Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/06/2003MAPLEWOOD PLANNING COMMISSION Monday, October 6, 2003, 7:00 PM City Hall Council Chambers 1830 County Road B East 1. Call to Order 2. Roll Call 3. Approval of Agenda 4. Approval of Minutes a. September 15, 2003 5. Public Hearings None 6. New Business a. Street Right-of-Way Vacation (Karth Road, north of County Road D) b. South Maplewood Rezonings (F and R-1 to R-I(R)) c. Proposed Mixed-Use Zoning Ordinance d. Planning Commission Applicant Interviews 7. Unfinished Business 8. Visitor Presentations 9. Commission Presentations a. September 22 Council Meeting: Mr. Rossbach? b. October 13 Council Meeting: Ms Diedch c. October 27 Council Meeting: Mr. Rossbach 10. Staff Presentations 11. Adjournment MINUTES OF THE MAPLEWOOD PLANNING COMMISSION 1830 COUNTY ROAD B EAST, MAPLEWOOD, MINNESOTA MONDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2003 I. CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Rossbach called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. I1. ROLL CALL Chairperson Lorraine Fischer Commissioner Tushar Desai Commissioner Commissioner Commissioner Commissioner Commissioner Commissioner Absent Present Mary Dierich Present Jackie Monahan-Junek Present Paul Mueller Absent Gary Pearson Present William Rossbach Present (acting chairperson) Dale Trippler Present Staff Present: Ken Roberts, Associate Planner Shann Finwall, Associate Planner Chris Cavett, Assistant City Engineer Lisa Kroll, Recording Secretary II1. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Mr. Roberts requested two changes to the agenda. First that item 6. d. be moved to item 6. e. so a new item 6. d. could be added for Kennard Street On-Street Parking, Heritage Square, and Legacy Village PUD. Commissioner Pearson moved to approve the agenda with the amended changes. Commissioner Dierich seconded. Ayes- Desai, Dierich, Monahan-Junek, Pearson, Rossbach, Trippler The motion passed. IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Approval of the planning commission minutes for September 15, 2003. Commissioner Dierich requested a correction to page 4, in the bottom paragraph, on the seventh line correcting the word cities to city's. Commissioner Monahan-Junek requested corrections to page 5, in the sixth paragraph, at the end of the second sentence. Please change the words two variances to an expansion. Another change is in the same paragraph in the third sentence deleting the sentence She dc, c$~'t think Planning Commission Minutes of 10-06-03 -2- Commissioner Desai moved to approve the planning commission minutes for September 15, 2003 as amended. Commissioner Pearson seconded. Ayes- Desai, Dierich, Monahan-Junek, Pearson, Rossbach, Trippler V. PUBLIC HEARING None. VI. NEW BUSINESS a. Street Right-of-Way Vacation (Karth Road, north of County Road D) Mr. Roberts said Chris Cavett, representing the Maplewood Engineering Department and the adjoining property owners, is asking the city to vacate a street right-of-way. This right-of-way is for Karth Road and is between the properties at 2191 and 2205 County Road D. This right-of- way is between the two properties and has driveway and accessory buildings on it. The city should require the property owners to sign an easement agreement for the existing driveway to ensure that it can remain and for their use of the driveway. This agreement is to be recorded with Ramsey County. Chairperson Rossbach asked in what situation would the roadway not be equally divided? Mr. Roberts said right-of-ways are vacated and turned back to the original property owners. Commissioner Trippler asked staff what happens if the two neighbors don't agree to sign an agreement? Mr. Roberts said it is his understanding that the city wouldn't record the vacation resolution with Ramsey County. Chairperson Rossbach asked if anyone in the audience wanted to speak regarding this issue? Maplewood residents David and Susan Huebl at 2191 County Road D, Maplewood, addressed the commission. They said they have no problem with the street right-of-way vacation. They would like to revisit this when the neighbor lady sells her property. Mr. And Mrs. Huebl would like to have that written in somewhere. Chairperson Rossbach asked staff if it is possible to have that statement written in the agreement that it could have a termination that goes with ownership? Mr. Roberts said he is sure the city attorney could get something written in. Chairperson Rossbach said if the Huebl's attend the city council meeting on October 27, 2003, they could ask the legal staff that question and they could give an answer at that time if it is something that they could do or not. Planning Commission Minutes of 10-06-03 -3- Commissioner Pearson moved to approve the resolution on page eight of the staff report. This resolution is for the vacation of the Karth Road right-of-way, north of County Road D. The reasons for