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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning Commission Minutes 08-04-2010Approved Minutes City of Plymouth Planning Commission Meeting August 4, 2010 MEMBERS PRESENT: Chair James Davis, Commissioners Dick Kobussen, Nathan Robinson, Gordon Petrash, Scott Nelson, Erik Aamoth and Marc Anderson U 1010 1 C_ _a_: f0- STAFF PRESENT: Planning Manager Barbara Senness, Senior Planner Shawn Drill, Senior Planner Joshua Doty and Office Support Specialist Laurie Lokken 1. CALL TO ORDER - 7:00 P.M. 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 3. PUBLIC FORUM 4. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION by Commissioner Petrash, seconded by Commissioner Anderson, to approve the August 4, 2010 Planning Commission Agenda. Vote. 7 Ayes. MOTION approved. 5. CONSENT AGENDA A. APPROVAL OF THE JULY 211 2010 PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES MOTION by Commissioner Petrash, seconded by Commissioner Kobussen, to approve the July 21, 2010 Planning Commission Minutes. Vote. 7 Ayes. MOTION approved. 6. PUBLIC HEARINGS A. CITY OF PLYMOUTH (2007106) Chair Davis introduced the request by the City of Plymouth for termination of the interim use permit and revocation of the conditional use permit for Liberty Property Trust for property located at 9600 54th Avenue North. Planning Manager Senness asked that the request be continued to the October 6, 2010 meeting to allow the Liberty Trust an opportunity to work out an arrangement with the adjacent property owner to purchase the portion of their lot containing needed parking. MOTION by Chair Davis to continue the request by the City of Plymouth for termination of the interim use permit and revocation of the conditional use permit for Liberty Property Trust for Approved Planning Commission Minutes August 4, 2010 Page 2 property located at 9600 54'h Avenue North to the October 6, 2010 meeting. Vote. 7 Ayes. MOTION approved. B. CITY OF PLYMOUTH (2010062) Chair Davis introduced the request by the City of Plymouth for a zoning ordinance amendment relating to the expansion of certain lawfully non -conforming structures. Senior Planner Drill gave an overview of the staff report. Chair Davis asked what the day to day impact would be with this change to the zoning ordinance. Senior Planner Drill responded that this would not have an impact on the way we currently apply the ordinance. He said that it would make it clear that we can continue to approve administrative permits as we have in the past without the potential of having issues with the new case law regarding variances. Chair Davis opened and closed the public hearing as there was no one present to speak on the item. MOTION by Commissioner Nelson, seconded by Commissioner Anderson, to approve the request by the City of Plymouth for a zoning ordinance text amendment relating to expansion of certain lawfully non -conforming structures. Roll Call Vote. 7 Ayes. MOTION approved unanimously. 7. NEW BUSINESS A. PLYMOUTH COVENANT CHURCH (2005111) Chair Davis introduced the request by Plymouth Covenant Church for a site plan amendment to expand the parking lot for property located at 4300 Vicksburg Lane North. Senior Planner Doty gave an overview of the staff report. Commissioner Anderson asked that if the surface is pervious, if no additional storm ponding or any treatment of stormwater before it gets to the wetland would be needed. Senior Planner Doty replied affirmatively. He added that there is a condition in the attached resolution requiring approval from the watershed district and it is unknown whether they would require anything by way of treatment. He said that as far as the city is concerned, this system would function for that treatment. Commissioner Anderson said that Plymouth is known for its clay soils and he asked if cross section and additional sand would be required. Senior Planner Doty said that there is a cross section on the plans. He said there is a condition in the resolution to make sure it is designed to meet our definition of a pervious system, essentially holding a three-inch rain event for 24 hours. He said that they would need to add the appropriate soils below. Approved Planning Commission Minutes August 4, 2010 Page 3 Commissioner Nelson asked if the city has looked at or if the watershed examines the porous asphalt system. Senior Planner Doty responded that there are porous asphalt applications across the metro area and this system was based on some of those designs. He said that the city has seen the product and its application but that there is currently not a porous asphalt parking lot in Plymouth. Chair Davis asked what would happen if the porous asphalt system didn't work the way it was intended. Senior Planner Doty replied that the porous asphalt is designed to allow rain to get through the asphalt system into the subgrade. Chair Davis asked if the city zoning ordinance includes any maximum requirements for number of parking spaces. Senior Planner Doty responded that the city does not have maximum requirements with a church use. He said that staff tries to work with applicants to not create new