HomeMy Public PortalAbout10-11-20111 CITY OF MEDINA PLANNING COMMISSION
2 Meeting Minutes
3 Tuesday, October 11, 2011
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6 1. Call to Order: Commissioner Nolan called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m.
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8 Present: Planning Commissioners Kathleen Martin, Victoria Reid, Kent Williams,
9 Charles Nolan, Beth Nielsen (arrived at) and Robin Reid
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11 Absent: John Anderson
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13 Also Present: City Council member Elizabeth Weir, City Planner Dusty Finke, and
14 Debra Peterson -Dufresne
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16 2. Public Comments on items not on the agenda
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18 No public comments.
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20 3. Update from City Council proceedings
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22 Council member Elizabeth Weir presented a report of recent activities and decisions
23 by the City Council.
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25 4. Planning Department Report
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27 Finke provided an update of upcoming Planning projects.
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29 5. Approval of the August 9, 2011 Draft Planning Commission meeting minutes.
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31 Motion by R. Reid, seconded by Williams, to approve the August 9, 2011 minutes
32 with no changes. Motion carried unanimously. (Absent: Nielsen and Anderson)
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34 6. Public Hearing — Text Amendment to Chapter 8 of the Medina City Code
35 related to regulations for signs.
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37 Finke presented and explained why the sign ordinance was being revised, what
38 changes were being proposed to the ordinance, and what was being requested of the
39 Commission such as discussion of the broader policy questions.
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41 He asked the Commission if staff should bring a more limited text amendment or a
42 full rewrite. R. Reid said there are some sign issues not addressed: 1. Construction
43 site signs that stay a lot longer than the construction has lasted. 2. Independence
44 Beach has a lot of clustering of For Sale signs. 3. Advertising signs so if not taken
45 down soon enough then they can be taken down and not have to call each person
46 advertising.
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1 Nielsen arrived at 7:33 p.m.
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3 Martin said there are maybe a lot of businesses that aren't aware of regulations. R.
4 Reid said limiting garage sale signs, open house or real estate signs for a certain
5 period of time would be acceptable.
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7 V. Reid asked if billboards were allowed. Finke said no.
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9 Public Hearing was opened at 7:37 p.m.
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11 Jeff Pederson, 710 Shawnee Woods Road, asked the Commission to review the
12 ordinance as if they were a business owner and how and where they would place
13 signage. He asked the Commission to keep in mind that businesses bring in a lot of
14 taxes and they need advertising to succeed.
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16 Pederson did say that a lot of temporary signage was at the corner of 55 and 101 on
17 weekends, yet he wants homeowners to be able to sell their homes.
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19 Public Hearing closed at 7:39 p.m.
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21 Maximum Sign Area Based on Lot Size — Finke asked if lot size was an appropriate
22 measure for signage. Nolan said he doesn't see the size of a lot being a measure for
23 how much signage should be allowed. The size of signage should be based on the
24 type of district it is in. He said determining the amount of square footage based on
25 the amount of building frontage or spacing of signage is a better control of signage
26 density. In summary, the type of zoning district, the amount of frontage on the road,
27 and maybe some accommodation for the type of road (classification). He said he
28 could see Highway 55 having different requirements than all the other roadways in
29 Medina. Each of them would need to have a maximum.
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31 R. Reid said she liked the idea of using lot frontage and the zoning district as a tool to
32 calculate signage.
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34 Nolan said he could see a slightly larger signage on State Highway 55 than other
35 areas in the City. He explained some communities have a maximum square footage
36 per property.
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38 Martin said she has more knowledge in retail and wanted to add that a limit is
39 typically put on freestanding signs and then a percentage of the size of the wall for the
40 wall signage. She said in today's market fewer restrictions should be placed on retail
41 since it has been a difficult market in trying to get tenants.
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43 The Commission agreed to not calculate maximum area of signage on lot size.
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45 Painted Window Signs — Martin said she didn't like window signage. R. Reid said it
46 depended on the type of business and didn't know if they should make a distinction.
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1 She said all the McDonald's and fast food restaurants put window signage in all the
2 time. Finke asked if a permit should be required. The Commission agreed a permit
3 wouldn't be necessary. Nolan said the window signage should count towards overall
4 signage even if a sign permit isn't required.
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6 The Commissioners did not have a problem with a painted sign in a window.
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8 Nielsen asked if the 25% window signage coverage was per window or overall?
9 Finke said it is per window. Nolan advocates picking a percentage. Williams
10 suggested 50 percent and didn't like the idea of limiting. Nielsen felt 50% seemed a
11 bit excessive.
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13 R. Reid said she wouldn't try and distinguish the difference between painted and
14 poster and likes the idea of 50 percent of each window. Commission concluded with
15 50 percent for all commercial, business and Uptown Hamel districts.
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17 Freestanding Signs — The Commission agreed to allow one sign per street frontage.
18 Distinction between pylon and monument signs — The Commission agreed that it was
19 good to have a distinction between the two sign types.
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21 Nolan said the only location he could think of allowing a pylon sign would be along
22 Highway 55. R. Reid asked if a limit could be put on the height and maximum
23 amount of square footage. Finke said it sounded like height was more of an issue than
24 the shape of the sign. Nolan asked staff to research "monument and pylon sign
25 definitions." Martin suggested landscaping and illumination as requirements at the
26 base of the sign.
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28 Internal and External Illumination of freestanding Signs - Nolan said the East Coast
29 doesn't allow a lot of internally illuminated monument signs, but rather externally
30 illuminated. Finke raised question of commercial growth that wouldn't be fronting
31 onto State Hwy 55. The Commission concluded to not allow internally illuminated
32 freestanding signs, except along State Hwy 55 where illumination would be allowed.
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34 Open Houses and Garage Sale Signs — It was recommended that signs be allowed for
35 three days, but the date would be required to be somewhere on the sign.
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37 Separate Temporary and Portable Signs — The Commissioners discussed For Sale
38 signs and New Home Construction signs. The Commission recommended these two
39 types of signs shall be removed within 30 days after the sale of the property or project
40 completed. Finke explained signs five square feet or under are automatically
41 allowed, such as real estate and contractor signs.
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43 Motor Fuel Stations - The Commission recommended the extra signage allowed for
44 motor fuel stations should be eliminated.
45 Overall Sign Maintenance — Recommended all signs shall be maintained and kept in
46 good condition.
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2 Inflatable Signs & Streamers — Recommended limiting number per year and number
3 of days at a time.
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5 Lighting Regulations (specifically the current regulation to not allow a white
6 background) - Finke requested the Commission look at signs with white backgrounds
7 prior to the next meeting.
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9 Finke asked for direction from the Commission on how to draft the ordinance. The
10 Commission agreed to have staff write the ordinance as a finished product and
11 requested staff look at communities that are progressive as examples. R. Reid said
12 she thinks Shoreview may be a good example based on the appearance of their
13 signage there. She said the City did a good job on their sign ordinance.
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16 7. November PC Meeting Date — Finke announced the November Planning Commission
17 meeting date would be changed from Tuesday to Wednesday, which would make the
18 meeting date November 9th
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20 8. City Council Meeting Schedule
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22 9. Adjourn
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24 Motion by Nielsen, seconded by Martin, to adjourn. Motion carried unanimously.
25 (Absent: Anderson)
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