e e e e e e e e e e good afternoon I'd like to call to order
the Planning Commission meeting it is 4:30 on Thursday February 27th 2025 I have a couple items of business because we have a large crowd would you all please make sure your cell phones are turned off because I do not like the
ringing and secondly if you have something to say and I'm sure people will have something to say step up to the microphone over there and state your name and address and please speak into the microphone thank you first item on the agenda is public
hearing um on the McKinley Whitaker interim use permit application all right um John nisley planner with the city of New M uh so this interim use permit application is to allow a mof facial release therapy business out of a single family
residential home located in the rt2 uh zoning District the applicant for this uh application is Daniel Mckinley the property owner is Samantha Whitaker the legal description is lot 9 block 54
south of Center Street with the street address of 1121 South Minnesota Street uh the property is generally located north of 12th North Street and East of South Minnesota Street kind of in the same neighborhood as uh doers uh in that
area a deadline for a decision on this application is April 2nd 2025 uh the comprehensive plan land use designation for the property is low density residential and surrounding uh land use designation s to the north south east and west are also all low
density residential zoning designation again for this property is rt2 that's traditional neighborhood single and two Family Residence District currently the site is a single family residence Uh current area land uses
again to the north Southeast and West are all single family residences notice was provided to all Property Owners within 350 ft of the subject property um and then published in the journal on February February 15th of 2025 um and as you can see in the staff
report we uh I received two phone calls um from Neighbors inquiring about what's being proposed here and asking for more information uh on the project one had suggested that the Planning Commission consider requiring uh any customer parking um for the therapy business to
be in the in the back of the property um and then I did have one email that was in opposition of the request and that is included uh in your uh staff reports um so the intent of allowing an
interim use permit is to allow a land use for a limited period of time that reasonably utilizes uh the property in a manner that is not otherwise consistent with a comprehensive plan nor permitted in the applicable zoning District uh it's to provide the city with the reasonable degree of discretion in
determining suitability of a certain designated uses for specified zoning districts uh to allow a use that is presently acceptable not permitted within the zoning district and within anticipated development may not be acceptable in the future and then
finally to allow a temporary use of a property until a particular date uh until the occurrence of a particular event or until zoning regulations no longer permit it um interm use permits for the City of New are relatively new uh uh they were um Incorporated uh into
this the city zoning regulations about 3 years ago so we haven't re received too many of these yet so approval of an interim use uh at a location within a zoning classification does not mean that the same interim use can be conducted on any other parcel with specific zoning
classification so that means if we were to uh allow myofacial release therapy at this property doesn't mean that four house is down it's permitted there as well it's specific to the applicant and that property uh each application for an
interim use permit again will be indiv individually reviewed on its own merits and the facts surrounding the subject property will determine the appropriateness of the proposed use uh so since creating the interm use permit regulations uh in new Al four permits sorry five permits have been
issued our first one was a residential property that was for woodworking in a detached accessory structure that was Calla woodworking they ultimately moved into their own commercial space and and have their own business that's up and running um a residential property uh to
allow float tank therapy business um and that has since ceased operations at that location uh residential property to allow Gunsmithing and sales uh by Brett Meyer that is still in operation in a detached accessory structure um another
residential property um for dog grooming Megan swinstead uh that is also still in operation and then a residentially zone property um commercial building the old uh house and nutrition building that was uh recently approved for a bakery uh by Holly
schaer I have in here the uh review criteria for an interm use permit but we're going to be going through each one of those items in the findings of so if you don't mind I'd skip over that part for right now uh so the purpose of the rt2 zoning district is to provide for low density
one and two uh unit dwellings generally located in the grid pattern along with uh directly related complimentary uses um the applicant is proposing to operate a mile facial release therapy business out of the basement of an existing single family residents uh the location of the
proposed business would be in an unused bedroom uh of the basement in the basement of the house so my facial release therapy is very similar to other forms of Massage Therapy but the focus is on the joints muscles uh and facial muscles hope I got that
right uh the applicant uh anticipates that they will only be taking one client at a time uh for this type of of therapy the applicant also states that they have adequate parking on the property and an additional vehicle from a client can be parked in the existing driveway at the
rear of the property off of the alley the applian has requested the interim use permit for a period of 5 years um so a little bit of site history and information uh this is a single family home that was constructed in 1925 the home is located on our typical
grid Lots which are 50 ft in width by 165 ft in depth um and was planted as part of the original City plat um our comprehensive plan uh recognizes that we should provide land use flexibility um and understand that we uh
the community periodically experiences SI shifts um as such it's important to build some flexibility into the city's land use designations and decisions and land use and policies uh should allow for contemporary Flex regulations for considerations of new development and
Redevelopment proposals and Concepts it also would be more responsive to Future market conditions and demands um so our comprehensive plan also recognizes that we want to keep our existing neighborhoods residential neighborhoods as existing residential
neighborhoods and not change those uh into different types of land uses so those are considerations to take uh into effect with this application so in order to recommend approval of the permit the commission will need to determine that the requests meet the standards provided in section
2.4 e of the zoning ordinance again uh these standards can be found on the interim use permit findings of fact worksheet which we'll go through here in a little bit um and then the Planning Commission and then city council must make affirmative findings on all all the criteria in order to Grant the interim
use permit the applicant has the burden of proof to show that all the criteria above have been satisfied uh with this this um staff report there are eight attachments and I'll pull them up on the screen here so we can all take a look at them so the first attachment is the
application by Mr McKinley he provided a map showing uh the parking in the back here uh the location of where uh the business will take place in within the home and then he also showed some street parking up in
front of his home as well here is attachment number two and this is the location of the property um as you can see it's on the south end of new Al between 12 South and 11 South um and just east of uh Minnesota here's the zoning map you can
see that this property is surrounded by other rt2 uh zoned properties here is a site map created by staff and again a just highlights the rear parking in the property off the alley I included a few photos of the
house here's the front of the house here's the rear of the house you can barely see it but there's a walk out basement um from which uh the applicant has told me this is likely where the uh customers will enter into the home um and then we have the staff reported findings of facts which we'll
we'll go through in just a bit and lastly uh the email uh that I received um and I'll just read this out loud for the record my name is Carol wyberg uh my husband Bruce wyberg and I
are residents at 11:14 South Minnesota in new WM they've been long-term residents in this neighborhood for many years and have seen a lot of change in the area it's a great quiet neighborhood we experience a lot of traffic on Minnesota Street and with this in mind we are currently opposed to any residential business occurring in the
neighborhood this in mind the new current residents of such address filing application should indeed keep in mind a professional building space not in our neighborhood and keep it professional with such uh business intent if the applicant purchase said residents to do
so as listed uh you have the wrong view to disrupt residential area um existence of our area and the concerning Neighbors on said block thank you for your time Carol I would note that uh after discussing if there be any changes to
the structure of the home whatsoever for conducting this business uh the applicant has told me there will be no structural changes to the home it's an existing uh bedroom that's being unused if it were to go back uh if the business were to close it can easily go
right back to being residential use for another bedroom in the home um so staff's evaluation uh the applicant uh staff believes the applicant complies with the standards for granting The Intern term use permit
um we believe there's minimal traffic generated from this type of business at this location uh the city has permitted permitted interim uses for similar businesses in residential areas such as hair SLS salons dog grooming uh float tank therapy businesses Etc and have had
