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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001 03-20 HCM MINUTES OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE HOUSING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF BROOKLYN CENTER IN THE COUNTY OF HENNEPIN AND STATE OF MINNESOTA REGULAR SESSION MARCH 20, 2001 CONFERENCE ROOM B CALL TO ORDER The Brooklyn Center Housing Commission was called to order by Chairperson Erickson at 7 p.m. ROLL CALL Chairperson Ernie Erickson, Commissioners Martin Frawley, Dennis Snook, Lloyd Deuel, Kathleen Carmody, Michael VonDeLinde, and Mark Yelich. Also present were Council Liaison Ed Nelson, and Community Development Specialist Tom Bublitz. I Commissioners Shawn Taylor and Elizabeth Davis were absent and excused from the meeting. I I, APPROVAL OF AGENDA There was a motion by Commissioner Deuel and seconded by Commissioner Snook to approve the agenda as submitted. The motion passed. APPROVAL OF MINUTES February 20, 2001 Chairperson Erickson noted consideration of the minutes for the February meeting would be deferred until the April Housing Commission meeting. CHAIRPERS0IV REPORT Chairperson Erickson explained he had recently attended a City Council Work Session with other Commission Chairs and noted that this has become an annual meeting. He explained the major item of discussion at this meeting was the annual recognition meeting for commission volunteers to be held on Monday, April 16 at 7 p.m. in Constitution Hall. He noted there will be a light buffet served at this meeting and two of the Housing Commission's former members will be honored at the meeting, Don Arm and Muhammed Okoya-LawaL Chairperson Erickson also noted that, in addition to discussing the annual recognition meeting, the various commission chairs brought the City Council up to date on various projects their commissions were working on. The City Council also shared information with Commission chairs and noted that the police department will be moving to 12 hour shifts in the patrol division in an effort to lower over time costs and absenteeism. The Chair also noted Council information commission members that the City now has only one liquor store located in the strip center next to Cub and explained that the Northbrook store will be closed due to a problem with obtaining an extended lease. 03-20-01 =1- Chairperson Erickson informed Commission members that at the City Council Work Session with Commission Chairs, the City Manager discussed the Metropolitan Council initiative to purchase 10 homes in Brooklyn Center to provide affordable housing. He noted the Housing Commission may be reviewing this issue in the future. The Commission discussed the issue of affordable housing and the issue of the Holman lawsuit and settlement which relates to the Metropolitan Councils initiative for affordable housing in suburban areas. Councilmember Nelson also informed commission members that the Smart Growth study being done in conjunction with the Metropolitan Council and a consultant will also be starting. Commissioner Yelich commented that he would like to see the Housing Commission have some role in tlle study being done in conjunction with the Metropolitan Council. DISCUSSION OF MEMORANDUM REGARDING SUMMARY OF HOUSING COMMISSION REVIEW OF CHAPTERS 12 AND 19 Chairperson Erickson noted he and the Community Development Specialist had met to summarize the Housing Commission's discussion regarding potential ordinance changes. He noted at the February meeting the Commission did not seem to have a clear direction or consensus on any changes to the ordinances. He also commented on the meeting at which Ron Warren, the City's Planning and Zoning Specialist, attended and noted Mr. Warren's comments emphasizing, if you change one thing in an ordinance it may put another area out of balance. He noted this is one of the frustrations in amending ordinances since it is not as easy as it appears. Commissioner Carmody suggested that the Commission could finalize its work in April then forward their recommendation to the City Council to have it back from the Council by May with directives to the Housing Commission. To start the discussion, Chairperson Erickson stated it appears that there is some consensus for requiring paved driveways for residential properties. He noted there appears to be less consensus on some items including collector cars and that there appears to be a more definite consensus on amending the ordinance with regard to fences. I i After a brief discussion and at the suggestion of Commissioner Yelich, the Commission elected to take each ordinance issue and reach a decision, the first issue being the issue of paved driveways for residential properties. Commissioner;Deuel commented that he believes gravel I driveways should not be allowed and the discussion should focus on when an ordinance requiring paving should take effect. Chairperson Erickson referred commission members to Mr. Warren's 1991 memorandum and draft ordinance and observed that from 1991 to date, the data from the street improvement projects show more drives are paved than 10 years ago. Commissioner Carmody stated that she believes many properties are not having their drives paved even with the street improvement projects and that she does not think the paving of residential lots will get done even with options for paving drives in connection with the street improvement projects. 03-20-01 -2- Chairperson Erickson inquired of commission members whether or not the Housing Commission should recommend that the City should provide financing or contractor referrals for paving driveways. After discussion, there was a consensus that financing options for home owners would be helpful but requiring fmancing or having the City find contractors should not be part of the ordinance. Commissioner Yelich stated that there are numerous issues with regard to driveway paving including the size of driveways, whether permits should be required, financial aid, types of materials for drives etc. He suggested that the commission should take each individual aspect of the driveway paving issue separately and discuss it and come to a consensus. After brief discussion, the commission agreed with Commission Yelich's suggestion to address each issue of the driveway paving requirement separatel�. There was a general consensus among commission members to require that driveways oon one and two family residential lots be paved. The first specific issue addressed by the Commission was the type of materials to be used. The commission consensus was that the ordinance should specify the driveway should be a solid surface with materials used either asphalt, concrete or brick. The next issue addressed by the commission was the allowable size of the paved driveway area. Commissioners commented that they would like to receive input from the Engineering department with regard to issues such as runoff from paved areas. The conunission discussed this issue and reached a consensus that the existing policy of paving no more than 50% of the front yard should still be the maximum