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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning Commission Minutes 01-18-20231 Approved Minutes January 18, 2023 Approved Minutes Planning Commission Meeting January 18, 2023 Chair Boo 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 January 18, 2023. COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Michael Boo, Marc Anderson, Julie Olson, Neha Markanda, Jennifer Jerulle, and Josh Fowler. COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Bill Wixon STAFF PRESENT: Planning and Development Manager Chloe McGuire, Senior Planner Shawn Drill, Senior Planner Kip Berglund, and Engineering Services Manager Chris McKenzie. Chair Boo led the Pledge of Allegiance. Call to Order (1.1) Oath of Office for New Commissioners Planning and Development Manager Chloe McGuire swore in Neha Markanda, Jennifer Jerulle, and Josh Fowler. (1.2) Election of Planning Commission Chair and Vice Chair for 2023 Motion was made by Commissioner Anderson and seconded by Commissioner Olson to approve Michael Boo as Chair and Marc Anderson as Vice Chair. Open Forum Approval of Agenda Motion was made by Commissioner Anderson and seconded by Commissioner Olson to approve the agenda. With all Commissioners voting in favor, the motion carried. Consent Agenda (4.1) Planning Commission minutes from meeting held on December 7, 2022. 2 Approved Minutes January 18, 2023 (4.2) Variance to allow a swimming pool in the front yard at 19040 County Road 6 (Scalon Inc – 2022086) (4.3) Variance to allow an eight-foot fence in the side yard at 17145 9th Ave N (Robert Mueller – 2022085) (4.4) Review 2023 Meeting Dates Motion was made by Commissioner Anderson and seconded by Commissioner Olson to approve the consent agenda. With all Commissioners voting in favor, the motion carried. Public Hearings (5.1) Preliminary plat, site plan, and variances for a new one-story, 32-unit "Suite Living" assisted living/memory care home in the west portion of the property located at 4325 Zachary Lane (Hampton Companies, LLC -- 2022-080) Senior Planner Drill presented the staff report. Commissioner Olson asked the status of the private easement with the church and whether the church agrees to that. Senior Planner Drill replied that the church would sell lot two to the developer and part of that sales agreement would include the access easement. Commissioner Olson asked if the parking would occur on either side of Lot 2. Senior Planner Drill identified the proposed parking for Suite Living and the parking area for the church noting that the proposed parking would exceed the city standards. Commissioner Anderson asked whether the church currently has sufficient parking or currently has overflow during busy time. Senior Planner Drill replied that there are times when the parking lot at the playfields gets full and perhaps there are instances when those users park at the church. He stated that it would seem natural to have a shared parking agreement between the city and church and noted that staff is working on that separately. Commissioner Anderson asked and received confirmation that a member representing the church is present to answer questions tonight. He stated that this would create a lot that does not have direct access to a public street and would think that would fall under a subdivision requirement rather than a zoning variance. 3 Approved Minutes January 18, 2023 Senior Planner Drill replied that the subdivision language does not include such a requirement, and therefore the requirement falls under zoning ordinance and would require a variance. He stated that there are PUDs that include similar approvals to have access through easement. Commissioner Anderson agreed that it would be difficult to get a street through to the property but wondered if a zoning variance was the best way to move forward instead of a PUD. Senior Planner Drill replied that, from staff’s perspective, a zoning variance would be the best option to approve such access. Planning and Development Manager McGuire stated that this is a unique property as it does front Rockford Road on the south, but they do not want access there. Commissioner Jerulle asked if there would be one or two easements. Senior Planner Drill stated that the residents of the assisted and memory care units would not be driving, so the traffic would be generated by staff, visitors, and some vendors. He provided details on the flow of traffic. He stated that there would be one private and perpetual easement for access and some others for utilities. He noted that perhaps on holidays there would be more visitors and the church could agree to allow a row of shared parking but stated that would be a discussion between the church and Suite Living. Commissioner Jerulle asked if there would be a public safety concern because the access easement runs so close to the front of the church. Senior Planner Drill said staff did not have concern as most of the traffic accessing the Suite Living building would occur during off-peak times from the church. Commissioner Fowler asked if