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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-07-27 PACKET 07.City of Cottage Grove Planning Commission June 22, 2020 A meeting of the Planning Commission was held virtually at Cottage Grove City Hall, 12800 Ravine Parkway South, Cottage Grove, Minnesota, on Monday, June 22, 2020, 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. Boike called the roll: Bigham — Present; Brittain — Present; Fisher — Present; Frazier — Present; Khambata — Present; Knable — Present; Rasmussen — Absent Also present were: Ben Boike, Community Development Director; John Burbank, Senior Planner; Emily Schmitz, Senior Planner; Bria Raines, Planning Intern; Amanda Meyer, Assistant City Engineer; Steve Dennis, Council Member Approval of Agenda Frazier made a motion to approve the agenda. Brittain seconded. Boike called the roll: Bigham — Aye; Brittain — Aye; Fisher — Aye; Frazier — Aye; Khambata — Aye; Knable — Aye. Motion carried: 6 -to -0. 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 provided information on how any person wishing to speak could participate in the virtual meeting. Public Hearings and Applications 6.1 Schommer Accessory Structure — Case V2020-035 Thomas and Gayle Schommer have applied for a variance to bluff line setback requirements in the Mississippi River Critical Area Corridor to allow a 840 square foot detached accessory structure to be 50 feet from the bluff line at 11710 Lockridge Avenue South, when the required setback is 100 feet. Planning Commission Minutes June 22, 2020 Page 2 of 5 Burbank summarized the staff report and recommended approval based on the findings of fact and subject to the conditions stipulated in the staff report. Khambata opened the public hearing. No one spoke. Khambata closed the public hearing. Khambata asked if the applicants had taken into account the possibility of erosion and what specific attempts will be taken to prevent erosion. Schommer responded that the property goes up in the back before the slope, so any drainage would come forward. He noted that Burbank and a City Engineer inspected the site and did not foresee any issues. Khambata asked if mature trees were an obstacle to moving the proposed structure any further forward in front of the septic system. Schommer responded that was correct. Frazier made a motion to approve the variance based on the findings of fact and subject to the conditions in the staff report. Bigham seconded. Boike called the roll. Bigham — Aye; Brittain — Aye; Fisher — Aye; Frazier — Aye; Khambata — Aye; Knable — Aye. Motion carried. 6 -to -0. 6.2 AT&T Antennas on Meadow Grass Water Tower — Case CUP2020-032 SAC Wireless, LLC, on behalf of AT&T Mobility, has applied for an amendment to their existing conditional use permit to allow additional wireless communication equipment to be attached to the Meadow Grass Water Tower located at 6950 Meadow Grass Avenue South. Schmitz summarized the staff report and recommended approval subject to the conditions stip- ulated in the staff report. Khambata opened the public hearing. No one spoke. Khambata closed the public hearing. Brittain made a motion to approve the conditional use permit subject to the conditions in the staff report. Frazier seconded. Boike called the roll. Bigham — Aye; Brittain — Aye; Fisher — Aye; Frazier — Aye; Khambata — Aye; Knable — Aye. Motion carried. 6 -to -0. 6.3 Up North Plastics — Cases SP2020-033 & CUP2020-034 Up North Plastics has applied for a site plan review and conditional use permit to add a guard house and weigh station and to provide a second access to their site, located at 9480 Jamaica Avenue South, via Ideal Avenue. Schmitz summarized the staff report and recommended approval subject to the conditions stip- ulated in the staff report. Khambata opened the public hearing. No one spoke. Khambata closed the public hearing. Planning Commission Minutes June 22, 2020 Page 3 of 5 Khambata asked if there are any long-term plans to extend Ideal Avenue down to the rail line or is that where that road is going to terminate. He also asked if the road continues through, how that would impact future traffic flows in the area. Schmitz responded that there are no plans to continue Ideal Avenue, so traffic would not be impacted by this proposal. Bigham made a motion to approve the conditional use permit subject to the conditions in the staff report. Brittain seconded. Boike called the roll. Bigham — Aye; Brittain — Aye; Fisher — Aye; Frazier — Aye; Khambata — Aye; Knable — Aye. Motion carried. 6 -to -0. 