3.a) 04-02-2013 Regular Meeting � � 3. �
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April 2, 2013
The Scandia Planning Commission held their regular monthly meeting on the above date. Chair
Christine Maefsky called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. The following were in attendance:
Commissioners Jan Hogle, Steve Philippi, Peter Schwarz and Commission Chair Christine
Maefsky. Staff present: City Administrator Kristina Handt, City Planner Sherri Buss, and Deputy
Clerk Brenda Eklund.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA, MINUTES
Hogle,seconded by Schwarz, moved to approve the agenda as presented. The motion
carried 4-0.
Hogie,seconded by Philippi, moved to approve the March 5,2013 minutes as presented.
The motion carried 4-0.
PUBLIC HEARING: AMEND THE APPROVED VARIANCE FOR 20290 OLINDA
TRAIL TO REMOVE PLATTING REQUIREMENT. DAWN GILLESPIE,APPLICANT
(RESOL UTION NO. 04-02-13-01 PC)
The City granted a variance to Dawn and Gary Gillespie on July 12, 2012 to allow the Gillespies
to create two lots on their property located at 20290 Olinda Trail. The variance allowed the lots
to be created without the required road frontage on a public street. Planner Buss explained the
applicants' reyuest to remove the condition of that variance which requires subdivision and
platting. Once the Gillespies began working with a land surveyor on the subdivision process,
they were made aware of a state statute which does not reyuire platting for parcels of residential
land of not less than 20 acres and having a width of not less than 500 feet and its conveyance
does not result in the division of the parcel into two or more lots, any one of which is less than 20
acres or 500 feet in width. Buss also explained that platting requires a wetland delineation of the
property, at a high cost for the applicants. If development of the property did not occur within
three years,the delineation would have to be completed again.
Planner Buss stated that the City Attorney had no objections to removing the condition that
reyuires subdivision and platting, based on the fact that the case meets state requirements to be
exempt. Planner Buss recommended approval of the variance amendment request, with
conditions as included in a draft resolution.
Chair Maefsky opened the public hearing at 7:15 p.m. There were no comments and the hearing
was closed.
Commissioner Hogle stated that she sees no problem with the recommendation to approve as
long as the conditions in the resolution are met before a building permit is issued. These
conditions include recording a shared driveway easement, completing roadway improvements,
and obtaining a wetland delineation at the time of any proposed building permit application.
Chair Maefsky asked if the property would be surveyed by metes and bounds. Planner Buss
answered yes, it would be surveyed into two parcels and recorded in this manner.
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Commissioner Philippi stated agreement with the recommendation to approve. He said that the
intent to require platting was to prevent the creation of difficult legal descriptions and transfer of
properties, but this is a simple division of the existing parcel.
Schwarz, seconded by Hogle, moved to approve Resolution No. 04-02-13-01PC,Approving
Amended Variance for 20290 Olinda Trail. The motion carried 4-0.
The recommendation will go before the City Council at their April 16, 2013 meeting.
AMENDMENT TO THE DEVELOPMENT CODE PERTAINING TO SWIMMING
POOLS TO ALLOW AUTOMATIC SAFETY COVERS IN PLACE OF A FENCE.JEFF
AND BEA MELBY,APPLICANTS
Jeff and Bea Melby are proposing to install an in-ground pool at their residence, 19450 Parkview
Lane. They have requested an amendment to the City's Development Code to allow the use of an
automatic pool safety cover as an alternative to the Code's fence requirement. The applicants
provided a listing of communities in the metro which do not reyuire a fence with the installation
of a pool safety cover.
Planner Buss explained that most local communities which allow pool covers have done so based
on the recommendation of their Building Officials. Scandia's Building Official Keith Wille
indicated that he is comfortable with allowing safety covers which meet ASTM (American
Society for Testing and Materials) Standard F1346-91. Buss stated that building officials in
Woodbury and Hugo do not believe that the automated safety covers provide the same degree of
protection as the fences which are required in their community ordinances. Buss summarized that
there are a mix of standards, based on recommendations from building officials. There is no
State Building Code standard and the decision is left to local ordinances. The City of Stillwater
recently made the decision to convert back to the fence requirement after allowing power safety
covers for a time.
At 7:30 p.m., Chair Maefsky opened the public hearing.
Jeff and Bea Melby, Applicants, 19450 Parkview Lane: The Melby's stated that their studies
have determined that pool safety covers provide greater protection than fences when used
properly. They demonstrated a cover mechanism and described its operation. Commissioner
Hogle asked if there is an option to operate the cover in the event of a loss of power. Mr. Melby
was not sure but stated that they have a generator which could supply power to operate the cover.
Later in the meeting, Mr. Melby read from the literature that there is a manual option.
