This transcript is from a meeting of the **Hastings Planning Commission**. Based on the provided context and the dialogue within the transcript, here are the assigned speaker names. **Note:** Some commissioners (Tyken and Halberg) are not present on the provided list but are identified by name in the dialogue; the name "Brown" has been corrected to **Commissioner Bryan Braun** based on the provided list of Public Safety Advisory Commission members who often overlap or are phonetically similar. **Justin Forney** is identified as a staff member in the dialogue. [0:00] **Chair Melanie Peters**: 2024 call the meeting to order first up is the approval of the minutes from the April 22nd regular meeting Commissioners any comments questions if not we'll consider those to be approved and next is public hearings first public hearing will be mint development comprehensive plan Amendment and resoning southwest corner Pleasant Drive and South Frontage Road and John hin will have the staff report okay [0:42] **John Hinzman**: we go well thank you Mr chair planning Commissioners tonight before us we've got a public hearing to consider two actions related to land located at the southwest corner of South Frontage Road and Pleasant Drive which is shown here it's about a 3.9 acre property that's owned by hedro and is proposed for development by Mint development the two items We Have Tonight are a comprehensive plan Amendment which would change the future land use designation of medium density residents to Commercial and then a resoning of the property from R1 low density residents to C4 Regional shopping center so you're asked to hold the public hearing tonight and then to consider a recommendation to the city council so with the project here uh we [1:27] **John Hinzman**: do have a purchase and development agreement with mint development to sell the property for future development uh some of the pertinent items of that contract include closing before the end of this year December 31st 2024 and the approval of all land use applications what's before you tonight is a part of those land use applications before the end of the year he would come forward with a site plan application and a plat application for the land itself at that time we would have more detail pertaining to how the site would be developed and take a look at those specific requirements tonight we're really looking at land use itself within the packet I did provide a conceptual drawing of how the site could be developed on that that's more to show [2:13] **John Hinzman**: how the site could be utilized than anything for specific comment tonight uh by the board so when we take a look at the comprehensive plan and resoning we look at two separate items the comprehensive plan is really a guiding document that we have it looks at what we want to see for development over a 20-year period and guides land for future development that's consistent with it the zoning is the legal land use of the property that is the the definition the law of how the property is developed under the zoning code we have specific uses that are allowed that are allowed by right or by special use and so that really uh has the regulatory authority over the use of the property so we take a look at the property here today we've [2:58] **John Hinzman**: got South frage Road Pleasant Drive we've got West View Mall which is Zone C4 and guided commercial to the east of the property we've got commercial property to the Northeast vacant property held by the city to the north of the property Pleasant Hill Library we've got Hastings Marketplace Town Homes which are owned by the Dakota County Community Development agency and then we have maaa um school down towards the South and then residential on the other side of 12th Street this is what the site looks like today if you're out there you may recognize uh boy this site's pretty low it has some drainage in there right now can this be developed as a site other than a drainage Pond and I had similar questions looking at that as well uh the developer is confident [3:43] **John Hinzman**: that he can not only put have Provisions for the existing drainage on the property but also for drainage that will be generated through development of the site he'll be obligated to provide for both of here so there will be some changes to the site one thing you will note that there's some pretty good tree coverage on the perimeter of the site that you know as we look at the site development we'll look at that a little more closely looking at the comprehensive plan itself property right now is guided medium density residential it's looking to be guided for commercial so when we look at the guidance of property we take a look at what we've anticipated within the area and other properties that are similar guided and does it make sense to guide the property in such a fashion so here we've got commercial property guided to the north [4:31] **John Hinzman**: and east of the property so it is consistent to have the property designated as commercial with commercial properties you're always looking at uh intersections that have some higher volume and some visibility in the circumstance Pleasant Drive is a collector Road as well as South Frontage Road and it's not too far away from Highway 55 which is a major road through town so we do believe that this is consistent with uh this change is consistent with our planning policies here and do support the change to commercial with the resoning on the property right now the property is zoned R1 we are proposing a resoning to C4 which is this brown area all the areas to the east of the property uh West View Mall uh Speedway Etc are Zone C4 presently so similar things we take a [5:18] **John Hinzman**: look at what property is zoned around it make sure that the property that is being proposed for rone is consistent with it and it makes sense from a regional planning standpoint so the C4 designation does allow for the retail service that is being proposed by Mr Barson his development so we are supportive of the resoning of the property as well so that is the the report that I have tonight if you have any questions for that I can stand for that at this time or you may open up the public hearing thank you [5:58] **Chair Melanie Peters**: okay thanks John we'll go ahead and open the public hearing all right anyone here wish to speak no anyone on are we still using Zoom anyone on