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HomeMy WebLinkAboutP&Z MINUTES JUNE 25, 1997~ ~~ DATE: (062597) Planning & Zoning 6/25/97 .7:00 P. M. Present were: Chairman: John Millar Members: Mary Ann Mounts John Watson Roger Muir Doug Smith Richard Smith Davawn Beattie Jim Long Ted Whyte. Mike Thueson City Clerk: Rose Bagley Engineer: Joe Laird Attorney: Stephen Zollinger Councilwoman: Marsha Bjornn A motion was made by Jim Long and seconded by Ted Whyte to approve the minutes of 6/11/97. All Aye. RE: ANNEXATION OF PROPERTY AT 1000 NORTH FOR SILVERTREE ~~ TOPIC: (400,218,,,SILVERTREE,1000 NORTH,ANNEXATIONS,ZONING, PLATINUM DEVELOPMENT} Brett Hastings representing Silvertree Builders was at the meeting to request annexation of property north of the city basically the property around Sears from the Grease Monkey north to 1000 North. The piece that Sears sits on and the piece behind Sears has already been annexed. They are requesting the development through the name of Platinum Development, which was formed by them for tax reasons to hold land and develope land. They are requesting the annexation for and in behalf of the current land owners who are working with them. They are currently working with some national retailers to bring them in onto that property and to develop it into some commercial retail space which would be a great addition to the city. From the property line it goes 448 feet. He has requested it be zoned H.B.D. A motion was made by Mike Thueson to recommend that it goes to Public Hearing, seconded by Mary Ann Mounts. All Aye. RE: DOUG MCBRIDE CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT OR ZONE CHANGE DISCUSSED TOPIC: (400,218,,,C.U.P.,MCBRIDE*DOUG,ANDERSON PHOTO,PUBLIC HEARING, ZONE CHANGE} Doug Mc Bride with Anderson Photo was at the meeting to request either a Zone Change or a Conditional Use Permit for the property across from Napa Auto Parts on 1st South. Doug explained they are looking at selling their current building and eliminating their mini lab so they won't be doing anymore of the high volume film processing. They have decided to make the change. There is a lot of competition and they ~~~ ~~ have decided there isn't too much to sustain this, so they will liquidate that part of their business. They are going to concentrate full time on their portrait photography. They would like to make the change and work out of a home for the home atmosphere and the yard. They would not change the appearance at a11. They are. looking at putting three parking stalls inside the yard. This is currently zoned M.D.R. Discussion on Rezoning or a Conditional Use Permit. A motion was made by Richard Smith to go to Public Hearing for a Zone Change of a Professional Office Overlay. Seconded by Mary Ann Mounts. All Aye A motion was made by Ted Whyte and seconded by Mary Ann Mounts that we also hold a Public Hearing to allow for a Conditional Use Permit. All Aye. RE: PUBLIC HEARING FOR & VARIANCE GRANTED TO MADISON CLINIC TOPIC: (400,219,,,PARKING,MADISON CLINIC,VARIANCE,MAIN STREET) 7:30 P. M. Public Hearing before the Planning and Zoning Commission of the City of Rexburg, Wednesday, June 24, 1997, at 7:30 P.M. regarding proposed issuance of a variance to provide as follows: The owners of the following described property be granted a variance allowing for the paving of certain areas for the parking of vehicles to accommodate off-street parking needs for the existing use, and to relieve parking from the public streets. The property is currently within an LDR zone with .. PrcfesQinnal n~~eLlay, TIZo prnparty ig commonly known a8 Mad1SOn Clinic, and is located at approximately 240 East Main. . John Millar opened the hearing. Dr Craig Heiner- They now have nine parking places and often it is not enough for employees and patients so they would like to add eight more parking spots. After talking about future plan, probably in three or four years he planned to expand the office to the south. When they originally got the plans approved for the building permit which was 11 years ago, they had plans to make the building about twice as big. When they do that they would need to expand the parking lot on the south end of the lot. He wondered if for more expansion they would need to go with this down the road or do it now? Dr Heiner showed the plans. No one was at the meeting to make public comments. Jim suggested that the entrance of the parking lot come into the south if they expanded in the future, that way you would gain somemore parking places. Discussion on the plan and parking. Stephen stated a reason for a variance would be an undo hardship because his lot is situated such it can't sustain enough parking. To redesign the parking on this lot to keep it off the setback would pose a hardship like the one we granted to the College. Mary Ann stated that we don't want people parking on Main Street or Harvard because of the parking and traffic problem. A motion was made by Richard Smith to grant the variance because all the conditions have been met for all the reasons stated, seconded by Jim Long. A11 Aye ~~ • RE: WESTERN RECYCLING SITE PLAN APPROVED TOPIC: (400,220,,,SITE PLANS,FIRE HYDRANT,EASEMENT,SET BACK,MAY*STAN, WESTERN RECYCLING) Stan May representing Western