Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning Commission Minutes 01-03-2007Approved Minutes City of Plymouth Planning Commission Meeting January 3, 2007 MEMBERS PRESENT: Chair James Holmes, Commissioners Karl Neset, Melissa Musliner, E. J. Clyman and Kathleen Murdock MEMBERS ABSENT: Commissioner Frank Weir STAFF PRESENT: Planning Manager Barbara Senness, Senior Planner Shawn Drill, Senior Planner Marie Darling, Planner Joshua Doty, Associate Planner Kip Berglund 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 Clyman, seconded by Commissioner Neset, to approve the January 3, 2007 Planning Commission Agenda. Vote. 5 Ayes. MOTION approved. 5. CONSENT AGENDA A. APPROVAL OF THE DECEMBER 6, 2006 PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES MOTION by Commissioner Murdock, seconded by Commissioner Clyman, to approve the December 6, 2006 Planning Commission Minutes. Vote. 5 Ayes. MOTION approved. 6. PUBLIC HEARINGS A. AMERICAN SIDEWALK CAFE (2006112) Chair Holmes introduced the request by American Sidewalk Caf6 for a conditional use permit to allow a restaurant in the Four Seasons Shopping Center in the C-2 Neighborhood Commercial) Zoning District located at 4184 Lancaster Lane North. Planner Doty gave an overview of the December 26, 2006 staff report. Approved Planning Commission Minutes January 3, 2007 Page 2 Chair Holmes opened and closed the public hearing as no one was present to speak on the item. MOTION by Commissioner Clyman, seconded by Commissioner Neset, to approve the request by American Sidewalk Cafe for a conditional use permit to allow a restaurant in the Four Seasons Shopping Center in the C-2 (Neighborhood Commercial) Zoning District located at 4184 Lancaster Lane North. Roll Call Vote. 5 Ayes. MOTION approved unanimously. B. BRAD AND JULIA HEMPHILL (2006118) Chair Holmes introduced the request by Brad and Julia Hemphill for a conditional use permit to allow a 333 square foot garage addition, in which the total attached garage area will exceed 1,000 square feet, for property located at 12200 61St Avenue North. Associate Planner Berglund gave an overview of the December 26, 2006 staff report. Chair Homes asked if what is seen from the street will not change. Associate Planner Berglund said the portion that is being added will only be seen from the corner of the lot. Chair Holmes introduced the applicant, Brad Hemphill, 12200 61St Avenue North. Mr. Hemphill said that 3 feet of the addition is what the conditional use permit covers, as 15 feet of it is within the guidelines. Chair Holmes opened and closed the public hearing as no one was present to speak on the item. MOTION by Commissioner Clyman, seconded by Commissioner Musliner, to approve the request by Brad and Julia Hemphill for a conditional use permit to exceed 1,000 square feet in gross floor area of attached garage space for property located at 12200 61St Avenue North. Roll Call Vote. 5 Ayes. MOTION approved unanimously. C. CITY OF PLYMOUTH (2006093) Chair Holmes introduced the request by the City of Plymouth for the annual update to the Zoning Ordinance. Senior Planner Drill gave an overview of the December 22, 2006 staff report. Planner Doty presented amendments to the home occupation regulations. Senior Planner Darling presented amendments to the sign regulations, pursuant to a separate December 22, 2006 staff report. Commissioner Clyman asked if the definition for trailer height is covered by State law and if a food trailer, such as those designed to be taken to a fair, is considered an enclosed Approved Planning Commission Minutes January 3, 2007 Page 3 trailer. Senior Planner Drill said that trailer height is regulated by State law and that a fully enclosed food trailer would be considered a commercial trailer if it doesn't exceed the length requirements and it is used for commercial purposes. Chair Holmes opened the public hearing. Chair Holmes introduced Glen Anderson, 2460 East Medicine Lake Boulevard. Mr. Anderson said that the staff report states that there are several cities that don't have any sign ordinances at all and asked why Plymouth has sign regulations. He said there are already State and County laws and said Plymouth is creating a bureaucracy to have more layers to go through. He asked why ordinances would be added that are already part of State law. Mr. Anderson said that he owns a nonconforming lot on Medicine Lake. He said that in 1980 the City snuck a law through that if you own a lot with a house on it and own the lot next door, you can't do anything with the lot. Chair Holmes introduced Jeff Berg, 9955 26th Avenue North. Mr. Berg said that he and a lot of neighbors on Medicine Lake have boats and pontoons covered and sealed. He said they have limited land and hard surface cover, so many have to put their boats next to or behind their garage for the winter. He asked if this was okay. Mr. Berg also asked about screening and if being parked and covered is an adequate screen. Chair Holmes closed the public hearing. Planning Manager Senness said that other cities