. Reid, seconded by Osmanski, to recommend approval of the CUP
and Site Plan Review with all recommended conditions by staff, including language
specifying opacity of screening of the salt/sand building. Motion carries unanimously
(Absent: Martin).
8. Election of the 2013 Planning Commission Chair
Williams nominated Nolan as Chair.
Nolan was chosen as Chair by unanimous consent of the Commission.
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9. Election of the 2013 Planning Commission Vice Chair
V. Reid nominated R. Reid as the Vice Chair.
R. Reid was chosen as Vice Chair by unanimous consent of the Commission.
10. Council Meeting Schedule
Commissioner V. Reid agreed to attend the Council meeting on January 15, 2013.
11. Adiourn
Motion by Osmanski, seconded by Williams, to adjourn at 8:15 p.m. Motion
carried unanimously. (Absent: Martin)
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