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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity/County Planning Board Minutes 04.03.2008DRAFT MINUTES LAUREL-YELLOWSTONE CITY-COUNTY PLANNING BOARD APRIL 3, 2008 7:00 PM COUNCIL CHAMBERS Present: Gerald Shay, Chairman Dan Koch, City Rep. Dick Fritzler, County Rep. Hazel Klein, City Rep. Others: James Caniglia, Planner Bill Sheridan, Public Works Director Cheryll Lund, City Secretary Bill Sheridan - Extending Utility Services to New Developments Bill stated that there is a variety of ways to extend utility services to new developments. The first step is to determine if there is enough capacity to be able to extend services. At this time the City of Laurel doesn't have enough water supply to extend services to a development but does have enough sewer capacity that could handle a small development. There does need to be major improvements done to both the water and sewer plants so we can allow for more growth. These improvements will cost a lot of money. At this time ifa developer came forward wanting services for a 40 acre development the city would be hard pressed to be able to provide those services but would do their best to make those services available. Right now the City is in good shape and can, at this time, handle what services we currently have. The City is always working towards finding ways of improving those services and has hired an engineer that is helping us accomplish this task. The City is, on occasion, approached by developers that would like to have the city extend services for new subdivisions. Most times the developers want the city to extend the services to them at the City's cost. The City has some responsibility to extend the service lines but the developer will also have to be relied upon to pay for their share of the cost of the lines. Bill suggested that the board invite the City of Billings to come share how they deal with extending water, sewer and storm water lines in relation to both financing and through SID's. Bill said that the number one priority at this time is making improvements to the existing city water and sewer mains. The City should be able to accomplish this within the next 3- 4 years. The improvements will be costly but necessary to continue servicing existing customers. Bill said that there are several ways to accomplish getting funding for extending lines to new subdivisions and the City will have to consider how they will accomplish that task. There was a question on imposing impact fees. Bill stated that he didn't think impact fees would work for a city the size of Laurel. Impact fees generally work for areas that people want to live in such as Red Lodge and gozeman. Discussion on getting water to the Laurel Airport. Bill said that he has been working with an engineer on this issue, who is also a hydrologist, and he has come up with a way to supply water to the Airport. Bill is hoping this can happen within the next 3 years. He contacted John Smith many months ago about asking the FAA to help fund the proposed project. John told Bill that the FAA doesn't help with funding for that type of project. Discussion on City of Laurel water sources. Bill stated that the main source of water is the river but the City of Laurel has been talking about drilling a well south of the water plant for a second water source. The city has talked with an engineer about the possibility. Bill stated that there is funding of $750,000 available for water line and sewer line improvements. Bill summed everything up by stating that the City's top priority is to improve service to its current customers. Any developer requesting extension of water and sewer lines will be dealt with as the city can. Bill went on to state that no water, sewer or storm water will be extended to property outside of the City without first being annexed. After Bill finished his presentation James added that there was an impact study done by an outside source last year and they determined impact fees would not work for Laurel and the fees would keep developers from building in Laurel. 2 Discussion of Zoning Regulations and Infrastructure Suggestions for Downtown Laurel The Downtown Laurel group "Laurel Alive" put together a packet and is seeking to prioritize the needs of the downtown area and to assign responsibilities to various stakeholders. The group has asked the Planning Board to assist in the process by identifying the most urgent infrastructure needs and how to fund the needs. James asked the Board to list any zoning regulation changes they would like to see and also to identify the infrastructure upgrades that they would like to see. James said that they are also discussing starting a Main Street program. This would be a benefit for the city as there is a lot: of experts available to advise as to what programs were beneficial in certain types of towns. Miscellaneous James stated that he has had inquiries on the St. Alban's Church that is for sale on the east side of town on Alder between East Fifth and East Sixth Streets. It is zoned R-6000 but with the newly expanded Central Business District Zone to the south and RLMF zoning to the east he would like to see a special review or zone change done to allow higher housing density. James will take this to the City Council as a recommendation. It was brought to James attention that at the July 6, 2006 meeting the board recommended to the City Council, by a motion, to change the wording of Section 17.56.030(1) to read "ifa single-family dwelling, presently a non-conforming use, in a residential neighborhood is destroyed, it can be rebuilt". This issue is a constant problem when people are refinancing houses and then discover that their house is a non-conforming use and a mortgage company won't finance it. This change would end that problem and be beneficial. James will take this issue to the City Council for their consideration. The meeting ended at 8:35 pm. Respectfully submitted, Cheryll Lund, Secretary