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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-07-25 PACKET 07. (MINUTES FROM JUNE PC MEETING)City of Cottage Grove Planning Commission June 27, 2022 A meeting of the Planning Commission was held at Cottage Grove City Hall, 12800 Ravine Parkway South, Cottage Grove, Minnesota, on Monday, June 27, 2022, in the Council Chamber and telecast on Local Government Cable Channel 16. Call to Order Chair Frazier called the Planning Commission meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Roll Call Members Present: Ken Brittain, Jessica Fisher, Evan Frazier, Eric Knable, Derek Rasmussen, Emily Stephens, Jerret Wright Members Absent: None Staff Present: Mike Mrosla, Senior Planner; Emily Schmitz, Senior Planner; Riley Rooney, Planning Intern; Amanda Meyer, Assistant City Engineer; Dave Thiede, City Council Liaison Approval of Agenda Wright made a motion to approve the agenda. Brittain seconded. The motion was approved unanimously (7-to-0 vote). Open Forum Frazier opened the open forum and asked if anyone wished to address the Planning Commission on any non -agenda item. No one spoke. Frazier closed the open forum. Chair's Explanation of the Public Hearing Process Frazier 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 Lighthouse Baptist Church — Case CUP2022-043 Lighthouse Baptist Church has applied for an amended conditional use permit and house - moving approval to relocate an existing house to the Lighthouse Baptist Church property located at 9979 80th Street South. Continued from the May 23, 2022, Planning Commission Meeting. Planning Commission Minutes June 27, 2022 Page 2 of 6 Mrosla summarized the staff report and recommended approval subject to the conditions stip- ulated in the staff report. Fisher stated the well was noted on the map and asked where the current septic system and the drain field were located and how that would potentially be affected by the new utility lines coming in. Mrosla pointed out the existing drain field on the map as well as on the original site plan. He noted that it is not in the wooded area. Frazier opened the public hearing. Scott and Brenda Lichtenberg, 8038 Keats Avenue South, stated they have lived in their house for about 29 years. They are not opposed to the house, but do have concerns about headlights shining into the back of their house from the proposed driveway. He stated that screening was mentioned, but asked if there was an immediate solution that will block the lights once the leaves are gone, not a one -foot tall pine tree that will be a screen in 30 years or a two -foot tall fence. Brenda Lichtenberg asked if they would consider moving the house a little bit further so it would be 100 feet from the property line instead of 50 feet. She asked if the septic system was on the same side or a different side of the property. No one else spoke. Frazier closed the public hearing. Frazier asked Mrosla if the house that is being moved would be on City sewer and water, so it would not be affected by where the well or the septic on the property is located. Mrosla stated that is correct. Frazier asked about the screening condition. Mrosla stated Condition 18 reads: Prior to the issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy, the applicant shall provide additional year-round screen- ing between the proposed dwelling and the southerly property line. Planning staff shall approve the proposed screening plan in writing, with the intent that they have this figured out before they can get a Certificate of Occupancy to occupy the structure. Staff wants the screening to be installed before people are living there. In communications with the Church, it sounds like they are willing to do that. After speaking with the residents, a couple of ideas included installing a fence and screening with arbor vitae trees or pine trees. Fisher made a motion to approve the conditional use permit subject to the conditions stipulated in the staff report, including Condition #18 regarding the additional screening. Wright seconded. Motion passed unanimously (7-to-0 vote). 6.2 Dish Network 81st Street Water Tank — Case CUP2022-044 Ward Development c/o Dish Wireless has applied for a conditional use permit to add three Dish Network antennas to the water tank located at 8520 81st Street South as well as installing a small equipment compound at the base. Rooney summarized the staff report and recommended approval subject to the conditions stip- ulated in the staff report. Brittain asked if the fence surrounding the equipment being mounted was part of our policy or if that was added for a particular reason. He is curious if screening would now be required for any Planning Commission Minutes June 27, 2022 Page 3 of 6 application such as this. Rooney stated right now the equipment has to be screened; it previ- ously had to be put into a building, but since the equipment has changed, now it is only required to be inside a fence so the equipment is concealed from public view. Steve Ward, Ward Development, representing Dish Wireless, 15 Park Place, Swansea, Illinois, 62226, said that their equipment is a little different than what was installed in the past, which included big equipment shelters, radios, and air conditioners. Back in the 1980s or 1990s, those were usually 12 feet by 24 feet or 12 feet by 28feet; today, it is basically a digital service with a little bit of voice with a cabinet that is only 30 inches by 30 inches. The equipment and power cabinet will sit on a 5-foot by 7-foot pad enclosed in a 13-foot by 11-foot fenced area. Wright stated we had a resident reach out with concerns about the wireless network and asked if there is any danger to the public from the network itself. Ward replied no, they have been issued a very narrow licensed frequency band by the FCC that they operate within and are prohibited from operating outside of that, as are all other carriers. Frazier opened the public hearing. No one spoke. Frazier closed the public hearing. Frazier noted, as Wright mentioned, a letter was received by staff prior to tonight's hearing from a resident, Mr. James Harmon, which will be added to the file for this application. Each of the Commissioners received a copy of that letter. Brittain made a motion to approve the conditional use permit subject to the conditions stipulated in the staff report. Stephens seconded. Motion passed unanimously (7-to-0 vote). 