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PL 06/18/2003 - 30908� CITY OF FRIDLEY PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING, JUNE 18, 2003 CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Savage called the June 18, 2003, Planning Commission meeting to order at 7:32 p.m. ROLL CALL: Members Present: Diane Savage, Dave Kondrick, Barb Johns, Larry Kuechle, Brad Dunham Members Absent: Dean Saba Others Present: Stacy Stromberg, Planner Tim Grote, Unity Hospital Bruce Larson, BWBR Architects, St. Paul, MN Frank Goms, 7517 Lyric Lane NE APPROVE THE JUNE 4. 2003, PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES� MOTION by Mr. Kondrick, seconded by Mr. Oquist, to approve the June 4, 2003, Planning Commission meeting minutes. ^ UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON SAVAGE DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. PUBLIC HEARING: Consideration of a Special Use Permit, SP #03-10, by Unity/Mercy Hospitals, Tim Grote, for a building expansion in an R-1, Single Family Zoning District, legal description is on file, and available upon request, generally located at 550 Osbome Road NE. MOTION by Mr. Kuechle, seconded by Mr. Kondrick, to open the public hearing. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON SAVAGE DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED AND THE PUBLIC HEARING OPENED AT 7:33 P.M. Ms. Stromberg stated the petitioner is requesting a special use permit to allow an expansion to the existing hospital which is located in the R-1, Single Family Zoning district. Unity Hospital and Minneapolis Radiation Oncology, Inc., are proposing a 2,375 square foot expansion to the existing Radiation Therapy Center which is located on the south side of the building. The existing Radiation Therapy Center was built in 1991, and the expansion will be used for outpatient treatment rooms and office space. Ms. Stromberg stated the hospital was originally constructed in 1965, and many additions have been constructed since that time. A maintenance garage is also located on the property. Last fall, the hospital constructed a new parking lot on the north side of the property. Special use permits were granted in 1984, 1993, 1995, and 1999 to allow the expansion of a hospital use in a residentially-zoned district. Hospitals are a permitted special use in the R-1 zoning district, r..� provided that the proposed expansion complies with the requirements for the special use permit PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING, JUNE 18, 2003 PAGE 2 subject to the stipulations requested by staff. The proposed expansion will be an addition to the � existing Radiation Therapy Center. ` Ms. Stromberg stated the approximate size of the proposed addition is 33 feet by 71.5 feet which is approximately 2,375 square feet. The proposed addition will be used for outpatient treatment rooms and office space. The petitioner has stated that the proposed addition may require an additional finro employees and four additional patients per day. Ms. Stromberg stated currently the Unity campus has 1,069 parking spaces. City Code requires that upon completion of the expansion, the Unity Hospital campus should have 1,072 parking stalls. Eight stalls will be lost from the proposed expansion; therefore, the hospital campus will fall short of the Code requirements by 21 parking stalls. Ms. Stromberg stated City staff has received complaints from surrounding neighbors about hospital employees parking on Lyric Lane. However, based on staff observations, it doesn't appear there is a parking problem. Staff has observed the property and surrounding area at various times during the day for the past two weeks and has noticed that the parking lot has many open spaces. Staff also noticed there is a maximum of two vehicles parked on Lyric Lane, and it is hard to determine if those vehicles are related to the hospital or to the single- family homes on Lyric Lane. City staff will continue to monitor the parking and traffic on and near the property and will require that additional parking be added if it is determined that it is needed. Ms. Stromberg stated the proposed expansion meets lot coverage and setback requirements. Regarding neighborhood comments, they have heard from neighboring property owners who have concems about parking, traffic, debris on the ground during construction, outdoor storage items alongside the maintenance garage, and lack of landscaping along Lyric Lane. The stipulations placed on the special use permit should alleviate these concems. Therefore, City staff recommends approval of the special use permit with stipulations as hospitals are a permitted special use in the R-1, Single Family Zoning District, provided that the proposed expansion complies with the requirements for the special use permit subject to the following stipulations: 1. The petitioner shall obtain any required permit prior to the start of construction. 2, The parking lot shall be restored to Code requirements for paving, curbing, and painting after the addition is completed. 3. There shall be no outdoor storage of equipment or materials along the south side of the maintenance building. 4. The subject property shall be maintained free of any and all construction debris. 5. Construction vehicles shall not bring materials before 7:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m. 6. The salt shed shall be removed prior to issuance of a building permit for the proposed expansion. 7. The addition shall be architecturally compatible with the existing building and finished with complementary siding and color scheme. 