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PL 11/21/2012 PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING November 21, 2012 Chairperson Kondrick called the Planning Commission Meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT: Jack Velin, Brad Sielaff, David Kondrick, and Leroy Oquist, Tim Solberg MEMBERS ABSENT: Brad Dunham and Dean Saba OTHERS PRESENT: Stacy Stromberg, Planner Scott Hickok, Community Development Director Shannon Asmus, Miller Funeral Home Steve Anderson, Miller Funeral Home Approval of Minutes: October 17, 2012 MOTION by Commissioner Oquist to approve the minutes as presented. Seconded by Commissioner Solberg. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 1. PUBLIC HEARING Consideration of a Text Amendment, TA #12-02, by Miller Funeral Home, to add language to the C-3, General Shopping zoning district code language that would allow a crematory as an accessory to a mortuary, generally located at 6210 Highway 65 NE. MOTION by Commissioner Solberg to open the public hearing. Seconded by Commissioner Velin. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE PUBLIC HEARING WAS OPENED AT 7:02 P.M. Stacy Stromberg , Planner, stated the petitioner, Shannon Asmus, on behalf of the Miller Funeral Home, is seeking a text amendment to add language to the C-3, General Shopping zoning district; that would allow a crematory as an accessory to the mortuary use at the subject property, which is located at 6210 Hwy 65. Ms. Stromberg stated the equipment to perform cremations is called a retort. The retort is proposed to be located in the detached accessory structure on the west side of the property. All activity associated with the cremation process will take place within the existing accessory structure. No portion of the process will be visible to a passive viewer. Ms. Stromberg stated the subject property is zoned C-3, General Shopping and is located in the northwest corner of the intersection of Highway 65 and West Moore Lake Drive. On the property are a 6,348 square foot mortuary building and a 1,859 square foot accessory structure. The following activities have occurred on the property since 1963: Planning Commission Meeting November 21, 2012 Page 2  1963 – Variances were granted for building setbacks, parking stalls, and driveway location for a mortuary.  1967 – Issuance of a building permit for the mortuary building.  1987 – A variance was granted to reduce the side yard setback on a corner lot to 35 feet to allow construction of a building addition on the west end of the mortuary.  1993 – A variance was granted to reduce the side yard setback to 3 feet to allow a hearse enclosure.  1994 – A variance was granted to increase the size of a freestanding sign and a 30-foot by 60-foot garage was built.  1996 – A variance to reduce the side yard setback was approved, a variance to reduce the rear yard setback was denied; and additional side and rear yard setback variances were denied.  1998 – A variance to reduce the south side yard setback to 37 feet was approved.  2001 – Variances were approved to reduce the front yard setback from 80 feet to 58.25 feet; reduce the side yard setback on the north side from 15 feet to 3.7 feet, and a variance to reduce the side yard setback on the south corner lot from 80 feet to 37.4 feet, to allow construction of additions which total 3,489 square feet – these additions were never constructed.  2008 – Two variances were approved to reduce the side yard setback on the north side of the building from 15 ft. to 3.7 ft. to allow an expansion of the existing garage and to increase the encroachment of a canopy into the required side yard from 3 feet to 7 feet – these additions were never constructed. Ms. Stromberg stated the petitioner has initiated a text amendment to add language to the C-3, General Shopping zoning district code that would allow a crematory as an accessory use to a mortuary, provided specific code requirements can be met. Mortuaries are currently a permitted use in our C-2, General Business and C-3, General Shopping zoning districts. The crematory use is not specifically listed as a permitted use or an accessory use, so staff determined that it was beneficial for the petitioner to request the addition of the proposed language to ensure that the crematory use is allowed. Ms. Stromberg stated the following is the narrative provided by the petitioner: Miller Funeral Home has been serving families in this area since 1929. Over the past 83 years, there have been many changes in funeral service. One such change has been the steady increase in demand by local families for cremation. Cremation is an optional method of preparation of a deceased body. Currently, Miller Funeral Home staff must transport the deceased to an independent crematory, leave it with the crematory operator, and then return to pick up the cremated remains for transport back to the funeral home. This transferring of the deceased means that, for a time, the deceased is out of the funeral home staff’s immediate care. Miller Funeral Home wants to offer cremation as a direct service to our families. The equipment necessary to perform cremations is called a ‘retort’. Miller Funeral Home proposes to purchase a new retort which will be installed and operated in the remodeled, detached garage building on its property at 6501 Highway 65 N, Fridley, MN. Any retort purchased by Miller Funeral Home would be required to meet or exceed all Minnesota Pollution Control Agency air quality standards; and, would be licensed and inspected annually by the State of Minnesota, Department of Health. Planning Commission Meeting November 21, 2012 Page 3 For this reason, Miller Funeral Home is working with the City of Fridley to expand the language within the current zoning district codes to allow a crematory as an accessory use to a mortuary (funeral home). The purchase and placement of the retort would occur