A regular meeting/public hearing of the Planning Commission of Alexandria Township was held on the 22nd day of April, 2009 at the Alexandria Township Conference Room, 610 Fillmore Street.
Roll Call: Commission members present were John Knowles, Julie Feuling, Russ Niskanen and Larry Steidl. Also present was Bonnie Fulghum, Deputy Clerk, Ben Oleson, Township Zoning Administrator and his associate, Charles Marohn. As said members formed a quorum and the meeting was called to order by Chairman Knowles at 6:00 p.m.
Agenda: Niskanen, seconded by Feuling, made a motion to approve the agenda as presented. Motion carried unanimously.
Minutes: Steidl, seconded by Niskanen, made a motion to approve the minutes of the 3/23/09 meeting as written. Motion carried unanimously.
Niskanen, seconded by Feuling, made a motion to approve the minutes of the 4/14/09 site visits as written. Motion carried unanimously.
Chairman Knowles recessed the regular meeting to open the public hearing.
Public Hearing: The first item for public hearing was the Preliminary Plat of Victoria Crest, First Addition submitted by Wayne and Patricia Virkus. The purpose of the plat is to attach land owned by the applicants to adjacent lands, a portion of which is a public right-of-way that will need to be vacated.
Zoning Administrator Oleson said that this application would combine two existing parcels, a portion of a public right-of-way that would need to be vacated, and an “orphaned” portion of Lot 50, Lake Jessie Meadows into one residential lot. If successful, the combined lot would meet all applicable setbacks and the applicants would apply for a building permit to erect a residential garage on the property.
The proposed vacation would be pursued through the district court process. The applicant has preliminarily discussed the vacation with the town board to determine if there would be any opposition to the vacation. The town expressed no objections at this time.
The “orphaned” portion of Lot 50 is currently owned by Riley Brothers. Lot 50 represents the common open space parcel for the Lake Jessie Meadows PUD. The “orphaned” portion was created when County Road 81 was moved.
Commissioner Feuling asked if it was legal for Riley Brothers to sell off a portion of Lot 50 since it was used for density calculations in the original plat.
Oleson stated that the open space requirement is still met even without this piece of property. Tier 2 of the PUD, in which the relevant part of Lot 50 is located, would have open space of about 69 – 70%. The entire PUD would still have open space calculations of about 74 – 75%.
The removal of this portion of Lot 50 would not adversely affect the overall impervious coverage of the PUD as it would remain under the 25% limit.
Commissioner Niskanen inquired as to whether the proposed garage would have living space, plumbing, etc.
Oleson stipulated that there would not be enough footage to allow for living space.
Chariman Knowles opened the hearing to the public. Since there were no comments, he brought the issue back to the commission for discussion.
Chairman Knowles directed Deputy Clerk Fulghum to read Commissioner Hammerschmidt’s comments on this application. Commissioner Hammerschmidt’s statement was to approve the application with conditions as outlined in the staff report.
Motion by Niskanen, seconded by Steidl, to recommend approval of the Preliminary Plat of Victoria Crest, First Addition with the three conditions as outlined in the staff report. Roll: Niskanen, Steidl, Feuling and Knowles – yes. Opposed: None. Motion carried unanimously.
The second item for public hearing was the Preliminary Plat of Quitmeyer Addition, submitted by Scott and Donna Quitmeyer. The purpose of this plat is to subdivide a parcel of land into five residential lots and one outlot. One of the lots would encompass an existing dwelling.
Acting Zoning Administrator Marohn stated that this application would subdivide “Outlot E of Golden Gate” into five residential lots and a remainder that would be an outlot. Four lots would front Bridge Street. The fifth lot (Lot 1, Block 2) would be accessed by a private driveway that extends through a dedicated public right-of-way but does not have a public road constructed on it, onto Golden Gate Avenue.
Marohn said there are issues with this proposed subdivision. One is in regard to wetlands and stormwater run-off. This area has had significant drainage problems in the past with occasional flooding due to the high water table. The wetlands delineation has not yet been done; however with the advent of spring, this should be accomplished soon. Marohn did not feel the wetland should cause any of the lots to be unbuildable. He would like to see a plan developed so run-off would not adversely affect the neighborhood.
