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06-04-13 Special MeetingKALISPELL CITY PLANNING BOARD & ZONING COMMISSION MINUTES OF SPECIAL MEETING JUNE 4, 2013 CALL TO ORDER AND The special 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, Phillip Guiffrida, Rory Young, Richard Griffin, Charles Pesola, Ken Hannah and Matt Regier. Tom Jentz and P.J. Sorensen represented the Kalispell Planning Department. There were 11 members of the public present. ELECTION OF PRESIDENT Guiffrida recused himself from participation in the election of offiders. Hannah moved and Regier seconded a motion to re-elect Chad Graham as President of the Kalispell City Planning Board & Zoning Commission. VOTE BY ACCLAMATION The motion passed 6 in favor and 1 abstention on a vote by acclamation. ELECTION OF VICE Hannah moved and Regier seconded a motion to elect Charles PRESIDENT Pesola as Vice -President of the Kalispell City Planning Board & Zoning Commission. VOTE BY ACCLAMATION The motion passed 6 in favor and 1 abstention on a vote by acclamation. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Pesola moved and Guiffrida seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the May 14, 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 spoke. CRAIG & DEBBIE MUNRO — A request from Craig and Debbie Munro for a conditional use CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT permit to operate a casino at 1121 Highway 2 West in the former Roscoe's Dollar Store.. The existing retail building will include a liquor store in the south portion of the building with the casino to be located in the northern portion. STAFF REPORT KCU-13-03 P.J. Sorensen representing the Kalispell Planning Office reviewed Staff report KCU-13-03 for the board. Sorensen noted this is an existing building located on Highway 2 West in front of the Gateway West Mall. Sorensen reviewed an aerial photo/vicinity map and noted the exact location. He stated Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the special meeting of June 4, 2013 Page 1 of 10 under the zoning ordinance there is a 300 foot requirement from property line to property line for a casino to other casinos, churches, schools, parks and residential zones. Morrison-Maierle provided a certification that shows the uses related to this property and Sorensen added a church has purchased the former Gateway Cinemas to the northwest of this site however, they are not currently operating a church at this location. Sorensen said in addition there is an application for an accessory casino to be located at the former Sizzler Restaurant that came in after this application was received and therefore the accessory casino would not be considered within the 300 foot buffer. These matters were discussed with the City Attorney's office and staff feels that is the appropriate interpretation of state law and the local zoning ordinance. Sorensen continued in terms of the specific site being considered the only changes from the original site plan is due to the changing use of a portion of the building and one additional parking space is now required. That condition can be met by adding a parking space; entering a parking agreement from Gateway West Mall; or choosing other parking allowances such as providing a bicycle rack. Secondly the Public Works Department recommended that there be a sidewalk installed along the frontage of this property (Highway 2 West). Sorensen noted there is a sidewalk slightly to the east that although would not be connected to this sidewalk would be within 50 to 100 feet of connection. Staff is recommending the sidewalk be installed by July 31, 2014. Sorensen reviewed the interior and exterior of the building, the signage plan, and photos of a similar business owned and operated by the applicant in Libby. Staff recommends that the Kalispell City Planning Board and Zoning Commission adopt staff report KCU-13-03 as findings of fact and recommend to the Kalispell City Council that the conditional use permit be approved subject to the 4 conditions listed in the staff report. BOARD DISCUSSION I Griffin asked what is the reason for a conditional use in this particular zoning area? Sorensen said the zoning ordinance lists perinitted uses and conditional uses. Permitted uses would be a matter of right that would be expected in certain types of zones and would be unlikely to have impacts on neighboring properties. Conditional uses might have more of an impact on the surrounding neighborhood and the CUP process provides an opportunity for the public to be informed and gives them the ability to comment on the use in case there are any negative impacts that would need to be mitigated. Sorensen added in this case the city council felt it was Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the special meeting of June 4, 2013 Page 2 of 10 appropriate to require a conditional use permit for a casino in this zoning district. Sorensen noted the liquor store is allowed by right because it is considered retail, however the casino is