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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSeptember 10, 2002 \J' o o ~.~ ~ q/~if/6~ CITY of ANDOVER PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION MEETING - SEPTEMBER 10, 2002 The RegularBi-Monthly Meeting of the Andover Planning and Zoning Commission was called to order by Chairperson Jay Squires on September 10,2002, 8:05 p.m., at the Andover City Hall, 1685 Crosstown Boulevard NW, Andover, Minnesota. Commissioners present: Chairperson Jay Squires, Commissioners Tim Kirchoff, Douglas Falk, Tony Gamache, Rex Greenwald, Dean Daninger and Paula Larsen. Commissioners absent: There were none. Also present: City Planner, Courtney Bednarz Others 1,\ \J APPROVAL OF MINUTES. . , ., V August 13,2002 Motion by Daninger, seconded by Gamache, to approve the minutes as presented. Motion carried ona 7-ayes, O-nays, O~present, O-absent vote. PUBLIC HEARING: CONSIDER AMENDMENT TO SPECIAL USE PERMIT 97- 03 TO ADJUST BOUNDARIES OF ALLOWED RETAIL TRADE AND SERVICES IN AN INDUSTRIAL ZONING DISTRICT FOR BEBERG LANDSCAPING AT 13540 HANSON BOULEVARD NW. Mr. Bednarz explained that staff revisited the resolution from the 1997 case and discovered that the approval for retail sales in an industrial district was given for the entire east half of Lot 13, Watts Garden Acres. No amendment to the boundaries of this approval is necessary. He summarized the legal 'description in the resolution from 1997 and showed.illustrations of the area. This was pulled from the agenda. The Commission took no action. Regular Andover Planni~--:)and Zoning Commission Meeting 0 Minutes - September 10, 2002 Page 2 (J VARIANCE (02-10): VARIANCE TO ORDINANCE 8, SECTION 4.21 FENCES TO INCREASE FENCE HEIGHT FROM FOUR FEET TO SIX FEET IN THE FRONT YARD FOR PROPERTY LOCATED AT 13540 HANSON BOULEVARD NW. Mr. Bednarz explained that the applicant is seeking a variance to allow a six-foot tall ornamental fence in the front yard of the subject property. He stated a new property is being created for Beberg Landscaping. The new building will face Grouse Street NW. The property will be given a Grouse Street address. Due to the location of the new business on the corner of Grouse Street NW and Station Parkway, the front yard exists on both the west and south sides of the proposed building. Mr. Bednarz showed maps and discussed the Ordinance with the Commission. Commissioner Kirchoff asked if there would still be access from Hanson Boulevard. Mr. Bednarz stated access is shared by Beberg and Roger's Auto Body currently. He stated this access would be gated off and used for delivers; Hanson Boulevard access would no longer be the primary access for the Beberg site. Commissioner Larsen asked how would they account for the visual obstruction created by the fence. Mr. Bednarz stated with all fences and obstructions they look for a clear view triangle and they believe it can be satisfied. He stated they would move the fence off the property line and curb area to the parking area. CJ Commissioner Gamache asked if this fence did not conform to the ordinance just passed. Mr. Bednarz stated they changed the ordinance from four to six feet in the R-l and R-2 zoning districts for residential not for commercial. Commissioner Falk asked if there would be room for a sidewalk on Commercial Boulevard. Mr. Bednarz stated there would be. Commissioner Falk asked how far is the property line from the curb. Bednarz stated it is approximately thirteen feet from the property line to the street. Commissioner Daninger stated there was some discussion regarding the maximum and minimum distance between the bars in the fence because of the safety and this does not apply to commercial property but he would like to staff to discuss this with the applicant. He also stated there was another issue about having vines growing on the fence and he would not like that to happen or not allow them to display a banner on the fence. Mr. Bednarz stated signs would be regulated by the temporary sign ordinance and the fence will be located so you would not need to see through the fence for traffic visibility. Commissioner Gamache stated they could be giving a variance for a solid fence. Mr. Bednarz stated the applicant has proposed a wrought iron fence to improve the image of the outside sales area. /\ U Regular Andover Plann~l)and Zoning Commission Meeting 0 Minutes - September 10, 2002 Page 3 ,'\ U Chairperson Squires stated they do not have the authority to attach conditions to the variance. He stated he was not clear on some information in the letter Mr. Beberg wrote to the City. He asked Mr. Beberg what the plans were for the retaining wall. Mr. Beberg stated there is currently a four-foot retaining wall on the comer of Grouse street and it is in the right-of-way and the intersection site above his property at that comer. He stated if the fence were located next to the retaining wall, a person would be able to use the retaining wall to jump over the fence. He stated they wanted to locate the fence further away from the retaining wall to prevent this. Motion by Greenwald, seconded by Kirchoff, to recommend to the City Council a variance to allow an ornament fence as defined by the Cities definition of ornamental as used in the Ordinance for R-l, up to six feet in height in the front yard setback area. Motion carried on a 7-ayes, O-nays, O-absent vote Mr. Bednarz asked Mr. Beberg if this would be a wrought iron fence. Mr. Beberg stated that it is actually a black