impervious surface areas when possible but in this instance, this would be considered a pervious surface. Commissioner Nelson asked if the 29 trees to be removed are measureable by the caliper inches as defined by the city or if there are additional smaller sapling trees that would be removed as well and not included in the total. Senior Planner Doty responded that the trees are not measureable in terms of our tree preservation ordinance as that is required when platting property. He said the 29 trees are based on what they are showing as removals in the area of the parking lot. Chair Davis introduced the applicant, Scott Heintzeman, representing Plymouth Covenant Church. Mr. Heintzeman said that in 2005, the church had been helped and guided by city staff through the process for their building and parking expansion project. He said that in the three years since completion of that expansion, they have been blessed with a tremendous amount of growth in attendance in their church. He said that expansion and that growth had led them to a parking problem. Mr. Heintzeman said that they had originally contemplated parking opportunities in that area of their property but they had not known how fast or how soon they would need that parking. He said that they have about 1,100 to 1,200 people attending their church on a normal weekend and that in September, they could see another 20 percent more families looking for a new place to belong and to get their children involved in youth programs. Mr. Heintzeman said that they have many people that park on the streets and in the neighborhoods. He said that they have tried to make a shuttle service work but it is not a permanent fix and has not been totally successful. He said that they have tried adding more services for optimal use of their facility. He said that as they have calculated attendance and the anticipated growth, their church needs about 70 to 80 additional parking spaces to accommodate their current building. He said that they do not see themselves expanding the building any further than what they have. He said that they just want to be good stewards of the land they own and the building already built on the premises. Approved Planning Commission Minutes August 4, 2010 Page 4 Mr. Heintzeman said that they have spent extra money to accomplish the pervious surface outlined. He said that they want to make sure that it is environmentally friendly and acceptable in the community. He said that they are concerned about being good neighbors and making sure that they don't create an unfriendly environment. Mr. Heintzeman said that they have heard concerns from neighbors about the lighting and that the parking lot might not be visually attractive from their property. He said that they would address any concerns about tree removal and added that they are planting 10 trees along the north side. He said that they could increase the size of the berm up another two feet, which would create about a six-foot berm on the north side that would tie in with the existing berm on the west side of the lot. Commissioner Kobussen asked what kind of lighting would be added and when they would be lit. Mr. Heintzeman responded that they would be adding three lights to the lot just to make sure that they have a reasonable amount of lighting on that end of the lot. He said that he would like a modest level of lighting through the evening to make sure that there is a secure and safe environment. Chair Davis asked what kind of lighting is in their current lot. Mr. Heintzeman replied that it is a can lighting that is a softer lighting. He said that it is not a harsh, bright lighting as found in store parking lots. Planning Manager Senness added that at the time the church was expanded in 2005, the city's current lighting regulations were in place. Commissioner Nelson asked how many services they have now. Mr. Heintzeman responded that they have three services right now. He said they have two services on Sunday mornings and one Saturday evening service. Commissioner Nelson asked if adding another service had been discussed to alleviate parking. Mr. Heintzeman replied that they have to balance out with volunteer staff to cover additional services. He said that if found appropriate, another Sunday service could be entertained but at this point, the three services seem to be the optimal use of their facility. Chair Davis introduced an additional applicant, Bob Leinberger, pastor of Plymouth Covenant Church. Pastor Leinberger said that there is not enough parking and that there is parking occurring in the streets and neighborhoods. He said that there are a lot of children crossing Vicksburg Lane and this is a very dangerous situation. He said that it is very important to them to be able to work with their neighbors and the community. Chair Davis introduced Ron Meyer, 15905 43rd Avenue North. Mr. Meyer said that the parking situation is tough. He said that a parishioner in a safety vest had been directing traffic on Vicksburg Lane to help people cross the street. He said that he had discussed this with the Police Department and this practice had stopped. He said that for the most part, the