listed as a conditionally permitted use and they can only operate the machines with a CUP. Hannah said regarding the parking, the building is relatively new — built in 2005 — what changed the parking requirements and Sorensen said it was entirely retail before and for casinos, restaurants and bars a higher level of parking spaces is required. Hannah asked why sidewalks are required now and were not required when the building was constructed and Sorensen said that comes up frequently when there is an existing building that comes through site review, the planning board and city council. Staff will then look to see if the addition of sidewalks would be appropriate and public works feels that should be a recommendation. Guiffrida asked if the city has received any comments from the owners of the church related property — although the church is not being used at this time and Sorensen said staff hasn't received any comments, written or otherwise in relation to this proposal. Griffin said he appreciates the applicant providing the board with their signage proposal and he asked if it meets the signage regulations. Sorensen said yes and noted wording on signage is limited for accessory casinos however, this CUP is not an accessory casino so their signage is subject to the regular signage ordinance. Guiffrida asked if there was anything such as a corridor area that would limit signage further and Sorensen said no. APPLICANT/TECHNICAL Craig Munro, 985 ACM Road, Libby, Montana said he is the SUPPORT applicant and they have applied with the State for the liquor license which is going through the review process. He added this is the fourth time they have gone through a liquor license transfer and they have never had any issues in the past. Munro introduced his son Matthew and said they operate a successful casino and liquor store in Libby and they have a good business model. PUBLIC HEARING Carol Nelson, Chairman of the Gateway Community Center Board located in the Gateway West Mall said their board has met in regard to the Roscoe property and they would like to voice their concern and opposition to the casino and liquor store on that property. They feel a liquor store/casino is not compatible with the agencies that they are trying to attract at the Gateway Community Center. Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the special meeting of June 4, 2013 Page 3 of 10 Sherry Stevens, Director of the United Way noted their offices are located in the Gateway Community Center. She is representing the Boy & Girl Scouts, Literacy Volunteers, CASA for Kids, Montana Conservation Corp, Crisis Line, Summit Independent Living, Flathead Food Bank, and Second Helpings Thrift Store. They will soon be bringing in Big Brothers and Sisters and opening a youth activity center inside this facility. They are very concerned about the potential of retail liquor sales especially with their vulnerable clients some of which are in recovery programs. They also have concerns about the shared parking lot between the Food Bank and this building with the increased parking needs of the casino. MOTION Guiffrida moved and Young seconded a motion to adopt staff report KCU-13-03 as findings of fact and recommend to the Kalispell City Council that the conditional use permit be approved subject to the 4 conditions listed in the staff report. BOARD DISCUSSION Guiffrida said he understands some of the concerns that were expressed but he looks at the applications through the merits of the city's regulations and tries to take the morality out of issues like this. He said this proposal falls within the scope of the city's regulations. The church is not currently operating there and the CUP came in before the CUP for the accessory casino. Guiffrida said the 300 foot buffer issue has been addressed and he strongly supports the CUP. Regier said there is a reason casinos have to come before the board as a CUP. The gaming industry can be a form of entertainment but it also can be a vice with negative repercussions. As a board and looking at the future and direction of the city Regier asked how many casinos do we want in the City of Kalispell? He feels that is worth consideration. Hannah said he would like to echo what board member Guiffrida said. This is really about regulation and not about how we feel. The city has a set of guidelines and the board's job is to ensure that the use falls within those guidelines. Hannah said he also supports this CUP. Graham asked if there is anything in the zoning that addresses the concerns from the public about the non-profit uses that would be in close proximity to this use. Jentz said in the approval of a CUP the board is required to make six separate findings which were provided in the staff report. Jentz continued the criteria includes historic uses and established use patterns which should be weighed against recent changes in the neighborhood and whether or not the proposed use would cause or contribute to the decline in property values of adjacent properties. If