there has been discussion about signage that would require Suite Living traffic to move straight upon entry to the site and stay away from the front of the church. Senior Planner Drill replied that there has not been such discussion at this time. Commissioner Fowler asked if emergency vehicles would be able to make the turn at the southeast corner if there were vehicles dropping off at the church. Senior Planner Drill confirmed that those drive aisles are wide enough to support emergency vehicles. Chair Boo asked if there would be signage on Zachary Lane for Suite Living and whether that would count against the signage allowed for the church. Senior Planner Drill identified the proposed location for the Suite Living sign, which would meet ordinance requirements. He stated that each site would have its own signage allowances as this process would create a new lot. Chair Boo introduced Jeremy Larson, representing the applicant, who noted that he was available for questions. 4 Approved Minutes January 18, 2023 Commissioner Anderson asked if there were concerns that the church could overflow into the Suite Living parking area. Mr. Larson replied that they have 13 facilities running at this time, with roughly six employees during the day and four at night. He stated that even on holidays and busier visiting times they have not experienced any parking issues and did not anticipate that they would overflow into the church. He commented that they sadly do not have many visitors as most residents are at the end of their lives. Commissioner Anderson asked if ambulances are frequent visitors. Mr. Larson replied that while that may occur during an emergency, it is not a regular occurrence. Chair Boo opened the public hearing. Chair Boo introduced Reverend Bruce Kronen, representing Pilgrim Church, who thanked the commission for their consideration. He stated that the church has a heart in partnering with other entities to continue their mission to help others. He stated that currently they do not make total use of their parking and therefore did not have any issues with overflow parking. He noted that they have allowed the elementary school and city park users to park in their lot and have not experienced any issues. Chair Boo introduced Fred Stelter, 14505 43rd Avenue N, who stated that he has parked at the church for his son’s baseball game. He stated that he has been a resident for over 35 years and believed that this layout makes sense. He commented that this is a wonderful use of an underutilized property. Chair Boo closed the public hearing. Commissioner Anderson stated that this is a creative concept in using an open part of a lot to create a needed use in the community. He commented that this single level building will blend nicely into the area and the easement seems to be the best way to provide access. He was not concerned with the site not meeting the minimum acreage. He referenced proposed condition #10 which states that the city and church will continue to discuss easements and asked if the applicant should also be party to that. Senior Planner Drill agreed and stated that additional language to include the applicant would be added. Commissioner Olson agreed that this is a good project that she also supports. Motion was made by Commissioner Anderson and seconded by Commissioner Olson to recommend approval of the resolution for preliminary plat, site plan, and variances for Hampton Companies LLC for an assisted living and memory care home in the west portion of the property located at 4325 Zachary Lane with noted conditions. With all Commissioners voting in favor, the motion carried. 5 Approved Minutes January 18, 2023 (5.2) Site plan amendment and conditional use permit for the construction of a freestanding laboratory building and associated improvements (Honeywell International, Inc. - 12001 Highway 55 - 2022081) Senior Planner Berglund presented the staff report. Commissioner Markanda asked the proposed hours of operation. Senior Planner Berglund replied that the hours of operation were not provided in the application but noted that a representative is present that could address that question. Chair Boo introduced Doctor Matt Wiebold, representing the applicant, who stated that he is present to address questions. He stated that they do not plan to operate outside of typical business hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. The other members of the applicant’s team introduced themselves as well. Commissioner Olson asked if there are chemicals of concern in the laboratory. Dr. Wiebold replied that they do not have hazardous material or chemicals in the building. Commissioner Olson asked there would be additional employees as a result of this project. Dr. Wiebold replied that they would anticipate hiring a few more employees as a result of the project, estimating that two to eight employees in total would be added. Chair Boo introduced Stephanie Stillman, 510 Magnolia Lane N, who stated that her family recently moved to Plymouth in November. She requested that the project undergo an environmental review