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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1983 03-31 PCM MINUTES OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF BROOKLYN CENTER IN THE COUNTY OF HENNEPIN AND THE STATE OF MINNESOTA STUDY SESSION MARCH 31, 1983 CITY HALL CALL TO ORDER The Planning Commission met in study session and was called to order by Chairman George Lucht at 7: 38 p.m. ROLL CALL Chairman George Lucht, Commissioners Nancy Manson, Lowell Ainas, Carl Sandstrom and Donald Versteeg.. Also present were Director of Planning and Inspection Ronald Warren and Planning Assistant Gary Shallcross. Chairman Lucht stated that Commissioner Malecki had called to say she would be unable to attend the evening's meeting and also noted Commissioner Simmons had stated at the last meeting that she would be unable to attend. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - March 17, 1983 Motion by Commissioner Sandstrom seconded by Commissioner Manson to approve the minutes of the March 17, 1983 Planning Commission meet- ing as submitted. Voting in favor: Chairman Lucht, Commissioners Manson, Ainas, Sandstrom and Versteeg. Voting against: none. The motion passed. APPLICATION NO. 83011 (Robert Adelmann) Following the Chairman's explanation, the Secretary introduced the first item of business , a request for site and building plan and special use permit approval to construct an 8' x 25 ' addition to the south end of the east wing of the service station at 6501 Humboldt Avenue North. The Secretary reviewed the contents of the staff report (see Planning Commission Information Sheet for Application No. 83011 attached) . The Secretary explained that the Building Official had contacted the State Building Codes Division regarding making the restrooms accessible to the handicapped. He ex- plained that unless the restrooms themselves are being remodeled, it is not necessary, under the State Building Code, for the restrooms to be made accessible to the handicapped. He added, however, that the Building Official does recommend that the restrooms be modified to make the restrooms as accessible to the handicapped as possible. The Secretary also noted that the sign above the roofline had been removed and was no longer an issue with this application. Chairman Lucht asked the applicant whether he would be willing to widen the doors to the restrooms to make them accessible to the handicapped. Mr. Adelmann responded that he had not considered doors especially for the handicapped. However, he added, he did plan on getting new doors for the restrooms anyway and thought it would be possible to comply with the recommendation of the Building Official. He asked how great a revision would be involved. The Secretary answered that the doors are presently 2 ' 4" wide and that the Building Official has recommended a 2 ' 8" door, swinging out. Commissioner Ainas also explained the Building Code requirements for the restroom stalls themselves . The Planning Assistant stated that the stall in the women' s room is large enough to meet handicapped 3-31-83 -1- accessibility requirements and stated that the expansion of the men's stall should not require elimination of the urinal. There followed a brief discussion as to how the matter of handicapped accessibility would be handled. Mr.' Adelmann stated that he would be willing to look at what was involved in making the restrooms accessible. The Secretary stated that the plans could be modified without necessarily adding a condition to the approval. PUBLIC HEARING Chairman Lucht then opened the meeting for a public hearing and asked whether anyone present wished to speak on the application. There was no one present to speak on Application No. 83011. Chair- - man Lucht called for a motion to close the public hearing. CLOSE PUBLIC HEARING Motion by Commissioner Manson seconded by Commissioner Ainas to close the public hearing. The motion passed unanimously. The Secretary left at 7:50 p.m. and returned at 7:52 p.m. ACTION RECOMMENDING APPROVAL OF APPLICATION NO. 83011 (Robert Adelmann) Motion by Commissioner Manson seconded by Commissioner Sandstrom to recommend approval of Application No. 83011, subject to the following conditions 1. The permit is issued to the applicant as operator of the facility and is nontransferable. 2 The permit is subject to all codes, ordinances and regulations and any violation thereof shall be grounds for revocation. 3. The plans are subject to review and approval by the Building Official with respect to applicable codes prior to the issuance of permits. 4. Plan approval is exclusive of all signery which is subject to Chapter 34 of the City Ordinances. Voting in favor: Chairman Lucht, Commissioners Manson, Ainas, Sandstrom and Versteeg. Voting against: none. The motion passed. APPLICATION NO. 83012 (Saner Knutson) The Secretary then introduced the next item of business, a request for a special use permit to conduct a small engine repair home occupation in the garage of the residence at 1112 Emerson Lane North. He reviewed the contents of the staff report (see Planning Commission Information Sheet for Application No. 83012 attached). In response to a question from Commissioner Sandstrom regarding hours of operation on Sunday, the Secretary stated _that staff recommend no hours be permitted on Sunday. Commissioner Manson asked whether the hours requested were similar to other similar home occupations. The Secretary responded in the affirmative. Chairman Lucht called on 'the applicant to speak. Mr. Sanver Knutson explained that, to the north of the garage he would be working in, was another garage belonging to the neighbors to the north. He stated that noise from the garage should not be a problem. He stated that he had no problem with limiting hours to 8:00 p.m. week- 3-31-83 -2- days and Saturday. He asked whether Sunday hours could be allowed. Chairman Lucht stated that he recommended against such hours. Mr. Knutson asked whether this meant there would be no operation of engines, allowed, but that he could work on engines as long as he was not starting them up. Chairman Lucht stated that if Mr. Knutson was working in his garage by himself with the door closed, no one might be aware that he was working on his home occupation, but that such operation on Sunday would not be acknowledged under approval of the home occupation. The Secretary briefly reviewed some of the philosophy behind home occupations and explained that other home occupations have. been " restricted much more than Mr. Knutson's. He cited the example of the Tidy Car business which was limited to a certain number of cars that could be worked on in a given month. Mr. Knutson stated that he would not fire up any engines when other people were outside en- joying their yard. The Planning Assistant stated that it would be impossible for the City to enforce a condition which limited hours of operation based on what other people