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HomeMy WebLinkAboutP&Z MINUTES JUNE 16, 2005 ORM F EQUEST R RAVEL T P&Z LANNING ONING M INUTES 19 E. Main (PO Box 280) Phone: 208-359-3020 x326 Rexburg, Idaho 83440 Fax: 208-359-3024 www.rexburg.org comdev@rexburg.org June 16, 2005 Commissioners Attending: City Staff: Winston Dyer– Chairman Kurt Hibbert – P&Z Director David Stein Ted Hill Bethany Caufield - Secretary Randall Porter Mike Ricks Joe Laird Chairman Dyer opened the meeting at 7:00pm. Roll Call 1. Minutes: June 2, 2005 Chairman Dyer added to page 5, after the table, where it says, “Tallies were placed next to the suggested top concerns,” to place “as shown above”. David Stein Randall Porter motioned to approve the minutes for June 2, 2005. seconded the motion. None Motion carried. opposed. 2. New Business: A. Master Plan for Valley View Estates – Bart Stevens Bart Stevens – Has recently done Division number five (5). Kurt Hibbert had advised that it would be nice to have a master plan of the rest of the properties so that there would not be a preliminary plat brought in at each phase. John Millar had some concerns with the cul-de-sacs. They were placed there to give some variety. Instead of having the cul-de-sacs, they would connect at Phase four (4) and Phase six (6), and Phase five (5) and Phase seven (7). Phase two (2) and three on down, are planned for the future. He plans to continue to work with John Millar to make sure the streets are wide enough, and that everything necessary for approval of the preliminary plat will be on there. Chairman Dyer clarified that this was more of a concept plan, more than a preliminary plat. Bart Stevens concurred. Joe Laird asked if Morning Side Drive, on the far end of the subdivision, was a full width street. Bart Stevens explained that it does not show on the plat, but that was one of the things that John Millar mentioned that would have to be discussed. Mike Ricks preferred straight through streets because it is easier to navigate through the subdivision, especially for those who live outside of the community. He also commented that the access on Morningside Drive, that connects to West Poleline Road. The Poleline Road is one of the busiest roads, and during the winter time, due to the steepness of grade, people will be tempted to not stop in order to get up the hill on Morningside Drive. 1 Chairman Dyer asked about the cul-de-sac regarding steepness in grade. Bart Stevens replied that it flattens Randall Porter out down at the bottom before getting to the cul-de-sac. verified that it was nice and flat around that area. Kurt Hibbert felt that it would be more cost effective and time effective to create a master plan. GIS reviewed the plans and had no negative comments or issues of any kind. The main issues are with public works. Chairman Dyer clarified that this is more of a concept plan at this point, noting some of the concerns, so that Mr. Stevens can make the necessary changes and present a preliminary plat for each of the phases. Randall Porter asked what John Millar’s concerns were about cul-de-sacs. Bart Stevens replied that his concern was mainly snow plows. Joe Laird commented that the less intersection you have the better since the streets are coming off of a major arterial. Joe Laird motioned to approve the plan as a concept plan with the stipulation that the various things discussed David Stein be addressed in the preliminary plan that will subsequently be approved. seconded the motion. Randall PorterKurt Hibbert suggested somehow including additional park-like settings. commented that there is a requirement only after 100 lots. Bart Stevens commented that there are 115 lots. Joe Laird Randall Porter and added to the motion that there be a discussion on including additional park-like Motion carried. settings. None opposed. B. Nick Holmes – Lincoln Elementary Nick Holmes – representing the Madison School District. Next summer, it is in their Comprehensive Plan to construct four additional classrooms. It is scheduled to happen in 2007. They plan to put a temporary building on the school grounds of Lincoln Elementary until the permanent building is there. Mr. Holmes requested that there be a variance in the ordinance to not have a permanent foundation, since the building will only be there until the four classrooms will be built. Mike Ricks asked if there was adequate room to make the additions, with the playground area and parking. Nick Holmes replied that it does. The west and north sections of the school are not used by the children at all. nd The plan is to extend the area along 2 Street and change it into another parking area. It meets the State’s requirement for play area. Joe Laird asked what they are going to do to hold the building up. Nick Holmes replied that they will use storm tie downs. He commented that they put three down in the county last year at three different schools and it is perfectly acceptable. Kurt Hibbert reported that it does not qualify for a variance, but what staff would recommend is that approval be given based on the temporary nature of the structure and also the urgency of getting it in, and also the time certain that the School District would make the commitment that it would be removed. Chairman Dyer asked if the School District would be willing to commit to an end time on the building. Nick Holmes replied that they would. It is needed; there is no place for the children. He proposed that they be allowed until June of 2007 to make sure that the construction is complete. 