there was a single-family house Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the special meeting of June 4, 2013 Page 4 of 10 immediately adjacent to this use a pretty good case could be made that there would be impacts but this is already a general commercial area. Graham asked how far back do you go when considering historical uses and Jentz said historically there was a shopping center there with a lot of activity, hotels, restaurants and a gas station. Jentz said there is change going on but is it impacting what was there originally? He added it is still a retail area even though the shopping center is now a community services center. Griffin noted if they were just looking at a liquor store we wouldn't be here tonight and Jentz agreed because a liquor store is a permitted use. Griffin said then the board is only concerned with the addition of a casino and he thinks the liquor store could be the source of more problems than the casino. Hannah asked if the location of the community center violates the 300 foot buffer regulation and Sorensen said no, there is office and retail space in the center and the 300 foot distance requirement is for schools, parks, churches, residential zones and other casinos. Hannah said yes they have to look at the neighborhood but they also need to consider that there are currently other bars and casinos within 600 feet of this property so this request is not necessarily outside of the character of the neighborhood. Pesola said the liquor store, which is the permitted use, would be the major draw of traffic not the casino and he feels the board should support the CUP. Guiffrida said the rules - specifically the 300 foot buffer area prevents the city from having casinos on every corner which was the council's intent. Changes to the regulations to further restrict this type of use could be looked at in the future but this application is before the board now, with the regulations that are currently in place. Regier asked if it falls under the regulations why is the board voting and Guiffrida said because the casino requires a conditional use. Guiffrida added he looked at the criteria and sees a retail location that will remain a retail location in a business zone and he feels the overall use is appropriate. ROLL CALL I The motion passed on a roll call vote of 6 in favor and 1 opposed. JULIE SMITH — A request by Julie Smith for a conditional use permit to operate an CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT accessory casino at 1250 Highway 2 West in the former Sizzler's Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the special meeting of June 4, 2013 Page 5 of 10 Restaurant building. The accessory casino will be operated as part of a restaurant in an existing 5126 square foot building on the property. The accessory casino will occupy less than 20 percent of the overall floor area. STAFF REPORTS KCU-13-04 I P.J. Sorensen representing the Kalispell Planning Office reviewed Staff reports KCU-13-04 for the board. Sorensen said this is a request from Julie and Barry Smith who currently own Tiebucker's in Somers which they have operated for 21 years. The proposed location of the new restaurant and accessory casino is just southwest of the building that was discussed during the previous hearing between the La Fiesta Mexican restaurant and Arby's in front of the Hampton Inn. Sorensen noted they intend to rename the business The Tree Frog Tavern. Sorensen reviewed a site plan that showed the accesses off the highway and parking. Sorensen noted the same sidewalk condition would also apply for this CUP along the length of the frontage (Highway 2 West). Sorensen discussed the floor plan for the accessory casino noting the floor area can't exceed 20% of the total floor area and it needs to be incidental and accessory to the main use. The primary use would be a restaurant and bar. The only signage that they are proposing for the casino would be a small wall sign on the outside door that is not facing the highway. No neon lighting is planned for the outside of the building. Staff recommends that the Kalispell City Planning Board and Zoning Commission adopt staff report KCU-13-04 as findings of fact and recommend to the Kalispell City Council that the conditional use permit be approved subject to the 6 conditions listed in the staff report. BOARD DISCUSSION Griffin asked if the city would be requiring them to install sidewalks if the conditional use permit for the casino was not required and Sorensen said if this was a change of use, which this is not, site review could trigger the requirement. Griffin asked if they would have to put in sidewalks if they were just planning the restaurant and Sorensen said no. Hannah asked if the board feels these recommendations are too onerous what is the procedure to change them and Sorensen said when the motion is made an amendment to the conditions in the staff report can be recommended. APPLICANT/TECHNICAL Julie Smith introduced her husband Barry and said they took an old SUPPORT