Kentwood Committees & Boards
Planning Commission (Back to index)
Minutes for 02/09/2010APPROVED MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING
OF THE KENTWOOD PLANNING COMMISSION
FEBRUARY 9, 2010, 7:00 P.M.
COMMISSION CHAMBERS
A. Chair Holtrop called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
B. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Commissioner Yokom.
C. Roll Call:
Members Present: Betsy Artz, Maurice Groce, Dan Holtrop, Ed Swanson, Don Yokom, and Chris Winczewski.
Members Absent: Laurie Sheldon, Frank Vander Hoff and Johngerlyn Young (with notification)
Others Present: Community Development Director Terry Schweitzer, Economic Development Planner Lisa Golder, Planner Joe Pung, Staff Secretary Monique Collier, the press, the applicants and 6 citizens.
Motion by Commissioner Winczewski, supported by Commissioner Yokom, to excuse commissioners Sheldon, VanderHoff and Young from the meeting.
- Motion Carried (6-0) ?
- Sheldon, VanderHoff and Young absent -
D. Approval of the Minutes and Findings of Fact
Motion by Commissioner Winczewski, supported by Commissioner Swanson, to approve the Minutes of January 26, 2010 noting the change of the meeting start time to 7:00p.m.
- Motion Carried (6-0) ?
- Sheldon, VanderHoff and Young absent -
E. Approval of the Agenda
Motion by Commissioner Winczewski, supported by Commissioner Swanson, to approve the agenda for the February 9, 2010 meeting.
- Motion Carried (6-0) ?
- Sheldon, VanderHoff and Young absent -
F. Acknowledge visitors wishing to speak to non-agenda items.
There was no public comment.
G. Old Business
There was no old business.
H. Public Hearing
Case #1-10 ? Madison Avenue Missionary Baptist Church- Site Plan Review for a Church Expansion located at 5757 Madison Avenue SE
Planner Pung introduced the request. He stated the request is for a site plan review of a major change to an approved site plan. He stated the church would like to construct a 1,600 square foot addition along with a future 3,600 square foot addition. He stated the addition represents an increase of more than 20% to the existing building and therefore isconsidered a major change requiring planning commission approval.
Pung stated the church was constructed in 1970. He stated the property was zoned R-3 and churches were a permitted use, but the property is currently zoned R1-D Single Family Residential and churches are a special land use.
Pung stated there were some issues brought up at the work session. He stated there are homes across the street from the future parking lot and if the parking lot is constructed it will require additional landscaping including canopy trees and a hedgerow or berm to block the headlights from glaring into those homes. He stated staff will require an external lighting plan that would need to be reviewed. He also stated the zoning ordinance requires a 45-foot parking setback with a 20-foot buffer zone and 6-foot high screen from adjacent residential property to the north. Pung stated if the church wants the parking the way it is currently designed, they can go for a variance or combine the parcels on which the church and parsonage are currently located and then the property line will then be moved further to the north.
Pung stated a resident had concerns with the future phase stating there wasn?t a lot of detail provided and if constructed it makes up over 50% of the building wall facing Madison. Pung stated as a condition of approval if it is going to be built; it would require the applicant come back to planning commission for approval of the building elevations to make sure they are compatible to the residential setting.
Pung stated another issue is construction of a sidewalk along Madison Avenue as part of any development or new construction. He stated the only way for this to be waived is to go to the City Commission Service Committee to ask for a waiver from that requirement.
Pung stated he is recommending conditional approval of the site plan dated January 18, 2010 with conditions 1-8 and basis points 1-7.
David Wright, Pastor Madison Avenue Church was present. He stated they need this addition and are willing to comply with what they commissioners ask.
Chair Holtrop opened the public hearing.
There was no public comment.
Motion by Commissioner Winczewski, supported by Commissioner Yokom, to close the public hearing.
- Motion Carried (6-0)-
- Sheldon, VanderHoff and Young absent
Winczewski asked what the commission authority would be when phase 2 is built regarding the elevations. He stated he doesn?t think it really needs to come back to the planning commission, he would prefer just have it be deferred to staff in the future. He stated he doesn?t think the planning commission needs to look at that. Schweitzer stated that is at the commissions discretion.
Groce asked what would happen later down the road if the church combined the property. Pung stated if the parking lot is not built it will not be an issue with them splitting it back off. He stated the main reason we would like the combination is it doesn?t have to be combined until that future parking is constructed. He stated if they want to build the parking the way it is constructed those parcels have to be combined. Otherwise they are required to have a 45 foot parking setback from the lot line 20 foot green belt and a 6 foot high buffer.
Motion by Commissioner Swanson, supported by Commissioner Artz, to approve Case #1-10 ? Madison Avenue Missionary Baptist Church- Site Plan Review for a Church Expansion located at 5757 Madison Avenue SE with conditions 1-8 basis points 1-7 modifying condition 3 to read ?planning staff? instead of ?planning commission.?
- Motion Carried (6-0)-
- Sheldon, VanderHoff and Young absent -
I. Work Session
Case #10-09 ? Consideration of a Street Tree Regulatory Ordinance.
Director Schweitzer introduced the request. He stated over the past several months staff
Has taken a more in depth look into the issue of street trees. He stated there was an administrative policy adopted in December of 2006. He stated we would now like to address street trees through an ordinance amendment. He stated there was inventory done last fall that plotted out where the ash trees are located within the community. He stated the Ash trees are dying away because of some pest and there are experimental treatments that are underway. Schweitzer stated the homeowner can deal with the pest, the city will not be in a position to provide the treatment and it will likely be an option to homeowners to be able to get a recommended treatment that is cost effective. He stated the Ash trees that are in place now, we are expecting they are going to die off.