2 Mike Ricks motioned to accept the temporary classrooms at Lincoln Elementary School with the location and David that they are able to stay there until June 2007, no later than 24 months, on a temporary foundation. Stein Motion carried. seconded the motion. None opposed. 3. Public Hearings: A. Development Code Amendments Kurt Hibbert reported that there have been quite a few changes in the Development Code since it was first adopted at the first of the year. Chapter eight (8) was added. Commercial Design Standards for buildings less than 25,000 sq. ft. was also added. That will apply to all commercial zones. One thing that is also going to be part of this ordinance are the lighting standards. They are still not in the supplementary material, but they will be added. They are in the Central Business District in their substantial form. That will be included in the amendments. Reformatting has been done to make it more visually pleasing. The maps have been included at the end of the document. Under Appendix D, enforcement policies and procedures have been added. This was the strategic plan of enforcement that was presented to City Council in November this last year. They did not formally take action at that time; they said to proceed. At this time, we are formalizing this action by adding it to this Ordinance. Chairman Dyer asked, for the public record, if all of the changes that have been made were in the notification. Kurt Hibbert confirmed that they were. Chairman Dyer opened the public input portion of the hearing and invited those who were in favor to step forward. For: None. Neutral: none. Against: None. Chairman Dyer closed the public input portion of the hearing. There was no public input. Kurt Hibbert reported that there will be more amendments coming, particularly in Chapter 8. Mike Ricks asked if, under the definition of elderly housing, there was a way to allow people that would come under that status to have a little more concrete or a higher percentage of their lot in front to be hard surface. Kurt Hibbert we don’t have anything that directly pertains to that. We don’t have any regulatory criteria. Chairman Dyer Mike asked Mr. Ricks if it was okay if a note was made of that to have for later discussion. Ricks said yes. David Stein moved that they recommend to City Council the amendments to the Development Code Ordinance number 926 as reflected in this document with the addition that the lighting standards will be included in the Randall Porter supplemental section, Chapter four (4), so that it applies to all of the zones in the city. Motion carried. seconded the motion. None opposed. Note for the record: Chair expressed great appreciation to specific members of the Commission for their work in this, and special emphasis and note to the work of Mr. Hibbert, our City Planning & Zoning Administrator for putting together a 200 plus page document that governs division and the growth and development of Rexburg for the next many years. 4. Unfinished/Old Business: A. Entrance Discussion 3 Chairman Dyer reported that in their last meeting, they created a work list of concerns that needed to be discussed. The top concern was entrances into the City. David Stein led the discussion. He and the other members of the Design Review Sub-Committee spent most of the time talking about the design standards. Work on entrances has not been done yet. Before that work can be done, it would be helpful to define entrances and what the specific concerns are. Entrances: There were four entrances defined through group discussion: the three exits from Highway 20 into Rexburg, as well as the University Highway as the fourth entrance. Comments/Concerns: Mike Ricks - suggested that he would like to see the entrance way corridors look nice; a welcome to the community. There may have to be a different mindset. If we want a lot of commercial, then it will have a different appearance than if there were residential homes. (aesthetics and attraction). Randall Porter - commented that in Preston, Idaho, they have this nice tree-line Main Street. That would be something to consider for Rexburg; having trees that would hide some of the industrial buildings along the streets. He would also like to see the weeds kept down. Mike Ricks - suggested trying and making the backs of the buildings look as good as the front, like the previous request where the back of the building was facing a major arterial. Kurt Hibbert - commented that we do not want a wall; there are better ways to do that. There does need to be a standard; a section. Ted Hill - suggested having a mechanism. There are buildings around town with nice landscaping, but they do not maintain it. There needs to be some commitments made. He also suggested having directional signage at all of the corridors. Commissioners agreed. David Stein - suggested to set aside funds to take care of the parks and the entrance