Loading...
Planning Board Minutes - August 14, 2012MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING AUGUST 14,2012 1 CALL TO ORDER AND 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, Rory Young, Phillip Guiffirida, Richard Griffin, Ken Hannah and Charles Pesola. Bryan Schutt was absent. Tom Jentz and Sean Conrad represented the Kalispell Planning Department. There were 7 people in the audience. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Guiff-rida moved and Young seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the July 10, 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 No one wished to speak. PRESTIGE ASSISTED A request from Health Care Reit, Inc. for a conditional use permit LIVING ADDITION - to expand the existing Prestige Assisted Living facility and a city CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT initiated zone change to B-1 (Neighborhood Business) zone. The & CITY INITIATED ZONE expansion includes constructing a one-story addition approximately CHANGE REQUEST 19,000 square feet which will include assisted living units and memory care units, a common room and dining room. The property is located at 125 Glenwood Drive, on the east side of the street approximately 250 feet north of the intersection of Glenwood Drive and Two Mile Drive. STAFF REPORTS KCU 12-03 Sean Conrad, representing the City of Kalispell reviewed Staff & KZC-12-01 Reports KCU-12-03 & KZC-12-01 for the board. Conrad stated before the board is a conditional use permit request to expand the Prestige Assisted Living facility and a city initiated zone change. The property is located at 125 Glenwood Drive and the property extends from Glenwood Drive east to Meridian Road and is zoned both RA-1 (Residential Apartment) and B-1 (Neighborhood Business). Conrad continued by reviewing an aerial photo of the project site and noted the current facility has 44 units which accommodate 46 elderly residents. It is a two-story facility and approximately 35,000 square feet. The on -site parking is on the west and north sides of the building with a dirt access road leading to Meridian Road along the undeveloped land which is where the proposed addition will be located. The addition will be a 19,000 square foot, single -story structure' that will include 8 one bedroom units and 16 memory care units, a common area, dining room, landscaping with Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of August 14, 2012 Page 1 of 12 an outdoor courtyard, as well as off-street parking to the north and east of the facility. Conrad reviewed the floor plan of the facility and noted that the project will be reviewed by the Architectural Review Committee as part of the building permit process. Conrad noted there is an existing approach onto Glenwood Drive on the north side of this property and an existing approach south of the professional office that is immediately north. There have been discussions between the 2 property owners regarding making that a shared approach. In between these 2 approaches is a fence and the owner of the office building has expressed concern that the fence may impair site distance as vehicles enter and exit. Conrad, along with another staff member went to the site and looked at the separation between the edge of the fence and the curb of Glenwood and it meets the city's setback requirements for clear vision triangles. Therefore staff is not recommending a condition to remove any portion of the fencing. Staff recommends that the Kalispell Planning Board adopt Staff Report KCU-12-03 as findings of fact and recommend to the Kalispell City Council that the conditional use permit be approved subject to the 8 conditions listed in the staff report. Conrad noted the second part of this project is the city initiated zone change. The properties currently have two zoning districts on then-4 RA-1 (Residential/Apartment) on the west side of the property and B-I (Neighborhood Business) on the east. Both zones require a conditional use permit for residential care facilities. When the property owners were first discussing an expansion there were concerns that two zoning districts on their properties would cause them difficulty in obtaining a use permit. Conrad said looking at their properties and the surroundings properties to the north and south, and in discussions with the property owner's representative, the Planning Department initiated a zone change to rezone the RA- 1 portion to B-1. Conrad noted the properties to the north and south are also zoned B-1, there is also B-2 which is a more intensive commercial zoning district to the north and south. The growth policy designates this area as urban mixed use which is compatible with the B- I zoning. Therefore staff also recommends that the Kalispell Planning Board adopt Staff Report KZC-12-01 as findings of fact and recommend to the Kalispell City Council that the western portion of the property be rezoned to B- I (Neighborhood Business). BOARD DISCUSSION Rory Young stated he owns property within 1000 feet of this I potential development and he asked whether the board feels that Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of August 14, 2012 Page 2 of 12 would be a conflict of interest and if so he would step down. No board member felt this would be a conflict of interest. Hannah asked if zoning the property RA-1 would allow the improvements and Conrad said the use would still be a conditional use whether it is RA-1 or B-1. Staff took a look at the surrounding zoning and land uses and the growth policy land use map and felt that rezoning the entire property to B-1, given the existing assisted living facility would be the more appropriate use. Griffin asked if this would be a conditional use under a B-2 (General Business) zone and if so why wouldn't staff consider a B- 2 rather than B-1. Conrad said a residential care facility is also a conditional use under the B-2 zone however they didn't consider B-2 because the B-1 is a good buffer zone between residential and the uses allowed in the B- I zone. APPLICANT/TECHNICAL No one wished to speak. SUPPORT PUBLIC HEARING MaryAnn Chestnut, 115 Lambert Court stated Gateway Orchard Villas to the west of this site is all residential. The two B-1 zones on either side are grassy areas and if they can operate this facility as RA-1 why would it have to be rezoned to B-1. They are concerned about the impacts the addition to this facility will have on the residential area and their property value. They do not want the zone change. MOTION — CONDITIONAL Guiffrida moved and Hannah seconded a motion to adopt Staff USE PERMIT Report KZC-12-01 as findings of fact and recommend to the Kalispell City Council that the western portion of the property be rezoned to B-1 (Neighborhood Business). BOARD DISCUSSION Guiffrida asked if the green areas that are of concern are already zoned B-1 and Conrad said yes. Guiffrida said although he understands Ms. Chestnut's frustration those two areas are already zoned B- I and even though they are being used as green space now the property owners currently have the ability to commercially develop that property at any time. He didn't think the zone change would adversely affect the residential properties nearby. ROLL CALL — ZONE The motion passed unanimously on a roll call vote. CHANGE MOTION -CONDITIONAL Guiffrida moved and Young seconded a motion to adopt Staff USE PERMIT Report KCU-12-03 as findings of fact and recommend to the Kalispell City Council that the conditional use permit be approved subject to the 8 conditions listed in the staff report. Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of August 14, 2012 Page 3 of 12 ILL, CALL - I The motion passed unanimously on a roll call vote. CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT ERIC DANIELS — A request from Eric Daniels to annex 4.6 acres of land and zone the ANNEXATION & INITIAL land R-5 (Residential/Professional Office) upon annexation. The ZONING REQUEST property is located on the west side of Highway 93 North, north of West Reserve Drive and is developed with a single-family residence addressed as 2710 Highway 93 North. STAFF REPORT -12-03 I Sean Conrad, representing the City of Kalispell reviewed staff report KA-12-03 for the board. Conrad reported that this is an annexation and initial zoning request of R-5 (residential/Professional Office) zoning. The property is located on Highway 93 North approximately '/ mile past the intersection of West Reserve and Highway 93 on the west side of the highway across from Glacier Memorial Cemetery. Conrad reviewed an aerial view of the property and noted the location of the city's water and sewer mains in relation to this property. Several years ago the planning board and city council established an annexation policy boundary to determine when an annexation was appropriate. This property is within that boundary and they can request direct annexation to the city. The cemetery directly across from this property is not within the city limits but the Glacier Town Center site is to the north of the cemetery and the Silverbrook Subdivision is further north. Conrad continued when staff looks at an annexation request the city's growth policy/annexation policy requires staff to review the following: Does the annexation comply with the growth policy; if there are municipal services near the site; the distance from current city limits; and the cost of services to the city if the property were annexed. Conrad continued after reviewing the criteria staff s conclusion was that the annexation was appropriate at this time given its distance to the current city limits and reasonable because city services are easily accessible to the property. The cost of services to the city is negligible primarily because annexing this property would not bring in any city streets and therefore there wouldn't be any street maintenance costs. Conrad noted the second part of an annexation request includes an initial zoning of the property. The property owner is proposing to turn the detached garage into a professional dental office and has requested R-5 (Residential/Professional Office) zoning which allows residential and non-residential uses. When staff looked at the city's growth policy land use map it