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Minutes for 03/28/2006APPROVED MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING
OF THE KENTWOOD PLANNING COMMISSION
MARCH 28, 2006, 7:30 P.M.
COMMISSION CHAMBERS
A. Chair McIntyre-Evenocheck called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m.
B. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Commissioner.
C. Roll Call:
Members Present: Betsy Artz, Maggie Bohn, Todd Gray, Dan Holtrop, Abed Itani, Nancy McIntyre-Evenocheck, Ed Swanson, Frank Vander Hoff, and Chris Winczewski.
Members Absent:
Others Present: City Attorney Jeff Sluggett, Community Development Director Terry Schweitzer, Economic Development Planner Lisa Golder, Planner Joe Pung, Planner Debargha Sengupta, Staff Secretary Monique Collier, the press,three citizens and the applicants.
D. Approval of the Minutes and Findings of Fact: Case #8-06 Deavers Meadows Major Change to a Site Plan, Preliminary Plat and Final Site Plan for a PUD located at 3735 60th Street; Case #9-06 44th Street Rezoning of 12.99 Acres from C-4 Office to C-2 Community Commercial south side of 44th St. from Breton to within 200 ft of Applewood Dr.; Case #10-06 Miscellaneous Zoning Ordinance Text Amendments
Winczewski made the following corrections to the minutes of March 28, 2006, he wanted to add to the Commissioners? comments that March 28, 2006 will be Commissioner Todd Gray?s last meeting.
Motion by Itani, supported by Winczewski, to approve the Minutes of March 14, 2006 and the Findings of Fact for : Case #8-06 Deavers Meadows Major Change to a Site Plan, Preliminary Plat and Final Site Plan for a PUD located at 3735 60th Street; Case #9-06 44th Street Rezoning or 12.99 Acres from C-4 Office to C-2 Community Commercial south side of 44th St. from Breton to within 200 ft of Applewood Dr.; Case #10-06 Miscellaneous Zoning Ordinance Text Amendments
- Motion Carried (7-0) ?
- VanderHoff and Swanson absent -
E. Approval of the Agenda for March 28, 2006
Motion by Gray, supported by Itani,to approve the agenda for the March 28, 2006 meeting.
- Motion Carried (7-0) ?
- VanderHoff and Swanson absent-
F. Acknowledge visitors wishing to speak to non-agenda items.
G. Old Business
H. Public Hearing
Case #11-06 - Breton Woods North Major Change to an approved PUD Site Plan and Final Site Plan Review of a PUD located on the east side of Breton Ave and Pfeiffer Woods Dr.
Golder introduced the request to recommend to the City Commission conditional approval of the request for Major Change to an approved PUD Site Plan and outlined her conditions and basis in her report.
Doug Stalsonburg from Excel Engineering representing Holland Home stated that the major change was in one area. He said there was approximately 22 feet that was added to the building which is now the attached garages and those are in addition to the garages that will be underneath the building at the lower level. Stalsonburg stated that to compensate for the garages with the addition of the 22 units in one wing, these garages were added and they will be the same type of garages that were constructed as part of the Breton Terrace. He stated that when they added the garages it was necessary to push the road over a little bit and that made the PUD boundaries change. They added approximately one and a half acres to the PUD, the other ? acre that was approved by the Planning Commission has been taken out of that PUD. The congregate building footprint has not changed they have only added 22 feet for the garages and part of the building which was the chapel area had been eliminated. The result is that overall footprint of the large building, excluding the garages, increased by 1900 square feet - a very small increase. The total square footage of the congregate building was around 76,000, so it is a relatively small increase in the footprint size. He stated that the changes were made due to the fact that when they developed the plan they weren?t in the position to accurately estimate what the total project will cost. He said after they went through the first PUD amendment back in December they did the actual engineering and all the architecturals; then the project went out for bids and the numbers came back. Holland Home wasn?t meeting their price point that they wanted to achieve. Holland Homes goals are to provide housing to a wide range of income levels so adding the number of units is not all about making more money. He said it is about taking the cost spreading it over 22 additional units so that the cost per unit can get down to a wider range of people that can afford to live in this project. He stated that there were some Commissioners that expressed a concern in density. He said that adding the 22 units will increase to 5.1 approximately a 5% increase. For the project to the south, the existing Breton Woods campus, the density that was approved there was 6.3; the project to the East, the other PUDwas approved at 6.6. He stated that at that time he remembered the Planning Commissioners were trying to get more density in that area. He said that the density for this project between those two at 5.1 is not out of line at all. He said the open space noted on the plan is approximately 35% and they calculated the green space and it works out to be 70% for this project. He said he took the 30 single family lots and estimated a 40 x 70 foot building footprint and included a two lane driveway as an approximation of what will be on the 30 single family lots. He said that using everything else as green space he came up with 70% so even with the increase in density of the 22 acres there is still a significant amount of green space.
