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HomeMy Public PortalAbout07-13-2004PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES — JULY 13, 2004 PRESENT: BILL LOE, MARILYN FORTIN, ELIZABETH WEIR, LENNY LEUER, MARY VERBICK AND DICK PICARD. ALSO PRESENT CITY PLANNER JOSH DOTY AND PLANNING AND ZONING ASSISTANT SANDIE LARSON ABSENT: RON JOHNSON 1. CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Elizabeth Weir called the meeting to order at 7:00 a.m. Ms. Weir reminded those in attendance that the planning commission was a recommending body and that the city council made the final decisions. 2. PUBLIC FORUM — there were no comments 3. APPOINTMENT OF CHAIR AND VICE -CHAIR THRU MARCH 2O05 Bill Loe nominated Elizabeth Weir for chairperson. There were no further nominations. Elizabeth Weir voted chairperson unanimously. Bill Loe nominated Dick Picard for vice -chairperson There were no further nominations. Dick Picard voted vice -chairperson unanimously. Elizabeth Weir thanked the Planning Commission for their confidence in her and Dick. 4. JOE AND LARK AHLSTROM — SET -BACK VARIANCE REQUEST FOR HOUSE ADDITION — PUBLIC HEARING Josh Doty outlined the application. He said the side yard setback request was 8.5 feet where 10' is required and also this is an expansion of a type C non -conforming use. He put up an overhead of the subject property. Josh stated that the lot was 43'x100' and is one of the smaller lots in the area. He said a number of houses in the area do not comply with the setbacks and many variances have been granted. J. Doty put up an overhead of the survey. He stated that the request included expansion of the current structure plus an addition. The lot is 43 'x 100' = 4300 square feet and the ordinance requires 9000 square feet with a 60' widths. This lot is a legal, non -conforming lot and the structure is Type C non -conforming; the use is conforming, but the set -backs are non- conforming Josh put up an overhead of the proposed footprint which shows a garage and kitchen addition with a 2nd level over the existing structure. He stated that staff had reviewed the ordinance on non -conforming and it states that to expand a non -conforming use requires a review by both the planning commission and city council, which we are in the process of doing. He also Planning Commission Minutes July 13, 2004 1 stated that staff had reviewed the 6 variance standards and the application does not meet those criteria. Lark Ahlstrom said if the structure is removed, the lot is too small. J. Doty said if all is removed then a lot area variance would be required. Elizabeth Weir asked if the present building is removed if the lot would be buildable. J. Doty said it is buildable with variances for the lot size. E. Weir said that we do look at variances in the Independence Beach area with some latitude. Lenny Leuer said that if it is a lot of record, the city cannot deny building a new structure on it. He said it would be to the applicant's advantage to put a new structure, upgrading the existing would be a problem. Joe Ahlstrom said the building was built in 1900 and it would be hard to move. He said they could raise it up and put a foundation under it. He said they could also make the garage and kitchen smaller and meet the setbacks. He said it would be easier to build new but does not want to loose the square footage. E. Weir said she would suggest that the applicant come in with plans for a new home and seek variances that would be required, but also show that it would reduce the non -conformity. J. Ahlstrom said if we are going to get rejected, we will just jack up what is there. Mary Verbick said the goal is not go make this difficult for you, the goal is not to be arbitrary, so we judge all variances with the same standards. Dick Picard said the applicant can remove the existing and start from scratch. J. Doty said yes they could do that, but the ordinance would require a lot variance. D. Picard said most lots in Independence Beach require some kind of variance. Marilyn Fortin said the house to the west looks like newer construction and looks close to the lot line. She asked the applicant if they had thought of a long narrow house with two stories. J. Ahlstrom said a long narrow house looks like a trailer house. D. Picard said that many of the homes in the area are cabins that have been put together — there are a variety of buildings in the Independence Beach area. L. Leuer said that he is acknowledging Joe's capabilities. He said there are no questions on his skill, he helped build my house. Lenny said not only is the lot substandard, it also is a double Planning Commission Minutes July 13, 2004 2 frontage lot. He suggested that the applicant look at how close to Brook the neighboring houses are that are on either side of his and that resemble his request for the Brook setback. Lenny said he was not impressed with the structure that was there. He said in the past the city's recommendation is that a structural engineer look at older structures to make sure the foundation was o.k. and wondered if anybody had looked at this. J. Ahlstrom said no, but the roof is good and the porch is in tough shape. L. Leuer said it would be less effort to build new than trying to salvage the old. J. Ahlstrom said that was true. He said he is struggling with what size house he could