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HomeMy WebLinkAboutP&Z MINUTES JULY 12, 1995[7 DATE: (071295} Planning & Zoning 7/12/95 7:00 P. M. Present were: Chairman: John Millar Members: Jim Long Mary Ann Mounts Marsha Bjornn Richard Smith Eric Erickson-Arriving Brad Archibald Davawn Beattie Ted Whyte John Watson City Clerk: Rose Bagley Councilman: Glen Pond Attorney: J. D. Hancock Engineer: Joe Laird at 8:00 P. M. Councilman also attending: Nyle Fullmer and Jim Flamm A motion was made by Jim Long and seconded by Davawn Beattie to approve the minutes of June 14. All Aye RE: SNOWMOBILE TRAILS TOPIC: (400,1,,,SNOWMOBILE TRAILS,COUNTY PARKS & RECREATION,BIKE PATHS} John Millar stated that one item that had been brought to his attention from the County Parks and Recreation, they are in the process of developing a Snowmobile Trail that will connect into the county area Snowmobile Trail to get snowmobiles down to the Chamber of Commerce building and Cottontree Inn. They will enter the city on the old road that is east of of the extension of 2nd East and come on to the bottom of that hill and then come up onto 7th South and go along 7th South down to the Railroad right-a-way and will then go up the railroad right-a-way to the Cottontree. They will cross the road by the school and cross 7th South once. Discussion on crossing the college property. Jim suggested going on the east of the Walker Property, over to the river and down the river and head to the Nature Park. It is easier to get from the Nature Park to the motels than it is going through college property. We would be on the north side of the river. That is the purpose for the Bike Path is to put a bridge across the river. Then you would just need to worry about getting from the Fair Grounds to the motels. Discussion on coming down 5th West or the edge of the Golf Course. He suggested that we tie Bike Paths and Snowmobile trails. together, then when we go for a grant we have another positive point. Discussion on getting some surplus spans for a bridge across the river. Jim made a motion that we propose that they try to tie the Snowmobile Trail in with the Bike Path. Seconded by Marsha Bjornn. All Aye RE: STATE FARM INSURANCE DISCUSSION OF PROPERTY ON WEST MAIN TOPIC: (400,2,,,STATE FARM INSURANCE,MAIN STREET,ZONING,PARKING, C.U.P.) Steve Bjornn, State Farm Insurance was at the meeting to get an idea from the board about purchasing some property on West Main across from Century 21 (on the North) to convert it into an office. It is zoned M.D.R. with a Professional Office Overlay. It has been a residence. (showing pictures and plans) He wanted to know if this was workable and feasible. As he understood it he would need four parking spaces. He explained there is parking in the garage area and the driveway area and there could be parking in the rear of the building. He asked about putting a circular driveway in front of the building. Discussion on the percentage of paving for the front yard and ordinance. Joe said the back yard is big enough for two cars but they would have to get an easement from the people to the side of them to get in the back yard. (discussion on parking) Parking is the issue, there is not a problem with the use. If the garage was removed they could drive around back to park. John Millar told him to look at taking out the garage to see if it will work. It would also require a Conditional Use Permit. RE: PUBLIC HEARING FOR SALVAGE YARD - TOM GOE TOPIC: {400,2,,,PUBLIC HEARINGS,SALVAGE YARDS,GOE~TOM,C.U.P.) 8:OO P.M. Public Hearing regarding the proposed issuance of a conditional use permit to provide the owner of the property to operate a motor vehicle dismantling operation. The property is located on North Highway 33 between Rexburg and Sugar City. John told the group we have three options, (1) we can issue our approval of the Conditional Use Permit at which time it will proceed to the City Council for a second Public Hearing before the City Council at that time they can issue the conditions or deny it. (2} To turn down the Conditional Use Permit, at which time that would be denied at which time it could end there or could be appealed to the City Council, (3) we can table the issue up to 60 days for further evaluation. Thomas Goe- (displaying sketches of facility) There is a real discrepancy of what a dismantling yard is and what a junk yard. is in Idaho. He is from California and will bring California rules and regulations with him. Everything they plan to do there is pleasing to the eye. The dismantling yard will be behind the fence and the buildings will be in front. He does not want a zone change, just a Conditional Use Permit. He had tried through his attorney to contact the Davenports and the Stegelmeir. Sean Breen, his attorney, had written a letter to both of them to address their concerns and did not get a response. This property has been vacant for quite a number of years. He would intend to control the business and it won't be an eyesore. They will control and handle their waste. They will warehouse parts in a used part business. They will recycle the car bodies. The area in the back is for the hulls set on stands and won't be seen from o~ _,< the road. The motors and transmissions are pulled on all the units that go to the back for a recycling process. The yard will not be what you see basically going up and down the freeways in Idaho. He certainly is not going to do something in the community that they are not going to approve of. If that was going to be a movie theatre again, it would probably be a more of a irritance to the neighbors than the dismantling yard. Their hours will be 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. There is actually more oil dropped on the ground in the K Mart Parking lot than you would have out there. Sean Breen- He has done the leg work. Mr Goe briefly described the difference between a junkyard and a dismantling yard. They are not