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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning Commission Minutes 01-07-2009Approved Minutes City of Plymouth Planning Commission Meeting January 7, 2009 MEMBERS PRESENT: Acting Chair James Davis, Commissioners Erik Aamoth, Scott Nelson, Gordon Petrash, Terry Jaffoni and Karl Neset MEMBERS ABSENT: None STAFF PRESENT: Planning Manager Barbara Senness, Senior Planner Marie Darling 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 Nelson, seconded by Commissioner Jaffoni, to approve the January 7, 2009 Planning Commission Agenda. Vote. 6 Ayes. MOTION approved. 5. CONSENT AGENDA A. APPROVAL OF THE DECEMBER 3, 2008 PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES MOTION by Commissioner Petrash, seconded by Commissioner Nelson, to approve the December 3, 2008 Planning Commission Minutes. Vote. 5 Ayes. MOTION approved. Commissioner Jaffoni abstained. 6. PUBLIC HEARING A. WAYNE JESKE ASSOCIATES, INC. (2008109) Acting Chair Davis introduced the request by Wayne Jeske Associates, Inc. for rezoning and planned unit development general plan to allow a 1,170 -square foot addition to the southeast corner of the Tri-State Drilling building and related site improvements for property located at 16940 State Highway 55. Senior Planner Darling gave an overview of the staff report. Senior Planner Darling noted that additions to the submitted correspondence in the staff report had been received and added to public record. Approved Planning Commission Minutes January 7, 2009 Page 2 Commissioner Petrash asked if there is anything stored above the fence now that could be seen. Senior Planner Darling said that staff has heard from neighbors that there is. Commissioner Petrash asked that if the police were called for noise concerns, what recourse would there be if they keep making reports and the noise keeps happening. Senior Planner Darling said that staff did hear that the police were called to the site when noise began before 7:00 a.m., which is in violation of the City's noise ordinance. She said that a number of residents reported that the loud speaker system was audible from their homes. Commissioner Petrash asked that if there are things happening that are against what the original intent was for height and noise, what could be done to meet the height and noise requirements since they are asking for additional fence and rezoning. Senior Planner Darling said that if items were to be stored above the height of the fence or if the noise volume increases again, normal enforcement procedures are to be followed. She said that when staff points out the problem, most property owners comply and if they don't, the issue could be taken to court by the City if rezoning to PUD were to be approved. Commissioner Jaffoni said that the proposed resolution states that the fence would be 8 feet and that storage would be behind the fence, with the exception of vehicles and equipment that stand higher than the fence. She asked if there would be any recourse for complaints about appearance besides going to court, such as dialogue between the applicant and residents. Senior Planner Darling said that she was not aware of any previous discussions and deferred to the applicant to address. Planning Manager Senness added that there is a crane on site, and since this is a legally nonconforming use, the crane can be visible. She said that it is an existing use and it is not something that the City can tell them to stop doing. She said that in similar cases, the City does not require screening of vehicles. Commissioner Jaffoni said that the proposal included putting in a parking lot on the west side of the building and asked where the current material stored would be moved to. Planning Manager Senness deferred to the applicant to address. Planning Manager Senness responded to Commissioner Petrash that as far as trying to screen all of the use, that is not something that could be possible but they could require equipment to be parked away from the fence. Commissioner Nelson said that rezoning to PUD is in the best interest of the City and gives the City the most flexibility in the future to what could possibly happen in redevelopment of this area. Senior Planner Darling said that was correct and that any change in use would require discussion by the Planning Commission and City Council. Approved Planning Commission Minutes January 7, 2009 Page 3 Commissioner Jaffoni said that the proposal is for a pretty small addition and asked if additional employees would be hired and if so, would it have any impact on traffic. Senior Planner Darling said the proposal is to create more comfortable workspaces and deferred to the applicant to address in more detail. Commissioner Aamoth asked for the background on the 8 -foot fence that was approved by the City Council in 1999. Senior Planner Darling said that the City Council approved the Holly Creek development in 1999. She said the developer and Tri-State Drilling worked together to place a fence as a barrier between the sites. She said that the developer added extra trees for screening. She said that prior to that time, there was no fence at all, and the applicant put up a fence along State Highway 55 at the same time as well. Commissioner Petrash asked if the fence is board on board or if it can be seen through. Senior Planner Darling said that the fence would be similar to what is currently there, which is board on board. She deferred this to the applicant for clarification. Acting Chair Davis introduced the applicant, Jim Melcher, representing Tri-State Drilling. Mr. Melcher said that they have expanded in 1965, 1972 and in 1979. He said that they work nationally and that all of their expanded business has been with a national footprint. He said that even though the volume of work has gone up over the past 30 years, there is less activity in and out of the yard. He said that there are fewer trucks and that extra noise is from smashing tools around and kids learning how to run equipment. Mr. Melcher said that their staff is very cramped. He said that the expansion is to increase work area and allow for two new employees to replace retiring employees. He said that they can certainly comply with the conditions stated. He said that everyone, the community, the City and Tri-State would gain benefits from moving this project forward. Commissioner Petrash asked for a description of the proposed fence. Mr. Melcher said that