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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-10-2008 Minutesr; CITY OF OAK PARK HEIGHTS PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES \• Thursday, July 10, 2008 Call to Order: Vice -Chair Wasescha called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Present: Commissioners LeRoux, Powell and Runk; City Administrator Johnson, City Planner Richards and Commission Liaison Ahr ` ^amson. Absent: Chair Liljegren. Commissioner Runk, seconded by Commissioner LeRoux, moved to approve the Agenda as presented. Carried 4 — 0. �•r . r 11 Commissioner Runk, seconded by Commissioner LeRoux, moved to approve the Minutes as presented. Carried 4 — 0. Visitors /Public Comment: None. Public Hearings: A. Raduenz Dealership Properties. LLC, doing business as Stillwater Motor Comgan Conditional Use Permit Amendment — Seeking amendments to July 26, 2005 Conditional Use Permit conditions pertaining to automotive dealerships located at 5900 Stillwater Blvd. N. City Planner Richards reviewed the June 27, 2008 planning report to the request for an amended conditional use permit related to extending the timelines for construction improvements at Stillwater Motor Company. Richards reviewed the conditions of the earlier conditional use permit approval and noted one amendment recommendation to those conditions for the Commission's consideration should they elect to move the matter forward to the City Council with a recommendation for request approval. Vice -Chair Wasescha opened the public hearing and invited public comment. There being no visitors to the public hearing, Commissioner Runk, seconded by Commissioner LeRoux, moved to close the public hearing. Carried 4 — 0. Planning Commission Minutes July 10, 2008 Page 2 of 6 Commissioner Runk, seconded by Commissioner LeRoux, moved to recommend City Council approval, subject to the conditions of the approved July 26, 2005 Conditional Use Permit with Condition 1 amended as per June 27, 2008 planning report recommendation, specifically: 1. All parking setbacks, curbs and stormwater drainage systems, in the northeast and southeast corners of the site, shall be constructed and brought into compliance with the Zoning Ordinance regulations no later than August 31, 2013. 2. Revisions to the landscape plan showing shade trees along 59 Street, the frontage to Hwy 5, and in appropriate places around the parking area are approved in concept. Final revisions to the landscape plan shall be reviewed and approved by the City Arborist. 3. The grading, drainage and utility plans shall be subject to the review and approval of the City Engineer and the Browns Creek Watershed District. 4. Customer, employee, and display parking shall be delineated on the site plan and all customer parking stalls shall be appropriately signed. 5. Detailed plans and completely labeled building elevations shall be resubmitted to the City to show all building materials and colors. A materials board shall be submitted forthe City Council review. 6. A detailed photometric plan showing lot perimeter and street centerline foot candles compliant to City Code shall be provided. All lighting shall be installed or retrofitted to be in compliance with the lighting standards of the Zoning Ordinance. 7. An approval of the sign variance allowing a total of ten wall signs and eliminating the two 32 square foot "showroom" signs as proposed on the building elevations. The applicant shall provide an accurate rendering of all wall signs for review and approval of the City Council. The City Council approves the overall number and square footage of allowable wall signage for the project. 8. The applicant shall remove the large pylon sign at the northwest corner of the site and all checkered banners prior to issuance of a certificate of occupancy for the remodeled building. 9. The materials utilized for the proposed trash enclosure shall be the same materials used on the building. 10. All automobile repair activities shall be limited to within the principal structure and the doors to the service bays shall be kept closed except when vehicles are being moved in or out of service areas. Planning Commission Minutes July 10, 2008 Page 3 of 6 11. There shall be no exterior storage of automobile parts or related items on the site. All parts storage shall be internal to the building. The applicant shall provide a site plan indicating the location of the fenced car storage area and fencing details subject to review and approval of City staff. Any cars under repair that are to be stored outline of the building shall be parked within said fenced car storage area. 12. All noise created from operations on the site shall be in conformance with Section 401.15.B.11 of the Zoning Ordinance. 13. The oe_Itdoor paging system shill be replaced with a personal communication system that is non - audible beyond the property lines. 14. The applicant shall receive and retain, if required, a Hazardous Waste Generators License from Washington County for the Stillwater Motors operation. Carried 4 — 0. B. Xcel Energy, Inc. Conditional Use Permit Amendment to allow vertical expansion of the A.S. King Fly Ash Disposal Site, known as the Moelter Fly Ash Site, located S. of Hwy. 36 and W. of Beach Rd. City Planner Richards reviewed the July 3, 2008 planning report to the request for an amended conditional use permit to allow modification to its existing conditional use permit approvals allowing an extension of the 2010 site closing condition. Richards noted that the request stems from new law placing a moratorium on permitting new landfill until such time the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has conducted rule making to address the issue. Richards provided an issue analysis and discussed the same including the visual impact of the proposed expansion. He noted staff concerns as to the landscape plan information and the MPCA's acceptance of what is proposed as well as concern with the placement of additional fill upon and near the existing utility lines in the area in regard and access to the service lines. Richards noted that staff would like to have more information on the issues of concern and for Xcel Energy to hold a community meeting for the affected neighboring community as to their plans and has recommended that the Planning Commission continue the public hearing to their next meeting to allow time for staff to work with Xcel Energy and for Xcel Energy to hold a community meeting. Commission discussion ensued as to the new law regarding new landfill permitting and what options were available to Xcel Energy should the Commission opt to recommend an approval or a denial recommendation to the City Council in light of the law binding their operations. Vice -Chair Wasescha opened the public hearing and invited public comment. Planning Commission Minutes July 10, 2008 Page 4 of 6 Brian Jones introduced himself as a resident of 1533158 th St. N. and the owner of a rental property at 15357 58 St. N, both in the affected area of the Xcel Energy's fly ash operation. Mr. Jones stated that his wife, Kari, has been