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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity/County Planning Board Minutes 12.06.2007 (2) MINUTES LAUREL-YELLOWSTONE CITY-COUNTY PLANNING BOARD December 6, 2007 7:00 PM COUNCIL CHAMBERS Members present: Gerald Shay, Chairman Deb Homing City Rep. Todd Linder, City Rep. Hazel Klein, City Rep. David Oberly, County Rep. Dick Fritzler, County Rep. Others presant: James Caniglia, City Planner Cheryll Lurid, Secretary Paul Bokoske, 1535 Valley Drive Minutes of the October 4, 2007, November 1, 2007 and November 8, 2007 were approved. David Oberly reported to the board that he attended the City Council Workshop in November to be a part of the discussion on the proposed TIFD. He was concerned when he saw employees of the city giving input. He felt those etaployees should step down from the committee and give their recommendation as a citizen of Laurel, not as an employee. He felt the recommendation to add the old Middle School to the district was important to himself and the Planning Board and questioned why it was not included. James Caniglia, Planner, stated that it was too late in the process to add the middle school into the district due to the legal process that had to be done prior to the Council. David wondered if there could be adjustments made in the district at a later date. James stated that they are unsure whether or not an amendment can be done without having to go back to the base level of the TIFD. David when on to say that at this point the middle school is only 100 kids under its capacity. He feels that the way the town is growing the school district will need additional space within 2 or 3 years. This is a good way for the community to nmovate the school and the school to add classroom space in additional to have the school available for community/school needs. He hopes that as a Planner, James will be an advocate to get the old Middle School added to the district. He feels this is a part of the Planner's job to help the couauunity. James stated that the City Council did take the Planning Board's recommendations into consideration. Due to circumstances of there not being a quorum at the Planning Board meetings and the timing of the TIFD the Council wasn't able to consider adding the old Middle School in and didn't have any previous input on its addition to the district. Aiter a discussion the Board felt that part of the problem was not only that they didn't have a quorum, due to their lack of Couoty representatives, but they were also without a Planner for 2 or 3 meetings. The board wanted the Council to know that there were extenuating circumstances. Public Hearin~ - Paul Bokoske - 1535 Valley Drive ~ request for tree nursery Paul Bokoske spoke regarding his variance for a tree nursery. Paul came before the board in October 2007 requesting a home occupation for his tree trimming business and to be allowed to have a small tree nursery which would allow him to bring customers to his home. The board recommended approval to the City Council of the home occupation for the tree trimming service but recommended denial of the tree nursery because it violated the criteria for a home occupation. The council went on to approve his request for home occupation but the City Attorney made the decision to require Mr. Bokoske to apply for a variance to consider allowing the tree nursery. As required, two legal advertisements were placed in the Laurel Outlook and all neighbors within 300 feet of his prope~y were notified by lctte, regarding the public hearing. There was no one in attendance for the public hearing. Paul stated that his plan for the tree nursery is the same as what he applied for in October. The proposal is for a 50' X 50' area to grow 50-60 trees that will be viewed and sold by appointment only. Dick Fritzler asked for a clarification on the application because as a new member he was not present at the October meeting. Chairman Shay clarified that Mr. Bokoske had originally applied for a home occupation for a tree service and also to be allowed to have a tree nursery on his property at 1535 Valley Drive. The hoard recommended approval of the home occupation because it met all of the code requirements but the tree nursery had customers coming to the home which is not allowed under a home occupation. The City Council approved the home occupation but the City Attorney suggested that Mr. Bokoske had to apply for a variance to allow the tree nursery. Dick Fritzler asked if the hoard was giving him p~rmission to have large equipment at his Mr. Bokoske stated that he is using his Ford Pickup and a trailer for the tree trimming business. Eventually he would like to have a tree chipper on his property and a large boom truck. He stated that he is planning to build a garage to store the equipment in and indicated that it was on the drawing he submitted with his variance application. Dick Fritzler asked that if the property is annexed into the City would the variance still remai~ 2 James stated that the variance would still be in effect. James recommended denial of the tree nursery but because of the extenuating circumstances of the land being surrounded by both county and city land and the flood plain behind the property this will not set a precedence allowing tree nurseries on all residential tracts. He does suggest that several conditions be placed within the motion. He also stated that he would like to see more small businesses within the residential neighborhoods but would like to see it done with zoning regulations and not variances. Dick Fritzler stated that the City of Laurel has some long term plans to put a reservoir on the plateau at the north end of Valley Drive within 7 - 10 years. He thinks that people living on Valley Drive will most likely request annexation so that they can receive city services. Hazel Klein thinks that people may hesitate to annex due to the higher taxes within the city lin~ts. ARer a discussion by the Planning Board a motion was made by Todd Linder to recommend approval to the Laurel City Council of Mr. Bokoske's tree nursery at 1535 Valley Drive subject to the following conditions: 1. That the tree nursery area be no l~gex than a 50' X 50' area. 2. Customers come to the business by appointmem only. 3. Number of trees in nursery is limited to 50 or 60 (maximum). 