the same thing. It is not a stack of cars for rabid dogs. This is a professionally put together business. Mr Goe has taken a lot of time and put a lot of money into designing it so it is safe for his workers and the community around. He has designed a facility that will enhance property values. They submitted a Conditional Use application that meets the requirements of the city ordinance. They had made sure they had addressed everything in the sketches and permit application. They are turning a facility that has had no use into one that- will be productive. They encourage and have sought the participation of the neighbors. He feels they have gone beyond what this area has required. We understand the concerns of the neighbors and they have designed it to safely handle the concerns. There will not be decreases in property value, there will not be hazardous waste stored improperly, there will not be varmints running around, there will not be cars rusting in the yard, there will not be an eyesore along Highway 33, there will not be loud noise to disturb the neighbors, there will not be air admissions that will affect the children in the area. They have put together a good plan and want to hear the concerns of the neighbors and design a facility that addresses the concerns of the neighbors. If they have not done that they will come back and do it again. Dale Thomson- He was here in behalf of his mother Lera Thomson, who owns approximately 60 to 65 acres and it runs next to Stegelmeir and takes all the frontage from the Stegelmeir property to the South until you get to Mountain Meadows Landscape. He claimed they were not notified. John told him an attempt was made to notify all property owners, the County supply a list of names and notices were sent out. He had some concerns. He stated that they are opposed to a Conditional Use Permit for that property. His concern was they were very much in favor of having the Impact Zone. He has been a strong supporter of zoning within Madison County and a supporter of the Impact Zone and one of the reasons was he was concerned about making sure that when zoning took place the people living in those areas rely on what has been given to them. For those reasons he was supportive and wanted it and his mother was very supportive in seeing that was going to happen. They are currently zoned Agricultural however as he sees in the future along the road there is not much doubt that will be commercial but in the back he envisions that to be Residential. From the site he has seen nothing indicating that there would be something blocking the view of what would be stored there. He read the definition of "Junkyard" from the zoning ordinance. Whether it is an automobile wrecking yard or not it still falls within those other categories. An automobile wrecking yard is very much considered a "Junkyard". They are opposed to the Conditional Use Permit. Yolanda Davenport-They live directly north adjacent to the property in question. They are concerned about the part with the cars in the back. Their home sets back in and from where they are they would be adjacent to all of the car hulls that would be there and this is a real concern. She felt if they tried to sell their property it would be hard to sell by a salvage yard, especially because their land would be right next to where the cars will be parked. When the movie theatre was there, there would be teenagers that tried to sneak into the show and their property was the place they could sneak through in the dark to the .movie. In Idaho Falls they have problems with people breaking into some of the salvage yards and this would be a temptation for anyone to go through their property to get to the salvage yard to get parts, so they don't think that would be very safe. If they put residents near by, those residents would be able to see the hulls. She had talked to her uncle from San Diego and he said they are very careful where they place these yards up on high hills because they don't want the freeway traffic to go down hill and see them. She is not sure she understands what these places look like in California. She does not understand how you can make the car junk part look right. From their point of view they still oppose it. They would like to maintain the H.B.D. zone and feel that this type of business leans to more Heavy Industry or Light Industry. Jim Long asked what is on the other side of her home? She told him it was Maupin Welding. Her brother built the Maupin Welding shop and he was careful to design that building and have it look very attractive and Mr Maupin works hard to keep even his back yard cleaned up. Her brother was concerned of how that building would be compatible with their home. There is a fertilizer plant and some storage buildings. All of those businesses are kept very nice. They are compatible with H.B.D. Jim asked if those businesses came to her now and asked if they could put their business on the north side of her house would she apprcve it or disapprove it? She said she would approve it, there are some junk things around these businesses sometimes, but if she asked them they would clean them up. Jim asked about the equipment stored in front of the welding shop and asked her if she approved of that? She felt they were okay. Jim asked, if she saw this business different than the businesses that are presently there? She said she did not see the front part being a problem, it was the hulls that was the problem. Jack Jeppesen- He owns the property from the north to the east by the property in question. He did not think that property is a fit place to put a junkyard. It will lower the property value of their ground. He gave a letter with comments. The things that are brought in there and tore down, no matter how he tries to take care of the waste it will go into the ground and into the water. He is opposed to it. Lorin Stegelmeir- The lawyer did contact them and did come and talk