Hogle asked if the closed cover holds water accumulation,which could be a drowning hazard for
small children. Mr. Melby answered that the ASTM standard requires a pump to automatically
remove standing water from the cover.
Commissioner Philippi asked if the City Attorney had an opinion on the city's liability in
allowing pool covers. Administrator Handt answered that he did not, but the League's attorney
had published an opinion that was consistent with the building official's requirement that the
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covers meet ASTM safety standards. Philippi stated that perhaps a requirement for approval
could be that a homeowner monitors the long-term performance of the cover.
Buss explained that the local insurance agent and the League are comfortable with the proposal
to allow pool safety covers in place of fencing.
There were no further public comments and Chair Maefsky closed the hearing at 7:45 p.m.
Commissioner Schwarz stated that the City discussed this ordinance five years ago and denied
pool covers as the only safety barrier and insisted on a fence requirement. There were concerns
of power issues, forgetting to close the cover overnight and city liability.
The Commissioners were in agreement that they need more time to investigate the issue further.
Buss offered to invite Building Official Keith Wille to the next meeting for his view on the
covers. The Melbys were asked to provide more information on the manual operating system.
Schwarz, seconded by Hogle, moved to table the application to the May 7, 2013 Planning
Commission meeting and requested staff to gather additional information. The motion
carried 4-0.
WORK SESSION ON EVENT USE. RURAL RETAIL OR AGRITOURISM USES
The Planning Commission moved into a work session to further discuss Syd Stephan's reyuest to
allow for an event use on his property at 22200 Meadowbrook Avenue. Syd and Cinda Stephan,
Larry and Sue Bies (adjacent neighbors), and Council member Dan Lee joined in the discussion.
The City's ordinance does not currently have a use that fits the use that he proposes, a
commercial event center for privately-sponsored events such as weddings, company picnics and
fundraisers. Planner Buss asked the Commissioners to consider if there is interest in allowing
this type of use, and if so, should it be linked to agricultural use. The existing agritourism
enterprise use definition in the code could be modified to include event uses, and performance
standards for this use could be added to the Development Code.
Commissioner Schwarz stated that he is not comfortable addressing the question of whether the
City should allow this or not, as the reyuest to form a special committee of community
representatives was turned down by the City Council. He thought the development of the Comp
Plan was a complicated and costly process, one not easily amended by only the Planning
Commission. Schwarz went on to say that he would not be comfortable issuing a Conditional
Use Permit that would run with the land. If there is a change in ownership, the use still remains.
Planner Buss explained that an Interim Use Permit could be issued that would have a time limit
which would expire once the property changed ownership, or events could be allowed on a per
event basis. It was discussed that applying for a permit for each private event may not be
suitable, as owners would be wary to make property improvements if there was a possibility of
denial based on the event.
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Buss explained tax implications based on information from the City Assessor. The property
valuation would only be affected if the property was re-zoned as commercial. If the primary use
is still agriculture,there would be no effect on property valuation. The City does have a few
Rural Commercial zoning districts, including the Big Marine Lake Store and Crabtrees Store.
Buss provided information on zoning practices of surrounding communities. Some allow only
the ceremony and not the reception.No amplification, no serving of alcohol and limited hours
minimize the potential impacts to neighbors.
Commissioner Philippi suggested they should explore a broader definition as a means to
maintain rural character. Administrator Handt noted that the Development Code includes
definitions for conference centers and resorts, along with performance standards. Handt
suggested that the standards could be expanded to address the operation concerns (noise, traffic,
hours, etc.).
Chair Maefsky asked the Bies for their input on being neighbors to the proposed use. Sue Bies
stated that it's a broad issue to consider for all of Scandia, but their neighborhood would be
greatly affected. They reside on the dead-end of Meadowbrook which is not a traffic driven road.
They felt they would be giving up a sense of privacy and quality of life for each event being held
on a weekend, a time that they do yard work. Larry Bies expressed safety concerns related to
emergencies and licensing.
Syd Stephan explained that he is looking for a way to offer his rural property as a type of
"heritage"use, where a barn wedding or event could allow people to connect with the past.
Following further discussion, it was determined that the Agritourism definition does not
necessarily fit the intended use. There was not support to revise the definition, but rather
consider defining an event center under the resorts and conference facilities or to add rural retail
tourism as a use. Chair Maefsky suggested to study expanding the City's Special Event Permit to
cover private commercial events such as those Mr. Stephan is proposing.
Staff will gather information on a new rural commercial use and other additional information for
the Planning Commission to continue their discussion at the May 7 meeting.
ADJOURNMENT
Hogle, seconded by Philippi, moved to adjourn the meeting. The motion carried 4-0.
The meeting adjourned at 9:17 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Brenda Eklund
Depury Clerk