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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-03-03 PC Minutes MINUTES OF THE MAPLEWOOD PLANNING COMMISSION 1830 COUNTY ROAD BEAST, MAPLEWOOD, MINNESOTA TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 2009 I. CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Fischer called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. II. ROLL CALL Commissioner Joseph Boeser Vice-Chairperson Tushar Desai Chairperson Lorraine Fischer Commissioner Harland Hess Commissioner Robert Martin Commissioner Gary Pearson Commissioner Dale Trippler Commissioner Joe Walton Commissioner Jeremy Yarwood City Staff Present: Present Present Present Absent Present Present Present by telephone Absent Present Tom Ekstrand. Citv Planner III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Commissioner Pearson moved to approve the amended agenda tabling item 6.a.-City Attorney Discussion. Commissioner Boeser seconded The motion passed. IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES a. February 17, 2009 Ayes - all Commissioner Pearson moved to approve the minutes of February 17, 2009 as submitted. Commissioner Desai seconded The motion passed. V. PUBLIC HEARING Ayes - all a. 7:10 p.m. - Conditional Use Permit-Community Gardens Proposal, Southwest Corner County Road C and Hazelwood Street City Planner Ekstrand presented the staff report for the request for a conditional use permit by the city and First Evangelical Free Church to put in community garden plots on vacant property the Church owns at the southwest corner of County Road C and Hazelwood Street. Commissioner Boeser asked if the entire property is owned by the Church. Staff responded that, except for the center land-locked parcel, the land is owned by the Church. Commissioner Boeser asked how staff decided on the dimensions for the parking lot and gardens and suggested moving the parking lot towards Hazelwood by making it longer and narrower. Mr. Boeser said the gardens could then be moved over which would address some of the neighbors' concerns. Planning Commission Minutes of 03-03-09 -2- Planner Ekstrand responded that city engineering staff designed the site and placed the parking lot in that area to keep it on the degraded part of the site. Planner Ekstrand said the site south of the proposed parking lot was considered for the gardens, but it is a low spot and staff felt the site west of the proposed parking lot would be a better location since it was already tilled from last year. Planner Ekstrand said this is a large site with room to make adjustments if the commission wishes to modify the proposal. Commissioner Desai mentioned there are only 25 parking spaces designated and 80 garden plots and suggested that the 25 spaces may not be enough on weekends. Planner Ekstrand said staff spoke with other cities having garden plots and also considered what Maplewood required with previous years' garden plot rentals. Mr. Ekstrand said this issue was reviewed by staff and it was decided that 25 spaces would be sufficient. Mr. Ekstrand said there is room to add more parking spaces to the proposed site if the commission feels it is necessary. Commissioner Trippler questioned whether the expense of these garden plots was economical for the city and why the city does not charge more for the plots to cover the expenses. Planner Ekstrand responded that the cost to rent a garden plot was compared with what other cities are charging and Maplewood's past experience with garden plot rentals. Commissioner Trippler said he lives across the street from where the garden plot would be located and although he does not have a problem with the location, he is concerned with having a gravel parking lot and who would be responsible for repairs if it turned to a mud bath. Commissioner Trippler asked if the city would provide protection for the garden plots during the July Fourth fireworks celebration. Planner Ekstrand said this has not been considered, but it will be reviewed by staff. Commissioner Martin asked if any other commissions would be reviewing this request. Planner Ekstrand said that the park commission reviewed this request at their last meeting and will review the lease agreement, but the planning commission tonight needs to consider whether this is an appropriate land use. The applicant, John Gregerson of First Evangelical Free Church, said that the church wants to offer the use of this property to the community until the land is needed for church expansion. The public hearing was opened for comments from the public; the following people spoke: George Rossbach, 1406 County Road C East, said he does not see any problems for the neighborhood. Mr. Rossbach asked how long the CUP would exist and if the CUP would change the area's R-1 zoning. Planner Ekstrand responded that to be cost effective, the city would want to have the CUP for garden plots for about five years. Mr. Ekstrand said the CUP would not affect the zoning. Commissioner Martin asked if the applicant could install the permanent parking lot for the church expansion now, rather than the city investing in a