A regular meeting of the Planning Commission of Alexandria Township was held on the 25th day of November, 2013 at the Alexandria Township Conference Room, 610 Fillmore Street.
Roll Call: Commission members present were Mary Hacker, Larry Steidl and Linda Dokken-McFann. Also present was Bonnie Fulghum, Deputy Clerk. As said members formed a quorum and the meeting was called to order by Chairman Steidl at 6:00 p.m.
Agenda: Dokken-McFann, seconded by Hacker, made a motion to approve the agenda as written. Motion carried unanimously.
Minutes: Hacker, seconded by Dokken-McFann, made a motion to approve the minutes of the 10/28/2013 meeting as written. Motion carried unanimously.
Zoning Administrator Ben Oleson and Commissioner Billie Dropik, Jr. joined the meeting.
Public Hearing: none
New Business: Deputy Clerk Fulghum reminded the commission of the 12/11/2013 deadline for submission of expenses for payment in 2013.
Chairman Steidl asked if there were any changes to the proposed 2014 meeting date schedule. Hearing none, Zoning Administrator Oleson will present the draft to the town board at their 12/02/2013 meeting.
Zoning Administrator’s Report: Oleson will include any updates at the next meeting.
Old Business: Small Animal Ordinance. Zoning Administrator Oleson reported that the town board reviewed the planning commission’s recommendation at its November 4th meeting and adopted the ordinance with the following changes: 1) that the keeping of small animals continue to be regulated on lots up to 5 acres in size; 2) the age at which a small animal would not be counted against the limits was reduced from three (3) months to six (6) weeks; and 3) the number of allowed animals per ½ acre above one (1) acre (one additional animal for each additional ½ acre) was continued up to the 5 acre lot size.
Variance criteria. No changes outside of what was presented in the staff report.
Home occupation ordinance. Proposed changing 2. Exemptions (a) to read, “The display, for sale, of up to two (2) motor vehicles, trailers, or pieces of farm machinery or similar items at any given time.”
Small-scale solar panels and wind towers/generators. Zoning Administrator Oleson and Commissioner Dokken-McFann will attend county meetings as their staff addresses these issues in the upcoming months.
Residential fences. The commission chose to impose no regulations at the current time.
Pervious pavers. Oleson to meet with county staff and discuss their experience as to the long-range effects of the permeability of pervious pavers.
The commission also asked Oleson to check with county staff on feedlot rules and regulations and their impact on subdivisions such as Jessie Meadows.
Comprehensive Plan. Oleson stated that the town board had emphasized not overhauling the comprehensive plan but rather tackling it in sections and doing updates per section. The commission will combine training on the comprehensive plan with an overview of the individual sections, said overview to commence January 2014.
Adjournment: Being no further business Hacker, seconded by Dropik, made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Meeting adjourned at 7:32 p.m.
Respectfully submitted…
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Bonnie Fulghum, Deputy Clerk
Approved this ____ day of ___________, 2013
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Larry Steidl, Chairman