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HomeMy WebLinkAboutP&Z MINUTES SEPTEMBER 15, 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 planning@rexburg.org September 15, 2005 Commissioners Attending: City Staff: Rex Erickson – Council Member Kurt Hibbert – P&Z Administrator Winston Dyer– Chairman Bethany Caufield – Secretary Mary Haley Ted Hill Joe Laird Randall Porter Mike Ricks Thaine Robinson Bill Johnson Mary Ann Mounts Chairman Dyer opened the meeting at 7:05pm. Roll Call Charles AndersenMike Ricks asked to be excused. asked to be excused until around 9:00pm. 1. Minutes – September 1, 2005 Amendments: Joe Laird and Mike Ricks arrived at 7:13pm and 7:41pm instead of 9:13pm and 9:41pm. Thaine RobinsonRandall Porter motioned to approve the September 1, 2005 P&Z Minutes. seconded the motion. None opposed motion carried. Ted Hill abstained for not having been present at the last meeting. 2. Public Hearings: th A.CUP – LDS Church (Corner of E 7 N) Johnny Watson – 1152 Bond Ave – representing the owner. The property is north of Wal-Mart and is currently zoned MDR1. The Grovers are the owners of the property and are currently platting the area for a residential neighborhood. It is a four (4) acre lot. It is planned to be a three (3) ward Heritage Meeting House. The current design has a capacity of 270 parking spaces. The parking requirement is about 135 parking spaces, but the owner is proposing 218 because he felt they would use all of them. The building will be fire sprinkled. Water and sewer are already there. There will be no problem with fire hydrants on each corner to also serve the future residential neighborhood. There may be a landscape section in between the property line and curb and gutter. The purchasing agreement has not included putting curb and gutter in. Mary Haley asked what was meant by a Heritage Meeting House. Johnny Watson explained that it will be similar to the original Crest Haven or Millhollow building. Randall Porter asked about their lighting. Johnny Watson replied that they will do everything in their power to keep the lighting on the parking lot so there is no light pollution spilled onto the neighbors. Randall Porter asked if he was using high-pressure sodium lighting. Johnny Watson believed they were. 1 Mary Haley asked why with the growth they would have a small building. Terry Bradshaw – representing the LDS Real Estate Department – Manager. There are two (2) designs of buildings, 1) Stake Center: 25,000 sq. ft. building; 2) Ward Meeting House: 16,500. These are the only two (2) sizes they build as general meeting houses within the general stake area. Randall Porter was also concerned about the concentration of people compared to the smaller building they have designed. Terry Bradshaw explained that they are designed for family stakes, not for the university. They are designed for the standard congregations and standard units. The ward sizes will be governed by the activity. If it gets so large, they’ll divide it. Chairman Dyer opened the public input portion of the meeting. In Favor: None Neutral: Tammy Bagley – 623 W. Stonebridge. Neither for nor against the church; she didn’t feel it will impact them too much. Contrary: None Chairman Dyer closed the public input portion. Chairman Dyer declared a conflict of interest on this proposal and asked Mr. Porter to manage the deliberations. Ted Hill declared a conflict of interest because his firm is involved in Real Estate Transaction. Randall Porter continued as Chairman. Thaine Robinson did not see any problems with issuing the Conditional Use Permit. He commented that they should make a condition to strongly adhere to the lighting standards. Mary Haley commented that she was a little concerned with the size of the building. She felt they should encourage double chapels to consolidate parking; it is a better advantage than redoing everything all the time. th Thaine Robinson motioned to accept the Conditional Use Permit for the church house to be built on 7 N with Mary Haley the condition of following the lighting standards that are set forth. seconded the motion. Motion carried. None opposed. Winston Dyer regained the chair. B.CUP – LDS Church (389 Mariah Ave) th Johnny Watson – 1152 Bond Ave. He explained that it is not a standard plan. It is similar to what is on E 7 S – 36,000 sq. ft. building on about seven and a half (7-½) acres. It will be a single level structure. It is an eight (8) ward student stake center. The two (2) chapel capacity sits around 600 people, with 354 parking spaces – they are guessing due to what the actual floor plan will turn out to be; they have a lot of property to work with depending on how the building department in Salt Lake comes out with their plans. They can easily meet the parking regulations. The City has ample utilities in this area; the building will be fire sprinkled. It is meant to perform seven (7) days a week. It will not house any of the hometown wards or stakes. There will be a bridge 2 over the canal into the Henderson Development in the future. They are trying to remove the student population out of the City wards and get them into a stake and ward buildings of their own. The particular area is zoned HDR1. Joe Laird asked if there was a time table on completing the bridge across the canal. Johnny Watson said that there was