paved area. The commission also reached a consensus that households should not be required to pave parking areas on the side lot areas next to the house or garage or backyard areas but if these areas of the yard are paved the paving should be limited to an amount to be determined by the city's Engineering department, taking into account water runoff issues etc. Commissioner Yelich inquired of the commission whether vehicles should be required to park on hard surfaces. Commissioner Carmody stated she was opposed to requiring this because she believes it will be more damaging in the long term than the short term positive effects. Commissioner Yelich suggested that, based on Engineering input, a maximum limit on the amount of hard surface paving should be established. Commissioner Carmody stated she would like to limit the number of cars and use the percentage requirements for a limit on paving. Commissioner Yelich suggested that the commission should also address the issue of how many curb cuts can be allowed per lot. Commissioner Carmody stated that she believes the number of curb cuts should be limited to two and noted there are some existing situations in the city where there are two curb cuts now. The commission continued a brief discussion on curb cuts and Chairperson Erickson noted there appears to be a consensus that the second curb cut should be limited to 12 feet in width. The next issue addressed by the commission was the issue of whether or not any financial incentives should be implemented to assist property owners with paving their driveways. After discussion, the consensus of the commission was to not include this as a recommendation. 03-20-01 _3_ The next issued discussed by the commission was whether or not permits should be required for driveway installation. The commission questioned whether or not there would need to be a determination by city staff with regard to the percentage of the lot paved. It was noted that currently there is no building permit requirement for installation of driveways and the consensus was that the ordinance should specify the amount of paved area but no building permit should be required. The next issued addressed by the commission was the timing of the paving ordinance. The general consensus of the commission was that the driveways should be paved within three years from the date of ordinance enactment. Commissioner Frawley suggested that the commission might want to look at language which would provide an option for those properties which will be undergoing street improvements to have a longer period of time to install their driveways based on tying it to their particular street improvement project time line. Commissioner Carmody expressed concern that if we allow paving of driveways to be tied to street improvements the street projects could extend out another 10+ years so that driveways would not be paved for this period of time. After continued discussion, there was a commission consensus that the time line for requiring paved driveways should be three years for paving d'rrveways excluding the boulevard/apron areas which would be addressed by a future street improvement project. Councilmember Nelson suggested that the Housing Commission's recommendations might be able to be considered at the April 2`� study sessibn by the City Council. The Community Development Specialist noted he would talk to the City Manager regarding whether or not the recommendations could be placed on the April 2n study session. The next issue addressed by the commission was the issue of keeping collector cars. Chairperson Erickson stated that collector cars are defined by State Statute as those vehicles with collector or pioneer plates. He noted these cars are not used for daily driving and that the license plates are a one time purchase. The Commission discussed how the difference between collector cars and regular passenger cars should be defined in the ordinance. The issue was raised with regard to what difference there would be in keeping a large number of collector cars on your property versus passenger cars. It was noted that regular passenger vehicles would have to be licensed and operable and collector cars would not necessarily have to be operable and that the licensing of them is a one time fee with collector or pioneer plates. Also, collector cars are required to be screened from view. Commissioner Erickson inquired whether the commission would consider limiting the number of collector cars to five collector cars per residential lot. There was a general consensus of commission members to recommend that no more than five collector cars be allowed on any residential lot. 03-20-01 -4- i The next issue addressed by the Housing Commission was ordinance requirements regarding fencing and fence maintenance. Chairperson Erickson noted the Housing Commission had reviewed ordinances from several cities regarding fencing requirements. He noted most of the ordinances specified construction materials permitted for fencing. Specifically, the three items included in the memorandum summarizin th g e Housing Commission discussion included, fences to be constructed of materials designed or reasonably suited to the purpose for which the fence is proposed to be used, no previously used materials could be used for fence construction and the finished side of the fence should face the abutting property. After brief discussion, the commission reached a consensus that these three areas should be recommended for adoption in the city's ordinance. It was also noted that it would be helpful to have the fence requirements contained in the various city ordinances, such as height permitted etc. to be included in one area of the ordinance for convenience. The last issue addressed by the Housing Commission was the issue of yard cover. Chairperson Erickson noted the Housing Commission had reviewed several ordinance requirements from other cities regarding yard cover and that it appeared there were already a great deal of similarities between the existing Brooklyn Center ordinance and that which is required in other cities. After commission discussion, there was a consensus to not recommend any changes to the existing city ordinance with regard to yard cover requirements. OTHER BIISINESS Chairperson Erickson commented that the ''Community Development Specialist had given commission members a copy of a flyer for the upcoming 2001 Northwest Suburban Remodeling Fair. He encouraged commission members'to attend the fair along with the free workshops held throughout the day. Commissioner Yelich addressed the issue of the Smart Growth study being done in conjunction with the Metropolitan Council. He stated he would like to see the Housing Commission have input into this study. Chairperson Erickson inquired if there was any additional business, there being none, he entertained a motion to adjourn. ADJOURNMENT There was a motion by Commissioner Deuel and seconded by Commissioner Carmody to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed. The Brooklyn Center Housing Commission adjourned at 9 p.m. airn 03-20-01 -5-