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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-08-26 PACKET 07.City of Cottage Grove Planning Commission July 22, 2019 A meeting of the Planning Commission was held at Cottage Grove City Hall, 12800 Ravine Park- way South, Cottage Grove, Minnesota, on Monday, July 22, 2019, in the Council Chamber and telecast on Local Government Cable Channel 16. Call to Order Chair Khambata called the Planning Commission meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Roll Call Members Present: Sarah Bigham, Evan Frazier, Tony Khambata, Eric Knable, Derek Rasmussen, Roger Zopfi Members Absent: Jerret Wright Staff Present: Christine Costello, Acting Community & Economic Development Director John M. Burbank, Senior Planner Emily Schmitz, Senior Planner Madeline Johnson, Planning Intern Dave Thiede, City Councilmember Approval of Agenda Zopfi made a motion to approve the agenda. Frazier seconded. The motion was approved unanimously (6 -to -0 vote). Open Forum Khambata 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 Khambata 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 go to the microphone and state their full name and address for the public record. Public Hearings and Applications 6.1 PDO/PUD Ordinance — Case TA2019-032 Planning Commission Minutes July 22, 2019 Page 2 of 4 The City of Cottage Grove has applied for a zoning text amendment to City Code Title 11, Chapter 14, relating to Planned Unit Development District (PUD) and to repeal City Code Title 11, Chapter 14, Article A, related to Planned Development Overlay (PDO) District. Costello summarized the staff report and recommended approval. Zopfi asked if the intent is to repeal the existing PUD ordinance and replace it with another PUD or stick with the PDO. Costello responded that this ordinance amendment would repeal both PUD and PDO and would keep a lot of the standards under the PDO to allow flexibility, but it would be named Planned Unit Development (PUD) instead. This approach of repealing both PUD and PDO is easier and cleaner than taking the existing ordinance and striking out unneeded language and adding new language. PDO is not a common term used in the devel- opment world, which is why it is being replaced with PUD. Khambata asked if this was meant so the terminology would be uniform with other cities that is more familiar to developers. Costello stated that was correct. Zopfi asked if some of the more restrictive measures in the current PUD that a developer would have to overcome would be lost. Costello explained that the current PUD language requires that property must be a minimum of 10 acres, while the PDO doesn't have an acreage require- ment. To her knowledge, the City has not used the current PUD ordinance requirements in a long time. Since 2006, the PDO language, which allows for more flexibility, has been used. The PUD ordinance was never repealed. The new PUD will not have an acreage requirement, so it is still allowing flexibility. She stated that current residential subdivisions approved as a PDO will not be affected and can be amended through their PDO if any changes are needed in the future. Khambata opened the public hearing. No one spoke. Khambata closed the public hearing. Bigham made a motion to approve the zoning text amendment to City Code Title 11-14. Zopfi seconded. Motion passed unanimously (6 -to -0 vote). 6.2 Tree Preservation Ordinance — Case TA2019-033 The City of Cottage Grove has applied for a zoning text amendment to repeal City Code Title 11-6-6, Tree Preservation, and replace it with a revised section related to tree preser- vation. Johnson summarized the staff report and recommended approval. Khambata asked by simplifying the interpretation, how does that help streamline the process for developers and if it is staff who is having trouble with the strict or loose interpretation. Johnson responded that is accurate partly because developers and staff can interpret the ordinance requirements differently. The goal is to make the ordinance clear for all entities. Planning Commission Minutes July 22, 2019 Page 3 of 4 Knable asked after a project is completed, what happens if a tree dies and is there a timeline for mitigation. Johnson responded that both the current ordinance and the proposed amend- ment include a period of time in which the trees have to be installed, and if within one year any trees die, they have to be replaced one for one. Zopfi asked if the proposed ordinance leaves it open for a developer to plant all the same type of trees versus a healthy diversity and variety of trees. Johnson stated that in the proposed ordinance there is a provision that states no more than a third of the replacement trees can be of the same species. Under the current ordinance, all of the replacement trees had to be deciduous, whereas the new ordinance broadens that so they can be evergreen as well. Khambata opened the public hearing. No one spoke. Khambata closed the public hearing. Frazier made a motion to approve the tree preservation ordinance. Knable seconded. Motion passed unanimously (6 -to -0 vote). 6.3 Restaurant Parking — Case TA2019-034 The City of Cottage Grove has applied for a zoning text amendment to City Code 11-1-3, Definitions, to amend the definition of "restaurant," and to City Code Title 11-3-9, Off -Street Parking and Loading, to amend how the number of required parking spaces are calculated for restaurants. Schmitz summarized the staff report and recommended approval. Khambata stated there have been variance applications for parking in past based on the square footage formula, so this could eliminate some of those requests. He asked if somebody wants to vary from the 3 -to -1 rule, they would need to apply for a variance. Schmitz responded that is correct. Zopfi asked if the 3 -to -1 ratio takes into account employee parking. Schmitz responded that it does include employee parking. Zopfi asked with the proposed ordinance, how does Cottage Grove fall with peer cities. Schmitz stated mid-range compared to other communities. Khambata opened the public hearing. No one spoke. Khambata closed the public hearing. Khambata stated that he feels this is in keeping with what has come through as the trend. Most of the applications for variances fall within that 3 -to -1 ratio, but not the greater than square footage calculation, so he thinks this is a good step for the City to take to help clarify. Rasmussen made a motion to approve the parking ordinance text amendment. Frazier seconded. Motion passed unanimously (6 -to -0 vote). Planning Commission Minutes July 22, 2019 Page 4 of 4 Approval of Planning Commission Minutes of June 24, 2019 Frazier made a motion to approve the minutes of the June 24, 2019, Planning Commis- sion meeting. Rasmussen seconded. Motion passed unanimously (6 -to -0 vote). Reports 8.1 Recap of July 17, 2019 City Council Meeting Thiede welcomed Bigham and Knable to the Planning Commission. He reported that the groundbreaking was held for the Renewal by Andersen expansion. He then provided a sum- mary of actions taken at the City Council meeting on July 17, 2019. Khambata asked what the City anticipates will be built on site of the old transmission shop on East Point Douglas Road. Thiede responded that the City is looking for a retail or restaurant business to locate there. 8.2 Response to Planning Commission Inquiries None 8.3 Planning Commission Requests None Adjournment Knable made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Zopfi seconded. Motion passed unani- mously (6 -to -0 vote). The meeting was adjourned at 7:44 p.m.