MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE
WHICH TOOK PLACE ON TUESDAY,
SEPTEMBER 26, 2006, 7:00 P.M.,
COUNCIL CHAMBERS,
1. Roll
Call
PRESENT: Brown,
Eyre, Gaynor, Hanna, Jocks, Kozakiewicz, Mead, and Senesac
ABSENT: Svenson
OTHERS PRESENT: Daryl Poprave, Acting Director of
Planning & Community Development; Cheri Standfest, Community Development
Specialist and 12 others.
2. Approval of Minutes
Regular Meeting of August 8, 2006.
It was moved by Hanna and supported by Senesac to approve the minutes of
August 8th. The minutes were unanimously
approved.
3.
Public
Hearing
a. Zoning
Petition 531 – Consideration of a petition initiated by Mike Pnacek
to rezone 8.56 acres of land located at 300 Joseph Drive from RA-4 to OS.
Mr. Poprave showed a 2005 aerial
photograph of the property east of Jefferson, south of Joseph Drive, north of
the Midland Soccer Complex. It is next
to a vacant office service parcel at the present time. The zoning map shows the lot is presently
zoned RA-4. It is also adjacent or
directly contiguous to the west with an office service zone and there is also
office service zoning across the street on Joseph Drive.
The future land use map designates how we
think zoning might change in the future.
This area identifies that this general area of this corner, is on the future
land use map as being acceptable for office service zoning. There is an area of medium density
residential that also extends into this site.
These are just general areas and do not have specific boundaries.
The petition tonight is to rezone 8.56 acres
of land located at 300 Joseph Drive from RA-4 to OS. At the time of annexation this property was
zoned Larkin Township low-density residential.
At the time the property was annexed, about six years ago, the Pnacek’s
requested the zoning be changed to RA-2 and the future land use map at the
time, did not support their request.
They requested a future land use amendment to see about the possibility
of adding office service and medium density residential to this area. Subsequently, the rezoning was supported. Subsequent to that, City Council agreed to
change the amount of office service put in.
The line on the zoning map does represent a specifically defined area. It is 300 ft. in depth to the east of
Jefferson Avenue. On May 23, 2000, the
Planning Commission considered Zoning Petition 456 and that indicated the
Pnacek’s had some specific uses in mind for this land. The Planning Commission recommended denial to
rezone this land to RA-4 at this time.
As a result of the approval of Zoning Petition 456, Oakbrook Subdivision
filed a lawsuit against the City of Midland and the end result was that these
rezonings were upheld.
Mr. Poprave reviewed the criteria
presented in the staff report. This land
is contiguous with office service to the north, and the land use map also
indicates office service for this area.
Daryl noted that there is not a lot of vacant office service on this end
of town.
Staff recommends approval of the rezoning
based on the following determinations:
1)
The requested zoning classification, Office Service,
is consistent with the goals and future land use plan as outlined in the Master
Plan.
2)
Expansion of Office Service in this location would
not be incompatible with the low density residential uses to the north, as they
are buffered by medium density residential on the north side of Joseph Drive.
3)
The Planning Commission needs to determine if the
entire parcel should be rezoned to office service or if a portion should be
retained as RA-4.
Mr.
Senesac asked if there were any communications regarding this petition. Mr. Poprave stated there were not.
Mike
Pnacek spoke on behalf of the corporation representing 11 brothers and
sisters. The family does feel that the
entire parcel on the south should be office service. If some of it were to be used as RA-4, and
they could still have office service in a portion of the area.
No one
spoke in favor of this petition. Fred
Schuchman lives on Oakbrook Drive, near this property. He claims he did not receive, nor did his
neighbor receive any notice of these public hearings. He purchased his property in about 1998. At this time, they reviewed the master plan
and were told this area would be zoned RA-1 for a long time to come. This has slowly been eroded away over the
past several years. From where he lives,
he feels there is an effort to change the character of this area. This is really what he has objection to.
Mr.
Kozakiewicz stated that the ordinance requires anyone within 300 feet of this
parcel must receive notice. He is not
within the 300 feet of this parcel.
John
Rapanos, Midland, Michigan, stated the city has so much office service that is
vacant. There is a lot of office service
buildings already built that are currently vacant. He is not terribly concerned about whether
the line is drawn to the east or west, however, there are expensive properties
to the north along Oakbrook Drive. The
north side of Joseph Drive must remain as it is so there is a buffer between
the houses on Oakbrook Drive and the property to the south of Joseph Drive.
Michael
Laursen, 3653 Oakbrook Ct., stated he is also concerned about the north side of
Joseph Drive. The houses on Oakbrook
Drive are all deeded Residential A-1.
