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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity/County Planning Board Minutes 04.12.1979 MINUTES OF THE LAU REL-YELLOWSTON E CITY-COUNTY PLANNING BOARD LAUREL, MONTANA 59044 April 12, 1979 Meeting called to order by John Hawley Smith, President, at 7:08 p.m., with the following members present: John Hawley Smith, President (City Representative) Otto J. Preikszas, Exec. Secty (City Representative) Ken Christian (County Representative) Tom Bradley (City Representative) Ed LaPrath (County Representative) Gerald Shay, Member at Large Mary McCormick (City Representative) James Seaton (County Representative) members absent: R. M. Williams, Vice Pres. (County Representative) Bus Roberts (City Representative) James Straw (County Representative) also present: John MacMartin, Cumin Assoc., Billings Paul Mogan R. L. Turcotte Leon Howe Jerry Gaston Curtis McKenzie Rich Christian Albert Ehrlick Roger Bare Chuck Rodgers Dan Marsich Donna Kilpatrick Parkes Co. representative John L. Mohr C. C. Calvert David & Bonnie Juhl Henry Robertus Will & Shirley Ketterling Dorothy L. Geertz Mary Fukado Barbara & Robert Smith Nancy & Timothy McCullough Laura VanBuren Albert G. Bell BNRR Harold D. Ingraham Tom Frickel Marge & Freddie Herman, Jr. Mary Hennek Rose Harder Mary Unger Frank Wheeler Allie M. Dolven Betty & Henry W. Lich Clyde Bray Daniel Karls others who did not sign register Minutes approved with the following comments: Chief Joseph Estates comments were sent to the Billings Planning Board to the effect that the subdivision was too far out and would create bad traffic patterns. More than 8 miles from Laurel and 11 miles from Billings would waste gas, etc. Bills approved for payment: Eng. /Bldg. Dept., Administrative Services for April $200; Cumin Assoc., Planning and Advisory Services for Jan_, Feb., and Mar., 1979, $2,750.00; Cumin Assoc., for a portion of the parking plan for services to date, $831.60 (state share), $476 (local share). -1- minute,. - Planning Board, April 12, 1979 PROPOSED ZONING ORDINANCE RE- DISCUSSION: This has been referred back to the Planning Board from the Council because of protests received at their March 20th public hearing, which has been continued to April 17th. John MacMartin explained that the Planning Board has been working on this zoning proposal for the past 3 years, 2 months ago the Planning Board held a public hearing, and 22 weeks ago it went before the council. Major protests are from Burlington Northern requesting heavy industrial for a portion of the railroad property, Mogan Sub- division requesting RMF zone, objections to Westgarten Subdivision, extended west main street requesting commercial zone, 1st Avenue North requesting commercial zone. MOGAN PROTEST: represented by Leon Howe of Sanderson /Stewart/ Gaston Engineers states that Paul Mogan requests Mogan Subdivision and Lots 1 and 2 in Nutting Bros. Subdivision be zoned RMF. Mogan Subdivision was zoned R3 in December, 1977, which resembles the RMF zone asked for. John MacMartin says a 12 -plex would have been allowed in the R3 zone. The proposed RLMF only allows a 4 -plex. RMF allows a 10,000 sq. ft. lot to build a 10 -plex. John MacMartin would recommend the RMF zone if the traffic problem could be taken care of; RMF on the 2 lots in Nutting Bros. Subdivision is not recommended as the tracts are outside city limits and are not contiguous at the present time. Discussion. EdLaPrath states there is only half a road dedication and bad traffic flow, would like streets opened first. Council turned down opening of Date Avenue in the middle of the trailer court. More discussion. TURCOTTE: represented by Jerry Gaston for Westgarten Subdivision. 4 protests received from immediately adjacent property owners. Rest of protestors are in the area or in town. Annexation is being requested or would go to a lagoon system with private water and sewer. There would not be any leaks in the lagoon. Schools south and west have had a decrease in students from last year. Property owners want the right to subdivide. Mr. Robertus is concerned with the irrigation ditches along the property line. Ditch to the north will be encased in pipe. Flooding is being done to develop crops. Run -off will be to the grassed areas or will be channeled to the Mill Ditch. The ditch to the south of the proposed trailer park will be fenced with chain link. Burning occurs on the ditch twice a year. Fence could be placed back 5' from the ditch. This will be a rental trailer court. The sewer seepage is a concern. On- site treatment must be according to State requirements. There will be no appreciable seepage from the ponds. Will the ponds smell? Will add air so there will be no odor for a majority of the time. Will water main run through Mr. Robertus' property? Only if he so desires. Plan is to run the main down Railroad Street and not on Mr. Robertus' land. -2- minute: Planning Board April 12, 1979 An on -site well would not damage surrounding wells, etc. Photos of the area were shown and commented on by Jerry Gaston. Area lends itself to trailer zoning. Mrs. Geertz lives south on an 80 -acre farm. How do you keep the kids and dogs off of your place? Kids could get hurt, and the farmer is liable for damages. She stated the lagoon in Billings Heights smells terrible. Shirley Ketterling is an adjacent neighbor and states that schools are cutting back bus services. Who will pay the taxes? Also, drainage is bad. How long will it take for the seal to break on the lagoon? Septic tanks are not being checked. What happens if