no issues with those to date uh the granting of an interim use permit does not permanently Grant the use on the property rather it's for a specified period of time and in this case that would support the maximum of 5 years um and after 5 years the permit
can be reviewed again and uh issues that arise can be addressed again at those at that time the proposed business uh at this location uh staff does not believe will impact neighboring properties um and the home will remain the same as a single family dwelling uh
into the future uh the applicant has not proposed to change the home structurally we do recommend uh five conditions one that the use shall comply with the standards found in section 2.4 e of the zoning ordinance two that the interim use permit approval is for a period of 5
years number three that the use will not expand nor be moved from the location identified in the application number four that the applicant property owner will pay the cost record the resolution approving the interim use permit with the Brown County Recorder's Office and then number five
if the property were to change ownership uh the interim use use permit shall be null and void and if the new owner wishes to continue the use at the site uh they'll be required to apply for a new interim use permit and we had two potential motions
for you to review one to approve the application and one to deny the application and that concludes the staff report I have one question condition five are you changing the site as a bakery yeah no no this should be just
that was a typo okay I just wanted to make sure that it didn't stay in there right thank you we change that yep that concludes i' I've got a couple of questions if I may they're they're sort of general questions for the city or for
the applicant um for the city okay and this I'm just trying to still catch up with land use regulations um I understand that there are home occupations that are allowed just as an accessory use but some of them like this take an an use permit is that right
correct okay so in this type of a home occupation are you allowed to have um a hok sign sign on the property or so in a residential zoning District they'd be allowed to have six square feet okay like any Resident for y okay um and then
the other thing is just a question about parking is is is on street parking normally allowed I mean it's it's there it's public okay so this is just a special request that in this case the neighbor would like to see the parking in the back
correct okay that's that's all I have yeah it wasn't called out on the conditions either right I didn't see it as a condition six so is that something that we're considering putting on there or the applicant seems to be okay with it but we'll wait until until then to
ask that question and then my last question for you John is what happens after five years is it an automatic reissue or is there a new public hearing or how does that work it would come back to the Planning Commission for review okay yeah the process starts all over
again okay thank you is there any other questions for the city are there questions for the owner no okay I I I would ask the owner if if it's okay if we attach that condition since that's a neighbor would like to see parking in the property only
is the is the owner here is it owner is not here I'm the okay would you step up to the microphone state your name and answer the and address please and then answer the question my name is Daniel Mckinley uh my address is 1121 South Minnesota
street and I would be fine with having my clients park in the back at the uh driveway I do have a question about that myself um is I see there is a side door access
to the basement so if I didn't want to park is it at is it fine if I come in the side door um because there's a slope in the backyard so it's actually going to be a lot flatter to just go into the the walk out basement I had um labeled the side
door because if you were to park in the front it might make more sense to come in that way then you got stairs to go down and okay it doesn't really make sense but it's a second option I was concerned with being an old person having to walk in Winter up uh incline but you if there's
no incline then it's probably fine there's there's probably less of an incline in that in that way and I'd obviously be you know keeping it shoveled and okay salted yeah okay thank you sure there any other questions for just a note I don't it's a public Street
and public parking I don't think we can realistically tell him that he's got to have his parking in the rear I mean my concern to can we I don't think we require that I I don't think it's the right thing to do yeah I mean you can
encourage it for your customers and I think that's appropriate uh but I don't think it's appropriate for us to dictate he has to tell his customers to park in the alley and we can go through we can discuss that in the finding of facts to
we talk about this did you have any condition question no I I just agree with that statement okay I would note that um in the past when we've receive similar types of requests and this goes back uh 30 years um we've had similar um
conditions where we requested that parking take place on the property okay again though he has no ability to enforce that so I don't know why putting a condition that he can enforce as a as
a business owner why we would do that that seems overreaching in my my opinion that's one of the reasons I asked the question about the side ENT because of the the access ability of it
but okay are there any other questions from the audience anybody else please step up to the microphone state your name and address thank you Daniel I'm I'm Jerry kokes 11:15 South
Minnesota two doors down okay if this parking was a issue but that's you got it taken care of of um if this gets rezoned does that affect the price of my house I'm might have to sell I'm getting old will this lower the price of my
house being the yard re the block is rezoned or is it just one house Dave is this will not rezone his property this just provides to him um an additional use of the um of
the property so it remains a residental Ely zoned area Okay so won't affect the price of my house if I sell it shouldn't it shouldn't okay what was I had another question I can't think of it okay thank
you well we're going to do the finding of facts and if you have another question um please feel free to come back with it are there any other audience members that wish to address us I'm going to do the finding of facts
in the part of the public public hearing okay to allow a myofacial release therapy business in to operate in a residential residence located in an R2 traditional neighborhood single or two family resident zoning
district will the use adversely impact nearby properties through nuisance noise traffic dust odor or unsightliness and will not otherwise adversely impact the health safety and Welfare of the community uh staff responded no that
there is no anticipated uh major change in traffic noise or dust that will be uh noticed in the neighborhood due to the proposed use uh this use is similar to other Home occupations that are permitted with an interim use permit did we agree agree agree yes thank you will
the use adversely impact implementation of the comprehensive plan uh staff responded no there is no change to the zoning or land use designation in the comprehensive plan uh if if uh I
guess if permitting this interm use uh the the use is located within an existing room in the home and can be easily converted back to a residential use when it's done is the date event or change in circumstances that will terminate the
interim use identified with certainty uh staff responded Yes that the applicant requested a 5-year time period and staff would also uh uh recommend that um the permit be allowed for a period of five years are we agreeing with it yes
agree does the applicant agree to all conditions that the city council deems appropriate to allow the use including a condition that the owner may be required to provide an appropriate Financial shity to cover the cost of removing the inter use and any interim structures
upon the expiration of the interim use permit uh staff responded Yes that the applicant would agree with the uh proposed conditions of the interim use permit and uh there is no Financial assurity applicable to this request we
agree agree agree will the property or excuse me will the proposed use hinder the permanent development of the site staff responded no that the use requires no permanent changes to be be made to the building the room that the myofacial release therapy is taking place uh in
can easily be converted back to residential use we agree yes will the use create an excessive burden on existing Park schools streets and other public facilities which serve or are proposed to serve the area uh
staff responded no that there are no public facilities in the proximity to the property uh there is also no anticipated negative impact on city streets or utilities from the use agree agree has the applicant signed a consent agreement stating that the applicant
owner operator tenant and or user has no entitlement to the Future reapprovals permit as well as agreeing that interim use will not impose additional costs on the public if it is necessary for the public to fully or partially take the
property in the future we'll answer this and and we missed one we'll go back did I miss one that's right we'll go through this one first and then we'll go back um so staff responded uh yes signed consent agreement is a condition of the approval
of the request it is not intiated that the public will need to take the property in the future and there are no changes to the existing home that would warrant additional construction I'm getting my eyes checked [Music] tomorrow there are will there be
provided Ed adequate utilities access roads drainage and necessary facilities staff responded yes there are adequate utilities and access to the property there's no change to the property that would require additional Services everybody still in agreement agree okay
will the use cause or impose additional costs to the city of New staff responded no uh the use will not um incur additional cost to the city of New agreement agree will the interim use adhere to any
applicable additional criteria outlined in section 2.4 E8 for the proposed use uh yes uh a recommended condition of the interim use permit is that the use complies uh with all those criteria in
