HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning Commission Minutes 09-04-2019Approved Minutes 1 of 5 Meeting of September 4, 2019
Approved Minutes
Planning Commission Meeting
September 4, 2019
Chair Anderson called a Meeting of the Plymouth Planning Commission to order at 7:00 p.m. in
the Council Chambers of City Hall, 3400 Plymouth Boulevard, on September 4, 2019.
COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Marc Anderson, Commissioners Julie Witt, David Witte, Justin
Markell and Jaspreet (Jesse) Narr.
COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Commissioners Bryan Oakley and Donovan Saba.
STAFF PRESENT: Planning Manager Barbara Thomson and Senior Planner Kip Berglund.
OTHERS PRESENT:
Chair Anderson led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Plymouth Forum
Gery Haag, 4960 Comstock Lane, stated that he has lived in his home for five years and noted that
many of the people in attendance tonight are from his neighborhood and surrounding neighborhood
associations that have deep, shared concern over the proposed development of Hollydale Golf
Course. He stated that his association held a full community meeting a few weeks ago to discuss
the issues that will be exasperated by the potential development. He noted that a steering
committee was formed that has met with surrounding homeowners associations. He stated that the
associations represent hundreds of homeowners that are very concerned and will be affected by
the development of Hollydale Golf Course. He noted that similar steering committees will be set
up for each association. He stated that they would like the golf course to remain recreational and
green space as stated in the 2040 Comprehensive Plan. He stated there are traffic and roadway
concerns, both associated with safety. He noted that Schmidt Lake Road is especially busy in the
early morning and the afternoon with the nearby location of Wayzata High School. He cited
statistics on the likelihood of teen drivers being involved in fatal injuries. He said he is opposed to
Comstock Lane becoming a through street for many reasons, but the main reason is safety. He
noted that traffic on Vicksburg Lane and Old Rockford Road is issue they want to bring to the table
as they believe traffic on these roadways are out there as potential safety hazards. He stated that
Wayzata High School, congestion, green space, density (housing density), quality of life and more
is why they are here opposing development of Hollydale. He asked that the commission take a
deep look into each of their concerns, emphasizing that this is huge deal for them and for the City
of Plymouth.
Paul Hillen, 16130 43th Avenue, stated that he is also on a steering committee for his association -
Autumn Hills. He noted there are a lot of people in his association concerned with the potential
development of Hollydale Golf Course. He noted he was part of the group that opposed the last
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potential sale of Hollydale in 2006. He said he recognized that the concerns are premature because
there is not an application for Hollydale at this time, but noted that the concerns still remain. He
stated that the issues are not new and only continue to get worse. He stated that the first main issue
today that he is concerned with is water management, as major flooding issues exist in Autumn
Hills and are increasing with the approval of new developments in the area. He said his
neighborhood has had significant flooding issues that have cost over a million dollars to address.
He said 50 percent of their homes have flooded, due to the water management issue. He said he
just filled in his swimming pool because it was unfixable due to the groundwater pressure. He
stated that 50 percent of the homes have either put in a home generator at a cost of $5,000-$10,000
or guardian back-up systems. He said he used to have five sump pumps and now has four, whereas
when he built his home 18 years ago, he had none. He noted that Hollydale sits up high and water
from any development there will further affect this area. He stated that the second issue is housing
density, especially related to traffic. He noted that even with the expansion of Vicksburg Lane, it
takes four to six minutes during peak times to exit his neighborhood. He said several of the
neighborhoods with their main access to Vicksburg Lane experience the same issue in the peak
times, noting particularly the difficulty of turning left. He also noted the safety hazard of teen
drivers coming over the bridge on Schmidt Lake Road near the high school. He stated that many
residents in his neighborhood have children that attend Kimberly Lane Elementary School, and
those children are not able to ride their bikes to school because, given the amount of traffic on Old
Rockford Road, it is not safe. He said the principal at Kimberly Lane will not even put up a bike
rack because of the safety issues. He stated they have reviewed the comprehensive plan and
believe that the potential development of Hollydale is inconsistent with the comprehensive plan
and will make the already existing issues worse than they are today. He stated that if Ward 1
continues to be developed in this manner, the issues will just continue to get worse. He stated that
they are concerned and will continue to express their concerns.
Approval of Agenda
Motion was made by Commissioner Narr, and seconded by Commissioner Witte to approve the
agenda. With all members voting in favor, the motion carried.
Consent Agenda
Motion was made by Commissioner Witte, and seconded by Commissioner Narr, to adopt the
Consent Agenda that included the following items:
(4.01) Planning Commission minutes from meeting held on August 21, 2019.
With all members voting in favor, the motion carried.
Public Hearings
New Business
Approved Minutes 3 of 5 Meeting of September 4, 2019
(6.02) Public meeting on variance for William and Michelle Reynolds to allow a reduced
setback for a home addition at 1745 Troy Lane (2019062)
Senior Planner Berglund provided a summary of the project.
Commissioner Witte asked how this property is zoned FRD (future restricted development) as it
is fully developed.
Senior Planner Berglund stated that this area contains larger lots around Mooney Lake that have
existed for a number of years. He noted that the majority of the lots in the area do not contain
city services and some are not accessed by a public street. He said they remain unchanged from
the time they were created in the early I900's and consequently, remain in FRD.
Commissioner Witte asked the nature of the objection that was received.
Senior Planner Berglund replied that a resident was concerned with why a homeowner would
need eight garage stalls, and that he did not believe that would fit with the character of the
neighborhood.