Turcotte changes his mind again? The owners of the adjacent 10 -acre tracts do have to make some living off of the land. Will Ketterling requests zoning also in order to subdivide, questioned school problem. Albert Ehrlick questions drainage into the Mill Ditch which is running at a maximum . Mrs. Geertz stated they protested immediately, and this has not been acknowledged. Gaston says the "smell" occurring in Billings Heights is from the Billings Sludge Disposal, there is no lagoon in that area. Re- zoning can be applied for by anyone through a re- zoning application process. Will Ketterling wants his 10 acres rezoned. They were supposed to have a corner lot when Turcotte sold to them. WEST END EXTENSION OF COMMERCIAL ON MAIN STREET: Tom Frickel says 100% of the land owners for 2 blocks north of highway and 8th Avenue want commercial, including Ingraham, and are willing to compromize with the first block to be commercial and the second block to be zoned RMF. Ingraham says VanBuren is against commercial. Barbara Smith says she is against commercial. How can there be 100 %? Ans: Owners of the upper 2 blocks was 100 %. Mrs. VanBuren would like to see residential use. Mr. Karls states Main Street is a natural commercial area already started. Highway is a designated truck route. Mr. Herman wants multi - family against Smith's property, so what is her complaint? Rich Christian says he protests commercial and that multi - family should be there as a well planned buffer. Tom Frickel wants multi - family and has plans for a multi - family unit already. Smith says it if goes commercial those people will not stay. Trailer courts and multi- family -- is this proper growth? Roger Bare is against commercial because of trucks, keep it single family dwellings as much as possible. Board received 29 signatures from people agreeing the the Planning Board's original recommendation. Mrs. VanBuren says the land south of Highway #10 is commercial or is going to be. The highway di- vides from commercial and residential, and cannot see mixing the two. Kukes is going all houses. S & S SUBDIVISION: being represented by John Mohr as 100% ownership of the subdivision asking for multi - family zoning. This is a very small strip of land in pie shaped lots. No -3- minutes Planning Board April 12, 1979 problems with traffic, school next to the property, large park nearby, and in the best interest of city to zone RMF. Traffic flows north and south. 12 lots. Frank Wheeler objects, this was originally planned for single family dwellings. There is an underground drain to be reckoned with. Traffic flow and extra load on schools must be considered, kids running loose starting fires, etc. Bond issue failed once already. Clyde Bray asks not to permit any building until water is taken care of including the school house water backing up. Who will stand for the sewer and water line exten- sion? Trailers and houses have dogs and dogs are a problem. These problems could be easily taken care of, according to Mohr, and should not be a burden. How many units will be built? No answer. Barb Smith objects to traffic problem which may be created. Rich Christian also objects. The sewer truck line extension would help relieve the sewer problems in that area. GENE BARSNESS: objects via letter to zoning change proposed south of the clinic -- wants it to remain commercial. Proposed zone is Residential Professional (RP). JIM MARTIN: objects via letter to zoning change proposed on lst Avenue and 3rd Street -- wants it commercial. Proposed zone is RP. WARD SUBDIVISON: Dan Marsich requested rezoning of lst Avenue on Lots 4, 5, 6, and 7, Ward Subdivision, from R1 to Neighborhood Commercial. Rich Christian says his friends who visit from time to time are amazed at the lack of traffic on 1st Avenue compared to Billings. Rich feels commercial would decrease the value of surrounding properties. A representative of Parkes Co. says a reputable neighborhood grocery store wants to pur- chase the property which is a corner lot. Discussion. This would probably be a single purpose grocery store and gas station. Tom Bradley stated that parking lots are places to incite riots, and are only convenient for robbers. Mary McCormick asked each property owner to consider what his feelings would be if some- thing like this moved in next to them. Christian says if this is allowed as commercial this will be the first step in com- mercializing all of lst Avenue and he objects; would like to see a plan first. Mrs. Smith commented it only takes 5 minutes to get to Thriftways. MONTANA MEADOWS: property owners object to Fox Subdivision because of drainage problems. Nancy McCullough from Montana Meadows asked if this is considered a problem area. Fox area has been zoned for mobile homes since December, 1977. Fox is in subdivision process. Timothy McCullough says he did not receive a notice on the first subdivision zoning. He lives more than 300' away. John VanAken from Montana Meadows objects because of the drainage problem. The drain ditch is a non- functioning one at the present time. A decision has not been made as what to do with it. This is only one of the problems. C. Calvert says Schessler cleaned the ditch as far as he could. -4- n minutes Planning Board April 12, 1979 wants multiple family zoning behind the Congregational Church near the sawmill. RLMF is proposed on the map. Request is for RMF. TURCOTTE ANNEXATION: Department Heads' comments of March 21st as follows: 1) The developer must submit a preliminary plat of the site as an "Addition to the City of Laurel." 