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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-09-07 PC Minutes MINUTES OF THE MAPLEWOOD PLANNING COMMISSION 1830 COUNTY ROAD BEAST, MAPLEWOOD, MINNESOTA TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7,2010 1. CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Fischer called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. 2. ROLL CALL Commissioner AI Bierbaum Commissioner Joseph Boeser Vice-Chairperson Tushar Desai Chairperson Lorraine Fischer Commissioner Robert Martin Commissioner Tanya Nuss Commissioner Gary Pearson Commissioner Dale Trippler Commissioner Jeremy Yarwood Present Absent Absent Present Present Present Present Absent Present Staff Present: Tom Ekstrand, Senior Planner 3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Commissioner Pearson moved to approve the agenda as presented. Commissioner Yarwood seconded the motion. Ayes all; the motion passed. 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Minutes of July 6, 2010: On the vote for approval of minutes, Chair Fischer was listed as having voted aye and abstaining. Chair Fischer was not present at the July 6 minutes; therefore, the minutes should be corrected to reflect that she abstained from that vote. Commission Pearson commented that some of the resident comments that should have been captured were not. All public hearing comments should be included in the future. Commissioner Pearson moved to approve the minutes of the July 6, 2010, as amended. Commissioner Yarwood seconded the motion. Ayes all; the motion passed. Minutes of August 17, 2010: Change to reflect that Robert Martin was not present at the August 17, 2010, meeting. September 7,2010 Planning Commission Meeting Minutes 1 Commissioner Bierbaum moved to approve the minutes of the August 17, 2010, as amended. Commissioner Pearson seconded the motion. Ayes: Commissioners Bierbaum, Fischer, Nuss and Pearson. Abstained: Commissions Martin and Yarwood; the motion passed. 5. PUBLIC HEARING a. Conditional Use Permit for Use Car Sales, 2590 Maplewood Drive, Don Schilling, Walser Automotive Group Mr. Ekstrand provided the following background information on this matter. Mr. Schilling of Walser Automotive Group (Walser) is requesting approval of a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) to be allowed sell used cars from the former Mitsubishi site referenced above. Walser Automotive would like to commence operations of used car sales. City code allows for the sale of new and used cars, but not used cars only; therefore, a CUP is required. Staff supports approval of this CU P with the usual provisions and zoning requirements, including complying with signage requirements and restricting the loading and unloading of vehicles to the site property. In response to a question from Commissioner Martin, Staff explained that it is not necessary for the CDRB to review this application because the application refers only to the use and not to the design. Visitor Don Schilling of Walser commended Staff on his presentation of the issues and offered to answer any questions. The public hearing portion of this issue was closed. Commissioner Pearson moved to adopt the staff's recommendation to approve CUP to allow the sale of used cars at 2590 Maplewood Drive. Approval is based on the findings required by ordinance and subject to the conditions 1 through 6. Commissioner Nuss seconded the motion. Ayes all; motion carries. This matter will go before the City Council at its meeting scheduled for September 27, 2010. September 7,2010 Planning Commission Meeting Minutes 2 b. Conditional Use Permit/Planned Unit Development for Maplewood Mall Area Park- and-Ride Parking Ramp, 1793 Beam Avenue Mr. Ekstrand provided background and led discussion on this issue. A request is being made by Metro Transit, a division of the Met Council, to build a three-level parking ramp at its current park-and ride facility located at the southwest corner of Maplewood mall. The request includes a ground-level and two upper parking levels. Metro Transit is requesting approval of a conditional use permit (CUP) for a planned unit development (PUD) to build the structure. The current facility consists of 426 stalls as well as the park and ride bus transit hub. The proposal includes a request for two reductions from the city's zoning ordinance for setback and parking stall width. The setback reduction would reduce the setback from 30 feet to 15 feet, and applicant is requesting a reduction in parking stall width from 9.5 feet to 8.5 feet. Staff explained that the PUD does allow for flexibility in design. Staff believes the setback request does meet the five criteria imposed by the ordinance. Staff also noted that the city has allowed reduced setbacks in the past for the Legacy Village PUD, St. John's Hospital's parking ramp and for Maplewood Toyota's parking ramp. The applicant has shown that the requested width of 8.5 feet is commonly used in parking ramps, although the city has a fairly conservative view on this issue with the code at 9.5 feet. Staff is recommending approval of the PU D with the reduced setback and reduced stalls to 9- feet wide. Pat Jones, Tom Downs, Gary Milne Rojek all spoke in support of the proposal as representatives of Metro Transit or their consultants and presented justification for the setback and parking stall width reduction. Audience member, AI Olson, 1221 Frost Avenue, addressed the commission explaining having more stalls, even though at 