A regular meeting/public hearing of the Planning Commission of Alexandria Township was held on the 27th day of October, 2008 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 and Ben Oleson, Township Zoning Administrator. As said members formed a quorum and the meeting was called to order by Chairman Knowles at 6:00 p.m.
Agenda: Feuling, seconded by Niskanen, made a motion to approve the agenda as presented. Motion carried unanimously.
Minutes: Niskanen, seconded by Steidl, made a motion to approve the minutes of the 9/22/08 meeting as written. Commissioner Feuling abstained. Motion carried.
Chairman Knowles recessed the meeting to open the public hearing at 6:05 p.m.
Commissioner Hammerschmidt joined the meeting.
Public Hearing: Zoning Administrator Oleson stated that the purpose of the public hearing was to discuss proposed changes to the subdivision and zoning ordinances with the intention of making a recommendation to the town board.
Oleson brought up the adoption of ordinance no. 107 as a stand-alone ordinance (stormwater management ordinance). Currently this ordinance is included as Appendix B to the subdivision ordinance. The proposal to the commission was to delete “Appendix B” and adopt ordinance no. 107 as a stand-alone ordinance.
In the subdivision controls ordinance, Oleson proposed amendments to Section 2 (Definitions) and Section 5 (Subdivision Design Standards). In Section 5, 5.7 (Grading, Drainage & Stormwater Facilities), he stated we needed to correct the reference to ordinance no. 107 (deleting “as provided in Appendix B…”) and inserting “(Ordinance #107)”.
Motion by Feuling, seconded by Steidl, to delete Appendix B of the subdivision controls ordinance; adopt stormwater management ordinance no. 107 as a stand-alone ordinance; and amend the reference to ordinance no. 107 in section 5, 5.7 in the subdivision controls ordinance. Roll: Niskanen, Steidl, Feuling, Hammerschmidt, Knowles – yes. Motion carried unanimously.
The commission then discussed simplifying the definition “Cul-de-Sac Street” as listed under Section 2, Definitions. Under 5.8.2g(4) (Cul-de-sacs and Turnarounds), Oleson stated that the new language stipulates an absolute limit for the length of cul-de-sacs. 5.8.2g(5) is a newly added section. The township engineer calculated an estimated total number of vehicle trips that could be expected on a cul-de-sac road (trips/home/day).
Motion by Niskanen, seconded by Hammerschmidt, to approve the change for the definition of “cul-de-sac” and the proposed amendments to 5.8.2g(4) and (5) of the subdivision controls ordinance. Roll: Niskanen, Steidl, Feuling, Hammerschmidt, Knowles – yes. Motion carried unanimously.
The next discussion topic was amendments to the zoning ordinance. Under Section III.B (Zoning District Regulations) (Uses Permitted), Oleson recommended clarifying the section under Industrial Uses for concrete/bituminous storage. He proposed using the term “temporary” and placing a 12-month time restriction on projects. He also added a section to regulate recycling facilities, which would be allowed exclusively in the Industrial area and by conditional use only.
The commission had previously discussed changing a section under the Planned Unit Development open space requirements. They settled upon the wording for Section IV.D.2(b) to read as follows: “The following shall not be considered open space: 1) areas within a 25-foot radius of any structure; 2) right-of-way and public road easements; and 3) areas within a 10-foot radius of any impervious surface.”
Oleson stated that Douglas County will be looking at re-vamping their sign ordinance in the near future. Oleson will contact the county and communicate the township’s concerns regarding aspects of the ordinance. In the meantime, Oleson recommended that the township delete the area of licensure, citing that currently the town does not require any person, firm or corporation engaged in the business of erecting signs to have a license for such purpose (Section V. A.2).
A brand new section had been added to the zoning ordinance for recycling facilities (Section V.T.). Oleson stated that a recycling facility is in fact a processing facility – items come in, are processed, and then moved out. They are not to sit around for any length of time. Under T.2 “Application Requirements”, section k, the commission altered the wording to include:
“…. Financial assurances required by this ordinance for closure of a recycling facility may also be used by the township to remove materials from the site that do not adhere to the plan and timeline approved under this requirement.” The commission also decided to alter the wording for V.T.3 “Operating Standards”, section b, as follows: “Except in cases of emergency, ensure the removal and proper disposal of residual solid waste from the property which is not recyclable (generally 48 hours for solid waste which is putrescible and two weeks for solid waste which is non-putrescible).”
Under Section VII (Definitions), Oleson had added terminology to include “Prohibited Waste”, “Putrescible”, “Recyclable Material”, and “Recycling Facility”. The commission decided to delete the time period of 48 hours under section 1 of “Prohibited Waste”. The definition for “Fish House, or Dark House” does not currently limit the number of fish houses a person may have. The commission chose to leave the wording as-is.
Oleson said that Section VI. “Administration”, section A. “Land Use Permits”, needed to be changed now that the township had instituted the building code township-wide. He proposed adding to A.1 “…. All terms of this Ordinance and Alexandria Township Ordinance No. 114 (Minnesota State Building Code), shall be met before a land use permit is issued.” He recommended deleting A.1(a) entirely since the building code now requires permits for such things as roofing, siding, windows, etc. The commission chose to clarify the wording of A.1(b): “The following structures and improvements are exempt from the zoning or land use permit requirements providing all of the same setback requirements applicable to a fence are met (reference Section III.C.1a – Other Requirements and Regulations, Fences)….”
Motion by Hammerschmidt to approve each amendment to the zoning ordinance individually. The motion failed for lack of a second.
Motion by Feuling, seconded by Steidl, to approve the changes to the zoning ordinance recommended by Zoning Administrator Oleson and to include the additional changes identified above in these minutes. Roll: Niskanen, Steidl, Feuling, Hammerschmidt, Knowles – yes. Motion carried unanimously.
Chairman Knowles closed the public hearing portion of the meeting at 7:43 p.m. Zoning Administrator Oleson will forward the commission’s recommendations to the town board.
The regular commission meeting re-convened at 7:43 p.m.
Zoning Administrator’s Report: None
Old Business: None
New Business: None
Adjournment: Being no further business, Hammerschmidt, seconded by Niskanen, made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Meeting adjourned at 7:50 p.m.
Respectfully submitted….
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Bonnie Fulghum, Deputy Clerk
Approved this _______day of ________, 2008
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John B. Knowles, Chairman