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07-10-01KALISPELL CITY -COUNTY PLANNING BOARD MINUTES OF MEETING JULY 10, 2001 CALL TO ORDER AND Chairman Greg Stevens called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. ROLL CALL Members present were: Don Garberg, Dale Pierce, Ron Van Natta, Rob Heinecke, Bill Rice, Greg Stevens; and Don Mann. Don Hines and Brian Sipe had excused absences. Narda Wilson represented the Tri-City Planning Office. There were eight people in the audience. APPROVAL OF MINUTES There was a motion by Van Natta and second by Rice to approve OF JUNE 12, 2001 the minutes of the meeting of June 12, 2001. Garberg stated he had a question regarding why there were different opinions from the fire department on the height restrictions in different zones and said it didn't appear in the minutes and would like it to be on record. Stevens asked if they should address it under old business. Rice said that on page seven of the minutes Stevens had stated "there was no logic or hard fast rule and suggested that the Board review height restrictions." An insert could be placed there. All members present voted aye to approve the minutes as amended. ONEIL BANGS A request for initial zoning of RA-1 upon annexation by Neil Bangs ANNEXATION AND on approximately 0.30 of an acre that is a portion of a tract that lies INITIAL ZONING on the east side of Fifth Avenue East and north of 18th Street East. STAFF REPORT Narda Wilson, of the Tri-City Planning Office, gave a presentation of staff report #KA-01-2, a request for initial zoning of RA-1 upon annexation. There is a single-family home in the city at 1613 Fifth Avenue East on the west portion of the parcel which is zoned City RA-1, Low Density Residential Apartment, while the east portion of the property is currently in the County zoning jurisdiction and is zoned County R-4, a Two Family Residential zoning district. The applicants are proposing City RA-1, a Low Density Residential Apartment zoning district. Wilson reviewed the evaluation of statutory criteria and recommended the initial zoning for the property be RA-1, Low Density Residential Apartment, upon annexation. Wilson stated that the proposed zoning would be consistent with other zoning in the area. An apartment development would require a conditional use permit. The single - wide mobile home would be removed and the septic system abandoned when the property was redeveloped and connected to City water and sewer. PUBLIC HEARING The public hearing was opened to those who wished to speak on 0 the proposal. PROPONENTS No one wished to speak. Kalispell City -County Planning.Board Minutes of meeting of July 10, 2001 Page 1 of 8 OPPONENTS No one wished to speak and the public hearing was closed. MOTION Mann moved and Van Natta seconded to adopt staff report KA-01-2 as findings of fact and forward a recommendation to the Kalispell City Council that the initial zoning for this property should be RA- 1, Low Density Residential Apartment, upon annexation. BOARD DISUCSSION Heinecke stated the board occasionally reviewed properties that had different zoning designations and asked if there had been any effort to have neighboring properties join in. Wilson stated that typically the City would annex if someone wanted City services. Wilson said in this case, and in others, when someone has a relatively large parcel they would annex only a portion so they were not paying taxes on the entire parcel. Then, when they were ready to develop the property, they would annex the remaining portion. Wilson said staff would not actively solicit annexation in the area unless there was a reason to do so, such as a failing septic system. Heinecke asked if any of the neighbors wanted to be included in the rezoning. Wilson said no. Mann asked if the removal of the mobile home and septic was Ovoluntary. Wilson said it was voluntary; if the applicant left if just as it was it could stay indefinitely, but if he was planning on redeveloping the property, it would be required that the mobile home be removed and the septic abandoned when the development began. ROLL CALL The motion passed unanimously on a roll call vote. RICHARD & JUDITH A zone change request by Richard and Judith Mohrenweiser from MOHRENWEISER ZONE R-3 to RA-3 on properties located east of North Meridian Road, west CHANGE of Highway 93 and north of Under Hill Drive and which contained approximately 2.91 undeveloped acres. STAFF REPORT Narda Wilson, of the Tri-City Planning Office, gave a presentation on staff report KZC-01-02, a proposed zone change from R-3, Residential, to RA-3, Residential Apartment/Office, for the purpose of developing the property with apartment or other uses allowed in the district. Wilson reviewed the findings of fact and statutory evaluation criteria, thus recommending approval of the requested zone change. Wilson said the property was in the North Meridian