the vacation are as follows: It is in the public interest. The city is not using the right-of-way for a public street. The right-of-way is not needed for street access purposes as the adjacent properties have street access on County Road D. This approval is subject to the property owners signing an easement agreement for the existing driveway that is in the right-of-way. This agreement is to be recorded at Ramsey County. Commissioner Monahan-Junek seconded. Ayes- Desai, Dierich, Monahan-Junek, Pearson, Rossbach, Trippler The motion passed. This item goes to the city council on October 27, 2003. b. South Maplewood Rezonings (F and R-1 to R-I(R)) Mr. Roberts said after the city council approved the new rural zoning district in August, he surveyed the 73 owners of property in south Maplewood that the city might consider the zoning to the new R-I(R) designation. He received five replies to the survey. The R-1 (R) zoning district has a 2-acre minimum lot size and a minimum lot width of 120 feet and is for areas of Maplewood without sewer and water and with a semi-rural, very Iow-density residential lifestyle. The question now for the city to decide is, what if any, of the properties in the study area should have the R-1 (R) zoning designation. A group of properties that warrant special zoning consideration are those in Haller's Woods. The lots in this development range in size from 0.92 acres to 3.46 acres and the city has zoned this whole subdivision RE-40 (residential estate 40,000). This zoning district has a 40,000-square-foot (0.92 acres) minimum lot size and a minimum lot width of 140 feet. Another set of properties that the city should carefully review the zoning for are those that now have an F or R-1 zoning and that are less than two acres in size. If the city changes the zoning of these to R-1 (R), the change would make them legal nonconforming properties. The planning commissioners had various discussions with staff regarding the existing and proposed zoning maps that could not be transcribed. This was because the commission asked staff to point to certain properties on the map, which made it difficult to try to put their discussion into words. Commissioner Pearson moved to adopt the zoning map change resolution starting on page 17 of the staff report. This resolution changes the zoning for several properties in south Maplewood to R-I(R) (rural residential) (with a two-acre minimum lot size). The city is approving this change because: 1. The proposed change is consistent with the spirit, purpose and intent of the zoning code. Planning Commission -4- Minutes of 10-06-03 The proposed change will not substantially injure or detract from the use of neighboring property or from the character of the neighborhood, and the use of the property adjacent to the area included in the proposed change or plan is adequately safeguarded. 3. The proposed change will serve the best interests and conveniences of the community, where applicable, and the public welfare. The proposed change would have no negative effect upon the logical, efficient, and economical extension of public services and facilities, such as public water, sewers, police and fire protection and schools. 5. The proposed zoning change would be consistent with the existing land use designation. Commissioner Trippler seconded. Ayes - Desai, Dierich, Monahan-Junek, Pearson, Rossbach, Trippler The motion passed. This item goes to the city council on October 27, 2003. c. Proposed Mixed-Use Zoning Ordinance Ms. Finwall said to ensure the city council reviews the proposed ordinance by the moratorium deadline of October 27, 2003, staff's goal is to present the mixed-use zoning district to the city council for their review at the October 27, 2003, city council meeting. Prior to the city council authorizing the rezoning of the Hillcrest Village redevelopment area to the mixed-use zoning district, staff will present the ordinance to all property owners located in the Hillcrest Village redevelopment area for review and comments. Ms. Finwall said it was brought to her attention that dry-cleaning was listed as a permitted use and some of the chemicals in the dry-cleaning service can be deemed hazardous. Staff is reviewing the counties licensing requirements for a drycleaner and if deemed hazardous staff will recommend only dry stores which are dry-cleaning establishments that send dry-cleaning off site to be cleaned. Commissioner Dierich had a question about page 2, in the first paragraph, in the ninth sentence it states that pre-existing prohibited uses would be covered by the city's existing nonconforming ordinance that would allow these uses to remain until such time as the use ceased for one year or more. She asked staff if that time frame could be changed to less than one year? Ms. Finwall said there could be a separate nonconforming section added for this zoning district, however, staff was proposing