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HomeMy WebLinkAboutP&Z MINUTES NOVEMBER 08, 2000 PLANNING & ZONING • ( November 8, 2000 7:Gu p.m. Present: Chairman: Davawn Beattie Members: LaDawn Bratsman Ted Whyte John Watson Gary Steiner Raymond Hill Bobbette Carlson Mike Thueson Roder Muir P.F.C. John Millar Council Member: Donna Benfield City Attorney: Stephen Zollinger Minutes: Janet Williamson Excused: Marilyn Hansen, City Clerk Davawn welcomed everyone and had the Scouts introduce themselves. Ted Whyte moved to approve the minutes of October 25t''. Bobbette seconded the motion- All voted aye. Norte opposed. Roger Muir won the election for County Commissioner and Gary Steiner will be moving out of the Impact Zone so they wiii both need to be replaced on the Punning and Zoning Board. Replacements will need to live in the impact zone. John Watson asked that he be put on the November 15~" agenda for a preliminary plat review for the Deseret Industries property. Davawn asked John Watson to chair the meeting on December 13tH Stephen read the notice for the public hearing for Steve Oakey zone change from MDR to HBD at 50-60 So. lst West. John explained that the property is located directly west across the road from the old Broulims building on South 1St West. It is in the south half of that street from the middle of the block. There is a driveway going back to the Cottonwood Apartments, there are 21ots and a house and business on the corner. The issue is to zone those 2 lots as described to HBD. The North half of the block is HBD and the Clean Spot is north of the driveway is HBD. The business on the 1 • • corner of lst W and lst S is out of zone. The driveway to Cottonwood Apartments is the only thing that separates them from being contiguous. Davawn read into the record a letter from Vera B. Rish, 66 S lst W ,stating her opposition to the zone change. Davawn opened the meeting to public comment. J.D. Hancock, So. 1St West - J. D. lives within a block of the this zone change. He concurs with Mrs. Rish and is alarmed at the erosion of the residential neighborhood in which they live. One of the purposes of planning and zoning is to protect property rights. They have a right to protect their neighborhood. Unfortunately planning and zoning approved a new housing complex directly across the street from MDR to HDR and that will definitely increase the traffic on this street. He believes Mr. Oakey's application is grossly inadequate and incomplete. There are 7 questions that are asked in the application and only one of those 7 is answered. The south half of the block from Main Street to 1St South is all residential and we would like to preserve the integrity of that residential neighborhood. The church is on the corner of 2nd W and lst S, Porter Park is there and there are a lot of amenities for a family who wants to live in that particular neighborhood. The second point he would like to bring up is there are more then enougl^i areas in Rexburg that are zoned HBD. There is plenty of commercial property for a business that wants to relocate. • There is the corner across from City Hall, the corner at 2nd W and Main and at least 4 vacant lots along South 2nd W, just one block away. The third reason they are opposed to any business that might be 24 hour, whether it be a car wash, a convenient store, or any other business, is increased noise, increased traffic, increased litter and garbage and possible crime. Every summer they contend with Retrix which is a block away because of the noise, the traffic and the problems that arise because of the nature of that business. Look at the proximity of that location to the Jr. High School. We don't know what business is going in but do we want to entice our children off the Jr. High campus to go to a convenience- store or what ever maybe put there. He believes that this might have some impact on the school district because of its proximity to the Jr. High School and the school district needs to have the impact in this decision according to the relevant sections of the planning and zoning ordinance. For all of these reasons we would urge the Planning and Zoning Board to deny this request. Jean & John Barnes, 133 W. 1St South John and Jean stated that both of them are very concerned with this going in and they don't agree that it should. • 2 Cheri Moore, 110 W lSt South Cheri said this would be putting the business on the other side of her back fence. There would be noise, destruction and property damage and she highly opposes it. James Parkinson, 144 W. 1St South James has had serious crime problems around his house with vandalism, theft, and nothing seems to be getting done about it. The more traffic we add the worse it is going to be. He wants to put a stop to it. ' Verna Gneiting, 130 W 1St South Verna agrees with everything that has been said. Another concern of hers is the decrease in their residential neighborhood reduces the likelihood of being able to sell their property as a residential property. This would reduce the value of their property. We need to preserve the integrity of this residential area. Sally Thompson, 110 S. 1St West Sally's son waited for the stop light to go in on Main and lst West so he could have more independence. The corner where she lives, 1St West and 1St South, now has wheel chair ramps at all four corners. The increased traffic would greatly reduce the safety at this corner. A business would increase the traffic, noise and pollution and she is opposed to it. Pat Scheese, 77 W lst South Pat lives on the corner of lst West and lst South. She is opposed to it. She gets enough trash • already. The increased traffic will pollute the neighborhood. The noise level is already high. They can't get 4 way stops put in anywhere where they need them. If she ever had to sell her home she wout_dn't be able to. Diana Janson, 153 S. 1St West Diana has 3 children ages 10, 12, and 13. She agrees with all that has been said and is mostly concerned with how it will effect her children. Pete Thompson, 135 S. 