no discussion on it. Randall Porter asked what the greenspace plans were. Johnny Watson explained that their plans far exceed any greenspace requirements that are currently in place. Chairman Dyer commented that they recently approved housing developments in the southwest quadroon of town that will bring an excess of 5,000 people, and this is a response to that demand. Terry Bradshaw commented that this is a developing area, so they are not sure what the needs will exactly be. th The actual Stake Center off of E 7 S is an eight (8) ward complex – 28,000 square feet. It is very similar to most of the stake centers that have been built over the last ten (10) years. That may be what ends up on this site as well, it just depends on what the growth and demand is. They gave to Mr. Watson the largest design they had to make sure everything would fit on the lot. It is very similar to the Hinckley building on campus. It can accommodate eight (8) wards up to twelve (12) if needed. At this point, they have not decided what is going to th be needed. There is the potential that they will build what is being built now on E 7 S, which is 28,000 square feet, double chapel. Randall Porter asked if Mr. Watson had the latitude to build some features into the roofline of the buildings to break them up and make them a little easier to look at. Terry Bradshaw commented that he has some flexibility, but these are standard designs and there is very little capability of changing that. Johnny Watson added that when there are design criteria that the City imposes, he has the latitude to say that the community requires certain design elements. He has to get special approval, but they would try to find a happy medium. Joe Laird was concerned with the traffic on the streets in the area with the size and number of wards. He asked if they felt the street system was adequate to add more cars into the area. They need to be sure there is good access. Johnny Watson commented that the majority of the residents that are going to attend this already live there; they are in the apartment buildings right now. He didn’t think they were brining population from a different area; some may come from up on the hill. Terry Bradshaw added that these people are going somewhere anyway, and if they can localize them in that area, they will alleviate a lot of traffic going on Yellowstone Hwy across the railroad tracks using other facilities. Joe Laird commented that out on the curb line of the street, he felt there should be another five (5) feet on either side, totaling thirty-five (35) feet. Johnny Watson agreed with his comment. Chairman Dyer opened the public input portion. In Favor: None Neutral: th Gerald Jeppesen – 540 E 7 N. He felt that if they were going to a twelve (12) ward, if the intent is for the people to walk to the facility and only have access on two (2) sides, he felt the general emphasis should be that all directions from that stake center should have a pathway for at least walking to the facility. He was also concerned that they may not have enough parking. Opposed: None 3 Chairman Dyer closed the public input portion. Ted HillChairman Dyer declared a conflict of interest. declared for the record that he had no interest in this particular proposal and remained in deliberation. Mary Ann Mounts expressed concern about the traffic. She commented that she was glad to see extra parking Mary Haley spaces. concurred regarding the parking. Randall PorterChairman Dyer asked about the parking requirements. replied that there is a formula, but Mr. Watson indicated that the church’s requirements for parking exceed that of the City’s. Chairman Dyer asked if it would go to twelve (12) congregations would there be enough room in the north piece to achieve the additional parking required. Johnny Watson replied that they could easily expand to well over 400 spaces. Chairman Dyer suggested that the size of the building be limited to the parking demand. Randall PorterChairman asked if the road was wide enough if at some point they ever needed a turning lane. Dyer explained that it was a forty-four (44) foot street which accommodates two (2) way traffic and parallel parking at the curb line on each side; they could put a turning lane in there and take the parking off of it to do that; that could be done if it got to that point. Bill Johnson was excused at 8:05pm due to a previous engagement. Chairman Dyer agreed with Mr. Laird to have as many accesses as possible. Mary Ann Mounts motioned to approve the Conditional Use Permit for the church house to be built on 389 Mariah Ave. and asked that they will bring it back to us with more details and they pay attention that it is walker friendly for people who walk, that they be required, depending upon the use of the building and size, that they maximize the parking and use additional space if needed; that they pay attention to the lighting, to make sure it meets the standards; and that there be as many accesses as possible, with the entrances being apart of the design standards also. Joe Laird seconded the motion. Chairman Dyer recommended including that their proposal for the building or the occupations not exceed the Mary Haley parking available. added that it be self-contained rather than flowing into the neighborhood. Randall Porter requested that they request the local architect to work with the Salt Lake architect to try and build in some design features to break up the rooflines. Kurt Hibbert commented for point of clarification that this is in a residential zone and the Multi-Family Design standards apply which includes building form, eyes to the street and architectural detail. Mary Ann MountsJoe amended her motion to include the stipulations discussed after the motion was made. Laird seconded the motion. Motion carried. None opposed. 