to them as well as Mr Goe. They got a letter that said they would be here the last part of last week or the first part of this week, but they did not come. They border the first half of this property about 600 feet • back. They have an apartment house built back there that they are concerned about. They have never had any trouble renting it to high class kids. When they rent it they enjoy being out in the country with no problems with nothing around them. He did not think it would help .the property value. They live in an apartment in back of the clinic. He was not even sure the clinic would be approved to be there now. They would like to keep their property values. They are thinking about retirement and would like to be able to sell their property when they retire. If the Dismantling Yard looks this good in the front, what will it look like on the south, north and rear? If he is going to plant trees and have a good high fence, Mr Stegelmeir said if he does that he is not sure if he would be against it. Gerald Jeppesen- He used to sit on his back deck and watch the movie theatre with his binoculars. This puts him close to the area of the proposed salvage yard. He represents his mother who owns 24 acres and his sister who is part owner in that. Their property lays adjacent to the south of Thomson property and would be about 1/2 mile of the property. Their concerns is they had envisioned that area in being a nice subdivision someday. There has been talk of donation of property for a church in that area so that development can come in an orderly manner. Most people he has talked to, when they are looking around, if they find there is a salvage yard in the area that is not one of the things they are looking for when they are relocating. He couldn't see how this would help with the progress of a subdivision. He had spent a lot of time writing the ordinance that the board is working with and it was an up hill battle and he did put a lot of time into it. The basic thing that we sold it to the land owners was that they would have a chance to be represented and would have a say in what happened around, which they did not have before. He hoped they would consider very carefully the comments that have been submitted tonight as well as the letters. Being a County Commissioner he had been approached many times on this issue by the land owners in that area. He did not know one land owner that is in favor of this operation going in. He asked the board to look carefully at the comments and look at the number of land owners and compare them with the number of objections. At this point he felt it was quite unanimous that no one wants it to be there. He thanked the board and stated that he felt they would make the right decision. Brett Jeppesen- He represents Jeppesen Brothers, himself, Roy and Gary. They are the major landholders to the east of it. We hate to stifle any new businesses coming in, but as everyone has stated, he felt eventually that property out there would be subdivided. There was a salvage yard between here and St Anthony a few years ago, and it was a total mess and finally shut down and cleaned up. The property value to the west of it really went down. There is no comparison in a salvage yard and Maupin Welding. Dismantling yards have never proved themselves to be clean. There is always cars out in front and stacked. If it was every subdivided to the east with two story homes, they could see right into it. He would like to be on record that they are opposed to it. Bruce Ard- He, his father and brother own the property at 848 Yellowstone and 776 Yellowstone which is a storage business. Their concerns with it is the property value and the environmental problem. He realized that in California they have different rules but California rules are not enforceable here. Once you you let something in, your control is very limited to what you do after it is there. Ann Stegelmeir- Lorin and I have discussed this at great length. We are in favor of new businesses. She felt there is a place for a salvage yard but she did not think it was on the main highway between Rexburg and Sugar City which is traveled so heavily. There are so many good looking businesses and establishments along that highway. She felt there is a different place for a junkyard. She and Lorin took a trip and they saw two or three dismantling yards and they did not look good. I don't feel that is a good viable addition to Rexburg businesses or Sugar City businesses. There is a place for it but not there. They are definitely oppose to it. They think it would take the property value down. They don't support it because they don't feel it is the wise place for it. They agree to zoning because they think zoning will protect them. Zoning says this is all that can be done and if the citizens opposed it then the zone could not be changed or you couldn't let something happen there that you didn't want to happen. If the zoning isn't going to protect them then lets get rid of the zoning. That is what we got the zoning for in the first place. John Millar read the letters we had received. (on file) John reviewed the procedure in the Zoning Ordinance 6.13 page 50 which addressed requirements of a Conditional Use Permit. Richard stated that this board could not approve it but could recommend it to go to public hearing before the City Council. The conditional use permit has to come from the City Council. John stated that it is an Impact Zone decision the board members from the Impact Zone have an equal vote with the City Members. If we approve it or disapprove it we must state any provisions of this ordinance and standard used in the valuation of the application. State the reasons for approval or denial and actions if any the applicant should take to obtain a conditional use permit as if we want to add additional conditions or limitations. Richard - Asked Lorin Stegelmeir, Jerry Jeppesen, and Dale Thomson, the Conditional