indicates this area as Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of August 14, 2012 Page 4 of 12 primarily single-family residential with a density not to exceed four dwelling units per acre. Under staff s analysis the R-5 zone does not meet the majority of the criteria that is established under the suburban residential land use designation and is not compatible with the character of the neighborhood. In addition staff also concluded that the R-5 zoning doesn't encourage the most appropriate use of the land because there are a number of zoning districts with vacant lands that already permit a professional office uses and there are a number of professional offices available to rent. Conrad noted the Glacier Town Center project came in as a Planned Unit Development (PUD) which limited signage, included design standards, and limited access onto Highway 93 North as part of the approval for commercial zoning. By zoning this property R-5 none of those standards would come into play. In addition there would be the potential for additional residential or professional uses along the highway where there is a lack of control and long-range planning. Staffs conclusion is an R-5 zone would be appropriate on this property in years to come when the Glacier Town Center commercial site has developed thereby changing the nature of this section of the highway and major improvements to the highway with signalized intersections have been installed. Conrad compared the requested uses under R-5 with the staff recommended R-2 uses and noted the R-2 complies with the suburban residential land use designation, meets the policies under that designation for maximum dwelling units per acre, and is primarily a single-family residential zone. It also allows churches, community centers, and residential care facilities under conditional uses and provides for oversight with the CUP permit process. Conrad reminded the board they recently recommended approval of a conditional use permit to the north for an eating disorder clinic which was annexed into the city with an R-2 zoning designation. Conrad suggested for consistency of the land use designations on this stretch of the highway staff is recommending the property be zoned R-2. Therefore staff recommends that the Kalispell Planning Board adopt Staff Report KA-12-03 as findings of fact and recommend to the Kalispell City Council that the property be annexed and the initial zoning for this property upon annexation be R-2 (Residential). BOARDISCUSSI N Hannah asked with R-5 zoning would the density be four or ten units per acre and Conrad said under the R-5 there is a minimum lot size of 6,000 square feet so only two units or a duplex could be put on the property unless it was subdivided. Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of August 14, 2012 Page 5 of 12 Hannah asked if Sonju Industrial is just to the north of the subject property and Conrad said yes. Guifffida said in regards to MDT and established approaches, which there are on this property, what is the historic background of creating new approaches along highway corridors. Conrad said on this section of Highway 93 North MDT is very strict with new access points. In talking with MDT about this property if they were to change the use from residential to another use they would have to get a change of use for the existing access. However, MDT would not allow putting in and establishing new access points because they are trying to maintain the integrity of this section of highway and keep traffic moving. Conrad added the R-5 zone is not currently an appropriate zoning district given MDT's position of requiring an approach permit for a change of use and not allowing new approaches on this stretch of highway. Jentz noted that MDT has been open to right -in, right -out approaches only which means if you were coming from Whitefish you could stop in but leaving traffic would have to turn right and go south toward West Reserve Drive and find a place to turn around to head north to Whitefish again. Glacier Town Center was approved with the requirement that stoplights be added to their approaches at a cost of $200,000 per intersection in order to manage the traffic generated by the development. Griffin stated there is a center lane on the highway now to accommodate turns. He said staff stated they are trying to provide a separation between residential and commercial and he noted the river is a natural separation in his opinion, from the residential area and whatever commercial applications might be taking place on the highway. Jentz said this isn't a question of buffers but the request is just bad timing. Jentz continued when you start scattering intermittent uses along the highway you start creating impacts that keep mounting up until you have an untenable situation and then who would be able to step in to fix the highway? If the pattern is set to allow R-5 uses were would it stop? Jentz added this type of development begets the strip development that currently exists along LaSalle to the Blue Moon and that creates an unsafe thoroughfare until there is adequate infrastructure