7.b)1) Staff Report-Establishment of Agritourism/Event Use Advisory Committee �C, � � �
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SCANDIA
Staff Renort
Date of Meeting: February 19, 2013
To: City Council
From: Kristina Handt, City Administrator
Re: Establishment of Agritourism/Event Use Advisory Committee
Agenda Item#: 7.b)1)
Background:
Mr. Sydney Stephan has contacted the City about running an events center on his property to
host weddings and other community events. The City Council heard from Mr. Stephan at their
January 8th work session and the Council unanimously voted to refer the issue to the Planning
Commission to study if the proposed use is acceptable, and if so, which zoning district would be
most appropriate for the use. Chapter 2, Section 1.3 of the Development Code reads:
Whenever in any zoning district a use is not specifically allowed as a permitted,
accessory, conditional, or interim use, nor is such use allowed by administrative permit,
the use shall be considered prohibited. In such cases, the City Council or the Planning
Commission, on their own initiative or upon request, may conduct a study to determine if
the use is acceptable, and if so, which zoning district would be most appropriate for the
use, and the conditions and standards applicable to the use. The City Council, Planning
Commission or property owner may initiate an amendment to the Zoning Ordinance to
provide for the particular use under consideration, or the City may find that the use is not
compatible for development within the City.
'The procedure to amend the Code can be found Chapter 1, Section 5 of the Development Code.
At the February 13, 2013 Planning Commission meeting, the Commission discussed Mr.
Stephan's request and also had discussion on the Agritourism definition currently in Code. The
Commission generally seemed supportive of the type of use proposed by Mr. Stephan.
Commission members talked about the work that went into the development of the current code
and the other individuals who had been involved in that process and wanting to involve them in
this possible update.
Ad-hoc comrnittees have been formed in the past to provide recommendations to the Planning
Commission. Those committees were formed in relation to the implementation strategies of the
new Comprehensive Plan. Some examples of past committees are the commercial/retail
development committee, the architectural guidelines committee, and scenic viewshed
committee.
Issue:
Should the City Council approve the establishment of a committee to advise the Planning
Commission on what changes should be made to the existing code in response to Mr. Stephan's
request?
Proposal Details:
The Planning Commission is requesting the Council approve the establishment of a committee to
investigate options in developing code amendments to address the type of use proposed by Mr.
Stephan. The committee could be composed of the following:
1 or 2 City Council members
2 Planning Commission members (Commissioners Hogle and Maefsky have volunteered)
2 or 3 Citizen members (Commissioners suggested Dennis Seefeldt, Kevin Nichols, and Bruce
Swenson). Note,none of these individuals have yet been contacted.
Ex-officio staff would be the City Planner, City Administrator and/or Deputy Clerk.
If established,the Agritourism/Event Use Advisory Committee could begin meeting as soon as
practical after appointments are made by the Council. They would then gather information and
make a recommendation to the Planning Commission. The Planning Commission would need to
post and hold a public hearing before making a recommendation to the Council for final adoption
of any code amendments. Adding an additional advisory committee may add time in responding
to Mr. Stephan's request, particularly if committee appointments are difficult to obtain.
Fiscal Impact:
Additional consultant costs to attend meetings of the advisory committee and possibly hourly
staff time to attend and assist with meetings.
Options:
1) Approve the establishment of the Agritourism/Event Use Advisory Committee
2) Do not approve the establishment of the Agritourism/Event Use Advisory Committee
Recommendation:
Option 1 recommended by the Planning Commission