MINUTES OF THE BROOKLYN PARK PLANNING COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING

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1 APPROVED MINUTES MINUTES OF THE BROOKLYN PARK PLANNING COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING November 08, 2017 Approved Minutes 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. 2. ROLL CALL/ PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Those present were: Commissioners Fletcher, Husain, Jackson, Kisch, Mersereau, Morton-Spears, Schmidt, and Vosberg; Senior Planner Larson; Planning Director Sherman; Council member Pha Those not present: Commissioner Chair Hanson 3. EXPLANATION BY CHAIR 4. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION SCHMIDT, SECOND JACKSON TO APPROVE THE NOVEMBER 08, 2017 AGENDA. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 5. CONSENT A. Taco Bell (BFI Real Estate Holdings LLC)- Case# Continue the public hearing for Taco Bell at th Avenue North to a future meeting. MOTION SCHMIDT, SECOND KISCH TO APPROVE THE CONSENT ITEM. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 6. PUBLIC HEARING A. Hallmark Building Supplies- Case# Conditional Use Permit for outside storage in the rear of the building at 9350 West Broadway/610 Commerce Center ll Senior Planner Larson stated that the outside storage space being requested would be 9,800 square feet in size and located behind the building. The fence would be a black vinyl covered chain link fence with highly durable vinyl privacy slats. Landscaping will be added for additional screening and the site should be very well screened. Staff is recommending approval. Page 1 of 10

2 John Ferrier, with CSM Corporation, stated that they agree with the conditions of the staff report. Commissioner Fletcher opened the public hearing. Seeing no one approach the podium, Commissioner Fletcher closed the public hearing. Commissioner Mersereau asked for clarification on the percentage allowed for outside storage and if the 9,800 square feet requested is the amount allowed for the entire building or just this tenant s portion of the building. Senior Planner Larson stated that the percentage requested in this application is 4.8 percent of the allowable amount. With 15 percent maximum allowable outside storage space, there will be more space available if other tenants would require it. MOTION SCHMIDT, SECOND JACKSON TO RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT FOR OUTSIDE STORAGE 9350 WEST BROADWAY SUBJECT TO CONDITIONS IN THE DRAFT RESOLUTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. B. Mill City Credit Union- Case# Conditional Use Permit for a financial institution with drivethru at 610 Zane 2 nd Addition at Zane Avenue and 94th Avenue North Senior Planner Todd Larson approached the podium. He stated that the site is about one acre in size and the building is a one-story building of about 4,100 square feet. After feedback on their proposal, the applicant has revised the plans to have a little more detail. In the original design there was a wall inside with a television that was kind of designed to be a sign and that is something that the city does not allow. They have made changes to put the television in another area where it will not be seen as a sign. Staff is recommending approval. Russ Schramm, with HTG Architects, stated that he would be happy to answer any questions. Commissioner Fletcher opened the public hearing. Seeing no one approach the podium, Commissioner Fletcher closed the public hearing. Commissioner Kisch asked about adding a condition that the applicant put some more evergreens or some coniferous trees in to provide additional screening from headlights at the in-out access drive facing south and across 93 rd Avenue. He stated that he would like to see screening of the rooftop and mechanical units and also around the transformer on the north side of the building. Mr. Schramm stated that they would be fine with adding additional screening around the transformer. He stated that as far as adding additional trees for headlight screening, the circulation route will be from the west towards the east and then exiting towards the north. Commissioner Kisch stated that just swapping the deciduous trees for evergreens similar to what they propose in the southeast corner would help with the traffic associated with the drive-thru. He stated that with four parcels in this development they need to remember the concerns they had at the September meeting regarding the number of curb cuts, and the position of buildings to property lines as well as the overall amount of impervious surface. Page 2 of 10