Schweitzer showed an example of: a subdivision in the northeast part of the community; Shaffer Avenue from 44th Street north; portions of Bailey?s Grove; Potter Ave; 48th Street; and the Windy Ridge subdivision.
Schweitzer stated one of the things that was talked about in the master plan process is redesigning some of the streets in terms of creating more non-motorized pathways within the community. He stated one approach on the pathways is instead of having them separate from the street, is rededicating some of the pavement that is on the street; instead of having four lanes you have three travel lanes and create bike lanes striped along the side. Schweitzer suggested the distance from where vehicles travel to the sidewalk will be 13 feet dimension. He staed you should be able to put street trees on the street, on the premises if you go down from four lanes to three lanes with the bike lanes. Schweitzer stated if there is any feedback or if the commissioner needs additional information he will get it for them before the public hearing.
Commissioner Winczewski stated his concern is the speed limit has increased on some streets, but now you can?t put trees on the street to calm the traffic down because the speed limit is too high. If we want to use trees to slow traffic down with this ordinance you will not be able to do it since spacing is based on speed.
Chair Holtrop asked if the number of lanes has anything to do with the speed. Schweitzer stated it does not.
Commissioner Groce asked about the telephone poles; stating they seem closer to the street than the trees, would those be moved. Schweitzer stated utility poles are generally in the public right-of-way, he did not anticipate that the location of utility poles would change as a result of the proposed ordinance and administrative rules.
Schweitzer stated the idea behind putting restrictions on where you place street trees is they are considered to some extent as fixed objects, the more fixed objects you have there is a perception that there is a greater hazard associated if someone goes off the roadway; how many things they can hit.
Swanson asked what the recommendations are from the trade periodical articles. Schweitzer stated they talk about high speed streets and they generally call for a setback of 30 feet from the edge of the pavement. Schweitzer stated when the article is talking about lower speeds they don?t recommend specific setback requirements. In fact the articles do not elaborate on what speeds are considered high speeds versus low speeds.
Swanson asked if the 3 foot measurement is to the center of the tree or do you take into account the size of the tree in making that determination. Schweitzer stated it would be based on the center of the tree at planting.
Swanson stated he likes some of the changes that were made and some that he doesn?t like. He stated he would say in the setback recommendation where it says 10? foot behind the back of curb or edge of pavement; he would like to see that 7 feet because 10 feet behind the back of curb or edge of pavement is quite a ways back and if we stand a chance in getting these trees back, we have to have them within the right-of-way if we can. Swanson stated his other question is the 50 mile an hour zones, he would use 10 feet behind the curb or travel lane, taking into account bikeways, if the travel lane is delineated by a bike lane or any other edge line. He stated he thinks that allows us to keep the street trees in the ROW and still puts them back a reasonable distance.
Schweitzer stated if you would go 10 foot behind edge of pavement or travel lane along 52nd street east or west you generally have a 15 foot parkway and most of those trees are 8 foot behind back of curb. He stated with a 15 foot parkway if you are going to replace those trees there would be enough room to put trees back in the public ROW. Schweitzer stated this will be discussed at the ordinance committee, city commission and service committee.
Swanson stated he wants to be able to keep those trees in the ROW if he can because he doesn?t think we will get those trees planted if we say to the homeowner you have to plant a tree but you have to plant it on your property. He stated if that is what they want to do he has no problem with the trees being behind the sidewalk, but if you go out and plant trees that means we will have to get an easement, this is not a year we will go out and plant trees due to finances. He stated he would like to be able to keep the trees within the ROW that?s why he picked those distances so that it will allow us to do that.
Yokom asked what is going to happen when the city put trees in and then 10 or 15 years later the trees start popping the sidewalk up, now the homeowners will be held responsible for replacing that section of the sidewalk. Schweitzer stated that is one of the reasons why we look for the minimum 3 foot distance from the sidewalk to try to take into account that circumstance. Schweitzer stated the table also looks at other things as far as setbacks from fire hydrants, street lights etc. Schweitzer stated staff is looking at this in a comprehensive fashion.
Discussion Ensued.
Holtrop stated the idea on Shaffer would be to incorporate edge of travel lanes as opposed to curb to enable the replacement of trees within the existing parking in the event the four lane street is re-purposed to 3 vehicular travel lanes and bike lanes on either side. The consensus was to pursue the changes suggested by Swanson.
J. New Business
Motion by Commissioner Winczewski, supported by Commissioner Artz, to set a public hearing date of March 9, 2010 Case #2-10 ? Quaker Steak & Lube - Special Land Use and Site Plan Review for a Drive-thru restaurant located at 4515 28th Street SE
- Motion Carried (6-0) ?
- Sheldon, VanderHoff and Young absent -
K. Other Business
1. Master Plan
Nick Nicola property owner of the Bretwood Center was present to address the planning commissioners his suggestions concerning the area of 44th Street and Breton Avenue were:
-more visibility
-more extensive bus stop on Breton
-convince owner of office building to cut down trees
-city create bike path at Bretwood Center
-more access road along the east side
-Bretwood Center fresh food farm fresh market
-city offer tax incentive to get Spectrum to expand on site
2. Commissioners? Comments
None
3. Staff?s Comments
None
L. Adjournment
Motion by Commissioner Swanson, supported by CommissionerYokom, to adjourn the meeting.
- Motion Carried (6-0) ?
- Sheldon, VanderHoff and Young absent -
Meeting adjourned at 8:20p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Don Yokom, Secretary
|