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Planning Board Minutes - July 10, 2012JULY 1 2012 CALL TO ORDERAND The regular meeting of the Kalispell City Planning Board and ROLL CALL Zoning Commission was called to order at 6:00 p.m. Board members present were: Chad Graham, Bryan Schutt, Rory Young, Phillip Guiffrida, Ken Hannah and Charles Pesola. Richard Griffin was absent. Tom Jentz and P.J. Sorensen represented the Kalispell Planning Department. There were 7 people in the audience. Vice President Graham welcomed Charles Pesola and Ken Hannah to the board and said the board members look forward to their input and perspective. ELECTION OF PRESIDENT Pesola moved and Schutt seconded a motion to elect Chad Graham as President of the Kalispell City Planning Board and Zoning Commission. VOTE BY ACCLAMATION The motion passed unanimously on a vote by acclamation. ELECTION OF VICE- Graham moved and Young seconded a motion to elect Bryan PRESIDENT Schutt as Vice -President of the Kalispell City Planning Board and Zoning Commission. VOTE BY ACCLAMATION The motion passed unanimously on a vote by acclamation. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Schutt moved and Guiffrida seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the March 13, 2012 meeting of the Kalispell City Planning Board and Zoning Commission. VOTE BY ACCLAMATION The motion passed unanimously on a vote by acclamation. PUBLIC COMMENT Joel Hillstead, a local resident and business owner expressed his concerns over the city's regulations on changes to the sign face of non -conforming signs. He indicated that he has a small strip mall where the sign is too tall which makes it non -conforming. There isn't enough room on the current sign to add additional businesses. His tenants have indicated that they are struggling because they can't get enough traffic into their businesses. Hillstead noted that he is very concerned about the economy of Kalispell and they need a little help. Hillstead also noted this is a sign that has been very satisfactory for 50 years but now isn't and should be looked at by the board and city council. To allow this sign in question would bring the percentage of change to the sign face to 52% - the maximum is 50%. Hillstead said he doesn't blame the city staff, he thinks they have a difficult job but he thinks common sense should be used Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of July 10, 2012 Page 1 of 6 instead of requiring that a new sign be put up which, he doesn't think, would be half as good as the old sign. He would appreciate the board's consideration of making an exception to the rule. He has paid for this building 4 or 5 times over just in taxes over the years. DEPOT PLACE — A request from the Sparrow Group for a conditional use permit to CONDITIONAL, USE PERMIT construct a three story 40-unit senior apartment building, to be known as Depot Place, on a two acre lot zoned B-4 (Central Business). The property is located at the northwest corner of the intersection of Third Avenue EN and East Center Street. STAFF REPORT KCU 12-02 Tom Jentz, representing the City of Kalispell reviewed Staff Report KCU-12-02 for the board. Jentz said this is a request for a conditional use permit that the Sparrow Group (developers of the Spring Creek Apts) is proposing to develop that would be a 40 unit residential facility for low- income seniors. Jentz reviewed a site map and noted the property is zoned B-4 (Central Business) which anticipates multi -family with a conditional use permit. Phase I will be located on the vacant lot at the corner of East Center Street and Third Avenue EN. If and when phase II is developed it will be on the lot that currently has two Quonset huts on it, which would be removed when phase II is constructed. The building in phase I will have 20,000 square feet on each of the 3 stories and will be 37 feet tall. There will be a community room/common area near the front door which would lead out into a green area. Further west a parking lot is proposed with 39 parking spaces. This project has gone through Architectural Review and will be reviewed again by this Committee when the building permit is submitted. This use fits well in the neighborhood, growth policy and the city's draft Core Revitalization Area Plan where redevelopment and increased density and mixing residential with retail is encouraged. Ultimately as part of the Core Plan the railroad tracks would be removed and replaced with a walking path and green space. Staff recommends that the Kalispell Planning Board adopt Staff Report KCU-12-02 as findings of fact and recommend to the Kalispell City Council that the conditional use permit be approved subject to the 14 conditions listed in the staff report. BOARD DISCUSSION Young said the preliminary plat indicated there was water and sewer available but the report states that the sewer that is available is inadequate. Jentz said staff met with the Public Works Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of July 10, 2012 Page 2 of 6 Department after the report was prepared and there is a 6" sewer main that serves the site which would be adequate for phase I but not adequate for phase II. If phase II is never constructed it is not an issue. Jentz added water is available to the site but there may be a need for an additional hydrant which the applicant is aware of. Graham asked about the open space requirements of 500 square feet of land per unit and Jentz said that was a part of the zoning update that was approved a year ago and the logic behind it was similar to when a developer comes in and wants to do a subdivision he provides land or cash in lieu of land to provide recreational amenities for the residents of the subdivision. In this case the city would require the same type of standard for multi -family and let the developer provide this with open space or in this case, a community room and open space which will make sure those needs are being met for these residents. Graham asked why the 20 foot right-of-way easement on the north end of the lot would not be credited as open space and Jentz said the open space requirement had already been met in their design and the right-of-way easement Graham mentioned has been a part of this property for many years. APPLICANT/TECHNICAL Alex Burkhalter, Sparrow Group, noted that staff had already told SUPPORT the board all of the good stuff. They are happy to be working in Kalispell again. They develop this type of affordable rental housing all over Montana, Wyoming and North Dakota. Burkhalter said this is a 3 story building for seniors and the community room is where all the action happens as these facilities become a retirement community for folks who can't afford to live out their golden years in Florida. They have built this building many times and have refined it and it just keeps getting better. Burkhalter added there is an income restriction for the residents and most of the households are single and the maximum they can make is $24,300. The one or two bedroom units rent between $425.00 and $650.00 which includes all utilities. PUBLIC HEARING No one else wished to speak and the public hearing was closed. MOTION Guiffrida moved and Schutt seconded a motion to adopt Staff Report KCU-12-02 as findings of fact and recommend to the Kalispell City Council that the conditional use permit be approved subject to the 14 conditions listed in the staff report. BOARD DISCUSSION Schutt said he thinks it is exciting to finally see this lot developed as it has been gathering dust, weeds and trash for quite some time. Graham agreed. Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of July 10, 2012 Page 3 of 6 ROLL CALL, I The motion passed unanimously on a roll call vote. RED LION A request from Red Lion Hotels Limited Partnership d/b/a HOTEL/KALISPELL Kalispell Center Mall for a zoning text amendment. The proposed CENTER MALL ZONING amendment of Section 27.22.040 would allow certain changes to TEXT AMENDMENT existing electronic reader boards to be considered to be routine maintenance rather than an alteration of the sign for purposes of the application of the sign provisions of the zoning ordinance. STAFF REPORT ZTA-12-02 I P. J. Sorensen, representing the City of Kalispell reviewed staff report KZTA-12-02 for the board. Sorensen said the Kalispell Center Mall has a large non- conforming, freestanding sign at the corner of Main Street and Center with a reader board that has been there for quite some time. The owners have wanted to do some repair work on that sign but as a non -conforming sign they cannot change the structural components of the sign or change more than 50% of the sign face. Sorensen continued they have tried a number of things over the years to try to repair the reader board but are now faced with replacing the reader board component of the sign. One of the options available to them was to apply for a text amendment to change the definition of routine maintenance. The applicant submitted language that would allow changes to reader boards when you have the same size, type, and color so the end result would be the same look and not a brand new full spectrum type of sign. Sorensen said with this approach they would be able to repair the sign and get it back into working condition. Sorensen noted language was added that states they would need to meet the new light intensity requirements that were recently passed. Staff recommends that the Kalispell Planning Board adopt Staff Report KZTA-12-02 as findings of fact and recommend to the Kalispell City Council that the proposed amendment be adopted as provided in the staff report. BOARD DISCUSSION Schutt asked if only the components of the reader board would be changed and the rest of the exterior would remain as is and Sorensen said yes. Guiffrida said he is assuming there would be some sort of upgrade in technology even though it would still be amber and the size would not be changed. Sorensen said he hasn't seen exactly what it would look like but the concept would be to put something in there that would look essentially the same. A change in technology would be fine as long as it would not change the type, style or size of the sign and the sign would not lose its grandfathered status. Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of July 10, 2012 Page 4 of 6 Guiffrida asked if they decided to scrap the sign and create something new what kind of changes would they see and Sorensen said with this sign there are a number of issues. They can only have one freestanding sign on that stretch of property so they may have to relocate the sign further down Center Street. In this location the sign could be about 15 feet tall with 75 square feet per face. The current sign is much larger than that now. In addition electronic reader boards are not supposed to be more than 25% of the sign face and the current sign is approximately one-third. If they lost their grandfathered status Sorensen continued they would have to do something completely different than what is currently there. APPLICANT/TECHNICAL David Peterson of Goodale and Barbieri Company stated the SUPPORT proposed amendment would be beneficial to the Kalispell Center Mall. The current sign is 26 years old and they have repaired it over the years and it can no longer be repaired and that is why it is in the condition it is in today. The current sign is not energy efficient and the new sign will be about 70% or more energy efficient with the new technology. The sign will promote the businesses within the mall but the other thing that they will continue to do is to promote community events with the sign such as ThursdayFest, Picnic in the Park, and Climb Big Mountain. Guiffrida asked what is going to be different about the sign and Peterson said first of all it will work and be replaced with a sign that will have new technology. It will not have the light bulbs that are currently there but it will be the same amber color, not colored or have lively animation. However, it will allow them to have a sign that they can continue to use for the next 20 years. Schutt asked what the new light emitting technology is and Peterson said they have looked at different technology but until this text amendment is been approved they haven't hired a consultant to finalize the design. Peterson added it will be energy efficient. Pesola asked if the display will be text only and Peterson said it has to conform to the sign's original intent. PUBLIC HEARING No one else wished to speak and the public hearing was closed. TIN Schutt moved and Young seconded a motion to adopt staff report KZTA-12-02 as findings of fact and recommend to the Kalispell City Council that the proposed amendment be adopted as provided in the staff report. BOARDISCUSSI N None. ROLL, CALL, The motion passed unanimously on a roll call vote. Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of July 10, 2012 Page 5 of 6 OLD BUSINESS: None. NEW BUSINESS: None. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at approximately 6:35 p.m. WORK SESSION The work session was not held. NEXT MEETING The next meeting is scheduled for August 14, 2012 beginning at 6:00 p.m. in the City of Kalispell Council Chambers located at 201 I" Avenue East in Kalispell. A work session will be held immediately following the regular meeting, if time allows. Chad Graham President APPROVED as subnjitted/corrected: /12 Michelle Anderson Recording Secretary Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of July 10, 2012 Page 6 of 6