Use provides that this board can request and impose additional conditions on the business more stringent than other conditions in the Zoning Ordinance. They can be much broader than contained in the Zoning Ordinance. He asked if there are any conditions that you as land owners would feel appropriate that you could have imposed on Mr Goe's business to make the development acceptable to you? He asked all the land owners if there were any conditions they would feel good about imposing and still have the business? Lorin- He was not imposed to a new business. It looks beautiful as far as he is concerned, but 300 cars in the back is what bothers him. 10 or 15 cars maybe in a line right where they could dismantle them and ~" ,; crush them and the way they go and then landscape behind them. He is opposed to 300 cars sitting out there in a row. If you have 300 cars you have a junkyard. He could go along with that with some trees and landscaping and a high fence so Mrs Davenport can still see the Teton Peaks without looking over a bunch of cars. John-asked Dale if possibly there were 50 cars housed in a building would that help? Dale said those are some things he would consider. If there was a fence that would prohibit people from seeing through, completely around it. He used to sit in his ditch and watch the movie. If it was landscaped nice from the outside and if there wasn't stacking, so things were rotated so they could not be seen. He could handle the noise. What does concern him is access, cleanliness that protects property values with assurance that it would be maintained that way and he was assured that there would be proper teeth that would maintain the control, he would consider wavering on the position that he has taken at this point. Jerry- His main concern is access to the cars in the back. If Mr Goe is willing to put those outfits in an enclosed building. This would make access to them much easier so when he is gone he could lock it up so there is no access to children or animals. If he were to build a big building back there to store the cars in, his objection to it would be decreased. In the winter time screening is gone because the leaves are gone and you can still see in. i Sean Breen- This is where they should have been three months ago. They are willing to do these things. They are willing to put up a 12 foot fence, willing to put up pine trees, willing to put up an over head cover or a warehouse as has been described. If they know about the concerns we will do these things for the neighbors. In the ordinance it calls for an ordinance inspector to go around and make sure businesses comply with the ordinance. He can shut them down and walk right into court and get a temporary restraining order and put the guy right out of business if he fails to comply. He can be put into jail up to 30 days and fined $300 per incident per day. They have been trying to communicate with the neighbors. They would do all of these things. Let them know what these things are and they will engineer the thing so it is a valuable enhancing business. They will do it so they fit in with the rest of those businesses out there. If the cars are left there more than 60 days they are loosing business. These cars are crushed to 12 inches high and they are stacked three high which would be a maximum of 4 feet high. The cars will be set in the back for a period of time before they are crushed. There would be no more cars than in a movie theatre. Mary Ann stated the point she would like to make is people were comparing it to something like potatoes to apples. We don't have a dismantling yard in this area to compare to. Mary Ann- The comment was also made that you agreed to the zoning and now if it doesn't protect you then lets do away with the zoning. If we had not done the zoning, Mr Goe would not have a problem here tonight. He would not be here, he would do what ever he wanted with no conditions. We can with a conditional use that we have agreed that he qualifies to apply for put in the conditions that we want. If he doesn't care to comply with those then he does not get the conditional use. So to say that this doesn't protect you, is not a fair statement at all. Before you had this you had nothing, he could put in whatever he wanted. Dale Thomson asked if she sat on the Planning Commission and asked if she was arguing for him or making a decision right now? She said she was telling him that comment was not fair saying that zoning is not a protection for you. Dale asked what capacity she was speaking,-was she presenting evidence or making a determination as part of the commission. Mary Ann stated that the surrounding area is zoned agriculture, this is zoned H.B.D. As a commission we are to put compatible businesses in the H.B.D. and to protect the agriculture area surrounding. We are not here to assure potential for subdivisions. That cannot be part of the process here tonight. If you want to put in a subdivision and his salvage yard might effect that it is not part of it. Dale stated that believes that it is still a junkyard. (disagreement discussion on definitions) John Millar called the meeting to order. Mr Goe explained the restrictions put on Dismantling yards in California. He would bring California regulations here and maybe it will be a start other communities to say this is what Rexburg has done and be the beginning of setting somekind of stature of how you conduct a dismantling yard not a junkyard. Richard- He thought this body tonight is looking for input, certainly from the public and from the proposed developer. It sounded to him that there may be conditions that may be imposed upon Mr Goe's business that address the needs and concerns. If there is a desire on anyone's part to develope a land owners committee to work with Mr Goe to see if these things can be worked out, he suggested that this matter be tabled tonight and give everyone 30 days to try to come up with some