8 Y:! feet wide, gives him more options and a better chance of finding a stall that he can park in easily. The public hearing portion of this issue was closed and the commission continued their discussion. Commissioner Pearson moved that the Planning Commission table the resolution to approve a CUP for a PUD for the proposed Metro Transit park-and-ride facility at the Maplewood mall to allow the applicant time to review plans to designate some small and large reserved parking spaces. Commissioner seconded by Commissioner Martin. Ayes: Pearson and Martin; Nays: Bierbaum, Fischer, Nuss, Yarwood. Motion fails. Commissioner Yarwood moved to adopt the resolution to approve a CUP for a PUD for the proposed Metro Transit park-and-ride facility including the proposed setback reduction from 30' to 15' from the Southlawn line right of way and reduced stall width from 9'6" to 9". Approval is subject to conditions 1 through 6. Commissioner Nuss seconded the motion. Ayes: Bierbaum, Fischer, Nuss, Yarwood; Nays: Pearson and Martin. Motion carries. September 7,2010 Planning Commission Meeting Minutes 3 c. Rezoning within the Gladstone Neighborhood to Multiple Dwelling and Mixed Use. Mr. Ekstrand introduced this item. This is the final zoning map revision to review as a result of the 2030 Comprehensive Plan Update. Staff is recommending changing certain zonings in the Gladstone Neighborhood to bring them into compliance with the plan, which should result in mixed-use zoning or multiple dwelling zoning. The changes proposed would change certain properties to R3 (multiple dwelling residential) and MU (mixed use). AI Olson, 1221 Frost Avenue, Ku Vang, 1310 Frost Avenue, and Victor Meysenburg, 1851 Ide Street, addressed the commission. The public hearing for Gladstone Neighborhood Rezoning was closed. Motion: Yarwood to approve the rezoning of properties within the Gladstone Neighborhood, near the intersection of English Street and Frost Avenue, from R2 (double-dwelling), R1S (small-lot single-dwelling), M1 (light manufacturing), BC (business commercial) and BCM (business commercial modified) to R3 (multiple dwelling residential) and MU (mixed use). Please refer to the attached maps and resolution for the specific rezonings. These rezonings are based on Minnesota Statute 473.865 subdivision 3, requiring the city to bring the zoning of these properties into conformance with the adopted comprehensive land use plan classification. Commissioner Pearson seconded the motion. Ayes: Bierbaum, Fischer, Martin, Pearson, Yarwood Nays: Nuss Tanya opposed because she lacks background on the Gladstone Neighborhood redevelopment matter and would have preferred that the matter would have been tabled pending additional information. This matter will go before the City Council on September 27, 2010. Commissioner Yarwood encouraged staff to try to protect and preserve the interests of the existing businesses until such time that there is a development proposal for the area. 6. NEW BUSINESS None 7. UNFINISHED BUSINESS None September 7,2010 Planning Commission Meeting Minutes 4 8. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS John Nephew, City Council liaison, addressed the commission to respond to any questions the commission may have for him. Commissioner Yarwood inquired about a recent press article regarding legal standing of cities to grant variances. Mr. Nephew explained the issues around this case, which was heard by the MN Supreme Court. Mr. Nephew also noted that a mobile home park CUP amendment was passed. The City Council generally went with staff recommendations. However, the Council received correspondence from residents of the park informing the Council that, in response to the condition that park management must maintain the restrooms as part of the storm shelter, the management removed the toilets entirely. Because of this, the matter will be revisited by the City Council. 9. COMMISSION PRESENTATIONS a. City Council Meeting of August 23,2010: Commissioner Trippler was scheduled to attend. The item for review was the Kingston Avenue right-of-way vacation. Staff reported that the item was approved as requested. b. Upcoming City Council Meeting of September 13,2010: Commissioner Desai is scheduled to attend. There are no scheduled planning commission items for this meeting. Staff reported that the Rolling Hills mobile home park issue will be revisited by the City Council due to the removal of the toilets from the storm shelter, which may have put them in violation of the CUP. Staff will request the City Council make this determination. c. Unscheduled discussions included the following: 1. Chair inquired if staff had received input from the commission members regarding the review of the current zoning for errors. Staff indicated that input had only been received from Chair. Chair also requested that staff review where each commissioner lives and identify any neighborhoods that do not currently have a commissioner residing therein. 2. Commissioner Nuss inquired about the Edgemont Street vacation for which staff recommended denial. Staff reported that the application was withdrawn. Applicant is putting together a proposal for a senior housing development, which will require the purchase of some land. 10. STAFF PRESENTATIONS At the next Planning Commission meeting, Mr. Ekstrand will present a review of the tower ordinance. 11. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned by consensus at 8:55 p.m. September 7,2010 Planning Commission Meeting Minutes 5