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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAugust 12, 2008 C .1,T.Y o F NDOVE C PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION MEETING -AUGUST 12,2008 The Regular Bi-Monthly Meeting of the Andover Planning and Zoning Commission was called to order by Chairperson Daninger on August 12,2008, 7:00 p.m., at the Andover City Hall, 1685 Crosstown Boulevard NW, Andover, Minnesota. Commissioners present: Chairperson Daninger, Commissioners Tim Kirchoff, Michael Casey, Valerie Holthus, Devon Walton (arrived at 7:10 p.m.), Douglas Falk and Dennis Cleveland. Commissioners absent: There were none. Also present: City Planner, Courtney Bednarz Associate Planner, Chris Vrchota Others 0 APPRO V AL OF MINUTES. June 24, 2008 Motion by Kirchoff, seconded by Casey, to approve the minutes as presented. Motion carried on a 6-ayes, O-nays, I-absent (Walton) vote. PUBLIC HEARING: CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT (08-08) AMENDING CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT (03-15) TO EXTEND THE APPROVAL OF TEMPORARY STRUCTURE FOR ANDOVER CHRISTIAN CHURCH AT 16045 NIGHTINGALE STREET NW. Mr. Vrchota explained the applicant is requesting an amendment to the conditional use permit to extend the timeframe for the removal of the temporary classrooms on their property by five years. Mr. Vrchota reviewed the staff report with the Commission. Commissioner Holthus asked if the buildings were recently inspected by the City. Mr. 0 Vrchota stated the Zoning Department has not done any and he did not know if the Building Department has done any. He noted he would look into it. Regular Andover Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting Minutes - August 12, 2008 Page 2 0 Commissioner Kirchoff asked why these cannot be permanent structures and wondered , what the difference. was. Mr. V rchota stated the biggest difference is the buildings themselves do not meet the City's requirements for a commercial building. He noted the building life safety requirements are met through the State Building Code. Motion by Falk, seconded by Casey, to open the public hearing. Motion carried on a 6- ayes, O-nays, I-absent (Walton) vote. Mr. Jim Jensen, Chairman of the Trustees, 3423 165th Lane NW was at the meeting to answer questions. Commissioner Falk asked what the ultimate goal of the building was in the future. Mr. Jensen stated at this point in time they are using the facilities for their Junior and Senior High and it also serves for Vacation Bible School and other functions throughout the year. He stated when they moved in 2004 their goal was to expand the church and he thought there was plans in the future to take the building down and put in a larger more multipurpose type structure there. They did not have a timeline set but he heard things such as three years as a possible timeline. Commissioner Holthus wondered when the structures were manufactured. Mr. Jensen 0 stated he could only guess based on what he was told and that was they were put in the spot in 1998. Commissioner Holthus indicated she remembered something about them being from Minneapolis Schools and she wondered what condition they were in. Mr. Jensen stated they recently did some siding work and as a result of the recent hail storm the roof needs to be replaced but they have been putting this off until they know the building will be able to remain on site. He noted they do maintenance on the building themselves. Commissioner Walton arrived at 7: 10 p.m. Mr. Jensen stated recently the Fire Marshall went through and inspected the whole building including the portable building. Mr. Jensen thought they would be building a permanent structure in three years but that is dependent on their goals for growth of the church. Chairperson Daninger stated they were requesting five years and he wondered where the number came from. Mr. Jensen thought it was approval in increments offive years. Chairperson Daninger noted he had a concern with multiple extensions of the portable buildings. 0 Commissioner Walton asked for a point of reference if they approved this for another five years would they be able to plan for what they might be able to do after that. Mr. Jensen Regular Andover Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting Minutes - August 12, 2008 Page 3 0 indicated the understanding from the people who asked him to get the permit renewed was that it was an automatic extension and there was no discussion about what they would do if it was not renewed. That is something new to him and if it is not renewed they would have to decide what to do. Commissioner Walton asked what kind of planning time does it take to think about adding on a structure if they go less than four or five years for a renewal. Mr. Jensen stated part of the planning would be if there was financing available. He was not sure what steps would need to be taken. Commissioner Walton wondered if they had a four or five year running numbers to indicated to them that their growth is continuing or declining which would help in their planning process. Mr. Jensen stated they have figures that show they have had continuous growth and have been steadily growing and the idea is that they will continue to grow but he did not know how they could predict that. Motion by Casey, seconded by Cleveland, to close the public hearing. Motion carried on a 7 -ayes, O-nays, O-absent vote. Commissioner Walton asked if they had any numbers indicating how many portable structures they have in Andover. Mr. Vrchota indicated he knew of two for sure. 0 Commissioner Walton asked if they had any track record of length of time the City allows these or does it vary based on the applicant. Mr. Vrchota explained it is generally based on the applicant. Commis.sioner Cleveland asked if there was any history on the inspections of the buildings. Mr. Vrchota stated he did not believe the Building Department normally inspects buildings on a regular basis, generally it is done when there is an issue or an expansion but he will check to see if any inspections have been done. Commissioner Holthus stated she did not know if she wanted to vote to approve this or not because she thought it might be a good idea to have them inspected by the Building Department. Commissioner Walton thought this