when the City of Fridley has approved the text amendment and the city building inspector has approved our building permit. Ms. Stromberg stated as indicated by the petitioner there has been an increase in demand for cremation over the last several years. Based on information provided by the Mortuary Science Program, in 1990, 15.8 percent of Minnesota deceased chose cremation where 46.8 percent chose cremation in 2009. It is expected that that percentage will continue to increase. As a result, providing the opportunity to have this service within our community can be considered valuable. Ms. Stromberg stated staff had the opportunity to tour North Mankato Mortuary, which is affiliated with the petitioner’s business. North Mankato Mortuary has a very similar set-up to the one proposed at Miller Funeral Home. The crematory building with the retort appliance is located in a detached accessory building. Staff visited the site when the retort was in use to fully grasp any potential concerns the residents of Fridley might have. The building looks like a typical garage structure, with a stack coming off the top of the building and a vent off the back of the building. No smoke or odor was present during staffs visit. Other than a somewhat loud fan sound that could be heard from the outside of the building, there were no other impacts. According to the petitioner, the retort appliance that we witnessed is manufactured by Matthew’s Manufacturing and is nine-year’s old. The retort to be installed at Miller Funeral Home will be brand new and is manufactured by Crematory Manufacturing & Services Inc. (CMS), which manufactures a quieter appliance. Ms. Stromberg stated in studies conducted by CMS, that measured the noise (decibel) level of the retort appliance, about 70 decibels was measured at a 0 distance. Based on information gathered by the petitioner, 70 decibel is the noise level you would typically hear when operating a washing machine, air conditioner or dishwasher, whereas the Matthew’s appliance when in operation can measure at double that decibel level. Staff should also point out that the building staff visited is a stick constructed building as opposed to the Miller Funeral Home building that is made out of brick and block, which will help with buffering the noise. Any noise concerns should also be alleviated by the fact that there is a 40-foot tree line buffer area between the subject property and the residential properties to the west. Ms. Stromberg stated Miller Funeral Home’s garage is also flat-roofed so the stack coming off the roof will be shorter and it will be screened on all sides with a roof-top screening device. Ms. Stromberg stated when Miller Funeral Home approached the City about installing the retort in the detached accessory structure on the existing property, staff determined that though a mortuary is a permitted use in the C-2, General Business and C-3, General Shopping zoning districts, there is no mention of a crematory use either as a permitted use or an accessory use. As a result, staff advised the petitioner to request a text amendment to allow a crematory as an accessory use to a mortuary within the C-3, General Shopping zoning district only. Although a mortuary is allowed in a C-2, General Business district, generally the lot size of these parcels are much smaller and as a result, this use is better suited in the C-3, General Shopping district. The petitioner has submitted the proposed text language that would allow a crematory as an accessory to a mortuary, provided the following conditions are met. Those conditions are listed below: (a) Crematory must be licensed annually by the State of Minnesota Department of Health. Planning Commission Meeting November 21, 2012 Page 4 (b) Crematory must be inspected annually by the State of Minnesota Department of Health. (c) Emissions from the operation of the retort must meet State of Minnesota Pollution Control Agency standards. (d) The retort must be properly maintained and serviced by the manufacturer at minimum every 18 months. (e) Mortuary will employ a fully trained, Certified Cremation Technician, capable of overseeing the operation and maintenance of the crematory and retort equipment. (f) Mortuary will make copies of State licensure renewals and annual inspection reports available to the City Building Inspector upon request. Ms. Stromberg stated of particular importance when considering a text amendment is determining if the proposed use would be consistent with the purpose and intent of the zoning district in which it would become allowable, and whether or not the proposed use would be compatible with other accessory uses within the district. Staff has determined that the above-mentioned conditions are necessary for the proposed accessory use to be compatible with the purpose and intent of the commercial zoning ordinance. The proposed crematory use is an accessory or an extension to the mortuary services that are already being provided on the site. Based on the information staff witnessed and provided by the petitioner this type of accessory use; would be considered reasonable to be allowed in the C-3 zoning district, without causing disruption to the neighboring properties and uses. Ms. Stromberg stated the petitioner went door to door to visit with the neighbors within 350 feet of the subject property on November 3, 2012, with no negative comments from the people they were able to visit with. They also held an open house at Miller Funeral Home on November 10, 2012. No one attended that event. Ms. Stromberg stated City staff has received two letters in opposition, one from the property owners at 6264 Baker Avenue, who state in their letter that they feel that it is already difficult to sell homes on Baker Avenue and this will make it worse. The other letter is from the property owner at 6220 Baker Avenue. No reason was given for the opposition, just that she did