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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-10-28 PACKET 07.City of Cottage Grove Planning Commission September 23, 2019 A meeting of the Planning Commission was held at Cottage Grove City Hall, 12800 Ravine Park- way South, Cottage Grove, Minnesota, on Monday, September 23, 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, Jerritt Wright, Roger Zopfi Members Absent: None Staff Present: Christine Costello, Acting Community & Economic Development Director John M. Burbank, Senior Planner Emily Schmitz, Senior Planner Matt Wolf, Economic Development Specialist Ryan Burfeind, City Engineer Steve Dennis, Council Member Approval of Agenda Zopfi made a motion to approve the agenda. Frazier seconded. The motion was approved unanimously (7 -to -0 vote). Open Forum Khambata opened the open forum. Khambata asked if anyone wished to address the Planning Commission on any non -agenda item. No one addressed the Commission. Khambata closed the open forum. Chair's Explanation of the Public Hearing Process Khambata explained the purpose of the Planning Commission, which serves in an advisory capacity 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 Pizza Ranch — Cases SP2019-043, CUP2019-044, & V2019-045 Planning Commission Minutes September 23, 2019 Page 2 of 5 Cottage Grove PR, Inc. has applied for a site plan review of a proposed Pizza Ranch restau- rant to be located at 7855 Harkness Avenue South, a conditional use permit for a drive- through window, and a variance for vehicle stacking for the drive-through aisle. Wolf summarized the staff report and recommended approval based on the findings of fact and subject to the conditions stipulated in the staff report. Gary Woolever, Vierbicher & Associates, 400 Viking Drive, Reedsburg, WI, stated that he is the design engineer for the Pizza Ranch project. He noted that he reviewed that staff's findings and recommendations and believe that it will be easy to meet those requests. He will answer any questions from the Commission. Rasmussen asked how much traffic goes through the drive-through and is there a percentage of sales data available. He also asked if there was any consideration given to tying the Pizza Ranch and Muddy Cow parking lots together, as both sites seem to be have access issues. He believes having the parking lots connected could benefit both businesses. Woolever explained that initially there was a cross -parking easement between the City and Muddy Cow. In talking with the Pizza Ranch owner and the City, both agreed to remove that access easement. Muddy Cow agreed after they reviewed the site plan and requested adding curb and gutter to the stub on the north side of the parking lot so they would have additional parking stalls. Pizza Ranch added the sidewalk requested by the City so that people could walk between businesses. Khambata asked if the proposed design and floor plan is consistent with other Pizza Ranch restaurants or were there any special challenges that required changes for this specific loca- tion. Woolever responded that occasionally Pizza Ranch changes their prototype, explaining that this one will have a fun zone room with video arcades. He does not know what other Pizza Ranches in the area have but the older ones probably don't have a fun zone room. He noted that this is one of their newer designs. Ernie Swanson, 1885 Newberry Avenue North, Stillwater, who is the franchise owner of this Pizza Ranch, responded that their drive -up sales vary greatly between restaurants. His restau- rant in Eau Claire usually does two to three drive-throughs a night and the Oak Park Heights location could have 15 to 20 on Friday and Saturday nights and about half that during the week. In Oak Park Heights, drive -up business is about 5 to 10 percent of their sales. In Maplewood, they don't have a drive -up window, so customers go into the building to pick up their orders. Khambata opened the public hearing. No one spoke. Khambata closed the public hearing. Frazier made a motion to approve the site plan review, conditional use permit, and vari- ance for Pizza Ranch, subject to the conditions in the staff report. Wright seconded. Motion passed unanimously (7 -to -0 vote). 