6.3 Dunkin'/Baskin Robbins — Case CUP2022-046 & V2022-047 Grove-DB8, LLC has applied for a conditional use permit to allow a drive -through lane at the existing building located at 7584 80th Street South for use by Dunkin'/Baskin Robbins, and a variance to setback requirements for a dumpster enclosure. Schmitz summarized the staff report and recommended approval subject to the conditions stip- ulated in the staff report. Wright stated he went to that site the other day, and the area where the drive -through is going to be is very tight. He asked if a condition would be needed to add a stipulation of no trailers. He noted there is also a bus stop nearby, which could cause traffic issues. He asked if there is the possibility of moving the bus stop or working together to make the area a little safer. He can foresee vehicles backing up in the drive -through and going into the street. Schmitz stated the applicant could speak about how they would respond to the traffic in the drive -through, but staff had a lot of discussion with Public Works and Engineering to ensure that proposed project would work on that site. Staff is well aware that a truck and a trailer won't make the curve in the drive - through and will work with the applicant if additional signage is needed. Frazier stated Caribou Cabin also had a really tight turn, and had to change the radius of the drive -through. It appears that Public Works has looked at this drive -through, and they're confi- dent that there will not be an issue like that at this location. Schmitz confirmed that Public Works Planning Commission Minutes June 27, 2022 Page 4 of 6 Director/City Engineer Burfeind had physically driven the drive -through in his truck to make sure that it would work. Fisher stated in addition to the bus stop, her other concern is the left turn out onto Hemingway Avenue; the intersection of Hemingway and 80th Street is very busy. She asked if potentially that exit could be a right turn only, which may help alleviate congestion at that intersection. She also suggested just limiting the right turn only to peak traffic times. Meyer stated there are war- rants for signage, lights, etc. In this case, it may be just a private sign for right out only for patrons at Dunkin' during the hours of pick-up or drop-off times. She doesn't believe the City wants to put in a porkchop to force traffic to always turn right out of that parking lot, but staff will have discussions with the applicant about private signage on the hours. Knable asked what impact the location of the trash enclosure would have on the parking spaces to the left. He stated that that the two last spots look a little tight and wondered if that would impact the number of parking spots if they had to take out any. He also asked about the ability for trash to be picked up. Schmitz responded the spaces are appropriate in size. She stated not that she had not made that driving motion herself, but it appears there is a sufficient distance to turn in. She asked the applicant to add some additional thoughts. Frazier asked if the top red X on the screen was also a parking spot, or if that was going to be hashed non -parking. Schmitz replied she understood that is also a parking spot as it sits today, noting that they are reutilizing the existing parking lot. Stephens asked what the space was right next to it, with the number 1 and if that was for going in and getting it emptied out. She also asked why they need the variance as maybe they could rotate the trash enclosure to get it out of the setback. The applicant, Linda McCormick, stated they realize there are some complexities with this site, and thanked Schmitz for working with them on these things. She also thinks that those last two spots may be a little bit tight. Since their submittal, they have decided to move the trash enclo- sure to provide more space for cars to access those spaces. She explained that initially, they were concerned about having sufficient parking. Knable stated that answered his question. McCormick responded to Stephens' question about pulling the dumpster enclosure out and ro- tating it, explaining that the proposed orientation is easier for trucks to access the dumpsters and for the trucks coming in to unload. Moving that one stall allowed them to move the entrance to the drive -through a little bit to the north, which helped to ease congestion on the site. She stated that they looked at different variations, and ultimately decided that what is proposed is the best option. McCormick stated she was not aware of the bus stop there and asked if it was a Metro Transit or school bus stop. Frazier believes it is a school bus stop. McCormick asked exactly where the bus stop was located. Fisher responded at Hemingway and 79th, just north of the vacant lot north of the Dunkin' lot, with many kids of all ages. McCormick asked if the concern was kids walking in front of the lot. Fisher stated the added congestion was her biggest concern. Frazier stated there will be traffic, and there should be awareness of how much foot traffic there will be in that area, especially during the school year. Planning Commission Minutes June 27, 2022 Page 5 of 6 Wright stated he personally feels this a good business to have there, but he also thinks there are going to be more vehicles that will back up into the parking lot area that could