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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-07-11 CPC MINCITY OF STILLWATER PLANNING COMMISSION MONDAY, July 11, 2011 6 p.m. Workshop 7 p.m. Meeting Present: Commissioners Spisak, Malsam, Buchanan, Siess, Hansen, Kelly, Dahlquist, Kocon, and Councilmember Menikheim Absent: Commissioners Gallick Staff: Community Development Director Turnblad and Planner Pogge Chair Dahlquist opened the workshop portion of the meeting at 6:00 p.m. Mr. Pogge stated that The Bradshaw Group, Inc., has made application for a SUP related to conducting on -site bio- cremations at 2800 Curve Crest Blvd. Over the past year City staff from our engineering, public works, building, and planning departments have been reviewing the proposal along with staff from the Metropolitan Council's Environmental Services division and are satisfied that the proposal will not have adverse impacts to our systems. The Metropolitan Council has issued a permit for the proposal. Mr. Jim Bradshaw stated that the goal at their new Bradshaw Celebration of Life Centers is to be environmentally friendly, with a focus green and sustainable processes. Mr. Bradshaw's son Jason explained that unlike traditional cremations that use combustion, the bio- cremation process uses alkaline hydrolysis, a process that breaks down organic molecules to their basic components using a combination of water, alkali, heat, and pressure. At the end of the process bone fragments will remain and can be returned to the bereaved similar to a traditional cremation. In addition, nitrogen oxides and mercury vapor emissions which are common with traditional cremations are nonexistent with the bio- cremation process. The worksession was reassessed at 6:52 p.m. Commissioner Dahlquist called the regular meeting to order at 7 p.m. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Several commissioners had corrections for the June 13, 2011 minutes as follows. 1. Commissioner Kocon stated that on page 3, the word "if" should be added following "setback issues" so that it reads, "in regard to the setback issues, if I didn't know where the lot lines truly were..." City of Stillwater Planning Commission July 11, 2011 2. Name spelling correction: Mr. Malsam's name is spelled Malsam not Malsom. 3. On page 7, under Case #2011 -04, the last sentence "continued the hearing" is repeated twice. 4. Under Other Business, in the first paragraph, it should read adjoining property owner instead of adjourning. 5. Siess is spelled wrong in much of the minutes; it should be Siess, not Seiss. Commissioner Spisak seconded by Commissioner Kocon moved to approve the June 13, 2011 Planning Commission minutes as corrected. Motion was approved unanimously. OPEN FORUM There was no one present for Open Forum. PUBLIC HEARINGS Case No. 2011 -18. A zoning text amendment to allow craft brewery by a special use permit in the BP -O, Business Park Office District and a request for a special use permit for a craft brewery located at 1900 Tower Drive in the BP -0, Business Park Office District. Dan Schwarz, Lift Bridge Properties, LLC, applicant. City staff provided background on the two -fold request for a zoning text amendment and a special use permit. Mr. Pogge explained that Lift Bridge Brewing Company began operating their office, warehouse, and limited specialty beer production at 1900 Tower Drive West in the spring of 2010. At that time, City Staff classified the limited production as an accessory use since it comprised less than 10 percent of the total floor area and was limited to no more than 2,000 barrels of beer production annually. Currently all of the company's on -site production is kegged for distribution, with their main production occurring off -site at contract breweries. Lift Bridge Brewing Company approached the City asking to increase on -site production over the current limit of 2,000 barrels annually and to add a manual /semi - automated bottling line to the facility. The applicant has indicated that they would prefer to continue to produce most of their beer off -site; however, due to production constraints with their current contract brewers they desire the ability to produce their beer on -site when they are faced with capacity challenges. To proceed with on -site beer production the applicant has made application for a Zoning Text Amendment to City Code Section 31 -325 entitled "Allowable Uses in Non - Residential District" in order to permit bottling works in the BP -O zoning district and a Special Use Permit to permit a bottling works operation at 1900 Tower Drive West. 2 City of Stillwater Planning Commission July 11, 2011 Special Use Permit As outlined in the proposed ordinance, bottling works in the BP -O zoning district will require a Special Use Permit. Sec. 31- 207(d) of the City Code states that a Special Use Permit can be approved if the Planning Commission finds that: 1. The proposed use conforms to the requirements and the intent of the Zoning Ordinance, the Comprehensive Plan, and any relevant area plans. With the proposed ordinance, the proposed use meets the requirements of the zoning code. The site currently complies with all other zoning code requirements. 