6.2 Ravine Meadows — Cases ZA2019-046 & PP2019-047 Londyn Development LLC has applied for a zoning amendment to change the zoning of 9.85 acres of land located at 9255 Military Road and the parcel to the east from AG -1, Agri- Planning Commission Minutes September 23, 2019 Page 3 of 5 cultural Preservation, to R-4, Low Density Residential; and a preliminary plat for a residen- tial subdivision to be called Ravine Meadows that would create 26 lots for detached single- family homes and one outlot. Burbank summarized the staff report and recommended approval subject to the conditions stipulated in the staff report. Zopfi asked if there will be north -south road crossings on the Military Road trail when the road is vacated. Burbank stated that there will be crossings between the various subdivisions. Zopfi asked if those crossings would be at grade. Burbank responded yes. The applicant, Tim Thone, 2242 Cottage Grove Alcove, Woodbury, stated that he would answer any questions from the Commission. Khambata asked about the builders for this subdivision. Thone responded that they would be custom builders, similar to those in the neighboring Parkview Pointe subdivision. He noted that prices would start at $400,000. There are 12 walkout lots on the east, which are going to be premium lots, and flat lots on the west side. Khambata asked if there would be lookout lots as well. Thone stated that currently there are only flat lots on the west and walkouts on the east. He noted that because there are rural lots to the east, they proposed an undulating street and pushed the lots away from those houses. Bigham asked if there would be a homeowners association independent of other neighbor hoods. Thone responded that there will be no homeowners association. Khambata opened the public hearing. John Stechcon, 9263 Military Road, stated that he owns the lot to the east. He asked where the outlot would drain to. He noted that his lot is the lowest on the block and is concerned about drainage. He then expressed concern about the amount of traffic and where traffic from this and the development on the other side of Military would go. He also asked if the road is wide enough to handle future traffic levels. Burfeind responded that drainage from the agricultural field flows through Stechcon's property. He explained that during the Ravine Parkway project the City put in a storm sewer stub so everything will drain into the storm sewer under Ravine Parkway and not across Stechcon's property. Burfeind stated that a traffic analysis was done for this area of the city and explained how it is anticipated that traffic would flow through that area. The road through this neighborhood is designed to handle traffic that may cut through the development. As Military Road goes away, all the traffic in these northern developments will flow to Ravine Parkway through the neighborhood roads, which were sized accordingly. Khambata asked if the long-term planning for these arterial roadways to Ravine Parkway took into account future build outs. Burfeind responded they did. He noted that as long as there are rural residential properties using Military Road, it will remain in place. No one else spoke. Khambata closed the public hearing. Rasmussen made a motion to approve the zoning amendment and preliminary plat for Ravine Meadows. Knable seconded. Motion passed unanimously (7 -to -0 vote). Planning Commission Minutes September 23, 2019 Page 4 of 5 6.3 Landscaping Ordinance — Case TA2019-052 The City of Cottage Grove has applied for a zoning text amendment to City Code Title 11-6- 5, regarding landscaping requirements and to City Code Title 11-1-3, Rules of Word Con- struction; Definitions, to ensure language is consistent with the City's new tree preserva- tion ordinance. Schmitz summarized the staff report and recommended approval. Frazier asked if the 8 percent requirement for interior parking lot areas was being removed from the ordinance. Schmitz responded that requirement was moved to a different section of the ordinance that specifically addresses parking areas. Khambata opened the public hearing. No one spoke. Khambata closed the public hearing. Bigham made a motion to approve the landscaping ordinance text amendments. Frazier seconded. Motion passed unanimously (7 -to -0 vote). Approval of Planning Commission Minutes of August 26, 2019 Frazier made a motion to approve the minutes of the August 26, 2019, Planning Com- mission meeting. Wright seconded. Motion passed unanimously (7 -to -0 vote). Reports 8.1 Recap of September 2019 City Council Meetings Costello provided a summary of actions taken at the City Council meetings on September 4 and September 18, 2019. Costello noted that listed on the second page of the agenda are three items that were initially planned to come before the Planning Commission this evening. She explained that while the zoning ordinance has a farm animal section, goat grazing would only be for vegetation man- agement, and is not covered by the zoning ordinance, which only covers animals that stay permanently. Costello stated that the Eastridge Meadows and Almar Signage applications have been continued to the October 28 Planning Commission meeting. 8.2 Response to Planning Commission Inquiries 8.3 Planning Commission Requests None Planning Commission Minutes September 23, 2019 Page 5 of 5 Adjournment Zopfi made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Knable seconded. Motion passed unani- mously (7 -to -0 vote). The meeting was adjourned at 7:40 p.m.