corridors. Chairman Dyer asked the public (students from the university) to give any ideas and their opinions. One gentleman said it is a big topic; his community back home was a lot smaller, but they did a lot with the landscaping. Another gentleman asked if the Comprehensive Plan takes into consideration that university Highway would be Kurt Hibbert an entrance. explained that it is drawn on the map as a major corridor. In the text itself, they have begun to discuss design corridors. A third gentleman asked about how they preserve the land… Chairman Dyer asked what the best mechanism is; work sessions; meetings with staff. Randall Porter suggested to seek out someone that would be able to give them some guidance on how to do the landscaping; someone who has probably done this before. Thinking of two gentlemen, one in Rexburg and one from Idaho Falls, they have designed entrances before; they would be good assets to the committee. (One is Bill Henderson – from Rexburg). That might be something that could be added to the committee. David Stein commented that there should be people added to the committee who have done this before, just like there were contractors on the Design Review Sub-Committee. Chairman Dyer suggested discussing for next time that a design entrance committee be created, time permitting. 4 5. Noncontroversial Items Added to the Agenda: A. Comprehensive Plan Kurt Hibbert spoke with Council Member Pugmire, who is chairman of that sub-committee; he is very Kurt Hibbert interested in getting that together. made the commitment to Mayor Larsen and to him that as soon as the Code was done, he would initiate work on that again. Commissioners agreed that the Comprehensive Plan needs to be picked up again and completed. Kurt Hibbert felt comfortable that it will move quickly as soon as the City Council meeting is over to adopt the Code. B.Report on the Impact Zone Discussion. Kurt Hibbert had nothing else to report other than the last time the P&Z Commissioners met. There will be a joint meeting in the near term to further refine those requests. Chairman Dyer explained to the public that Rexburg has proposed an extension of the impact zone up to the north interchange due to proposals for major development (2 million square feet) up by the north interchange. At the same time, Sugar City felt that it was closer to their community and that their impact area should cover that. Right now, that area is under the jurisdiction of the County. Both cities have created maps with justification as to why it should be a part of their impact area. Randall Porter Chairman Dyer asked if Sugar City will be prepared to run the water and sewer. answered that these are important things to consider, but according to their letter, they are. The discussion will tie into our Comprehensive Plan Map amendment request. David Stein asked about whether or not Sugar City addressed their Zoning Code to be able to handle that type Chairman Dyer of development. replied that they are discussing Design Standards for their Code. Their big push lately has been a re-write of their Comprehensive Plan. Their next step is the design standards. 6. Enforcement: A.Letters and Pictures Regarding Property Kurt Hibbert explained the pictures and two letters that were given to the Commissioners per Bill Hamlin’s request. Bill Hamlin took some pictures of two people: one mowing the weeds down on the property, and the other planting a garden. They were not the owners of the property, but had made a deal that they would mow the lawn and keep the weeds down in order to have a small garden on the property. It’s very common for communities to do that. Bill Hamlin is looking into doing this to help maintain landscape appearances. B.Activity report: weekly report for review. 7. Miscellaneous: A.Co-op Situation at Mother Hibbard’s Corner Chairman Dyer had received a significant amount of complaints regarding this property. 5 Kurt Hibbert commented that he drove by there today. It is not meeting any minimum criteria. They are taking ninety (90) percent of their parking away. They do need to maintain their parking. Chairman Dyer suggested to the secretary to look up the recorded minutes. There was specific discussion on not having all of that stuff out in that parking lot when the site plan was approved. Those people were here and they understood that. He also requested to have a copy of that report to the Commissioners and Mr. Hamlin. nd B.House on 2 East that had a fire Kurt Hibbert reported that their insurance company is giving them static. They wanted to abate it a while ago, but they cannot touch the property until they settle it with the insurance. He let her know that that does not resolve her of her responsibilities to abate that safety hazard. Chairman Dyer suggested that the mayor write a letter to her insurance company, because we have a problem Kurt Hibbert in the community. replied that it’s just the stubborn insurance company. They basically want to pay out about twenty-five (25) percent of what it will cost to repair the home. C.Heads Up Chairman Dyer explained that he would like to have the Commissioners study up on upcoming agenda items to come prepared. The meeting was adjourned at 9:48pm 6