section 2.48 okay and we all agree agreed are there any other questions Mr Kish have you thought of your second question I got it all covered thank you okay I do have one question I'm going to assume that there's a health criteria attached to
this that is being met as and that there's restroom facilities and things for people and McKinley 1112 1121 South Minnesota um there is a restroom on that level uh there's running water there's a separate entrance so those are the only
um standards that I'm aware of that usually apply to massage type businesses that was my only question thank you okay if there are no other questions and we've accepted the finding of fax form as presented I would entertain a
motion if I can motion to recommend approval with conditions the interm use permit application of David McKinley on behalf of Samantha Whitaker to allow the operation of Mile facial release therapy business on the property located at in
the rt2 zoning District on property legally described as lot 9 block 54 south of Center Street do I have a second I'll second I have a motion and a second any further
discussion I just want to clarify that we're not including an additional parking condition the recommended conditions in the staff report all in favor I I opposed this appears when before the council this goes to the city City
Council next Tuesday uh March 4th at 4:30 p.m. good thank you very much closes the public hearing portion of the McKinley Whitaker um I am opening
the public hearing portion of the Marty comprehensive plan [Music] Amendment okay the um purpose of the public hearing is to consider a change to the land use Cate or for the property
legally described in exhibit one and that's from low density residential and medium density residential to high density residential and this is a change in the comprehensive plan the applicant and property owner is Keith Marty the um
as I indicated the legal description is um identified in exhibit one there are two parts to the legal description the uh street address is 901 North Highland Avenue the property is generally located southeast of the new
high school Northwest of the kids Excel Center West of North Highland Avenue between 8th and 11th North streets deadline for a decision on this matter is April 13
2025 the um surrounding land uses uh according to the comprehensive plan to the north we have public semi-public low density residential and medium density residential to the east is low density
residential as is to the west to the South we have commercial low density residential and then parks and open space the zoning designation is AOS which is agricultural open space to the
north it's ins which is institutional education district and and then AOS to the east it's R3 which is medium density residence district and R1 single family residence District to the South it's R1
and to the West it is AOS current site use property is being farmed uh area land uses to the north there's being farmed and newm High School is located to the east we have
Twin Homes and single family homes to the South we have a daycare center and single family homes and to the West we have farmed uh property notice was provided to all Property Owners within 350 ft of the
subject property on February 14 2025 and published in the journal on February 15th 20125 staff has received two inquiries regarding this proposal both were by
phone uh and I would characterize both as uh being informational wanting to know a little bit further about what is being proposed um he's having trouble hearing you yeah okay um the uh we have
utilities located in North Highland venue uh the comprehensive plan does not designate a park within the amendment area as far as the project description goes the subject property has a total
area of 10.2 Acres the property has been farmed in the past and is currently being farmed the property has a legal description of part of outlots 194 195 196 and
197 and those outlots were platted as part of the original uh Town plat in 1858 the property is being proposed for development by Steve Keepers Architects and
Builders the proposed project would involve the construction of four three-story apartment buildings eight detached garage groups along with a pool children's playground dog park parking
lots storm water ponds and the extension a 10th North Street from North Highland Avenue to the West each building is proposed to have 36 apartment units with a mix of one and
two bedroom units the project would be constructed in two phases um so there would be a total of 144 units being proposed for the property purpose of the comprehensive
plan the comp the newm comprehensive plan is an official statement by the New Alm city council that describes a community shared Vision goals and objectives for future growth and development the plan's recommendations
provide guidance for the city's priorities growth Investments and development over the next 20 years as a guide to development it is intended to be a flexible and responsive document that can be amended to
acknowledge changing conditions and New Opportunities the comprehensive plan was adopted by the city council in June of 2024 the plan should be reviewed and updated at a minimum every two
years some important uh definitions that apply to this particular request the first is low density residential you'll also see in the um report that it's uh abbreviated to
ldr uh that includes a range of um that that includes single family detached housing Twin Homes duplexes along with directly related complimentary uses the density range for
this category is 1 to 10 units per acre medium density residential or MDR includes a range of housing types such as single family detached and attached housing Twin Homes Town Homes duplexes
row houses and moderate density multifam housing consisting of attached and detached housing units directly related complimentary uses are also permitted the density range for this category is 1
to 12 units per acre the final definition is high density residential or HDR this includes higher density multifam housing including apartment buildings and Condominiums with
separately divided living units directly related complimentary uses are also permitted the density range for this category is between 9 and 21 units per
acre so comprehensive plan questions regarding amendments there are two of them uh the first is does the proposed change generally comply with the identified criteria found in the findings of fact form you'll note in
your report that it references um a section in this report um which is uh has been removed the second question is is this an appropriate location for high density residential land uses given the
surrounding comprehensive plan land use designations there are a number of attachments and I believe John will display them on the uh video monitor attachment one is the petition including
a a site plan showing the location of the property where the uh comp plan designation would be changed exhibit one shows um the legal descriptions there are two of them one
is for the low density property the other is for the medium density property uh attachment three is a comprehensive plan Amendment information and we will review that in
Greater detail once we complete the um the staff report attachment four is a site location map attachment five is a site location map with future comprehensive plan land
uses shown attachment six is a site plan that's an aerial photo attachment seven is a site map with future land
uses attachment 8 is a zoning map attachment nine is city of New Al development barriers and we will come back to attachment L nine um later
on um attachment 10 is a high density land use areas uh that's throughout the city of New WM attachment 11 identifies medium density land use areas throughout the
city attachment 12 are ground level photos you will see a lot of photographs that look very similar since we're dealing with a comparatively flat um piece of property and then attachment 13 is the
um findings of fact form and the staff's response uh to that staff would uh recommend approval of the amendment of The comprehensive plan land use categories from low density residential and medium density
residential to high density residential the reasons for this recommendation can be found um in attachment 13 which is the findings of fact form recommended conditions the first is
that the owner app applicant will pay the cost to record necessary documents with the Brown County recorder's office and the second is that Amendment of the land use categories are subject to the approval of a planned unit
development zoning designation for the subject property then there are two motions provided one is to recommend approval and the second is to recommend denial
okay um at this time I would like to go through um attachment um attachment three and this is um attachment addresses um kind of the amendment and
some issues um associated with that um the first piece of information that we um want to um um ident or talk about is um new's unique uh location and the
development barriers that um the city of New Alm faces and if you look at um the attachment that John has up um I'm not going to be telling you anything that you don't already know we have two
rivers rivers have flood Plaines and also a topographic issues we've got the new all municipal airport and its safety zones and then um we also have Flander
State Park and the New Alm Country Club the these location considerations are both natural and man-made but what they do they effectively direct Community growth to the Northwest and to the
southwest and we'll refer to that as the uh growth area growth in other directions is generally not possible due to cost or the amount of time necessary to construct necessary
infrastructure now it's always possible to cross a river but it's very expensive um to to do so we can cross um the airport property but that's expensive as well so
there's a number of um factors that uh that impact where the um where the city can grow now within the um comprehensive plan in
2024 um we designated excuse me 87 acres for future high density residential housing and this was 1.33% of the city's total future land
area now of that amount the only vacant Acres within the city that were designated uh there were two areas uh one was 13.6 Acres that
generally was in the area that's bounded by South German Street 7th South Street the railroad tracks and 12th South Street um Ridgeway on German is located um in that area and this site is uh