The other concern he heard about was the garages and he said that they have asked RJM to modify the previous landscape plan. He said there is a heavy row of pine trees scattered and there are eight to ten foot of evergreen trees. He said that he thinks they have done a good job with shielding the garages even though they will be done architecturally. He stated that the second point on that is that Holland Home owns the land to the east and if there is some concern what the appearance is to the garages they still have the opportunity to do some berming or landscaping on the other side of the street.
The third concern he heard was the reduction of the hobby shop. He said the previous hobby shop looks bigger than what they are proposing now but there is also attached to the hobby shop some mechanical rooms on the south end of the building and an attached green house. Some of the mechanical equipment is located in the garages as they are proposing. He said it does not have to be part of the hobby shop. He stated that the true hobby shop use to be 50x100 which was 5,000 square feet, now it has been reduced to 40x60, 2,400 square feet but still a good size. He said there hasn?t been any revision to the plan since the work session. The Engineering Dept reviewed and approved the plan with minor revisions and Fire has approved the plan.
Chair McIntyre-Evenocheck opened the public hearing.
Motion by itani, supported, by Holtrop to close the public hearing.
-Motion Carried 7-0 ?
- VanderHoff and Swanson absent-
Bohn stated that she is disappointed because the changes are not improvements. She said what she is weighing is how much of a negative impact does she feel it brings to the project. She said the increase in density isn?t bad, the impact on City services will not be major. She said that what she is looking at is the quality of the development and the goals of home ownership and that we did go through this project the people who live there do pay real estate taxes and they do own their homes. She said she is disappointed but she doesn?t think enough so that she will vote against the project.
Itani stated that he shares Bohn?s point of view and concerns about the project. He said that the modifications are a step backwards but he said if you have to make up 22 million dollars you have to do some modifications. He said he thinks it is a good project and he will vote for it.
Winczewski said his concerns are the movement of the parking to the garages. He said that he talked to a resident and they were concerned about the move and what the person had mentioned is that most people who move in this are mobile to start, but aren?t so after awhile and this increased distance in the parking spaces is going to effect them. He wanted to know if the development to the east is 6.6 units per acre. He stated that his concern with the increase is that this is a large project and when you look at the Ravines as a whole and a lot of the decisions that were made in the past were based on this entire project and if every piece of this project adds five to ten percent this project will be a lot larger than it was when it was approved. He stated that he thinks the pieces that have been developed so far are the highest density pieces and not the low density and if this trend continues that we are always going to add units then by the time the Ravines is completely done it will be a lot more units than planned. He said he is not in favor of overall higher density and he did not want higher density in this area. He said that he will probably vote against this.
Gray stated that he will vote for the project as it is presented. He thinks the benefits outweigh some of the things that we are focusing on.
Artz wanted to know if Holland home was a not for profit. Mr. Israel stated yes. She wanted to know if the units in the community are purchased at life?s end do they just move on to someone else or are they sold. Mr. Israel stated that what they have is 99 year lease. They purchase life care and half of the cost of the home takes up some of their life care cost and the family is guaranteed to get the other half of the money. He stated that they pay property taxes.
Holtrop wanted to know that southwest of the hobby shop which is Hidden Lakes, will there be any changes in the landscaping and how will it look. Mr. Stalsonburg stated that they are three story apartment buildings. He said that there are solid woods with very tall trees and that provide good buffering separation between the building and the apartments. Holtrop stated that he wants to make sure both sides of the garage and hobby shop area are buffered. He said he is fine with the size and density.
McIntyre-Evenocheck stated that she is very disappointed. She thought that something more could have been done with increasing the size of the hobby shop and reducing some of the garages.