2. Any additional conditions necessary for the public interest have been imposed. Plans will need to be approved by the engineering, fire and building officials before the issuance of a building permit. All changes to the approved plans will need to be reviewed and approved by the Community Development Director. Any major changes will need to go to the Planning Commission for review and approval. The site shall comply with the City's noise ordinance. 3. The use or structure will not constitute a nuisance or be detrimental to the public welfare of the community. Staff finds this criterion to be satisfied with the conditions /requirements in the proposed ordinance. Zoning Text Amendment The Planning Commission recommends approval of the proposed Zoning Text Amendment for bottling works in the BP -0 zoning district and approval of a special use permit for a bottling works operation at 1900 Tower Drive with the following conditions: 1. All changes to the approved plans will need to be reviewed and approved by the Community Development Director. Any major changes will need to go to the Planning Commission for review and approval. 2. Plans will need to be approved by the engineering, fire and building officials before the issuance of a building permit. 3. The site shall comply with the requirements of the City's noise ordinance. Commissioner Kocon asked if there was previously a pet boarding business at this site. Mr. Pogge responded that there was, and they never received a noise complaint about the business, and it appears that bottling equipment should be less noisy than barking dogs. The State requirement is a 25,000 barrel limit, and with the equipment available at this facility, production will be considerably less than that. 3 City of Stillwater Planning Commission July 11, 2011 Daniel J. Schwarz, CEO, spoke to the Commission. He stated that the company currently brews nearly all of their beer on -site, but they also contract with other breweries including Cold Spring Brewery, which recently informed them that they are no longer able to meet their production request. What Lift Bridge Brewing Company would like to do is install a small bottling line to take care of the capacity inside the Twin Cities metro area. They will continue to contract with other breweries as they grow. Lift Bridge Brewing Company is requesting that special use be added to the Business Park - Office (BP -O): Craft brewery producing not more than 25,000 barrels per year. This will allow their small operation to add a manual /semi - automated bottling line to package their product. Mr. Schwarz does not expect an increase in truck traffic. They have two vans that distribute beer four days /week, distributors that pick up once a month, and bulk glass that is delivered either monthly or quarterly. The facility employs three full -time employees. He further explained that the scale of the bottling line is about 6 feet by 4 feet and fills six bottles at a time at low speed, filling about 60 bottles per minute, and is manually loaded and manually taken off. Commissioner Dahlquist asked if the company will look at contract brewing again as they grow, or if they might look at doing their own brewing and bottling in a different facility that could handle larger production. Mr. Schwarz responded that this will be considered further down the road. The present plan gives them the opportunity to bridge the gap between Cold Spring cutting off the contract and needing a larger facility in the future. He expects that eventually they will need a conveyer system and that the growth will result in more truck traffic. Commissioner Spisak asked how much production could occur on the site? Mr. Schwarz explained that with the equipment they currently have, they put out about 1500 barrels per year. Adding tanks could take them to 2500 barrels per year, which is still a long way from the 25,000 limit. The bottling line would eventually be too slow to keep up with the greater volume. Chair Dahlquist opened the public hearing. As no one was present who wished to speak, the public hearing was closed. Commissioner Hansen expressed that he is all for this request and feels Lift Bridge Brewing Company has done a fantastic job of representing this city in the community. For clarification, Mr. Turnblad provided some background information on bottling works. He explained that the Commission knows bottling works don't normally belong in an office park because it is an industrial process. The ordinance limits the company from having a rotary system, conveyer, or automated system. This is specifically designed to be a two -man operation, more of a bottling line than a bottling works. At present it is manual semi - automatic. Mr. Pogge stated that the Zoning Text Amendment and the Special Use Permit should be handled separately. For the Zoning Text Amendment, the Commission is making a recommendation to the City Council. For the Special Use Permit itself, the Commission has approval authority. 