Neighborhood Plan which designated this area as High Density Residential, which is an apartment/ office district. Wilson said the district allowed residential and office -type uses. Wilson said most O of the recent rezoning along Meridian Road had been done to convert existing residences to office -type uses. Wilson said in this Kalispell City -County Planning Board Minutes of meeting of July 10, 2001 Page 2 of 8 case, the applicant was planning on developing an apartment complex, but would caution the Board against too much speculation on how exactly it would work because that would require a conditional use permit. Wilson said the primary access would be off of Under Hill Court from an existing City right-of-way, with a potential secondary access off of the long strip onto Meridian Road. Wilson said that without a specific development proposal before them that it would be premature to speculate on how that would function. Wilson stated the property lies between Highway 93 and Meridian Road and there was a well established residential area to the south. Wilson said Arizona dead -ends and it unlikely that it would be extended to Meridian Road, but that there was adequate access to the property for future development. Wilson noted for the record that a similar proposal had come before the Kalispell Planning Board and Kalispell City Council in July of 1995 which was a zone change request from R-3 to RA-1, a Low Density Residential Apartment district. At that time the staff had recommend approval of the zone change based on the newly adopted neighborhood plan. It went to the planning board in July in 1995 where the planning board continued it to the August 8+h meeting. At that meeting they presented revised findings based on problems associated with existing high density residential development occurring in the area and felt it better suited as a transition area with the single-family zone. They made further findings that there were topographic constraints associated with the property, specifically the slope that was on the east side of the property,. Both the planning board and the city council adopted those findings and the zone request from R-3 to RA-1 was denied. Wilson noted at that time, all if the area was then zoned R-3, with the exception of the Meridian Point Apartments which were zoned RA-1. She also noted that since that time a lot rezoning to RA-3 had occurred. Wilson said staff still supported this zone change and were recommending that the planning board adopt staff report KZC-01-2 adopted as findings of fact and recommend to the Kalispell City Council that the zone change from R-3 to RA-1 be granted. Stevens said he was always a proponent for affordable housing, whether it owner occupied or a rental and asked Wilson if this project would provide affordable housing. She responded by saying it could and there was always a need for apartment type housing. APPLICANTS / Jean Johnson, Stokes Engineering, representing the applicant AGENCIES stated they had reviewed the staff report and agreed with the findings and were in favor of the proposal. 0 Kalispell City -County Planning Board Minutes of meeting of July 10, 2001 Page 3 of 8 PUBLIC HEARING The public hearing was opened to those who wished to speak on the proposal. � PROPONENTS No one wished to speak. OPPONENTS Jerry Robbins stated she would be directly affected if this rezoning were allowed and hoped they would review the previous protest on the Meridian Point Apartments. Robbins cited several reasons why she was opposed to the proposal, including it was the highest crime area in town, there were peeping toms, there was no storm drainage, property values have gone down and houses are for sale for several years and traffic problems coming off of Highway 93. Robbins said in the previous request it had not met fire access requirement. Robbins also said the Meridian Point Apartments were to have some kind of buffer but there wasn't any. Robbins asked the board to walk through the area and examine it. She asked that it remain a single-family area. Keith Robinson, 501 West Arizona, stated he had lived there since 1986 and he agreed with Mrs. Robbins in all her concerns. Robinson said they had addressed these issues in the previous proposal in 1995. Robinson said he empathized with the applicant, but the property should be donated as a park and he was afraid there would be a fatality because there are no sidewalks in the area. Robinson also stated that there would be an impact on Russell School. O Annie Robinson, 501 West Arizona, also spoke in opposition, stating the same concerns Mrs. Robbins and Keith Robinson. Robinson stated that the property should be made a park for the kids. Stevens asked Johnson if he wanted to rebut any of the opposition. Johnson stated the one basic premise of planning is not to build an infrastructure and invite developers. Rather you let development occur and