6.4 Wolterstorff Property Grading Permit — Case CUP2020-037 Frattalone Companies, on behalf of Wolterstorff, LP, has applied for a conditional use per- mit to import over 100,000 cubic yards of gravel and fill onto the Wolterstorff property, located north of Lake Robert and west of Jamaica Avenue. Burbank summarized the staff report and recommended approval subject to the conditions stipulated in the staff report. Khambata opened the public hearing. No one spoke. Khambata closed the public hearing. Khambata asked how the amount of fill would impact stormwater mitigation and if there is a plan to have a designated stormwater retention pond. He is concerned that the amount of fill will change the natural watershed of the property. Meyer responded that the City is not requiring any temporary basins at this point since it is just stockpiling material. The applicant will be required to follow erosion control measures that are set forth through their NPDES permit to make sure there is no erosion off site, but the City will not require any on-site stormwater mitigation. Khambata asked what the practice is for the City to monitor the project and, if necessary, implement mitigation. Meyer responded yes. She explained that as part of the applicant's NPDES permit, they will be required to do weekly inspections of their site for erosion and within every half-inch rainfall event. City staff can also do additional inspections if we feel there are concerns, including re-evaluating if basins would be required. Khambata asked if further action was needed, do the stipulations in the CUP provide the City recourse to implement those without having to take legislative action. Meyer stated that through condition #15 the City has the authority to revise the grading permit if on site conditions make the original grading permit ineffective. The grading permit includes stipulations that the applicant must follow. Boike explained that the Planning Commission under the direction of the City Council has the ability to review an existing CUP and potentially revoke it, so if there were any issues in the future that could not be remedied through administrative process, the City has the ability to bring the conditional use permit back for review. Frazier made a motion to approve the variance based on the findings of fact and subject to the conditions in the staff report. Brittain seconded. Planning Commission Minutes June 22, 2020 Page 4 of 5 Boike called the roll: Bigham — Aye; Brittain — Aye; Fisher — Aye; Frazier — Aye; Khambata — Aye; Knable — Aye. Motion carried: 6 -to -0. 6.5 Accessory Apartment Rental Text Amendment — Case TA2020-036 The City of Cottage Grove has applied for a zoning text amendment to bring accessory apartment requirements in the zoning ordinance (City Code Title 11-9A-3) into compliance with rental licensing requirements (City Code Titles 9-14-1 through 9-14-19). Schmitz summarized the staff report and recommended approval subject to the conditions stip- ulated in the staff report. Khambata asked if the reason for eliminating the requirement for a rental license in the zoning code is that the code requires that accessory rental dwellings be attached to the principal structure. Schmitz responded it was determined in 2017 when the rental license ordinance was reviewed that there was no need to have an additional accessory apartment license as those types of dwellings are typically part of the single family structure and not a separate dwelling unit on the site. Khambata opened the public hearing. No one spoke. Khambata closed the public hearing. Brittain made a motion to approve the text amendment. Frazier seconded. Boike called the roll: Bigham — Aye; Brittain — Aye; Fisher — Aye; Frazier — Aye; Khambata — Aye; Knable — Aye. Motion carried: 6 -to -0. Approval of Planning Commission Minutes of May 18, 2020 Bigham made a motion to approve the minutes of the May 18, 2020, Planning Commis- sion meeting. Frazier seconded. Boike called the roll: Boike called the roll: Boike called the roll: Bigham — Aye; Brittain — Aye; Fisher — Aye; Frazier — Aye; Khambata — Aye; Knable — Aye. Motion carried: 6 -to -0. Reports 8.1 Recap of June 2020 City Council Meetings Boike welcomed new Planning Commissioner Jessica Fisher. He then provided a summary of actions taken at the City Council meetings on June 3 and June 17, 2020. Dennis provided an update on construction and upcoming events in Cottage Grove. 8.2 Response to Planning Commission Inquiries Boike stated that Brittain had requested that in the staff reports, any location maps should either be orientated with north on top or include a north pointing arrow. He noted that in this month's packet that was not done but will be included in future packets. Planning Commission Minutes June 22, 2020 Page 5 of 5 8.3 Planning Commission Requests Brittain had questions about trail connections at intersections for trails along major roadways, such as the 80th Street project. He expressed concern about the safety of trail users at those intersections. Meyer responded that the trail along the north side of 80th Street will be replaced as it was existing. She explained that when that trail was originally put int there were conflicts with existing infrastructure that prohibited keeping it at a consistent distance off the curb line and required the city to push some of those crossings a little further north from 80th Street, which is why the trails meander at those intersections. She stated that she would check to see if the City has a standard policy on trail crossings at intersections. Brittain asked if there would a trail installed on the south side of 80th Street. Meyer answered yes. Brittain then asked if the County has standards regarding trails and if so, how they compare to the City's. Adjournment Bigham made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Brittain seconded. Boike called the roll: Boike called the roll: Bigham — Aye; Brittain — Aye; Fisher — Aye; Frazier — Aye; Khambata — Aye; Knable — Aye. Motion carried: 6 -to -0. The meeting was adjourned at 8:XX p.m.