A regular meeting of the Planning Commission of Alexandria Township was held on the 26th day of January, 2015 at the Alexandria Township Conference Room, 324 Broadway.
Roll Call: Commission members present were Shad Steinbrecher, Larry Steidl, and Linda Dokken-McFann. Also present were Bonnie Fulghum, Deputy Clerk, and Ben Oleson, Township Zoning Administrator. As said members formed a quorum and the meeting was called to order by Chairman Steidl at 6:00 p.m.
Agenda, Steinbrecher, seconded by Dokken-McFann, made a motion to approve the agenda as written. Motion carried unanimously.
Minutes: Dokken-McFann, seconded by Steinbrecher, made a motion to approve the minutes of the 12/22/2014 meeting as written. Motion carried unanimously.
Zoning Administrator’s Report none
Public Hearing: none
New Business: Zoning Administrator Oleson reported the town board had changed the fee schedule for temporary second dwellings and lowered the fee to $200 with no site visit conducted by the planning commission. He also presented the proposed Douglas County ordinance amendment regarding temporary second dwellings, noting that the county differentiates between temporary use during construction and temporary use due to family supportive care. Douglas County will be holding a public hearing on this matter Tuesday evening, January 27th. Consensus to have Oleson forward the following concerns to the county regarding this amendment, specifically temporary dwellings during construction: 1) that 5 acres in shoreland, and possibly other districts, is too restrictive; 2) suggest allowing a CUP/IUP for temporary second dwellings during construction in shoreland and dropping the acreage cutoff to one acre (at least in shoreland, if not also in other districts), leaving the NA designation for anything less than an acre; and 3) that more time be allowed for discussion before enactment of the amendment.
Old Business: Under Section IV. Issues & Trends, the commission recommended the following changes: 1) Under subsection “Housing Development”, re-word the first bullet, second sentence, replacing ‘its’ with ‘the’: “Between 2000 and 2010, the number of households in the City of Alexandria and the surrounding Townships….” 2) Under subsection “Infrastructure & Public Services”, re-word the fifth bullet, deleting the word “near”: “Several significant community assets currently located in the City of Alexandria have been discussed as needing to relocate in the future….” 3) Under subsection “Parks & Recreation”, re-word the second bullet, first sentence, to read: “Douglas County has adopted a “Park Dedication” ordinance requiring the dedication of land or payment of fees to create or expand parks.” 4) Under the subsection of “Governance”, add a sentence to read, in essence, that the township still needs to work cooperatively with the county on zoning and subdivision ordinances, etc.
The commission will review updates to Section V. Goals & Policies at the next meeting.
Adjournment: Being no further business Steinbrecher, seconded by Dokken-McFann, made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Meeting adjourned at 7:58 p.m.
Respectfully submitted…
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Bonnie Fulghum, Deputy Clerk
Approved this ____ day of ___________, 2015
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Larry Steidl, Chairman