There are deed restrictions already in place and it is recorded as a public
record. We have debated before regarding
the land use on the north side of Joseph Drive.
There is nobody on Oakbrook Court that is interested in changing the
deed restrictions at this time. Those
restrictions do run with the land. The
document was put together in 1989 and is valid for 30 years.
Mr.
Kozakiewicz stated the parcel up for rezoning does not contain these deed
restrictions. Mr. Laursen stated their
concern is that the office service use keeps encroaching to the north.
Thayer
Brown, of 3619 Oakbrook Ct. stated there is lots of office service just on the
other side of the expressway. When the
home was built on the corner, it somehow crept over to the east and the north. He does not see why these uses cannot stay on
the south side of Joseph Drive and Jefferson.
He does not see the need for additional office service zoning.
Mr. Pnacek stated that there is no
other office service available north of the expressway, as Mr. Poprave
stated. People are not going to give up
their commercial property for office service.
b. Zoning
Petition 532 – Consideration of a petition initiated by Patrick and
Shawn Pnacek to rezone .98 acres of land located at 110 Oakbrook Drive from
RA-1 to OS.
This public hearing was cancelled as the
petitioner has requested postponement for at least 60 days.
c. Zoning Petition 533 – Consideration of
a petition initiated by Dr. John Pfenninger to rezone 1.19 acres of land
located at 101 Oakbrook Drive from RA-1 to OS.
This public hearing was cancelled as the
petitioner has requested postponement for at least 60 days.
d. Zoning Petition 534 – Consideration of
a petition initiated by Patrick and Shawn Pnacek to rezone .96 acres of land
located at 104 Oakbrook Drive from RA-1 to OS.
This public hearing was cancelled as the
petitioner has requested postponement for at least 60 days.
4. Public
Comments (not related to agenda items)
None
5.
Old
Business
None
6.
New
Business
Set
2007 regular meeting dates. Motion by Eyre
to accept the 2007 Planning Commission Meeting dates as presented. Mr. Jocks seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously.
7. Communications
None
8. Report of the Chairman
Everyone has received notices of an election
by the Michigan Association of Planning.
They also received copies of the current Planning and Zoning News.
9. Report
of the Planning Director
September 18th
PUBLIC
HEARINGS
None
ACTION
ITEMS
None
September 25th
PUBLIC
HEARINGS
None
ACTION
ITEMS
Site Plan No. 250 – Minor modification to entry drive on State Street side of site
September 26th
PUBLIC
HEARINGS
ZP 531, 532, 533, and 534
ACTION
ITEMS
None
October 10th
PUBLIC
HEARINGS
None
ACTION
ITEMS
ZP 531, 532, 533, 534
Proposed zoning for previously annexed property – 5 new city parcels
Set up public hearings for November 14th
August 15, 2006
No. 06-10 – Betsy Dunham of
5206 Ridgeview Court for an area/dimension variance
to permit an existing 8 foot tall wrought iron fence to remain on top of a retaining wall on her property. -
Approved
No. 06-11 – Battalion
Chief, John Haag, on behalf of the Midland Fire Department, for an
area/dimension variance to permit a 1,200 square foot detached storage building
to be constructed behind Fire Station Number Three located at 1717 North
Saginaw Road. Approved
No. 06-12 – Midway Signs, on behalf of Feeney Chrysler, for an
area/dimension variance to permit
building wall signage to be increased to 258 square feet at 7400 Eastman Avenue. - Denied
No. 06-13 – Advance
Auto Parts for an area/dimension variance to allow a ground signage increase
to 108 square feet at 1415 South Saginaw Road. - Approved
No. 06-14 – Michigan Innovations Center for an
area/dimension variance to allow an additional
ground sign at 4520 E. Ashman Road.
1.
Feeny Automobile storage lot on
2.
3,500 sq. ft. covered storage addition to
Environtech Coatings at 1900
3.
7,495 sq. ft. addition Plymouth Square located on
Swede/Wheeler
4.
6,866 sq. ft. restaurant additions to the Ashman
Court Hotel
The next special
meeting on the Master Plan is scheduled for Thursday, October 5, 2006 at 7:00
PM. Following this meeting the next
Master Plan meetings will be: Thursday,
November 2, 2006 and Thursday, December 7, 2006.
The public can
view the Master Plan Update by accessing the City’s website at www.midland-mi.org and going to the
Master Plan Update link on the homepage.
10. Adjourn
Adjournment at 8:00 p.m. was unanimously approved.
Respectfully submitted,
Daryl Poprave
Acting Director of Planning and Community Development
MINUTES ARE NOT FINAL UNTIL APPROVED BY THE PLANNING COMMISSION