church has been a great neighbor. Mr. Meyer said that for the 2005 site amendment and expansion, there were more than 200 trees that were removed. He said that he understands progress. He said that the church has not Approved Planning Commission Minutes August 4, 2010 Page 5 replaced any of the trees and that it was a shame that the property was decimated. He said that there should be more than 10 trees planted on this property. Mr. Meyer said that the property looks pretty ratty on the corner. He said the berm would visually block the new parking lot from his yard. He said that even though he can't see the parking lot, he certainly hears the parking lot (especially on Wednesday evenings) with car alarms, teenagers yelling and screaming and noisy exits from the parking lot. He said that with the only stormwater retention on the property being a small area on the south side of the building, there should be some sort of covenant that this is going to be guaranteed to remain a pervious lot. He said that melting snow entering the pores of the asphalt in the spring will freeze and bust the asphalt up. He said that it will deteriorate after a number of years and this isn't the cheapest asphalt to be covered over and look decent again. Mr. Meyer said that he would want lighting on over there to prevent anyone from raising mischief. He said that he agrees that the parking lot lighting that is there is excellent lighting and does not cause significant glare. Mr. Meyer said that his concerns are the safety standpoint for the church and for the neighbors. He said that he didn't feel that the church expansion had been done properly in the past and that it should be addressed to some extent in this proposal. He said that he didn't know what promises were made in 2005 and that if there were any made, they weren't very worthwhile. He said that he hoped this proposal would be entered into a little more thoughtfully. Chair Davis introduced Richard Davideit, 4420 Vicksburg Lane North. Mr. Davideit said that they would prefer that the parking lot not be put in there. He said that they intend to eventually subdivide their property and there could be homes built overlooking this parking lot. He said that if they can't talk them out of putting the parking lot there, to at least make it so it has the least impact on the value of the adjacent property. Mr. Davideit said that his main concern is that they leave as many trees as possible. He said that right now the border between their property and the church is filled with trees. He said that they intend to leave their trees up and they hope that the church would be able to leave many of their trees up. He said that the trees do help provide a screen. Mr. Davideit said that a berm would be a help. He said that there is a distance of 30 feet between the north end of the parking lot and the border of their property. He said that the bigger the berm, the better it would be for their property. Mr. Davideit said that the lights are not as bad as they could have been but that you can still see the filaments. He said that he hoped that they do not have any lights at all in this addition. Mr. Davideit said that in the parking lot, there are parking spaces that point north/south and some parking spaces that point east/west. He said that the parking spaces pointing north/south could shine lights into homes that could potentially be built there. He asked if it would be possible to eliminate those parking spaces and still be able to get the same number of parking spaces. Approved Planning Commission Minutes August 4, 2010 Page 6 Mr. Davideit said that adding another service and not building the parking lot at all sounded like a good idea to him. Senior Planner Doty said that no lighting plan was submitted with the application. He confirmed for Chair Davis that they can add lighting. He said that they need to submit a lighting plan that is in compliance with the zoning ordinance and comparable to what they did for their 2005 expansion project. Senior Planner Doty said that there are trees being removed with this application and they are mainly located in the area of the parking lot. He said that there are also new trees being proposed that are in compliance with the zoning ordinance. He said the city has minimum requirements for landscaping and for screening. He said that staff spent a lot of time with the church on the 2005 expansion site plan regarding trees. He said that an early site plan version in 2005 included a large stormwater treatment pond in the northwest corner of the property. He said that staff worked extensively with the church to have that rerouted at considerable expense to the church. He said that even though the church was not subject to tree preservation in 2005 either, the church agreed to have the drainage rerouted around to the south side of the church, where there were fewer trees, into a rain garden and then into a stormwater treatment pond. He said the zoning ordinance minimums for tree planting in 2005 were 40 trees and they exceeded that requirement. He said that with this application they are not adding any square footage to their building but they have