were doing in their yards. He stated that forbidding work on Sundays was a simpler way of ensuring some rights for the neighbors and would be easier to live with, both from an enforcement standpoint and from the applicant's standpoint. PUBLIC HEARING C airman Lucht then opened the meeting for a public hearing and asked whether anyone present wished to speak on the application. Mr. Manson, 1106 Emerson Lane North, stated that he did not feel there would be any problem with the home occupation. He also pointed out that in two directions from the Knutson home, there was no conflict, noting that the church does not have functions during working hours. CLOSE PUBLIC HEARING Seeing no one else who wished to speak on the application, Chairman Lucht called for a motion to close the public hearing. Motion by Commissioner Manson seconded by Commissioner Versteeg to close the public hearing. The motion passed. ACTION RECOMMENDING APPROVAL OF APPLICATION NO. 83012 (Saner Knutson) Motion by Commissioner Versteeg seconded y Commissioner Manson to recommend approval of Application No. 83012, subject to the follow- ing conditions: 1. The permit is issued to the applicant as operator of the facility and is nontransferable. 2. The permit is subject to all applicable codes, ordinances and regulations and any violation thereof shall be grounds for revocation. 3. The hours of operation shall be from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10:00 a.m. to 8 :00 p.m. Saturday. 4. All parking associated with the home occupation shall be off-street on improved space on the property. 3-31-83 -3 • 5. A 5 lb. fire extinguisher shall be installed in the area of the home occupation prior to the issuance of the. permit. 6. Permit approval is exclusive of all signery which is subject to Chapter 34 of the City Ordinances. Voting in favor: Chairman Lucht, Commissioners Manson, Ainas, Sandstrom and Versteeg. Voting against: none. The motion passed unanimously. DISCUSSION ITEM (Manufactured Housing) The Secretary then reviewed with the Planning Commission, ordinance language to allow manufactured housing on the same basis as stick built conventional housing in Rl and R2 zoning districts. He ex- plained that the Zoning Ordinance presently prohibits trailers as dwellings within the City. He explained that the City has allowed pre-cut homes to be assembled on sites in Brooklyn Center. He re- viewed ordinance language to allow earth-sheltered and manufactured housing to be considered dwellings and to strike the prohibition against trailers. He noted, however, that certain recreational vehicles, campers, buses, etc. would not be considered as dwellings. The Secretary then discussed proposed ordinance language requiring permanent continuous foundations around the circumference of the dwelling, but noted the provision to allow porches, canopies, decks, balconies, stairs, etc. to be placed on a noncontinuous permanent foundation as approved by the Building Official. He also noted that certification of manufactured housing by the Department of Housing and Urban Development was necessary before such housing could be built in Brooklyn Center. Finally, he reviewed the pro- posed language requiring a width and depth of the main portion of the dwelling to be no less than 18 feet. He explained that this would require a house to have a minimum ground coverage of 320 square feet and would also require double-wide mobile homes. He stated that staff would check the Assessor's records to see if there were any homes in Brooklyn Center less than 320 square feet in area. The Secretary also pointed out that the proposed regulations would not affect buildings in the R3 zoning district on up, only the Rl and R2 districts. Chairman Lucht asked whether staff had reviewed the ordinance language with the City Attorney. The Secretary responded in the negative, but added that that should probably be done. He stated that staff would check the Assessor's records to check for other nonconforming uses that might be created by the proposed regulations. He stated, however, that a house less than 320 square feet should probably be nonconformi.ng,' considering the general standard in the community. Commissioner Versteeg asked whether structures built before adoption of this language would be grandfathered and allowed to continue. The Secretary answered that structures not meeting the zoning regulations would be nonconforming and would be allowed to continue, but could not expand or be moved to a' different location. He stated that a house without a foundation would have to have a foundation in order to expand. Commissioner Sandstrom asked if this would be the case even to add a deck. The Secretary responded in the affirmative. 3-31-83 -4- Commissioner Ainas then quoted a section from the Building Code regarding manufactured housing wherein it states the application for a building permit to erect a manufactured house must be ac- companied by a plan approval from the State. He asked what this would be referring to. The Secretary stated that it probably re- ferred to the HUD certification. He stated that either the City of the State could stop construction of manufactured housing. He also pointed out that the City would still require plumbing, heating and electrical permits and inspections, as with conventional housing. The Secretary noted that the State has different standards for man- ufactured housing than for conventional housing under the Building Code. He stated that he did not necessarily agree with this approach and stated that he felt the same standard should be applied to any type of housing within a given zoning district. The Secretary also stated that he would like to have recommended, a minimum roof pitch to prevent a boxy appearance, but noted that double-wide mobile homes will usually have some roof pitch and that there are also some flat roofs already in town. The existing flat roofs, he said, have not been a big problem. Commissioner Versteeg asked how the Building Inspector would in- spect a pre-built home. The Secretary stated that the Building Official would check the footings to see that they met frost depth before concrete is poured and that he would check for the HUD seal of approval. He also noted that there would be utility permits for connections to water and sewer and that these connections would be inspected. He acknowledged that there would be no real framing inspection as with conventional housing. Following a further brief discussion of some of the advantages and disadvantages of manufactured housing, it was agreed that the proposed ordinance language would be held over until the April study meeting for review by the full Commission and action at that time. ADJOURNMENT Motion. —by Commissioner Sandstrom seconded by Commissioner Versteeg to adjourn the meeting of the Planning Commission. The motion passed unanimously. The Planning Commission adjourned at 8:47 p.m. . C ai n 3-31-83 -5-