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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/12/2005 AGENDA CITY OF MAPLEWOOD COMMUNITY DESIGN REVIEW BOARD Tuesday, April 12, 2005 6:00 P.M. Council Chambers - Maplewood City Hall 1830 County Road BEast 1. Call to Order 2. Roll Call 3. Approval of Agenda 4. Approval of Minutes: March 8, 2005 Minutes 5. Unfinished Business: None Scheduled 6. Design Review: None Scheduled 7. Visitor Presentations: 8. Board Presentations: March 14, 2005, City Council Meeting - Overview Town Homes 9. Staff Presentations: a. Community Design Review Board Orientation b. Sign Code Revisions c. CDRB Representation at the April 25, 2005, City Council Meeting - Heritage Square 4th Addition, T&C Homes, Highway 61 10. Adjourn MINUTES OF THE MAPLEWOOD COMMUNITY DESIGN REVIEW BOARD 1830 COUNTY ROAD BEAST, MAPLEWOOD, MINNESOTA TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 2005 I. CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Longrie called the meeting to order at 6:11 p.m. II. ROLL CALL Board member John Hinzman Chairperson Diana Longrie Board member Matt Ledvina Vice Chairperson Linda Olson Board member Ananth Shankar Present Present Absent Absent Present at 6:13 p.m. Staff Present: Shann Finwall, Planner Lisa Kroll, Recording Secretary Andrew Gitzlaff, Planning Intern III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Chairperson Longrie moved to approve the agenda. Board member Shankar seconded. Ayes - Hinzman, Longrie, Shankar The motion passed. IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Approval of the CDRB minutes for March 8, 2005. Chairperson Longrie requested the last paragraph on page 16 read: Chairperson Longrie said she went to the Integra Homes meeting with the neighbors and the developer recommended a visit to the site in White Bear Township to see their development. Chairperson Longrie drove out and looked at the units in White Bear Township. She noticed there were no architectural elements of any kind on the back of the units and only very small windows on the rear elevation. Chairperson Longrie moved approval of the minutes of March 8,2005, as amended. Board member Shankar seconded. Ayes ---Longrie, Shankar Abstention - Hinzman The motion passed. Community Design Review Board Minutes 4-12-2005 2 V. UNFINISHED BUSINESS None. VI. DESIGN REVIEW None. VII. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS No visitors present. VIII. BOARD PRESENTATIONS There was no CDRB representation at the March 14, 2005, City Council meeting. The only CDRB item to discuss was the Overview Town Homes by Masterpiece Homes off McMenemy Street which was approved by the city council. IX. STAFF PRESENTATIONS a. Community Design Review Board Orientation Ms. Finwall introduced and welcomed the newest board member John Hinzman who was appointed by the city council on March 28, 2005. Mr. Hinzman replaces the vacancy left by former board member Judy Driscoll. His term runs now until January 1, 2006. The city council reappointed Board members Matt Ledvina, Linda Olson and Diana Longrie whose terms expire January 1, 2007. When a new board member joins the CDRB, staff likes to review orientation materials. The intent of the orientation is to outline the objectives, review the process, the responsibilities and scope of authority of the Community Design Review Board members. b. Sign Code Revisions Ms. Finwall introduced Andrew Gitzlaff, Planning Intern, who joined the City of Maplewood's Planning department in February 2005. Andrew has been continuing work that was done on the sign code from the former planning intern, Rose Lorsung. Andrew will present the Temporary and Off-Premise Sign Code Revisions. These revisions are part of the staff initiated three-phase plan to review the sign code and staff encourages the board to recommend revisions of the sign code before it goes to the city council. Chairperson Longrie asked what cities were included in the sign code study? Mr. Gitzlaff said the sign code study included the cities of White Bear Lake, Woodbury, Brooklyn Center, Oakdale, Roseville, and Edina. Chairperson Longrie asked which city had the most restrictive sign code? Community Design Review Board Minutes 4-12-2005 3 Mr. Gitzlaff said White Bear Lake wasn't the most restrictive in its sign code but was the most concise of all the sign codes. Chairperson Longrie asked which city had the least restrictive sign code? Ms. Finwall said Brooklyn Center, being a larger city, was the most restrictive in their sign code compared to the other cities reviewed. Chairperson Longrie asked if the cities that were reviewed were Class A or Class B cities? Board member Shankar asked what class Maplewood was? Chairperson Longrie said Maplewood is a Class B city. Ms. Finwall said staff would check into that, however the six cities that were chosen have similar populations and character as the City of Maplewood. Chairperson Longrie asked how many sign complaints the city receives in a year? Ms. Finwall said the city receives about 10 complaint calls a year but city staff proactively addresses an additional 20 cases a year which are mostly from businesses that are repeat offenders. The largest complaint comes