Marohn stipulated that the subdivision ordinance does require newly subdivided lots to have frontage on a public right-of-way and access to an improved street – but does not directly require frontage on an improved street. Lot 1, Block 2 and the subsequent remainder would have frontage on an unimproved public right-of-way that may be built later. The Township will need to decide whether it will require the applicant to build a public road within the right-of-way that they are dedicating. One way to avoid this would be to eliminate Lot 1, Block 2, changing the plat to four residential lots instead of five.
Commissioner Niskanen asked if a suitable driveway could be installed for Lot 1 due to the wetlands issue.
Mr. Nyberg stated that the driveway would not be right on the lot line and that there would be plenty of room.
Mr. Nyberg asked what the ramifications would be if the applicants attached Outlots E and F to the home place.
Regarding the dedicated right-of-way and road, Marohn presented three options: 1) extend the road and utilities; 2) eliminate the right-of-way, combining Lot 1, Block 2 with the right-of-way; or 3) combine the right-of-way of Lot 1, Block 2 with Outlots E and F.
Mr. Nyberg suggested utilizing the second option of attaching the right-of-way to Lot 1, Block 2.
Commissioner Feuling asked for further clarification under condition no. 3 of the staff recommendation. She said it was unclear who we are requiring to be responsible.
Acting Zoning Administrator Marohn said that it would be the developer. In essence, condition no. 3 should read, “that the developer of each approved residential lot be required…”.
The applicant suggested that the plat should perhaps be changed to go with the original four lots, eliminating Lot 1, Block 2.
Chairman Knowles opened the hearing for public comment.
Sabrina Hertel, 2902 Queens Road, stated that her land is to the north of Lot 1, Block 1. Would there be drainage running to the north, specifically from the wetland on Lot 1.
Rod Eldevik, 1211 Maple Drive, said that he had an agreement with the township which stipulates that no more water will drain to the north. Mr. Eldevik wanted assurances that absolutely no water would drain to the north. Marohn stated that there is a possibility that water will drain that direction.
Commissioner Feuling asked if the best management practice (BMP) is installed on the four lots, would it actually improve the area.
Bernie Van Zomeran, 1323 Maple Drive, inquired as to the type of housing the applicant was intending to place on the properties. Mr. Van Zomeran said that he is not interested in having any 2-story older homes moved out to that area.
Mr. Quitmeyer stated that he intends to build new homes, albeit perhaps double-wides, slab-on-grade.
Ms. Hertel inquired as to her fenceline. Would this create a problem since it is a barbed-wire fence? Neither the applicant nor Mr. Nyberg thought the fence was of any consequence.
Zoning Administrator Oleson said we had received a written comment from ALASD. They noted that the applicant proposed putting the sewer line in the ditch rather than down the middle of the road, seeing as how Bridge Street was recently blacktopped. ALASD raised no objection. ALASD assumed final plat approval was contingent upon the provision of public sanitary sewer.
Chairman Knowles directed Deputy Clerk Fulghum to read Commissioner Hammerschmidt’s comments with regard to this application. Commissioner Hammerschmidt was in favor of approving only four lots fronting Bridge Street. He had concerns regarding the entrance of the most northerly lot (Lot 1, Block 1) due to the wetland area and to the issue of drainage as a whole, seeing as this area has a high water table. Was it possible to pursue stormwater management now rather than just rely on ponds? Of particular concern was drainage under Queens Road running to the lake.
Mr. VanZomeran stated that in the past the whole 80 acres used to be a wetland.
Chairman Knowles closed the public comment portion and brought the issue back to the commission.
Motion by Feuling, seconded by Knowles, to approve the application for Lots 1, 2, 3 and 4 with the three staff recommended conditions, with changes to be discussed pertaining to Condition No. 3. Roll: Feuling, Steidl, Niskanen, Knowles – no. Motion failed.
Motion by Niskanen, seconded by Steidl, to table the Preliminary Plat of Quitmeyer Addition until the May planning commission meeting to seek additional information from the township engineer regarding stormwater and drainage issues. Roll: Niskanen, Steidl, Feuling and Knowles – yes. Opposed: none. Motion carried unanimously.
The third item for discussion was the Preliminary Plat of Victoria Estates submitted by Ben Zacher. The purpose of this plat is to subdivide one lot into two buildable lots. One of the lots would include an existing dwelling.
Acting Zoning Administrator Marohn stipulated that the applicant is subdividing his 14.4 acre property into two lots, 1.8 acres (Lot 1) and 8.0 acres (Lot 2). Lot 2 would contain an existing dwelling. The remaining acreage would be dedicated as public right-of-way for a possible extension of Pawnee Drive and an easement area for future sewer and road.