8. The City reserves the right to require additional parking should the demand of the facility warrant it. 9. Any further expansions to the hospital will require the hospital to meet City code requirements for hard surface parking. �� Mr. Oquist stated he had a question regarding stipulation #4. When the site is under ^ construction, how can the property be kept free of construction debris? PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING, JUNE 18, 2003 PAGE 3 � Ms. Stromberg stated one of the things they heard from neighboring property owners is during construction there is a lot of debris, trash, or plastic blowing around the area and the neighborhood, so they are asking that Unity clean up at the end of the day to deter those problems. Mr. Oquist stated there is still going to be some debris, and maybe that stipulation should be worded slightly differently. They could actually say Unity can't have any construction material laying around. Ms. Savage read an e-mail dated June 10, 2003, from Frank Goms, 7517 Lyric Lane, stating his concems about a row of pine trees that separated the building and parking lot from the houses on Lyric Lane. Two rows of trees along the berm have disappeared, and not one tree has been replaced. Mr. Goms also mentioned about the hospital stating vines would be grown over a fence to block the view. Ms. Savage read a letter dated June 15, 2003, to Paul Bolin from Glen Byl, 7513 Lyric Lane, stating that before a special use permit is granted to Unity for a building expansion, Unity should do some area cleaning. There are a lot of old, unused parts and equipment stored behind a brick building facing Lyric Lane. Mr. Byl also listed other items, including a pile of dirt covered by a blue tarp. MOTION by Mr. Kondrick, seconded by Ms. Johns, to receive the e-mail dated June 10, 2003, from Frank Goms and the letter dated June 15, 2003, from Glen Byl. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON SAVAGE DECLARED THE ^ MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Mr. Tim Grote, Director of Support Services for Mercy/Unity Hospital, stated he and Ms. Stromberg are going to talk tomorrow about a variance they have for the number of parking stalls. They are very close, but he just wanted to make sure they are on the same page as far as what they are short. His calculations show they are 12 or 13 short, and Ms. Stromberg's calculations show they are 21 short. He really didn't have any issues regarding the stipulations, but had some questions regarding stipulation #3 regarding the outdoor storage along .the south side of the maintenance building. He wasn't aware there was a problem or issue with storage on that side of the building. They do have some very minimal storage there. There are some things they use that they can certainly remove from there if it's an issue. It was designed as a storage area and is hard surFace. He did not know what the stipulations were, if any, when the storage building was constructed regarding storage, but they can certainly comply with the stipulation if that is what is required. Mr. Grote asked if Unity put up a more privacy-type fence versus the existing cyclone fence, would they be able be able to store materials in that area if they were not in view of the neighbors across the street? Mr. Grote stated that regarding the stipulation about construction debris, he assumed it also included blowing materials. It might be a good idea to clarify that stipulation, because they couldn't do any construction without some debris. The issue might be that at times when they have high wind, some debris does blow out into the neighborhood, but they do their best to try and minimize that and take care of it as quickly as possible. He can say that any time he � receives a phone call, he will make sure the problem is corrected. No one has ever called him personally and indicated any issues such as those brought up. PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING, JUNE 18, 2003 PAGE 4 Mr. Grote stated regarding stipulation # 5 about construction vehicles not bringing materials before 7 a.m. and after 9 p.m. Is this stipulation for this project specifically, or is it a stipulation for any construction projects in the future? His concem is, since this is a hospital, there are times when they have to do some construction in the evening hours or early morning hours to minimize the impact on some of their patients who are having procedures done or when the OR is full with operations during the day. Is the issue with traffic on Lyric Lane, or is it the construction activity itself? They do have an altemate route they can use for traffic during off hours around the professional building. He would like some clarification on that. Mr. Grote stated regarding stipulation # 6, they will remove the salt shed before the City Council meeting. They have put some plans together for a project to create a salt storage area. and they will be bringing that to the Planning Commission some time in the future. The PCA requires that they store their salt in a storage facility so the rain and snowmelt doesn't wash it down into the storm water system. So, they do have to do something about the salt shed. This was an intermediary attempt at mitigating that in the short-term, and he apologized about not asking the City's permission. Right now the blue tarp is covering salt so the rain won't wash it away. Mr. Grote stated regarding stipulations #8 and #9, they have met with City officials and plan to complete a comprehensive campus parking plan in 2003 so that in 2004 they can begin construction and any upgrades that might be required. They knew they were fairly close to the limit on parking stalls by the requirements and the calculations. �"� Mr. Grote stated they also monitor their parking lots. One of the reason they asked to build the new parking lot on the north side of the campus last year was because they were getting ^ nervous about the available parking areas during peak times for their visitors. It's in their best interest to provide adequate parking. Ms. Savage asked Ms. Stromberg to clarify the City policy on the outdoor storage of equipment. Ms. Stromberg stated outdoor storage is not permitted in the R-1 distriet if it can be viewed from the public right-of-way. If a solid screening fence was installed, then the outdoor storage would not be viewed from the public right-of-way. The screening fence can be discussed at a later date. Also, to clarify the limit on construction vehicles, the concem came from the residents on