HomeMy WebLinkAbout1981 11-11 Maplewood council refuses to okay Beam Ave. preliminary plat THE REVIEW Maplewood council refuses to
okay Beam Ave. preliminary plat
By JONATHON CLYDE GLASS favor.Such an action requires a 4-1 ap- crackerbox and over the years work my
Staff Writer proval, and Mayor John Greavu and way up to an orange crate,"he continued.
Nelson voted against the motion because
The fate of the 40 acres west of Highway the rezoning did not cover all the land in On the other hand,those residents who
61 and north of Beam Avenue and the Beam Avenue-Kohlman Lake area. bought big houses and big lots assuming
KohlmanLake was once again the subject The council should not act on a rezoning that their neighborhoods would continue
of heated discussion at the Nov. 5 in a piecemeal fashion,Greavu argued. to contain similar houses,could be hurt by
Maplewood City Council meeting when The issue should be postponed until the allowing smaller houses,argued Council
developer Voya Piletich came before the impact of rezoning the entire area can be Member Norm Anderson. While the
council with a five-part request. discussed,he said. minimum floor area could probably be
N. The council approved Piletich's request reduced,it should be done selectively and
Up for a mining permit,but refused to ap- IN OTHER ACTION related to housing, perhaps allowed only in certain parts of
CK prove the preliminary plat for his the council tabled until Nov.19 a request the city,he said.
\proposed 84-unit housing development.A from the planning commission to reduce The council also approved the
-.,,,,,request by local residents that the land be the minimum floor areas for single- preliminary plans for the Maplewood
\rezoned to Residential-Estate with a family dwellings in Maplewood.The city portion of the Battle Creek Regional Park
aminimum lot size of 20,000 square feet was staff recommended approval of the being planned by the Metropolitan
tabled until Dec.3. request since the costs of building are so Council and Ramsey County.
The council's discussion of the high and many people are choosing to live Approximately 391 of the park's 2,200
preliminary plat took a long and torturous in smaller homes. Smaller floor area acres will be in Maplewood.According to
route.After quickly deciding by a 5-0 vote requirements could be adapted to ac- current plans,the Maplewood section will
to follow the recommendation of the city commodate two-bedroom homes without include hiking and biking trails,a 40-acre
staff and postpone the subject,Piletich's significantly affecting the external ap- picnic area, a 12-acre swimming pool
attorney Peter Beck argued for approval pearance of the houses,according to the complex and more than 700 parking
of the plat and swayed several council staff report. spaces.
members, Currently,the city requires a minimum The main concern of the council is the
The plat is in compliance with all city of 1,040 square feet of floor space and ongoing financial burden Maplewood will
regulations, as well as state shoreline three livable rooms with at leas690 square bear to supply the fire and police
development restrictions,,and should not .feel of floor space each.-The,recom- ' protection for the park. Although ex-
be tabled,Beck said.Since the shoreline mendation was to lower the floor area pressing pessimism that they can ac-
ordinance went into effect,the developer requirement to 864 ,feet and two tually get the Metropolitan Council or
has revised his plat, eliminating seven bedrooms. surrounding communities to actually
lots in order to increase the average size Nelson agreed with the recom- share those costs, the council
of the remaining 84 lots.to 15,000 square mendation."I think there ought to be a unanimously approved the park plans
feet,he explained. little(financial) relief for those people contingent upon the Metropolitan
"It's unreasonable to not approve the who want to start smaller,"he said."A Council's commitment to pay for in-
plat because it does not comply with a lot of people can do what I did,start with a creased police and fire protection costs.
possible future rezoning to Residential-
Estate,"Beck continued,referring to the
council'searlier decision to table the
rezoning question.
"We're putting Mr. Piletich through
some pretty unreasonable things here,"
said Council Member Earl Nelson."He's
improving the property, though ad-
mittedly inexpertly at times," he con-
tinued.
MARILYN VARS, 1140 Beam Ave.,
contested Beck's statements. The
average lot size,according to her arith-
metic,would be less than the 15,00 square
feet required by state law for lakeshore
development,she said.Piletich created
his larger lots by simply pushing his lot
boundaries out onto unbuildable property
in a swamp area, she argued. City
Planner Geoff Olson agreed that the
preliminary plat had been extended into
adjacent wetlands and would have to be
carefully studied for its compliance with
city regulations.
In the end,the council agreed to table
the preliminary plat because the city staff
and planning commission had not had
adequate time to study it completely.
Without approval of the preliminary
plat,which establishes the final contours
of the land, it is questionable whether
Piletich will be able to begin grading the
area,according to Beck.
The request by Beam residents,led by
Vars,to rezone the area to Residential-
Estate was tabled despite a 3-2 vote in its