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HomeMy WebLinkAboutP&Z MINUTES MAY 24, 1990;~ Planning & Zoning 05/24/90 Those present: Chairman: Members: City Clerk: Attorney: Councilmembers: Building Inspector: John Millar Chris Mix Mary Ann Mounts Dan Hess Scott Mortensen Rose Bagley J. D. Hancock Glen Pond Bruce Sutherland Nyle Fullmer Brad Liljenquist arriving at 8:30 Glen Bean Excused Mike Larson, Jim Long and Chuck Frost A motion was made by by Scott Mortensen and seconded by Dan Hess. All Aye RE: VARIANCE ON VERN LILJENQUIST'S PROPERTY EAST OF 375 E 3RD S A request for a variance for the property just east of 375 East 3rd South owned by Vern Liljenquist. Mr Liljenquist said he had purchased the property and had Shauna Strobel draw the plans for a home and had engaged Doug Rasmussen to build the house. He had done this on the assumption that the lot was as presented 78' by 140'. When they got the deed to the property they found that it is only 67' by 100'. He presented a plot plan requesting a variance. It would face the east for a 17'7" for the front on the east, he ask that the back be on the north because there is not a back door on the West. It would line up with the existing houses on the south with a 8'6" yard, on the West it would be 6' from the property line. A petition had been taken around by the city. Doug Rasmussen presented the plans for the house. They would continue the sidewalk on the east side of the house and around on the south where it meets the Anderson property. Doug Rusmussen said the variance would be for the 17'7" on the East instead of the 25' that is required. Eldon Anderson was at the meeting, John Millar ask him if he had anything to say, he said he did not. Mike Larson who was unable to attend wrote a letter supporting the variance. A motion was made by Mary Ann Mounts to grant a variance seconded by Chris Mix. All Aye RE: APPROVAL OF THE RICKS PALMER SUBDIVISION PRELIMINARY PLAT • Dean Ricks was at the meeting to present the preliminary plat for the Ricks Palmer subdivision. The plat had been drawn by Forsgren Associates. The final plat will be for part of the preliminary plat. A motion was made by Dan Hess and seconded by Chris Mix to approve the plat. All aye except John Millar abstained. ~~ E • RE: DISCUSSION OF THE CLOSURE O~ 5TH SOUTH BETWEEN S 4TH E & SHOSHONE 8:00 P. M. Public Hearing for proposed amendment to delete that portion of the 5th South street between S 4th E and Shoshone Avenue, which street has been designated as a primary arterial through street on Map A, of the Rexburg Comprehensive Plan 2000. Greg Fullmer was on a conference call. With his new sub division he proposed to put cul de sacs on 5th South and close it to through traffic. Nancy White stated that there had been rumors that Greg wanted to put cul de sacs in to get more lots. He had eliminated 2 lots from his original plan. The original plan had 30 lots and this one has 28. The entire sub division would have 37 but that would be after purchasing more land to the south. John Millar told her that the objective of the meeting was not to discuss the sub division. She stated that they felt that 5th South was not the way or the best way for a through street. She felt that the through street could go another route without bringing more traffic through the residential area and onto Millhollow. She felt it would help to find other alternatives than 5th South. Rex Larson, Fire Chief- The Fire Service has a great concern with closing 5th South. We don't have a through street coming off of 2nd • East onto Shoshone. If you cut that off the next one will be 9th ~' South, and you will be getting further down the hill. For emergency - services cul de sacs are not the very best. Not only do you need to think about the fire service but also the ambulance service. You also have a lot of volunteers that need to get across town in a hurry. Through streets would work a lot better for fire service. He spoke for Farrell Davidson, Public Works Director, who was unable to be at the meeting. Farrell said it was difficult to plow snow in the cul de sacs. They don't have the equipment that they need to plow them. In the winter as you get closer to the top of the hill the snow blows in and there is no place to put the snow. It is like a dead end street. Bob Walker- An issue that we need to look at is what do the people in the area want. The petition that was circulated that discussed the issue of the through street vs the cul de sacs is what we are really after. We have a population in the area that wants to do something different than is proposed. In planning in the future we have to plan and visualize but when it comes time to do something we have to look to what the people want. The petition clearly states that the people in that area would like to see something rather than a through street on 5th South. John Millar stated that we are actually looking at two streets on the master plan, one is 5th South and the other is Shoshone which is shown as a through street as a minor arterial, which under the proposed plan would terminate at this sub division. • Darrell Neville- As far as the plan that Greg has he had no objection. He