create infrastructure to provide for that. Johnson said he sympathizes with the opposition, but his client doesn't have anything to do with Meridian Point Apartments. As for Mrs. Robbin's flooding problem, it is natural because there are no restricted barriers going down to her yard to contain the water. Johnson said his client has entered into an agreement to tie to the storm sewer area that was designed by him for the Meridian Park Apartments that transports water run off from the apartments out to Meridian Road into a storm water containment area. Johnson said if this is developed, the developer has the opportunity to divert all the water now coming off the hill. Johnson said in any application the issue of surface water run off has to be addressed. Johnson said his client is asking for the same opportunity as Meridian Point, and the property is not conducive to single family �> residential development. Garberg asked if Johnson saw any major obstacles in developing Kalispell City -County Planning Board Minutes of meeting of July 10, 2001 Page 4 of 8 the infrastructure to meet the issues that had been brought up by the opponents. Johnson said there should not be any problems, and the sidewalks issue was a City problem. Pierce asked if the access from Meridian Road would be a standard sized City street. Johnson said it could not be a standard City street because there was only a 30-foot wide ' access going to Meridian Road. He said primary access would likely be from Under Hill to Arizona. Wilson said, for clarification, that Johnson was talking about a 60- foot City street with curb, sidewalks, gutters, landscape boulevard, etc. She noted a 30-foot access could be adequately developed to provide good access to the site, whether it was primary or secondary access. Wilson said the fire department requires a 20 foot wide paved access, and with that 30 feet adequate fire access could be developed and there could be room to create a drainage swale or something else to contain the runoff. Stevens said these were site view matters, and normally on zone change request they did not review development issues because these issues would be solved in other reviews before development occurred. G MOTION Garberg moved and Mann seconded the motion to adopt staff report #KZC-01-2 as findings of fact and forward a recommendation to the Kalispell City Council for approval of the requested zone change from R-3, Residential, to RA-3, Residential Apartment/ Office. Garberg said the opponents had brought up the issues of the devaluation of their property and in the findings of fact stated that the RA-3 zoning designation would stabilize subsequent development because it would establish this area as a viable mixed use area, and asked Wilson what that meant. Wilson said it was consistent with other zoning in the area, and the RA-3 zoning designation is intended as a mixed -use area which includes a residential element. Wilson said most of the RA-3 development along Meridian Road was of a commercial nature, so a residential component in the area balanced the commercial uses. The residential use creates a truly mixed use area instead of it all potentially going to commercial uses. Van Natta stated it was hard not to foresee the project and the problems involved with it. Van Natta said the people who live in the area have had immediate experience with the multi -family development, and it seems this rezoning would be a mistake without adequate infrastructure and no sidewalks. Van Natta said (� some of the concerns would be addressed by other review, but the potential for more traffic was there. Van Natta said he had Kalispell City -County Planning Board Minutes of meeting of July 10, 2001 Page 5 of 8 reservations with the request because he knew the area and would find it difficult to support it. Stevens said what people dislike more than dispersed development C or sprawl was infill, but this was a classic example of infill because it took advantage of City services on vacant property, and all infill projects the Board reviewed had some opposition to it. Stevens said his concern was trying not to hinder the provision of housing in this jurisdiction and there were rules and regulations that make it difficult to develop property to where the lowest single-family lot in the jurisdiction started at about $30,000. Stevens said this project presents an opportunity for affordable housing and it should not be associated with the Meridian Point Apartments. Stevens said this was a classic area for infill and would support the motion. ROLL CALL Stevens called for the question. On a roll call vote the motion passed on a six in favor and one opposed, with Van Natta voting nay. OLD BUSINESS Wilson stated there had been a work session with the city council on June 25th on the growth policy plan. Wilson said the council had some comments particularly on the airport, and another