3. Tabled Requests: 4 A.Trejo Professional Park Div. 2 – PP Randall PorterMary Ann Mounts motioned to pick the discussion back up. seconded the motion. None Motion carried. opposed. Terry Bagley explained that when he went in and spoke with John Millar, they could not find a way to go through Melaleuca without having conflicts. John Millar found a solution for them. They do not need to go through Melaleuca because they already have two (2) entrances. The second entrance is through the parking lot of the buildings to the right of his proposed lots. They have a twenty-four (24) foot wide access, with one hundred (100) foot turning radius into the parking lot from Trejo. In the parking lot, there is not an island on the turn in the parking lot (it is just painted), so they have good access to be able to get through safely. John Millar thought it was great. The Fire Department approved it, Kurt Hibbert approved it. The northeast access was portrayed as no longer being a through street. He explained that he will need to go to City Council and ask them to vacate that area, which he believed would not be a problem after speaking with Kurt Hibbert. Chairman Dyer asked if there was a need for any kind of dedicated easement or access so that the public can utilize the private ground (referring to the parking lot adjacent to his property). Terry Bagley explained that it is common area; it is common to the owners. Chairman Dyer suggested having a document that the Owners Association allows public access there so that there is no question in the future. Mary Haley suggested addition a condition that the landscape strip between the parking lot and Grand Ave. be kept clear at all times. Chairman Dyer proposed a solution. In this agreement, he suggested that the Home Owner's Association will allow public access and remain unrestricted. Terry Bagley didn't have a problem with that. They don't intend it to be retail; they would like it to be medical. Kurt Hibbert explained that staff is in agreement with this. The only restriction is that they would be approving this preliminary plat with the understanding that the northeast access, that appears to be closed off on the plat, would be excluded from the proposal until the City Council has approved vacating that. Chairman Dyer commented that since it is preliminary, he does not have a problem including that. Note: all discussion stands from the previous meeting (September 1, 2005) regarding this proposal. Mary Ann Mounts approved the Preliminary Plat for Trejo Professional Park with the condition that he address the former eastern extension of Targhee Drive, and that there is an Owner's Association agreement Mary Haley saying that the parking lot is public right-of-way. seconded the motion. Motion carried. None opposed. 4. New Business: A. Residential Business District (RBD) 5 Chairman Dyer explained that Ordinance 926 was recently formulated and adopted. It does need some continual amendments. There is Bill 939 before the City Council to discus edits to the code and includes other existing ordinances that would be very appropriately placed in Ordinance 926, such as the Subdivision Ordinance. The Commission has discussed all of those matters here, and that was moving forward with the City Council when it became apparent there was some misunderstanding about what is now the Neighborhood Business District (NBD) and what it was intended to do and that fell short of the mark of addressing the concept of where we might have a business in a residential structure. At that point in time, and because it was already up for City Council, the Mayor and members of the Staff got together and tried to have something in way of ordinance that would provide for that. It did get first and second read before the City Council, but that particular issue, which is called the Residential Business District, is now before the Commissioners for information and possible recommendations. Kurt Hibbert acknowledged that when this was first discussed, there were some mixed emotions on the Commission as far as the need and desire to have it. Currently, in all of the residential zones, since 1992, home- based businesses have been a property right. There were limitations on the exercising of that right which included not having any more than twenty (20) percent of the structure in business use at any one time, not having signage outside the structure, not having uses that would be high impact as far as traffic. The RBD zone allows up to one hundred (100) percent of use for a business, it does not require owner occupancy, and this is only allowed in LDR2 zones and more dense. Another deviation from what was allowed in the past would be signage larger than two (2) feet by four (4) feet. The uses were expanded. There are also Conditional Uses. Commissioners had many concerns regarding the RBD zone