Motion by Itani, supported by, Holtrop to recommend to the City Commission conditional approval of the request for Major change to an approved PUD Site Plan for the site plan dated February 17, 2006 for the Breton Woods North PUD development as described in Case # 11-06 approval conditioned on the following conditions 1-6 and basis points 1-5 per Golders memo dated March 22, 2006.
-Motion carried (5-2-)-
-Winczewski and McIntyre-Evenocheck dissenting -
-VanderHoff and Swanson absent -
Structures and Improvements Plan (SIP)
Golder introduced the request and stated that Kendall Klingelsmith was present to answer any question Commissioners may have.
Chair McIntyre-Evenocheck opened the public hearing.
Motion by Winczewski supported by Itani to close the public hearing.
-Motion Carried (7-0)
- VanderHoff and Swanson absent ?
Commissioners Itani,Winczewski, Artz, Gray and Holtrop had no comments. Bohn added that she really appreciated the way these are being done now, they are very easy to understand and she thinks staff has done a fantastic job. McIntyre-Evenocheck thanked the staff and the sub-committee that worked on the project and she appreciated the time and effort that was put forth on the project.
Motion by Holtrop, supported by Itani to approve the Sturctures and improvements Plan.
-Motion Carried (7-0)-
-VanderHoff and Swanson absent ?
Case #12-06 ? Quail Meadows PUD Major Change to an Approved Site Plan and Final Site Plan Approval of a PUD Phase located on the north side of 52nd Street, between Windy Ridge Estates and Jefferson Farms and extended North to Woodbury Commons plat
Pung introduced the request outlining his staff recommendation.
Chair McIntyre-Evenocheck opened the public hearing
Motion by Itani supported by Artz to close the public hearing
-Motion Carried (7-0)-
-Vanderhoff and Swanson absent-
Commissioners had no comments.
Motion by Artz, supported, by Holtrop, to recommend to the City Commission conditional approval of the final site plan dated March 8, 2006 and Major Change for Quail Meadows as described in Case #12-06. Approval is conditioned on conditions 1-14 and basis points 1-6 in Pung?s memo dated March 3, 2006.
- Motion Carried (7-0)-
- VanderHoff and Swanson absent-
I. Work Session
Case # 13-06 ? KDP Plan Retirement Services Final Site Plan Review for a PUD phase located at 3060 Lake Eastbrook Blvd.
Pung introduced the request and stated that the only issues that needed to be addressed are that he asked them to get some pictures of similar buildings with facade materials to see what it is going to look like and to verify it will be consistent with other buildings and the PUD and also to show that cross access easement.
Jim Reyers with Houseman construction representing KDP brought along some samples of the masonry that is intended to be used on the project and a couple of photographs. He stated that the cross access will be added on the plan for the public hearing.
Commissioners had no comments. McIntyre-Evenocheck stated that she would like to see some landscaping plans.
J. New Business
Case #14-06 ? Breton Gardens Dental Clinic Special Land Use and Site Plan Review located at 4144 Breton Ave. SE.
Motion by Hotrop supported by Itani to set the public hearing date of April 25, 2006 for Case #14-06
-Motion Carried 7-0-
-VanderHoff and Swanson -
K. Other Business
1. Commissioners? Comments
McIntyre-Evenocheck thanked Bohn for her twelve years of service and presented her with a plaque and the article from the Kentwood Advance. Bohn said she feels she has gotten a lot out of working on the Commission and thanked everyone.
McIntyre-Evenocheck also stated that this was Todd Gray?s last Commission meeting and he was presented with a certificate and thanked him for being on the Commission. Gray stated that he has enjoyed his time and it has been a pleasure working with everyone.
McIntyre-Evenocheck also expressed her condolences to Betsy Artz who lost her mother a couple of weeks ago.
McIntyre-Evenocheck also thanked the intern for the Kentwood Build Out Analysis; she said he did a great job and that this is good information. She is pleased to see that this will be added to the Master Plan.
All other Commissioners thanked Maggie for her years of service and also Todd Gray.
2. Staff?s Comments
Staff also thanked Maggie Bohn for her dedication and her years of service and job well done on the Planning Commission.
L. Adjournment
Motion by Bohn, supported by Artz, to adjourn the meeting.
- Motion Carried (7-0)
- VanderHoff and Swanson absent -
Meeting adjourned at 8:20pm
Respectfully submitted,
Chris Winczewski, Secretary
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