work session will be held on July 23rd. Stevens said he thought when the growth policy plan was forwarded to the commissioners they would ask that the planning C� board review it again because the draft that is being prepared was without County input at all. Garberg said he would like to discuss their meeting with the fire marshal. Stevens said at the meeting they had discussed at length the 35 foot, 40 foot and 50 foot building height limits, which basically revolved around safety matters with the fire department and their 35 foot ladders. Stevens said on the following Monday at the city council meeting the fire chief said they had no concerns about the height limit because they didn't fight fires with ladder trucks. As long as the buildings were built to the uniform fire code, he had no concerns from a safety standpoint. Stevens said he and Garberg then contacted the fire marshal to find out what he had actually been said. Garberg said there had been a policy change from the time when the site review committee had met at which time the fire marshal had expressed his concerns, to when it had gone to city council. Garberg said they had now gotten it cleared up. Wilson said another result from that meeting was that the council had asked staff to take a more comprehensive look at those Ostandards, and maybe make it one of the work programs. Wilson said they were compiling additional informal on building heights for Kalispell City -County Planning Board Minutes of meeting of July 10, 2001 Page 6 of 8 the council and would send it to the planning board members as well. Stevens said from what he had learned it looked like they had been had, because there was never a legitimate reason for the 35 foot limit except that the previous fire chief had an aesthetic preference for buildings that were not over 35 feet in height. Stevens said he told him what the board wanted is the safety considerations, because the other considerations were taken up elsewhere. Stevens said the lines of communication have not been clear. Stevens said that from now on if any of the agencies wanted to comment on a particular request, he would like them to either send the board a letter or to appear before them. Stevens said he would like a signed report from PJ Sorensen, who is the chairman of the site review committee, or for him to appear at the board meetings because he wants to hear specific safety issues that are relevant in order to develop findings of fact. Wilson noted that in her staff report it did state that there were concerns about equipment limitations; there were specific reasons cited and that the information was factual at the time. Van Natta said council had referred this issue back to the planning staff because they wanted more information on height limits in the districts, and the issue a larger consideration in the overall development of Kalispell. 0 NEW BUSINESS Heinecke said he and Wilson had talked about reviewing the parking requirements in the zoning regulations, but they had decided it would be a good idea to make it a work program item and staff would do the research because it was such a big issue. Wilson said they were going to review last years work program on the next agenda under new business and that the building height limits would be added to the list along with parking. Heinecke also said he would like to have the rezoning of the Meridian Road area on the work program as well. Rice asked if Meridian Point Apartments were approved as a conditional use permit. Wilson replied that they were. Rice said it seemed that buffer zone was falling down and asked if the conditional use permit conditions are followed up on. Wilson replied the conditions were subject to review when the project was constructed. PJ Sorensen further noted that the City inspectors are on the job O for the initial construction and to verify compliance with the required conditions, but for the long-range review, such as for Kalispell City -County Planning Board Minutes of meeting of July 10, 2001 Page 7 of 8 maintenance of the landscape buffer, it would be primarily from complaints. Sorensen said he had gone out to review the site approximately one year ago and it substantially complied with the conditions in the conditional use permit. CWilson said when Meridian Road is reconstructed the storm` drainage would be upgraded and some of the problems with drainage in front of the Meridian Point Apartments would be alleviated. Van Natta said a buffer was supposed to be put in and it appeared that it was not being maintained. Sorensen said he would check on it. ADJOURNMENT At approximately 8:35 p.m. the meeting was adjourned. The next regular meeting will be day, August 14, 2001 at 7:00 p.m. GrIgg wens, President //�� Sandie Mueller, Recording Secretary Approved s submitted/c rected: �/_L/01 Kalispell City -County Planning Board Minutes of meeting of July 10, 2001 Page 8 of 8