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HomeMy Public PortalAboutMinutes_Planning & Zoning Meeting_06142023 PLANNING AND ZONING MEETING IONA COMMUNITY CENTER June 14th, 2023 6:30 P.M. PRESENT: Chairman James West, Member James Cooper, Member Bill Koester, Member Clint Reading, Member Ray Hart, and Assistant Clerk Rylea Farrens. ABSENT: None. VISITORS: Eric Bodily. Chairman West welcomed everyone and asked Member Reading to lead with the Pledge of Allegiance. Approval of Minutes: Member Koester moved to approve the minutes for May 10th, 2023. Member Reading seconded the motion. All in favor, the motion carried. Items of Business: Conditional Use Permit Application—Alice Bodily, for the property located at 3180 N. Olsen Street,pertaining to a residential basement rental Eric Bodily of Ammon, the property owner Alice Bodily's son came to the stand. He stated that this is a resubmission of an application from a few years ago. Mr. Bodily's son was living in the rental; however, they have moved on. Alice is now ninety-six and until their son left they did not realize how much comfort she received from having someone living in the basement. Now that his son has left and no one in the family is interested in renting that space they are seeking a conditional use permit to allow renters in the basement. This process wasn't available two years ago, and now there have been changes in the Code that would allow for non-family renters to live in the basement unit. He noted that this request is not as much about finances as it is about having someone close by to be near his elderly mother. In the lease agreement it states that the renter might be called upon to check in on Alice, and to see if she is home. Her comfort and protection is the main purpose behind allowing renters to live in the basement. Chairman West noted that there is a list of conditions related to this type of application. Mr. Bodily stated that he has seen those, and believes that he is in compliance with them. Chairman West stated that the change in how these are handled was triggered by this application from two years ago, and also by COVID when everyone was moving home. Mr. Bodily noted that they didn't come back to continue the application from a few years ago because his son moved into the downstairs apartment and so it was no longer an issue. Mr. Bodily asked a question about the code. He asked what it means to pay for an additional EDU (equivalent dwelling unit). He then asked if it was for the water. Chairman West answered that yes that is what that means. Mr. Bodily inquired the price, and asked if it would be an additional fifty dollars. Chairman West stated that yes that is the case. He noted that originally the code required an additional water line,but now it's just an additional payment. Member Koester asked Mr. Bodily if there were renters currently in the apartment. Mr. Bodily answered in the affirmative, that there was a young couple that just moved in a week ago. They are aware that we are going through this process and will leave if it is not approved. Chairman West inquired about how long the family had owned the property. Mr. Bodily responded that his mother has owned it about 8-10 years. Chairman West went through the list on the conditional use permit, and Mr. Bodily affirmed that he meets all of the requirements. Chairman West stated that it meets all building codes. Mr. Bodily also mentioned that the current renters know they will need to vacate if Alice were to pass on. Member Koester asked if we had Allen do a walk through, but then Chairman West clarified that it is not necessary. Member Cooper stated that he doesn't see anything that contradicts the R-1 or Conditional use or the chapter 8 condition requirements. Chairman West stated that he doesn't have a problem with this conditional use permit. It meets everything that the City Code requires it to meet. The City changed the code based on this property. Member Hart made a motion that we approve the Conditional Use Permit Application forAlice Bodily for the property located at 3180 N. Olsen Street,pertaining to a residential basement rental. Member Koester seconded the motion. All are in favor, so the motion carried. Conditional Use Permit Application—Acton Academy,for the property located at 2576 N. 50th East, pertaining to the allowance of a public school in the R-1 Zone Member Hart asked what type of school it was, and Member Koester asked how many children the school will serve. Chairman West noted that they aren't here and so the questions are unfortunately going to be left unanswered. Member Koester explained the difficulties associated with pick up and drop off at this location, and Member Hart referred him to the images of the proposed plan to mitigate that. Member Koester isn't convinced that will be enough space. Member Cooper stated that a school fits within the R-1 conditional use, but from a traffic and engineering standpoint those entrances are too close together. Not the main area by the garage, but their secondary entrance closer to the railroad track directly to the south of the property. Chairman West stated that he has concerns about the amount of frontage there is, and how many students they will be allowing. He stated that with conditional use permits the commission can add conditions before approval. In the R-1 Zone section of the City Code it states that schools are allowed, so it is left to the Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council to add conditions as we see fit. He doesn't know how they can even do that without the prospective owner present to answer the commission's questions. He stated that if he were to approve this it would be for a maximum of ten to fifteen students. The size of the property and entranceways make it difficult to approve any more than that, with fire and traffic safety issues being potential problems. Member Reading stated that the owner would need to change all sorts of things to make it possible to be a school. Member Cooper responded that the building process they would have would require them to go to the state government for safety standards and final approval. Member Koester stated that he doesn't think we have enough information to even start making conditions. Member Hart stated that it wouldn't just be the children who we have to take into account,but how many employees, etc. and Member Cooper replied that for that reason it straddles the line of being a more commercial property, and should require more parking. Chairman West asked the commission if they think they should come up with conditions, or table it because they don't have the information they need. Member Hart and Member Cooper decided that they need more information. Member Koester moved to table