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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/23/2001 AGENDA MAPLEWOOD COMMUNITY DESIGN REVIEW BOARD January 23, 2001 6:00 P.M. City Council Chambers Maplewood City Hall 1830 East County Road B 1. Call to Order 2. Roll Call 3. Approval of Minutes: January 9, 2001 4. Approval of Agenda 5. Unfinished Business 6. Design Review a. Rose-Rice Auto Sales Site Plan Revisions/Variances - 1908 Rice Street b. Election of Chairperson and Vice Chairperson 7. Visitor Presentations 8. Board Presentations 9. Staff Presentations a. CDRB representation needed for the February 12, 2001 city council meeting. 10. Adjourn p:com-dvpt~cdrb.agd MINUTES OF THE MAPLEWOOD COMMUNITY DESIGN REVIEW BOARD 1830 COUNTY ROAD B EAST, MAPLEWOOD, MINNESOTA TUESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2001 II. III. IV. CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Ledvina called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. ROLL CALL Matt Ledvina Present Ananth Shankar Present Tim Johnson Present Jon LaCasse Present Craig Jorgenson Present Staff Present: Recording Secretary: APPROVAL OF MINUTES January 9, 2001. Tom Ekstrand, Assistant. Director of Community Development Lori Hansen Board member Johnson moved approval of the minutes of January 9, 2001. Board member Jorgenson seconded the motion. Ayes-All The motion passed. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Board member LaCasse moved approval of the agenda, as submitted. Board member Johnson seconded. Ayes-All The motion passed. UNFINISHED BUSINESS There was no unfinished business. Community Design Review Board ~2- Minutes of 01-23-01 VI. DESIGN REVIEW A. Rose-Rice Auto Sales Site Plan Revisions/Variances-(1908 Rice Street). Mr. Tom Ekstrand, Assistant Director of Community Development, gave the staff report for the city. Brad Beatty, of Rose-Rice Auto Sales, is requesting approval of a 5-foot parking lot setback variance. He purchased the property recently and has been making several improvements. He paved the easterly front lot which used to be a parking lot for the previous owner's vehicles. The problem is the expansion of the parking lot was an expansion of its use which requires a conditional use permit. He also paved up to the easterly fence line which is also the lot line, and up to the front fence line which is the street right-of-way line. He is asking for a setback variance for the easterly line and continuation of a non-conforming use. Staff is denying approval of the setback variance. State law requires that the city council make two findings to approve a variance. They must determine that the applicant cannot meet the code because of "circumstances unique to the property". This means that there must be some unique physical characteristic of the site preventing code compliance. There is no unique circumstance in this instance. The applicant could have met the setback requirement if they checked with the city before paving. The variance must also meet the "spirit and intent of the ordinance." The purpose of the setback requirement is to ensure parking lots do not crowd neighboring properties, so there is room for snow storage and room for landscaping. Staff, unfortunately, cannot make the findings required for approval of the setback variance. Assistant City Engineer, Chris Cavett, and Mr. Ekstrand visited the site to evaluate the drainage flow and determined the water is going to run toward the abutting property to the south. There is a definite drop to the abutting lot (Amusement City). The city engineer feels the applicant should address this issue by submitting a storm water management plan. Under the present conditions the rate of runoff has increased due to the paving of the lot. The applicant appears to have two options: (1) Catch the runoff onsite in a catch base and pipe it underground to the storm sewer on Rice Street, which would require MnDot permit and approvals. (2) Work with the adjacent property owner to coordinate an effort for drainage control. Mr. Cavett thought in the second case, agreements and easements may be required between the neighbors. In order to waive the curbing requirement, the city would need to evaluate the applicant's proposal. The city has conditioned its recommendation as such. The applicant needs to submit such a plan to the city for the city engineer's evaluation. Staff is recommending approval of the conditional use permit. The operation of the sales of used cars has drastically improved. The applicant should be commended on cleaning up the site so well and improving the appearance of the buildings. Staff recommends approval of the conditional use permit to include the expanded parking lot which maintains the zero setback to the Roselawn Avenue right-of-way. This would be keeping in line with what has been established in that area. A revised set of conditions was distributed by Mr. Ekstrand that included the drainage concerns. He added a condition that the applicant comply with the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) requirement for handicapped parking space. As for curbing, staff is relying on what the submitted drainage plan will show, where the city engineer determines curbing should be required, or if he determines curbing may be waived. Nick Schwartz was present for the applicant. He explained that he has been working with the owners of the property and Mr. Ekstrand to ensure code compliance while making improvements to the property. He felt the paving of the parking lot conforms to most of the conditions, with the drainage run-off condition being his main concern. Community Design Review Board -3- Minutes of 01-23-01 He had talked with the adjacent property owner (Amusement City) prior to blacktopping the parking lot to receive their approval. He stated "this property owner felt the paving was an improvement for drainage" and could obtain documentation from the owner if need be. Mr. Shankar asked if there was any