put in place. Jentz noted this proposed use will not impact the traffic on this highway but how does the city say no to the 2nd, 3rd) 4th, 5th - 8th request? Jentz said the city's growth policy designates this site as R-2 not R-5 and he added this is the struggle staff has with this request. Guiffrida said the R-5 designation is conflicting with the city's currently approved growth policy, which is under review. He asked Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of August 14, 2012 Page 6 of 12 if state law would require the city to update the growth policy if they wanted to proceed with R-5 and Jentz said they could come back before the planning board with a growth policy amendment and there is a fee and he added the board can approve a zone change in conflict with the growth policy but the findings have to be sound because they would be making a decision that conflicts with state law. Hannah said the recommendation is that the board follow the established growth policy. Then he asked if Sonju Industrial decided to expand their facility, according to Flathead County requirements, would they have to request annexation and hook on to city utilities. Jentz said Sonju has been working with the county. They are a non -conforming industrial use and the county has allowed them to expand. If they were to come into the city it would probably be as a planned unit development with some design features that allows them to expand in their current location as a tech -research use. That is because the use is currently there - they have a vested right - but there is no vested right for a dental office that doesn't currently exist. Graham asked when the Glacier Town Center develops would it be more reasonable for this requested use at that time as a R-5 and Jentz said at that time it could come in as commercial zoning. Graham asked wouldn't it still be in violation of the growth policy and Jentz said that would be the appropriate time for a review of the growth policy to discuss what the changing characteristics are in this area. Graham said what, for example, if this property owner was willing to put in the stoplight. Would the recommendation change and why is it that the Glacier Town Center would set the precedent v. this small business. Jentz said MDT would not allow the stoplight to be installed at this time because they have to meet warrants such as traffic accidents; deaths; traffic volume; conflicting turning movements; and waiting traffic. This is a 65 mph highway with 16,000 vehicle trips per day and he asked is that a place to put a professional office? Further discussion was held. APPLICANT/TECHNICAL Pat McGregor, 146 Arbour Drive in Kalispell said he is SUPPORT representing Eric Daniels the applicant. McGregor said they think the timing is already here. The zoning across the street is commercial, developed or not and traffic will not increase by a dental office that is open two days a week. McGregor added it would not be their intent to mix any residential use with a professional office and they would not request any additional approaches because any development would use the existing Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of August 14, 2012 Page 7 of 12 McGregor said with professional office or residential the traffic volume wouldn't be any different. The highway has 4 lanes with a turn lane now. The golf course has a tremendous amount of traffic and no stoplight, across from there is the vet clinic, Ponderosa subdivision, and a commercial building with no stoplight and no real history of traffic problems. McGregor added their request was for R-5 and R-2 would be no benefit to them and no tax benefit to the city. This is a prime professional office location and they would not object to a planned unit development for any future development. Guiffrida asked McGregor if an R-2 zoning recommendation was forwarded to the city council would they withdraw their application for annexation and McGregor said absolutely. It would of no benefit to them, whatsoever; to spend $10,000 for services they already have on this site currently. Young said the staff report indicates that the sewer needs replacement immediately. Conrad added with a change of use from residential to professional office the county environmental health office would require they hook to city services since the main lines are right along the property frontage. Griffin said he would vote against staff s recommendation. He doesn't see the justification for delay. If 3 teenagers lived in that house the traffic would be worse than what a dental office would generate. The property has some serious issues as far as development is concerned and with the setbacks, etc., it will be difficult to put any use on it. The property across the street is commercial. This property could come into the city with very few expenses and generate some capital as far as taxes are concerned. Guiffrida suggested the item be tabled to a work session. He added it is not a simple annexation, it is complicated and although he doesn't want to hold the applicant up he thinks the applicant understands that if they proceed with the staffs recommendation they are done. It might be in the interest of the applicant to allow them to bring this to a work session and go over it more in depth. MOTION TO TABLE Guiffrida moved and Hannah seconded a motion to table the Daniels annexation, Staff Report KA-12-03 to the next available work session. (Recorder's Note: Work Session will be held September 11, 2012) ILL CALL I The motion to table the discussion passed on a roll call vote of 4 in favor and 2 opposed. Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of August 14, 2012 Page 8of12 GREEN ACRES A request from Green Acres Cooperative, Inc. to annex 4.3 acres of COOPERATIVE, INC. — land compromising the Green Acres Court mobile home park and ANNEXATION & INITIAL zone the land R-4 (Residential) upon annexation. Green Acres ZONING UEST Court includes 32 mobile homes and is located at 1721 South Woodland Drive, on the east side of South Woodland Drive at the northeast corner of the intersection of South Woodland Drive and Haven Drive. STAFF REPORT -12-02 I Sean Conrad, representing the City of Kalispell reviewed staff report KA-12-02 for the board. Conrad reported this is a petition for annexation for the Green Acres Mobile Home Court. He reviewed the vicinity map of the property which is located on South Woodland Drive on the corner of South Woodland Drive and Haven Drive. Green Acres Court was developed in the 1970's and it currently has 32 mobile home units on the property. They have their own shared water system and have several septic systems that are serving the mobile home units, some of which are starting to fail. There was a letter in the packet from Glen Gray of the Flathead County Environmental Health Department that lays out the mobile home court's options for sewage treatment one of which would be to connect to a public system. Conrad noted city services are readily available to this site along the South Woodland Drive right- of-way. Conrad continued with a review of the city's annexation policy map and he noted this property is wholly surrounded by the City of Kalispell. They would like to hook up to the city's sewer system and in doing so they need to either annex into the city or have the city council approve a waiver of right to protest annexation and then allow for the hookup to occur. Conrad noted when staff looks at a petition for annexation the growth policy requires they review compliance with the growth policy, whether municipal services are available, distance from the city limits and costs of services. In looking at whether or not it makes sense to annex this property immediately into the city, staffs conclusion was no. That was based on the cost to the taxpayers for street maintenance, park maintenance, police, fire, and solid waste. The other thing that led them to the conclusion that direct annexation is probably not appropriate at this time is several years ago the city council directed planning staff to bring to them areas that are wholly surrounded by the city for the council to consider whether to annex those areas directly. At that time council decided not to forcibly annex the properties in this area and instead consider annexation requests on a case -by -case basis. Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of August 14, 2012 Page 9 of 12 Conrad reviewed a map that indicated out of the 255 parcels in this wholly surrounded area, which is outside the city limits, approximately half are currently receiving city water, sewer or both. Some have waivers some do not. In addition, if they can get additional waivers a time will come when there are more properties in this area that are receiving city services than not and it will be an appropriate time to annex this entire area all at once. Staff recommends that the Kalispell Planning Board adopt Staff Report KA-12-02 as findings of fact and recommend to the Kalispell City Council that the Green Acres Court Cooperative's waiver of right to protest annexation request be accepted. BOARD ISCUSSI N Griffin said he is concerned about giving these property owners access to sewer and water because then there would be no incentive to ever be a part of the City of Kalispell. The services that will be provided to them for police and roads will still be provided to them by the county. Griffin said he is wondering if the city is leaving anything on the table by just allowing everyone in the neighborhood to hook up to water and sewer and Conrad said a lot of the city services are already being provided to these residents by default because they are surrounded by the city. By allowing them to hook up to the city sewer or water they will pay the impact fees and a monthly service charge. Conrad stated Andy Hyde who works with Carver Engineering is working with Green Acres Court and they looked at the feasibility of hooking up to city sewer, what is the cost, what is the infrastructure involved and what is the feasibility of purchasing portions or one of the lots immediately east of the mobile home court and putting one consolidated septic system on that property for the whole 32 units. Hyde ran