do have sign ordinances but some don't have specific regulations about size of menu boards. She said that sign regulations are important for safety reasons, especially with new signs that flash and blink. She said those signs can be a hazard to traffic and potentially cause accidents. Planning Manager Senness said the purpose of the regulations are to maintain a safe environment for people to express themselves, but in way that doesn't harm or damage others. She said it is not intended to layer bureaucracy. Senior Planner Darling said she had worked with Mr. Anderson and his son on the shore land issue and the changes to nonconforming lots. She said that the DNR had required, based on area and frontage, that Mr. Anderson's two nonconforming lots be consolidated and not sold separately for purposes of development. She said that when City regulations conflict with State regulations, the City has to change their regulations to comply. Senior Planner Drill said that the proposed amendments would be in compliance with and reflect what's in State law so people can view the complete ordinance on the City website and won't have to look and compare with regulations on State websites. Planner Doty said the proposed changes wouldn't change any of the current regulations for parking of boats or other recreational vehicles. He said that if recreational vehicles are Approved Planning Commission Minutes January 3, 2007 Page 4 stored in the front yard, they must be on the driveway and there is no requirement for covering. He said that if they are stored in the side or rear yard, they may be on the grass. Planning Manager Senness said the change for commercial vehicles adds regulations for any commercial vehicle brought home and stored in the driveway, including a commercial trailer. She said the regulations cover the storage of these vehicles, whether related to a home occupation or not. Senior Planner Drill said screening is not required for recreation vehicles. MOTION by Commissioner Clyman, seconded by Commissioner Neset, to approve the request by the City of Plymouth for the proposed amendments to the Zoning Ordinance. Roll Call Vote. 5 Ayes. MOTION approved unanimously. 7. NEW BUSINESS A. JUAN AND MARIBEL BECERRA (2006106) Chair Holmes introduced the request by Juan and Maribel Becerra for an interim home occupation license to operate a residential cleaning service for property located at 14506 County Road 6. Senior Planner Darling gave an overview of the December 26, 2006 staff report. Senior Planner Darling said staff is requesting a continuation to allow the applicant to address an outstanding issue. She said the letter from Kim Makie is made part of public record. She also clarified that the outstanding issue relates to whether the Becerra's actually reside in the home on County Road 6. Chair Holmes introduced the applicant, Maribel Becerra, 14506 County Road 6. Ms. Becerra said they take care of a Grandmother many nights in Minnetonka and that is why they are not there on a regular basis. She said their intent is to operate a business from their home until they are able to lease from somewhere else. Ms. Becerra said the only time employees are present is to pick up vehicles, around 8 a.m., and then to drop off vehicles, around 6 p.m. She said she is from a big family so people come in and out of the house and are not necessarily an employee, especially at late hours. She said that she has a personal vehicle and that one commercial vehicle is used by her spouse for his personal and business use. Chair Holmes introduced John Hatlestad, 14515 17th Avenue North. Mr. Hatlestad said that the number of vehicles has gone down considerably from last summer and that they have cleaned up the yard. He asked what the guidelines are for vehicles. He asked what the situation is on chemicals and said that if any are hazardous, he presumes they are properly disposed of. Approved Planning Commission Minutes January 3, 2007 Page 5 Chair Holmes introduced Leroy Reinke, 14411 County Road 6. Mr. Reinke said that he is concerned about setting a precedent for commercial property in a residential area. He said that he is also concerned about the heavy traffic in the mornings and inexperienced drivers could cause problems there. He asked if this home business would be grandfathered in because it was started before the ordinance changes or if it is under the new ordinance. He said that you can have two commercial vehicles outside, the owner can have his vehicles outside and there can be two vehicles inside the garage for a total of six vehicles on that property. He asked if those vehicles coming and going will be inside or outside. Mr. Reinke also asked if the 14 foot trailer length is the box length or the overall length from hitch to bumper. Chair Holmes introduced Rich Chandler, 14417 County Road 6. Mr. Chandler said that he noticed a number of vehicles on the lot, but he didn't think much about it until he received the notice. He asked if there is a change in the number of vehicles there either during