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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning Commission Minutes 04-01-2009Approved Minutes City of Plymouth Planning Commission Meeting April 1, 2009 MEMBERS PRESENT: Chair James Davis, Commissioners Dick Kobussen, Terry Jaffoni, Gordon Petrash, Scott Nelson, Erik Aamoth and Marc Anderson MEMBERS ABSENT: None STAFF PRESENT: Planning Manager Barbara Senness, Senior Planner Shawn Drill 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 Anderson, seconded by Commissioner Kobussen, to approve the April 1, 2009 Planning Commission Agenda. Vote. 7 Ayes. MOTION approved. 5. CONSENT AGENDA A. APPROVAL OF THE MARCH 18, 2009 PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES MOTION by Commissioner Petrash, seconded by Commissioner Kobussen, to approve the March 18, 2009 Planning Commission Minutes. Vote. 7 Ayes. MOTION approved. B. COLUMBUS HOME ASSOCIATION (2009008) MOTION by Commissioner Petrash, seconded by Commissioner Kobussen, to approve the request by Columbus Home Association for a variance to maintain an existing non -conforming sign located at 10904 South Shore Drive. Vote. 7 Ayes. MOTION approved. 6. PUBLIC HEARINGS A. JOE SENSER'S RESTAURANT (2009005) Chair Davis introduced the request by Joe Senser's Restaurant for a planned unit development amendment to construct a 40 -foot by 80 -foot volleyball court west of Joe Senser's located at 16605 County Road 24. Approved Planning Commission Minutes April 1, 2009 Page 2 Chair Davis said that the applicant has requested that this item be continued to the April 15, 2009 meeting. MOTION by Chair Davis to continue the public hearing to April 15, 2009 regarding the request by Joe Senser's Restaurant for a planned unit development amendment to construct a 40 -foot by 80 -foot volleyball court west of Joe Senser's located at 16605 County Road 24. Vote. 7 Ayes. MOTION approved. B. PROVIDENT/WATERFORD, LLC (2009007) Chair Davis introduced the request by Provident/Waterford, LLC for a site plan amendment, conditional use permit and variance to allow installation of a drive-through service window located at 10200 6th Avenue North. Senior Planner Drill gave an overview of the staff report. Commissioner Nelson asked if there would be a barrier between the drive-through pick-up area and the outdoor dining patio located to the south. Senior Planner Drill said the only barrier would be curbing. Commissioner Nelson asked if there were any restrictions for outdoor seating near a drive-through. Planning Manager Senness said that there are no such restrictions. Commissioner Petrash said that on the alternative sketch, there would be a curb continuing between the two islands. He asked why this was not the final proposal as it would not appear to interrupt traffic circulation. Senior Planner Drill said that because of the nature of the business, stacking would occur in the early morning hours. He said that the applicant's idea was to allow traffic to continue to flow as it currently does during the times of day that vehicles would not be stacked. Commissioner Petrash asked if other vehicles would be able to negotiate through stacked vehicles or if they would have to go through the parking lot to get around. Senior Planner Drill said that if stacked vehicles block the drive aisle, other vehicles would need to go around them. He said that there could be some on-site congestion during the morning hours in the area of the drive-through. Commissioner Anderson asked if there were any other tenants in this building. Senior Planner Drill said that there are three additional tenants in the building; a submarine sandwich shop, a hamburger and malt shop and a vacant space available for one other tenant. Commissioner Anderson asked if there would be striping on the parking lot to indicate where the drive-through lane would be located. Senior Planner Drill said that there would be thick, white - striped lines and other pavement markings indicating the stacking lane so drivers would know how to get into the stacking lane. Approved Planning Commission Minutes April 1, 2009 Page 3 Commissioner Petrash asked if there had been any consideration to have the stacked vehicles back up into the parking spaces of the main parking lot to the north instead of stacking them into this drive aisle. Senior Planner Drill deferred this question to the applicant but noted that as vehicles come into the main site entrance to the east, the main traffic flow heads north toward Rainbow Foods. Commissioner Petrash asked what would happen if coffee drinking habits were to change in five years. Senior Planner Drill said that a conditional use permit allows for revocation under extreme conditions but that staff would work with the landowner to remedy any issues that may arise in the future. Commissioner Jaffoni asked how a dead end would occur on the alternative sketch. Senior Planner Drill said that the islands and curbing would create a dead end in the front of the building. Commissioner Jaffoni asked why this would be a concern if it is not a heavily