Lyric Lane regarding delivery vehicles coming down Lyric Lane for hospital construction. If there is an altemate route, maybe they can change that a little bit. However, construction hours are from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., so the City does not allow construction to take place before and after those hours. Mr. Grote asked if it is necessary for the hospital to perform some type of activity after those hours, what should they do and who should they contact? They just built a new heart center over at the Mercy campus, and there was a situation where they had no other option but to do some construction work at about 4 in the moming. Ms. Johns asked if that construction included a lot of noise that would wake neighbors. Mr. Grote replied that particular construction didn't; however, it created some unsafe situations as far as traffic control. Mr. Kuechle stated the things like power cutovers and other similar kinds of things that need to � be done during off hours that no one notices do not cause any problems. The problems they PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING, JUNE 18, 2003 PAGE 5 ,� are talking about are the Ready Mix trucks coming in at 6 in the moming, breaking up the curb at 6:00 in the moming, etc. Mr. Kondrick stated the City is asking Unity to be a good neighbor. Unity Hospital is very important to the community and the entire area. They have not performed in the past, and the City would like to see a change there. Mr. Oquist stated the outdoor storage of equipment is not allowed. The construction hours are imposed on any kind of construction in a residential area. There was also the complaint about the trees not being replaced. Mr. Grote stated he has been at Unity for 4%2 years and the trees haven't been there since he has started. He is thinking what happened is they were planted too close to the curb, and they were probably killed during the winter by the snowplows. He wondered if a more privacy-styled fence wouldn't appease the neighbors more perhaps than any other kind of landscape. Mr. Oquist stated it would have to be continually maintained. Ms. Savage stated the neighbors are not objecting to the expansion; they just have some specific complaints that seem very legitimate. Mr. Bruce Larson, BWBR Architects, stated his company worked on the addition. Regarding the trash, that is part of their specifications, too. They will keep an eye on that as they do on any other job. This is a pretty basic construction projects, so they shouldn't need to work on ^ off-hours. So, he doesn't have any problems with the stipulations from the architectural side. MOTION by Mr. Kondrick, seconded by Mr. Kuechle, to close the public hearing. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON SAVAGE DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED AND THE PUBLIC HEARING CLOSED AT 8:03 P.M. Mr. Oquist stated as far as the special use permit goes for the expansion, that is fine. He thinks the Commission members have made their point that Unity need to clean up the area. Regarding stipulation #4, maybe they can change it to say that the construction debris cannot leave the subject property. Mr. Kondrick stated he stated he had no problem with that wording. Mr. Oquist asked if the stipulations as written will cover some of those concems such as fixing the trees, getting rid of the storage, the exterior equipment, etc: Ms. Stromberg replied, yes. The only suggestion she had was regarding #4 to change it to read the subject property shall be maintained free of any and all loose construction debris on the premises or surrounding properties which would help the hospital know that it is the loose debris they are talking about. Mr. Larson replied the contractors know that and do police that. He suggested "manage construction debris so it doesn't become a nuisance on the surrounding properties°. �1 MOTION by Mr. Oquist, seconded by Mr. Kondrick, to recommend approval of SP #03-10, by Unity/Mercy Hospitals for a building expansion with the following stipulations: PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING, JUNE 18, 2003 PAGE 6 1. The petitioner shall obtain any required permit prior to the start of construction. 2. The parking lot shall be restored to Code requirements for paving, curbing, and painting after the addition is completed. 3. No outdoor storage of equipment or materials along the south side of the maintenance building. 4. The subject property shall be maintained free of any loose construction debris in and around surrounding area. 5. Construction vehicles shall not bring materials before 7:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m. 6. The salt shed shall be removed prior to issuance of a building permit for the proposed expansion. 7. The addition shall be architecturally compatible with the existing building and finished with complementary siding and color scheme. 8. The City reserves the right to require additional parking should the demand of the facility warrant it. 9. Any further expansions to the hospital will require the hospital to meet City code requirements for hard surFace parking. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON SAVAGE DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 2. RECEIVE THE MINUTES OF THE MAY 5 2003 PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING. MOTION by Mr. Kondrick, seconded by Ms. Johns, to receive the May 5, 2003, Parks and ^ Recreation Commission meeting minutes. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON SAVAGE DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. OTHER BUSINESS: Ms. Stromberg stated the July 2 Planning Commission meeting has been cancelled. ADJOURNMENT: MOTION by Mr. Kondrick, seconded by Mr. Oquist, to adjoum the meeting. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON SAVAGE DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED AND THE JUNE 18, 2003, PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING ADJOURNED AT 8:09 P.M. RespectFully submitted, .�.�,��. 6���,� Denise M. Letendre � Recording Secretary ,