do. J. Doty said that the neighbor to the west had variances to the front variance to Brook and also a side variance and the neighbor to the east had a variance to Lakeshore Ave. He said he struggled with a 26' 2 car garage when it could be 22-24'. Bill Loe asked if this was intended for year round use and Joe said yes. L. Leuer asked if the house would be on city sewer and water and the answer was yes. Lenny then said that he was not adverse to similar setbacks as the neighbors and also not adverse to an 8' side set back. Lenny then asked Joe if the new house would come off of Brook Street. J. Ahlstrom said Lakeshore is more level ;and there would be more stacking room. J. Doty said from a planning perspective he has no feeling either way for where the driveway is. He said the water quality of Lake Independence is always addressed and there would be more hardcover if the driveway was on Lakeshore Ave. E. Weir asked the applicant what he would like to do. J. Ahlstrom said he would rather not have to re -draw. L. Leuer said the double frontage is a special consideration. J. Doty said the plan shows 26' fronting Lakeshore and the other 31'. E. Weir said her personal feeling is that it would be better to re think the application. She said she could not send the current application forward to the city council, that she would rather see a new application that does not intensify the non -conformity. J. Ahlstrom asked if he could make the next planning commission meeting and Josh said if we get the new survey and materials that are required. E. Weir asked the applicants if they were comfortable with tabling this application. Planning Commission Minutes July 13, 2004 3 J. Ahlstrom said yes. L. Ahlstrom reiterated what they needed to bring in for the next meeting. MOVED BY MARY VERBICK AND SECONDED BY BILL LOW TO TABLE THE AHLSTROM APPLICATION TO THE AUGUST PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING. MOTION PASSED. 5. PUBLIC HEARING TO CONSIDER A ZONING ORDINANCE TEXT AMENDMENT TO REDUCE THE NUMBER OF PLANNING COMMISSION MEMBERS FROM NINE TO SEVEN MOVED BY MARY VERBICK AND SECONDED BY MARILYN FORTIN TO RECOMMEND THAT THE NUMBER OF PLANNING COMMISSION MEMBERS BE REDUCED TO SEVEN. MOTION PASSED. 6. PUBLIC HEARING FOR A ZONING ORDINANCE TEXT AMENDMENT TO SET LIMITATIONS ON THE NUMBER OF CONCEPT PLAN APPLICATIONS RECEIVED FROM AN APPLICANT. Elizabeth Weir said maybe 1 concept plan per applicant is enough. Mary Verbick said an applicant may need 2. Bill Loe asked where Ryan was with their proposal — did they have 2 concept plans. He said he thought they did and that the 2 plans were different. Josh Doty said the reason for the cap is so an applicant doesn't keep coming in with new ideas. He said that staff would encourage an applicant to limit a concept plan to 1 unless something is very different. E. Weir asked if staff would have accepted a 2nd concept plan if the concept was not considerably different. Lenny Leuer said not only did Ryan change the size of the building; they changed roads and added retaining walls. E. Weir said in answer to that, the recommendations that were made in the 1st concept plan could have been incorporated into their formal application. She said maybe we could recommend that if there is a 2nd concept plan from an applicant, that 2nd application must show considerable changes. M. Verbick said if an applicant does come back, they must address the recommended changes. Planning Commission Minutes July 13, 2004 4 MOVED BY BILL LOE AND SECONDED BY DICK PICARD TO RECOMMEND A LIMIT OF 2 CONCEPT PLANS FROM AN APPLICANT AND A 2ND ONE ONLY IF THAT 2ND ONE SHOWS CONSIDERABLE CHANGES AND THAT IT ALSO ADDRESSES COMMENTS FROM THE 1ST PLAN. MOTION PASSED. 7. MINUTES OF JUNE 8, 2004 MOVED BY MARY VERBICK AND SECONDED BY MARILYN FORTIN TO ACCEPT THE MINUTES AS PRESENTED. MOTION PASSED. 8. PLANNER'S REPORT Josh Doty said there is the potential for a number of items on the August agenda The items include the Keller property, revised Floodplain ordinance, CUP for shower building at Baker campground and the preliminary plat for the Cudd project. There could also possibly be 1 or 2 concept plans. Josh also noted that the September planning commission meeting would be on Wednesday the 15th due to the Primary election on Tuesday. — The members agreed to that date. J. Doty said that the city council approved an appendix to the building code ordinance that includes all new and expanded buildings be sprinkled. If a building is 2,000 square feet or less, it may not need to be sprinkled and residential homes with 8,500 square feet of floor area or more, all floors would need to be sprinkled. Lenny Leuer said that a council member had asked if the fire chiefs had reviewed the height ordinance and Josh said that the council tabled action on it. Bill Loe asked and there was discussion about if it was proper to turn down development applications to the planning commission if there were lots of applications already in. J. Doty said applications could not be turned down, but that staff might recommend a 2nd meeting in a month were there a considerable number of applications. MOVED BY MARY VERBICK AND SECONDED BY BILL LOE TO ADJOURN. MOTION PASSED. Meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m. Planning and Zoning Assistant Date Planning Commission Minutes July 13, 2004 5