characterized by um issues uh such as site access lack of utilities we have wetlands in the area there are soil issues and um other water issues and then the second site that um
is identified is 7.62 Acres that's um designated for the pending River Haven project and that's at um 1600 on North Highland Avenue and we've talked about that um in the
past um the remainder of the property that has a high density residential category are consists of existing developed properties so those are other apartment buildings that have a density standard
that would place them in the high density residential category the comprehensive plan also designates 85 acres for future medium density residential so that's MDR and
that makes up 1.3% of the city's total future land area of this amount the vacant areas within the city with one except ception are all located within the growth area that we have um
identify this land area so this is vacant property totals 34.14 Acres the remainder of the property in this land use category consists of property outside the city limits so that would
require annexation and the extension of Utilities in preparing the comprehensive plan the staff noted that the growth area would need to accommodate all forms of residential housing from low density
to high density and so we view this area as kind of being a mixed use residential area um on on average the city has experienced the
development of a high density residential property or project once every 5 years now in some instances you'll find projects you know one year after each
other but in other instances it's sometimes gone 10 years before between projects and we went all the way back to 1971 and kind of carried it Forward um from that point in time
time and so that for that reason um we didn't designate a lot of property for high density residential because we didn't want the property to be to sit there and not have the prospect of being
used and so instead what we did is we designated more property for medium density residential because there's a greater number of uses that that property could be be used for but the
other thing is that we also through an amendment could take that property and elevate it to a high density residential designation which is what we are proposing um to do
here the um next item that I'd like to um talk about is the um comprehensive plan survey results that um we received we had over 2400
participants that provided input um to the city's comprehensive plan project as part of this project uh participants noted that there were limited housing options for different budgets and needs and we receive this in
information via surveys um another statement that we um that was made was that there was a a consensus that increasing the availability in types of housing was an important Community goal um another was that Apartments
multifam dwellings were rated the second highest housing need in the city with 49.2% of the vote the highest vote was affordable housing at 52.8% so you know going through the comprehensive plan process there was
strong emphasis on developing housing within the community um Market factors High construction and material costs make it challenging for Builders to deliver new single family homes for
less than $300,000 depending upon the contractor that you talk to that number can even be higher um therefore you know an additional housing option that we need to look at
to accommodate future growth is to grow vertically um with Apartments um in October of 2022 the New Economic Development Authority commissioned a uh comprehensive housing
needs analysis for New Alm and it was conducted by the Maxfield research group and they found that this at that time that the city had a rental vacancy rate of 0.8% um and the rental vacancy rates were low across all rental prices and
there was high demand for additional units at all income levels industry standards indicate a healthy rental housing vacancy rate to be 5% so we're we're well below that or
were at that time um that vacancy rate would indicate that there's a pent up demand for additional units at all income levels uh new's population and number of
households both grew by 4% between 2010 and 2020 and the trend is expected to continue to grow with another 3.5% increase in population and 4% increase in um
households from 2020 to 2030 um the housing study also projected um future housing demand or housing need and that indicated that from 2022 to 2030 that we should add
364 what I'll call General occupancy units and for senior housing between 2022 and 2027 it was estimated that there was a need for another
440 um additional units and you add the two up and you come up with approximately you know 800 units other considerations um are that um new alml
housing for people who want to move here um the low vacancy rate at recently constructed market rate departments indicates a strong demand for rental housing and expanding rental options for
seniors may help them transition out of single family homes that can then be opened up to the larger population the comprehensive plan has a number of goals and opportunities that were listed I would just like to um
Identify some of them uh one is that um we should identify and promote sites that could attract the development of new market rate rental housing two that we would locate high density development at appropriate locations throughout the
city provided they are compatible with adjacent land uses and existing planned Street systems um three a mix of housing options was viewed as a function that would be most influential in stimulating
economic growth and or Land Development over the next 20 years and then four the city should play an active role in expanding housing options that meet a wide range of needs including budget size and
type next item that I would like to talk about are um traffic volumes um the city engineer has reviewed the uh proposed plans for the project and has provided the following
remarks on projected traffic volumes um generated by the project he said North Highland Avenue was constructed as a major arterial for the city and looking into the future it can accommodate additional traffic loads
as the city expands North Highland Avenue can accommodate the additional traffic being generated by the project upon its completion North Highland Avenue is designed if traffic volumes warrant to
be turned into four lanes of traffic the city engineer does not believe the additional traffic generated from this project would warrant any changes to the roadway then finally reasons
to amend the um comprehensive plan um include that you know the comprehend comprehensive plan is a flexible document and so
changes that would be considered by this type of request um um we believe fall within um that particular area the uh real estate market construction
costs and needs of the community periodically experience shifts and that certainly has happened recently as such it's important to have some flexibility in your land use designations and
decisions since you need to be able to react to those um situations um the land use Cate atory of high density residential would uh in staff's opinion
be compatible with the abing business land use to the South to the currently vacant medium density residence residential area to the North and the low density residential uh vacant area to the West
low density residential is also cited to the east but there is approximately 20 55 ft from the proposed apartment building face to the single family building face on the other side of North
Highland Avenue and staff believes that that distance would provide adquate separation from the high density residential uses now there are um we've also identified similar distances between
existing new Al apartment buildings and surrounding Residential Properties so it's the same type of measurement that um that was made where we go from building face of the apartment to building face of adjoining
residential units so with Garden Terrace one and the residences on North Garden Street 150 ft linderhof Park Apartments to residents on North pain Street 135 ft
linderhof Park Apartments to 17th North Street are residence there 235 ft German Heights Town Homes to South German Street 138 ft Emerson Union to First North Street
134 then finally Highland Regency to Sunset Avenue there's two different measurements there one is 147 ft and the other is 100 85 ft um since 1971 the city has had um 11
apartment projects um that had a total unit count in each exceeding 40 um the comprehensive plans HDR category has a density range of 9 to
21 units per acre the proposed Department project would have 15.96% [Music] of 24 apartment buildings of those 24 five have a lower per acre amount than the proposed
project but 19 have a higher density rate than this proposed project um the project will involve the construction of three-story buildings which will fit with the height of the surrounding
properties um the site can handle the city's storm water requirements for a project of this size uh the city's ability to accommodate a project of this size is um limited though to certain locations in
the Northwestern and southwestern part of the community um there is within the community a demonstrated need for more housing uh we have an extremely low vacancy rate um the proposed design of the project uh
would place the apartments in the middle of the property the garage and parking areas would be on the periphery and that type of design would insulate the apartment buildings from other surrounding land uses and then
finally the um the density the upper density for a medium density property is 12 units and the proposed project would have 16 15.96% at this
time I can show the concept uh presented by the developer um for the audience maybe maybe we could uh ask the developer to come up and and just provide a little insight on what he's proposing here and how his concept lays
out no please state your name and address please hi Ste let's get it up higher Steve Keepers Brer Minnesota um 17018 commercial Park Road little background on us we're a
family run business 50 years old actually in uh 2024 um we started doing exclusively multif family about 2016 started doing them in the late 90s um started in communities just like New Alm um looking for County Seat a lot