Recycling- Joe stated this plan has been approve by all Department Heads. The only comment we had was from the Fire Chief, who said we needed a fire hydrant in front of the building. The rest of them said there was no problem. He has shown 11 parking spaces on the north of the building, 5' strip of landscaping in front of the building between the building and the property line and off the street and about 7' on the sides. On the front of the building in an Industrial Zone it should be set back 15 feet, but the existing buildings along there are on the property line, but the houses farther south down the street the setbacks are 20 to 25' and they are residents. He wondered what the setback should be? The ordinance says we look at the average setback on all of the houses on the street rather than just a block. We need to clarify the ordinance. (explaining the landscaping) Discussion on the easement. Mr May showed the copy of the easement. The easement was issued to Glade Richards. Stephen stated the land back in there is subject to an easement and Mr May's deed would show that he has an ingress/egress easement. It doesn't have to show it. ThPrP i4 a'~'~ 11'1gYPQQ/PgYPRs aaaamcvnt eatahl igh~?r3 at that point, He ha:~ -• been using it along with the other property owners back there. He bought it subject to an easement running down the side of his property. If these are the three people that have been using the easement, they probably preserved and established the easement to their property. Joe stated that the city requires the developer to put in the fire hydrant. Stephen told him the city crew will do most of the work putting in the fire hydrant. Ted Whyte made a motion that we approve the site plan with the installation of the fire hydrant. Seconded by Jim Long. All Aye John Watson suggested that the fire hydrant would need to be required by the U.F.C. if required to be put in. RE: PUBLIC HEARING FOR FLOYD WILCOX & SONS TOPIC: (400,220,,,SITE STUDY,WILCOX*LYNN,TRAFFIC,SOLID WASTE, ZONING,ANNEXATIONS,COMPREHENSIVE PLAN) 8:00 P. M. Public Hearing for Floyd Wilcox & Sons pertaining to the annexation to the City of Rexburg, as well as the amendment of the Comprehensive Plan pertaining to the Wilcox property next to the South interchange. At that time the Commission will hear and consider any and all protests against the annexation. The amendment to the Comprehensive Plan; and that said properties if annexed to the City, be zoned as: Parcel 1: Highway Business District and Parcel 2: Industrial District. John Millar declared a conflict of interest and asked Mary Ann Mounts to chair the issue. • Lynn Wilcox- Prior to selecting this site they did a site study. This study was prompted by Tim Solomn with East Idaho Planning & ~~~ Development. According to his site study, this site rated the highest • of any of the other potential sites ranging from Idaho Falls to St Anthony. The main criteria was the access to rail, access to highway transportation, distance from residential areas, location of compatible development in the area and access to city water and sewer. Prior to purchasing that piece of property, they met with the County Commissioners and asked them about their feeling of them locating at that location. They indicated a strong desire to have them locate there. They have involved E.C.P.D.A. from the beginning of the project and are still involved with them with funding. They are also involved with the City of Rexburg with the city engineer, with Mayor Boyle and MEDCO in planning with regard to the location. Their building plan allows for the most modern and technological production facility of its kind in the entire country. They feel there won't be a more advanced facility in the United States. They have provided for the handling of both solid and liquid waste in accordance with Federal, State and Local guidelines and don't feel there would be a better location anywhere in the country. If you don't have a problem with High Country, you won't have a problem with their facility. He felt that Thayne Siddaway did have a legitimate concern, which they are aware of and Thayne has been a gentleman right from the beginning. They have talked back and forth several times. They are aware of Thayne's situation and respect his position. They are doing all they can to address his needs and to cooperate with him with physical barriers such as trees and landscaping and any other things that would • be reasonable. They recognize that traffic is a problem but no matter what type of development takes place there is going to be a traffic problem and it needs to be addressed. They feel they have presented some solutions that might be workable, but are also open to other suggestions. He has a petition signed by the majority of the other businesses in the south corridor that are not opposed to the project. He also presented some letters of support. There were also some people at the meeting that were supporting him. Jerry Rigby was at the meeting to support him as legal council. Ron Walker, one of the owners of Rudd & Company - He had known the Wilcox family for sometime and worked with them. When they started looking at this proposal they came to Ron and asked for his advice and one of the