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04-11-2000PLANNING COMMISSION AGENDA STUDY SESSION Roll Call Study Session Items ITEM #1 ITEM #2 ITEM #3 April 11, 2000 7:00 p.m. Introduction to Samantha Orduno, City Manager PC Report #16 TIF Presentation, Sid Inman - Ehlers - Publicorp PC Report #17 Review of Zoning Ordinance Amendment Adjournment Auxiliary aid for individuals with disabilities are available upon request. Requests must be made at least 96 hours in advance to the Administrative Service's Director at 861- 9702 ". AGENDA SECTION AGENDA ITEM # REPORT # CASE # STUDY SESSION 2 16 vw9A PLANNING COMMISSION STAFF REPORT STUDY SESSION DATE: APRIL 119 2000 ITEM FOR PLANNING COMMISSION CONSIDERATION: Presentation on Tax Increment Financing. I. RECOMMENDED ACTION: No action is requested. II. BACKGROUND Sid Inman, the City's financial consultant, will give a presentation on tax increment financing (TIF). III. BASIS OF RECOMMENDATION A. POLICY The Planning Commission is often asked to review tax increment financing plans for consistency with the City's Comprehensive Plan. Commissioners are not expected to have a complete understanding of the tax increment financing plans, however, it may be helpful for Commissioners to have a basic understanding of TIF in order to make the necessary finding of consistency. B. CRITICAL ISSUES N/A C. FINANCIAL N/A D. LEGAL N/A IV. ALTERNATIVE RECOMMENDATION(S N/A V. ATTACHMENTS N/A a -/ VI. PRINCIPAL. PARTIES EXPECTED AT MEETING Sid Inman, Ehlers - Publicorp AGENDA SECTION: AGENDA ITEM # REPORT # CASE # STUDY SESSION 17 PLANNING COMMISSION STAFF REPORT STUDY SESSION DATE: APRIL 11, 2000 ITEM FOR PLANNING COMMISSION CONSIDERATION: Consideration of Zoning Ordinance amendments relating to gas stations; a requirement for frost footings, design of residential building additions and attached garage heights, and overlay zoning districts. I. RECOMMENDED ACTION: Review information and provide direction to staff regarding potential Zoning Ordinance amendments. II. BACKGROUND On November 23, 1999, the Planning Commission conducted its annual review of the City's Zoning Ordinance. Staff brought four items to the Commission for possible code changes. The Planning Commission agreed that one of the items, a regulation requiring detached garages located within 10 feet of the house to be placed on frost footings, should be eliminated. That code change will be brought to the City Council once a decision has been made on the other three items. Additional information on the other three items is as follows: Gas stations adjacent to residential districts: A provision prohibiting gas stations from locating adjacent to single family residentially -zoned property has been in and out of the Zoning Ordinance over time. The difficulty with prohibiting gas stations next to residential property at this time is that there are existing businesses that would be made non - conforming. In addition, such a provision does not guarantee that there will not be conflicts between the station and nearby residential property. The Commission suggested the following possible changes and asked to see the impact of such changes: 1. Under the current ordinance, gas stations must be located 300 feet from hospitals, churches and schools. Stand -alone day care facilities should be added to that requirement. None of the existing gas stations in Richfield would become non - conforming under this requirement. 2. The ordinance could require that gas stations be located on two arterials. Seven of the existing gas stations meet this requirement. Another three stations are located at the intersection of an arterial and a collector street. Seven are not located at the intersection of two arterials. A map showing the impact of this requirement will be available at the meeting. 3-1 I The ordinance could prohibit gas stations from locating adjacent to property zoned R or R -1 (single - family residential). Five of the existing gas stations are adjacent to R or R -1 districts. One gas station is located adjacent to an MR -1 two - family residence) zoning district. A map will be available at the meeting. 4. Some of the objection to the proposed gas station at 1208 East 66th Street was related to the 24 -hour operation. The current ordinance allows facilities located on county roads to be open 24 hours. The ordinance might be amended to allow facilities located on county roads, but not adjacent to R or R -1 (or MR -1) properties, to be open 24 hours. Other cities' ordinances were reviewed but, of the 10 ordinances reviewed, only one — St. Louis Park -- prohibits gas stations from locating adjacent to single family residential districts. Eagan limits hours of operation if a gas station is within 200 feet of residential property. St. Louis Park also requires the principal structure to be located between the gas pumps and adjacent non - single family residential property. Building Additions: Staff have received complaints about the appearance of some of the larger residential building additions occurring in town. The issue seems to be a failure to coordinate the design and scale of the addition with the existing house and with the neighborhood. In the case of one addition, an attached garage and family room addition was added to the existing story- and -a -half house. The garage addition is significantly taller than the existing house (14 -foot walls) and has a gambrel roof giving it a height of 26 feet to the peak. This would not be permitted with a detached garage, but, because it is to be part of the principal dwelling, the height for a house (i.e. two- and -a -half stories) is less restrictive. The addition meets all zoning