the numbers and indicated it would be a slight benefit for the mobile home court to hook up to city sewer even though it might cost a little more at the beginning but a lot of that infrastructure and maintenance would be in place and by paying a monthly fee they wouldn't have to worry about trying to maintain their own private system in the future. There was discussion regarding easements and line locations in the vicinity. Hannah asked how all the property owners who have not signed a waiver of right to protest annexation were provided city services. Conrad said it was a policy shift by the city. Prior to that they were not required to sign a waiver or annex into the city and they still could get city services. Jentz said that was 30 or more years ago when the line was extended and the property owners were invited to hook on to the utilities with no requirements. Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of August 14, 2012 Page 10 of 12 Hannah asked if the annexation was approved would everyone in the park be required to connect and Conrad said no, they would not. In this case they are coming to the city for sewer because their systems are antiquated and they can't replace the systems on the amount of property that they currently have. Graham said staff noted that annexation wasn't the best way to go because of the cost of services analysis and Conrad said yes and based on our model Conrad didn't think that the cost of services would ever pencil out as a financial benefit to the city. Jentz said this is a case study of why you don't do rural subdivisions right next to a city because eventually the city grows around it and 20 - 30 years later you are trying to fit a county development into the fabric of the city and it doesn't work. Griffin said this is an anomaly because it was a mobile home park and now people own their own spaces. If they come into the city, Griffin asked, are there going to be other things that they will be required to do under city ordinances for instance there is only one ingress and one egress for 10 units. Jentz said yes their tax rate, for the small amount of land they have, will go up; they can't shoot off fireworks; and are prevented from open burning. However, the city won't require sidewalks, curb or gutter, hydrants, or upgrades to their streets. In addition the building codes do not apply to mobile homes so they would be brought in as they are. APPLICANT/TEC NICIAL Lorie Cahill, President of the Board of Green Acres Court SUPPORT Cooperative, LLC, #16 - 1721 South Woodland Drive stated this is a need for them. Their septic system is failing and most of them are low income individuals and it is the best option that they have. They do not disagree with the city's findings. PUBLIC HEARING No one else wished to speak and the public hearing was closed. MOTION Guiffrida moved and Hannah seconded a motion to adopt Staff Report KA-12-02 as findings of fact and recommend to the Kalispell City Council that the Green Acres Court Cooperative's waiver of right to protest annexation request be accepted. BOARD DISCUSSION Guiffrida said he supports the recommendation because he thinks the waiver of right to protest annexation is the right way to go. He understands that the cost of services may never pencil out but the ability of having waivers on file and additional waivers in the future and it will take a bite out of the cost of services and make it easier for the city financially. Griffin said he is hesitant because there is a building group of waiver folks out there that are not going to be part of the city if Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of August 14, 2012 Page 11 of 12 they can prevent it and the city doesn't have any plan to annex the properties down the road. Graham asked if the waiver has a I 0-year timeframe and Jentz said it doesn't expire. Conrad noted an annexation district has a I 0-year timeframe but not a waiver. Jentz added the waiver puts the property owner on notice that annexation could happen at any time. ROLL CALL The motion was approved unanimously on a roll call vote. OLD BUSINESS: None. NEW BUSINESS: Jentz reported there is a chamber luncheon August 28th at the Red Lion where CTA will be making a presentation on the CORE Area Plan. There will also be community meetings held for input that night and the next day at the city council chambers. The board will be receiving a newsletter regarding these presentations soon. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at approximately 7:35 p.m. WORK SESSION No work session was held. NEXT MEETING The regular meeting scheduled for September 11, 2012 has been cancelled due to a lack of applications. There will be a work session September 11, 2012 beginning at 7:00 p.m. in the City of Kalispell Council Chambers located at 201 1st Avenue East in Kalispell. The agenda will include the Eric Daniels Annexation and Initial Zoning that was tabled as noted above. Chad Graham President APPROVED as submitted/corrected: 1 /12 Michelle Anderson Recording Secretary Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of August 14, 2012 Page 12 of 12