things they were concerned about was the location. One of the locations was Sugar City. Do to several factors they decided that wouldn't be the best place for it and so the site was selected that we are speaking about tonight. One of things they had talked about was the access to the railroad, the access to Highway 20, the fact that there was already a business in the area that was doing the same industry, and so all of those factors was considered. He had thought where would be a better place to put this business. Would we want it on Highway 33 between Sugar and Rexburg or Highway 191 between Rexburg and Thornton or is it better to have it at Thornton where all the trucks have to cross Highway 20. It was thought logically that the • trucks could easily get on the highway there and it made sense. As a former member of the board for the Rexburg Chamber of Commerce, they n~'V^ v I ~` were always focused on getting new businesses. He did not ever want to ~, make it difficult for the businesses in our community to grow and improve. He did not want to be known as a community that is anti business. If there are traffic concerns, we can get together and solve those concerns. Mitch Curtis- He is a friend and business associate of the Wilcox family. They have a high degree of integrity and honesty in their business dealings. They are excellent business partners. He recently graduated from Idaho State University with a master degree in Business Administration. As he worked on his degree he studied different businesses and found Wilcox to be on cutting edge of their industry and felt their business would do nothing but grow. They have a very low volume of employee turn over. He felt this business would make an excellent contribution to the community. Val Dietrict- He has been friends of the Wilcox family. He believes the city should do some studies and table it until the studies can be done because of the traffic. Today it took him 3 minutes to get across the crossing. We have a traffic problem there. We have a lot of people that are driving highway 191 to get to Rexburg because they can't get on at that intersection. People go to the middle intersection to Rexburg instead of that intersection. He would like to see a study done on traffic flow. • Dan Hannah- He is in favor of the development. He has been involved with some commercial development in Idaho Falls and has worked extensively with the city. He thinks the development is compatible with that area and will complement that area. The traffic problem will have to be dealt with sooner or later. He did not see anything that couldn't be worked out or anything that would cause that project to be tabled. Jerry Rigby- He is representing the Wilcox. After hearing the plus and minus of this he did not see any legal problem with this industry coming in the area. He did see that there was more than that involved such as the compatibility whether it is compatible with the location or complements it. He does believe that traffic is a problem. No matter what business goes into that area it will add a problem with the traffic. Mr Dietrict talks about having to wait 3 or 4 minutes to get on the road, if you go out north of the the city see how long you have to wait to get on the road from one of those restaurants. It will work itself out. Does this type of a business make anymore problem for the traffic flow than any other business that could go in. Would there be opposition to another type of a business? Are we saying we are going to put a moratorium on other businesses in that area because of the traffic? If you look at the plans of this business, it is a new system and will add to the area. The only legitimate concern is the traffic issue, but they will have a dual access and it will be no worse than any other business that might come in. • Chuck Homer, Attorney representing High Country Potato. He would like to address the planning for the location of the site. The reason they have chosen this site is it is close to the highway. They intend to ~~~ have a high volume of traffic but they have chosen this site because it is close to the railroad and accesses close together. This would be good for the business but not for the city, because this type of a business you will have a high volume of truck traffic which you would not have with some other type of a business. With regard to the legal aspects, the Idaho Land Use Planning Act was adopted to require Cities and Counties to have a Comprehensive Plan. When they set up a Comprehensive Plan they indicated that once a Comprehensive Plan had been adopted it shouldn't be changed just as a whim of someone's desire. It says in the Land Use Planning Act, "The Commission can recommend amendments to the plan to the Governing Board not more frequently than every six months to correct errors in the original plan or recognize substantial changes in the actual conditions in the area." It is his opinion that before this permission and recommendation to the City Council that there be a change to the plan you need to make a factual finding that there has been substantial changes that justify changing this property to light industrial. He felt that to the contrary all the facts point to the other direction. The