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Planning Board Minutes - December 11, 2012KALISPELL CITY PLANNING BOARD & ZONING COMMISSION MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING DECEMBER 11, 2012 CALL TO ORDER AND The regular meeting of the Kalispell City Planning Board and ROLL CALL Zoning Commission was called to order at 7:00 p.m. Board members present were: Chad Graham, Rory Young, Phillip Guiiffrida, Ken Hannah, Richard Griffin and Charles Pesola. P.J. Sorensen and Sean Conrad represented the Kalispell Planning Department. There were 6 people in the audience. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Guiffrida moved and Pesola seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the November 13, 2013 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. GOVERNMENT EXEMPTION A request by the City of Kalispell for an amendment to the City of TEXT AMENDMENT Kalispell Zoning Regulations related to certain governmental uses in all zones throughout the city. The amendment would specifically amend Chapters 27.04 through 27.18 (Listing uses allowed in each zoning district) and Appendix B (Table of uses allowed by zone). Generally, it would allow public fairgrounds, public schools, public jail facilities, and police and fire stations to be permitted uses in all zones. Currently, those uses are typically conditionally permitted uses or not allowed, depending upon the specific zone. However, state law allows any agency of the state to claim a zoning exemption which would allow such uses to legally proceed as permitted uses. This change would eliminate the need to submit and process the notice necessary for the zoning exemption. STAFF REPORT KZTA-12-03 P.J. Sorensen, representing the City of Kalispell reviewed Staff Report KZC-12-03 for the board. Sorensen explained the state law "agency exemption: definition which is any agency of the state or local government such as a board, bureau, commission, department, authority or other entity. Any agency can develop property that is not necessarily in compliance with the local zoning regulations. For example, in lieu of a conditional use permit (CUP) a notice would be submitted to the city from the agency and within 30 days the Board of Adjustment would hold a public forum to receive public comment on the matter and then the government agency can move forward with the development. Sorensen reviewed the two primary reasons for the state law. He Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of December 11, 2012 Page 1 of 5 noted in the case of a CUP, the process is longer, there is a hearing by the planning board and city council and there is more uncertainty involved in the process. Agencies avoid the CUP process by using the agency exemption law. Unfortunately that also removes the development from architectural and site review where the city has the ability to enforce certain regulations on developments. The amendment would change schools, the fairgrounds and public jail facilities to permitted uses which would take away the reason to use agency exemptions but still would allow the city to review the project when they come in for building permits to develop a site. Staff recommends that the Kalispell Planning Board adopt Staff Report KZTA-12-03 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 Griffin said his concerns include impacts not just on the neighbors but also city services. There may be another preferable place for an agency to develop in the city where it would not have the same impacts. Griffin suggested and Sorensen confirmed the use being permitted would help keep the review within the city's normal review procedures and in fact within the parameters of a CUP the city has less control. Guiffrida asked if this would also apply to privately owned structures that are governmentally licensed such as community residential facilities, transitional or group homes and Sorensen said no, only state agencies not private state -licensed facilities. Guiffrida asked if the staff report and exhibits cover everything that will be changed or will there be amendments in the future for other uses or structures and Sorensen said staff used the situations that they have seen in the past and he added the vast majority have been for school district projects. However he can't say that new situations won't come up in the future. Guiffrida asked if the pre-release center that was proposed a few years ago was state or privately owned and board member Young said it was owned by a private company on private land and would have operated under a state contract. Griffin said the word appropriate is used often in the staff report and he asked who determines if a development is appropriate or not. Sorensen said because the city will have more control over the development when it is reviewed through the site and architectural review process it will help ensure that the site is developed Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of December 11, 2012 Page 2 of 5 according to the city regulations. Griffin used an example where another city decided to locate a garbage incinerator in a neighborhood. It was stinky, noisy and because it was not an appropriate use for a neighborhood they finally had to abandon it. Sorensen said although the city