to use the city's current nonconforming ordinance which would allow these businesses to remain for one year. Commissioner Dierich said she would like it to be less than one year. Ms. Finwall said the city has to sell the proposed zoning district to the current businesses. She asked Ms. Dierich what a fair timeline would be? Planning Commission Minutes of 10-06-03 -5- Commissioner Dierich said if the business is thinking of changing hands, and it would be nonconforming, she thinks sooner rather than later would be better than the one-year timeline. She understands the city does not want to push businesses out but the city also wants to move along with this. She said a year's lag time seems like a long time because you could turn around and sell it and continue that nonconforming use within a year's time. Commissioner Dierich asked staff what the definition of a single-family dwelling was. She asked if that meant row homes, detached townhomes, or a single-family residence? Ms. Finwall said on page 8 of the staff report a single-family dwelling is specified in the table as having 7,260 square feet of lot area. It's envisioned as a detached townhome as a single-family dwelling. Commissioner Dierich asked what (type of commercial use limited production and processing) is on page 6 of the staff report? Ms. Finwall said she was not sure. She said that information came from Calthorpe and it needs some refining to be better understood in the report. Commissioner Dierich said she is not sure how the other commissioners feel but if the plan is to encourage walking in the Hillcrest area the plan should be to limit the number of gas stations in the area. She does not mind buildings with a car wash or grocery or convenience markets but to limit the gas pumping stations in the area because they are not a good fit for what the city's intent is. Ms. Finwall said it was recommended in the studies by Calthorpe and the Metropolitan Council that this type of gas station with a convenience market is allowed in this zoning district. Mr. Roberts added that the city's current ordinance defines motor fuel stations as either a minor or a major fuel station. A minor fuel station can have up to three pump islands and anything more than that is a major fuel station. He said the commission may want to consider that in their decision-making. Regarding the nonconformity issue and the one-year timeframe, that may be a question for the city attorney. If the city you lessens the timeframe to shorter than the one-year in certain areas of the city and treat this area differently, the city may be setting themself up for legal action. In the past, a one-year timeframe has probably been upheld in the courts. Commissioner Monahan-Junek asked if staff could better define the definition of use definitions on page 7, number 6. She would like to have the manufacturing business portion better defined. She said that could be a one-man jeweler working out of his house and living in the upstairs. To her a manufacturing business could mean chemicals, storage, machines, etc. and things that go on with a typical manufacturing business. Commissioner Pearson said it looks like the bonuses that are being allowed in the density are really just going around the 16-unit per acre that was decided on. His question is with this development there will be a lot of children and where are the children going to play other than the narrow streets? There is nothing in this development area set aside for a playground or for children to safely play. Planning Commission Minutes of 10-06-03 -6- Ms. Finwall said in all developments the city does not require an actual play area or additional open space for children, however, during the site review that is taken into account. On many occasions the city requires the developer to create a play area that would be addressed at that time. Regarding the density bonuses, the developer could have an increase in density if they created an open space. Commissioner Pearson said the city has had a number of other developments where the city required the developer to put in a playground space and it is something that should go into the plan. Chairperson Rossbach said he would agree with Mr. Pearson. He asked staff if anyone knew what other city's have done along the lines of parks and play areas for children? Ms. Finwall said in her research on these urban type-zoning districts there has not been any comments made for creating an area for children. Chairperson Rossbach said at a past meeting the commission discussed the Grand Avenue area and the need to have parking structures on top of the buildings because of lack of space. He asked where the children play in that area of the twin cities, are there parks around? Commissioner Desai said there are no play areas in the Grand Avenue area; however, the residents can go a few blocks away towards the river to get to neighborhood parks so kids