3 MOTION SCHMIDT, SECOND MERSEREAU TO RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT FOR A FINANCIAL INSTITUTION WITH DRIVE-THRU AT TH AVENUE NORTH SUBJECT TO CONDITIONS IN THE DRAFT RESOLUTION WITH THE ADDED CONDITIONS FROM COMMISSIONER KISCH. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. C. Everfine Carriers Services- Case# Conditional Use Permit for outside storage of vehicles intended to be shipped overseas at 7801 Xylon Avenue North Planning Director Sherman approached the podium. She stated that the request is for a fenced in area two hundred feet by two hundred feet in size with a gate facing towards the west to contain everything on the property that is currently being stored outside. The applicant leases the building and there is also storage inside at this time. She stated that this has been an ongoing code enforcement issue and showed photos of the property in the current condition. She stated that the site is grandfathered from all existing design standards since it was built in Xylon Avenue is actually a public street easement and it is not dedicated right-of-way. The road has never been improved and is currently a gravel road. In order to build that road, the property owners would have to petition for the road to be constructed and then they would pay to have the road installed. One of the site improvements that is lacking is a finished public street. Staff is not recommending that the road go in at this time but staff is recommending some other improvements. The current conditions have become quite an issue for the neighbors as well as for the property owner and the city. Staff has taken the request and made a recommendation to approve it subject to a number of conditions. The loading dock is on the south side and staff would require the applicant to put in curb and gutter and pavement to accommodate the loading dock. A wing wall would be required to screen the dock area and it would need to be to the height of the structure. In the area they are proposing for the outside storage they would be required to have curb and gutter and pavement for the storage area itself and also an eight foot tall privacy screen fence around the entire site. She stated that another condition would be that this be designed by an engineer to address things like storm water management and drainage for the property to make sure everything works. As one of the neighbors stated in the information they provided, there are permits required by the state to do the kind of work the applicant is doing. Staff does not know if they have those permits or not but have added as a condition that all state mandated permits be provided as part of the operation as well. Staff is recommending approval with the conditions in the staff report with one addition. Staff was contacted by Hennepin County regarding a curb cut that there is no permit for which means the access there must be removed. There are conditions regarding hours of operation due to complaints about noise after 10:00 PM, as well as wanting operations to take place within the building, not outside, behind the building or on the side of the building. Another condition is that the materials be regulated and that a representative of the company must be on site to accept the materials. She stated that this is another thing that has been creating problems on the property because no one is there to accept things when they are just being dumped or to say they do not want to accept them. If they operate outside the conditional use permit, the permit is subject to revocation. Larry Olisa, owner of Everfine Services, approached the podium. He stated that he was available to answer any questions. Commissioner Fletcher opened the public hearing. Page 3 of 10

4 Craig Kuske, 7716 Zealand Avenue, approached the podium. He stated that the large document submitted about the project was from him. He stated that the document provided under-represents the actual size of the fenced in storage area being requested. The drawing shows it significantly smaller than it would actually be. He asked why Xylon Avenue is not being paved when all the other paving is being done for this project. He stated that the requirements of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency for vehicle storage areas are very stringent in regard to hard paved areas and storm water containment and all the things that go along with that. He stated that he would like to see a condition that limits the height of stored materials behind the proposed fence and that the fence is a screened one and is not see through fencing. He stated that he would hate to see auto storage racks, which stack vehicles two to three vehicles high, and could still be seen over the fence. He stated that the conditional use permit is requesting vehicle storage but there are miscellaneous other items stored there such as mattresses, bicycles, furniture, and sinks. He stated that he would like to make sure there are regulations in place about what can be stored there and also regulations on what type of shipping containers can be used. Previous owners parked one semi-trailer in the back, even with the back of the building on the left-hand side. Current multiple containers are not parked even with the building anymore and they are parked westward toward the creek, as far back as they can be parked. He stated that he would like to see any required permits from state agencies incorporated into the plans for the site. Gary Gaffner, 7724 Zealand Avenue, approached the podium. He stated that at first they saw cars parked there like someone was working there, then they saw along the back side a whole row of disabled cars with smashed front ends and such. He stated that he started thinking about the environmental impacts of the ground being saturated with oil and anti-freeze and anything else that may drip from those vehicles. He stated that Shingle Creek is close to that and that runs through ten cities and into the Mississippi River. If the front was fenced, and they look across the creek, there are refrigerators and bikes and other items that have nothing to do with cars. Pat Gaffner, 7724 Zealand Avenue, approached the podium. She stated that basically they are seeing a junkyard and there are no surrounding cities anywhere around Brooklyn Park that have a junkyard in the city. She stated that this is in the middle of a residential area. Seeing no one else approach the podium, Commissioner Fletcher closed the public hearing. Commissioner Vosberg stated that she agrees with the neighbors that this is a junkyard. There should be some type of time limit on the storage if the vehicles are going somewhere. She asked if there are any code enforcement fines owing, because they should have to pay any outstanding fines that may exist. Planning Director Sherman stated that there was one existing fine prior to this application which the applicant is required to pay. Once the application came in to address the concerns, Code Enforcement no longer issued additional fines. Commissioner Vosberg stated that if there is an outstanding fine that has not been paid, it brings up a concern for her that they will also not follow the rules of the Conditional Use Permit. She stated she is also extremely concerned about the pollution issue with the creek right there. She stated she is also wondering how staff plans to monitor that they do not continue to get the other junk dumped there and would like to see some clear follow up. She asked what the regulations are for junkyards since she stated that is what she considers this. Planning Director Sherman stated that the city does not have a provision that allows a junkyard so basically the Page 4 of 10