fact you do have a high volume of traffic, the fact that you have the congestion in the area, the fact that most of the surrounding uses are not light industrial all point to him that you should not be going backward. When the plan was adopted the city planned for this area to not be light industrial. If you go back and impose a different type of use, the law says there needs to be some kind of change in CirC~!matanroc that justifies that and he had not heard anything tonight that shows that there has been a change in circumstances from what the governing body was looking at when they first adopted the plan. • Thayne Siddaway- He stated that his issues had been pretty well discussed at previous meetings. Most of those issues have to do with the sanitation issue. His business is on the south side of where the Wilcox plan is to build their plant. What ever decision is made he would work with it. He asked what is it the board wants people to see as they enter the south side of the city? If the businesses that are out there now are not consistent with what you want out there, then you can recognize it as a mistake in the past and try not to encourage it to continue. He felt that there would be no better place for motels and restraunts than right there. You can't say that because you let High Country build where they did you have to be fair and let Wilcox build there. If the Impact Zone was in place when he built his business it would probably have been to the best interest to say no to him. Mark Ricks- He had a concern for the traffic in that area. There are a lot of people that work at Ricks College that come from the neighboring communities from the south and many of those turn off the highway at Thornton and get on the old highway rather than come in on the South exit because of the traffic problem and the line up to get on the road. His concerns are (1) Traffic especially with the development of 7th South; (2) It will be too close to the seed business and we owe something to them. A business such as Wilcox can't help but have disease connected with them. If they are allowed to build, he hoped that they were sanitary and not spread disease to that seed business.; • (3) The construction that has taken place, with the mound on south end would not be an open pond because the situation in Thornton is very ~~~ • smelly. (4) Some of the people that live on South 5th West, why can't they have an opportunity to hook up to the city sewer if the city is going to expand the city bounds to include that project they should be considerate enough to let those few homes on South 5th West hook to the sewer and water. If this project is allowed to hook onto the city water and sewer it would be a plus. Lynn Wilcox- Responded they are planning a sewer development in that area which would have a capacity to encompass the entire south end of Rexburg and go up on the Poleline area as well as the west side of the freeway. They recognize Mr Rick's concern and recognize that they can't please everyone but are trying to do the best job they can to be good citizens and a good business in the community. They are trying hard to meet the needs. Jerry Rigby- To reply to Mr Homer's concern about the code requiring that there be a substantial change in circumstance in order to justify a change here. All one needs to do is look at the history and the development that have occurred out there and it easily meets the criteria. Mary Ann closed the hearing and turned it over to the Planning Board. Davawn Beattie- He asked Mr Wilcox, If he knows what will go in on the four lots to the north of this development? Mr Wilcox said he would ~ cooperate with the city. • Jim Long- Asked John Millar for his professional opinion, what the process for doing traffic studies and changing traffic at that particular point? He also turns at Thornton and comes down the old road because of the traffic problem. What is the process, does this board initiate it or does the city initiate it or county or state? Roger stated we have already done that with the plan we have approved. John stated that was the long term plan but possibly a traffic signal could be put in. Stephen stated that as it is now that intersection is a County intersection. Joe answered about the next step until we can extend the street and curve into 2nd West as the transportation calls for, we are probably looking at a traffic signal at that intersection so the next step would be to take a traffic count at that intersection to see if a traffic signal is warranted. If it is warranted, the next step would be to .get it budgeted in the city or county budget for construction. Stephen- Regarding substantial addresses Mr Homer's concerns. Comprehensive Plan and change this to Industrial, which is a Comprehensive Plan. There has county's part. change, the county's Comprehensive Plan The county just passed their 3 the property to the immediate west of direct departure from the existing already been a finding of facts on the • Richard Smith- When this body developed the Impact Zone we went through this exact process. We talked about making that entire area out there industrial because High County was there and because there was a grain ~~ facility there. We talked about