requirements. Pictures will be available at the meeting. There may be some specific code changes to target the issue with this particular addition. The primary issues with the above - described project appear to be the difference in scale and in roof style between the house and the addition. Some possible amendments can be found in Attachment A. Another option would be to consider adding a residential design review for additions of a certain size. This could be administratively burdensome and may just encourage people to design additions to be just under the amount that would require a design review. The result of any code change should not be to discourage remodeling. Overlay Districts: The Commission might want to consider overlay zoning provisions in some of the City's commercial areas. Many of the subarea plans (Lyndale Gateway and Lakes at Lyndale) have recommended development patterns that minimize the appearance of parking and encourage pedestrian - friendly environments. These goals can be realized through comprehensive redevelopment projects, but the City's Zoning Ordinance does not encourage this type of development pattern for existing buildings that will not be part of a comprehensive redevelopment project. Some areas where an overlay zoning district may be appropriate include the following: Lakes at Lyndale, Lyndale Gateway from 74th to 76th Streets, and Penn Avenue and 66th Street. Additional discussion of options for enforcing design guidelines can be found in Attachment B. 3c III. BASIS OF RECOMMENDATION A. POLICY The Commission regularly reviews the Zoning Ordinance. Staff identified the items described in the staff report during 1999. B. CRITICAL ISSUES N/A C. FINANCIAL N/A D. LEGAL Notification: No notification is given for Planning Commission review of ordinance amendments. Other Actions: Council: Not scheduled yet. Depending on the direction given to staff regarding ordinance changes, the Commission may want to provide mailed notices to affected property owners. IV. ALTERNATIVE RECOMMENDATION(S) Decide not to amend the Zoning Ordinance for one or any of these items. V. ATTACHMENTS Code References: Section 526.27, subd. 12 (service stations) Attachment A: possible code amendments relating to residential remodeling Attachment B: Design Guidelines /Overlay Districts: Issues and Options VI. PRINCIPAL PARTIES EXPECTED AT MEETING N/A 3-3 Code Citations SECTION 526 - ZONING: COMMERCIAL DISTRICTS 526.27. Conditional uses. Subdivision 1. The uses listed in this subsection are conditional uses in the C -2 District, and are subject to the conditional use permit provisions outlined in Section 546.05 of this code. Subd. 12. Service stations, service station/convenience stores, and conversion of a service station to a service station/convenience store, provided the following conditions are met: a) the business shall be subject to the provisions of Section 1150 of the City Code; b) if the use site abuts a lot which is in the R or R -1, a buffer yard of not less than 25 feet in width and 75% all - season opacity from the ground to a height of six feet shall be provided to separate all aspects of such use from abutting residential parcels. The council may reduce this requirement to not less than 15 feet if significant additional landscaping and fencing, with 100% all- season opacity, is provided to screen the service station use; and (Amended, Bill No. 1996 -7, Sec. 1) c) the use site shall not be located within 300 feet of the grounds of a school, church, or hospital; d) a buffer yard of not less than ten feet in width shall be provided to separate all aspects of such use from abutting parcels; e) vehicles which are waiting for repair shall be stored in appropriately designed and screened areas as approved by the City; f) parking of vehicles on public right -of -way shall be prohibited; g) any repair, assembly, disassembly, or maintenance of vehicles shall occur within an enclosed building, except minor maintenance such as tire inflation, adding oil, or adding windshield wiper fluid; h) the minimum frontage on any street shall be 120 feet and the minimum area of the site shall be 12,000 square feet; i) any exterior speaker shall comply with the noise control limits set by Section 930 of the City Code; j) queuing space of at least 20 feet shall be provided in front of the pump island in each direction in which access can be gained to the pump -- this required space shall not interfere with internal circulation patterns or with designated parking areas, and-shall not be permitted in any public right - of -way, private easement, or within the required parking lot setback; k) pump islands shall be located not less than 20 feet from any property line; 1) if the use is not located on a county road or state highway, it shall not be operated between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a. in. of the following day; and m) canopies shall comply with the following regulations: i) the canopy may extend up to twelve feet beyond the center line of the pump island toward the street, but in no instance shall a canopy be located closer than six feet from any lot line; ii) only one canopy shall be permitted per station, unless the station is located on a corner lot, in which case two canopies may be permitted; 3-4 iii) the canopy shall be at least 14 feet in height, but not greater than 16 feet in height; iv) no signage of a permanent or temporary nature may be placed on a canopy; and v) all canopy lighting shall be recessed into the canopy ceiling. 