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PC-09-01-15 CITY OF SHOREWOOD COUNCIL CHAMBERS PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING 5755 COUNTRY CLUB ROAD TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2015 7:00 P.M. MINUTES CALL TO ORDER Chair Geng called the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M. ROLL CALL Present: Chair Geng; Commissioners Bean, Davis, Johnson and Maddy; Planning Director Nielsen; and Council Liaison Woodruff Absent: None APPROVAL OF AGENDA Commissioner Bean asked that Item 3.A City Right-of-Way be added to the agenda. Bean moved, Davis seconded, approving the agenda for September 1, 2015, as amended. Motion passed 5/0. APPROVAL OF MINUTES  August 18, 2015 Commissioner Davis stated that she assumes the minor changes submitted by Planning Commissioners to staff will be made to the minutes. Bean moved, Davis seconded, approving the Planning Commission Meeting Minutes of August 18, 2015, subject to staff incorporating the grammatical / typographical changes Planning Commissioners submitted that staff deems appropriate. Motion passed 5/0. 1. PUBLIC HEARING –FRONT YARD SETBACK VARIANCE Applicant: Wayne Hartmann and Michelle Letendre Location: 27460 Maple Ridge Lane Chair Geng opened the Public Hearing at 7:02 noting the procedures used in a Public Hearing. He explained the Planning Commission is comprised of residents of the City of Shorewood who are serving as volunteers on the Commission. The Commissioners are appointed by the City Council. The Commission’s role is to help the City Council in determining zoning and planning issues. One of the Commission’s responsibilities is to hold public hearings and to help develop the factual record for an application and to make a non-binding recommendation to the City Council. The recommendation is advisory only. He noted that if the Planning Commission makes a recommendation this evening this item will go before the City Council on September 28, 2015. He stated this evening the Planning Commission is going to consider a front yard setback variance for Wayne Hartmann and Michelle Letendre, for their property located at 27460 Maple Ridge Lane. CITY OF SHOREWOOD PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING September 1, 2015 Page 2 of 5 Director Nielsen reiterated Wayne Hartmann and Michelle Letendre own the property at 27460 Maple Ridge Lane. He noted the property is located in the R-1A/S, Single-Family Residential/Shoreland District and contains 42,359 square feet of area. It backs up to the channel on the north end of Lake Virginia. He stated they propose to build a small addition on the southwesterly corner of their home. When the applicants applied for a building permit they discovered their home is nonconforming with respect to the front yard setback requirement for the R-1A/S District. Therefore, they are requesting a setback variance for the addition. He explained the existing house is located as close as 32 feet from the right-of-way (ROW) of Maple Ridge Lane. The structure has a footprint area of 3,275 square feet, including the attached garage. The 197 square-foot addition would fill in the southwesterly corner of the house. With regard to the analysis of the case, Nielsen explained the home was built in 1974. The building permit indicated a 50-foot setback and that no variances would be necessary. The survey submitted with the application contained a note regarding the 50-foot setback. Once built, the home ended up at approximately 32 feet from the public ROW. The same type of error appears to have been made on several homes in the immediate vicinity. Out of 10 houses on that west side of Lake Virginia Drive, eight of them do not comply with the 50-foot front setback requirement. There is no record of any variances having been granted for those properties. Staff speculated that whoever performed the inspections on these homes may have been measuring from the traveled surface of the roadway instead of the public ROW. All of the homes appear to be 50 feet or more from the pavement. He reviewed how the applicant’s request for a variance complies with the criteria for variances set forth in Section 1201.05 Subd. 2 of the Zoning Code. 1. The variance would not alter the essential character of the area in which it is located. Given the number of homes similarly situated nearby, the proposed addition would be in keeping with the homes in the neighborhood. 2. The need for the variance is not economic in nature. The applicants are not requesting the variance because it is cheaper to build as they propose. They are trying to improve the functional layout of the home. 3. Neither the applicants nor their predecessors created their practical difficulty. In fact, it could be argued that the City did. 4. The addition would be of minimal size; it would fill in the corner of the home. Due to the way the house angles away from the cul-de-sac, the addition would actually be four feet farther from the front property line than the existing house. Once completed, the property would only have 18.3 percent hardcover; a maximum of 25 percent is allowed in the R-1A/S District. Nielsen noted staff recommends the applicant’s request be granted as proposed. He also noted that Mr. Hartmann was present. Mr. Hartmann noted the home he currently lives in is his fifth home and this is the first time he has requested a variance. He stated they could not find any documentation about why their home encroaches into the 50-foot setback. He asked if a note would be put in the file for his property explaining the anomaly of his property and others in the area regarding the setback encroachment. CITY OF SHOREWOOD PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING September 1, 2015 Page 3 of 5 Chair Geng stated if Council approves a variance he asked if the variance gets recorded with Hennepin County. Director Nielsen responded some are. He explained that if this variance requests gets approved the resolution approving it would be recorded with the County. A copy of the staff report and resolution are put into the file for this property. Seeing no one present wanting to comment on the case, Chair Geng opened and closed the Public Testimony portion of the Public Hearing at 7:10 P.M. Mr. Hartmann noted that the owner of the property located on the side where the addition would be built sent in a note of support for his request. Chair Geng stated Ms. Peggy Ploen wrote “I’m giving my consent to move forward.” Commissioner Maddy asked if granting a variance would set a precedent for other properties in that area that have similar setback issues. Director Nielsen responded they would be treated similarly. Maddy then asked if there are other similar situations in the City. Nielsen stated not that he is aware of. Commissioner Bean asked if there has ever been an issue with the size of the existing cul-de-sac with respect to emergency vehicles. Director Nielsen responded that issue has not been raised and stated he thought the cul-de-sac could possibly be a little small. Chair Geng stated he thought this case was straight forward. It satisfies the criteria in the Zoning Code. He noted Shorewood is cautious about granting variances. Geng moved, Davis seconded, recommending granting the front yard setback variance for Wayne Hartmann and Michelle Letendre for their property located at 27460 Maple Ridge Lane. Motion passed 5/0. Chair Geng noted that Council will consider this matter during its September 28, 2015, meeting. Mr. Hartmann commented that much of his house is within the 50-foot front yard setback. Chair Geng closed the Public Hearing at 7:17 P.M. 2. MATTERS FROM THE FLOOR There were no matters from the floor presented this evening. 