of what the people in the Metro call outstate communities um Briner bter Grand Rapids been miji duth um Thief River Falls Fergus Falls Alexandria and we just started migrating our way South about 67 years ago we did the project in
Hutchinson that's um over by Menards right behind Applebee's in the Quick Trip there's five buildings over there the two that are closest to the quick trip are identical pretty much to what's getting proposed here we've kind of adopted a style and how we like to lay
these things out um we like to get we've got a really nice compact buildings so each one of the buildings is 36 units three stories they have an elevator they each have a community room they each have an exercise room um on the third floor we do a little Library um people
always ask me you know who's living in the apartments and it's a it's it's a it's the it'll it'll pretty much exactly match the whatever the demographics are for the city that we've done it in um but the little libraries on the third floor are really popular with the more
senior set puzzles meetings um coffee groups the uh um we'll have an office on site in one of the buildings um for Resident manager that's relatively easy maintenance requests you know General supervision
come from um common outside amenities we're really big and David started talking about we're really big on creating a Courtyard area um we like to have the Green Space um between the four buildings and then in the center we're
proposing an outdoor swimming pool we've been messing around with outdoor pickle ball courts lately and some of the developments um for this one we're proposing the pool um this isn't a real good shot of it but there's a outside playground area yeah if you
can that's what the buildings look like so out couple of outdoor playground areas for the kids again back to the Courtyard um and then you see the sidewalks connecting everything usually around the playground will do benches um we'll also incorporate like Grill areas
and have picnic tables for people to use um again the green the green space Courtyard area with the pool with the playground it keeps kids from running into the parking lots keeps people out of the parking lots traveling across um
the detached garage parking um is rented separately um what we found is that we do um we'll do about um half the so it's 144 units and there'll be roughly I can't remember
the exact number but it'll be like 72 73 garage stalls um what we find there is that people don't actually use the garage stalls for parking they don't use them for storage um versus if you have a lot more garages and then it just starts to look like a Mini Storage development not a Housing Development um David
talked about Heights we've already talked to the city somewhat about that we've been working on the setbacks to keep um The Heights um down or to keep the impact of the height of the buildings down what was the exact height to the peak again I forget
3 45 I thought or something 45 is the max yeah 45 was the max there's a little pool building um by the pool the outdoor pool that'll have a couple of restrooms in it and house the pool equipment the private decks on each one
of these things they have central air um it's called a magic pack system you can see the little vents actually right in there so each one of the units has its own central air um we David talked about it's one bedroom and two bedrooms um about a third of the project will be one
bedroom one bass um the other two-thirds of the project is two bedrooms um out of that um know about 15% of the two bedrooms are actually two bedroom two baths um which kind of allows for you know like roommate situations those kind of things
um private decks on each one of them uh we try to do storage laundry right now we're still debating on whether or not we're going to do a common laundry on the second floor um we do really nice and actually it's about a room about the size of this room um for common laundry
or we may do laundry inside the units we haven't decided on that yet we're still batting it around um yeah the outside of the project we kind of vary it up with different types of siding both lap siding shakes and board and Baton and then we try to put
um a healthy amount of stone on it as well sure we have done probably about 56 57 of this exact building in a lot of different communities um again like I said the two buildings in Hutchinson match us really close we just did a
project in Mano um on 14 just north of Menards and Fleet Farm there's a couple of buildings there that match this as well um um try to keep the Landscaping um healthy to you know break up the sight lines help with privacy
photometrics will end up turning all that in when we do the actual really heavy on keeping all the lighting down keeping any light pollution away from the neighbors go ahead I have a question about market rate low income what what's the breakdown if there is a breakdown
there isn't a breakdown it's all market rate rents are going to be anywhere on this one I mean I can Bradley Sav like there's there's actually a Studio unit in each one of the buildings you're probably looking at 900 and I would guess depending on when this gets delivered online depending on what the economy is doing rents really shot up
lately so I hate to say it but you're probably looking at this will probably range from a th to like 2250 a month um and in addition to that um there's a search charge for utilities that goes into that so they're not the cheapest
things in the world I'll admit that but we do take care of a lot of things for you that you don't have to do when you have a house any questions for him while he's up there where where's the dog park at oh
um you work it's in the back um yeah so this is this is Highland now we've switched around and we're looking at it Facing East and the dog Park's back in here by the parking lot so what we do for the dog parks is it's
a big green space we fence in and then we have the poop bags and all that kind of stuff and we do allow pets on a project like this but we've got a it's kind of complicated but you have to register your pet and if your
pet poops in the yard we can find out it's your pet believe it or not before you move in you have to turn in your dog stuff and they do a DNA on it and we know it's your dog I understand that's a big big concern in the neighbor it works great
nobody steps in poop bombs yeah so please repeat the question that was my next question yeah Andrea zisy 1433 9th Street North I'm curious I can't tell what where it's coming in off of
Highland where the main entry is the entrance on Highland or 7th I miss maybe we can we might have to flip back to one of the aerial photos to better show that if you don't mind CU I was that was one of my questions also was where was the entrance zoom in I'll uh I'll just go up
a couple here thank you here this might be the best one so so what we did was Highlands all built out and there's Road approaches right across from ninth North and right across from T and so what we wanted to do was
so we didn't have to disrupt everything from Highland and they did a very good job of explaining the challenges of finding a spot to build something like this in new Al which by the way I've been looking on and off for about five six years
um your water and sewer and the way everything was constructed the both these approaches off a Highland were for future streets or what have you so what we did is we incorporated in it entrance right across from 9th and then we are proposing to build 10th down to roughly this area
with an exit onto the newly constructed town the cars are predominantly going to be able to go out to Highland right across from 10th and right across from 9th there's coming into our neighborhood it's like the main entrance coming in and it's already busy
it's us I defer to your guys Engineers so right we we assumed this question would would come up and we had talked to the city manager about concerns with with traffic um so generally in that
area there's around 3,800 cars um per day this project could potentially provide another maybe uh 400 more cars vehicles per day uh that being said um as I'm sure you're
aware uh it's you know 7:30 to 8:00 are extremely busy and then also from yeah from when school lets out till maybe 4:30 or something like that it's also extremely busy um assuming that these
would be uh these would be people that are living working in the area um it could mean and with the amount of Industry we have in new home we would assume that not all the traffic would be leaving exactly the same time like the students are uh going to the high school so it could disperse that traffic a
little bit more but yes there will be more traffic added is to change can you can you step up to the microphone so the whole audience can answer can hear the answer to your question sorry so what I found with that
intersection is there's those because it's the only through Street somebody'll have their blinker on and then they're just turning to do a UI to go back towards 10th to get into like if they're getting going into 10th Street or 11th
um I just am concerned with knowing where everyone's going and across the street and those coming from that way turning and without any I want to say round you know like I don't know it just seems a little
concerning with trying to zip out um which way does it like your driveway face the uh 10th Street is not a through Street and would the city change that into a through Street being that the development is planning to build
out that uh that would be a question for the city well that would be a question for the city engineer but at at this point in time I don't think they contemplate that taking place okay I guess that was just my concern as the I understand the traffic aspect of
coming out of both directions and having to it's already kind of tough to skip out and go left um now and then with others going right and having to get that all timed out so is it high school people going down in
whipping not necessarily the high school I it's probably neighborhood it's people in I guess it could be high school too um like if I leave late at 3: to go get the kids and the high school kids have already left it's just like a Non-Stop which I get it it's that time of day but
just to get out and then if somebody's got their blinker on and then they're neighbors going back to get up to yep and our Street's already busy cuz otherwise they'll come down our street to get into all their other spots because they can't get in depending on which way they're you know coming into