not want the crematory. Ms. Stromberg stated City Staff recommends approval of the text amendment with certain conditions as the proposed accessory use is an extension of the permitted use. Chairperson Kondrick asked, in the area where it must be licensed, inspected, emissions, watched, maintained, the mortuary should employ fully-trained people and must make copies of state licensure renewals, etc., is it the City who takes care of these things or is it the State? Who is responsible for compliance? Ms. Stromberg replied, those are things the petitioner would apply to the State for. One of the requirements is that those documents are then provided to the City of Fridley upon asking for them. Chairperson Kondrick asked whether the City has the right to check on them and ask where are they at? Ms. Stromberg replied, of course. The City can call the Minnesota Department of Health, and the Pollution Control Agency, at any point. Chairperson Kondrick stated this is a new thing for the City and they want to make sure and stay on top of it. Planning Commission Meeting November 21, 2012 Page 5 Commissioner Sielaff asked whether the petitioner has to get an air quality permit then from the MPCA for their emissions? Ms. Stromberg deferred that question to the petitioner. Commissioner Sielaff asked if there is odor? Shannon Asmus , Miller Funeral Home, stated for any crematorium in the State of Minnesota to be operational, they do need to be licensed by the Minnesota Health Department, Department of Mortuary Science. They would come out after their application gets submitted to inspect to make sure everything is proper and then issue a license. That is renewed every year, and they have to hang that license so it is visible if someone stops by. Those copies will be made available to the City at any time of their request. Ms. Asmus stated there will be no odor from the crematory. The crematories are manufactured where with the intense heat and the afterburners and the technology in there, there is no odor. As to pollution control there are federal guidelines they follow, and he goes through the State; and the manufacturer follows those pollution guidelines set by the Federal government. The manufacturer guarantees those are met before installation, and then they review that to make sure that everything is done properly. Chairperson Kondrick asked whether the design of the equipment that is going to be installed there prevents those two things from occurring? Mr. Asmus replied, that is correct. Commissioner Sielaff asked, the petitioner does not have to actually monitor the emissions then? Mr. Asmus replied, no, they do not. Actually in the retort stack there is a beam of light that goes through. If there is pollution going through, it shuts the machine down. The technology is there to detect any malfunction. Commissioner Solberg asked whether it was smokeless as well? Mr. Asmus replied, that is correct. Commissioner Solberg stated really the venting for the stack is for heat. Mr. Asmus replied, correct. Commissioner Solberg stated this will be back in the garage area in the back of the parking lot. Do they just drive into the facility? Mr. Asmus replied, it is a six-stall garage. Their architect designed the project so that the center two stalls would be used for the crematory. Then the van or hearse carrying the casket or container will go into the stall of the left-hand side and will close the door all the way. There will be a door then accessing into the middle stall. There will be two walls on either side of the middle stall. If anyone is on the left or the right side, they will not be able to see into the center; and all the work done in there will be done in private. Planning Commission Meeting November 21, 2012 Page 6 Commissioner Solberg asked in terms of the amount of cremations they would do at Miller right now, does it fall into the same amount they are seeing, 46 or 47 percent? Mr. Asmus replied, that is a state average and the metro averages are slightly higher than that. If he looked at all the calls that are coming through Miller Funeral Home, they are probably running at 55-57 percent cremation rate. They anticipate that to pick up slightly. National averages, with the state they focus on being California with the highest rate, it has leveled out at about 50 percent. Commissioner Solberg asked, if there is no odor and no smoke, other than the nose at the level of an air conditioner perhaps, would there be any other disturbance that might alert them as to what is going on in there? Mr. Asmus replied, they would not know. There should not be any other issues that would alert the neighbors there is something going on in there. Commissioner Oquist asked whether they would be performing cremations for other funeral homes as well? Mr. Asmus replied the owner of Miller Funeral Home has funeral homes in Andover and Anoka. He is assuming those cremations may come over but not all of them will because of the distance. It would be used primarily by the Miller business. Chairperson Kondrick asked whether this facility and any facility like it is used 24 hours a day? Mr. Asmus stated their company has three other crematories in the State of Minnesota with one in Mankato. They are probably doing 300 cremations a year out of there. They would consider that to be almost maxed out and they have a higher amount down there. You can only do a couple of cremations a day because of the heat-up and the cool-down process. Chairperson Kondrick asked how long does it take? Mr. Asmus replied for the actual cremation for an average-sized person is a couple of hours. Commissioner Sielaff asked if they are operating the crematory properly, there are no emissions? Mr. Asmus replied, there is not the pollution coming out that one would expect. Commissioner Sielaff asked, there is an emission coming from the facility? Mr. Asmus replied, yes, what is there and what