3—S Attachment A SECTION 506 - ZONING: PURPOSE AND DEFINITIONS Subd. 38. "Height of building" the deck line for mansard an gambrel roofs; and to the average height between eaves and the ridge for gable; nil hip and roofs, as measured from the average elevation of the lot adjoining the front building line. (Figure 4) The vertical distance to the highest point of the roof for flat roofs; to GABLE HIP FLAT MANSARD GAMBREL deck line ridge - - - eave storyI Height Height Height basement Figure 4 COMMENT: Won't make a significant difference, but this change would reduce the height slightly for gambrel (i.e. barn) roofs. SECTION 521 - ZONING: RESIDENTIAL DISTRICTS 521.13. Additional rules for accessory buildings and uses. Subdivision 1. The additional rules set out in this subsection apply to accessory buildings and uses in the R District. Subd. 8. No accessory building or an accessory use within a principal building shall be more than one story in height, greater in lot coverage than the principal building, or greater in height than the principal building. 5 Subd. 9. No accessory use within a principal building shall be more than one story in height. The height of a storx is defined by the rpincipalbuilding, COMMENT: These are two possible options for requiring an attached garage to be one story in height. There are definitions for "story" in the Zoning Ordinance and the Building Code, although neither define a maximum height so some language clarifying that a story" in the case of an attached garage addition means the "story" established by the principal building is necessary. This change may be confusing to implement. 521.16. Performance standards. Subdivision 1. Standards. Developments shall be constructed and maintained in accordance with the standards set out in this subsection. Subd. 7. Building Additions. Additions to principal and accessory structures shall be planned and constructed so that the design and treatment of each exterior wall and roof surface shall be consistent in quality and appearance with the structure to which the addition is attached. The roofs , le of the addition shall be similar to the roof style of the structure to which it is attached. The Community Development Director shall make the determination as to what constitutes similar design. style and treatment. — COMMENT: The language is cumbersome and adds subjectivity to the ordinance, i.e. different people have different definitions of what is "similar." We do require commercial additions to "match," although the code isn't too specific about it. We have only occasionally had problems enforcing the requirement for commercial additions. 3l7 Attachment B Design Guidelines /Overlay Districts: Issues and Options Issues Presented by Existing Codes There are several tools in the existing code (Section 410, 526.19, subd. 5) that refer to "design districts," "corridor overlay districts," "redevelopment plans," and "urban design guidelines." The path from the language of these tools to plans like the Lakes at Lyndale and Lyndale Gateway is not very clear, e.g. the Council just "accepted" these plans as concepts for the areas, does that make them "redevelopment plans" and are the areas then "design districts ?" The design guidelines for PASSS were adopted and the existing language connects them to the area, but staff have found them somewhat difficult to implement/enforce. The existing code language hasn't survived staff turnover very well. Option 1 Change the language in 526.37, subd 5 (and identical language in all other zoning districts) to clearly list the "design districts" to which the design guidelines apply. 526.37. Additional regulations and requirements. Subdivision 1. The regulations and requirements set out in this subsection apply to buildings and uses in the C -2 District. Subd. 5. All property located within the design districts listed in this subdivision shall be subject to such district's additional requirements and /or modifications. The lands included in the design districts are set forth in Appendix 1 to this code. a) Lakes at Lyndale District When a new plan is established for an area, section 526.37, subd. 5 + and Appendix 1 could be amended to include the new district. A copy of the design guidelines would accompany Planning Commission and City Council action on the amendment. At this time, the downtown district is the most critical area for design guidelines. The Lyndale Gateway area may no longer be large enough to warrant guidelines. Decisions haven't been made on the PASSS area yet. Possible Addition: Language could be added to make new construction, additions, and exterior remodeling over a certain percentage of building value conditional uses in the design district. This would require the PC and CC to make a finding that the proposal is consistent with the design guidelines. Without this language, staff would enforce the requirements through the site plan review. Issues with Option 1 Will it stand the test of time; i.e. will future staff know how to implement? Can it provide some flexibility yet be clearly enforced? Option 2 Change the Zoning Ordinance to add specific code language for the design districts, i.e. the commercial districts would include C -1, C -2, C -3, Lakes at Lyndale, Lyndale Gateway, etc. Each district has its own rules. Issues with Option 2 It would be very clear to future staff and make implementation easier. It's a lot more work and it may rarely be used. Many of the improvements made to these areas will be City initiated, which gives the City greater control over design. General Issue How should design guidelines apply to residential property, specifically single - family residential? Strict application of the rules would mean that a single- family residential property within a future commercial area of the Lakes at Lyndale area could not be added on to.