their neighborhood so we just have a very busy street in general but not that this would affect people going down our street I guess just with kids I guess it's a busy street in general but I don't think this project would necessarily cause our street to be more
busy just potentially getting off of our man on the back end of a development that was already done behind us it's austa 14 mind roundout in but they did it after everything else filled in
behind it was all pushing out that's something that happens is there any chance of putting an AIS on 7th so that some of that traffic gets deferred out yeah that's a question that you know
for the city engineer okay appreciate your concern thank you does the city have any other reports to offer otherwise I'm going to open it up to the commission and the audience again as the commission have any straightforward
questions got a question for could we put up the I know this isn't site plan kind of review stuff but if you put up the um the one 3D image of all of the buildings it was that one there so I'm assuming that that street
to the lower left there that's Highland correct here no no down that one that one there that's 10th this is the new this will be the newly constructed oh so where so okay that's nth right here
that's your ninth going through right here so that's also an exit or would most be coming out and that's only if 10th gets built out getting we're proposing to build 10 out with the development okay and so we have an entrance here an entrance on
island can we please use the microphones I'm just commenting out loud you have a screen there can you see that screen well or could we get you to maybe move up and with that make a screen here also
if you want to sit up I think they're just wanting to see which roads maybe because they couldn't see you showing yeah yeah yeah that's the Ninth Street yeah and the road approaches are there now it's really easy to see
where okay so initially I hadn't noticed that there was multiple exits and entrances in I was assuming that that 10th Street was coming in on 9th and then going in from there so that seems a
little go ahead Bill The View as we travel down Highland if this project is built out as we see it is going to be the ends of those two units those two buildings okay and probably Drive
between them or something yeah unfortunately it only expands on this yes I there is no driveway between the four buildings the only driveway I see is around the whole periphery of the project is that correct correct you
cannot drive through the center no you can't drive in between the building those are walking paths right but so there'll be what you'll see on Highland is yeah and the building driveway row of trees and then sidewalk right okay maybe there you go so this is so that
this is Highland here you guys in the back so on the right the double Road that's Highland so that's ninth right there with the the through drive and then that's 10th up at the top and you can see the median between blocking it and then what that's also showing is
that's showing what our po Landscaping is along Highland that'd be back yeah that's back there the point from the camera this is going to teach youall to sit in the front of church that's why I didn't want to sit
over there never to see me where's kids Excel on there that'll be right down over right in there yeah y'all look like you're thinking greatly does anyone have a question that they want to share so that the
audiovisual man can get it on his recording no did you get your question answer yep I'm good thank you Commissioners questions no I do want to ask the city I mean
having not everyone on this panel or this commission has sat through the comprehensive plan and I remember that this is the biggest struggle that we had was where we were going to put affordable housing and I I think I
attended most of the meetings and it one of the main goals that we had was that we needed some housing out by the airport that that was where we only decided there was land and we I guess we
designated this R1 and R2 because we had the river is it River Bluff River whatever apartment building that was um down the street that was proposed but kind of in limbo and we still needed
according to the city studies that had been done independently more public housing besides just that area is that correct yeah the um the the study that was done
in 2022 um forecasted you know approximately 800 units that was split between um senior and then General occupancy so the project that you're
referring to was 118 units now there also is um you know a project proposed downtown the former Georgia site and that's about 80 units um but we're still not that comes to about half of the
demand yeah we're not close to um you know what was projected and I might note that Maxfield research group is um you know well known in the state of Minnesota and um it does studies like this um you know all the
time and I'm familiar with their developments in in Becker and in Hutchinson and um so they're all neat I I didn't see any disruption I mean know sometimes they but they're all fairly new also so
it they were nice looking apartment buildings anyway are we ready to move to the finding of facts does anybody in the audience wish to say anything before I move on could you please step up to the mic state your name and address
please Al paler for S&P development Courtland Minnesota 519 Valley View Drive um I invested in the city back in 2017 I bought the Eda project the land out there um we did a lot of extensive
research to see again with Dave's help to see what the needed for housing and stuff and what I liked was the area that you know which is Office 7th that we bought was surrounded by the mix of low density and medium density housing um to
me to go from a low density to a high density is you know it's a grasp in my opinion um as you stated the comprehensive plans are the road you know it's a road mapap for the city but you know we have changes I came in 2017
we changed from what the Ed was doing to my twin homes and stuff so I thank the city for that and the buildings look fantastic I'm not sure where you know you talk about how they fit in with uh
setb excuse me setbacks of 150 or 200t what it is I think it's more the the view from the the people that I see in my neighborhood and have been talking is yeah the buildings look nice but they're high you know and they like seeing the high school and I don't know the impacts
I've seen the hutch projects and everything I mean yeah they look fantastic I just don't know I haven't seen it yet if people are going to say well there's apartments around you know we don't want to be that close because unfortunately some times Apartments have negative to them because I think it's
low income or something but these are going to be you know really nice I do agree with the other audience member on the traffic I think the city will have to look at that with I mean I drive that a lot and it is busier certain times of the day but there'll be a lot going on
there I just I want to protect my investment I have 30 some Lots there and um I'd like to see more you know hopefully the residential goes in I don't know if I would buy right behind this property then if it was ever for sale to go into that I know the land is
an issue on trying to fit these in so just stating a few concerns that the city really looks at this um with such I call it a drastic change when you go from low density to high density I think you know is this I don't know how long you've been working on this I don't know
the backside you know should there been an environmental or an impact study done the comprehensive plan was just finished in 2024 there was no notations you know I mean you have your statistics but should we be should you have looked more at I
think it'd be easier if at that time some of this are is maybe earmarked better but as Dave stated once you e Market that may change the way someone else looks at it so I guess I don't have the definite answer um just wanted to State my concerns hopefully I can
protect what I have there and also keep working with the city so thank you thank you for your concerns noted anyone else go ahead that's what we're here for Andrea at 1433 9th again
um my question is too on property value how I don't really know how this type of thing effects being so close um to my property value as well does anybody have any statistics on
that I don't know um other places that have had Apartments come in near their homes did you step a little closer to the microphone just curious on the um how it affects the cost of our properties after
Apartments come in close I'm going to turn to the city well I you know um no one's on staff as an appraiser and so we're probably not qualified to you know
comment um on that um I do know that um you know I was here when we did the Garden Terrace projects and we heard a lot of the same concerns expressed that that
time and I think if you look at you know the residents across the street from there um I I don't see where there's been any change um you know they're wellmaintained um they're there's people
living in them so I I you know I'm I agree I I I guess um you know ultimately an appraisers would have to and the only thing I can say from personal experience is I have family
members that have lived um or that live across the alley from linderhof and Hillside apartments and those are lower lower lwi income housing not market rate housing so there is a difference and their values have not
dropped and and they have had no problems with the residences or or um concerns with the residents I don't I don't know if that helps you now but I'm just stating what is
so I'm not going to open public hearing or the uh finding a facts and telling make sure everybody has had their say are you all okay okay we're going to go on to finding the facts is that all right with you John or do you have
another oh Dave I guess is conducting this are you ready uh not yet okay finding effect facts that comprehensive plan Amendment request to change the comprehensive plan designation for property legally
described in exhibit number one from low density residential and medium residential density residential to high density residential first question does a proposed amendment correct an error or address a need resulting from a changing