the fence being replaced would be solid and look better than it does now. He said that the back fence is opaque but not 100 percent solid. Commissioner Petrash asked if there has been any dialogue with neighbors about the noise. Mr. Melcher said that in the past, all dialogue has been through mediation. He said that they have made rules for employees about the start time. He said that he was not aware of calls about the noise and that the staff report was the first time that he had heard about concerns with the paging system. He said that with the new technology today, they would look at getting rid of the paging system. He said that until that gets done, they would look at disconnecting it during nonworking hours and would require staff to turn it on. He said that they would look at turning down the volume in the interim, too. Mr. Melcher said that they sold the irrigation part of their business to a partner a long time ago. He said that they store materials at that business, usually not equipment. He said that they could see if there is more storage availability there and rent more space or they could sell off what isn't Approved Planning Commission Minutes January 7, 2009 Page 4 being used anymore. He said that they could level off some of the stock without transporting it offsite. He said that the cranes are tall and that a year ago they asked employees to put the masts down at night. He said that there is probably not a law or requirement to lower masts at night, but they feel it is good neighbor behavior. He said that they will give notice to employees again to lower booms. He said that storage had been looked at and most things are not near the fence. He said that if they lower the crane, that would be as much as they could do. Commissioner Jaffoni asked how many parking spaces there are now and how many are proposed to be added. Mr. Melcher deferred to Wayne Jeske, the architect. Mr. Jeske said that there are 12 paved parking spaces now. He said that there is parking in the back of the building, which is a gravel lot with no markings and employees park wherever they have room. He said that the ordinance requires 37 parking spaces and that they have proposed 58 spaces, which is more parking than what is needed in both the front and the back. Senior Planner Darling added that 47 spaces are required and that with additional new spaces the proposed plan shows 57 spaces. She said that a proposed condition requires some spaces to be removed, which would leave them three spaces short. However, the applicant could continue parking behind the fence to make up the difference. Commissioner Jaffoni asked if the parking lot would be paved or gravel. Mr. Melcher said that it would be paved on the west side, except that they may not pave the last few spaces. Mr. Jeske added that the front parking lot would be paved and that they would have to cut back some of the paving because it is in the highway easement. Acting Chair Davis opened the public hearing. Acting Chair Davis introduced Merrilee Riley, President of the Holly Creek Village Townhome Association. Ms. Riley said that there are 100 plus families in the neighborhood and that this is their opportunity to share their concerns and ask that this request be denied. She said that there was not a neighborhood back in 1950 and in 1979 when Tri-State last expanded. She said that there are ten residences backing up to Tri-State, with six residences looking directly at it. She said that many have exposed areas where the fence is with the crane and stacked storage. She said that one consideration should be adequate buffer and that there is not an adequate buffer there now. She said that if the Planning Commission were to change zoning, it would leave the door open for things the Planning Commission doesn't have any say in. Ms. Riley said that the noise from the paging system has been dealt with by calling the police. She said that City Code states that during the day nothing shall interfere with peace and quiet. She said that just doing business disturbs the neighborhood. She said that they have a right to do their business but that they have the right to peace and quiet in their neighborhood. She said that things that cause trouble will only grow and become problematic. Ms. Riley said that they have extended the offer to Tri-State to work with them, but that many things tried have not been followed through with to help their relationship. She said that because of this history, the neighborhood has to live with commercial but that this is more industrial than commercial. She Approved Planning Commission Minutes January 7, 2009 Page 5 said that the stack above the fence and noise would be a huge concern when State Highway 55 widens and asked what would happen to zoning and traffic then. Acting Chair Davis introduced Cale Anger, representing Leonid and Irina Astashinsky, 17025 39th Court North. Mr. Anger said that as stated in the application, the buffer should be adequate and as mentioned, there is no boundary. He said that there have been noise violations. He said that he does not live right up to the property but that he can't imagine having that every day. He said that he feels that it would be best to rezone only a portion of the property or to deny the request. Acting Chair Davis introduced Edward Grazovski, 3963 Garland Lane North. Mr. Grazovski said that he had the same complaints as the previous speakers. He said that when he walks through the streets that he can see the cranes. He said that it does look outdated. He said that this commercial property affects property value and that it is noise pollution. He said that he opposes expansion. Acting Chair Davis closed the public hearing. Commissioner Nelson said that rezoning to PUD actually gives the City greater flexibility in the future as to how this property is developed and gives the City more control than it has now. Planning Manager Senness added that should Tri-State sell to another similar type of use, the City would have no ability to have a say in the use. She said that if the property is zoned PUD, any use would have to come before the City and that would be an improvement. Senior Planner Darling responded to Acting Chair Davis that they are not proposing to expand any outdoor storage areas. She said that if they would, they would have to come back to the Planning Commission and City Council to present their proposal and approval would be at the City Council's discretion. Acting