and felt they needed more time to review it before it went to the third (final) reading at City Council. Chairman Dyer asked the public for their input regarding the RBD zone. rd Don Sparhawk – 37 S 3 E. He felt like there were some good ideas on this. He believed it started because they wanted to save some of the homes, but there were a lot of questions that he didn’t feel were answered. He was concerned that this was more like spot zoning. He could see this zone being applied to certain areas, but he believed that most residential neighborhoods wouldn’t want it. It started with a good idea, but it needs a lot of work. rd Jerry Glandville – 17 S 3 E. He explained that when he moved to Rexburg, it seemed like the “Old Town”. The “New Town” provided a lot of clutter, empty buildings and conflict. The neighborhoods seemed divided; they’re not of one mind any more. Most of it is over proposals that have been proposed over the years. A lot of proposals leave it up in the air all the time, each one seeming worse than before. He felt that in the future, there would be a lot of absentee owners and businesses. He could not see any industry coming in. He felt the community would become a transient community with no basis. He was not happy with the proposed new zone. Mary Haley motioned to recommend to City Council that they postpone the final reading of Bill 939 which amends Ordinance 926 so that their amendment has some forward thinking and would be very glad and happy Randall Porter to have input concerning this matter. seconded the motion. Motion carried. None opposed. Mike Ricks arrived at 9:30pm. Rex Erickson commented that he would ask the City Council that the third reading of Bill 939 be postponed until after the first meeting in October. 6 B.Humarock Cove Condominiums – Preliminary Plat Kurt Hibbert explained that this was on a prior agenda but it was dropped. This parcel is below the proposed Trejo Professional Park. These are zero (0) lot line condominiums. There was only one concern and that was that it did not meet all of the design standards. It is deficient on several criteria, one of which is that side facing the street. They do have decks and other features that make it look very nice. Staff will be working with them on that. There may be some minor alterations with the shape of the footprint by the time it goes to a Final Plat. Staff’s recommendation was that it be approved with the understanding that staff is working with them on design standards. He also explained that each condominium could be sold individually. Randall PorterKurt Hibbert asked if the snow storage would also be the green space. confirmed that it would be. Mike RicksChairman Dyer expressed concern that the owners will use parking spaces for snow storage. Kurt Hibbert asked Kurt Hibbert if they had enough snow storage. confirmed that they did. Thaine RobinsonChairman Dyer asked if the parking lot should be broken up a little. commented that it is required for buildings over 25,000 square feet. It is a good concept to apply at all levels. Below a certain size, it probably is not practically applied. Chairman Dyer commented that he was fine with the idea that even though the design standards are not shown on the plat, it is at preliminary level. It should be a condition in the motion to require it be there in the Final Plat. Mary Haley recommended to City Council that the Preliminary Plat for Humarock Cove be approved with the stipulation that all of the building code and design standards be met prior to the presentation of the Final Plat; that adequate snow storage be behind the parking; that landscaping plans be provided and that final footprints Mike Ricks are to be included. seconded the motion. Motion carried. None opposed. C.Design Standards in Industrial Zones Kurt Hibbert explained that industrial properties usually have need for large warehousing and storage-type buildings that wouldn’t usually have the design features that are required in the Commercial Design Standards in Ordinance 926. The discussion and consensus needs to be reestablished to the proper level of design requirement on industrial structures and properties. Chairman Dyer commented that this would apply strictly to the industrial zone areas and not those commercial. It includes both Light and Heavy Industrial. The question is, do we need design standards in the Industrial zones, and if so, what will they be. He agreed with Mary Haley that if there were office components of the business that they receive some kind of architectural standards. Randall Porter suggested two (2) ideas: 1) Go to another community and see what they have done and use their design standards for Industrial; 2) Have Industrial people plant fast growing trees in to hide the building. Mary Haley concurred with his comments. Mike RicksTed Hill brought up the point that trees are a lot of upkeep. commented that big industrial Thaine Robinson buildings are not going to get into landscaping. concurred. 7 Mary Ann Mounts suggested giving them a choice – providing landscaping or making the building more beautiful. Kurt Hibbert suggested including in the zone under the design criteria say that roads and street sides have to be buffered. Discussion will continue at the next meeting on Design Standards for Industrial Zones. Meeting adjourned at 10:25pm. 8