4. That the Council be made awa~e that there were no opponents at this public hearing and at the public hearing in October for the home occupation application. The motion was seconded by Hazel Klein. At this time Todd tinder mended the motion to include # 5 below. 5. That the tree nursery "sunset" ff the propetery is sold. Prior to the vote Mt. Bokoske requested that he could get approval to grow the trees if the variance was denied tonight. Ch.irm.n Shay stated that the City Council has the hst say on the variance and Mt. Bokoske could mM~e that request to the council Dick Friv~ler questioned what type of traffic th~ would create on Valley Drive and he wondered ff the board should have County Law Enforcement input on this variance. He does not want to create an enforcement nightmare. He also wondered who would be enforcing the conditions on this variance. James stated that he is the enforcer and that he echoed Mr. Fritzlers concerns. James would rather see zoning be changed imtead of approving a variance just because of the enforcement issue. 3 At this time the question was asked for md the motion carried by a vote of 3-2 (Obefly md Ffitzler voted "No"). After the vote Mr. Bokoske asked £or some consideration in being able to temporarily have more trees should he have a large order. David Oberly stated that the motion stated between 50 md 60 trees and is very dear that the maximum is 60 md if Mr. Bokoske has 61 he will be in violation. Mr. Bokoske was told that he could make the request to the Laurel City Council during their review of the variance. Discussion: ARow~_ m~im~!~ b,,ildla_o hei?ht of 45' ha COmm.ni~j Comm~'~iol Zones James suggested that the board consider recommending changing the maximum building height in Community Commercial zones from 25' to 45' so that 3 story buildings would be allowed. This would better match the Central Business District's "unlimited" height on buildln~ and provide for better density and use of the land for both residential md commercial After a discussion it was suggested that it may be easier to extend the Central Business District far~ther to both the east and west. James would also like the board to consider going to form base codes. The~e will be more information available and more discussion on this subject in the future. Form base Codes allow both residential and commercial in the same areas md the economy dictates what is built. James would like the board members input on both of these issues. Discussion: Annexation allowance for I or 2 years to conform to city. o~din~nc~s, James stated that he and the City Attorney have been drawing up new annexation ordinances and in doing so it has been suggested that the developers md/or private parties that annex into the city limits be given 1 or 2 years to conform to street/curb/gutter/sidewalk regulations. In spedf~ a required amount of time it would eliminate some of the problems that have come up recently regarding this issue. A lengthy discussion was hdd on how hard it is at this time to enforce street/curb/gutter/sidewalk through the building permit process when a piece of land is annexed and not built on for rn~ny years. There was a recent situation that came up where the land was annexed md not built on for many years. It was sold to another person that was not made aware that the street/curb/gutter/sidewalk had to be engineered and installed. Those new owners were not happy when they had to pay an addition $15,000 to have it done and then put the blame on the city. It would have been mote efficient for all involved to have specific ~nnexation requirements at the time of annexation. ~MJ~cf41~neoR~ 4 David Obedy asked James if the board could re-risk the issues of allowing granny flats and certain types of commercial businesses within the residential zones. The board discussed these issues when Cal Cumin was the planner and the Council decided not to go with the boards recommendations on these 2 items. David has observed that James has talked about these issues a few times since becoming the planner for Laurel. He hopes that James will look into those issues. James stated that he will look at the minutes of the meetings where those 2 issues were discussed and see why the council decided not to move forward with them. Todd Cinder also would like to see the board develop a direction that they can agree on and go forward with. He has observed that the board has good discussions on issues such as tonight's 2 issues and then they get lost and forgotten. Hazel Klein suggested that the board look at the impact that the new road to Molt could have on First Avenue in Laurel and how to come up with a long range plan for when it does happen. The new west end on/off 1-90 vamp coming into Laurel is something that will impact Laurel and needs to be considered. There will be a meeting on Monday, December 17e~ from 7:00 to 9:00 pm in the cafeteria at the old Laurel Middle School They are requesting input from the public. James stated that he will put "extending the CBD zoni~' on the agenda for discussion at the January 2008 meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 pm. Respectfully submitted, Cheryll Lond, Secretary