MINUTES OF THE
MEETING OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION,
WHICH TOOK
PLACE ON TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2000,
7:00 P.M.,
COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL,
1. Roll Call.
PRESENT: Commission members – Baker,
Garner,
Geisler, Kozakiewicz, Lind, Rapanos,
Senesac, Slicker, Wieland
ABSENT: None
OTHERS PRESENT: Mark Ostgarden, City
Planner, Acting Secretary; Cheri Standfest, Administrative Assistant, and 38
others
2. Approval
of the minutes of the meeting of August 22, 2000.
It was moved by Ray Senesac,
seconded by Russ Baker, to approve the minutes of the meeting of August 22,
2000. Motion carried.
3.
Public hearings:
a. Zoning Petition
No. 469 – the
request of Tom McCann to rezone property north and east of the intersection of
M-20 (Isabella Street) and Vance Road from Office-Service 2 to Business A and
from Business A to Business B-2 (see transcript).
b. Site Plan No. 192 – the request of Kevin Wirth,
Architect, of Three Rivers Construction, on behalf of the Midland County
Council on Aging, for site plan review and approval of a 36,500 square foot
administrative, adult day care, Meals on Wheels, dining, and conference facility
on 5.67 acres southeast of the intersection of North Saginaw Road and Dublin
Avenue, adjacent to the Rail-Trail (see transcript).
Dan Kozakiewicz requested to
abstain from discussion and voting on this issue, as his firm is involved with
the project. It was moved by Ray
Senesac, seconded by Russ Baker, to permit Mr. Kozakiewicz to abstain from
discussion and deliberations. All in
support.
4. Public
Comments.
Kirk Brillheart, 1006 Wyllys
Street, addressed the Commission about the East Ashman Church of God. He had a
petition to present on the 1016 House special use permit. The Chairman advised him that the 1016 House
request wil be discussed under Old Business.
5. Old Business.
Commissioner Rapanos asked to abstain due to a
family member having an interest in the submission. A motion was made by Ray Senesac and seconded
by Jim Geisler to permit Mr. Rapanos to abstain from deliberations. All in support.
The City Planner reviewed
the preliminary plat and explained that the plat satisfies the requirements of
the subdivision ordinance. At the public
hearing, several issues were identified
that needed to be addressed. Those
issues have been addressed and identified on the plat.
September 12, 2000
Page 2
Two development concerns were
still identified, one that the street entrance onto East Wheeler Street does
not meet the intersection spacing along a major street. The spacing requirement is 800 feet between
intersections, and a variance from this standard will be required. The distance between the new intersection and
the Congress Street to the west is approximately 530 feet. The City Planner explained that an access to
East Wheeler Street is needed for the subdivision, and the distance between
Congress and US-10 is less than the 1600 feet needed for proper intersection
spacing.
The
City Planner identified that a small parcel approximately 12 feet wide along
the west line of the plat has been created as a result of the plat. It was pointed out that the parcel is not a
buildable parcel, and creating it appears to violate the land division
ordinance. It is not in keeping with the
purpose of the subdivision ordinance, which is to promote orderly layout and
use of the land division of property.
The Commission could postpone a decision to provide the proprietors an
opportunity to resolve the issue, or recommend approval conditioned on the
parcel being removed form the plat.
Jon
Ledy, the project engineer, explained that the intersection variance should be
approved because the placement of the intersection is on property controlled by
the proprietor. Two entrances are
needed, and no matter where a second entrance is placed, it would be a conflict
with spacing. The intersection is at the
top of the ridge, so there is good site distance to the east and west.
The
engineer stated that six lots were removed from the plat, based on negotiations
with the DEQ for wetland mitigation.
The
engineer also requested the Planning Commission to consider allowing the strip
of land along the west plat line to remain.
He stated the strip is there to protect the proprietor’s
investment. If the strip is not there,
the property outside the plat would have access to the street inside the plat
and thus benefit from the capital expenditures for the plat. He suggested that because only one lot was
affected, and he felt there was no other way to design the subdivision to
protect the proprietor’s investment. He
did not feel it was poor planning.