can play and for open space. Chairperson Rossbach asked people would have to travel outside of their neighborhood to get to a park then? Commissioner Desai said yes the residents have to travel about a 1/2 mile to 3,4 of a mile away. He asked staff how far the nearest park is from the Hillcrest Redevelopment area if someone with children wanted to walk? Mr. Roberts said Goodrich Park is to the east up North St. Paul Road and to the west is the Blessed Virgin Mary Church and Wakefield Park and then a little farther away is the Maplewood Community Center. Commissioner Desai said the Maplewood Community Center is too far to walk to from the Hillcrest Area. He said if there was a plan to have walking paths to the parks that were mentioned above this could be a minimal solution for children to have parks and playgrounds. He said in New York City there are no playgrounds and parks and people have to go to Central Park. Mr. Roberts said staff has recommended that sidewalks be put on both sides of the road so that will start that linking process to get to the parks and playgrounds. Ms. Finwall said a developer that would come to the city with plans for a development that would be for families the developer would want to market it in such a way that families would want to live there for their children to have playground space. Otherwise city staff could add something in the additional design requirements that would require a certain amount of play area per amount of space. Planning Commission Minutes of 10-06-03 -7- Commissioner Trippler said he spoke with staff today and one of the issues that caught his attention was on page 9 of the staff report. In footnote number 4 it states the required setback from an alley for a residential garage should be zero (0) or more feet if the garage door faces the interior of the lot, and eighteen (18) or more feet when the garage door faces the alley. He had a family member who lived in South Minneapolis who had a garage right up on the alley. The garage doors were scraped up and battered because of the space issue and he does not think this allows enough space. Chairperson Rossbach said the alleys in St. Paul allow zero clearance but there are some garages that set back 3 or 4 feet and that is an area that should have been alley. The garage doors are still beat up and he thinks it is necessary to have additional width to eliminate this problem. Commissioner Pearson said his question is would there be adequate room to move snow in the winter and where it would be moved to when it needs to be plowed? Will the city plow those alleys or is the residents responsibility to find someone to plow it? Ms. Finwall said the city is recommending that the city have flexibility on alley widths within the zoning district according to the public works director and approval by the city council. St. Paul with their traditional neighborhood requires a maximum alley right-of-way of 20 feet. She is not sure about the snow plowing issue. Regarding the setbacks of the garages to the alley, in Minneapolis they are very narrow at only 8 or 9 feet wide. Unless it was a one-way would not be allowed in Maplewood. Regarding the snow removal, if it was a public road the city would be responsible for plowing that. Commissioner Pearson said the issue isn't so much who is going to plow the snow but where are they going to move the snow when it gets plowed? In his opinion the alleyways should be 20 feet wide with a zero setback for garages. Chairperson Rossbach asked where St. Paul and Minneapolis put the snow once it gets plowed from the alleys because they seem to get by in the winter. Mr. Cavett said he lives in St. Paul and has an alley. The residents plow the residential alleys because the city is not responsible for plowing the snow. A neighbor hires someone to get the job done and the snow does not get hauled away, they find a place for it even in the bad winter months. Commissioner Trippler said he thinks a 20-foot wide alleyway seems too wide. Chairperson Rossbach asked the commission if 18 feet wide would be a better number for the alley width? Nobody agreed or disagreed so he said that could be something for the commission to think about. Commissioner Desai said the commission is trying to discourage automobiles in this mixed-use zoning district and now the commission is discussing widening the alleyways to allow for automobiles. It doesn't make philosophical sense for what has been planned for this area. Planning Commission Minutes of 10-06-03 -8- Commissioner Trippler said he understands what commissioner Desai is saying but unless the City of Maplewood outlaws vehicles these types of issues will be brought up to discuss. Commissioner Trippler said he would be fine with the 18-foot alley right-of-way. Chairperson Rossbach recommended that the alleyways be wide enough for two vehicles to pass and allow for storage of snow. He asked the