condition Trend or fact arising since the adoption of the comprehensive plan uh the staff's response was yes uh the current city of newm comprehensive plan was adopted in 2024 and designates this property as low density residential
and medium density residential since 2015 there have been an average of of 21 new single family homes constructed in the community the amount of new construction of housing units has not kept up with the
demand for housing in 2022 a New Alm housing needs analysis found vacancy rates for market rate and subsidized rentals at less than 1% a 5 to 7% vacancy rate is considered to be healthy for a community in
addition to numbers for available housing units the cost of new construction has increased substantially over the past few years making it difficult for people to afford new homes there is little high density
residential land use area designated in the 2024 comprehensive plan and those areas so designated have been developed or are outside the city's growth area to the [Music] Northwest do we agree or
comments agree agree thank you is the proposed amendment consistent with the goals objectives and policies of the comprehensive plan okay the answer was yes um housing goal number two is to
increase the quantity and diversity of housing types that meet the community's current and future needs strategy 2.2 is to identify and promote sites that could attract the development of new market rate rental
housing according to the 2022 housing needs analysis the city's vacancy rate for rental dwellings is well below what is considered healthy 5 to 7% due to the cost of construction of new single
family housing and the current pace of development of these homes it is unlik ly that single family housing construction will meet the demand for housing units in the community in the future the site being considered as a location where high density housing
could be placed as it's adjacent to a major Street North Highland Avenue and has adjoining land uses that would not be that would not be in conflict with the proposed use another goal housing goal number two
is to increase the quantity and diversity of housing types that meet the community's current and future needs strategy 2.7 is to locate high density development at appropriate locations throughout the city provided they are
compatible with adjacent land uses and the existing imp plan Street pattern staff's response to that is that the proposed location for high density residential land uses is situated adjacent to a major Street South of the
new high school and the north of the kids Excel Center the undeveloped land area between the proposed development and the high school would remain medium density residential and low density residential providing a logical
transition between area land uses comments or agreement agree agree agree thank you does a proposed amendment address a community need the answer is yes in the 2022 New Alm
housing needs analysis vacancy rates for market rate and subsidized rentals were less than 1% the city is estimated to see a growth rate of 4% between 2020 and 2030 and add an estimated 600 people
designating additional land use area as high density residential could provide more rental housing units and address the need for sufficient housing to accommodate the city's estimated growth through 2030 agreement agree agree agree will
the proposed amendment provide a public benefit and protect the health safety morals and general welfare of the public staff's answer was yes the proposed amendment will facilitate the development of additional housing which will provide a community benefit
adequate housing is an essential component in protecting the health safety morals and general welfare of the public agreement agree agree yep will there be negative impacts on the natural and built environments including air
water noise storm water management wildlife habitat water quality vegetation drainage Street or other engineering design or environmental factors staff's answer was yes
it is not anticipated that the project will have a negative impact on those items listed above currently the site is being farmed storm water from the site will be directed to the storm water Pond already located in adjoining North
Highland Avenue streets subing the property are designed to be able to handle the traffic expected to be generated from the site there are no sensitive or unique environmental features on the property I have one question for you on
that storm water runoff and I see that it's all directed toward Highland and in most projects we look at some sort of retention pond because and then I know that was the big deal on the project we looked at last are we sure that this
does not have to have any retention or slope no it will have to have a storm water pond on site and have on-site treatment before it goes goes into the storm water in uh Maine in Highland and I think currently the proposal is back in this corner behind the dog park I
think there are multiple pwn sites if I'm not mistaken if if you look at the might be these these three in in light green yeah okay my question that that satisfies my
question okay we're on number six right well does anybody else have questions or do we agree agree will the proposed amendment be compatible with existing and proposed uses surrounding the subject property
staff's answer was yes the location of high density housing will be north of an existing daycare facility and south of the new home high school campus across North Highland Avenue to the east there is a low density residential land use area the pro Pros project is
approximately 250 ft from the nearest sing single family residents the site plan indicates that there will be detached accessory garages to the North and South which should provide an additional buffer between this site and adjoining
properties are we in agreement I have I have a question on that if if we could see the um the existing comp plan designations the question runs along the line of that one there yes um
what's being proposed I don't I don't necessarily have a problem with it but what is Remnant then of the subject property yeah like the MDR and all the low density residential you will then conceivably have in the future all of
that that is now Remnant lowdensity residential being immediately buding high density residential I mean if was there any thought given to not that this will be a popular statement but any thought given to just changing it all to high density or just to get the low
density off of that site I know it's a future question but yeah I staff has not taken a look at the um um site as a whole um we have kind of focused on um this particular request I
think our feeling was that the medium density that is there that that is a you know is still appropriate um and is a nice transition to the uh school property the single family area behind that I would agree with you um is something
that maybe warrants further research and um consideration of maybe some land use changes um um as well uh we do have a street that um needs to go through that
area and I think that uh perhaps we need to identify the location of that street uh and then we can start to look at maybe land use um potential land use changes kind of related to that
the the interim sort of the transitional density from low from institutional to to high you've got the medium density in between there would it have made sense from a site planning point of view to have moved the high density is being proposed up to a but any institutional
so then you could have medium density residential that would transition to residential around it l around it it might be site planning doesn't work that way at all but what I'm saying is um it looks at what happens to that residual piece in the future
better yeah the um the the site um is going to be separated by 10th North Street so I think we end up then with two separate parcels and perhaps um two different um areas uh of of of land use
um and I um you know the um this is what was presented to us and so this is currently what we're um we're working on I guess that would question would perhaps best
be uh addressed to the um to the developer okay at that point are we in agreement with with the yeah with the current I'm I'm I agree this is just a question of the remnant and this might not be the
time to look at it understand that okay agreed we're on seven right okay will the proposed design and land use be appropriate for the land the answer to that is yes the project site is 10.2 acres in size and
could accommodate up to 214 dwelling units permitted by the high dens City residential land use designation the developers proposing 144 dwelling units or 70 fewer units than what could be allowed on the property if
the land use designation were changed to high density residential if the property were to remain low density residential and medium density residential it could accommodate up to 120 dwelling units the developer proposing to set back
Apartments 250 ft from the nearest single family residence and by constructing detached garages will provide a further buffer from Area Properties go ahead um this is a question I think the
density if I remember reading this correctly someplace in the report there was a reference to application coming in the future as a PUD that is correct rather than R4 density R4 zoning so what are the differences between the
R4 and the Pew what does the PE allow that the R4 wouldn't in this site um I believe in this particular case the um garages are in a location where our code typically would not allow them we
typically require garages to be behind the primary or permitted structure so that would be the apartments okay so that's um one reason to to go for the P I think there was um also there was another reason and escapes me right now
was height an issue NOP to be under the height uh the other issue that I I don't know that the developer has made a final decision on but there will be property lines um within uh this area and meeting those
setbacks especially in the lines where kind of all four corners meet uh might be a concern I think there's still working through uh the layout to try to meet those setbacks um but that might be another reason to bring it into a PUD okay but density is not one they could
have more density with an R4 as I read that okay is it is everyone okay yes agree okay will the proposed amendment maintain or improve compatibility among uses and ensure efficient development