Chair Davis asked what exactly they would be allowed and not allowed to do in the storage area. Senior Planner Darling said that they cannot store anything higher than the fence, except the cranes and trucks. She said that the storage area can't expand to cover greater area. She said that if there were to be a major reconfiguration to the outdoor storage, they would have to come back to the City for review. She said that the fire lanes must be maintained as well. Planning Manager Senness said that the expansion of State Highway 55 would be many years from now and any changes in access would include the Dundee property. Commissioner Nelson said that the widening of State Highway 55 would be a separate issue and would proceed regardless of this expansion. Commissioner Aamoth asked what the transition is now between properties. Senior Planner Darling said that before the Holly Creek townhome development was approved, there was no buffer. She said that the developer worked with Tri-State to put up a fence and to landscape as Approved Planning Commission Minutes January 7, 2009 Page 6 means to provide buffer. She said that this may not be the optimal buffer between these two properties but that with what they had to work with in 1999 when the neighborhood was developed, this was what was found to be adequate. Commissioner Petrash asked that if this were to be looked at as a new situation, what would be the optimal buffer. Planning Manager Senness said that there is not a lot of area to work with and that the only thing to do would be to go with a fence. She said that short of changing the use in the back area, there really are not a lot of options. Commissioner Petrash asked if the trees there now are substantial to buffer sound and sight. Senior Planner Darling said that the majority of trees were planted in 1999 and have had time to grow. She said that trees are a good psychological buffer and provide visual buffer, but trees are not adequate to prevent noise or help vibration if a pipe drops. Commissioner Petrash asked if there would be adequate room for a berm. Senior Planner Darling said that a 3 to 1 slope is needed to accommodate a berm. She said that in order to produce an 8 -foot berm, a sizeable area would need to be taken from the development or from Tri-State. Planning Manager Senness added that if there had been sufficient room in 1999, it would have been done then. Commissioner Aamoth asked how close the fence is to the closest townhome. Senior Planner Darling said that she did not measure, but that it appears to be about 35 feet to the back property line as laid out on the site map. Commissioner Aamoth asked if the City had been contacted by residents on the appearance of the site. Senior Planner Darling said that staff has not been contacted on appearance. Planning Manager Senness added that this business was there when the townhomes were developed and that there was no expectation that the business was going away. Commissioner Jaffoni said that this is tough because it is one of those situations where a business was there before townhomes were built and the developer settled on it in 1999. She said that she is very sympathetic to the residents, especially those that abut right up to Tri-State as that's got to be unpleasant. She said that it seems the best solution would be to approve the rezoning. She said that Tri-State has been a good, longstanding business in Plymouth and that they have no intentions of going anywhere else. She said that it is a very small building addition with parking space changes that could improve the site. She said that the pager should be addressed and that she would encourage Tri-State to talk directly to the neighborhood rather than going through a third party. She said that she would vote in favor of this request. Commissioner Petrash asked if money weren't a concern, what staff would propose would be the best solution from what is there now. Senior Planner Darling said that if money were no object, the optimal solution would be to redevelop this property and the Dundee property to be a better transition between properties. Approved Planning Commission Minutes January 7, 2009 Page 7 Commissioner Petrash asked what the best barrier would be. Senior Planner Darling said that there is pretty intense storage area in the back and the distance between this site and the residential homes would have to be increased. Planning Manager Senness added that having been involved in another residential/industrial transition issue, there are no walls that produce the results that residents are looking for. She said that a fence helps to keep storage out of sight, but it just doesn't do that good a job in stopping noise. Commissioner Aamoth asked what the special conditions are as included in the resolution. Senior Planner Darling listed the conditions. Commissioner Nelson said that he echoes everything mentioned by Commissioner Jaffoni and added that the situation is unfortunate for both parties. He said that rezoning to PUD is in the best interest of the City and makes sense as well. He said that he would vote in favor of this request. Commissioner Aamoth said that he agrees with both Commissioners Jaffoni and Nelson. He said that these are legitimate issues, which are recognized and acknowledged. He said that these are issues that exist and that it is best for the City to rezone. He said that it is an opportunity for Tri- state to recognize the feedback from the neighbors and they are encouraged to manage the appearance out there. He said that he would vote in favor of this request as well. Acting Chair Davis said that rezoning will give the City more control of the property and that the proposed addition will not make the conditions any worse. He said that he would vote in favor of this request. Commissioner Petrash said that there doesn't sound like there is a better solution to the buffer issue but that he would vote in favor of this request. MOTION by Commissioner Jaffoni, seconded by Commissioner Nelson, to approve the request by Wayne Jeske Associates, Inc. for rezoning and planned unit development general plan to allow a 1,170 -square foot addition to the southeast corner of the Tri-State Drilling building and related site improvements for property located at 16940 State Highway 55. Roll Call Vote. 6 Ayes. MOTION approved unanimously. 7. NEW BUSINESS 8. ADJOURNMENT MOTION by Acting Chair Davis, without objection, to adjourn the meeting at 8:05 p.m.