1St West Pete is also opposed to the zone change mainly because of the added traffic it would bring. Wade Quick, 60 S. 1St West Wade lives in one of the houses being talked about. There is college housing being built across the street from him and apartments in back of him and I~Ielaleuca is moving in across the street also. He has small children and the only way he can sell his home and move to a better neighborhood is to have it rezoned. Roy Rounds, 60 W 1St South Roy understands what is going on here and concurs but would like to hear the other side and find out what they want to do. 3 • Steve Oakey said that despite what J.D. says about available property, he has searched those available on Main Street and else where and none are suitable or affordable enough to make his business work there. This neighborhood is going to get more traffic whether he is there or not and whether they want it or not. The Planning and Zoning people have been looking for future arteries off Main Street. Unfortunately all of your homes lie within corridors off Main Street. If you want Rexburg to grow you must allow businesses to come into Rexburg and to expand and to grow to crate jobs to allow'our community to be non-stagnant: He is planning to put a car wash in, not a convenience store. There will not be anymore traffic than there already is. Judy Davis Hobbs, speaking in behalf of the Quicks as their real estate agent, asked the people to consider their position and to realize that they will not be able to sell their homes as a residence because businesses are creeping in. If you were to have an opportunity to get fair price and to be able to move into another home you really need to endorse the rezoning so you will have a better opportunity of reselling your own home. Verna Gneiting did not agree with Judy. There are other ways Rexburg could grow without taking away their homes. James Parkinson felt there is a problem if the residents have to suffer so someone can make money. He has done a lot of remodeling to increase the value of his home. He doesn't want to be forced out. Jean Barnes - if this goes in and their homes are not sellable as homes what are they going to be sold as? Her home is not large enough to be sold for commercial use. Pat Scheese -She bought her home 10 years ago and retired in March. She lives or. a limited income and could never afford to buy another home. Diana Janson said when they bought their home they signed a contract with Idaho Housing that they would live there for 10 years. Hope Quick, 60 S. 1St West The Quicks bought their home about 2 years ago. She doesn't want to see it torn down and the people in the neighborhood are wonderful but the college is taking over. It is not a family area anymore. There is so much foot traffic and traffic on the road that it is not safe for her children. About twice a week, every week, there are cars that will not stop for the bus when it is dropping off her children. Virginia Pratt, 50 S. 1St West The Pratts own the other house that is being bought and the Cottonwood Apartments. She feels there is more emotion being put into to this than needs to be. No one is trying to force anyone out of their homes. You don't have to sell your home if you don't want to. What she is saying is one more business in there is not going to make any difference to the traffic and the noise. • 4 J.D. Hancock - we are taking valuable residential area and eroding it. On the corner of 2nd W • and 2nd S. there is a vacant lot zoned HBD. That is just as big and probably not more expensive and just one black away. People wash their cars 24 hours a day. We are asking you to preserve the integrity of our neighborhood and our property rights. Cheri Moore said they have put a lot of work into their back yard and this business would eliminate all their privacy. Davawn closed the meeting to public comments. Stephen stated that this property was commercial in the previous zoning (1968-1991) and changed to MDR in 1991. Johnny Watson asked what the Comprehensive Plan shows. John said it is Commercial on the Comprehensive Plan. Ted Whyte declared a conflict of interest but wanted to make some comments. Cottonwood Apartments needs more parking and the back 43 feet of the 21ots will be made into additional parking for the apartments. This will get the cars off of the streets. The front 2/3 of the lots will be a stand alone, 4 hand car wash unit. It is not an automatic car wash or convenient store just 4 individual stalls of car washes. You are a block off Main Street and a block from the College. There becomes a conversion • process as the city grows to do a transformation of areas around universities. Stephen told the board that they are responsible for going through the 7 questions on the application and answering them. They are not required to be answered by the developer. {Board reviewed all of the 7 questions.) John mentioned that on this block -the entire city block -there are 8 homes. The rest is either commercial, HDR or the church. The 21ots wanting the zone change are part of that 8. Johnny Watson said that a few months ago they reviewed a proposal for apartments at this location and they denied it based on the fact that commercial is going down Main Street and they want to maintain the commercial area in the downtown. Looking down the road this is a natural commercial use. This area is MDR zone at the time and Davawn read the definition of MDR to the people present. Mike said this development fits the Comprehensive Plan. • John said if this is rezoned HBD any business allowed under HBD could go there. Davawn pointed out that this board only makes a recommendation to the City Council and the Council makes the final decision. Johnny Watson said he was .sympathetic to the residents but the Board's charge and responsibility is to the Comprehensive plan and this meets a117 requirements on the rezoning application. J.D. said they could honor the requests of the residents. They do not have to recommend every request that comes before them. Johnny