4 City of Stillwater Planning Commission July 11, 2011 Commissioner Hansen, seconded by Commissioner Kocon, moved to approve Case No. 2011 -18 recommending to the City Council the Zoning Text Amendment to City Code as conditioned. Motion was approved unanimously. Commissioner Kocon, seconded by Commissioner Malsam, moved to approve Case No. 2011 -18 Special Use Permit as conditioned. Motion was approved unanimously. Case No. 2011 -04. Future land use map amendments related to the Comprehensive Plan rezoning. City of Stillwater, applicant. Continued from the June 13, 2011 meeting. Mr. Turnblad introduced the future land use map portion of this case. He stated that on June 1, 2010 the City's 2030 Comprehensive Plan was adopted. State law requires a City's Comprehensive Plan and its "official controls" to be consistent. Consequently, 369 properties were rezoned recently to be consistent with the Future Land Use Map of the Comprehensive Plan. However, for a dozen properties it was agreed by the property owners and the City to create consistency by amending the Future Land Use Map and leaving the zoning as it is. Specific requests are as follows. 1. Amend the Future Land Use Map of the Comprehensive Plan by changing the designation of all 10 lots on Linson Circle from MDR, Medium Density Residential to LMDR, Low/ Medium Density Residential. 2. Amend the Future Land Use Map of the Comprehensive Plan by changing the designation of property located at 1750 and 1778 Greeley Street South from Industrial to Commercial. Mr. Turnblad explained that the 10 properties located on Linson Circle are all zoned RB, Two - Family Residential. Each lot has a duplex constructed on it, which is allowed in the RB Zoning District. The Comprehensive Plan's vision for this cul -de -sac is to encourage redevelopment from duplex to higher density housing, which would be consistent with much of the surrounding neighborhood. However, a number of the property owners on Linson Circle objected to the vision and would like the properties to be allowed to remain duplexes. The City agreed that this was acceptable and did not rezone the properties to RCM, Medium Density Residential. Consequently, the RB zoning and MDR guiding are inconsistent. To resolve this, the City agreed to change the guiding to LMDR, Low/ Medium Density Residential. The two properties at the corner of Curve Crest Boulevard and Greeley Street South (SE -TAC and the Gulf Gas Station) are zoned BP -C, Business Park Commercial. The uses on the two properties are consistent with this zoning. The Comprehensive Plan's vision for this corner is to encourage redevelopment from commercial to industrial uses, which would be consistent with the properties south of Curve Crest Boulevard. However, the property owners would like the properties to be allowed to remain commercial. The City agreed that this was acceptable and did not rezone the properties to BP -I, Business Park Industrial. 5 City of Stillwater Planning Commission July 11, 2011 Consequently, the BP -C zoning and Industrial guiding are inconsistent. To resolve this, the City agreed to change the guiding to Commercial. Staff recommends that the City Council approve the proposed Future Land Use Map amendments. The public hearing was opened. As no one was present who wished to speak, the public hearing was closed. The Commission concurred that the amendments are a good solution to this problem. Commissioner Buchanan, seconded by Commissioner Hansen, moved to approve the proposed future land use map. Motion was approved unanimously. Case No. 2011 -04. Special Use Permits for properties related to the Comprehensive Plan rezoning. City of Stillwater, applicant. Continued from the June 13, 2011 meeting. Mr. Turnblad introduced this case. He explained that to create consistency between the City's Comprehensive Plan and the Zoning Map, 369 properties were recently rezoned. For nine of these properties, the new zoning district classification allows the existing uses found on the properties only by Special Use Permit (SUP). Therefore, the rezonings were approved but will not become effective until the City approves Special Use Permits for each of the properties. These nine properties are found in three separate areas of the City. Special Use Permits are being requested for each of the nine properties identified. More information is included in the maps and reference table that can be found in the packet. 