the day or the night. He asked what the dumpster size would be for a business there. Chair Holmes introduced Roberta Larson, 14502 County Road 6. Mrs. Larson said their primary concern is about the property values and fears this neighborhood will slowly erode into a lot of businesses. She said there were a lot of vehicles at first, but the number has reduced quite a bit. Mrs. Larson said they did an asphalt semicircle together so that they all could drive in and be facing traffic to pull out. She said the Becerra's also asphalted between the garages and are parking additional vehicles there. She asked how many vehicles can be considered and she fears they will expand and go behind the garage. Planning Manager Senness said that staff will use the regulations in place at the time action is taken on this application. She said that staff used the proposed regulations to review this application. She said the changes to commercial vehicle regulations have been in the works for a long time due to complaints received from residents across the City and these changes address everyone equally. Commissioner Clyman asked if there is a complaint process for neighbors. Planning Manager Senness said this application did come by way of complaint and if neighbors have complaints, they can call the City. She said there is a staff person that is dedicated to follow up on complaints and that all received are kept confidential. Senior Planner Darling said that the City's ordinance allows parking only on the driveway and front yards. She said that for this particular application, the applicants and their employees will have to park on the driveway. She said the change to the regulations would allow them to have two commercial vehicles outside of the garage or if employees take the commercial vehicle offsite, there could be two employee vehicles outside the garage. Chair Holmes asked about the owner's vehicles being noncommercial and commercial. Senior Planner Darling said there are no regulations on personal vehicles on the property Approved Planning Commission Minutes January 3, 2007 Page 6 and there is no on street parking on County Road 6. She said the regulations are for two commercial vehicles on the premises total. Senior Planner Darling said that most chemicals that are used with the business are stored on the property but used offsite. She said the list was given to the fire inspector, who has reviewed each product and found that none would pose a hazardous situation. Chair Holmes said that if there is no hazardous waste coming back from a jobsite to this location, there is no need for a dumpster. Senior Planner Darling said a commercial dumpster would not be permitted on residential property. Senior Planner Darling said County Road 6 is a busy road and that creating a turnaround was the best situation that could be undertaken. Chair Holmes asked about the concern for setting a precedent for commercial property in residential areas. Planning Manager Senness said the idea of home occupation regulations is to make sure that the regulations the City has in place allow people to conduct businesses in their homes, but only to extent that they are not damaging or impacting their neighbors. Planner Doty said the proposal for measuring the length of trailers would be to measure the bed length (main structure/body of trailer), excluding the hitch. Commissioner Murdock asked how many employees come and get a commercial vehicle instead of using their personal vehicles and how many vehicles are there at any one time. Senior Planner Darling said they have twelve employees and not all of them come to the home. She said that three to four crew leaders or supervisors for a group of employees come and pick up commercial vehicles. Planning Manager Senness said that under the proposed changes, no more than two employee vehicles could be parked in the driveway at any one time. Commissioner Murdock asked if there could be more vehicles available for employees if their work hours are staggered. Senior Planner Darling said they could have two employee vehicles or two commercial vehicles on the driveway at any one time during the day. Commissioner Clyman asked where the closest park and ride was for employees to park and ride the bus. Senior Planner Darling said there is a park and ride on County Road 6, west of County Road 101, in the Messiah Methodist church parking lot and there is a transit station at County Road 73 and State Highway 55. Commissioner Clyman also asked if the parking lot at Parkers Lake could be used for employee parking. Senior Planner Darling said that it could. MOTION by Commissioner Neset, seconded by Commissioner Clyman, to continue the request by Maribel Becerra for an interim home occupation license to operate a residential cleaning service for property located at 14506 County Road 6. Roll Call Vote. 5 Ayes. MOTION approved unanimously. Approved Planning Commission Minutes January 3, 2007 Page 7 8. ADJOURNMENT MOTION by Chair Holmes, without objection, to adjourn the meeting at 8:30 p.m.