commission members preferred minor or major fuel stations in this area and the majority was for minor fuel stations such as the Holiday Station off Lower Alton Road that has three fuel islands and a convenience store. Chairperson Rossbach thought it was important to limit fuel stations to a minimum number of feet from residential neighborhoods. Commissioner Dierich said she would recommend limiting the minor fuel stations altogether in the Maplewood side of the mixed-use zoning district. She feels fuel stations promote non-pedestrian friendly areas because of the vehicles coming and going from the station/convenience store and also the hours they are open. She also feels a fuel station/convenience store does not fit in with the intent of what the city is trying to do with the Hillcrest Redevelopment plan. Commissioner Trippler said in the staff report on page 10, under building fagade widths, he asked if it was an error on the second line forty (40) feet in width or less? Ms. Finwall told the commission that Mr. Trippler called staff today and recommended that staff remove the or less portion of that sentence because you cannot exceed (40) feet in width or less. Commissioner Trippler also recommended in the remodeling/addition/alterations paragraph, in the third line, removing the word massing or possibly using another descriptive word. Staff will redraft this report for the mixed-use zoning district and bring it back to the planning commission on October 20, 2003. Commissioner Pearson asked when the moratorium expires? Ms. Finwall said the moratorium expires October 27, 2003. d. Kennard Street On-Street Parking, Heritage Square, Legacy Village PUD Mr. Roberts said the recently approved Legacy Village PUD includes the extension of Kennard Street as a north-south collector street through the Hajicek property, from County Road D south. Construction on the roadway is to begin within a matter of days. The first phases of Legacy Village - the rental townhouses and the Senior Assisted Living building - will start construction soon and will rely on Kennard Street. The next phase of Legacy Village - the for-sale townhome site - will come before the Planning Commission on October 20, 2003. That parcel is being developed by Town and Country Homes, to be called Heritage Square. On-street parallel parking is proposed on the west side of Kennard Street in front of these proposed townhouses. City staff wanted the commission to be aware of this detail of the street project. Commissioner Monahan-Junek said on the last page of the staff report the parking areas are circled and she asked staff to explain how the parking would work. She asked if the parking would be similar to the parallel parking in downtown St. Paul? Planning Commission Minutes of 10-06-03 -9- Mr. Roberts said yes that area would have parallel parking spaces similar to the way you would parallel park in downtown St. Paul. There will be no overnight parking in this area and the additional parking spaces will be for visitors and guests. Commissioner Trippler said a long time ago there was discussion about the roundabout for Kennard Street and Legacy Village and he asked at that time if the roundabout would be for two lanes going each way as they are in other parts of the world. Now he does not even see the roundabout in the plan. If the roundabout were put back into the plan, he asked if it would be for two lanes so there would be a constant flow of traffic, or would it be for one lane so the traffic would have to constantly stop? Mr. Roberts said the roundabout will be there, however the developer forgot to put it in the plans. Mr. Chris Cavett, Assistant City Engineer, said the roundabout would be a single lane of traffic similar to the roundabout at English and Frost. Currently, MnDot standards in Minnesota do not allow multiple lanes for roundabouts at this time. Commissioner Trippler said in England, Germany, and in Europe, they all have multiple lane roundabouts so there is a constant flow of traffic. He drives the roundabout at English and Frost and he has to stop every day, if there were two lanes of traffic, he would not have to stop, and it would improve the flow of traffic. Chairperson Rossbach asked staff what the projected traffic count for Kennard Street was? Mr. Roberts said he remembers hearing 3,000 vehicles of traffic a day for Kennard Street. Chairperson Rossbach said his concern is for people being out in the traffic lane and getting hit by cars. Commissioner Dierich asked staff to give an example of a street in Maplewood that would have about 3,000 vehicles traveling a day on it? Mr. Roberts said streets such as Linwood Avenue or Highwood Avenue may have that type of traffic count in a day. People in downtown St. Paul manage to park and not get hit with higher traffic counts than that. Mr. Cavett said the area in question would be 22-feet wide to accommodate an emergency vehicle to get