from businesses installing portable temporary signs and keeping the signs up longer than the 30 days allowed or putting a sign up without a sign permit. Temporarv Sians Board members were concerned that requiring permits for all temporary signs would require too much staff time and paper work which could require an additional person on staff for code enforcement for temporary signs, which didn't seem like a good idea. Temporary Portable Signs Board members agreed temporary portable signs should be required to have a permit to monitor usage. Portable temporary signs include signs which can be installed on a temporary basis and are over 16 square feet including reader board signs, spot lights and large balloons. These signs can become a nuisance and the use should be monitored and enforced. Board members felt temporary portable signs shouldn't be prohibited as was stated in option 2. Special Event Signs Board members agreed it was a good idea not to charge non-profit and civic organizations for special event signs. Community Design Review Board Minutes 4-12-2005 4 Banners Chairperson Longrie and Board member Hinzman liked option 2 requiring a permit with no permit fee for banners that do not exceed 32 square feet. Board member Shankar recommended combining the banner and the window sign square footage allowance. Having a window sign and banner together would be too much at one time on a fayade. Chairperson Longrie and Board member Hinzman agreed. Window Signs Chairperson Longrie has heard from residents that too much window signage is allowed. Off-Premise Sians Include: Billboards Board member Hinzman recommended option 2 prohibiting the erection of new billboards to remain as non-conforming structures. Many communities nationally and in Minnesota are prohibiting billboards. The cities of Brooklyn Park, Burnsville, Eagan, Hopkins, Woodbury, Roseville, St. Paul and Edina allow billboards that already exist to remain but prohibit the erection of new billboards in their sign code. Board member Shankar sees a double standard in option 2 because it allows existing billboards to remain. He prefers option 1 which requires more stringent distance requirements from residential and is comfortable requiring an annual fee. Staff recommends putting a map together showing where the existing billboards are located, then show the possible billboard locations with the recommended distance restrictions for new billboards. Real Estate Signs and Directional Signs Chairperson Longrie said she doesn't care for either option 1 or 2 restricting the use of real estate directional signs to weekends only. She feels realtors use real estate signs as a tool in the community. Realtors don't just sell houses on weekends. Advertising with real estate signs during the week lets customers know there is a house for sale and to keep an eye out for the potential open house. Board member Hinzman and Shankar agreed. Ms. Finwall said a majority of the complaints that staff receives regarding signs are about open house and directional real estate signs in the right of way. These signs can stay up for a long time, two months or more, which in her opinion adds clutter and unsightliness to an intersection and gives an unfair advantage to realtors over other businesses. Realtors are allowed on-site signage in the yard of the property for sale and they advertise their listings in the MLS, and in the newspaper. Community Design Review Board Minutes 4-12-2005 5 Ms. Finwall said she feels very strongly allowing an unfair advantage to realtors and to clutter the city streets is wrong and is something she would like to see changed in the code. Board member Hinzman said he can understand where staff is coming from. On the other hand he sees the need for real estate directional signs so people can find homes that are for sale or when there is an open house. Businesses are located in commercial districts where customers expect a business. He suspects the city can remove signs in the right of way that are cluttering the streets. Chairperson Longrie said when there are too many signs at an intersection it's hard to differentiate between signs which aren't good for anyone's business. Maybe there could be a city awareness outreach to real estate companies and to realtors letting them know the sign code and the importance of taking signs down and not leaving signs up for two months. Board member Hinzman said the metal realtor signs are an investment for realtors and they would be upset if their signs were taken down. If they are paper signs then realtors are less likely to care if they are taken down or left up. Directional Signs Board member Shankar asked if it would make sense to specify colors for certain directional signs such as a different color sign for hospitals, schools, etc. Ms. Finwall said that was a good idea. Board members thanked staff for the work completed on the sign code revisions so far. c. CDRB representation at the April 25, 2005, City Council meeting to discuss Heritage Square 4th Addition, Town & Country Homes, Highway 61 Board member Shankar volunteered to represent the CDRB at the April 25, 2005, city council meeting. x. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 7:40 p.m.