it and discussed it and after public • hearing the board felt that should not be zoned Industrial. That is why they zoned the ground to the south of this parcel HBD. This was suppose to be the corridor to Ricks College. There was a lot of discussion on what we had out there and that is why we zoned it the way we zoned it because there was too much industrial in that area. Fujimoto came in and said he did not want any of his property zoned anything but what it is right now which was agricultural, so we left it as that. Shiro's sisters sold the property and he did not have anything to do with it. He hates to see this body make a knee jerk reaction over something we looked at very closely. Mary Ann commented that they are asking for Industrial in the back part the front will be HBD. Richard stated that there will be twice the big truck traffic out there. That is an agricultural crossing. He would like to see it in writing that the railroad says they can have a commercial crossing with trucks there. Stephen commented that as of now not having passed the new Comprehensive Plan we are still bound by the existing Comprehensive Plan which set forth the standards that is to be considered in determining whether HBD or Industrial will prevail to this request. He read from the Comprehensive Plan page 46 and 47. Tcd aEkcd .T~hn Millar what abOUt crossing? John stated it took a months to get the crossing, but they put in crossing arms. the gpprpv3l from the railroad on the very similar facility in Rigby 6 they did approve it. They did require Jim Long- We all recognize the traffic problem, but he has a hard time convincing himself that there is going to be any difference with the esthetics of HBD and the kind of Industry they want to put in. If we need to put in some requirements that they provide a certain type of landscaping and provide screening, he is sure they would do that. If you are going to put a big square chunk of building out there and asphalt around it, it won't matter if it is Industrial or a Business. If he meets all the criteria that Stephen has listed, you can't hold it against him for making a less attractive entrance to Rexburg. We will have some control over it and can force some requirements. Ted- He felt it was critical to Rexburg to require landscaping to make it appear attractive. Jim suggested that maybe we are being given a gift that we don't recognize. Stephen suggested that we could address all these things in an Annexation Agreement. {Discussion with traffic generated by this business being discussed in length.) Jim suggested that we can't stop progress. John Watson stated that there had been a lot of discussion that is the south corridor to Rexburg, but cities grow and Rexburg is definitely growing in that direction. In Boise you go to the center of town before you get to a nice looking entrance. As he sees it the main entrance to Rexburg is the center entrance with a golf course and he does not think that is going to change. There is enough teeth in the ordinance for landscaping that we can require it to be a nice looking location. • • ~~ ;; , A motion was made by John Watson that we recommend that the property be annexed as requested subject to an annexation agreement terms of which wily be determined prior to the annexation. Seconded by Davawn Beattie. John Millar abstained from voting. Those voting Aye: John Watson, Roger Muir, Doug Smith, Jim Long, Ted Whyte, Mike Thueson. Those voting Nay: Richard Smith. Motion Carried RE: COMPPREHENSIVE PLAN 2000 AMENDED TOPIC: (400,226,,,COMPREHENSIVE PLAN,HIGHWAY 191) A motion was made by Ted Whyte to recommend the Comprehensive Plan 2000 that was adopted in 1978 be amended to conform with the zone changes as recommended that the entire corridor between the old Highway 191 and Highway 20 and the road connecting the off ramp and 191 reflects the zoning of Industrial with the exception of the four lots which have been proposed at HBD. Seconded by Roger Muir. Those voting Aye: John Watson, Roger Muir, Davawn Beattie, Jim Long, Ted Whyte, Mike Thueson. Those voting Nay: Richard Smith and Doug Smith. John Millar abstained from voting. Mary Ann left at 9:30 P. M. RE: SITE PLAN APPROVED FOR TACO TIME ADDTION 3RD SOUTH AND 2ND WEST TOPIC: (400,226,,,TACO TIME,LARSON*BRIAN,3RD 5OUTH,SITE PLANS) ~.• Site Plan for Taco Time Addition- This plan has been signed off by the Department Heads. They own the house behind Taco Time and are moving that house. Mr Larson showed the plans and explained them. The drive through will be on 3rd South. It will be more accessible and more appealing to the Public. Joe explained the fence on the North with regard to the code. On the West there will be a buffer. There will be more than 10~ landscaping and they will replace the sidewalk, curb and gutter. A motion was made by Richard Smith to approve the site plan. Seconded by Davawn Beattie. A11 Aye RE: ADMINISTRATION BUILDING AT RICKS COLLEGE SITE PLAN APPROVED TOPIC: (400,226,,,RICKS COLLEGE,SITE PLANS} Sam Stone was at the meeting to show the site plans for the Administration Building at Ricks College. He explained the plan. Joe had reviewed the plan with the Department Heads and got their approval. This building will begin construction in