comes out is done by an independent test. Commissioner Sielaff asked if they are not monitoring to see what that emission is, how do they know they are in compliance? Mr. Asmus replied if the equipment is operating properly, it is set to fit the standards or the federal guidelines. They come out and inspect. The petitioner calls the company and they come out and they try and have it done every 12 months. Planning Commission Meeting November 21, 2012 Page 7 Commissioner Sielaff asked, the company comes out periodically to test their equipment? Mr. Asmus replied, they come out and make sure it is operating properly. Commissioner Sielaff asked, and they fill out a form and submit it to the MPCA? Mr. Asmus replied, they would have it and supply it to the City. Scott Hickok , Community Development Director, stated staff had similar concerns and wanted to learn as much as they could and found going to the Mankato site was very interesting. A combination of the intense heat and the afterburner for pollution control, etc. was amazing that you can stand right near it and not have the odor or any smoke that would indicate that a cremation was going on. The event could be happening and a passerby would have no outward sign of it happening. He is very impressed with how the system is designed. One of the things he learned about the afterburner system is it will literally shut the machine down if it starts to fail any of the emissions tests that it was designed to operate within. MOTION by Commissioner Oquist 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 7:28 P.M. Chairperson Kondrick stated he did not have any problems with this. The location seems to be good and there is enough room between the building and the houses, with the only sound being as loud as an air condition. The petitioner seems to have their act together in terms of equipment, and they have been cautious and careful and willing to tell people what the process is. This idea of cremation is catching on all over. The State has enough wisdom to watch out for this and protect its citizens from trouble. Commissioner Oquist stated this really seems it is controlled by the State which is not new at it. MOTION by Commissioner Oquist approving Text Amendment, TA #12-02, by Miller Funeral Home, to add language to the C-3, General Shopping zoning district code language that would allow a crematory as an accessory to a mortuary, generally located at 6210 Highway 65 NE. Seconded by Commissioner Solberg. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 2. Receive the Minutes of the October 4, 2012, Housing and Redevelopment Authority Commission Meeting. MOTION by Commissioner Oquist to receive the Minutes. Seconded by Commissioner Solberg. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Planning Commission Meeting November 21, 2012 Page 8 3. Receive the Minutes of the September 11, 2012, Environmental Quality and Energy Commission Meeting. MOTION by Commissioner Velin to receive the Minutes. Seconded by Commissioner Sielaff. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. OTHER BUSINESS: Ms. Stromberg stated the next Planning Commission meeting is scheduled for December 19, 2012. Mr. Hickok stated they received good news from Metropolitan Council. It is not 100 percent official yet but the staff at the Metropolitan Council is recommending to the Metropolitan Council that it award $100,000 for a planning study that helps the City master plan the western side of the railroad tracks which is within the City’s TOD. For example, the JLT site is in that area, along with some of the apartment buildings they have talked about in the past that they have looked at for potential redevelopment. This is a very good thing and the Planning Commission will be made part of that planning process. They will first determine whether they can get the money and from there will use the money for a very good solid planning purpose. Mr. Hickok stated they may recall the City also had a request in for some money to help design a st pedestrian/bicycle overpass at University Avenue and 61. The Met. Council staff did not recommend the Council fund that. The City had 46 points, and it would have taken 50 points to get the money. Mr. Hickok stated the Faulkner senior project along Old Central and East Moore Lake Road is under construction now. That is an additional 19 units of memory care. It is really taking shape. The City can be very proud of that whole block. Chairperson Kondrick stated what pressure is the Metropolitan Council able to apply to get the Northstar Corridor extended out to St. Cloud? Mr. Hickok replied the Metropolitan Council has done a lot of work to that end. They have all of the statistical evidence they need to help demonstrate what the Anoka County Commissioner is saying that so much of the ridership on the Northstar right now gets on in St. Cloud, takes a bus down to Big Lake. They have proven very well that they would use it. Incoming and outgoing would. As a public entity there is only so much they can do. They are optimistic that it will prove itself and at some point will be expanded. The Metropolitan Council will do what it can to make sure that happens; however, to this point they provide the data. And there are other folks who can actually do the lobbying. Chairperson Kondrick stated he would think the Vikings, the Twins, and the Timberwolves would be really interested in grabbing a hold of some fans in St. Cloud. ADJOURN MOTION by Commissioner Solberg adjourning the meeting. Seconded by Commissioner Oquist. Planning Commission Meeting November 21, 2012 Page 9 UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE MEETING ADJOURNED AT 7:40 P.M. Respectfully submitted, Denise M. Johnson Recording Secretary CITY OF FRIDLEY SIGN-IN SHEET i I PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING I Name, Address/Business /l �C`GI6 lG» l 'j _c:re,c, L a ,J -� vti(,I t c%i