conditions that would satisfy the land owners and then they could give this body some directions on conditions that would satisfy land owners. He asked if there was a desire on behalf of the land owners. Dale Thomson- Stated that on behalf of the Thompson's he would be glad to meet with them and take a look at those possibilities. Yolanda Davenport- She had a question. What kind of zone is the dismantling yard allowed in California? It was zoned Highway Commercial. She asked if they could meet and coordinate concerns? John Millar told them our requirement through the open meeting law is we conduct all business before this council before the public. If the land owners want to meet with the Goe's and their representative, and see if there is some middle ground we would surely welcome that. The only thing we could be directly a party to would be an open meeting. Mr Breen said this is a step forward. They will set up a meeting and come back in 30 days. Richard- As far as getting back on the calendar, under the provisions of the ordinance, we can take action based upon this public hearing anytime within 60 days. He suggested if we had more detailed input from the land owners and the Goe's within that 60 day period they could make a recommendation for it to go to Public Hearing before the City Council. Short of that input he did not think it would go very far. John Watson stated that he had a number of concerns that he would like to see it again. He thought they would have a problem unless they deal with the correct grade on the drawings. There should be four views of this. It should be drawn correctly. He had a problem with the site plan, our ordinance stated they will have asphalt or concrete parking area and a lot of this is in gravel. Mr Breen said they know that and it will be done. The parking needs to be addressed and the driveway access. John Millar told him these things can be approved with the site plan. Jim Long stated these are things we talked about last time and those haven't been changed so we would be affected by that. He was concerned that the public thinks it is a popularity vote. That the more of you that stands up and say no we are going to be affected by that, but we will be more affected by what is on paper. As a landscape architect, he looks a third time at the landscape plan and say it isn't going to work. It won't satisfy the needs of these people. We want to work with you and we have to have the information to do it and we are not • going to do it on a popularity vote. He told them there is a lot of open space and a wet year like this it will grow a lot of weeds. Mr Breen asked if there could be a list made. John Millar stated there are two issues one is the conditional use permit and one is a site plan. They are separate issues. Our primary purpose tonight is a conditional use permit. We have two options one is a contiguous hearing to another time or we can close the hearing and proceed with fact finding or go to a vote. We have up to 60 days to issue a formal decision. A motion was made by Jim Long that we close the hearing and that we use the 60 days for fact finding and far the public to gather the information they need among themselves. Seconded by Richard Smith. All Aye John Millar told them we now have up to 60 days to make a decision. We would please request that if there is some middle ground, that the property owners work in unison with the Goe's or their representative and see if there is some middle ground. We would like to know that, if not we would like to know that also. Any decision that we make will be before this board in an open meeting.. RE: PARK PLACE APARTMENTS - PAVING LANDSCAPED AREA TOPIC: (400,9,,,APARTMENTS,LANDSCAPING,SETBACKS) The apartments at 275 East Main have paved all of the landscaped area plus the city right-a-way. Our ordinance requires that no more than ~~ 30~ of setback area be paved. Rose has sent a letter to tell them they • are not in conformance with the ordinance. A motion was made by Jim Long that we support Rose in the letter she wrote and that-Joe follow up on it making sure they comply with the ordinance. (discussion) Seconded by Mary Ann Mounts. All Aye except Eric Erickson abstaining, he had not seen it, and Brad voting Nay. Marsha asked if at the next meeting we could discuss page 27 and 28 in the Zoning Ordinance. John cautioned the board that on the Auto Salvage Yard we as a board need to be careful that the discussions are held during an open meeting. That we not be drawn into discussions on either side outside a regular meeting. We will need to be making a decision soon. We need to be thinking if we do decide to approve, what conditions we want to impose. We have to impose the conditions, Mr Goe needs to decide if he can live with them. Eric suggested that he felt it needed to be stated to this group that we need to be careful about stating opinions as we are sitting on this board listening to comment. Richard stated that we need to be careful especially during a public hearing. Eric felt it was our responsibility to take the public's input and then decide from that and come up with an opinion and a decision. He did not feel that a public hearing was the time to argue the fact one way or the other. Richard cautioned that it is a Public Hearing not a time to teach the public what is going on or tell them what is in this ordinance. We are here • to sit as a commission and listen to them and take their input. If they are clear off in left base, they are off in left base and we listen to it and take it for what it is. Rose told them notices were sent to everyone. We got the names from the County and sent notices way beyond what we needed to. Richard told them if we approve the conditional use permit, he then will need to meet the requirements of the site plan. Davawn asked that he could be on the agenda at the next meeting to discuss concerns for the College on fences. Meeting adjourned.