3. OLD BUSINESS / NEW BUSINESS A. City Right-of-Way Commissioner Bean stated because the majority of the homes on the west side of Lake Virginia Drive encroach on the front yard setback he asked if the right-of-way (ROW) could be vacated to eliminate the need for other property owners to request a variance. Director Nielsen stated he would not reduce the ROW width. He noted it is a standard city street. He stated if more than one or two property owners requested a front yard setback variance it may be worthwhile to consider a Zoning Code text amendment that would address the Virginia Highlands development relative to the front yard setback. He then stated the City spends a lot of time trying to acquire ROW after the fact. He clarified he does not mind vacating ROW when the City has excess CITY OF SHOREWOOD PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING September 1, 2015 Page 4 of 5 ROW; it can then be returned to the tax rolls. Commissioner Bean asked if there some preemptive action the City could take. Director Nielsen stated a text amendment could be considered. Commissioner Johnson asked if the same setback issue exists along Blue Ridge Lane. Director Nielsen stated he did a spot check on a few properties there and things seemed to be okay. Director Nielsen stated if a text amendment were to be considered he recommended evaluating the entire subdivision. Council Liaison Woodruff stated vacating ROW may solve a technical problem but it would not solve the problem of the location of the houses. It could possibly result in property owners constructing things that look out of place because the setback issue was eliminated. He commented the variance request considered earlier on the agenda would not impact the location of the house relative to the roadway. He stated during his nine-year tenure on Council this is the first time he recollects any property owner in that area requesting a variance. Chair Geng noted he agreed with Director Nielsen and Council Liaison Woodruff that the City should not vacate the ROW in that area. He then stated that he agreed an assessment of that entire subdivision should be done before any text amendment is considered. He does not think there is any sense of urgency to get that done. Council Liaison Woodruff stated he thought the City would have to hire a surveyor to survey the area. Director Nielsen stated he did not think that would be necessary. Nielsen explained staff would use as- built documents from when the sewer went in and aerial photographs. Woodruff asked how accurate the as-built documents are. Nielsen responded he thought they were pretty good and stated many times they are more accurate than Hennepin County property tax records. He stated staff can get a good idea of what the distance is from the paved surface to the structure and then from that determine where the ROW is. Chair Geng stated if doing the assessment will take a lot of staff time he asked if Council needs to provide direction. Director Nielsen stated one way of mitigating the cost of applying for the variance is to waive the fee for other properties in that area that have a similar issue. Council Liaison Woodruff stated if that is going to be considered it should apply to the variance request discussed earlier. Nielsen stated he needs to give the idea more thought. Nielsen then stated the applicant should have been aware his house did not conform to the setback requirement when he purchased the property. Chair Geng stated that same situation applies to most of the other properties in that vicinity. Commissioner Maddy stated that maybe the reason no one knew about the non-conforming situations for 40 years was because no one wanted to build closer to the roadway. Commissioner Bean stated any addition would trigger the variance. Director Nielsen clarified any addition within 50 feet of the ROW would. Chair Geng stated that earlier in the meeting the applicant had commented that much of his house was located within the front yard setback. CITY OF SHOREWOOD PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING September 1, 2015 Page 5 of 5 Council Liaison Woodruff stated for the lots on the other side of Lake Virginia Drive he asked if they also have setback issues. Chair Geng stated because an assessment would require staff time he suggested not pursuing it at this time. Commissioner Johnson suggested they be handled on a case by case basis. Council Liaison Woodruff suggested staff put a note in the files for other properties in that area that have issues similar to the variance request for the 27460 Maple Ridge Lane property. Chair Geng noted he thought that would be a good idea. 4. DRAFT NEXT MEETING AGENDA No agenda was set. 5. REPORTS • Liaison to Council Council Liaison Woodruff reported on the items considered and actions taken during Council’s August 28, 2015, meeting (as detailed in the minutes of that meeting). Commissioner Bean asked if the City has to conduct a traffic study before it can reduce a posted speed limit to lower than 30 miles per hour (mph). Director Nielsen clarified that is the City’s policy. Council Liaison Woodruff stated that unless a residential street has a posted speed the speed limit is 30 mph. If the City wants the posted speed to be lower than that it has to be able to justify why. Nielsen clarified that is for lowering it down to 25 mph and for anything lower the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) has to conduct the study. Bean stated there are a number of City roadways posted at 25 mph. Woodruff stated he asked Public Works Director Brown to research if the appropriate Council action was taken for them. Bean stated he thought most were not set by resolution. Nielsen stated that is likely true for roadways that have been posted 25 mph for a long time. Commissioner Bean stated from his perspective the Deephaven Police Department takes traffic enforcement seriously; at least on Minnetonka Boulevard. Council Liaison Woodruff commented people should not speed in Deephaven. • SLUC • Other Commissioner Davis asked when the request for proposals (RFP) for urban forester / arborist contract services will go out. Council Liaison Woodruff encouraged her to call Clerk Panchyshyn. 6. ADJOURNMENT Maddy moved, Johnson seconded, adjourning the Planning Commission Meeting of September 1, 2015, at 7:44 P.M. Motion passed 5/0. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED, Christine Freeman, Recorder