1. North Owens Street a. 1203 N Owens (Map ID #58) is a 36 unit apartment complex on property rezoned from RB, Two - Family Residential to RCM, Medium Density Residential. 2. North 3rd Street a. 209 N 3rd Street (Map ID #5) is a single family home on property rezoned from PA, Public Administration/ Institutional to RCM, Medium Density Residential. b. 215 N 3rd Street (Map ID #4) is a single family home on property rezoned from PA, Public Administration/ Institutional to RCM, Medium Density Residential. 3. South Greeley Street a. 1601 S Greeley (Map ID #374) is a single family home on property rezoned from RA, Single Family Residential to RCM, Medium Density Residential. b. 1602 S Greeley (Map ID #376) is a single family home on property rezoned from RB, Two - Family Residential to RCM, Medium Density Residential. c. 1603 S Greeley (Map ID #370) is a single family home on property rezoned from RB, Two - Family Residential to RCM, Medium Density Residential. 6 City of Stillwater Planning Commission July 11, 2011 d. 1609 S Greeley (Map ID #369) is a single family home on property rezoned from RB, Two - Family Residential to RCM, Medium Density Residential. e. 1048 W Orleans (Map ID #377) is a duplex on property rezoned from RB, Two - Family Residential to RCM, Medium Density Residential. f. 1656 S Greeley has two uses. The first use is a single family home on property rezoned from RB, Two - Family Residential to RCM, Medium Density Residential. The second use is a non - conforming towing service. Rezoning the property from RB to RCM has no impact on the non - conforming status of the towing service, since it is not a conforming use in either zoning district. The Planning Commission may grant Special Use Permits when the following findings are made: The proposed structure or use conforms to the requirements and the intent of this chapter, and of the comprehensive plan, relevant area plans and other lawful City Code Ch. 31 -1, Subd. 30(1)d. A copy of the ordinance is included in the packet. In each case the underlying reason for the Special Use Permit request is to create consistency with the future land use classification of the property as identified in the Comprehensive Plan. Therefore, this criterion is satisfied. Any additional conditions necessary for the public interest have been imposed. Since the buildings and uses on all nine properties have been in existence for quite a while and staff is not aware of complaints on any of them, no conditions are being suggested by staff The use or structure will not constitute a nuisance or be detrimental to the public welfare of the community. As mentioned above, each of the buildings have been in use for many years and public nuisance issues do not seem to exist. Staff recommends approving the Special Use Permits for all nine of the properties. The public hearing was opened. No one was present who wished to speak, so the public hearing was closed. The Commission concurred that this is a good solution for these properties. Commissioner Siess, seconded by Commissioner Kocon, moved to approve the proposed special use permits as presented. Motion was approved unanimously. 7 City of Stillwater Planning Commission July 11, 2011 OTHER BUSINESS Discussion of Variance Review Criteria Mr. Pogge drew the commission's attention to information handed out on variance review criteria, and stated that staff will put together an ordinance amendment to conform with the new state statute so that decisions are consistent. In essence, the change is from a hardship criteria to a practical difficulty criteria. Previously it had to be a hardship physically related to the property such as a topography issue. Now with practical difficulty criteria, as long as the use is reasonable, a variance can be granted. The guidelines are less stringent and more user friendly. The three criteria the City has been using to grant variances will change in order to comply. Mr. Pogge explained that it is still not a use variance, but rather a bulk regulation variance, as use variances are still not permitted in Minnesota. The difference between a bulk regulation or dimensional standard is similar to a setback from the front property line, or an area requirement. For example, we want houses to have a porch to fit with the area in spite of the setback and dimension regulations, thus allowing architectural vibrancy and variety. We need a zoning text amendment to make it a permissible use so that all property owners live by the same regulations.', Mr. Turnblad stressed that we want reasonable requests to be approved, which is how the county does it (which came out of county enabling legislation). There being no further discussion, Commissioner Kocon, seconded by Commissioner Hansen, moved to adjourn at 7:42 p.m. Motion passed unanimously. Respectfully submitted, Carol Danielson Interim Recording Secretary 8