proposed parking in the right-of-way zone, and staff commented that there was not. Mr. Ledvina did not see any provision for striping of the parking lot in the conditions. He suggested that the applicant submit a plan for parking lot striping according to code per staff approval. Staff commented that these parking lot concerns are addressed in the recommendation (B2: e and f). The time frame for completion of all the work is June 30, 2001, as clarified by Mr. Shankar. The drainage issue would need to be addressed as soon as the snow starts melting. Staff also added that the city engineer recommends that a written agreement be submitted to the city (2C in the conditions) if the applicant chose to coordinate with the neighbor to sheet drain onto their property. Board member Shankar made a motion that the design review board: A. Deny the proposed five-foot parking lot setback variance from the east property line since the proposed variance does not meet the following findings required by state law: Strict enforcement of the code would not cause undue hardship because of circumstances unique to the property. The applicant could have met the setback requirements without any hindrance by site characteristics. The variance would not be in keeping with the spirit and intent of the ordinance. The ordinance requires parking lot setbacks to provide room for snow storage so not to crowd adjacent properties. B. Adopt the resolution that approves a conditional use permit for used car sales at 1908 Rice Street. This resolution also approves the recently expanded parking lot which maintains the existing nonconforming setback from Roselawn Avenue. Approval of the reduced front setback is since the continuation of the existing pavement setback would meet the spirit and intent of the code. The approval of a conditional use permit for car sales is based on the findings required by ordinance and subject to the following conditions: All construction shall follow the site plan approved by the city, except as stated below. The director of community development may approve minor changes. 2. The applicant shall revise the site plan for staff approval as follows: ao Cut away the part of the new easterly parking lot which encroaches into the required five-foot side setback area. The applicant shall backfill and sod this five- foot setback area. b. The excess pavement material shall be removed from the site. The edges of the new parking lot shall be curbed with upright continuous concrete curbing. The plan for this curbing shall be submitted to staff for approval by the city engineer who will evaluate the parking lot for drainage control. The curbing requirement may be waived if deemed necessary for drainage purposes by the city engineer. The applicant shall also submit a drainage plan prepared by a civil engineer or work out a satisfactory plan and agreement with the neighbor to the south. The drainage plan should address the management of storm water runoff. Community Design Review Board -4- Minutes of 01-23-01 VII. VIII. do The required five foot setback shall be measured to the back of the curb, if the engineer requires curbing, not to the parking lot edge. e. Stripe the parking spaces as required by code. The applicant shall designate four customer parking spaces on the west side of the building. There shall be one handicap-accessible parking space. This space must meet the requirements of the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act). The applicant shall complete these parking lot corrections by June 30, 2001. The city council shall review this permit at that time if the work is not completed. The council may extend this deadline if an extension is warranted. The city council shall review this permit annually as required by the code, unless they determine that there is no need for such subsequent reviews. Board member LaCasse seconded. Ayes-All Motion carries. This proposal will be before the city council on February 12, 2001. B. Election of Chairperson and Vice Chairperson--Community Design Review Board 2001. Board member Shankar moved that Matt Ledvina be reappointed chairperson for the Maplewood Community Design Review Board for the year 2001, and Tim Johnson be reappointed as Vice Chairperson. Board member Jorgenson seconded. Ayes-All Motion carries. VISITOR PRESENTATION No visitor presentations. BOARD PRESENTATIONS Chairperson Ledvina attended the city council meeting on Monday, January 22. The Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall addition and parking lot expansion proposal was approved. The drainage discussion from the community design review board was repeated at the council meeting. The overall impression was the drainage situation was going to be improved and was viewed as an acceptable approach to the site expansion. Mr. Ledvina wanted to solicit board members' opinions on the Menard's expansion. He was very surprised at the size of the building. The exterior was supposed to be bricked, but with the sign already installed, Mr. Ledvina was concerned if the brick would indeed be added. Mr. Ekstrand has not checked the file recently but was also concerned that the builder was not using the same tip-up material the design review board had approved. Staff and board members could not recall if brick or painting of the poured wall was required, but Mr. Ekstrand will check on the plans and let the board know. Community Design Review Board -5- Minutes of 01-23-01 IX. STAFF PRESENTATIONS A community design review board member is needed for the city council meeting on February 12, 2001. Board member Johnson will attend this meeting. Mr. Ledvina asked if the design review board meetings for February could be combined. Mr. Ekstrand stated the Auto Zone proposal (the former A&W site on Century Avenue) and the annual report are on the agenda so far. Everyone agreed to one meeting next month which will be during the third week of February. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 6:36 p.m.