5 only other option is Impound Lot but even that is different than a junkyard. The reason the conditional use permit has specific dates in it is to help staff monitor the site for the timeframes when work is to be completed by. She stated that there will also be a bonding requirement so that before the conditional use permit can be put into effect they need to provide the bonding to guarantee the work. Due to the time of year, some of the work cannot be done right now. Also, the applicant cannot be operating there until the state permits are in place. Ms. Sherman stated that staff cannot really compel the applicant to pay for and improve Xylon Avenue since it is a public street. This is something staff can speak with our streets department about but with the previous user Xylon Avenue had light usage and grading the street a couple of times a year was sufficient. She stated that adding a condition about the height of materials stored behind the fence not being any taller than the fence is a good one. A condition of approval already states that the fence will be a privacy fence built out of maintenancefree materials. There is also a condition stating that no other materials may be stored outside the fenced area anywhere on the property. Commissioner Fletcher asked staff if this use requires an operating or business permit. Planning Director Sherman replied no. Very few businesses in the city require one. Commissioner Fletcher asked staff if this use is being described as auto storage, outdoor storage or industrial. Planning Director Sherman stated that the permit has been drafted as outdoor storage of vehicles with no other outdoor storage allowed on the site. Commissioner Kisch asked Mr. Olisa if he understands the amount of investment that is going to be required to bring this into compliance and if that willingness to actually meet the guidelines and the conditions being asked is something the applicant is willing and able to do. Mr. Olisa stated that they have the willingness and they have the money to do this. Commissioner Kisch stated that there is a significant lack of content in this application for them to respond to. He stated the scale of what is actually being proposed on the site, what is being considered in the actual amount of impervious surface, how the storm water is going to be managed, and the type of fencing that is being proposed is not shown. He stated that he would like to continue this and see the applicant come back with more detailed plans showing the size of and where the fenced area will specifically be located, the extent of the paved area being proposed, the height of the screen wall, and all of those components, so he has assurance that this qualifies for a conditional use permit. The state permits are outside of their purview but from a zoning code standpoint, he stated that he is having a hard time making a decision one way or the other. Commissioner Schmidt stated that he agrees with Commissioner Kisch. He asked staff if would mean things could stay as they are if this is not approved. Planning Director Sherman stated that the way the site is being operated today does not meet the city code. The vehicles would need to be removed from the property and the site would need to be cleaned up in that case. Page 5 of 10

6 Commissioner Schmidt stated that the conditions for approval would help to improve the property but he needs some better drawings to look at before he can make a decision on this. She stated that she did not require him to provide the level of documentation that staff would normally require for a site plan review like if a new building was being built. Planning Director Sherman stated that the reason the plans were submitted the way they were is because the applicant has some concern about whether or not this application will be approved. Commissioner Fletcher asked if there is anything keeping them from doing the site improvements without the conditional use permit being approved at this time. Planning Director Sherman stated that they could do some of the site improvements but they would not be able to do the outside storage or anything else that could require a permit from the state. Commissioner Fletcher stated that he thinks the applicant would be in a much better position if the applicant was just asking to add screening out front for cars or screening for the loading dock that would make the decision an easier one. The case for approval is not being helped by the way the business is being operated. The final decision will be made by the City Council but with all of the other concerns and requests added he would like to see this continued and see the applicant take action to improve the property on his own before it comes down to some sort of action. Commissioner Husain stated that he agrees with the other commissioners and asked the applicant if they could see him take care of some of the issues. He stated that he would like to table this for now and have the applicant come back in another month or so and the commission can see what has been done at the site during that time. Planning Director Sherman stated that she would like to see the Planning Commission make a recommendation either way at this time so that staff can move forward with code enforcement action if things are not getting cleaned up. Commissioner Kisch asked staff if there could be some type of a condition that would allow code enforcement issues to be addressed but also get them plans to review prior to making a decision on the application. Planning Director Sherman stated that she would recommend approving the application with a condition added that states that approval is conditional upon reviewing the plans provided by the engineer. Commissioner Schmidt asked why code enforcement stopped enforcement efforts just because an application came in and then stated that he is very uncomfortable approving this without additional information about how this is all going to lay out. He stated that he will lean towards not approving this without further information. Planning Director Sherman stated that the Code Enforcement inspector is continuing to monitor this site with the expectation that clean-up will be done and that is the part that has been missing. She stated that they have made some progress but it certainly does not meet the current code. Commissioner Fletcher asked how long the Conditional Use Permit would be good for if it received City Council approval. Page 6 of 10