did feel that we need some through streets. He has a great concern. He discussed Shoshone, he said he realized that you couldn't ~` go clear through because of Smith's home. Down the road, what happens • to the next street that needs to go straight through. He is assuming that it will be at the city limits which is at the edge of his property. What happens when it hit his east line. It will then hit Smith's property, will it stop there. If it doesn't stop there how will it come north, because Shoshone is stubbed off there. He was put in this situation a long time ago. The road that was to go straight west and stopped at the college. Somehow what ever the college wants they get. We have seen what happens when the trucks come down Millhollow road. He takes his trucks around by the Erickson dugway, because 7th South stops at the college. He said he thought we needed through streets, but not necessarily 5th South. Ruth Smith- This probably effects her more that anyone else, as well as Richard Smith. She had no objection to the cul de sacs. It did not make any difference one way or the other. The only thing that concerned her is Shoshone Ave. When that sub de vision was plated there is only a half of a road on Shoshone to where it ends. The reason there is a half of a road is when they platted that they only put in a half road. One day the city was up grading her field out .and she ask what they were doing, they said they were putting in the other half of Shoshone and she would not let them. She felt that the little piece of property they have would be a sub division in the future, and the rest of Shoshone will go in. They have no objection to what ever the Planning Board decides. The original plat far that was made several years ago when she was on the city council. One of the • problems in the city is Millhollow road. The Planning Board and Council should watch that. Chris Mix- P.sking Ruth if she had ever taken pencil to paper as to what they might do with their property when it becomes a sub division, and thought about the traffic flow and where it might go. Ruth told them they had given the city the property to put in 350 South. 350 would be an access for them and also Millhollow and Shoshone. Chris ask her if she would have a problem if the city said no to Millhollow as an access. Ruth said they wouldn't have any problem. Chris Mix- Said she wished she was a street designer. It would be good to have some designs for a through streets, which we need. At what point in time does the city council address new equipment for cul de sacs. Bruce Sutherland said it would be a minimum of two years. Right now the priority is to up grade and maintain the roads we have. he equipment is a minor priority now. Nyle Fullmer said we are now removing snow in cul de sacs. Mary Ann Mounts stated that she would have to vote against closing the street. She is a planner and has had enough traffic planning classes to know that once you start abandoning streets here, where are you going to draw the line. She is oppose to closing this street unless we have some other alternative which she had not seen. Referring to Millhollow,. the development on Millhollow should not have ever • happened. It is a farm to market road, and now it is just an accident waiting to happen. There is no reason for us to continue to not plan. That is what we are doing if we let everyone come in and say we want to a~~ ('' • do away with this plan. Either we except this plan and try to go with it or we come up with a better plan. She could not vote to change the plan that easily just for a developer. It has nothing to do with cul de sacs. She said she would have to say no. Scott Mortensen- He had looked at the streets up there, to see if another street could go through. 450 is close and could carry the brunt of the traffic. John Millar told him that 450 is not a trough street. Nyle Fullmer said the point that Rex Larson made about emergency service is your next east west trough street which would facilitate emergency traffic and traffic flow in general to get you across town easiest with the mast minimal amount of junctions and problems is 9th South. Scott said the next street would be 7th but we have the problem with the college. He felt that 7th should go through the college. We have made a mistake not putting it through the college. If 7th went through, you would have a through street all the way through. Glen Pond- When the decision was made to close off 1st East for the college, he thought there was an agreement that the city would not take 7th south through the college property. The college gave us some property to go through to 9th. Scott said we need to negotiate with the college. Bruce Sutherland said as he recalls the agreement with the college to close 7th South was before the closure of 1st East. Glen said it was done before but brought up at the time of the closure %" • of 1st East. There was a split vote on the council at that time. ~ Scott said he would like an alternative route and would vote for 7th South. If 7th South was a through street we wouldn't need 5th South to be a through street. Chris Mix said if we amend the comprehensive plan to