Ray
Senesac felt the project was a good use of the land. He was comfortable recommending the
intersection variance; however, he was not comfortable recom-mending approval
of the strip of land. Approval should be
conditioned upon resolution of that strip of land. The rest of the Commission concurred.
A
motion was made by Ray Senesac to approve the preliminary plat of Foster Woods
Subdivision with the recommendation of a variance for the intersection of East
Wheeler Street, and contingent on a resolution of the 12-foot strip of
property.
Vote
on the motion:
YEAS: Baker, Garner, Geisler, Kozakiewicz, Lind, Rapanos, Senesac, Slicker, Wieland
NAYS: None
ABSENT: None
PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES
September 12, 2000
Page 3
A motion was made by Ray Senesac and seconded by Dan Kozakiewicz to continue the meeting past 10:00 p.m. All in favor.
The
City Planner provided an overview of each of the zoning text amendments. He reviewed the staff position on both, which
was to withdraw the petitions.
The
Chairman stated his disappointment of the broad language of the Office- Service
and the Business zones. He expressed a
desire to withdraw the langauge and have staff look into language that is more
definitive.
Tom
McCann, 3310 Jefferson Avenue, addressed the Commission. He didn’t think the language should be
dropped.
Ray
Senesac felt the language was too broad and needs more study. Jim Geisler thought the language should be
withdrawn because the zoning ordinance would be compromised. The rest of the Commission concurred. Steve Rapanos wanted to consider language for
parking. Russ Baker felt that if
something should be changed, why not change the zoning? He was not comfortable with exceptions for a
certain group.
Stephen
Graham 3567 Drive, suggested that the Planning Commission is constrained by the
process and the procedure be looked into.
A
motion was made by Joe Slicker and seconded by supported by Jim Geisler to
withdraw the special use language to permit business activities in Office-Service
zones.
Vote on the motion:
YEAS: Baker, Garner, Geisler, Kozakiewicz, Lind, Rapanos, Senesac, Slicker,
Wieland
NAYS:
None
ABSENT:
None
The
Commission requested that staff look into more specific language for allowing
business activities in Office-Service zones.
The
Commission discussed the language to allow the expansion of non-profit social
service activities in residential zoning.
A
petition was presented which opposed the use of the East Ashman Church of God for
use as a non-profit social service agency.
Steve
Rapanos felt that the language should be withdrawn based upon the recent
changes for the definition of a family.
Recommending this language at this time was contrary to the recent
change. The Chairman was concerned about
some of the implications of the language.
Jim Geisler was concerned about using special uses to address individual
problems. He felt the entire special use
issue should be looked at rather than on a case-by-case basis. Ray Senesac did not think the language was
consistent with recent changes.
September 12, 2000
Page 4
A motion was made by Joe
Slicker an seconded by Russ Baker to withdraw the special use permit language
for social service agencies.
All
in support.
6. New
Business.
A motion was made by Ray Senesac and seconded by Tom
Lind to consider Site Plan 192. All in
support.
The Commission supported the project and felt that
approval was warranted based upon recommendations by staff.
It was moved by Tom Lind and seconded by Joe Slicker
to recommend approval of Site Plan 192, conditioned upon a 100-foot
deceleration lane (taper) being installed along Saginaw Road and straightening
the Dublin Avenue driveway to provide a 90-degree driveway.
Vote on the motion:
YEAS: Baker, Garner, Geisler, Kozakiewicz, Lind,
Rapanos,
Senesac, Slicker, Wieland
NAYS: None
ABSENT: None
The
Commission scheduled a work session following the next regular meeting to
discuss special use permits. It was
suggest that staff investigate other cities and how they use special use
permits.
It was moved by Ray Senesac, seconded by Joe Slicker
to adjourn. Motion carried, and
the meeting was adjourned at 10:30 p.m.
Respectfully,
Mark Ostgarden
Acting Secretary
MAO:cjr