7 Planning Director Sherman stated that the Conditional Use Permit is good for one year if it is not activated. However, if it is approved and the applicant does not meet the deadlines set, it would not be valid anymore. Commissioner Vosberg stated that she does not approve of this use at this site no matter what conditions are Set because whether this goes through or not there are quite a bit of issues going on with the property. She stated that regardless of that, she thinks this property needs to be cleaned up as soon as possible and there is no reason for mattresses, bicycles, and other items to be there as they have nothing to do with shipping vehicles overseas. Commissioner Fletcher stated that he would like to see some discussion at a work session regarding applications that are made on properties with active code enforcement issues or outstanding fines and whether or not those applications should be accepted. Commissioner Kisch stated that he will move for a continuation of this item until the applicant comes back with plans and the proper documentation that is required. If the applicant decides not to pursue that path, all code enforcement violations would be required to be handled. MOTION KISCH, SECOND SCHMIDT TO RECOMMEND A CONTINUATION OF THIS ITEM PENDING ENGINEERED PLANS. MOTION CARRIED 8-1 COMMISSIONER VOSBERG NAY. D. Sign Code Amendment- Case# related to electronic message board timing. Senior Planner Larson stated that in 2010 there was a very similar discussion about the timing of electronic message boards. At that time city code required that the messages on the signs stay up for six hours. In 2010 that was amended to two minutes. A couple of businesses and organizations in town approached the City Council saying that they would like to have more messages more frequently than the two minutes. After the City Council discussed this at a work session they agreed to reduce the time provided that the Planning Commission weighed in on this too. The language in the code would be changed to replace the term electronic motion with the term electronic message center and to replace the timing of two minutes to sixty seconds. Staff called other neighboring cities and the consensus was that all of the bigger cities had the sixty second time limit. He stated that staff feels the sixty second timing is reasonable and it would make sense to copy what they are doing. Concerns that were raised back in 2010 were about the messages going so fast that it could be too much of a distraction for traffic as well as annoyance for people who live or work right next to a sign like this. Staff is recommending approval. Commissioner Fletcher opened the public hearing. Seeing no one approach the podium, Commissioner Fletcher closed the public hearing. Commissioner Mersereau stated that she recommends changing some of the wording in the ordinance for clarification. Commissioner Jackson asked staff what the complaint was that brought this forward to change the ordinance. Page 7 of 10

