Kentwood Committees & Boards
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Minutes for 08/25/2009APPROVED MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING
OF THE KENTWOOD PLANNING COMMISSION
AUGUST 25, 2009, 7:30 P.M.
COMMISSION CHAMBERS
A. Chair Winczewski called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m.
B. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Commissioner Holtrop.
C. Roll Call:
Members Present: Dan Holtrop, Laurie Sheldon, Ed Swanson, Frank Vander Hoff, Don Yokom, Johngerlyn Young and Chris Winczewski.
Members Absent: Betsy Artz, Maurice Groce (with notification)
Others Present: City Attorney Jeff Sluggett, Community Development Director Terry Schweitzer, Planner Joe Pung, Staff Secretary Monique Collier, the press and about 60 residents.
Motion by Commissioner Holtrop, supported by Commissioner Swanson, to excuse Commissioners Artz and Groce from the meeting.
- Motion Carried (7-0) ?
- Artz and Groce absent -
D. Approval of the Minutes and Findings of Fact
Motion by Commissioner Sheldon, supported by Commissioner Young, to approve the Minutes of August 11, 2009 and the Findings of Fact for: : Case#7-09 ? Zoning Ordinance Text Amendments -Open Air Buffering Regulations
- Motion Carried (7-0) ?
- Artz and Groce absent -
E. Approval of the Agenda
Motion by Commissioner Holtrop, supported by Commissioner Sheldon, to approve the agenda for the August 25, 2009 meeting.
- Motion Carried (7-0) ?
- Artz and Groce absent -
F. Acknowledge visitors wishing to speak to non-agenda items.
There was no public comment.
G. Old Business
Case # 6-09 ? CBS Digital Billboard ? Special Land Use and Site Plan Review for a Dynamic Display Billboard located approximately 4250 Saladin Dr. West side of I96 North of the Forest Hill Avenue Overpass.
Planner Pung introduced the request. He stated at the last meeting, the commissioner?s tabled action in order to allow for the applicant to provide additional information and answer questions that were bought up at the meeting. Pung stated he has provided revised recommendations with two alternatives, one for approval and another for denial with basis points.
Mike Hucul was present representing the request. He displayed props to show the LED lights and a light meter. He stated the standard foot candle light meter will read light in foot candles and lux. Mr. Hucul demonstrated how a LED light works as well as the light meter.
Commissioner Yokom asked how many bulbs were in the LED light that Hucul was demonstrating. Mike Hucul stated there was one. Yokom asked on how many LED lights will be on the billboard they are proposing. Mike Hucul stated he isn?t sure how many lights will be on the sign. Hucul stated each bulb in the LED sign has three LED diodes and the bulb has a shield on the top so that the lights are reflected down.
Mike Hucul stated he met with some of the neighbors before the meeting. He stated he met with Mrs. Zoellner, at 1908 Thorn Run Ct on July 29 as well as, Emil Najar, 4299 Sabal Point Dr. and Ms. Betty Drinan, 4285 Sabal Point Dr. Hucul stated all three of the residents thought the billboard would be ok. He stated they also met with Steve Lapinga and Don Oosterhouse on July 30 with staff members Pung and Schweitzer also present.
Hucul stated he received a draft agreement on August 6, from Don Oosterhouse. On August 7, he met with Mr. Oosterhouse again and did some revisions of the language. Hucul stated on August 7, he also met with Ted Herria and talked about the 35 foot Douglas Fir tree that could be planted on the site. Hucul stated on August 10, Supervisor Kelly Duff met with Mr. Earl Clements to come up with some terms and agreement in which they had several emails going back and forth. Hucul stated then on August 11, they talked with Mr. Oosterhouse regarding their meeting with their board. Hucul stated they revised a letter, sent it to the planning department and also faxed a copy of the letter to Mr. Clements and Mr. Oosterhouse.
Chair Winczewski stated the public hearing has been closed twice and he indicated his desire not to reopen it and suggested the commissioners discuss this issue amongst each other. He stated he would like to hear from Don Oosterhouse who is representing Sabal Point and Earl Clements. Winczewski stated the commission has received several letters, emails and pictures that are on file in the planning department.
The commissioners agreed to not reopen the public hearing but they did desire to hear the response of Mr. Oosterhouse and Mr. Clements. City Attorney Sluggett stated under the bylaws the commissioners do have the authority to ask questions of any individual without reopening the public hearing.
Chair Winczewski stated he would like to first hear from Mr. Oosterhouse. Winczewski pointed out that Mr. Hucul stated there was an agreement, but then a letter from Mr. Oosterhouse requesting the planning commission to deny the request.