put 7th South as a through street, then Mary Ann had a good point. The developer that comes in and wants 7th South closed and because we amended it to close 5th south why not amend it again. The city would have a discrimination suit. Rex Larson said you are running into more problem the further up the hill you get. It would make it harder for the fire department. Greg Fullmer stated again that 5th South ends at Shoshone and to extend it further would mean a condemnation of Richard Smith's property. Dr Max Krouch- He had just sold a house on 450 South and bought one on 5th South. It seems to him that you don't need every street to be a through street. You have 2nd South as a through street, 5th South can't be a through street. He felt that 7th South should be a through street. He did not think we need that many through streets. Bruce Sutherland 'said the problem he sees is although 5th South only goes over to 2nd East, it would take a lot of pressure off from 2nd South. If 5th South is closed the major arterial would still be 2nd . South. There is a school on 2nd South and you will have a lot of increased traffic, if you close 5th South. Everyone is concerned about i~ the safety of their children, taking the traffic past the school is not • having a safe environment for our children. Greg Fullmer said he disagreed. If it is a through street, it would not be any different than if you have cuI de sacs. With the cul de sacs, you have two accesses, one on 450 South and another 550 South. He did not see how putting in the cul de sacs would increase the traffic. It would be worse to have the through street. Re Nee Mc Gee, planner from Idaho Falls- The mayor had ask her to find any standards to deal with through streets. She could not find a standard to deal with a through street. She did find two standards that said that if you are dealing with a super block, which is a block which has no through traffic that is served primarily with cul de sacs that its length should not exceed 1600 feet. You are looking at collectors, which really is when you look at 5th South. Your distance is usually 1/2 mile spacing between collectors. Another thing is everyone is talking about, you can't continue Shoshone to the South, however you still have a liability for a loop to take the traffic from that area. John Millar said the statement had been made repetitively that you can't take Shoshone south unless we condemn Richard Smith's property. We can shift the alignment over 30 feet and go around it. He said we are looking at closing two arterials on the master plan with no firm alternate. Both are shown as major roads on the master plan. Unless we can develop a viable alternative to this we are making a big mistake to • close 5th South. Cheryl Spaulding- The road that goes from 5th south down is not paved, how many people will drive on it. She understood that it would not be paved until a developer paved it. John Millar told her ultimately it will be paved. It was also a small area that we are talking about. Mary Ann Mounts stated it was just like Millhollow, no one saw why that shouldn't be developed either. You have to plan to the future. John Millar said since there was no further comment he call the hearing to a close and reconvene on May 31 with the City Council conducting. RE: APPROVAL OF THE NEW MEDICAL MART PLANS The next item on the agenda is the new Medical Mart plans. This will be located at about 224 East lst North. Tom Jenkins representing the Medical Mart showed plans. The building will be about 1900 square feet. The parking would be in front and also in back. They would have curb and landscaping in front. This will provide a service to the community and also be a support to the physicians and the hospitals in the area. There will be a front entrance and a rear entrance. It will be an attractive building. The hours will be from 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 or 5:30 P.M. There are six parking places in front and the employees will park in back. There is not a large volume of people coming and going. John Millar ask if they would put a fence as a buffer with shrubbery or a fence which is required. Mr Jenkins said they would if they need to, the property line to the building would be 20 feet. John told him that ~~S • our ordinance states that the plans for commercial buildings be drawn i or certified by an architect or a licensed engineer. A motion was made by Scott Mortensen to approve the plans based on having a engineer or architect certify the plans. Seconded by Chris Mix. All aye. RE: DISCUSSION OF BLOWING UP AN AERIAL PHOTO OF THE CITY Re Nae Mc Gee was at the meeting to discuss the new zoning ordinance. John Millar told her he had found an aerial photo of the city that could be blown up for about $50. Bruce Sutherland and Nyle Boyle said it would be a good idea to have a blown up aerial photo in the city council room to refer to, Glen Pond agreed. John Millar said they would be doing a high level flight before long, and could take an aerial photo. The one they have now is marked up but would work for Re Nae. The discussed the neighborhoods so they could put land use together. Meeting adjourned. i~ •