8 Senior Planner Larson stated that one sign owner, who was changing the messages on their sign so fast that they was almost impossible to read, approached a council member and asked about being able to change the messages more frequently. The City Council directed staff to bring this to the Planning Commission to take a look at the request, work out the details, and then bring a recommendation back to the City Council. Commissioner Jackson asked staff if they know what the average is on how fast or frequently businesses are currently flashing their signs. Senior Planner Larson stated that businesses cannot flash their messages more often than every two minutes. Commissioner Husain asked if this could be open-ended for businesses that want to change less frequently. Senior Planner Larson stated that two minutes is just the minimum length, and they can leave their message the same all day if they want to. Commissioner Fletcher asked what the reaction was by City Council members to the change from two minutes to one minute. He stated that in his opinion one versus two minutes really does not matter because cars are traveling so fast and unless it is under ten seconds it does not do anything anyhow. He also asked what the enforcement action is if they do not follow the ordinance. Senior Planner Larson stated that everyone seemed fine with the change to one minute. A violation telling them to fix it would be the enforcement action for not following the ordinance. If it was not fixed they would get a fine. Commissioner Kisch stated that he does not see an issue with the change. MOTION FLETCHER, SECOND KISCH TO RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF SIGN CODE AMENDMENT PERTAINING TO PROHIBITED SIGNS WITH THE AMENDED LANGUAGE EXEMPTED ARE TEMPORAY SEARCHLIGHTS AND PERMANENT ELECTRONIC MESSAGE CENTER SIGNS WHICH ONLY DISPLAY TIME AND OR TEMPERATURE INFORMATION OR DISPLAY A MESSAGE THAT DOES NOT CHANGE MORE FREQUENTLY THAN ONCE EVERY SIXTY SECONDS. Commissioner Schmidt stated that he will be abstaining from the vote because it is for Hennepin Technical College and he is on the staff there. MOTION CARRIED 8-1 COMMISSIONER SCHMIDT ABSTAINED. 7. DISCUSSION ITEMS A. Transit Oriented Development- Jennifer Jordan Senior Project Manager Jennifer Jordan stated that she is the project manager from Brooklyn Park working on Light Rail Transit. Michael Lamb from the consulting team was introduced and Ms. Jordan stated that she wanted the Planning Commission to know that transit oriented development zoning work is being done, much of it due to the moratorium that Is in place and will expire in June. The station area plans that were worked on in 2015 and 2016 are the other reason they wanted to speak with the Planning Commission members and get their feedback. Page 8 of 10

9 Michael Lamb approached the podium. He stated that he is with the LHP Architects, part of the Perkins and Weil consulting team that is working on this project with the cities and Hennepin County. He stated that they are doing a commercial and residential market analysis to look at housing gaps and also look at trends within the commercial marketplace. He stated that they will use that information to look at updates to the zoning code, in particular in transit oriented and transit supported development areas within generally a half mile of each of the five station areas in Brooklyn Park. He stated that they will also conduct an engagement process, in particular from a zoning standpoint, with very specific engagement stakeholders including operators, land owners, folks that would have a specific stake in how zoning might change within their properties. They will also look at the potential for this transit overlay zoning update within the specific conditions of each of the five station areas. He stated that as far as the schedule goes, they are just beginning to get started on this work and have had initial kick-off meetings with each of the four cities in the corridor. They are looking to produce an annotated outline of code update recommendations in either late January or very early February and do a workshop with staff at city hall. They would come back again to look at specific recommendations sometime in late April or early May with the idea or schedule to begin the adoption process right after that. Commissioner Fletcher thanked Ms. Jordan and Mr. Lamb for all their hard work on the Light Rail Transit project. B. Commission Improvements Planning Director Sherman stated that there was a small group of commissioners, liaisons, and chairs of commissions as well as a couple of city council members that have been actively involved in trying to come up with a better way for commission appointments and orientations to happen that is a little more uniform across the different committees and commissions in the city. Council members Pha, Gates and Jacobson have been a part of this from the council side of things, and she as well as Planning Chair Hanson have represented the Planning Commission. The way the City Council has been thinking about doing things is that they will be doing appointments at the same time for all of the commissions, and then having the election of officers at a different time. This will allow time for mentoring and attendance at meetings even before being interviewed and prior to being on a commission. The other thing being discussed is the attendance policy which would no longer use an excused versus and unexcused absence model, but would have a certain number of times that someone could miss before they would be asked to step down. There will be more details on this early in OTHER BUSINESS A. Approval of October 11, 2017 Minutes MOTION FLETCHER, SECOND KISCH TO APPROVE THE MINUTES FROM THE OCTOBER 11, 2017 MEETING. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 9. INFORMATION ITEMS A. City Council comments City Council Liaison Pha stated that she has to comments. B. Commission Comments There are no commission comments. Page 9 of 10

10 C. Staff Comments Planning Director Sherman stated that as a reminder there will be no work session in November. There will be a regular Planning Commission meeting on December 13 th. She stated that a tour has been scheduled to tour an apartment project on University Avenue in Fridley. It relates to an application received November 1 st for property on the north side of 93 rd Avenue. It will probably come before the Planning Commission in January. 10. ADJOURNMENT Commissioner Fletcher adjourned the meeting at 8:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Kathy Valez Planning Assistant Page 10 of 10