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2023.10.09 - MinutesApproved Planning Commission Minutes – October 9, 2023 CRYSTAL PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES Monday, October 9, 2023 at 7:00 p.m. Council Chambers, Crystal City Hall 1. CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting of the Crystal Planning Commission convened at 7:00 p.m. with the following members present:  Commissioner (Ward 1) Sears [Vice Chair] X Commissioner (Ward 2) Selton [Chair] X Commissioner (Ward 4) Einfeldt-Brown [Sec. Vice Chair] X Commissioner (Ward 1) Heigel X Commissioner (Ward 3) Maristany X Commissioner (Ward 4) Johnson X Commissioner (Ward 2) Strand  Commissioner (Ward 3) Buck X Commissioner (At- Large) Scholz Other attendees: City planner Dan Olson, City Council liaison Therese Kiser, Community Development Director John Sutter, Peter Hilger, Kelli Ashton, and Heidi Pross (all representing New Horizon Academy), and other interested persons. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Moved by Selton and seconded by Johnson to approve the minutes of the August 14, 2023 regular meeting with one correction: remove wording about Strand’s arrival time. Ayes: All. Nays: None Motion carried. 3. PUBLIC HEARING a. Conditional use permit from New Horizon Academy for a child day care center at 7000 – 57th Avenue North (Application Number 2023-06) Planner Olson presented a summary of the staff report and stated he is recommending approval of the conditional use permit request. Commission member Maristany asked whether there will be food preparation at the center. Mr. Hilger said New Horizon will have a commercial grade kitchen for food preparation. Commission member Strand asked if there is enough parking for caregivers and staff. Mr. Hilger said that pick-up and drop-off of the children occurs very quickly and not all of the employees will be on site all of the time. The number of staff will not increase beyond 29 persons. Approved Planning Commission Minutes – October 9, 2023 Commission member Maristany said that from her experience, there is a quick turnover in pick-up and drop-off of children at day care centers. Commission member Scholz said she appreciates reducing parking to only what is needed. Commission member Maristany asked questions about security for the children. Mr. Hilger spoke about fencing for the outdoor play areas and the door security system. Commission member Einfeldt-Brown asked if they will re-pave the parking lot. Mr. Hilger said yes, and they are also adding stormwater management improvements. Commission member Maristany asked if they will have school age children. Ms. Ashton said they will have a “flex room” within the building for school age children, but that will not change the operation of the center. Chair Selton opened the public hearing. See no one who wished to speak, Chair Selton closed the hearing. Moved by Strand and seconded by Johnson to recommend approval to the City Council of the CUP application for New Horizon Academy for the property at 7000 – 57th Avenue N. with the conditions in the staff report. Ayes: all. Nays: none Motion carried. b. Miscellaneous amendments to the Unified Development Code (Application Number -07). Planner Olson presented a summary of the staff report and stated he is recommending approval of the UDC amendments. Micro-unit dwellings. The Commission had several questions about these dwelling units: ➢ Commission member Maristany asked how these units would be policed. Mr. Sutter said that the police respond in the manner they would for any other emergency. ➢ Commission member Heigel asked how these units would be addressed. Mr. Sutter said that would be determined by the proposed unit layout. Mr. Olson said that any applicant would address how EMS personnel will access the property. ➢ Commission member Strand asked if there is a setback between units. Mr. Olson said no. ➢ Maristany asked if the units can be two-story. Mr. Olson said there are building code requirements relating to engineering. ➢ Maristany asked if there will be tracking of resident’s names in case some have warrants. Mr. Sutter said the city does not have authority to ask apartment managers to preemptively provide names and the same would apply to these units. Approved Planning Commission Minutes – October 9, 2023 ➢ Maristany asked if a sacred settlement could be shut down if there are many issues. Mr. Sutter said if they were in violation of city code, that’s a possibility. ➢ Scholz asked if the city has received inquiries about filing an application. Mr. Olson said no. ➢ Maristany and Strand asked what defines an approved religious institution. Mr. Sutter said any religious institution would have received a CUP for that use before they could submit a CUP for a micro dwelling unit. ➢ Maristany asked how residents would be connected to voter registration and school districts. Mr. Sutter said the residents would be tracked by address for voter registration and school registration purposes. Motor vehicle/RV licensing. Commission members discussed the pros and cons of exempting one-and-two-family dwellings from the licensing requirement. Motion by Maristany, second by Selton to exempt one-and-two-family dwellings from the licensing requirement. Ayes: Strand, Selton, Maristany, and Johnson. Nays: Einfeldt-Brown, Heigel, and Scholz. Motion carried. Exterior materials for carports. Commission member Maristany asked if the space between a detached garage and a home could be the location for a carport. Mr. Sutter said conceivably the home and garage would have different foundations, and fire code requirements could be different. The footings for a carport would have to be the same as what it is attached to. Rezoning for 3443 Douglas Dr. N. Commission member Strand asked what the lot dimensions are for 3443. Mr. Olson said 65’ x 270’. Strand requested in the future, property rezonings not be included with UDC text amendments so rezonings aren’t bogged down with text amendment discussions. Chair Selton opened the public hearing. A first Crystal resident said he would like to see the city calculate density by net, not gross density, and therefore the gross density definition should be changed. He doesn’t believe that streets should be included in the calculation because it greatly increases the number of units allowed on small lots. He wondered if the city or other cities are pushing back against the state mandate for micro dwelling units, or limit the number of units that can be built. Commission member Maristany said she would like to standardize density requirements, green space and other lot requirements. Mr. Sutter said that the Metropolitan Council has density requirements that they impose on the cities, and that is different from lot requirements such as green space and setbacks. Commission member Scholz asked what is the purpose of having density requirements. Mr. Sutter said that the Metropolitan Council requires cities to have minimum density requirements. Having a definition for gross density is just formalizing a practice that the city has had for many years. A second Crystal resident asked what is planned for the future development of 3443 Douglas Drive N, if the rezoning is approved. The resident said the lot is pretty narrow for multiple residential units. Mr. Olson said that the EDA has not yet decided to offer the lot to builders or what the development expectations would be. The Commission discussed different development scenarios. Approved Planning Commission Minutes – October 9, 2023 The first resident spoke again to say that 3443 Douglas is pretty narrow so it should not be rezoned to R-2 because it won’t be able to accommodate more than a single-family home. Moved by Scholz and seconded by Heigel to recommend approval to the City Council of the UDC amendments excluding the definition for gross density and the rezoning for 3443 Douglas Drive N. Ayes: Strand, Maristany, Johnson, Heigel, Einfeldt-Brown, Maristany. Nays: Selton. Motion carried. 4. OLD BUSINESS - None 5. NEW BUSINESS - None 6. GENERAL INFORMATION • City Council actions on previous Planning Commission items: None. • Update from Council Liaison: Council liaison Kiser said the City Council recently approved a façade grant for the Wine Thief & Ale Jail at 3600 Douglas Dr N. The Council is also continuing its work on the Blue Line LRT extension and working to approve a new sidewalk extension. Commission members asked for updates on various projects within the city, such as the Community Center parking lot improvements. • Staff preview of likely agenda items for Monday, November 13, 2023 meeting. Planner Olson said he has not received any applications yet, but the application deadline date is not until next week. 7. OPEN FORUM Commission member Einfeldt-Brown said that Cornerstone Church will have a trunk – or – treat event on October 21st. 8. ADJOURNMENT Moved by Einfeldt-Brown and seconded by Selton to adjourn. Ayes: All. Nays: None Motion carried. The meeting adjourned at 9:11 p.m.