July and completed in the spring of 1999. The ground breaking is Tuesday. Davawn Beattie and Mike Thueson declared a conflict of interest. A motion was made by Jim Long to approve he plan, seconded by Roger Muir. All Aye Don Coates-.Was at the meeting to request a variance for a sign at 344 W 4th South. We are only allowed 65 square feet of signage and with the sign from their Idaho Falls Office it would make 73 square feet. They plan on putting in a sidewalk. The existing sign is 43 square feet and they would like to add a 30 square feet sign. A motion was !' • made by Doug Smith and Seconded by Jim Long to go to public hearing. All Aye ~~ C RE: HEALTH & WELFARE BUILDING SITE PLAN APPROVED TOPIC: (400,227,,,WATSON*JOHN,BARNEY DAIRY ROAD,RIGHT-OF-WAY, STATE DEPT. OF HEALTH & WELFARE,SITE PLANS) John Watson showed a site plan for the Health & Welfare Building. He had a contract with the State of Idaho to build and lease back to the Health & Welfare the building. John owns the property and is building the building. He declared a conflict of interest. This would be directly behind the Gallery Photo Lab. Joe stated the only problem is this building would block where he had felt the Barney Dairy Road should go through. Joe showed a plan of the route he had drawn for the Barney Dairy Road. They would need to get the right-a-way from the Amdahl Building, some from the Photo Lab and with the property John Watson had purchased we would need to take some of the top of his lots. Joe said they had discussed with walkers the alignment of the the street. The lots John has bought would be affected drastically by that. It would take about 42 feet off the top of those lots. Joe said they had not been able to get any comment from the Walkers that they would accept any change in alignment on the preliminary plat. John Watson stated that he purchased the property and developed the plan and submitted it to Joe and he brought it to his attention that he felt a road should go through there. Joe said the mayor is serious about it. Joe had designed an alignment past the Amdahl Building and Photo Gallery but have not had any luck in getting Walkers to do anything in the proposed change in the plat. Joe said we would have to buy 42 feet off the lots that John had purchased. He also said you could shift the building from where John had drawn it down to where Joe had drawn it. You could still get basically the same building but not as nice of a back yard as the one John had drawn. John said he would not build the layout that Joe had drawn. He would not want the traffic that close to the back of the building. John had asked Joe the question if legally there was any reason he could not just build the building. After this meeting it would put him in the position of talking to Ray Walker because he is not interested in building a building that would prevent the city from moving forward. He already has a contract to build a building and already paid for the property, but if Ray is in favor of this road he might be able to jockey the property description around to allow for the road. John said he did not want to be held up from building the building. He asked if his plan as submitted were approved? Joe said the only thing is the sewer needs to be extended past the lot and the water line needs to be extended past where the paving would be. There needs to be service lines stubbed to the south to serve the other lots and the street curb gutter, sidewalk and paving. This is the developer's responsibility. John said he was the developer on this piece of property but not the others. John Millar stated that the Walkers are the developer because they are the ones selling the lots. John Watson was asked if he bought the property with the improvements. John stated that he bought the lots with the understanding that he and Ray would • work it out because he would not want to develope a half of a street. The state had dictated what location they wanted the building built. ~~ ` ~ • Joe said he had given the suggested t twice and he has just said they did Watson said he would talk to Ray. R~ any developer from building because anything all we have is a mark that route of the road to Ray Walker not want to consider it. John Eger suggested that we can't stop we don't have any provisions to do Joe put on a map.. Stephen stated that it was about having John go to the Walkers and find out if they are amenable to this design. That is part of planning as opposed to zoning. John Watson asked what he wants to know is his plan approved and has he done everything legal to this point? Joe said everything is fine except the water, sewer and street. John Watson said Ray has to feel good about it. He said he is committed to a time frame. This drawing of Joe's is not of record but a vision. He would need to start construction within 30 days. He would be happy to talk to Ray and he hopes it can be worked out. A motion was made by Jim Long to ask John Watson to try to work it out with the Walkers. Seconded by Davawn Beattie A11 Aye A motion was made by Ted Whyte to approve the site plan if negotiations with the Walkers does not work out to put the Barney Dairy Road as Joe has drawn. Seconded by Roger Muir. All Aye Meeting adjourned. !~ •