building that had been vacant for 10 years and made it into a viable Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the special meeting of June 4, 2013 Page 6 of 10 business — Tiebucker's. They are empty nesters and figure they have a few more good years of working so they purchased the old Sizzler building for their new restaurant. She said they still have to wait for the State to transfer their existing liquor and gaming license to this property. Smith noted the restaurant/casino will employ 10 full-time employees and probably 20 — 25 part-time employees which will be a great asset to the city. Although the casino will be a small part of their business it generates income and in these economic times it has been a struggle for a lot of restaurants in the valley. PUBLIC HEARING No one else wished to speak and the public hearing was closed. MOTION Hannah moved and Pesola seconded a motion to adopt staff report KCU-13-04 as finding of fact and recommend to the Kalispell City Council that the conditional use permit be approved subject to the 6 conditions listed in the staff report. BOARD DISCUSSION Pesola noted this building has been empty for some time and it will be great to have a business there. He thinks having an accessory casino in a new restaurant is imperative to supplementing their business income. The impacts to the community are minimal for an accessory casino. Guiffrida said along the lines of the sidewalk being a condition because of the conditional use permit requirement for the accessory casino should #3 under On -going Conditions be moved under Requirements for specific conditional use (accessory casino)? Sorensen said the reason it was structured that way is the section of the zoning ordinance that addresses casinos lists specific conditional use requirements that are tied to accessory casinos. Hannah said because this is an accessory casino the 300 foot rule does not apply and Sorensen said yes they have performance standards that have to be met and they have met them. ROLL CALL The motion passed on a roll call vote of 6 in favor and 1 opposed. GARDNER INVESTMENTS A request from Gardner Investments LLC for a B-5 planned unit LLC — PLANNED UNIT development (PUD) zoning overlay approval for two tracts of land DEVELOPMENT located immediately north of Mergenthaler Transport on the east side of US Highway 93 South. The two vacant tracts contain 4.7 acres of land. The applicants are proposing to construct a Fred's Appliance Store on the 2.1 acre lot that lies on the northeast corner of United Drive and US Highway 93 South. No specific use is proposed at this time for the easterly lot. STAFF REPORT — KPUD-13- Tom Jentz, representing the Kalispell Planning Department 02 reviewed staff report KPUD-13-02 for the board. Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the special meeting of June 4, 2013 Page 7 of 10 Jentz said before the board is the Gardner/Fred's Planned Unit Development (PUD) and he reviewed the original site plan of the PUD area that was approved in 2008. Jentz said this proposed PUD is two lots located immediately east of Highway 93 just north of United Drive and consists of 4.7 acres. Jentz noted a few months ago the board reviewed the PUD for the Gardner/Volkswagen dealership located at the intersection of Lower Valley Road and Highway 93 South. Jentz continued by describing the surrounding uses and the area still under the PUD placeholder. Fred's Appliances would be placed on the lot that is the closest to Highway 93, just north of United Drive which is a 28 foot paved road with curb and gutter on both sides. There are two radio transmission towers that have a 300 foot radius around them that is a no -build zone at this time. Jentz reviewed the site plan for the PUD and noted the location of the building that will be used as an appliance retail sales business. He reviewed the parking area, truck loading and garbage enclosure areas that would have screening. The proposal would be to tap into the water and sewer mains that run along Highway 93 South, running a main along United Drive and providing access to both lots. There is no subdivision review since both lots currently exist. Jentz noted that when the Gardner/Volkswagen PUD was reviewed staff asked that the next PUD proposal that came in include a potential water, sewer, stormwater and street layout. Stormwater is not proposed as a common facility but will be dealt with on each lot. Jentz reviewed the potential street layout which shows a street system that provides access to all of the lots and in particular is designed to provide alternate access other than relying just on Highway 93 South. Jentz provided more details regarding the access and the internal street layout. He described a topographic line on the overall layout where west of the line sewer flows readily down to Highway 93 South and east of that line sewer flows in a different direction. The developer has designed a collection system that would collect the sewage but would not flow directly to Highway 93 South. Jentz noted they will be required to provide a site -specific landscape plan for Fred's which requires landscaping all the way up to the asphalt travel surfaces on both sides; a bike path on the site plan would be moved as far east as possible to avoid impacts along the highway; a traffic analysis will be required to determine impacts; United Drive will be dedicated to the city; and they need to determine what type of signage they would need for Fred's that would be allowed by the city's sign regulations. Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the special meeting of June 4, 2013 Page 8 of 10 Staff recommends that the Kalispell City Planning Board and Zoning Commission adopt staff report KPUD-13-2 as findings of fact and recommend to the Kalispell City Council that the PUD overlay zoning district be approved subject to the 23 conditions listed in the staff report. Recorder's Note: A copy of a letter from Ken Kalvig of Kalvig & LeDuc, P. C. regarding the Gardner/Fred's Planned Unit Development was given to each board member for their review prior to the meeting. A copy is attached to these minutes. BOARD DISCUSSION Griffin asked what the setback from the R/W is and Jentz said the building setback will be approximately 80-90 feet. Griffin noted the corridor on Highway 93 North is a lot wider than this and Jentz said that was specifically based on the Highway 93 North Neighborhood Plan. There is also a provision for existing lots which will be applied to this PUD. Hannah asked for clarification on the 300 foot no -build radius in relation to the radio towers and Jentz said the radius does not affect this PUD because the easement was adjusted by the property owners. Hannah said it appears that we are kicking the can down the road on this large PUD because the ingress/egress issues have not been addressed for the entire PUD. Jentz said a street design has been provided as was requested. Staff also asked them to adjust the street design which has been added as a condition to the PUD to ensure the requested changes are done. Jentz added he received the adjusted site plan from their engineer right before the meeting began so they have already complied with that condition. Griffin asked if the city is obligating future councils if this is approved today saying that the new standards that are passed in the future will not apply because they are grandfathered in and Jentz said whenever a PUD or preliminary plat is approved it obligates future councils. Jentz used Section 35 — Starling Subdivision as an example and noted the city council approved 3000 housing units in this PUD and therefore every council and planning board down the line is held to these decisions. Jentz noted this PUD is minimal because the lots already exist. Griffin clarified that any changed standards will not apply to this PUD in the future and Jentz said it depends on the standards or regulations. He added new building codes are adopted every year and the developers would have to comply with the new codes and the same is true for utility standards. Jentz said however, the lot layout and uses are grandfathered. Further discussion was held. Graham asked if the access to Highway 93 from United Drive is a Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the special meeting of June 4, 2013 Page 9 of 10 right-in/right-out and Jentz said today that is a full access road. MDT will look at access and perhaps require a traffic light or change the access currently allowed in some way. Graham asked if the stormwater retention areas for the individual lots would be part of the landscaping plan and Jentz said with these lots they will be on -site stormwater systems that will be a part of the final site design. Graham said the stormwater will be managed on -site so there will be no impact to the city infrastructure and Jentz agreed. APPLICANT/TECHNICAL No one wished to speak. SUPPORT PUBLIC HEARING No one wished to speak and the public hearing was closed. MOTION Guiffrida moved and Regier seconded a motion to adopt staff report KPUD-13-2 as findings of fact and recommend to the Kalispell City Council that the PUD overlay zoning district be approved subject to the 23 conditions listed in the staff report. BOARD DISCUSSION None. ROLL CALL The motion passed unanimously on a roll call vote. OLD BUSINESS: None. NEW BUSINESS: Jentz asked if the board had any problem with the July 9th meeting being cancelled. No one objected. Jentz added there is a zone change application that will be on the agenda for the August 13a' meeting. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at approximately 7:30 p.m. NEXT MEETING The next regular meeting is scheduled for August 13, 2013 beginning at 6:00 p.m. in the City Council Chambers located at 201 1st Avenue East in Kalispell. NEXT WORK SESSION No work sessions are currently scheduled. APPROVED as submitted/corrected: Y / l 3 113 Recording Secretary Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the special meeting of June 4, 2013 Page 10 of 10