Chair Anderson stated that recently the Planning Commission recommended approval of
amendments to the zoning ordinance to conform to the new comprehensive plan, noting that one
of those actions was to remove the FRD zoning district. He asked how that would apply to this
situation.
Senior Planner Berglund replied that the RSF-R district was removed from the zoning ordinance,
not the FRD district.
Commissioner Narr asked the building elevation for the neighboring properties and whether the
property is serviced by the City.
Senior Planner Berglund confirmed that these lots are not served by water or sanitary sewer
services. He noted that the neighborhood has a mixture of single-story or rambler-style homes
along with homes that have multiple stories. He stated that the proposed height of the home
would meet the height requirements of the zoning ordinance.
Commissioner Witte asked why the City would be concerned with the number of driveway
accesses off of a private road.
Senior Planner Berglund replied that each single-family home is allowed one curb cut access.
He stated that if an additional access is requested, that request would need to come to the City.
He noted that there is no difference as to whether the access is onto a public or private street.
Commissioner Witte stated that it appears there are multiple homes in that neighborhood with
two accesses, which seems to create a precedent.
Approved Minutes 4 of 5 Meeting of September 4, 2019
Senior Planner Berglund confirmed that to be correct. He noted that a second access could be
requested and·would be reviewed administratively.
Bill and Michelle Reynolds, the applicants, stated that based on the complaint received from a
neighbor, they have redesigned the proposed addition to remove two of the garage stalls,
reducing the number from eight to six. Mr. Reynolds stated that the second story has also been
eliminated. He stated that there are 15 homes on Troy Lane and that one home has nine garage
stalls; one home recently received City approval for an addition of 1,431 square feet to the
existing two-stall garage, which equates to seven garage stalls; two homes have five-stall
garages; and one property owner has multiple garages across two properties. He noted that they
would be the sixth home to have additional garage space, which is not out of character for this
neighborhood. He mentioned that in the report, it notes that six of the 15 properties have
multiple accesses, and therefore his request is within the character of the neighborhood. He
stated that they worked extensively with their architect to create an aesthetically pleasing design.
He explained that they purchased the home because they like the home and neighborhood, but
need to make some changes, including a larger garage. He stated he does not want it to look like
a large garage, which is why they designed it in this manner with multiple doors that cannot be
seen when driving by.
Mrs. Reynolds stated that another property in the neighborhood received a similar variance
earlier this year and just applied for their building permit.
Chair Anderson referenced the new drawing and asked the applicants if they are amending their
application for approval of the revised design. Mr. Reynolds confirmed that to be the case.
Commissioner Markell stated that the new drawing A3, versus the old drawing A2, does not
change the number of garage doors, just eliminates the tandem stalls, but does remove the second
story.
Mr. Reynolds confirmed that to be true. He also added the point that the variance request is for
7.2 feet ofreduced setback from 50 feet to 42.8 feet. He stated that the comment received from a
neighbor was not related to the variance, but to the number of garage stalls. He noted that they
are within the City of Plymouth's requirements with respect to garage stalls.
Commissioner Witte referenced the impervious surface requirement and asked for details on the
proposed materials for the new driveway.
Mr. Reynolds stated that some of the existing driveway will be removed to align with the new
garage alignment. He noted that even without that, the property would still be under the 25
percent maximum.
Chair Anderson asked if there was anyone in the audience requesting to speak on this item.
Chair Anderson introduced Paul McRoberts, 1810 Troy Lane, who stated that Troy Lane is a
private road not served by public benefits, including plowing and maintenance. He stated that to
his knowledge there are only circular/horseshoe driveways on Troy Lane. He stated that his
main purpose in filing an objection is that to his knowledge, there are not any homes that have
Approved Minutes 5 of 5 Meeting of September 4, 2019
larger than a three-car garage. He questioned the accuracy of the information provided by the
applicant earlier, as he did not believe that to be true to his knowledge. He stated that an eight-
car garage would be excessive for the neighborhood. He stated that while he appreciates people
that collect cars, those people should build an outbuilding or find space further out of the city.
He stated there are public utilities on the street, as he and his neighboring property have public
sewer services.
Mr. Reynolds provided additional information on the data that he found on Zillow and the City's
website about the other homes on Troy Lane and the garage spaces available to dispute the
comment of inaccuracy by the previous speaker.
Mrs. Reynolds stated that four of the homes on Troy Lane have horseshoe driveways and
provided an example of a home that has access points onto two different streets. She noted that
Mr. McRoberts and his neighbor were able to connect to City services because they back up to
the park where connections were available. She stated there is a mix of homes in the
neighborhood as home building began in 1939 and continued in each decade through 2002,
consequently there is not a predominant style of home.
Mr. McRoberts stated that the first home on Troy Lane had a County Road 6 address, and the
owners were able to convince the neighboring property owner to provide them with an easement
to allow access to their garage onto Troy Lane. He confirmed that property has two very large
outbuildings, but he said he was unsure that those would be usable as garages. He stated that the
last home on Troy Lane is zoned agricultural, and therefore has a number of privileges that other
homes in the area do not.
Chair Anderson stated that the application is for a variance from a front yard setback, and
therefore the number of garage stalls, whether City services are available and driveway accesses
are not issues the commission will be considering.
Planning Manager Thomson stated that a second access request would be reviewed
administratively and would be considered on an individual basis.
Motion was made by Commissioner Markell, and seconded by Commissioner Witte, to
recommend approval of the request by William and Michelle Reynolds to allow a reduced
setback for a home addition at 1745 Troy Lane . With all members voting in favor, the motion
carried.
Adjournment
Chair Anderson adjourned the meeting at 7:51 p.m.