temporary parking lot. Planner Ekstrand said this was looked into, but the church does not yet have their site designed for the future church campus and does not know where the building or parking lot will be located. Roger Vannelli, 1448 County Road C East (owner of the land-locked adjacent parcel), said he did not expect his neighboring property to become a commercial operation and questioned if this will hurt his property value. Mr. Vannelli said he has concerns with traffic, vandalism and the increased number of people. Mr. Vannelli said his property is a rental property and he is concerned the gardens will affect his rental income. Planning Commission Minutes of 03-03-09 -3- Commissioner Boeser asked if Mr. Vannelli owns this driveway property or if it has a right-of-way easement. Mr. Vannelli responded that he has a driveway easement. Commissioner Boeser said this request is proposed with a property line setback that should not conflict with the easement requirements. Commissioner Boeser said that concerns might be eased if the parking lot and gardens were reconfigured to be farther to the east, but mentioned that this site has been farmed for many previous years. Marilyn Duhaime, 2608 Hazelwood Street, asked who would be eligible for the gardens and how the public would be notified for rentals. Planner Ekstrand responded that the plots would be advertised on the city's website and newsletter and there would be a limit on how many plots a person could rent. Ms. Duhaime asked if there would be controls for sites not cared for and if pesticides would be regulated. Planner Ekstrand said that control of pesticides and requiring plots be kept clean has been discussed by staff and would be included in the plot rental lease. Ms. Duhaime suggested that a sign be added to let the public know these are private garden plots. Ms. Duhaime said she is concerned whether there will be enough water supplied to meet the needs and also with parking overflow on Hazelwood Street. Commissioner Martin said that since the city has had rental garden plots in previous years, there should be past rules and regulations in place to refer to. Staff concurred. Commissioner Boeser said the city needs to be clear when contracting with the church and with the renters of the plots as to who is responsible for what and the ramifications if those things are not done. Ms. Duhaime asked about construction noise with the preparation of the site. Planner Ekstrand responded that there would be city trucks preparing the garden site initially and the parks department plans to till the site before the garden plots are rented. Ron Cockriel, 943 Century Avenue, suggested the garden plots be located north of the ball fields on the southwest side of the site so the church parking lot could be rented and utilized. George Rossbach responded saying that the distance might be too great at this suggested southwest location for the gardeners to haul equipment and that using this land for community gardens will prevent the land from becoming overgrown with weeds. The applicant, John Gregerson, spoke again saying the church does not want to profit from this proposal and would lease the site to the city at no cost. Mr. Gregerson said there are volunteers at the church who would like to help keep the property clean. Mr. Gregerson said that Phil Oswald has asked to plant corn on the adjacent area of the site for at least one more year and he volunteered to till the garden site also. Commissioner Boeser said that if this proposal were delayed for a year, the site could be planted with corn for this year, it would appease the homeowner, allow time to address concerns and issues with County Road C and Hazelwood, and the city would not have the financial expense. Commissioner Trippler mentioned that using the church parking lot may be a problem since the gardeners would want to use the church parking lot on the weekends, which is a busy time for the church. Mr. Gregerson responded that the parking on Sunday is not being used by the church for any church function, but is from another group using the lot. Mr. Gregerson said the paved parking lot adjacent to the site is now owned by Twin City Bible Church and Mr. Gregerson has not been able to reach someone from that church to discuss parking. There were no further comments by the public; the public hearing was closed. Planning Commission Minutes of 03-03-09 -4- Commissioner Trippler said he likes the idea of the community gardens, but thinks the proposal needs more study. Commissioner Pearson said he feels the expenses of this project do not justify doing it. Mr. Pearson said he does not see a positive effect for the city and sees the potential for criticism. Mr. Pearson suggested that a deposit be required on the plots that would not be returned until the plot was cleaned at the end of the season. John Gregerson spoke again saying that delaying this project for a year would not be a problem for the church, but that he has heard from many people interested in renting a garden plot. Commissioner Boeser moved to table this request until the next meeting to allow staff time to