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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-11-24 MINUTESCity of Cottage Grove Planning Commission November 24, 2008 A meeting of the Planning Commission was held at Cottage Grove City Hall, 7516 – 80th Street South, Cottage Grove, Minnesota, on November 24, 2008, in the Council Chambers and telecast on Local Government Cable Channel 16. Call to Order Chair Reese called the Planning Commission meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Roll Call Members Present: Obid Hofland, Michael Linse Steve Messick, Tracy Poncin, Ryan Rambacher, Chris Reese, Jim Rostad, David Thiede, Chris Willhite Staff Present: Howard Blin, Community Development Director John McCool, Senior Planner Approval of Agenda Reese asked if there are any changes to the agenda. Being no changes, the agenda was approved as submitted. Open Forum Reese asked if anyone wished to address the Planning Commission on any non-agenda item. No one addressed the Commission. Chair’s Explanation of the Public Hearing Process Reese explained the purpose of the Planning Commission, which serves in an advisory ca- pacity to the City Council, and that the City Council makes all final decisions. In addition, he explained the process of conducting a public hearing and requested that any person wishing to speak should come to the microphone and state their full name and address for the public record. Public Hearings and Application Reviews 6.1 Frandrup Addition – Case No. V08-025 Steven and Paula Frandrup, 6836 Pointe Place South, applied for a variance for the con- struction of a garage addition to the principal structure that would increase the size to a maximum of 1,300 square feet when the ordinance criteria limit is established at 1,000 square feet. Planning Commission Minutes November 24, 2008 Page 2 of 4 McCool summarized the staff report and recommended approval of the Frandrup’s variance application. McCool explained that the proposed garage addition will have an upper and lower level and the total foundation footprint will be 525 square feet. The applicant, Steve Frandrup, had no comment and offered to answer any questions the Commission may have. There were no questions. Reese opened the public hearing. No one spoke. Reese closed the public hearing. Willhite made a motion to recommend that the variance be granted based on the find- ings of fact and subject to the conditions of approval listed in the planning staff report. Thiede seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously. 6.2 BP Station Redevelopment – Case ZA08-026 and CUP08-027 Linn Investment Properties, applied for a zoning amendment to add a Planned Develop- ment Overlay (PDO) to the property at 8490 East Point Douglas Road South, a site plan review, and a conditional use permit to allow the redevelopment of the BP gasoline/con- venience store with car wash. Blin summarized the staff report and recommended approval of the rezoning, site plan, and conditional use permit applications. He reported that the existing pylon sign is proposed to be replaced with a monument sign. The applicant is requesting the City’s approval to have a LED reader board on the monument sign and to be allowed to have merchandise displayed out- side. He stated that the Holiday Store located across Jamaica Avenue is allowed to have mer- chandise displayed outside. For this reason, consideration was given to allow merchandise outside the BP Station, but with the understanding that this might change if the conditions approving the Holiday Store change in the future. Rostad asked if motorists will be able to make a left hand turn onto East Point Douglas Road from the BP site. Blin explained that the easterly access drive on East Point Douglas Road will be eliminated. The westerly drive will be shifted to the west to improve the left turn movement around the existing center median in East Point Douglas Road and the double yellow striped line will be removed next year. Steve Linn, Linn Companies, stated that the full access on East Point Douglas Road is important for their business and that they hope to develop the other retail site at the same time they develop their gasoline/convenience site. There will be an access easement across both parcels to improve access. Linn explained that all the existing petroleum tanks and lines will be replaced with new tanks, lines, and equipment. The architecture of the retail building is similar to the Holiday gas station at 69th Street and Hinton Avenue. He then requested that an electronic LED reader board be allowed on their new monument sign. He stated LED lighting will be used to display their gas prices and believes electronic reader boards are better looking than reader boards with changeable letters. Linn said reader board signs with changeable letters need to be high enough so that they are not accessible to the public, but the height could cause an unsafe situation for their employees if they have to use a ladder to change the message board. The Planning Commission discussed the advantages and disadvantages of electronic reader Planning Commission Minutes November 24, 2008 Page 3 of 4 boards. There was a general consensus that signs should not blink, flash, or change colors and that the emitting light source and the frequency that a message can change during a cer- tain period of time should be regulated. The Commission suggested that the city’s sign ordi- nance for electronic reader boards be discussed at a different meeting since its application would apply to all other businesses. Messick asked if a barrier would be installed to prevent motorists from driving across the fu- ture site if it did not develop the same time as their current location. Linn said they would pro- vide a temporary barrier like bituminous curbing so that motorists could not drive across the unimproved site. Reese opened the public hearing. No one spoke. Reese closed the public hearing. Thiede made a motion to approve a Planned Development Overlay District (PDO) for property at 8490 East Point Douglas Road and the one-half acre parcel of land west of 8490 East Point Douglas Road and the preliminary development plan for both sites. Willhite seconded the motion. The motion unanimously passed (9-to-0 vote). Thiede made a motion to approve the site plan to redevelop property at 8490 East Point Douglas Road with the construction of a 5,500 square foot gasoline/convenience store, an attached car wash, and canopy above the gasoline pumps. Rostad seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously (9-to-0 vote). Thiede made a motion to rescind all previously approved conditional use permits for this site and approve the conditional use permit for the reconstruction of a gasoline/ convenience store at 8490 East Point Douglas Road, subject to the conditions listed in the staff report. Poncin seconded. The motion passed unanimously (9-to-0 vote). Discussion Items 7.1 Newspaper Boxes Blin summarized the information in his memo to the Commission, noting that an ordinance was drafted in 1996 but was never adopted. He asked if the Commission wanted to hold a public hearing in January on an ordinance amendment. Messick asked if the city’s attorney would look at the ordinance amendment to ensure that it is still in compliance. Blin responded that our current city attorney has looked at the ordinance and agreed with the findings. Hofland asked about administering the ordinance. Blin responded that it would probably be administered at City Hall and would be a way of tracking and ensuring the boxes are main- tained. Messick asked if there would be a fee for the permit. Blin stated that staff would propose a nominal permit fee. Linse asked if there is currently language in the city code to regulate these boxes. Blin responded that there are ordinances that control the use of rights- of-way but don’t specifically address newspaper boxes. Linse then asked if the language re- garding adult uses could be added in the future as there does not seem to be any current issues. Blin responded that if a city does not have any controls on adult uses and one comes in, they have a right to remain and the city can only control future uses. It was the consensus of the commission to leave the adult use language in the ordinance. Reese asked if this ordi- Planning Commission Minutes November 24, 2008 Page 4 of 4 nance is adopted, would it pertain to all existing newspaper boxes or only new boxes. Blin responded that a reasonable period of time to comply would be given to all owners of these boxes. Thiede suggested adding language that the boxes be placed on a significant base that would allow the area to be mowed. Approval of Planning Commission Minutes of October 27, 2008 Being that there were no corrections to the October 27, 2008 minutes, Hofland made a motion to approve the minutes. Poncin seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously. Reports 9.1 Recap of November City Council Meetings Blin reviewed the items discussed by the City Council at their meetings on November 5 and 19, 2008. 9.2 Response to Planning Commission Inquiries No inquiries were made at the October Planning Commission meeting that required response by staff. 9.3 Planning Commission Requests Thiede asked for an update on the Home Depot building, the proposed hotel project and the Rush/Rodeo building. Blin responded that due to the poor retail environment and economy, there is nothing pending for any of those projects. Blin reminded the Commission that the December meeting has been canceled. Adjournment Thiede made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Willhite seconded. Motion passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 7:55 p.m.