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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-03-24 MINUTESCity of Cottage Grove Planning Commission March 24, 2008 A meeting of the Planning Commission was held at Cottage Grove City Hall, 7516 – 80th Street South, Cottage Grove, Minnesota on March 24, 2008, in the Council Chambers and telecast on local Government Cable Channel 16. Call to Order Chairperson Thiede called the Planning Commission meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Roll Call Members Present: Tina Folch-Freiermuth, Obid Hofland, Steve Messick, Tracy Poncin, Chris Reese, Jim Rostad, Eddie Tharbes, David Thiede, Chris Willhite Staff Present: John McCool, Senior Planner John M. Burbank, Senior Planner Approval of Agenda Chairperson Thiede introduced new Planning Commissioners Eddie Tharbs and Jim Rostad. Thiede asked if there are any changes to the agenda. Being no changes were made, the agenda was approved as submitted. Open Forum Thiede 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 Thiede 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 Summerhill Liquor – Planning Case No. CUP08-006 Keiser & Company, LLC, dba Summerhill Liquor, has applied for a conditional use permit to allow an off-sale liquor store to be located at 6939 Pine Arbor Drive South. Planning Commission Minutes March 24, 2008 Page 2 of 6 Burbank summarized the planning staff report and recommended approval subject to the conditions stipulated in the staff report. Burbank noted that the city received several pieces of correspondence in opposition to the conditional use permit application and those were in the commission’s packets. Hofland asked if there was an ordinance that allows so many liquor stores per population as is other cities. Burbank stated that our current ordinance just has a separation of 1,000 feet between liquor uses. Licenses used to be limited based on population, but that is no longer in effect. Amy and Steve Keiser, 9438 – 72nd Street South, introduced themselves as the owners of the proposed liquor store. Thiede asked if this would be their first store. Amy Keiser re- sponded yes. Thiede asked if they had done studies on the location, which would be be- tween a salon and a dentist office, and why they feel they could make money in that spot. Keiser stated that there is a lot of traffic on 70th Street and Hinton Avenue and from the gas station. Reese asked about parking. Burbank responded that the overall parking for the site has ap- proved balances, and given the current uses, he does not foresee any parking issues. Reese asked about access for delivery trucks. Burbank stated that truck turning movements were looked at as part of the site plan review for the building. Thiede stated that there was a letter in the packet from the property owner regarding parking and asked if the other tenants had any problems with having a liquor store between them. Burbank responded that the only condition he is aware of is that there are certain restrictions on similar type businesses but no stipulations on liquor uses. Tharbes asked if any consideration was given to debris and garbage emanating from the store. Keiser responded that she does not believe customers would drink in the parking lot and litter but they would monitor that and clean up the area if needed. Reese asked about the trash enclosure for the site. Alex Young, MSP Commercial, stated that the trash enclosure is shared between the tenants and is located in the mechanical room; there is no external trash structure on the property. He explained that the building has 360 degree architecture, and there is one door on the back side of the building that is the entrance to the mechanical room. He then stated that they over-built the amount of parking required for this building. There will be four retail buildings, one of which is a restaurant that will share access and parking. They provided two access points and a third will be added to ensure truck traffic could ease in and out of the site. Thiede asked when they anticipate the other retail buildings being completed. Young re- sponded that they wanted to fill their first two buildings before constructing the other ones, noting that currently the retail market is soft. Thiede asked about the length of the lease. Young responded it is a seven-year lease. Folch asked about preventing access to underage customers. Keiser responded that they are going to use the electronic system to swipe every ID before each sale. Planning Commission Minutes March 24, 2008 Page 3 of 6 Reese expressed concern about the adequacy of the shared trash enclosure handling the additional trash from this business and what alternatives have been looked at if more capac- ity is needed. Young responded that they would work with the tenants on utilizing space in their backroom and if there is further need, they could use the trash enclosure that will be built with the proposed other retail buildings. Thiede opened the public hearing. Kevin Raun, 6791 Pine Arbor Boulevard, asked what is considered the back of the building and the amount of parking per business. Young stated that the back of the building would be the north side and that parking is based on square footage in the building, noting that they have parking in excess of the city ordinance. Raun then expressed concerns about an on- sale liquor license at the proposed restaurant being too close to the off-sale liquor store, wear and tear on the roadways, that the trash enclosure would not be large enough, and truck traffic utilizing the residential streets. Young stated that they would be agreeable to adding a condition for no outside trash. Colleen Nichols, 6910 Pine Arbor Alcove, asked for clarification on conditional use permits. Burbank responded that it adds conditions of approval to a permitted use. Nichols asked about hours of operation and if they would change like the gas station’s hours did. Burbank stated that state statutes require liquor stores to close by 10:00 p.m. and to be closed on Sundays. Nichols expressed concerns about loitering and drinking in the area and asked about statistics on police response. Burbank responded that the police department monitors retail areas and property owners and tenants also police that themselves. Nichols expressed concerns about truck traffic accessing the store, noise issues, signage and lights on the north side of the building, littering, loitering, and wear and tear on the roads. Keiser stated that they would have all their deliveries on one day and they will pick up some of their orders. Steve Cavalluzzi, 6840 Pine Arbor Lane South, asked if there is the possibility of putting ad- ditional trees, specifically pine