A regular meeting/public hearing of the Planning Commission of Alexandria Township was held on the 25th day of January, 2010 at the Alexandria Township Conference Room, 610 Fillmore Street.
Roll Call: Commission members present were John Knowles, Julie Feuling, Russ Niskanen, Larry Steidl and Lyle Hammerschmidt. 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 Deputy Clerk Fulghum at 6:00 p.m.
Deputy Clerk Fulghum called for nominations for board chair. Russ Niskanen nominated John Knowles to be the chairman. Nominations ceased and a unanimous vote was cast for John Knowles as chairman.
The meeting was turned over to Chairman Knowles.
Larry Steidl nominated Russ Niskanen to be Vice-Chairman. Nominations ceased and a unanimous vote was cast for Russ Niskanen as Vice-Chairman.
Agenda: Hammerschmidt, seconded by Niskanen, made a motion to approve the agenda as written. Motion carried unanimously.
Minutes: Niskanen, seconded by Hammerschmidt, made a motion to approve the minutes of the 12/28/09 meeting with corrections: under the public hearing category, second paragraph, change “actual 2-dwelling rental” to read “actual 2-dwelling unit”; and in the third paragraph add terminology, shown in italics, “…provide and maintain a minimum of four off-street parking spaces”. Motion carried unanimously.
Public Hearing: The item for consideration by the planning commission was the interim use application submitted by James Florin. Mr. Florin is seeking permission to operate a telemarketing business out of a single-family dwelling, said dwelling yet to be constructed. The structure would be used as a satellite office.
Chairman Knowles asked if the home would be residential in appearance, and the applicant stated that it would.
Zoning Administrator Oleson stated that the business would be operated out of the dwelling portion of the home. No one would actually be living in the dwelling. There would be no onsite storage of inventory or materials, no retail or other traffic besides employees, and only occasional parcel delivery. The applicant would use the storage portion of the building for his own personal storage needs. The property is zoned urban residential.
Oleson stipulated that this would not be considered a home occupation; it would fall under the catch-all phrase of “other uses”.
Oleson also said that since the driveway approach would be off the county road, the applicant would need to check with the county for their driveway requirements.
Supervisor Niskanen inquired as to any plans to subdivide the property. The applicant said no, that he had actually purchased two lots and was merging them into one.
Commissioner Steidl inquired as to the location of parking area(s). He asked about the number of employees to be housed in the satellite location. The applicant stated that he currently had three employees and may consider adding one more in the future.
Commissioner Feuling commented on the foresight of considering the property and dwelling as a possible residential use in the future.
Chairman Knowles opened the hearing to the public for comment. Hearing none, he closed the public portion and brought the issue back to the commission.
Motion by Niskanen, seconded by Hammerschmidt to recommend to the town board that the Florin interim use application be approved with the four conditions as outlined in the staff report. Roll: Niskanen, Steidl, Feuling, Hammerschmidt, Knowles – yes. Oppposed: none. Motion carried unanimously.
Zoning Administrator’s Report: Zoning Administrator Oleson provided an update on the Ellerbroek variance application. He stated that the town board denied the variance request due to lack of hardship.
New Business: Brad Nyberg of Nyberg Surveying and his client, Renee Sanden, were present to discuss a potential “rural reserve development” application wherein they proposed to split 26 acres into two lots. The property is located along Hope Road.
Zoning Administrator Oleson stated that the property lies in the rural conservation residential district, which means that it is limited to a maximum density of 1 home per 20 acres. For this property that would allow one dwelling, which already exists.
The ordinance does allow for a maximum density of 1 home per 10 acres if the land is subdivided as a rural reserve development. The applicant is proposing subdividing the property into a 10 acre parcel and a 16 acre parcel. This would meet the ordinance’s minimum standard of creating a rural reserve parcel; i.e. at least 60% of the land being subdivided.
The commission will discuss this issue further if application is made.
Old Business: The commission decided to begin reviewing ordinance amendments now as opposed to waiting until the fall, prioritizing state statute updates, enforcement-related ordinances and regulation of businesses within residential districts.
Zoning Administrator Oleson will re-vamp his reports to reflect “no violations found” and to screen names of complainants/violators.
Adjournment: Being no further business Steidl, seconded by Feuling, made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Meeting adjourned at 7:49 p.m.
Respectfully submitted…
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Bonnie Fulghum, Deputy Clerk
Approved this ____ day of ___________, 2010
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John B. Knowles, Chairman