within the city okay we answered uh yes the multifam development being proposed will provide life cycle housing and compatibility among the uses within the project site there are limited areas for multifam
residential housing to be developed within the city city is surrounded by features that can adversely impact development including the Minnesota River Cottonwood River and the new municipal airport and safety zones an
alternative to continue ing a spraw development pattern would be to build up rather than out are we in agreement yes agree will the proposed amendment result in a logical orderly and predictable development
pattern to the north of the the answer to that is yes to the north of the project site land use designations will remain low density residential and medium density residential property to the east has already been developed and with land uses along North Highland
Avenue being low density residential to the West the land use will remain low density res residential to the South the land uses will remain low density residential commercial and parks open space the proposed location of high
density residential land uses would provide a logical transition between the adjoining land uses there in agreement yes well with reservation I am in agreement ment I still think that that low density residential might not be the most um
logical progression I think someone in the audience mentioned as well that um low density and high density immediately adjacent to each other sometimes isn't the best fit but to the extent that that'll be addressed at some future date I'm okay with this is that low density
or is an R2 multer um R2 could be low density I'm not sure yeah we would consider R2 to be a low dens city um land use yeah but R2 covers more units per acre is that
correct no they they're all have the same acreage um standard so I believe low density residential which covers single family and two family it's 1 to 10 units per
acre okay are we in agreement yes with that reservation am I on question 10 yes thank you is the proposed amendment consistent with the purpose of the zoning ordinance staff answered yes the
proposed amendment and use of the property are consistent with the purpose of the zoning ordinance thank you I do have one other question and it regards um the question that that the young lady had about um
traffic and traffic flow and I think she was a little more at ease with 10th Street going in but what what persuades the city engineer to rethink a traffic pattern in an
area well that would I guess you'd have to ask him that question you know um I would um I I know that um there has been discussion in the past about um the fact that the um uh Street pattern in this
area um you know goes um there's a full intersection and then there's um a partial intersection a full intersection par and the reason that that was done is because the difference the distance between the
intersections was LE less than a typical grid iron block and I know the engineer at that time was concerned that um that would not be a good um pattern to to have full intersections that close
together that that might be um you know not safe okay and the other question I have is is going back to Mr palor was I think his name was um is his property R2 or R1 and does it is it behind this or
is it adjacent to it his property is on the other side of 7th North Street okay okay question um you know where Fender Park is okay going to the West he's got um okay so there is
a a distance between the properties okay thank you did I ask if we were all in agreement on number 10 does anyone have any other questions or concerns before I close the public hearing portion of this
meeting and call for a motion if not I'm closing the public hearing portion and calling for a motion of note I'm going to wasain abstain from voting
okay we have a quorum we have a quum then the we have a quorum and it's uh if someone is not voting then it's simply a Maj majority of the people that do vote
is uh makes the decision well if it's okay I'll I'll move to um recommend approval of the comp plan Amendment as outlined to us and staff I don't know if there's any conditions that were attached or not there's a motion a potential motion
there were two conditions that were attached okay and both of those are fine so I would recommend move to recommend approval with the two conditions outlined by staff do I have a second I'll second I have a
motion and a second is there any further discussion all in favor I opposed motion is carried and when does this appear at the council so the this is a recommendation
to the city council city council meets next Tuesday which is March 4th what at 4:30 this room okay I appreciate all of you attending this closes the public hearing portion of the meeting and we're going
to go to reports city council decisions concerning planning Comm commission matters okay at the um February fourth meeting um there were a number of items uh first
is that they had the first consideration of the amendment of the lot area requirements in the i1 zone They had uh first consideration of the um um Amendment to the uh temporary um
sign regulations um then there was a first consideration of development standards um in the i1 zone that's the same thing isn't
it that would be the same that' be the same item I'm sorry um then um they approve the conditional use permit with conditions for Chad OAS at um on third North Street they
approved a simple lot division for lot 6 block 30 North that was 923 North Valley Street um and they
um authorized or entered into an agreement with Melvin shugal regarding the uh former Airport Road and it's eventual platting as two single family lots
that concludes uh the [Music] February fourth meeting the 18th meeting they um had first consideration of the Cannabis zoning
regulations and that was approved uh they had second consideration of the um zoning standards in the i1 zone and then voted to approve that and then they had the
um uh second consideration of the temporary sign regulations and they denied that on a three vote um and you were at the meeting and could [Music]
you essentially the direction they gave staff was to use our existing zoning regulations um to regulate those temporary signs so in essence we have maximum sign areas allowed on a property based typic in commercial areas based on
the the lineal Frontage they have on the on the short side of the lot and they said use those regulations and make them also basically apply to Temporary signs that's the way our ordinance is currently written
so for an example if uh a lot is allowed 100 square ft of signage on the property what we were proposing was to in a commercial District to allow an extra 32 square ft of temporary sign city council gave Direction no 100
square feet um go with that whether it's temporary or not yeah I think something that staff is going to look at is to go through our ordinance and to um remove anything referencing
temporary signage okay um and then add a provision in city of St Peter has a statement in which they simply say that um there's um there is no temporary signage in that uh all signage gets
included in the total amount permitted for the property is that house um Center in Broadway got passed or allowed to continue to so Center and Broadways in the B1 District I think when we looked at it 60 they get
60 squet if I'm not mistaken um and I I can verify that but um the way our regulations are written now temporary or not it's just the total amount of signage on that property which varies from day to day yeah okay and so it's if
you can if you can H hang a sign there it's acceptable no matter the number of signs we had had also uh asked the City attorney to take a look at adding an additional provision to um more or less exempt Civic or Community types of signs and
they said no you can't that's regulating content um so they didn't want us to put that provision um into I mean I think it's kind of the community bull bull um bulletin board for not for-profits which I'm not opposed to but I know that
there's complaints about the amount of signage at that corner so I was just wondering what it okay well it it's it's fine when it's maybe one to two or three but something like this seems to grow
okay and that's a lot of times where the um the problem concern I think we're we're right at that point where they're over the limit and we did go back and look at what our regulations were prior
to this zoning ordinance and in the B1 Zone it was 60 square ft so it seems to be growing Beyond State Street Theater cuz it's the Le and Dad's waffles and and all kinds of things so yep and that was actually brought up at the council meeting I
think there's some people that have concerns with it there's also a lot of people that have appreciation for knowing what's going on um so the balance uh needs to be there and currently our ordinance would would allow a certain amount of signage based on the sides of the lot in that zoning
District okay thank you is that it to um that would it yes Elwood Heritage preservation commission activities yeah we had uh one design review come forward for um soda Street
for the new pottery place oh okay um that was approved and then we just had discussion on for the upcoming HPC um fall conference and finalizing or getting our tours down for for the that weekend so that was it I hope youall
appreciate how big a deal that really is it attracts a number nice number of people and yeah they're estimating between 175 and 200 people and the tours are always great no matter where you live I've been to it so many times and it's a it's it's worthwhile yeah so that
was it please take part in the tours if you can plug that yeah and make sure to there's one of the tours we actually have uh horse teams pulling people and then we're going to be discussing historic houses from the outside and going inside um so that's sign up early
if you want that one it's limited I remember the one is I mean I've been to the Hastings which was which was interesting and Del but one of the ones I found most interesting was Little Falls and they did a tour of Ripley which was great but they also discussed
the downtown vacant businesses and what they're doing with those spaces and it was really Innovative and it was a good discussion so it it's great for the city okay is there any other business if not we stand
adjourned at 6:35 25