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PLM 05/20/2015 PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING May 20, 2015 Chairperson Kondrick called the Planning Commission Meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT: David Kondrick, Brad Sielaff, Dean Saba, David Ostwald, Todd Olin, and Mike Heintz MEMBERS ABSENT: Leroy Oquist OTHERS PRESENT: Julie Jones, Planning Manager Roland Peterson, Grace Evangelical Free Church Approval of Minutes: April 15, 2015 MOTION by Commissioner Sielaff to approve the minutes as presented. Seconded by Commissioner Ostwald. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 1. PUBLIC HEARING: Consideration of a Special Use Permit, SP #15-05, by Advantage LED, for Grace Evangelical Free Church, to allow an electronic message center sign, generally located at 755 73rd Avenue NE. MOTION by Commissioner Saba to open the public hearing. Seconded by Commissioner Sielaff. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE PUBLIC HEARING WAS OPENED AT 7:01 P.M. Julie Jones , Planning Manager, stated they do not have a representative from the sign company here tonight; but they do have someone here from the church if they have questions. This request from the petitioner, representing Grace Evangelical Free Church, is for a special use permit to allow an electronic message center sign to be incorporated into a new freestanding sign on the church property located at 755 - 73rd Avenue NE. Ms. Jones stated the church plans to remove their existing sign and construct a new monument sign that will have 50 square feet of signage of which 29 square feet will be the electronic message center portion of the sign. Ms. Jones stated the church will have its address as well as its website down at the bottom. Ms. Jones stated the property where the church is located is zoned R-1, single-family. It was actually part of that whole Melody Manor park area as was Unity Hospital. Single-family homes border the property to the north and the east and Madsen Park borders the property to the west. Planning Commission Meeting May 20, 2015 Page 2 of 10 Ms. Jones stated the church was originally constructed in 1963. It fortunately survived the tornadoes of 1965. Additions were constructed to the church in 1977, 1984, and again in 2000. A sign permit was issued in 1970 for a freestanding sign which was never constructed immediately after the permit was issued. Ms. Jones stated at some point after 1970, however, a sign was installed; but it was located in the public right-of-way. That was discovered in 1992 when the church wanted to construct a new sign, and that sign was a problem because it was in the public right-of-way. So the City had them apply for a variance. That variance was to reduce the setback of a sign from the property line from 10 feet to zero. It was stipulated in that variance that, at which time the sign is modified in any way, the variance would become null and void and any new sign would need to comply with Code requirements. Ms. Jones stated institutions are allowed one 80-square foot freestanding sign according to the terms of the City Code, provided that the sign is placed a minimum of 50 feet from any neighboring residentially- zoned property. That is not including of course the residentially-zoned property that the institution is located on, and the illuminated sign face is perpendicular to an adjacent roadway. Also, the sign does not create glare that will impact adjacent residential property. Ms. Jones stated since the staff report in the Commission packet was written, staff has met with the church to discuss the sign location that would be visible but would not require a variance. Both the church and the staff have agreed that the southwest corner of their property would be the best location. This location is approximately 290 feet from the closest residential property which is located directly to the east of Jackson Street. Ms. Jones stated the property is accessed through a one-way loop where the vehicles enter the west side entrance of the site and exit on the east side driveway. As a result the vision safety triangle is not a concern in this location that they have worked out for the sign location. Ms. Jones stated the petitioner is requesting a special use permit to allow the electronic message center as part of this new freestanding sign. The electronic changeable signs are an approved special use for institutions provided the electronic message center does not change more often than once every 45 seconds. The sign also needs to be in conformance with other sign Code requirements which it does. Ms. Jones stated staff has received one phone call from a neighboring property owner stating they were opposed to the request for the electronic sign because they felt the church already had good visibility on that roadway so they did not see why their sign needed to be modified. Of course we have many churches in the community that have high visibility that do have electronic signs. St. Philips Church would be an example and St. Williams now has one. Woodcrest Baptist just had their request approved and is in the process of installing theirs. Ms. Jones stated City staff recommends approval of the special use permit because electronic changeable signs are an approved special use in a residential district provided all requirements for institutional signage can be met subject to stipulations. Ms. Jones stated staff is proposing the following stipulations: 1. The petitioner shall obtain a sign permit and a current sign erector license prior to installing any signage on the site. Planning Commission Meeting May 20, 2015 Page 3 of 10 2. A new site plan showing the southern property line shall be submitted with sign permit application assuring that the new sign meets the required 10-foot setback from the property lines. 