trees, on the divider on the north side of the building to block the view from the residential area. Young responded that the landscaping on the site is new, and he would like to give that a chance to grow, but if it becomes a problem in the future, they could look at additional plantings. He noted that they revised the landscaping plan after the original approval to double the amount that was required. Burbank displayed the land- scaping plan for the area. Cavalluzzi also expressed concern about lighting and signage. Craig Slaikeu, 6867 Pine Arbor Court, expressed concern over the number of liquor stores, as there are already five in the city. He stated that when the hours were changed for the gas station, the neighbors asked that the whole Pine Arbor neighborhood be notified of any plans for the commercial area as they would all be impacted, but he and other neighbors along Hinton Avenue did not receive notification from the city on this application. He expressed concern that most traffic to the existing commercial areas comes in at Hinton Avenue, which causes dangerous traffic conditions between the residential and commercial uses. He asked if it would be possible to add another access to the development. Reese asked if there are plans to upgrade 70th Street. Burbank responded that 70th Street is not currently in any capital improvement plans, except for traffic control changes at Hardwood Avenue. He ex- plained that the property owner met with the County after the building was reconstructed to see if the access from 70th Street could be changed, but the site lines in the area would still Planning Commission Minutes March 24, 2008 Page 4 of 6 not allow left turns from 70th into the development. He then stated that regarding notification, state law requires 300 feet, but the city notifies everyone within 500 feet of the property. Willhite commented that the only way the city could limit the number of liquor stores was to not allow any. Burbank responded that in the past liquor licenses were limited based on population, but that ordinance has changed. He stated that there are no limitations for liquor licensesin this area. Chris Devine, 7685 Inskip Trail South, supports the application because Cottage Grove is growing, particularly in that area. Nichols again expressed concerns about the increased noise, traffic, wear and tear, and loi- tering on the roads due to a liquor store. Devine stated that he has not noticed loitering by the other liquor stores in town. No one else spoke. Thiede closed the public hearing. Messick stated that the Commission is looking at a conditional use permit for a specific busi- ness in an area that has already been built and he does not want to add concerns with the entire site to this application. He stated that in the future the city could look into the issues with the site. He stated that he supports the proposed conditional use permit. Burbank stated that a condition for additional landscaping could be added to the CUP. Rostad asked if customer access is on the south side of the building and the north side would be used just for deliveries and employee access. Young responded yes. Reese made a motion to recommend approval of the conditional use permit subject to the conditions listed below with an added condition regarding no exterior trash, and to review the landscaping plan: 1. The applicant must abide all the requirements of City Code Title 3, Chapter 3, Liquor Control. 2. The applicant must have a liquor license approved by the City Council. Willhite seconded the motion. The motion passed on an 8-to-1 vote (Tharbes). Thiede asked Tharbes to explain why he voted nay. Tharbes stated that while it is not alco- hol that brings a community down, it is the quantity of the alcohol, and five liquor stores in a community of this size is enough. He can also envision trash issues down 70th Street and Hinton Avenue and does not believe the applicants have adequately addressed how they would address hours of operation and trash issues. Discussion Items 7.1 Environmental Assessment Worksheet for Nelson Mine Expansion McCool summarized the report on the draft EAW for the Nelson Mine Expansion proposal and gave a brief description of Aggregate Industries’ proposal to mine sand and gravel within Planning Commission Minutes March 24, 2008 Page 5 of 6 a 404-acre site that is below the Mississippi River water surface. He explained that a state and federal environmental impact statement must be prepared. In preparation of evaluating the project’s potential environmental impacts, a draft scoping Environmental Assessment Worksheet was prepared. The City is designated as the “Responsible Governmental Unit” (RGU) that will oversee the preparation and analysis of the environmental review documents.McCool reported that preparing the EIS will include several public meetings and numerous county, state, and federal agencies/organizations will be involved in the process. The Planning Commission did not take any action on this matter. 7.2 Farmers Market Ordinance Amendment McCool summarized the memo to the Planning Commission and asked for feedback from the Commission. The Commission was generally supportive of the suggestions cited in staff’s memo to the Planning Commission. The Commission directed staff to proceed with the preparation of an ordinance amendment that would allow farmers markets as an accessory use to any non-residential principal use in all zoning districts. Approval of Planning Commission Minutes of February 25, 2008 Being that there were no corrections to the February 25, 2008 minutes, they were ac- cepted as distributed. Reports 9.1 Recap of City Council Meetings McCool reviewed the items discussed by the City Council at their meetings on March 5 and 19, 2008. 9.2 Response to Planning Commission Inquiries None. 9.3 Planning Commission Requests None. 9.4 Organizational Meeting and Election of Officers Poncin nominated Reese as the Planning Commission Chair. There were no other nominations. Approval of Reese as the Chair passed unanimously. Poncin nominated Messick as the Planning Commission Vice-Chair. There were no other nominations. Approval of Messick as the Vice-Chair passed unanimously. Reese nominated Poncin as the Planning Commission Secretary. There were no other nominations. Approval of Poncin as the Secretary passed unanimously. Planning Commission Minutes March 24, 2008 Page 6 of 6 Rogstad was appointed to serve as the Planning Commission liaison to the Advisory Com- mittee on Historic Preservation. Adjournment Willhite made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Reese seconded. Motion passed unani- mously (9–0 vote). The meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m.