provided landscaping all the way around the site. Commissioner Nelson asked if there would be a berm on the north side. Senior Planner Doty replied that there would be a couple feet of increased elevation from the parking grades. He said that more fill would need to be added for it to be considered a berm. Chair Davis asked if the intent is to clear that entire area of trees, pave it and then put in berms. Senior Planner Doty responded affirmatively. He said that there are trees being preserved along the northerly property line. He said that most of the trees to be removed are volunteer trees that are roughly eight inches in diameter. He said that trees of significant size are east of the parking lot. Chair Davis asked if the plan is for the western edge of the proposed parking lot to look like the current parking lot. Senior Planner Doty confirmed that it would look uniform. Commissioner Kobussen asked if they would be leveling out or raising the proposed parking lot. Senior Planner Doty replied that there would be fill that would need to be removed to achieve the grades shown on the plan. Chair Davis asked that if the elevation for the proposed parking lot would be four feet lower than the property to the north, whether a berm would shield some of the lighting from headlights. Senior Planner Doty responded that a six-foot berm would shield parking lot lighting on the Vicksburg Lane side and that if there is a concern about shielding parking lot lighting in addition to the screening that is proposed, perhaps berming along the north side might be in order. Chair Davis said that increasing the berm size up an additional two feet would be a good idea and would alleviate future lighting problems when the property to the north would be developed. Approved Planning Commission Minutes August 4, 2010 Page 7 Planning Manager Senness said that maintaining the porous asphalt as a pervious surface over time could be built into the maintenance agreement. Commissioner Nelson asked who would be responsible for inspecting porous lots over time. Planning Manager Senness responded that the existence of pervious systems is relatively new and that nothing has been in place long enough to require inspection. She added that everything is required to meet city regulations when it goes in. She said that as far as a maintenance schedule, nothing has been established at this point in time. Commissioner Anderson said that there had been a question that perhaps the church had not met all its previous promises during the previous construction. He asked if there were any issues that the city sees in terms of violation of past approvals and conditions that are outstanding at this time. Senior Planner Doty said he is not aware of any complaints on the property. He said that when the previous project was approved, the church had to enter into an agreement with a financial guarantee for the site improvements to ensure that the approved plans were completed. Commissioner Anderson said that he presumes that these financial guarantees were released. Senior Planner Doty said that the financial guarantees were released. Commissioner Anderson stated that it was nice to hear that in the last go around, that a large stormwater pond was not put in. He added that normally storm water ponding trumps trees and it sounds like we had an instance where the trees trumped the stormwater ponding, which is nice to hear. He said that his opinion is that the existing enrollment in participation at this church warrants a parking expansion. He said that having people walk across a busy street is a dangerous situation and that having additional parking on the site will be a much safer situation. He said that he would like to see an increase in the berm size on the north side of the parking lot and would like to see an increase in the tree count as well. Commissioner Anderson asked if that is something we can add as a condition. Senior Planner Doty stated that the applicant meets the requirements for tree planting and screening but that the Planning Commission could condition additional berming and trees. Commissioner Anderson stated that there is a church on County Road 6 that has hired an off- duty police officer to manage traffic and suggested that if they have a situation that is unsafe, that is something they may want to consider. Commissioner Nelson said that he echoes what Commissioner Anderson had to say. He said that safety is the primary driving force here and it warrants building the extra parking. He said it is obvious that the church has become a very popular destination for citizens and feels that the parking lot needs to be added. He agrees that the berm needs to be raised on the north end of the parking lot. He said that he also agrees that more trees need to be added. Commissioner Nelson added that there should be lighting and that the applicant should submit a lighting plan. Planning Manager Senness asked Senior Planner Doty if there was discussion about not adding lighting during the city review. Senior Planner Doty said that he understood that there wasn't going to be any lighting but added that if they would like to have lighting, they