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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity/County Planning Board Minutes 12.16.2014 , MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING LAUREL CITY-COUNTY PLANNING BOARD December 16, 2014 10:00 am City Hall MEMBERS PRESENT: Kathy Siegrist, Chairman Dan Koch, City Rep. Dick Fritzler, County Rep. Judy Goldsby, County Rep. Lee Richardson, County Rep. Hazel Klein, City Rep. Greg Nelson, Member-at-Large OTHERS PRESENT: Monica Plecker, Planning Director Cheryl) Lund, City Secretary Nathan Zito, 7615 King Ave. W Stephen Lance, 1442 Lance Lane Call to Order: Chairman Siegrist called the meeting to order at 10:04 am. Roll Call: Koch, Fritzler, Goldsby, Richardson, Klein, Nelson and Siegrist were present. Old Business: Special Review, 1323 Thiel Road—Outside Storage Chairman Siegrist stated that the board is continuing their discussion of the Special Review for 1323 Thiel Road that is requesting outside storage of equipment and materials. Planning Director Monica Plecker stated that at the December 4, 2014 meeting there were questions which needed to be researched prior to being answered. One of those questions was regarding whether or not the property was located in the floodplain. A portion of the property is located within the Special Flood Hazard Area and 500-year floodplain. The 500-year floodplain is not regulated. The Special Flood Hazard Area is regulated by county ordinance. A map was handed out showing the regulated area along with an email received from the Yellowstone County Public Works. Monica read the email out loud from Darin Swenson. "The property located at 1323 Thiel Road, legally described as Block 1, Lot 1 of Global Subdivision, has areas that are within the FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA). The SFHA appears to be north of what is being labeled Mason Canal on page 2 of the Special Review 1 r documents submitted to Yellowstone County Floodplain. This page is the aerial photograph showing the subject property". "Any development, whether it is digging holes, constructing a building, or anything else being done in this area, will require, at a minimum, a floodplain permit. The application for this permit can be found online at www.co.yellowstone.mt.gov/floodplain/permits.asp". "In Accordance with Yellowstone County Floodplain Regulation 6.2.2,the storage of toxic, flammable, hazardous, or explosive materials is prohibited in the SFHA. Any bulk fuel tanks, asphalt storage tanks, or other things of that nature would be prohibited from being stored in the SFHA". "If there are any questions concerning the floodplain or the Yellowstone County Floodplain Regulations, please feel free to contact me: Darin Swenson, PE, CFM at 406-256-2735". Monica stated that there was a concern expressed on the high groundwater table in the area and the potential contamination of the property and surrounding area if materials and equipment was allowed to be stored on the property. Monica stated she spoke with both the County Sanitarian and the Department of Environmental Quality and there were no specific regulations that they could point to. Obviously groundwater contamination is mitigated through DEQ and if contamination does happen there is a long process of steps the DEQ takes to mitigate the contamination. In regards to the odor there is nothing to point to. There are other businesses in the area that contribute to the air quality. Monica stated that she thought long and hard about the staff suggested conditions. She read the 3 staff suggested conditions to the Board: 1. Property shall be kept free of noxious weeds. 2. Any proposed buildings shall conform to the setbacks identified in LMC 17.10.020. 3. Any storage of equipment and materials in the regulated Special Flood Hazard Area shall comply with the requirements of the Yellowstone County floodplain ordinance. Monica stated she did go back and review all of the allowable businesses within the Highway Commercial zoning. She thinks that because of the nature of this particular business because it involves concrete and asphalt it has been pigeon-holed into one of the categories in the municipal code. There are other businesses that could be very similar or have very similar activities that are allowable without any sort of Special Review in the Highway Commercial zoning. For instance you can have a farm implement sales with outside storage of equipment which could potentially cause ground contamination without a special review. You can have a repair shop with outside storage and repair of industrial equipment; a public utility storage yard and, rental service stores and yards. So, if you consider those things that are allowable without any sort of Special Review and then you take into account the request by Z&Z Concrete, it 2 would be unfair to place other conditions on the property based on what could potentially be allowable without restrictions. Monica stated that the three (3) staff conditions have been well thought out. At this time applicant Nathan Zito spoke regarding his request for Special Review for 1323 Thiel Road. Nathan lives at 7615 King Avenue West. He is the owner of Z &Z Concrete which is a concrete and asphalt business that serves customers throughout Montana and Wyoming. All of their equipment is portable and stored in his shop. At this time the business is run out of his house at 7615 King Avenue West which is on 2 acres of land in a residential area. He has not had