HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-19-06 work session Meeting Notes
Planning Commission Work Session
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Marion Conference Room
The Planning Commission work session commenced at 5:00 p.m. in the Marion Conference
Room at City HaIL
Commissioners Present: Kerrin Swecker, Dale Detjen, Karl Drotning, Lowell Miller Stolte, Kim
Manikowski, Steve Pattee.
Staff Present: City Administrator Steve Mielke, Planning Director Daryl Morey, Associate
Planner Frank Dempsey, City Attorney Roger Knutson, and Planning Consultant Daniel Licht.
Also Present: Wayne Huls
Wayne Huls Variance Request
Wayne Huls, owner of property at 10046 - 199th Street, was present to discuss his plans to
construct an addition onto the south side of his existing non-conforming house. The property is
located within the Shoreland Overlay District of Lake Marion. The house. is non-conforming to
the Lake Marion OHWL and to the west side yard setback. Mr. Huls proposes to construct an
upper level addition onto the existing porch on the south side of the house. The addition would
not meet the side yard and OHWL setback requirements. Mr. Huls also spoke of plans to
expand or reconstruct the existing non-conforming garage. The property has an existing
non-conforming impervious surface area of approximately 36%. The property also includes a
non-conforming boathouse and deck near the lake and anon-conforming shred located near the
garage.
The Planning Commission agreed that any expansion to the house must meet setbacks as
required by Chapters 11-15 and 11-102 of the Zoning Ordinance for expansions to
non-conforming structures in the shoreland overlay district and that efforts must be made to
reduce the impervious surface area on the property. The voluntary options discussed to reduce
the impervious surface area included: removing the portion of the existing driveway located
west of the garage, removing the shed located at the southeast corner of the garage, and
replacing the sidewalk connecting the garage, the house, and the Lakeshore with pervious
pavers.
The Planning Commission indicated that they would not support a building setback variance to
allow an expansion of the house due to the lack of an undue hardship unique to the property
consistent with their recommendations on similar variance requests in the past. Commissioner
Drotning explained to Mr. Huls that the Planning Commission would make a recommendation to
the City Council on a formal variance application based upon the requirements of the Zoning
Ordinance. The City Council would then make a final decision on the variance request.
Sian Ordinance Amendment
City Attorney Roger Knutson stated that City staff recommends amending the Sign Ordinance
so that the sign requirements are content neutral. He stated this recommendation is based
upon recent court cases that have focused on a municipality's Sign Ordinance content based
language as being unconstitutional under the First Amendment. The City of Hopkins recently.
lost such a case and amended its Sign Ordinance to be content neutral as a result. By being
content neutral, the Sign Ordinance would regulate by zoning district the number of signs on a
property, their size, height, and location buff not the wording on the sign itself. For example, if
CUB Foods chose to erect a new sign stating "Go Vikings" instead of "CUB Foods", they would
be allowed to do so under the proposed amendment provided the sign met the size, height, and
setback requirements.
Daniel Licht described the details of the draft Sign Ordinance amendment included in the
Planning Commission's work session packet. He stated that the proposal will move the sign
regulations from the general City Code to a chapter within the Zoning Ordinance. The draft Sign
Ordinance amendment generally maintains the same sign allowances as provided .for under the
current regulations. The draft Sign Ordinance amendment would change the C-2 District sign
allowances to be the same as the C-3 District allowances based on the similarity of uses
allowed and location characteristics of the two districts. The draft Sign Ordinance amendment.
also seeks to standardize the sign allowances that have been approved for big-box anchored
shopping centers processed as PUD Districts.
The Planning Commission made the following comments:
• A definition of billboard should be included in the amendment.
• Consider including a minimum setback distance between billboards.
• Consider including provisions to prohibit the long term/permanent installation of signs
advertising properties for lease (i.e. Kenwood Center).
• The City Attorney should verify the City's ability to incorporate the wording proposed
under Chapter 11-23-15.X of the draft amendment.
The Planning Commission directed staff to set a public hearing on the proposed amendment at
an upcoming meeting.
The work session was adjourned at 7:15 p.m.
R s ectfully submitted,
Daryl M rey, Pla in Director
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