the Conditional Use Permit Application for Acton Academy, for the property located at2576 N. 50th East,pertaining to the allowance of a public school in the R- 1 Zone until we have a representative from Acton Academy to help answer questions and give us more information. Member Cooper seconded the motion. All are in favor, so the motion carried. Addition to the City's Standard Specifications and Drawings; Roadway Easement and Cross Sections Chairman West noted that his French drain was not approved by City Council because they did not have a hardship. In the end the City Council decided that they want to change the code so that homeowners can improve their drainage systems. The City engineer came up with a drawing. They discussed the drawing and the issues they found with it. Member Cooper brought up concerns about percolation rates. He stated that if you have a minimum of 30 inches on top of the drain it will not be able to percolate. Percolation rates through clay are inches per day. Chairman West stated that his first instinct is to table this until they have more information from the City Engineer. He stated that he thinks there does need to be more options for homeowners. Right now the issue is that many homeowners are putting in French drains, but it doesn't meet this code. He stated that we should be telling homeowners that it has to percolate at a certain rate, and that we should require engineered drawings. Member Hart agreed that drawings should come to us or City Council with percolation rates from engineers. Member Cooper believed that this is not in line with the discussion from six months ago about allowing or requiring curb and gutter,where they discussed allowing developers to have infiltrators. He said they should deny it, and tell the City Council the issues they have with the engineer's drawings. Member Cooper moves to deny the submitted standard specification and the Addition to the City's Standard Specifications and Drawings; Roadway Easement and Cross Sections and recommend to City Council that any drainage systems proposed by a resident in the swale be submitted to City Staff for approval and inspection. Member Reading seconded the motion. Chairman West asked for any more discussion before they take a vote. Member Hart was concerned that we shouldn't put the engineering back on our staff. Member Hart made an amendment to include that the homeowner should be required to submit engineered drawings that meet the cities specific drainage and percolation that should be overseen and approved by City Staff. Member Koester seconded the amendment. All are in favor of the motion to deny, and the amendment with the conditions so stated. The motion carried. Discussion of Green Space/Park Space Requirements in New Developments. Chairman West noted that this is a discussion not an action. He stated that this discussion stems from multiple years of concerns about how developers are putting in developments with no green space. It then falls on the City to improve the city parks,purchase more land to turn into parks, and maintain some kind of green space in front of developments. We should be ensuring that these developments are completed projects, and be clear on what we should expect from developers. City Clerk/Treasurer Keri West reached out to other cities and looked into what they have done to promote green space. It seems like we're the only city in the area that doesn't have some kind of requirement. Member Koester likes the idea of a size requirement, where the amount of green space required is directly correlated to the amount of land being developed. Member Reading noted that in the packet it shows that the City of Roberts requires 10%of gross land area to be green space. Chairman West stated that he thinks it is needed but he doesn't know what the conditions should be. He noted that City of Ammon only requires green space when you have multi-unit developments. Member Koester stated that he is in favor,but has no idea what size we should be suggesting. Member Koester stated that the green space by the road is useless for kids, and that useable space is the kind of space we should be requiring. Chairman West countered that while not functional green space keeps the City looking nice. Member Hart stated that that is true,but then the City has to do maintenance on the green space to make sure that it doesn't turn into a weed patch. Member Cooper asked what the definition of green space is. Member Hart clarified if city swales are green space. He stated that if we require a swale, he believes we are technically requiring green space. Member Koester stated that we should put a definition of green space in the code, and maybe also a requirement of having parks when the development is over a certain amount of lots. Chairman West agreed, and said that if they develop thirty acres, that should mean they have at least one half-acre park. Member Cooper noted that Freedom Fields is a large development that could really use a park. He said that we should have something in the books that if the development is a certain size the City requires you to create a park for the neighborhood you are creating. We will need to make sure the wording states that the green space is all contiguous. Chairman West asked the commission what 5 main points are they can send off to the City Council for their discussion. They decided on: 1. Making a useable space and green space requirement. 2. Having a percentage per development requirement for that space. 3. If the developer offered amenities they could reduce the amount of green space required. 4. Arterial roads need to have green space that doesn't count towards the useable space. 5. For so many residencies you need so many acres of usable green space. Chairman West stated that he personally thinks that any development on a main arterial road should be required to have green space. Even if they turn it over to the City to maintain they should be required to make the area nice. Member Hart added that if you require that green space, the City or County have a natural expansion area for growth. It gives you the ability to expand the main arterial roads with fewer issues to adjacent homeowners. Chairman West stated that we could stipulate that if there are back yards adjacent to an arterial road they should have a fence to separate. Member Koester agreed and said that it would make their lots more valuable. Chairman West stated that he believes this change would make the City want to accept more of the third lot developments. Member Hart motioned to adjourn. Member Cooper seconded the motion. All are in favor, so the motion carried. Meeting Adjourned: 7:37 p.m. P&Z APPROVED: ames West, Chairman ATTEST: Ryle Farrens, Assistant to the City Clerk