cannot block the development the amendment would help ensure that the project is reviewed by the city and if necessary mitigation measures can be added such as screening to manage the use better. Hannah asked if the amendment will encourage the state agency to use our process instead of an agency exemption. Sorensen said there have been about 16 projects in the last 12 years that have been eligible for agency exemption and 14 projects have been completed using the exemption. Of those 14, 13 were solely because they didn't want to go through the CUP process. If we take away that concern it is probably a win -win situation for everyone. Hannah asked if a private ambulance service would be considered a fire station and Sorensen said he didn't think they would fit within the police and fire station category but the health care category. Hannah noted private jail facilities are referenced in the exhibit but not addressed in the staff report and Sorensen said one of the reasons those were split out is if a public or private jail was to be proposed we wanted to ensure that the city had some level of control over the development opposed to the agency exemption. Griffin said he assumes the delineation between public and private schools was made to separate the public permitted schools from the private conditionally permitted schools and Sorensen said yes. Graham asked if all pre-release centers are private and Young said all of the pre-release centers in the State of Montana are currently operated by private entities. Hannah added he didn't think that would exclude the Department of Corrections from opening one at some point in time. Young added as written in the amendment private pre-release centers would be allowed but would be subject to a conditional use review. Graham asked if the 13 of 14 requests for agency exemption were made because they didn't want additional conditions placed on them by the city and Sorensen said the CUP process is a lengthier process and there is also an uncertainty because you don't know what might come up at the public hearing and additional conditions could be placed on them if there was neighborhood opposition to their development. Therefore they try to avoid that from happening and opt to request the agency exemption. Hannah said under the B-2, B-3, B-4, B-5 neighborhoods he Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of December 11, 2012 Page 3 of 5 noticed that police and fire were not added as they were in all of the other residential neighborhoods and asked if they are already covered in the current zoning ordinance and Sorensen said yes. PUBLIC HEARING No one wishing to speak the public hearing was closed. MOTION Hannah moved and Young seconded a motion that the Kalispell Planning Board adopt Staff Report KZTA-12-03 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 Guiffrida said this seems like the direction to go to at least have the projects go through site and architectural review and not just the agency exemption process. He always has concerns with state and federal government overriding the city's zoning but in all reality this is not the place to fight that fight. Guiffrida said he is in support of the text amendment. Hannah said he agrees it is a step in the right direction although there is nothing in the ordinance that would prevent the state agency from taking the agency exemption and moving forward with their project as they see fit. Hannah said he would like to see private and public schools treated the same but realizes they are not state agencies. ROLL CALL The motion passed unanimously on a roll call vote. OLD BUSINESS: None. NEW BUSINESS: Sorensen noted Bryan Schutt, Vice President of the board had to resign his position due to the demands of his business in Alaska and the vacancy on the board will hopefully be filled by the next planning board meeting. Guiffrida asked if Mr. Schutt's seat on the Core Area Steering Committee will also need to be filled and Conrad said yes and added the committee wants to stay on after the Core Area Plan is adopted to help see some of the implementation of the plan through. The planning board should consider if a member wants to volunteer for the steering committee. Griffin suggested the appointment be added to the agenda for the next meeting. Conrad added Mr. Schutt was also serving on the Board of Adjustment which will need to be filled. Graham said Mr. Schutt's contribution to the planning board will be missed. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at approximately 7:25 p.m. Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of December 11, 2012 Page 4 of 5 WORK SESSION A work session was held immediately following the regular meeting to discuss the following: 1. Willdan - Core Area Plan consultant presentation. NEXT MEETING The January 8, 2013 meeting is cancelled due to the lack of agenda items. The next meeting is scheduled for February 12, 2013 beginning at 7:00 p.m. in the City of Kalispell Council Chambers located at 201 1st Avenue East in Kalispell. NEXT WORK SESSION The next work session has not been scheduled. Chad Graham President APPROVED as submitted/corrected: / /13 Michelle Anderson Recording Secretary Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of December 11, 2012 Page 5 of 5