3. Prior to sign installation the petitioner shall have the southern property line marked to verify sign location meets the setback requirements. 4. The message on the electronic sign message center shall not change more often than authorized under Section 214.07 of the Fridley City Code. 5. The message on the electronic sign message center shall never flash or have motion that may district vehicular traffic in the area. Ms. Jones stated this item is set to go before City Council on June 8. Chairperson Kondrick stated this seems pretty clear cut and understandable. They have had this issue before. Roland Peterson , Grace Evangelical Free Church, stated he is the chair of the board of elders for the church. They probably have a pretty ugly sign that currently exists and it does not really function anymore. Last winter somehow a hole was knocked in the side of it so it made it look even worse. They are surprised at the amount of traffic that goes by on 73rd, but they do have a food distribution and a lot of messages that would be helpful for them if they could upgrade that sign. They have had to make letters now to put on there when they do not have them. It just seems like a project they needed to do. Chairperson Kondrick asked Mr. Peterson if he had a chance to look at the stipulations that are required of the church and what the City expects the church to do and perform? Mr. Peterson replied, yes, they have; and they met yesterday with Scott Hickok and Stacy Stromberg and they really decided to change the location at that point. It is going to be on the west side of the entrance driveway. Mr. Hickok lined up and said how far they need to be from the park and then how far from the street, and they can fit that all in there very nicely. He does not think they need a variance and they can go ahead with the project. To stay within the requirements was going to put the sign on top of the parking lot, and that was probably kind of a dangerous place to put an expensive $38,000 sign. This is going to be a much better situation for everyone. Chairperson Kondrick asked but they have no problems with the stipulations other than the location that were submitted to them this evening? Mr. Peterson replied, right. They know what they need to do to make sure they follow all the procedures and they have that clear. MOTION by Commissioner Saba to close the public hearing. Seconded by Commissioner Sielaff. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE PUBLIC HEARING WAS CLOSED AT 7:11 P.M. Chairperson Kondrick stated he had no problem with this. It is pretty much clear cut and dry. MOTION by Commissioner Sielaff approving Special Use Permit SP #15-05 by Advantage LED for Planning Commission Meeting May 20, 2015 Page 4 of 10 Grace Evangelical Free Church to Allow an Electronic Message Center Sign, generally located at 755 - 73rd Avenue NE with the following stipulations: 1. The petitioner shall obtain a sign permit and a current sign erector license prior to installing any signage on the site. 2. A new site plan showing the southern property line shall be submitted with sign permit application assuring that the new sign meets the required 10-foot setback from the property lines. 3. Prior to sign installation the petitioner shall have the southern property line marked to verify sign location meets the setback requirements. 4. The message on the electronic sign message center shall not change more often than authorized under Section 214.07 of the Fridley City Code. 5. The message on the electronic sign message center shall never flash or have motion that may district vehicular traffic in the area. Seconded by Commissioner Saba. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK CLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 2. PUBLIC HEARING: Consideration of a Text Amendment, TA #15-02, by the City of Fridley, for a TOD Zoning Overlay Text Amendment; Public hearing to consider amending the text of the Northstar Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Zoning Overlay District to incorporate reference to the recently adopted Northstar TOD Master Plan and to allow freestanding, changeable, electronic signs. MOTION by Commissioner Saba to open the public hearing. Seconded by Commissioner Ostwald. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE PUBLIC HEARING WAS OPENED AT 7:13 P.M. Ms. Jones stated the purpose of the text amendment is to recognize the Northstar TOD Master Plan, adopted by the City Council last December 8, in code by incorporating the design criteria of that master plan into the City Code. That would be including design specifications for lighting, benches, waste receptacles, bike racks, planters, etc. Since they are opening this text amendment up and looking at an update, the staff would like to consider changing the electronic sign prohibition in this section of Code. That is coming up because the City has had a request from a business owner in the TOD area. Actually before the City adopted the text amendment they were looking at changing their sign, and that is SuperAmerica gas station at the corner of 57th and University. They are in the TOD overlay zoning district as well. As