cause some issues with foot traffic. McCormick stated they also have some concerns about the internal traffic flow, as the traffic will back up into the existing parking lot and could cause some congestion with parked cars backing out also. She understands the concerns, noting there were discus- sions about potentially adding an access along the north, which would change the traffic flow. She understands the engineer's point that they do not want to take a chance on backing up onto Hemingway. She explained that this will be the franchisee's eighth location, and all but one are combination Dunkin'/Baskin Robbins locations. Due to the real estate market over the last few years, they have also located into other challenging sites. At their busiest, because of their product type, it is usually a quick in and out in around one to two minutes. They do not anticipate having more than six or seven cars at any given time. During the first month or so, it may be busier as it is new, but as people frequent it more, they expect to see that calm down. They feel that this will be adequate without causing undue concerns or congestion on the site. Wright stated he does have concerns about big vehicles going through the loop in the drive - through. McCormick stated large SUVs have gone through similar drive-throughs. If they need to make adjustments, they will probably only do it once. What has been done at other locations if they get to the drive -through and cannot make the turn, staff will bring the order out to them. At the entrance to the drive -through lane, there will be a vehicle clearance arm or height detector arm that limits vehicles to less than 9 feet, so bigger trucks would not be able to go through. McCormick also noted that their company has required minimums for drive -through lanes they have to meet. Rasmussen asked if on the exterior of the building, they were proposing to paint and replace windows on the entire building or just the Dunkin' portion and what that would look like. McCormick responded that they will be replacing the windows and doors north of the midpoint of the building; those to the south will not be replace yet primarily because they do not yet know what kind of tenants would be coming in. For this proposal, they are adding more window front- age. There will be a mix of painting and around each of the existing entryways and windows, and adding a composite vertical lap siding to increase the aesthetic of the building. Rasmussen asked if all four sides were getting a facelift. McCormick responded yes. Brittain asked if they were going to own the whole building or if they were going to lease their end of it. McCormick stated Dunkin' will have a lease. Brittain asked if there were existing ten- ants in there; McCormick replied yes, there are currently two other tenants, one will be leaving this fall, and another one is just going in. Once their plans are finalized, they will work in con- junction with the owner on marketing efforts to attract a favorable tenant mix. Knable asked if deliveries to Dunkin' would come on a semi -truck or a delivery truck and how they would get product into the store with how tight it is. He noted that McDonald's deliveries are by a semi -truck that blocks a portion of their drive -through lane during the early morning hours to unload. If they are unloading directly in front of the building, that would block the handicap spots, the patio, and the drive -through entrance. McCormick believes deliveries would be twice a week on a big -box truck and would pull in by the northwest corner and back up towards the back. They usually come overnight because their stores open at 6.00 a.m., so they have to be done before 5.00 a.m. Planning Commission Minutes June 27, 2022 Page 6 of 6 Frazier asked if the fence was going to run from the northeast corner and how far. McCormick responded the fence would go from the dumpster enclosure to the north corner. Frazier con- firmed that the dumpster enclosure won't be covered by the fence but will be the starting point of the fence. Frazier opened the public hearing. No one spoke. Frazier closed the public hearing. Rasmussen stated the layout of the drive -through is a little bit unusual and tight, although it seems like it is really the only way that it would work at this property. He knows of two other fast-food type places in the Twin Cities that had similar drive-throughs, and while it was chal- lenging in a truck, people learned how to navigate them and assumes that folks around here would do the same. He does not have a lot of concern about it, as it sounds like they've thought it through pretty thoroughly. Brittain made a motion to approve the conditional use permit and variance subject to the conditions stipulated in the staff report, with the removal of Condition #7. Fisher seconded. Motion passed unanimously (7-to-0 vote). Approval of Planning Commission Minutes of May 23, 2022 Knable made a motion to approve the minutes of the May 23, 2022, Planning Commission meeting. Wright seconded. Motion passed unanimously (7-to-0 vote). Reports 8.1 Recap of June 2022 City Council Meetings Schmitz provided a summary of actions taken at the June 1 and June 15, 2022, City Council meetings. 8.2 Response to Planning Commission Inquiries None, but there was discussion about Military Trail, which was forwarded on. 8.3 Planning Commission Requests Brittain stated that with the work just done by Washington County on County Road 19, in front of Cottage Grove Junior High School, they added a guardrail on one side of the road. He asked why the other side did not get one when both are just as steep. Meyer responded that she would find out that information and update the Commission on it. Adjournment Fisher made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Wright seconded. Motion passed unani- mously 7-to-0 vote). The meeting was adjourned at 7:54 p.m.