by and for a car to be parked and to be able to move around the car. Mr. Roberts said just as a reminder this area ties in with the mixed-use zone district the commission just discussed regarding the on-street parking. The developer felt it was important to work in the urban village feel to the area and provide the front door access to visitors. Chairperson Rossbach said he would prefer the on-street parking to be contained within the square. He does not have any real safety concerns regarding the parking other than people getting in and out of their cars safely. Planning Commission Minutes of 10-06-03 -10- Mr. Roberts said that this item requires no action from the commission; this is for information only. The City staff and consultants will bring it to the city council on October 13, 2003, as a change order for the Kennard Street improvement project. e. Planning Commission Applicant Interviews Mr. Roberts said the planning commission has a vacancy created by the resignation of Matt Ledvina. Attached in the staff report is a map of where the current planning commissioners reside and where the two candidates live along with their application forms. The first applicant to be interviewed was Mr. Jeff Bartol, 2702 Pinkspire Lane. Chairperson Rossbach asked if Mr. Bartol has any problem with the time commitment to meet twice a month and possibly staying late into the evening? Mr. Bartol said he has no problem working the two meetings of the month or working late into the evening. Chairperson Rossbach asked if Mr. Bartol would have any difficulty finding the time to review the planning commission packet and doing some site inspections? Mr. Bartol said no his current employment is very flexible and he can work it into his schedule reviewing the planning commission packet and doing the site inspections. Chairperson Rossbach asked Mr. Bartol what he does for a living? Mr. Bartol said he is heavily involved with computers with system integration, consulting, website design and earlier in his career he did engineering work with a computerized design in the architectural field. His background is in architecture from his studies at the University. Commissioner Pearson said he assumed with Mr. Bartol's background he would not have any difficulty deciphering blueprints? Mr. Bartol said no. Chairperson Rossbach asked how Mr. Bartol felt about affordable housing in the City of Maplewood? Mr. Bartol said like Commissioner Pearson he is concerned about the children in affordable housing and where they will go to play. Many people that live in affordable housing have several children and they need someplace to play. He commended the commission on the process these projects go through and the questions that are asked. He asked the commission what a CUP and a PUD are? The planning commission members explained what the two meant and how they are used. Commissioner Monahan-Junek asked what Mr. Bartol could do as a planning commission member to foster a sense of community to the residents that live in the south end of the community and the people that live in the north end of Maplewood? Planning Commission Minutes of 10-06-03 -11- Mr. Bartol said that is a difficult question to answer. He said he has only lived in Maplewood for 6 to 8 months and prior to that he lived in the Como Park area. He has really enjoyed the Battle Creek area and wished he had known about it long ago. He thinks that would be a wonderful area to have a citywide get together for people to gather and get to know the people in their community better, He said his daughter lives in St. Paul and uses the dog walk there to walk her dog. Commissioner Trippler said in reviewing Mr. Bartol's application he noticed he wanted to give back to the community and he wondered how Mr. Bartol decided to apply for the planning commission opening with his background and not for the community design review board? Mr. Bartol said he applied for both the commission and the board opening at the request of Mary Dierich who recommended he apply for the commission and one of the city staff members suggested he apply for the board. He said he would feel useful and productive on either the commission or the board. He wants to get back into the urban development, city planning and architectural skills that he acquired 25 years ago and let go by the wayside. The second applicant to be interviewed was Roger Posch, 1583 County Road B. Chairperson Rossbach asked if Mr. Posch has any problem with the time commitment to meet twice a month and possibly staying late into the evening? Mr. Posch said no. Chairperson Rossbach asked if Mr. Posch would have any difficulty finding the time to review the planning commission packet and doing site inspections? Mr. Posch said no. Chairperson Rossbach asked Mr. Posch what he does for a living and on a day-to- day basis? Mr. Posch said he is a realtor at Coldwell Banker Burnet Realty. Outside of