any complaints from his neighbors. The materials stored on his property will be bags of palletized concrete. He also receives shipments of crack sealing material all of which is hardened rubber that requires being heated up prior to use.They have some trailered mounted equipment and ten (10) pickup trucks. The business is not a giant company and they do not store bulk fuel right now. Their hazmat only has to do with temperature because some of their machinery is used to heat the crack seal product. At this time a motion as made by Greg Nelson and seconded by Hazel Klein to recommend approval of the application for Special Review subject to the following three staff conditions: 1. Property shall be kept free of noxious weeds; 2. Any proposed buildings shall conform to the setbacks identified in LMC 17.10.020; and, 3. Any storage of equipment and materials in the regulated Special Flood Hazard Area shall comply with the requirements of the Yellowstone County floodplain ordinance. Board Discussion: Greg Nelson stated that he has worked at CHS and also delivered parts to Big Sky Radiator and Riverside Repair. Riverside Repair has more vehicles on their property than what the applicant is proposing. Big Sky Radiator deals with radiator fluids and other contaminants that could easily run down the hill on their property into a groundwater situation. That hasn't been a problem. He doesn't see a problem with what Z&Z Concrete is proposing. And as far as odors go, CHS's odor is going to mask anything that this small company is proposing to use. He does not see a problem with this special review being allowed. Dick Fritzler stated that on a proposal such as this a plan should have been submitted in its entirety showing buildings on the property. He is also concerned that there will be no one follow-up if the project is approved. Monica stated that any construction of a building on this property is 100% allowable. The applicant is not required to build a building. The Special Review request is simply for the open storage of material and equipment. That storage will happen with or without a building. 3 Chairman Siegrist pointed out that because part of this property is unzoned things can be stored on a portion of the property anyway. Dan Koch is concerned about the massive storage of fuel that will be needed for all of the equipment used. He feels that with a company this size they will have to have some type of fuel storage on the property. Monica stated that by Yellowstone County Floodplain ordinance if they do have bulk storage it cannot be stored in the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA). The SFHA on that property is everything located north of the Mason Canal. Dan Koch asked how much of the property is in the SFHA. Monica stated that she is not sure as it is not depicted on the Floodplain FIRM map. Judy Goldsby asked if the proposed storage is going to be south of the canal. Applicant Nathan Zito stated that they plan to build a shop right off of the access road going into the property on the west side of the road. They plan to keep the building and the equipment and materials stored within approximately 11/2 acres of the property. Monica said that in talking with Darin Swenson from Yellowstone County Public Works he stated that mobile equipment can be stored in SHFA because it is considered mobile. Dan Koch asked if any further comments were received from the neighbors in opposition. Chairman Siegrist stated that we have not received anything further. Stephen Lance of 1442 Lance Lane was at the meeting. He stated that he wants to make sure that his property is not encroached on by a large asphalt business that could create adverse conditions for the thriving residential community located in this area. There are already several unsightly areas located within the residential properties. He is building a home right now as is his son and they want the area to remain residential and not commercial. Dick Fritzler asked if there will be any fencing or landscaping requirements put on the business. Chairman Siegrist stated that the board is allowed to consider requiring fencing and landscaping as a condition. But the requirements have to have a reason and explanation as to why the Yellowstone County Commissioners should consider it. Monica stated that due to the property being 23 acres the board needs to realize that it could be burdensome to the applicant to require fencing the entire property. Monica went on to say that if the board decides to make fencing the property a condition of approval they will need to discuss what would be appropriate. 4 Dick Fritzler asked who determines what is appropriate. After a lengthy discussion on whether or not to require fencing of the property it was decided that due to floodplain constraints and the unzoned corner of the property a fence is not feasible. Lee Richardson voiced his concern about petroleum storage on the property whether it would be above ground or underground. Monica stated that in Highway Commercial zones fuel storage is 100%allowable. Storage tanks are reviewed and permitted through the Department of Environmental Quality. At this time the vote was taken on the motion and it passed by a vote of 6—0. Public comment on non-agenda topics: There was none. Motion to Adjourn: A motion to adjourn was made by Judy Goldsby and seconded by Dan Koch. The motion carried by a vote of 6-0. The meeting was adjourned at 10:40 am. Respectfully submitted, Cheryll Lund, Secretary 5