most gas stations they want to put in an electronic gas pricing sign. They did not get it done before the City created the TOD Zoning District. Ms. Jones stated the City has two properties on 57th Avenue, the CVS Pharmacy and the Holiday Gas Station, that have electronic freestanding signs, so SA assumed they would be able to do the same thing. Planning Commission Meeting May 20, 2015 Page 5 of 10 Ms. Jones explained how a recent addition to the Parsons Electric business on Main Street caused staff to realize they could better define the term “redevelopment” in the Code. Ms. Jones also explained the need to change the Farmers Market reference, because since the TOD Overlay District was created, the City now has special language about Farmers Market in the Zoning Code that covers multiple zoning districts, not just this one where it is now allowed. That change made the language in the TOD code antiquated. Ms. Jones explained why staff had decided to prohibit electronic signs of any kind in the TOD District, which is typical in TOD zoning districts across the country. The Holiday Gas Station and CVS already had electronic signs, she explained before the TOD district was created, and SuperAmerica is one of the locations that has requested one. The City has had other business requests as well. Ms. Jones stated the reason why that prohibition was put in place and why that is typical in TOD areas is if you have a pedestrian-oriented development electronic signs that are close to the street frontage, where you have people walking, are illegible to the people who are walking by. Those types of signs have to be viewed from some distance away and are really designed for vehicle traffic. If you want to make things pedestrian-friendly, you want signs that are legible to pedestrians using the area. Ms. Jones stated that Fridley’s TOD District, however, is unique in that there are major roadways going through this district. Fridley not only has the freeway on the southern border, but it has East River Road and University Avenue. In higher speed traffic roadways like that, you typically do see electronic signs if you go through the metro. So, staff feels comfortable with allowing electronic and freestanding type signs that are designed to typically be viewed from far away. Ms. Jones stated staff would still like to keep that pedestrian feel, however. Some TOD Districts across the country and a lot in the Twin Cities are prohibiting freestanding pylon-type signs altogether. Fridley has so many free standing signs in place in its district now. Unlike Big Lake, which is starting over and creating something in a farm field with their Northstar planning area, Fridley has a fully-developed area it is planning for redevelopment. Therefore, staff did not feel it was really right in Fridley's district to prohibit those types of signs entirely. Staff feels it would be okay to have electronic signs as freestanding signs, but are still are opposed to the idea of allowing that for wall signage on buildings, which the City has had requests for in the TOD area. Ms. Jones stated as far as the design features that are in the Northstar TOD master plan, the purpose of those is to have a uniform look in that pedestrian-scaled design area. The staff would like to incorporate that design criteria for those certain features that would be within that area, particularly in public spaces. Private developers will be required to meet these criteria. The City wants them to be able to view this on- line with the rest of the Code and not have to contact the City to obtain the pictures, because developers need this information early in their planning to be able to calculate their costs of redevelopment. Ms. Jones stated staff recommends approval of Text Amendment #15-02 as it will better clarify and display design criteria within the Code rather than require developers to look at a separate plan document. Staff also feels this text amendment clarifies some other Code conflicts the City has in its Code. This text amendment is set to go before the City Council on June 8. Planning Commission Meeting May 20, 2015 Page 6 of 10 Chairperson Kondrick asked Ms. Jones whether staff feels it necessary to have all those people have the same design for signs? Never mind their name, but the same size, the same style of sign. Has that been given consideration? Ms. Jones replied, no, staff has not. That is a very good question. She wishes it would have come up actually when they were dealing with the design criteria with the master plan. They did talk a little bit internally among staff about some sign issues, but they were thinking of it more in terms of over by Islands of Peace Park and dealing with the public park areas where the City desires a uniform look. She recalls reviewing designs for information kiosks, but they did not discuss a uniform look for signs. Chairperson Kondrick stated that could be an important thing to talk about. Some folks could take an 80 square foot sign and change it around in a lot of ways and still get a message across. He felt consideration should be given to a uniform sign size, height, and material for projects in the TOD District. Ms. Jones replied, that a uniform color could be selected also. Commissioner Saba stated that was a real good question Chairperson Kondrick asked. Chairperson Kondrick stated he read the proposed amendment thoroughly and has no problems with it as written. He only has the suggestion of the sign detail to add. However, he has no problems. This is great. Commissioner Heintz stated there are a lot of different ideas here. How about fencing? Ms. Jones replied, that there are fence examples in the criteria. Staff did not pick out a one specific design, but they gave examples in the master plan of some types of fencing they would like to see. She recalled that there were metal and stone features suggested. MOTION by Commissioner Saba to close the public hearing. Seconded by Commissioner Ostwald. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE HEARING WAS CLOSED AT 7:26 P.M. MOTION by Commissioner Sielaff approving Text Amendment, TA #15-02, by the City of Fridley for a TOD Zoning Overlay Text Amendment, amending the text of the Northstar Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Zoning Overlay District to incorporate reference to the recently adopted Northstar TOD Master Plan and to allow freestanding, changeable, electronic signs. Seconded by Commissioner Saba. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. PUBLIC HEARING 3. Public hearing to consider an amendment to Fridley's 2030 Comprehensive Plan, CP #15- 01, to include reference to the Northstar TOD Master Plan and Active Transportation Plan. MOTION by Commissioner Sielaff to open the public hearing. Seconded by Commissioner Heintz. Planning Commission Meeting May 20, 2015 Page 7 of 10 UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE HEARING WAS OPENED AT 7:27 P.M. Ms. Jones stated that staff debated whether to go ahead on this comprehensive plan amendment, because we will be working on the next update next year already, but since it will be three years before the 2040 Plan is done, they thought they should go ahead and make the adjustment now as it is such an important part of the Comprehensive Plan. This is the City's first comprehensive plan amendment of 2015. In the agenda is states, text amendment, but it really is a comprehensive plan amendment. Ms. Jones stated there are two main reasons why staff is requesting the amendment. One, is to recognize the Northstar TOD TIF Master Plan that the City Council adopted last December. The other reason is to recognize the Active Transportation Plan, which the City adopted in 2013. The reason why staff wants to recognize these in the 2030 Fridley Comprehensive Plan is they are documents that have been approved by the City Council and are very important in the plans for the City. The TOD area covers a big part of the City, which could result in much change in the City. Ms. Jones stated it was in 2009 when they finalized the 2030 Comprehensive Plan. At that time, the Northstar Train Station was just being built. Actually the bulk of the writing was done in 2007, so at that time, the City did not know for sure if it was getting a train station. Understandably, when staff went to incorporate the Master Plan for the Northstar TOD area in this document there was a lot of text staff had to update, because they had to change all the language about the parts relating to the Northstar train station. Ms. Jones stated the reason why it is so critical for the City to recognize the Master Plan in its Comprehensive Plan is a lot of grant programs will require that if you are applying for funding for a project. The City did not want to lose out on any funding opportunities by not having these plans mentioned in the current Comprehensive Plan. Ms. Jones stated the same goes for the Active Transportation Plan. The Active Transportation Plan has a key map, which they see in the proposed comprehensive plan amendment language, which requires any development happening on those particular roadways to include trails and sidewalks in their development, and the developer paying for that most of the time. Staff wants to make sure that developers have that information available when viewing City documents on-line and researching the potential on the City's website. Ms. Jones stated that in order for the City to qualify for grant funds for either putting in new sidewalks and trails or obtaining funding for anything going on in the City's transit tax increment financing district in the future, it would likely have to be recognized in the City’s Comprehensive Plan. She recognized that it may be difficult to read the proposed amendment language because there a lot of cross-outs and underlining that is difficult to follow. Staff debated about giving the Commission a clean copy. They were not quite sure if that would confuse the Commission more. Hopefully everyone can make sense of the language, but she certainly is happy to answer any questions. Ms. Jones stated staff recommends making the proposed changes on pages 37-41 of Chapter 4 which is the City's Economic and Redevelopment Plan chapter of the Comprehensive Plan and pages 75 through 92 of Chapter 6, which is the Transportation chapter of the 2030 Comprehensive Plan. Staff could have gone more extensive than that, but those were the key parts they felt they had to update for the rest of this Planning Commission Meeting May 20, 2015 Page 8 of 10 reference for these two chapters to make sense. Chairperson Kondrick stated he read the entire package. He had to read it a couple of times. It is a complicated kind of a deal. You had to put the puzzle together as you went along. He asked whether anybody else had a chance to read this and follow it to the best of their ability. Chairperson Sielaff replied, to the best of his ability. Chairperson Kondrick stated everything he read made sense to him, and he understands it. He could