sick since the project commenced and provided the Commission with written comment from her. Mr. Jones stated that that the operation at the site is dirty, noisy and that the vibrations are awful. He is opposed to approving the request and noted that if it is approved he wants his properties bought out at a decent price. Pam Patrick of 15365 58 St. N. noted that because she is not as close to the site as Mr. Jones the impact is not as strong, adding that this year has been terrible for their neighborhood, with the winds and the density of the dust blowing from the site. She stated that she too would like to see the operations cease at the site but also understands the situation Xcel has been placed in. She would like to see something cover the top of the fill site the 16 -hours of each day that ash is not being hauled into the site to help reduce dust and expressed her hope that a reasonable consensus could be found that worked for everyone in the event the operations must continue. City Planner Richards noted that the 2006 approvals to Xcel Energy required them to implement adequate dust control at all time and that an automatic sprinkler system was to have been installed to for wetting of the site. Bob Hegna introduced himself as an East Oaks property owner and stated that he understood that more emission controls were put into place resulting in more contaminates in the ash material and sought to learn what kind of environmental study had been done to control the contaminates, the fly as dust and the site in general. Kim Graffunder of 5866 Penrose Ave. N. stated that he understood the situation Xcel Energy has been placed in and noted that it is important to consider how well they have lived up to their existing commitments to consider how well they will live up to future commitments to the site. He stated that the neighborhood is very dirty due to the dust created by the fly ash operation and expressed concern about dust being left behind from the truck hauling and would like to see more stringent rules regarding covering the site and the trucks while in transit. Commissioner Runk acknowledged and made part of the official record written comment from resident Russ Baribeau of 5900 Oxboro Ave. N. expressing his opposition to approval of the request. Also acknowledge and made part of official records was written comment from residents and business owners Judy & Chuck Dougherty of 15330 58 St. N., who were unable to attend the meeting due to an out of town obligation, noting a number of questions they have and indicating their desire to see the matter continued or tabled so that they may actively participate in the discussion. Vice -Chair Wasescha asked if anyone from Xcel Energy would like to address the Commission. Planning Commission Minutes July 10, 2008 Page 5 of 6 Darrell Knutson addressed the Commission on behalf of Xcel Energy, noting that they are responding to changes at the A.S. King Plant as part of the larger MERP project, including operating the plant with coal and meeting pollution standards required for a newly constructed facility. Responding to visitor discussion, Mr. Knutson noted that there is more ash material created by the new process; however the actual chemistry of the material is very similar to the ash created by the old process and that the ash volume presently being created comes from the lime introduced to the ash material. He acknowledged resident comments as to the dust this year and discussed Xcel's transition to determine the appropriate mix of lime to the ash material and how that related to their obligations under MPCA permit approvals. He noted that the lime is very dusty and acknowledge having received calls from City Administrator Johnson regarding the dust and his efforts to address the situation as quickly as possible. Mr. Knutson stated that he believes they have a better handle on the dust situation and the lime ratio balance than earlier in the year. He also acknowledged having received calls from City Administrator Johnson and Mayor Beaudet as to the vibrations from the site operation, noting that the operation method has been changed and hopefully has resolved the problem. Mr. Knutson discussed the management of the ash wetting and the condition of their having automatic sprinkling at the site. He stated that they currently do a lot of truck watering during non- freezing weather and always have a water truck in operation when trucks are hauling. He stated that the watering and addition of lime to the ash results in a quick dry time and leaves the ash settled with a hard crust on top, which should greatly reduce dust blowing. He stated he felt dust was being managed fairly well, adding that he would take a closer look at it. Mr. Knutson expressed that Xcel had no opposition with the delay proposed by the planning report to allow staff and applicant time to work together on issues and for Xcel to have a community meeting as to the project. He added that he is optimistic that in time, useful uses will be found for the ash but that presently Minnesota's technology for ash use limits them to land- filling it. He stated that ultimately, Xcel is looking to find what it takes to be reasonable neighbors and to be able to continue to run the plant in a way that makes sense. On the matter of the dust from trucks hauling, Mr. Knutson stated that hauling is currently contracted. MERP requires the trucks to be covered both coming and going from the site. Haulers are aware of the requirement and if it is not happening, Xcel wants to hear when it is observed not occurring so that they can respond as quickly as possible to correct the situation. Planning Commission Minutes July 10, 2008 Page 6 of 6 Brief discussion ensued as to some uses of waste material such as the slag, which is now 100% utilized and no longer land - filled, how much coal is needed per hour to operate the plant and the percentage ash created by the coal, the anticipated time needed to continue operations while the MPCA works through their discussion and release the moratorium in place and what Xcel's options are should their request for amendment not be granted. Commissioner Runk, seconded by Vice -Chair Wasescha, moved to continue the public hearing to August 14, 2008. Carried 4 — 0. � ;a €:y /NIrninistrator Johnson invited Xcel Energy to use the City Hall for their community meeting should they care to do so. New Business: None. Old Business: None. rft�• A. Upcoming Meetings July 15, 2008 4:30 p.m. — City Hall Citizen's Advisory Committee (City Hall — Rear Conference Room) 6:30 p.m. — City Council Worksession with City Hall Citizen's Advisory Committee (City Hall — Rear Conference Room) August 14, 2008 7:00 p.m. - Regular Planning Commission Meeting (Council Chambers) B. Council Representative July — Vice Chair Wasescha August — Commissioner Runk Adjournment: Commissioner Powell, seconded by Commissioner Runk, moved to adjourn the meeting at 7:58 p.m. Carried 4 — 0. Respectfully submitted, C ( - kJxj_q r I A Ju 'e A. Hultman Planning & Code Enforcement Officer Approved by the Planning Commission on August 14, 2008. (5 -0 Vote)