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04-09-02KALISPELL CITY PLANNING BOARD & ZONING COMMISSION MINUTES OF MEETING APRIL 9, 2002 CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL The regular meeting of the Kalispell City Planning Board and CALL Zoning Commission was called to order at 7:00 p.m. Board .members present were: Ron Van Natta, Mark Brechel, Jim Atkinson, Bonnie Spooner, Bill Rice, Sue Ellyn Anderson and Jean Johnson. Narda Wilson represented the Tri-City Planning Office. There were approximately 3 people in the audience. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Atkinson moved and Johnson seconded to approve the minutes of the Kalispell City Planning Board meeting of March 12, 2002, as submitted. A correction was noted to the name Rigosovitch, which was changed to Radosevich. On a vote by acclamation the motion passed unanimously. CITY OF KALISPELL A request by the City of Kalispell for amendments to the ZONING TEXT Kalispell Zoning Ordinance amending the lot coverage AMENDMENT calculation and limits in some residential zoning districts. STAFF REPORT Narda Wilson, of the Tri-City Planning Office, gave a #KZTA-02-1 presentation of staff report KZTA-02-1, a request for amendment to the Kalispell Zoning Ordinance. Wilson explained that as a result of problems that had arisen relating to lot coverage, particularly in the Glacier Village Greens area, the City of Kalispell was requesting to amend lot coverage limits and to clarify how lot coverage was calculated. Wilson reviewed the proposed amendment and the statutory criteria, encouraging the compact use of land without overcrowding it. Staff recommended adoption of the findings of fact and proposed amendments as outlined in Exhibit A. PUBLIC HEARING The public hearing was opened to those who wished to speak on the issue. PUBLIC COMMENT Tom Denham, 37 E. Nicklaus, spoke in favor of the proposal. He stated he was building a home in Village Greens and had to cut back on his garage size, which made it hard to squeeze in his golf cart. Denham said that if this passes it would help future people and be consistent with the County. Don Peterson, 113 Village Greens, said people want larger homes, smaller lots, less yard work and he was here to speak in favor of it. Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of April 9, 2002 Page 1 of 4 Mark Owens, 985 Stillwater Rd., said he viewed the increase - as an advantage to potential buyers. He said they worked hard to resolve their conflicts and urged the board to be in favor of the proposal and work with them. No one else wished to speak and the public hearing was closed. MOTION Atkinson moved and Johnson seconded to adopt staff report KZTA-02-1 as findings of fact and, based on these findings, recommend to the Kalispell City Council that the proposed amendments be adopted as outlined in Exhibit A. BOARD DISCUSSION Atkinson asked about the provision for "granny cottages". Wilson stated there was a provision for an accessory dwelling, which is restricted to the R4 zone. She said lot coverage limits would apply to that and other fairly specific restrictions of accessory dwellings. Atkinson stated he was in favor of the proposed amendment. He said it was important in the long run to look at higher densities and thought this type of action would help that. Brechel agreed with Atkinson and asked Wilson if there was a conflict with the covenants. Wilson explained that when i� they buy into Village Greens they buy into covenants and agree they will abide by them. She added that if there were different regulations it would revert to which ever is more restrictive. Spooner asked if any current residents were complaining and Wilson explained that not all residents were noticed. She added that if they were to come in and ask for an addition they would now have more flexibility to do that. She said there were no exclusions to current property owners. ROLL CALL The motion passed unanimously on a roll call vote. OLD BUSINESS No old business was reported. NEW BUSINESS Discussion of Kalispell Growth Policy Plan. Wilson reviewed a letter from the City of Kalispell to the Attorney General's office requesting their opinion on questions that dealt with the Growth Policy Plan. A copy of the letter was passed to each board member. She said they were anticipating a response by or before June 3rd and suggested they wait for the Attorney General's opinion before doing any work with the Growth Policy Plan. She added that the City would still like to reach an agreement with the County on defining extra -territorial boundaries. Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of April 9, 2002 Page 2 of 4 Brechal asked about the dispute with the building C� jurisdiction boundaries and Wilson explained the jurisdictional boundaries, adding the building codes and planning boundaries were completely different issues. P. J. Sorenson spoke briefly about the different opinions that came out of the Attorney General's office. In October they said the extra -territorial building code area, or "donut area' was dissolved back in May. Then the Supreme court issued an injunction saying the boundaries go back while they decide what the legislation said and whether a vote needs to be taken. Johnson stated he would like to encourage the board and the City to proceed with the Growth Policy Plan. He said it was not cast in concrete and if it was adopted by the City Council tomorrow it could be amended the day after. Johnson stated the County Commissioner's position regarding the City - County negotiations is that no more discussion will be made until the lawsuits are dismissed or resolved. Johnson said it was of the utmost importance, by statute, that the board create a Growth Management Plan subject to approval by the City Council. He said that brings us into compliance and we have a document to work with. He thought it was time for the City to proceed and suggested they resolve the extra- territorial issue by annexation. He thought it was time for the City to get on with their life, move forward, have a Growth Management Plan and let the County flounder. Van Natta wanted to defer to the City Attorney's input. He thought the recommendation was to hold tight until they receive the opinion of the Attorney General. He added that if it was shuffled to the legislature to solve next session then, at that time, the direction could change to proceed. Rice wondered if it wasn't an exercise in futility. He thought in doing the exercise, no matter what the outcome, they could go ahead and work on it. As for the extra -territorial boundaries, even if the County did not recognize them, he thought they should have something in the wings for a plan. Wilson added there were complicated legal issues when planning for an area that is outside the city limits. She said there was specific language regarding jurisdictional planning areas. Wilson added they might be able to plan for it for annexation purposes, but she was not certain it would be legal. As far as a Growth Policy Plan they would be planning _ outside their jurisdictional boundaries. Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of April 9, 2002 Page 3 of 4 Rice asked if they could put it in a different form, like a resource document. Wilson recommended they do it as part / of an Extension of Services Plan. Brechel asked if that would be for discussion only since they could not hold a public hearing. Wilson said that's where it brings us to a dilemma. She briefly noted the conflict between the City and County stating she hoped they could resolve the issues soon. Atkinson stated they were required to have a Growth Policy and thought they could work towards developing one. He said they didn't have a lot of information to allow them to develop something that would be useable and thought it was logical to wait. Atkinson added that relative to doing business today, he agreed with the City Attorney. He briefly noted the possibility of lawsuit and thought the best legal defense would be to work with the Master Plan. Johnson commented that the three Cities had moved forward for summary judgment and if the decision didn't come out favorable to the County they would appeal it and then they were a year or two down the road. There was brief discussion about the need for City and County to come to terms. Johnson added that there were developers who had the ability to suit the City and the County based on their actions, or inactions. He said he was working with a client who was extremely frustrated and had the where with all to suit. He thought they needed to move. Wilson wasn't sure that adopting a Growth Policy would take care of Johnson's client, Mr. Wolford. She said the project was currently in the County and the City could only plan inside the City. She said it got to be a complicated legal situation. Johnson said he was not suggesting Wolford would single out the City of Kalispell, but that he might single out the system; Helena, Attorney General's opinion, County, City, etc. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at approximately 7:53 p.m. The next regular meeting of the Kalispell City Planning Board and Zoning Commission will be held on a , 14, 2002. Ron Van Natta, Chairman of the Board bie Willis, ecor ecretary APPROVED as submitted/corrected: 5 /� �,/02 Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of April 9, 2002 Page 4 of 4