was an excellent point and he also knew they inherited the temporary structure and the Conditional Use Permit and he did not know when they looked at the permit to see that it was "temporary" and not intended to be a permanent structure because it is not normally built to any kind of code to sustain some kind of a permanency and upon inspection maybe it could be checked to see if it could be made permanent and annexed to their grounds but his thought was if it is truly a temporary structure than it should be treated as one maybe the City grants them a shorter extension that allows them to do some quick planning and either annex it and build 0 additional footage. He stated he would look at shortening it up because it is a temporary Regular Andover Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting Minutes - August 12, 2008 Page 4 0 structure and they are not built to any safety codes to allow them to stay for any length of time. Commissioner Kirchoff stated he has been getting the impression that the only difference between them and a permanent structure is the exterior, it does not conform to the commercial codes along with the roof structure mayor may not be in conformance for what they have for commercial property. Other than that they could be considered permanent structures. Commissioner Walton asked if they could inspect this to see what it would take to bring the structure up to code and retrofit it and make it permanent and conform to codes. Chairperson Daninger stated in the resolution it is the effect upon health, safety and general welfare of the City of Andover and that includes the safety of kids so part of the resolution is to make sure it is a safe structure. Commissioner Walton recommended shortening this to a two the three year time period instead of five years to try to spur on change. Mr. Bednarz stated the difference between the temporary nature of these structures and the church are just the exterior materials. They are required to conform to all the building and fire codes like the rest of the building, they are not masonry, which is what the City 0 requires. From a life safety standpoint, the temporary structure is as safe as the church itself. Chairperson Daninger indicated he did not have an issue with the safety of these buildings. Commissioner Kirchoff stated he would not have a problem with allowing these for five more years. Most of the Commission was ok with granting a five-year extension. Motion by Casey, seconded by Falk, to recommend to the City Council approval of the Amended Conditional Use Permit for a five-year time period as presented in the resolution. Motion carried on a 5-ayes, 2-nays (Daninger & Walton), O-absent vote. Mr. Vrchota stated that this item would be before the Council at the August 19,2008 City Council meeting. PUBLIC HEARING: CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT (08-09) TO ALLOW A HOUSE TO BE MOVED TO 14355 CROSSTOWN BOULEVARD NW. Mr. Bednarz explained the applicant is seeking to move a house and detached garage from 14905 Crosstown Boulevard approximately % of a mile to the subject property. 0 Mr. Bednarz discussed the staff report with the Commission and showed photos of the existing structure and surrounding homes. Regular Andover Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting Minutes - August 12, 2008 Page 5 0 Motion by Casey, seconded by Kirchoff, to open the public hearing. Motion carried on a 7 -ayes, O-nays, O-absent vote. Commissioner Holthus stated she was looking at the two houses and the site lines and wondered why the newer house was placed on the lot the way it was and not lined up with the rear lot line because then the site lines out of both houses would have a greater expanse. Mr. Ken Orttel, 2772 Bunker Lake Boulevard, stated he did a proposal that was somewhat in that light and it did not work for a couple of reasons. He talked to staff and typically homes are supposed to be parallel to the road. If the house was aligned with the back property line there is a fairly large deck that then would protrude back further than what is allowed so what he did instead was push it as far over to the right as he could on the lot line so in general the site line of the existing house goes past the new house. To settle it against the back property line will also take out more trees. This is a fairly heavily wooded lot and they are trying to save as many trees as possible. He thought that staff recommended the one that is closer to the front property line. Mr. Bednarz concurred. Commissioner Cleveland asked where they will be placing the accessory structure. Mr. 0 Orttel stated it will not be moved because of the expense but will be removed from the property and discarded. Commissioner Kirchoff asked ifhe has a driveway permit for a driveway access onto Crosstown. Mr. Orttel indicated he has one that has already been used and has placed curb cuts in the property a couple of years ago. He indicated he was at Anoka County last week to review this and the existing old driveway goes directly into the garage door so Anoka County is debating this. He stated even though he has a permit and two curb cuts he was told that he would probably have to get another one when it is finalized to make it official. He noted one of the two curb cuts will be used. Commissioner Walton stated it was nice to see the home recycled because the house is in great shape. Chair Daninger asked ifhe was comfortable with the resolution. Mr. Orttel stated he did not have a problem with anything in the resolution. Motion by Walton, seconded by Falk, to close the public hearing. Motion carried on a 7- ayes, O-nays, O-absent vote. Motion by Walton, seconded by Casey, to recommend approval of the proposed conditional use permit. Motion carried on a 7 -ayes, O-nays, O-absent vote. 0 Regular Andover Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting Minutes - August 12, 2008 Page 6 0 Mr. Bednarz stated that this item would be before the Council at the August 19,2008 City Council meeting. OTHER BUSINESS. Mr. Bednarz updated the Planning Commission on related items. ADJOURNMENT. Motion by Walton, seconded by Falk, to adjourn the meeting at 7:34 p.m. Motion carried on a 7 -ayes, O-nays, O-absent vote. Respectfully Submitted, Sue Osbeck, Recording Secretary TimeSaver Off Site Secretarial, Inc. 0 0