work he belongs to a church and is part of the loaves and fishes program and is involved with Weaver Elementary school fundraising. Commissioner Monahan-Junek asked Mr. Posch what he could do as a planning commission member to foster a sense of community to the residents that live in the south end of the community and the people that live in the north end of Maplewood? Mr. Posch said he is open-minded and is not sure about pulling people together. Commissioner Dierich said Mr. Posch's application said he wants to be a voice for his neighborhood. She asked what issues Mr. Posch would like to be able to impact if he were on the planning commission? Mr. Posch said it's not so much any particular issue as much as he would like to help notify all residents to let them know what is going on or what will be happening in the community. Planning Commission Minutes of 10-06-03 -12- Commissioner Dierich asked Mr. Posch if there was a particular issue he would be more interested in such as density, affordable housing, traffic or protection of water that he could speak to? Mr. Posch said there are no individual issues that he is interested in; he just wants to have an understanding of the issues and have a voice in what is going on in Maplewood. Commissioner Desai said there has been a lot of discussion about workforce housing. As a realtor, in your opinion, where do you stand in terms of workforce housing in the City of Maplewood? Mr. Posch said in the past Maplewood has had affordable housing but property continues to increase and homes are getting more expensive. If Maplewood had more affordable housing as one of the first ring suburbs to downtown St. Paul, people could live here and bus downtown to work so there could be more affordable housing for the city. Mr. Roberts asked Mr. Posch what he thinks the City of Maplewood did really well in terms of development and what the city has done that he did not care for? Mr. Posch said he thinks the Maplewood Mall was something the city did very well with the proximity of the freeway and he also likes the bike trails in the city. The Maplewood Community Center is something he does not like that the city developed. He said he heard the community center is not making money for the city and the only reason he goes there is for the plays and shows in the theatre. Commissioner Pearson asked if Mr. Posch has any problem reading blueprints or plans? Mr. Posch said no. Commissioner Pearson asked if Mr. Posch thought there was anything the planning commission could have addressed during the items that were reviewed tonight? Mr. Posch said nothing comes to mind. Chairperson Rossbach asked staff what Mr. Posch could do if for example he had some real estate listings and he had a conflict of interest with something the planning commission was reviewing? Mr. Roberts said potentially Mr. Posch would have a conflict of interest if the listing he had were going to be redeveloped. Mr. Posch said he understands that he would abstain from the discussion or recommend that another agent take the listing. Mr. Roberts said the two applicants also applied for the opening on the Community Design Review Board and those interviews will be held Tuesday, October 12, 2003. Planning Commission Minutes of 10-06-03 -13- The applicant with the lowest score is the candidate of choice and that person would be recommended to the city council. The results of the voting by the planning commission members were as follows: The first applicant interviewed, Jeff Bartol scored 6 points. The second applicant interviewed, Roger Posch scored 12 points. Mr. Roberts said the candidates would be notified of the city council meeting date for the final interview for the city council to make the final decision. VII. UNFINISHED BUSINESS None. VIII. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS None. IX. COMMISSION PRESENTATIONS a. Mr. Rossbach was the planning commission representative at the September 22, 2003, city council meeting. There were no planning commission items to be discussed but Mr. Rossbach attended the meeting to hear the city council meeting discussion. Mr. Matt Ledvina was given a resolution from the city council for his time on the planning commission. The reconsideration of the Hmong American Alliance church for the comprehensive plan, conditional use permit and the design approval was approved 4-ayes and 1-abstention from the mayor because of the proximity of his property to this proposed location. b. Ms. Dierich will be the planning commission representative at the October 13, 2003, city council meeting. c. Mr. Trippler will be the planning commission representative at the October 27, 2003, city council meeting. Items to be discussed will include the street right of way vacation of Karth Road, and the South Maplewood Rezonings (F & R-1 to R-I(R). X. STAFF PRESENTATIONS None. Xl. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 9:45 p.m.