The applicant proposes extending the public right-of-way to accommodate both lots meeting the provisions of having 100 feet of frontage on a public right-of-way. He is not, however, proposing to construct an improved street. The applicant is also proposing to connect Lot 1 to the existing sewer via private stub (Lot 2 is already serviced via private stub).
Commissioner Feuling stated that the first paragraph under the Staff Recommendation (page 4c-1) states, “The traffic characteristics on this particular property would be minimal, serving just two lots”. Is this language really needed?
Chairman Knowles opened the public hearing to the public.
Robert Dahlheimer, 3407 Pawnee Drive, stated that there will be extra traffic on Pawnee Road. It used to be a dead-end street.
Pat Dahlheimer, 3407 Pawnee Drive, asked if there were plans to extend Pawnee Drive to the east, perhaps to connect with Wegner Lane? The applicant said there were no plans to extend since someone else owns property between Wegner Lane and Mr. Zacher.
Brad Nyberg, 3403 Pawnee Drive, asked if a sewer stub would be required.
Zoning Administrator Oleson stated that the township had received a written communication from ALASD on this plat. ALASD asked what the trigger would be for installing public sanitary sewer and construction of a public road. The trigger, according to Oleson, would be the sale of the lot.
Chairman Knowles instructed Deputy Clerk Fulghum to read Commissioner Hammerschmidt’s comments. Commissioner Hammerschmidt was in favor of approving this application with conditions as outlined in the staff report.
Chairman Knowles closed the public comment portion of the hearing.
Motion by Feuling, seconded by Niskanen, to recommend approval of the Preliminary Plat of Victoria Estates with the two conditions stated in the staff report. Roll: Feuling, Steidl, Niskanen, Knowles – yes. Opposed: none. Motion carried unanimously.
The last item for public hearing was a Conditional Use Permit to allow small engine repair in an accessory building as a home occupation. This application was submitted by Shad Steinbrecher.
Zoning Administrator Oleson stated that some questions to be raised are, 1) does it qualify as a home occupation; and 2) can conditions be put on it? Oleson discussed the definition of a home occupation as being, “any occupation of a service character which is clearly secondary to the main use of the premise as a dwelling and does not change the character thereof and has limited exterior evidence of such a secondary use.”
Commissioner Steidl inquired as to what type of signage the applicant is proposing to use. Mr. Steinbrecher stated that he may put up a small sign either on the building or towards the road.
Commissioner Steidl asked how many people would be employed. The applicant stated that he would be the only employee.
Chairman Knowles asked if screening would be needed. The applicant felt the stand of trees would be sufficient, and that any additional screening would actually detract.
Chairman Knowles asked if the times of operation stated in his application would be sufficient. The applicant replied in the affirmative.
Commissioner Feuling asked Mr. Steinbrecher to address the noise factor. The applicant felt that the noise level would not exceed the decibel level as stated in the township’s zoning ordinance.
Commissioners Steidl and Feuling wanted to discuss a possible review schedule for this application.
Chairman Knowles directed Deputy Clerk Fulghum to read Commissioner Hammerschmidt’s comments. Commissioner Hammerschmidt was in favor of approving this conditional use permit with the conditions outlined in the staff report and to include some type of review schedule.
Motion by Steidl, seconded by Niskanen, to recommend approval of the conditional use application with the five conditions as stated in the staff report, with condition no. 5 to include days of operation as Monday through Saturday. Roll: Feuling, Steidl, Niskanen, Knowles – yes. Opposed: None. Motion carried unanimously.
Chairman Knowles closed the public hearing and reconvened the planning commission meeting.
Zoning Administrator’s Report: None
Old Business: Zoning Administrator Oleson provided an update on Jack’s Family Recycling Center. He stated that the owner contends the property to the west, where roll-offs are currently located, has been utilized previously in this manner. He also mentioned that some of the screening on the east side has fallen down. The commission was concerned that perhaps this type of screening will prove inadequate. Oleson will speak with the town board as to further action.
New Business: None
Adjournment: Being no further business, Feuling, seconded by Steidl, made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Meeting adjourned at 8:27 p.m.
Respectfully submitted….
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Bonnie Fulghum, Deputy Clerk
Approved this _______day of ________, 2009
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John B. Knowles, Chairman