Mr. Oosterhouse stated he thought the adjournment from the last meeting, as he understood, there were supposed to be some possible negotiations to reach an agreement. He stated he submitted a proposed agreement to Mr. Hucul and after that last meeting he heard nothing from Mr. Hucul until today, August 25 at 3p.m. Mr. Oosterhouse stated the letter from Hucul addressed to the planning commission, in his opinion, says nothing. He stated it says they will work with Sabal Point to provide screening of the visibility of the billboard if needed. He stated he thinks the question of the need should be determined right now at this point. He stated he thinks after the sign is up and they have to go back to CBS and say we think screening is needed the chances are strong that they will say no it is not needed and they are stuck. He stated Mr. Hucul is also talking about spruce trees up to 35 feet in height and the sign is 40 feet. He stated the letter Mr. Hucul submitted means nothing to them. He stated they have also asked a number of times for the light specifications of the proposed sign and they have never received anything and they remain in the dark.
Chair Winczewski then asked Mr. Clements what his feelings were on the outcome between him and CBS.
Mr. Earl Clements stated the request was postponed for two weeks to allow for discussion between the applicant and the affected neighbors to come to a resolution of tree height. He stated today, August 25 at 3:12p.m, was his first and only communication he has had with CBS. Mr. Clements stated they made no attempt in the entire two weeks to contact him. He stated he feels the letter CBS submitted is very general. He stated it is as subjective as can be and feels whatever CBS decides is what will happen the way the letter is written. Mr. Clements displayed three photos he had taken of the billboard at US-131north at Fifth Third Ballpark at 9:45p.m. approximately 800 feet away. He stated it was extremely bright, very visible and legible and continuous flash changing every 5 or 6 seconds. Mr. Clements stated all he has asked from CBS is that they, in writing guarantee they will block the sign with evergreens for him and the three neighbors. He stated CBS will not commit to that. Mr. Clements stated that he would hope the commissioners will turn the request down.
Commissioner Sheldon stated she has read the letters/emails and listened to what the residents are saying. She stated she was hoping coming to the meeting we would be in a different position. She stated she is disappointed with CBS. She felt there would be more resolution by now with the neighbors. She stated she doesn?t think it fits with the community and doesn?t think it will sit well with the neighbors. She stated at this time she is not in favor of the billboard.
Commissioner Swanson stated he does not agree with billboards. He stated he thinks they are negative to the property owners. He stated what he does like is there are four billboards on Division Avenue that could be removed and CBS is willing to take those out. He stated he isn?t sure how he is going to vote at this time.
Commissioner Yokom stated it seemed like several weeks ago both parties seemed to be coming to an agreement and now it has fallen apart. He stated he feels there is a lot of miscommunication. He stated based on that, he is not in favor of seeing the billboard go up because there is alot of outcry against it. He stated there is enough information that if there is a way to make it work, he doesn?t think it should take another two weeks to get that done either. He stated he doesn?t see it going any further and doesn?t support it.
Commissioner Young stated she is concerned about the communications. She stated she is disappointed in the shortness of time the letter was sent. She stated as a resident she would like to feel comfortable in her home and isn?t sure how she will vote at this point.
Chair Winczewski stated there was question about light pollution from the last meeting and they received information about the vertical illumination. Winczewski stated the billboard will be much less impactful on the night sky than a normal billboard will. He stated he doesn?t think the horizontal spillage is that big of a fall off. He stated Swanson?s comments are why he is still debating this issue. He stated the commissioners are here for the entire community and CBS will be getting rid of four billboards which have upward facing illumination. He stated at night those billboards will be brighter than the LED sign is going to be. He stated standard billboards are brighter at night than the LED billboard will be. He stated there is good and bad, but he is extremely upset that more has not gotten accomplished from two weeks ago. Winczewski stated he believes the way that our LED zoning ordinance is written it is going to make billboards in Kentwood much more attractive than the existing billboards. He stated he would really like to get rid of the four on Division Avenue. Winczewski stated he would have hoped we could have had communication between all parties. Winczewski stated we could table the request again and give them another chance to communicate or we could approve or deny.
Commissioner Swanson stated giving them another two more weeks to work out an agreement would not be necessary and felt that it should be voted on.
Commissioner Winczewski asked if the trees are put in and it is an agreement the residents are willing to accept, is that something that could be put as a condition because it?s on the property being specified? He questioned whether any agreement with Mr. Clements could be a condition of the special land use. Attorney Sluggett stated we can?t condition their approval on CBS agreeing to plant trees on other pieces of property other than the piece of property involved. Sluggett stated if CBS is representing and volunteering that they will do it, then in good faith we could rely on that and make that part of the record and then would be comfortable that we can enforce that.