make suggested revisions to the proposal. Commissioner Pearson seconded The motion passed. Ayes - all b. 8:30 p.m. Rezoning Request-R-1 R, Rural Single Dwelling Residential, to R-1 S, Small Lot Single Dwelling Residential, for the property east of 2510 Carver Avenue Planner Ekstrand presented the staff report for this request from Jamie Jensen of Tyrus Land Company for a rezoning from R-1 R, Rural Single-Dwelling Residence District to R-1 S, Small Lot Single-Dwelling District on the south side of Carver Avenue east of 2510 Carver Avenue. Commissioner Pearson said that the R-1S zoning designation was originally created as a transition to be a bridge between commercial and the R-1 designation and this request does not meet that standard. Commissioner Yarwood asked staff why there were not more citizen comments listed in the staff report and if a survey was mailed. Planner Ekstrand said the neighborhood was notified of the public hearing tonight, but it was considered redundant to send a survey since this information was mailed to the neighbors previously. Mr. Yarwood said this requested rezoning is not consistent with the past several years of planning by the city or the vision of the community for the area of south Maplewood. Commissioner Trippler said he agrees with Commissioner Yarwood's comments and does not see any justification for granting an R-1 S designation for this request. Mr. Trippler said he will vote to deny this request. Commissioner Boeser said he agrees with Commissioner Yarwood's comments. Commissioner Boeser referred to several items in the applicant's letter that he challenged. Mr. Boeser responded to the applicant's letter mentioning that the applicant's comment that his proposed rezoning is in the spirit of the zoning code is inaccurate, corrected the applicant that the planning commissioners are not elected officials but are residents appointed by the city council, and that in reviewing the existing land use map it clearly shows there are no variances from the R-1 R zoning designation abutting or surrounding the site. Mr. Boeser said he will vote to deny this request. Commissioner Martin suggested this proposal might be reconsidered under the new ordinance that would allow conservation principles to be applied for density incentives. Commissioner Boeser asked if this request is affected by the new R-1 R ordinance. Planner Ekstrand said the city attorney has advised that the new R-1 R ordinance does apply to this rezoning request. Planner Ekstrand said the applicant's rezoning request for consideration tonight is for the R-1 S zoning and not for the new R-1 R zoning designation. Planning Commission Minutes of 03-03-09 -5- The applicant, Jamie Jensen of Tyrus Land Company, was not present at the meeting and did not have a representative present. The public hearing was opened for public comments. The following people spoke: Jim Kerrigan, 2620 Carver Avenue, said he is against this requested rezoning and that the applicant has been informed and had plenty of opportunity to voice his opinion for a higher density on his site at any of the various public meetings that have been held previously. John Nephew, 628 County Road B East, said he acquired zoning information from the League of Minnesota Cities and he read the state law on standard of review for zoning applications. Mr. Nephew explained that the city would not be required to change the zoning unless the applicant could prove there is something fundamentally wrong with the existing ordinance and that he is entitled to the change. There were no further public comments; the public hearing was closed. Commissioner Boeser moved to deny the proposed zoning map change from R-1 R, Rural Single Dwelling Residence District to R-1 S, Small Lot Single Dwelling District, for the proposed conceptual 16-lot Saint Clair Hills single-dwelling housing development east of 2510 Carve Avenue, based on the following reasons: 1. A rezoning would not be consistent with the spirit, purpose and intent of the zoning code which is to provide larger lots. 2. The proposed R-1 S zoning would not be in character with the neighborhood since this neighborhood is not developed with lots of this small size. 3. The proposed change would not serve the best interests of the community since the city council, based on substantial citizen input, has determined that a lower density in this neighborhood is preferred. 4. The proposed change is not consistent with the current or future comprehensive plan. Commissioner Martin seconded Commissioner Pearson referred to the fact that the R-1 S zoning was not designed for this requested kind of application in the first place. The commission voted: The motion passed. Ayes - all VI. NEW BUSINESS None VII. UNFINISHED BUSINESS None Planning Commission Minutes of 03-03-09 -6- VIII. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS None IX. COMMISSION PRESENTATIONS a. Commissioner Martin reported on the February 23 city council meeting. b. March 9 City Council Meeting - Commissioner Pearson will attend. X. STAFF PRESENTATIONS None XI. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 9:16 p.m.