Watson made a motion that they recommend to the City Council that this be approved and rezoned from MDR to HBD, recognizing that that allows for the residents to come before City Council. Roger Muir seconded the motion. Ted Whyte abstained from voting. LaDawn opposed the motion. All others voted aye. Motion carried. Public Hearing -Frank Zimmerman, sign variance for Central Park Burgers Stephen read the public hearing notice for a sign variance for Frank Zimmerman for Central Park Burgers. John explained that the sign at Central Park Burgers is in excess of what is allowed by the city sign ordinance. The size of a sign is determined by two factors. One is the amount of frontage that the property has and the other attributed to the size of the building. The problem we have run into here is that the sign and the front of the building are about the same size. The sign is 22 sq. feet too large. Frank mentioned that when you say you go by building and frontage you are looking at having another major thorough fare go through there and so he has in excess of 350 feet of frontage. The franchise does have standard signs. This is one of the smaller ones and they did cut down the height. The signage came with the building Davawn opened the meeting to public comment. There was no comment so it was closed and returned to the board to review. Ted and John Watson felt when they were writing the sign ordinance they didn't consider small buildings. Stephen said they did particularly on Main Street. They were not thinking about the North Highway and places like Sears and United Furniture have struggled with the ordinance. (Discussion). 6 Ted Whyte moved that they table it, have the sign size refigured and look at other options. Raymond Hill seconded the motion. All voted aye. None opposed. They asked that it be put on the agenda in February. 7 ~~ V ~' PLANNING & ZONING ~,, WORK MEETING November 8, 2000 Present: Chairman: Davawn Beattie Members: LaDawn Bratsman - _ -- Ted Whyte John Watson Gary Steiner Raymond Hill Bobbette Carlson Mike Thueson Roger Muir P.F.C. John Millar Council Member: Donna Benfield Minutes: Janet Williamson Excused: Marilyn Hansen, City Clerk Stephen Zollinger, City Attorney John Miiiar presented the proposed changes to t'_ne Comprehensive Map that have been discussed. - The Steiner Property adjacent to U.S. 20 south of the Widdison Addition. Part of this property has been proposed for MDR. It is shown as single family residential on the Comprehensive Plan. There are 2 storage units in the area already. They are built out-of--zone. They have requested more and P & Z has been firm on no more storage units in that area. - On 5th W and about 1St N. there are about 8 - 4 plexes in a `U' shape. Coming before you soon will be a proposal for a zone change for the vacant property contiguous to that on the north for more 4 plexes. The area was zoned for that before the last re-zoning and it was purchased for that purpose. The neighborhood, during the public hearings, was quite adamant that they wanted no more high density residential in that area. We down zoned that to single family residential. - We are also looking at the area from 1000 S to 4th S. on the west side of the old highway. The Hawkins Company has purchased the area and are proposing several different zones, LDR1, MDR and HBD. The area is currently zoned Ag. 1 and some Industrial. They will also want to annex and go on city services. We see them as a serious developer. - This one is in retrospect - It is behind the old Broulims. It is shown on the master plan as commercial. We have recently approved a large housing complex in there. • -Area on 1st West and 2nd West between 2nd and 4th South is already HDR and v~rill need to be brought into compliance with what is already there. - There is a proposal coming before the Board for the area on 2nd East between St" and 7t" South. Part of that property is currently zoned MDR and they are going to request that it all be zoned HDR. -- - On the Comprehensive Plan the Business Park is shown as Commercial. There are 2 proposals now that would put Industrial on the back side of the business park. It is currently shown wrong on the zoning map. It is shown as HBD and is actually zoned as Industrial. The piece of land around Ultimate Direction is shown as commercial on the Comprehensive Plan. This change would expand that into Industrial. As far as John knows, nothing is proposed there and the way to go would be commercial.. On the zoning map Ultimate Direction is zoned industrial. That would bring the Comprehensive Plan in line with the Zoning Ordinance but they do no± necessarily have to be in compliance. Maybe, long te~l~~, we may want this to be commercial or industrial. - The property on the West side of the Salem road on the North Highway is currently zoned right up to cemetery road as industrial. A plumbing business is there now. With that road going 4 lanes there is going to be a lot of pressure for that area to be zoned HBD, the proposal is to modif<,~ the C,omprehenslve Plant to show I'LL. The City wants to leave the Business Park industrial. These proposals are set up for public hearing at the next meeting November 15t". (Discussion of various areas.) Davawn asked John to have an overlay map at the public hearing. They can change the Comprehensive Plan, re-zone and annex in the same evening. What these changes do is promote development in the right places. John told the board that if they make these changes it cannot be looked at again for 6 months. They felt that the Salem Highway area should stay HBD. Do away with the small proposed change on 2nd East between 4t" and 7t" South. John said that they have not addressed 4t" South between 2nd and St" West. It is primarily commercial right now but you also have the assisted living center, a church and apartments. There is pressure for it to be HDR. 2 It was suggested that the board drive around and look at each of the proposed changes before the public hearing on November 15t''. • • Meeting adjourned. 3