steel fence. Mr. Bednarz stated a lot of times they see an aluminum product for the fence because it does not rust and it lasts longer. He stated ornamental might be more appropriate. Commissioner Gamache asked if they should specify ornamental as defined by the Cities definition of ornamental as they used in the previous ordinance for R-l. Mr. Bednarz stated he would be comfortable with that. o Mr. Bednarz stated that this item would be before the Council at the October 1, 2002 City Council meeting. PUBLIC HEARING: CONSIDER ESTABLISHING BUNKER LAKE BOULEVARD OVERLAY ZONING DISTRICT. Mr. Bednarz explained that staff was asked to prepare an overlay zoning district to guide future development along Bunker Lake Boulevard. Subsequently a decision was made to continue to utilize the standard Andover Station covenant document that has been a part of the sale of the EDA owned land in the past. Therefore, no overlay district will be needed at this time. This was pulled from the agenda. The Commission did not take any action. PUBLIC HEARING: COMPREHENSIVE PLAN AMENDMENT (02-04) TO CHANGE THE LAND USE DESIGNATION FROM GENERAL COMMERCIAL TO LOW DENSITY RESIDENTIAL FOR PROPERTY LOCATED NORTHWEST OF THE INTERSECTION OF BUNKER LAKE BOULEVARD AND HANSON BOULEVARD. o Regular Andover PlanmQand Zoning Commission Meeting 0 Minutes - September 10, 2002 Page 4 -- -, ( ) ,,___J Mr. Bednarz explained the Comprehensive Land Use Plan of the City of Andover was adopted in December of 200 1. As required by State Statute, any proposed changes to the Land Use Plan shall be reviewed at a public hearing and approved by the local elected officials. The proposed change is considered a minor amendment of the Comprehensive Plan due to the size being less than 40 acres. The City has developed a master plan for the area known as "Andover Station North" and is recommending that the land use plan be amended to reflect a transitional area of low density residential between the existing residential area and the new commercial development that is expected. Commissioner Kirchoff asked if less than half of the property is buildable. Mr. Bednarz stated the majority of the area is already developed. He showed the Commission the areas that are already developed. (J Commissioner Greenwald asked if 139th Avenue would connect over to the Jay Street Connection, because if they build an urban low density residential, it would change the dynamics of the existing area. Mr. Bednarz stated there was going to be discussion regarding the pros and cons of making a connection from that neighborhood to this development. He stated there would likely be a connection to the low-density neighborhood, but he did not know if it would go all the way through to the commercial property. Commissioner Greenwald asked what urban low density residential was. Mr. Bednarz stated it is single-family housing. He stated the west side of the property contains some mature tree stands and wetland areas as opposed to open fields. Commissioner Greenwald asked what was proposed for the urban residential high density area. Mr. Bednarz stated this was unknown and may be an opportunity to blend the high and low density areas together to create a more integrated project. Commissioner Kirchoff stated ifthis is a high density, they might want to look at the two connections. Mr. Bednarz stated these are the types of issues they would talk about with a developer when a proposal is brought forward. Commissioner Greenwald asked who owned the fifteen-acre land. Mr. Bednarz stated Pov's owns it and the City owns the high-density area often acres. Commissioner Greenwald asked ifPov's knew about the Cities plans to rezone the property. Mr. Bednarz stated they did. Chairperson Squires stated the City has the right to rezone property whether the property owner agrees or not. Mr. Bednarz stated Pav's was contacted and is amenable to this change. Motion by Gamache, seconded by Kirchoff, to open the public hearing at 8:29 p.m. Motion carried on a 7 -ayes, O-nays, a-absent vote. o Mr. Wesley Silinger, 13959 Nightingale Street stated he was not notified about this but was wondering what the City had in mind with the development. He wanted to know if this would be single-family and townhomes and not rental. Mr. Bednarz stated as far as he knew the City was not going to sell the property for a rental project. Mr. Silinger Regular Andover PlannzQand Zoning Commission Meeting 0 Minutes - September 10, 2002 Page 5 1-' ~_) asked if the City would sell the property to current residents in order to keep it undeveloped. Mr. Bednarz stated that if there are individuals interested in buying property, the EDA does own the property and the party should contact City Hall and let them know there is interest. He stated from a planning staff view, the City has spent a lot of time and energy and money in reclaiming the property and getting it back to a state in which it could be developed and now is the time to recoup that investment. Mr. Silinger asked if the City wanted to reguide just the Pov's area. Mr. Bednarz stated this was true and that the City wanted to reguide the property from commercial to low density. Mr. Silinger asked what the definition oflow density residential is. Bednarz stated low density residential is single-family housing of zero to four units per acre. Motion by Daninger, seconded by Kirchoff, to close the public hearing at 8:33 p.m. Motion carried on a 7-ayes, a-nays, a-absent vote. Commissioner Gamache stated he sees the ball field