2) The water line connection to the city must be made by a 12" line and the interior court lines should be 6" line rather than a 4" line, with fire hydrants every 300'. 3) If a force main for sewer is necessary, the developer should examine the possibility of using a 6" line rather than a 4" line. 4) That a 3' cover be maintained over the sewer lines and a 5.5' cover be maintained over the water lines. 5) That the preliminary plat not be submitted until the legal question concerning "flag pole annexation" is resolved. 6) That the preliminary plat not be submitted until the question concerning zoning has been resolved. Annexation is requested along the county road. John MacMartin recommends as per Department Head recommendations. Tom Bradley says usually a property is contiguous upon annexation. The city has the same situation with the Fox property. This is a "flag pole" annexation request. The council must make a decision on "flag pole" annexations. The council has not done this in the past as it has not come up before. Would a private system work if annexation is not available? Yes, we would go ahead in any case. County road borders. Plans are to abandon part of the county road. If that happens half goes to each adjoining property owner. Will Ketterling says if trailer court goes in, the City of Laurel is going to have a lot of problems. Discussion. Original selling point was 10 -acre tracts and privacy. Tom Bradley says school taxes are levied on personal property and on the land. Discussion. Tom Bradley says deed restrictions apply over and above zoning. More discussion of taxes, subdivision, and lagoons. Motion from Otto Preikszas to recommend to council as per Department Head recommendations regarding annexation, second from James Seaton. Passed: 4 for, 3 against. LaPrath, Seaton, Preikszas, Smith for; Christian, Shay & McCormick against. Bradley abstained. -5- minutes - Planning Board April 12, 1979 DOWNTOWN PARKING: Meetings have been held with various groups. Parking meter heads run $86 to $96 each uninstalled. Parking lot will cost $1 to $2 per square foot paved excluding lighting and depending upon how fancy you get. Parking garage cost excluding purchase of land and relocation runs $5,000 per space, and you need a full 2 city block. Parking lot consultant would be around $6 per hour, manpower 25 hours per week in the Central Business District and city parking lot, or a cost of $7,00 per year (includes management fee). Police Department estimates 7/1/79 starting salary is $5.79 hour defined as car checker /dog catcher. Would be serving both functions. 6 mo. raise to $6.05 hr. for total of $7,696 the first year. After 1 yr. the contract pro- vides for $6.32 hr. or $8,216 per year. Ways parking can be established: S I D, Parking Authority, or Re- development (Urban Renewal). S I D would allow assessment for maintenance and up- keep of a parking lot; Parking Authority would allow more; Re- development could serve multiple functions. Discussion. SAFEWAYS RE -PLAT: Final plat presented for signatures of Planning Board. ZONING OBJECTIONS REVIEWED & RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL: Burlington Northern wants heavy industrial between west freeway and county road, east of the underpass heavy industrial along the line, the rest as light industrial, along Main Street on the north between Main Street and the tracks would be light industrial. Discussion. Tom Bradley moved to approve the request, Ed LaPrath seconded. Passed. Mogan Subdivision Gerald Shay moved to leave as RLMF, second from Ed LaPrath. Passed with Otto Preikszas voting "no." Nutting Bros. Subdivision property belonging to Paul Mogan -- Gerald Shay moved to deny the request for RMF, second from Ed LaPrath. Passed. Turcotte mobile home zone James Seaton moved to leave it as is at RMH, as recommended originally, seconded by Otto Preikszas. Passed, 4 for, 3 against, with Tom Bradley abstaining. West end north of Main Street and west of 8th Avenue Ken Christian moved to deny the request for commercial and RMF, second from Otto Preikszas. Passed. S & S Subdivision Tom Bradley moved to leave it as is at R- 6000, as recommended originally, seconded by James Seaton. Passed. -6- minutes Planning Board April 12, 1979 James Martin & Hoklin Clinic Motion from Otto Preikszas to leave it as is at RP, as recommended originally, seconded by Gerald Shay. Passed with Ken Christian voting "no." Gene Barsness Ken Christian moved to leave it as is at RP, as recommended originally, seconded by James Seaton. Passed. Ward Subdivision Gerald Shay moved to deny the request for commercial, second from Otto Preikszas. Passed. These recommendations will be given to council for their April 17th meeting. Meeting adjourned at 10:17 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Otto, . Preiks as Executive Secretary OJP /pj -7- LAU REL- YELLOWSTO N E CITY - COUNTY PLANNING BOARD LAUREL, MONTANA 69044 MEMORANDUM TO: Billings - Yellowstone City- County Planning Board FROM: Laurel - Yellowstone City- County Planning Board SUBJECT: Chief Joseph Estates DATE: March 22,1979 The Laurel Planning Board has two comments to submit concerning Chief Joseph Estates: 1. This subdivision should be carefully analyzed as to its full impact in today's auto oriented society. This subdivision which is seven miles from Laurel and over 11 miles from Billings will do nothing but increase the consumption of gasoline in a time of an energy shortage. 2. There is some question concerning the distribution of traffic. It appears that more traffic could be funnelled onto Laurel's busiest street than is projected. 1