Commissioner Winczewski asked Mr. Hucul if the commissioners wish to table for two weeks to try to get some type of agreement with the concerned parties is that something that will be undertaken. Mike Hucul stated he would.
Commissioner Winczewski suggested making a motion to adjourn the meeting to allow for residents to calm down.
Motion by Commissioner Holtrop, supported by Commissioner Swanson, to adjourn the meeting for five minutes.
- Motion Carried (7-0) ?
- Artz and Groce absent ?
After the adjournment of the meeting Chair Winczewski reconvened the meeting and stated it is not the commissions intention not to let residents speak. He stated given the fact that certain people in attendance were not notified, he thinks it is fair and he would recommend to the commission that given Mr. Hucul?s comments that he will deal with this agreement in a timely fashion he would move that this be tabled again. He stated anybody who did or didn?t get to speak in the past put their comments in writing and submit them to the planning department to allow for staff to get it into their packets so they may have the weekend to read through their letters, emails or pictures.
Pung clarified the location of the four billboard faces, two facing south, two facing north on Division Avenue north of 52nd Street.
Motion by Commissioner Swanson, supported by Commissioner Vanderhoff, to table Case # 6-09 ? CBS Digital Billboard to the September 8, 2009 meeting to allow the applicant to strive to reach an agreement with the neighbors and to allow residents to submit their concerns in writing to the City by September 2.
- Motion Carried (7-0) ?
- Artz and Groce absent ?
Schweitzer added if the residents have question about the application it is on file at City Hall. He stated staff will be available to answer any questions as well as take any comments residents may have in advance of the meeting. He stated we would like to have comments in hand about a week so we can take that into account for the meeting on September 8.
H. Public Hearing
There were no public hearings.
I. Work Session
Case #8-09 ? Wedgewood Christian Services Counseling Center ? Final Site Plan Review of a PUD Phase located at the southeast corner of 36th Street and Shaffer Avenue 3300 ? 36th Street SE
Director Schweitzer introduced the request. He stated the location of the request is at the southeast corner of 36th Street and Shaffer. He stated what was previously approved for that area was a two story 12,000 square foot building for a counseling center. He stated what they would like to do involves a one story 10,000 square foot building. He stated it is a minor change but since it does represent a phase of the PUD it requires final site plan approval from the planning commission. He stated the request is straight forward. He stated one thing that was not in the packet are elevations of the proposed building; they were approved for a two story but now looking at a one story building. He stated there is a PUD agreement that would need to be updated and approved as part of any change that takes place to incorporate the final site plan approval of this phase. He stated the issues with the fire department have been addressed.
Doug Stalsonburg from Exxel engineering was present to represent the request. He stated the counseling center is currently located on the north side of 36th Street. They are currently leasing the building. He stated in accordance to their goal to consolidate the campus, they are trying to get all of the different uses on a single campus so this falls in line with what they are trying to accomplish. He stated they want to start as soon as possible and get out of their lease across the street. He stated there are 40 people who are in the building across the street; they will all be relocated to this building. He stated there are 43 new parking spaces that will be built by an extension of the parking lot to the west and the building will be connected to the Huizenga Center by a connector. He stated they have eliminated streets and parking in exchange for a very nice pedestrian plaza with seating areas.
Winczewski stated there are a lot of trees there and urged them to keep what they can.
The Commissioner had no comments and felt the plan looked good and the campus looks great.
J. New Business
Motion by Commissioner Holtrop, supported by Commissioner VanderHoff, to set the public hearing date of September 22, 2009 for Case#9-09 ? Fox Ford Mazda ? Special Land Use and Site Plan Review for an Open Air Business located at 3550 28th Street
- Motion Carried (7-0) ?
- Artz and Groce absent -
K. Other Business
1. Commissioners? Comments
Commission Winczewski discussed CBS and was also wondering if there is anything that can be done in the future to expand the notice to residents. Schweitzer stated in the past if there is a neighbor association in the immediate vicinity staff would as a courtesy provide them with notification as well as provide the required public notice. Winczewski asked if the commission could ask during the work session that certain condominium associations and certain neighbors get noticed even if they are outside of the 300 ft. Schweitzer stated that is a possible.
Discussion Ensued.
2. Staff?s Comments
Staff had no comments.
L. Adjournment
Motion by Commissioner VanderHoff, supported by Commissioner to adjourn the meeting.
- Motion Carried (7-0) ?
- Artz and Groce absent -
Meeting adjourned at 8:43p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Don Yokom, Secretary
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