would need to submit a lighting plan for review and approval. Approved Planning Commission Minutes August 4, 2010 Page 8 Commissioner Petrash stated that he is one of the reasons why the church needs the additional parking, as he has been attending for the last three years. He said that this church has done a lot of good and that there aren't a lot of things that are in strong growth mode and this church happens to be so. He added that one of the reasons they moved here was because of the church, the planning of Plymouth, which is great, and it's close to his work. He said obviously there are a lot of other people that also see a benefit to the church and what they offer. He said he is going to abstain from voting. To address concerns raised, Planning Manager Senness said that under item 3. b. in the resolution, language could be added after "A maintenance agreement is required for the porous pavement area" to state "to ensure it continues to function as originally designed." Planning Manager Senness said that under item 3. d. a number 2. Could be added to state Modify the grading plan to increase the height of the berm on the north side of the parking lot by two feet." Mr. Heintzeman said that they would be very happy to push up that berm by two feet. He said that it would actually save them money by not having to remove dirt. He said that during construction, the berm could be reviewed by staff and an additional foot or two on top of that could be added if needed. Mr. Heintzeman said that there is a version of the site plan that depicted three lights and he is not sure how that did not get discussed. He said that they definitely want lights that would be very similar in style and appearance to the current lighting. Mr. Heintzeman said that they already have a sweeping contract that has been solicited and accepted from a sweeping and vacuuming service. He said that service is arranged to be twice per year and it is contingent upon completion of the lot. He said there would also be sweeping of the streets during construction. Mr. Heintzeman added that he apologizes for the noise and activity in the parking lot at night and he has given his business card to Mr. Meyer to make sure that this gets addressed. He said that they want ensure that they are providing a safe and respectful environment to everybody. Mr. Heintzeman said that they had to post a large sum of money during the last construction project to make sure that all of the tree plantings were done as promised. He said that they only received portions of that money back at a time while the city made sure that their plantings lived. He said that as years have gone by, they have confirmed that trees have lived and that plantings have been more than adequate. He said that all of the moneys have been refunded by the City of Plymouth back to the church. He said that this same process would be followed during this project. Mr. Heintzeman added that there had been a comment about the unsightliness of some of the landscaping. He responded that that much of that area is designated to be maintained in its Approved Planning Commission Minutes August 4, 2010 Page 9 natural state. He said that they would be happy to work with the city to revise those conditions and clean up or better landscape that area. Chair Davis asked if they could get more trees. Mr. Heintzeman responded that they would be planting six-foot pine trees along the north edge of the site and added that they could plant an additional four trees if requested. Chair Davis asked if anything added to the west side would have to be removed when Vicksburg Lane is expanded. Senior Planner Doty responded that the city has the right-of-way that is needed to expand Vicksburg Lane without impacting that area. He added that there are more than 10 trees proposed. He said that we have discussed the 10 trees because they are the screening proposed on the north side of the parking lot. He said that there are over 20 trees proposed in total. Planning Manager Senness said that a new standard condition could be added to the resolution to address the lighting. She said a new item 5. c. could be added, making the others items d. and e., that said lighting must meet all the requirements of the zoning ordinance. MOTION by Commissioner Nelson, seconded by Commissioner Anderson, to approve the request by the Plymouth Covenant Church for a site plan amendment to expand the parking lot for property located at 4300 Vicksburg Lane North subject to the revised resolution. Commissioner Anderson said to add language for the berm to go at least two feet higher. He said that fill material might be available and it would be beneficial to keep it onsite. Commissioner Robinson said that the church is being a good neighbor. He said that they have tried to adapt and change their plan to what has been presented. He said that they have taken all the steps they could before having to expand their parking lot. He said that he would be voting in support of this request. Vote. 6 Ayes (Commissioner Petrash abstained). MOTION approved. 8. ADJOURNMENT MOTION by Chair Davis, without objection, to adjourn the meeting at 8:15 p.m.