as the company has 79 environmental related incidents. She believed that the environmental review would provide additional guidance for the project. Chair Boo introduced Keith Waaraniemi, 11800 Sunset Trail, who stated that Honeywell has been a good neighbor and appreciated the information that has been provided tonight. He stated that his main concern would be related to water quality, air quality and potential noise impacts. He noted that the proposed building would be close to the yards on Sunset Trail. He commented that Honeywell planted trees 10 to 15 years ago that acted as a buffer but noted that many of those trees have died and requested that those in need be replaced. Chair Boo introduced Wilson Moy, 1100 Kirkland Lane, stated that he has lived in his home for 28 years and his concern would be with the use of toxic and lethal materials used by Honeywell. He recognized that is not proposed in this facility but noted that intention could change in the future. Chair Boo closed the public hearing. Senior Planner Berglund commented that there is a threshold for projects that would trigger the need or requirement for an EAW. He stated that the size of the proposed project, at 5,000 to 6 Approved Minutes January 18, 2023 6,000 square feet would not trigger an environmental review. He stated that the draft resolution would require any mechanical equipment related to the building to meet the requirements within the noise ordinance. He stated that the city does have water quality standards and air quality is regulated by the MPCA. He referenced the comments related to the tree buffer and confirmed that those trees would remain in place. He stated that if this is approved, the applicant would still need to go through the building permit process which would require disclosure of any hazardous materials. He stated that if the plans of the applicant changed in the future to involve hazardous materials, the applicant would need to work through the MPCA process. Chair Boo asked the applicant to address questions regarding the use or storage of any hazardous materials or chemicals on-site and MPCA process for the use of any hazardous materials or chemicals. Dr. Wiebold replied that the company regulates with all requirements and MPCA requirements. He stated that the equipment developed in this building does not involve hazardous material or chemicals. He stated that the new building would be laboratory space. Commissioner Anderson stated that the rumor that this site would handle hazardous materials would not apply to this application. Senior Planner Berglund confirmed that this review is for the newly proposed building. Commissioner Anderson stated that once constructed, the owner could change the use within but anything involving chemicals that would be of concern or hazardous materials would have to go through the process of the MPCA. Senior Planner Berglund agreed that the use could change as long as the proposed use would be allowed within the zoning district. Commissioner Jerulle asked if there is language in the draft resolution related to potential pollutants. Senior Planner Berglund reviewed the proposed condition related to noise regulation. He noted that there are regulations related to water quality within city code. He stated that if desired an additional condition could be added. Commissioner Markanda asked if additional information could be gained relating to the environmental incidents mentioned. Planning and Development Manager McGuire replied that the city cannot take those into account for this application. She stated that there is a rigorous review process during the building permit process and anything that would not match the intended use would be flagged. Chair Boo appreciated the seriousness of the questions raised related to potential uses and related requirements. He stated that they need to take into account their limited role of review and that other agencies or entities are charged with reviewing those issues. He noted that the commission must focus on the matters charged to it. 7 Approved Minutes January 18, 2023 Commissioner Anderson commented that this application meets the requirements. He stated that in his opinion this would be an ugly building even though it meets the requirements. He noted that unless he goes hunting for the building, he may never see it because it lies further into the site and there is a buffer of trees between the subject property and adjacent residential properties. He stated that he does not see a reason to oppose the request as the requirements are met. Motion was made by Chair Boo and seconded by Commissioner Anderson to recommend approval of the resolution approving a site plan amendment and conditional use permit for Honeywell International Inc. for property located at 12001 Highway 55 with the noted conditions and requirement that the applicant comply with any applicable environmental regulations for the property and its intended use. With all Commissioners voting in favor, the motion carried. New Business Adjournment Chair Boo adjourned the meeting at 8:19 p.m.