traveled area. Senior Planner Drill said that adding curbing would cut off the traffic flow for the balance of the day when cars are not stacked. He said that in other commercial situations, that type of layout has created driver confusion and congestion. Chair Davis said that he was concerned about the building's handicap parking spaces being located near the stacking lane and asked if they would become inaccessible. Senior Planner Drill said that there would be enough room because of the striping between the handicap spaces and the new curbing that would be added. Chair Davis introduced Kathy Anderson, President of Architectural Consortium, LLC. Ms. Anderson introduced Phillip Jaffe, owner of Waterford Plaza. Ms. Anderson said that the project would include an interior remodel that would make the existing patio in the southwest area inaccessible. She said that the new patio would alleviate the concerns for vehicles to drive onto the existing patio. Mr. Jaffe said that the tenants of the building today include Caribou Coffee, Uncle Franky's, Erbert and Gerberts and a 1,500 square foot vacant space. He said that they are located far off of State Highway 55 and it is difficult for traffic to see what businesses are located there and that creates a leasing challenge for them. He said that their single purpose was to get a coffee retailer located there so that morning customers would see what other tenants were available to them to build shopping patterns. He said that as the coffee business has changed over the years, they had received notice from the tenant that they would have to look at closing their business there because there was not a drive-through. He said that prompted their request to see if a conditional use permit would provide that tenant with what they need. Commissioner Jaffoni asked if the Planning Commission would be able to add a condition that the existing outdoor dining patio near the southwest corner of the building would not be able to be used. Planning Manager Senness said that if there is a concern about the drive aisle and that existing patio, it would be appropriate to add that condition. Approved Planning Commission Minutes April 1, 2009 Page 4 Commissioner Jaffoni asked if there would be any other alternative that would bring a loop around the south side of the building. Ms. Anderson said that they did look at many alternatives but that with the building being right on the setback and with the landscaping, there really wasn't room to go around the building. She said that coffee patterns are very different from fast food and that you would not see ten vehicles stacked during peak hours. She said that you would see two or three vehicles stacking. Ms. Anderson responded to Commissioner Petrash that because of the morning traffic pattern and the need for convenience, to stack through the center into the main parking lot seems difficult and would not resolve all the issues. Commissioner Anderson asked if the handicap parking spaces would be able to be located elsewhere in front of the building. Ms. Anderson said that they did not look into that because access to the handicap spaces would not be impacted. She said that there would be a full lane between the parking spaces and the drive-through lane to back out. She said that handicap parking spaces are to be grouped to save on number of parking spaces. She said that relocating the spaces could prevent the attraction of leasing a new tenant to the vacant space. Chair Davis opened and closed the public hearing as there was no one present to speak on the item. Commissioner Nelson said that this was a good proposal for the hours that would be busy and that he would not foresee any issues. He said that the extended curbing in the alternative sketch would create a disturbance. He said that he would vote in support of this request. Commissioner Jaffoni said that she would also vote in support of this request as well, as long as there was a condition included to restrict the use of the existing outdoor dining patio in the southwest corner. Commissioner Aamoth said that this was a good proposal but that he was still a little concerned about the handicap parking spaces. He said that if staff felt it was okay and with the inability to predict the exact number of vehicles stacking, it would not likely be an issue and that he would also support this request. MOTION by Commissioner Nelson, seconded by Commissioner Anderson, to approve the request by Provident/Waterford, LLC for a site plan amendment, conditional use permit and variance to allow installation of a drive-through service window located at 10200 6th Avenue North. Commissioner Jaffoni offered a friendly amendment, accepted by both the motion -maker and the seconder, to add a condition prohibiting the use of the outdoor dining patio south of the drive- through pick-up lane. Roll Call Vote on Main Motion and Amendment. 7 Ayes. MOTION approved unanimously. Approved Planning Commission Minutes April 1, 2009 Page 5 7. ADJOURNMENT MOTION by Chair Davis, without objection, to adjourn the meeting at 7:36 p.m.