not find any fault in it. Everything seemed logical and realistic and well thought out. It looks like City staff has had this a long time, and a lot of thought went into it. He does not have a problem with it. He asked if any of the Commission members had any questions. Commissioner Sielaff asked regarding the process, this is a Comprehensive Plan that has to be approved by the Metropolitan Council, correct? Ms. Jones replied, yes. Besides going o the City Council next for approval then, even before they go to the Metropolitan Council to request an amendment to the City's Comprehensive Plan, staff has to notify all of the City's surrounding jurisdictions about this change. Those notices went out last week or the week before. The City has to give the surrounding jurisdictions 60 days to comment before they can submit the request to the Metropolitan Council for approval, so after the anticipated June 8 City Council review and approval, staff will need to wait to submit the amendment for a few weeks yet. Chairperson Kondrick stated staff does not anticipate any problems. Ms. Jones replied, no, so far everybody that has responded has had no comments. Ms. Jones stated the 60-day review will be over in mid-July. It will be in July before staff can send the amendment off to the Metropolitan Council for approval. Before it is official, then it comes back to the City Council for final approval. MOTION by Commissioner Saba to close the public hearing. Seconded by Commissioner Sielaff. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE HEARING WAS CLOSED AT 7:37 P.M. MOTION by Commissioner Saba approving Text Amendment, CP #15-01, by the City of Fridley, for a Comprehensive Plan Amendment to Fridley's 2030 Comprehensive Plan to include reference to the Northstar TOD Master Plan and Active Transportation Plan. Seconded by Commissioner Ostwald. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 4. Receive the Minutes of the March 2, 2015, Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting. MOTION by Commissioner Sielaff to receive the Minutes. Seconded by Commissioner Saba. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE Planning Commission Meeting May 20, 2015 Page 9 of 10 MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 5. Receive the Minutes of the March 5, 2015, Housing and Redevelopment Authority Commission Meeting. MOTION by Commissioner Heintz to receive the Minutes. Seconded by Commissioner Ostwald. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 6. Receive the Minutes of the March 10, 2015, Environmental Quality and Energy Commission Meeting. MOTION by Commissioner Saba to receive the Minutes. Seconded by Commissioner Ostwald. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 7. Receive the Minutes of the April 14, 2015, Environmental Quality and Energy Commission Meeting. MOTION by Commissioner Saba to receive the Minutes. Seconded by Commissioner Ostwald. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. OTHER BUSINESS: 1. Elections. Commissioner Sielaff stated since the existing leadership has done such an outstanding job, he moved to nominate them again. Chairperson Kondrick asked Commissioner Sielaff if he was talking about himself (Chairperson Kondrick) and Commissioner Oquist? Commissioner Sielaff replied, yes, he is. Seconded by Commissioner Saba. Chairperson Kondrick stated Commissioner Oquist is not here this evening to speak for himself but he is smart, a good man, is straightforward; and they are lucky to have him as a member of this Commission. Chairperson Kondrick stated he would be happy to accept the responsibility of Chairperson of the Commission. It is easy when you have a bunch of smart guys who help you make decisions and understand things and a good staff who knows what they are doing and do a complete and thorough job. It makes his job much easier. Planning Commission Meeting May 20, 2015 Page 10 of 10 UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Chairperson Kondrick asked what is happening with Columbia Arena? Ms. Jones replied, the primary concentration on the Columbia Arena site at this time is working on the demolition. The latest she heard is that is going to be likely into late August before the demolition will happen. That is of concern to the City as vandalism continues to be a problem there. Chairperson Sielaff stated they have had all the public meetings. Is there a timeline for a decision to be made? Ms. Jones replied, the outcome of the public meetings they had are posted on the City website. Obviously, those are recommendations to the City Council. The City Council will still need to make decisions on those recommendations. She believes they are studying potential sites if the City were to rebuild city offices as that was one of the recommendations for the Columbia Arena site. People felt that was a good, highly-visible location that could be combined with some other public amenities like for a farmers market or '49ers Day event or something like that. There are a lot of options still be considered on that, however. Chairperson Kondrick stated he was talking with the Mayor last week and there were a lot of input and opinions to share from the public. There was a lot of thought, which is really good and helps everybody concerned. ADJOURN: MOTION by Commissioner Saba to adjourn the meeting. Seconded by Commissioner Sielaff. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE MEETING ADJOURNED AT 7:47 P.M. Respectfully submitted, Denise M. Johnson Recording Secretary