being put where the fence is. How far from the fence are they. The dashed line on the plan was not the fence, it was the building setback line from the former landfill. Commissioner Daninger asked if there were any updates on the utility substation. Mr. Bednarz stated he has not heard anything new regarding this. (J Chairperson Squires stated as far as the neighbors are concerned to change this to urban low density residential in conjunction with the residential use to the north is a good buffer, without this they would have general commercial butting up to residential which is not ideal. Motion by Gamache, seconded by Kirchoff, to recommend to the City Council the changes to the Comprehensive Plan Amendment 02-04 to change the land use designation from general commercial to low density residential for property located northwest of the intersection of Bunker Lake Boulevard and Hanson Boulevard. Motion carried on a 7-ayes, a-nays, a-absent vote. Commissioner Greenwald asked if it is contingent on the Met Council approval. Mr. Bednarz stated this is a minor plan amendment that the Met Council is aware of and the Council could approve this even while the Met Council is reviewing this. Mr. Bednarz stated that this item would be before the Council at the October I, 2002 City Council meeting. o Regular Andover Plannir:;lmd Zoning Commission Meeting 0 Minutes - September 10,2002 Page 6 ~_~) PUBLIC HEARING: CONSIDER AMENDMENTS TO ORDINANCE 8, SECTION 6.02 MINIMUM DISTRICT PROVISIONS TO CLARIDY DIMENSIONAL AND SETBACK REQUIREMENTS. Mr. Bednarz explained that staff has revised a table from Section 6.02 of the Zoning Ordinance to clarify various zoning requirements such as lot size, setbacks, minimum house size, etc. This table summarizes requirements from various sections of Ordinance 8 and 10 and is intended to be an easy to read handout to provide information that is frequently requested. Mr. Bednarz further discussed this with the Commission. Chairperson Squires stated this is a clean up task to conform the table to modern day. Mr. Bednarz stated this is primarily the purpose for it but initially they were only going to change the side yard setback from property line adjacent to street but when they got into this and researched the history they found other things. Commissioner Daninger asked who put did the work on the report. Mr. Bednarz stated he prepared most of the report and he worked closely with Mr. Almgren, the Building Official and his staff. He stated all the building inspectors have been a great help. Commissioner Daninger stated he wanted to make sure credit is due were credit is due. (~\ \-.-J Commissioner Kirchoff stated on the top of the table under family homes, lots created before 1978. He asked if they had any issues since 1978 between the one-acre versus the two and a half acres in the R-2. Mr. Bednarz stated for the vast majority of the lots out there that is correct. He stated that if there is a variance they are individually covered. Motion by Greenwald, seconded by Daninger, to open the public hearing at 8:49 p.m. Motion carried on a 7-ayes, O-nays, O-absent vote. There was no public input. Motion by Greenwald, seconded by Falk, to close the public hearing at 8:49 p.m. Motion carried on a 7 -ayes, O-nays, O-absent vote. Commissioner Greenwald stated he thought this made a lot of sense this was cleaned up. Motion by Daninger, seconded by Larsen, to recommend to the City Council approval of the amendments to Ordinance 8, Section 6.02 Minimum District Provisions to clarify dimensional and setback requirements. Motion carried on a 7-ayes, O-nays, O-absent vote. Mr. Bednarz stated that this item would be before the Council at the October I, 2002 City Council meeting. ,-\ V r ( , !,,-) ,J Regular Andover Plannb~Jnd Zoning Commission Meeting 0 Minutes - September 10, 2002 Page 7 OTHER BUSINESS. Mr. Bednarz mentioned that residential development used in preliminary plats need to be approved at the end of December to get work going for next year. The City is also working on rental requirements per the City Council and also to split or condominiumize twin houses and condos or four unit buildings around town to allow an owner occupied situation because typically in those neighborhoods, the housing is dominated by rental housing. Commissioner Greenwald asked regarding the land south of Tanners, would there be housing going in and where are they at on this issue. Mr. Bednarz stated the EDA interviewed five or six builders and developers after Hans Hagen indicated he was no longer interested in a project. Bos Construction was selected as the leading candidate and they were going to construct a project similar to the Hans Hagen proposal. He stated he did not think a final decision has not been made and he did not know if the EDA is going to pursue the project further. The land is still owned by the City and United Properties has an option and the City is marketing it to get someone in there to do a residential project. Commissioner Greenwald asked if it would make more sense for the City to put in more retail instead of residential in the area. Mr. Bednarz stated this is the plan for the area to the east of the new grocery store but on the south side of Station Parkway, the piece of land is residential. ADJOURNMENT. Motion by Larsen, seconded by Kirchoff, to adjourn the meeting at 8:55 p.m. Motion carried on a 7-ayes, O-nays, O-absent vote. Respectfully Submitted, Sue Osbeck, Recording Secretary TimeSaver Off Site Secretarial, Inc.