on Zoom nope nobody on Zoom nobody here wish to speak we'll go ahead and close the public hearing and open it up to Commissioners for questions [6:13] **Commissioner Tyken**: commissioner take it thanks Mr shair did we send out notice to the town houses around there [6:22] **John Hinzman**: we did we sent out notification to all neighbors within 350 ft of the property uh did not receive any questions or comments uh from anyone from the mailing [6:34] **Commissioner Tyken**: I mean I I personally I'm kind of conflicting this because if you buy a piece of property next to Commercial and they want to put up a chicken sandwich place you kind of have to accept it but if you buy a piece of property next to something that's Zone R1 and we change the rules on them if they put a chicken place next to that place they're going to be upset so um are they rentals or they [6:58] **John Hinzman**: they are rentals yes they are rentals [7:01] **Commissioner Tyken**: okay on both sides uh on the West Side certainly with the CDA properties in the South I'm not sure if those are rentals or ownership units I know that their Twin Homes mostly on the south okay their own their ownership on the South Side southide there yeah um I guess I you know I I'd be okay with it if we could have some way to ensure that the trees are screen stays up unlike your drawing that you have where there's really nothing in between them and the back side of that building cuz like I said it's hard to switch something in Midstream when they buts up to residential that's my only concern so I'll leave up to the rest of the commission for their thoughts thank you Mr chair [7:46] **Commissioner Halberg**: you're welcome commissioner hobber thank you Mr chair I I guess I share concerns with commissioner tyken um not only with the loss of the and I understand this is completely conceptual um but the loss of the tree covering and the increase of light now for not only the homes to the west but also to the South there's such a nice buffer right now for those town homes with the hill that you take that away you flatten some of that out that's going to be a lot of light that's coming into those tow houses now even if you do a smaller candle you know you go by the you go from darker to quite bright I guess I I'm the same I like the idea of putting something there because I think it is a good opportunity to have something to continue that growth in the area but I just I worry about and that'd be something once we have actual sight plans to go about and also turning on and off of pleasant Which Way can cars try to Jet across or they going to direct them only to go one way where they go southbound coming out of the East Side um driveway so that way they're not trying to cut across so I I have some just basic concerns but I guess that would be all more addressed in terms of a site plan um if this moves forward so I guess not so much a a question more couple comments thank you Mr chair [9:18] **Chair Melanie Peters**: you're welcome I do have a question um so slide nine or number nine here that is a conceptual drawing [9:27] **John Hinzman**: it is yeah it's to show how the site could be developed [9:30] **Chair Melanie Peters**: could be developed because that that um potential building is in the south east corner [9:38] **John Hinzman**: no Southwest Southwest corner [9:40] **Chair Melanie Peters**: so it's so yeah so the back literally goes up against the town homes to the west and then that whatever that would be on the south side goes up right against the town homes on the south so now that's two areas that are affected by this decision [10:06] **John Hinzman**: could be all depending how this the site design ultimately comes out the grading plan and tree preservation we've had some conceptual review of this concept plan uh We've shared the concerns about the tree preservation and also the sighting to provide as much protection as possible to the existing residential so uh the developer has those uh has those comments as he moves forward toward site design [10:41] **Chair Melanie Peters**: yeah Commissioners any other questions [10:43] **Commissioner Melanie Peters**: I guess it's not a question just you know when looking at the the land use map it does look like this is the furthest that the commercial zoning could go like it would never continue into the you know further to the left there or down at the you know the would it be the South whichever direction that is but it does seem like it would be limited there because you have the school and then existing structures so that makes me feel a little bit more comfortable with the concept overall because it's not I don't see that making this part um commercial would then cause more commercial to be developed there so that that makes me feel a little bit more comfortable with it I do agree with a lot of the things that are being brought up but I think that those are sight plan things that we can't really make a judgment about the land use based on what we might think could happen in a site plan so I guess I'm I'm okay with the because it it wouldn't go further [11:58] **Chair Melanie Peters**: and then just to clarify John all of those residents to the South 1421 1413 1405 and 1401 they did receive the notice [12:10] **John Hinzman**: been in the notice okay [12:11] **Chair Melanie Peters**: okay commissioner tyken [12:16] **Commissioner Tyken**: thank you Mr chair um we would be in in a sense creating a zoning Island though of the stuff to the the 16001 which is what our for I density residential so that'd be surrounded by school residential library or commercial Library uh it would be its own Island I'm yeah I'm uh I wish we could have kept a strip of land or something that would protect the residential from the commercial cuz we might get a site plan it might be for you know one thing but five years from now it could that building could flip to something else that we can't really control over so um yeah that's all I got [12:57] **Chair Melanie Peters**: okay commissioner Albert [12:59] **Commissioner Halberg**: I'll make the motion to approve the comp comprehensive plan amendment in resoning Southwest corn of Pleasant Drive in South Frontage Road [13:16] **Chair Melanie Peters**: all right we have a motion to approve have a second [13:21] **Commissioner Bryan Braun**: second second Comm Brown second [13:24] **Chair Melanie Peters**: any new discussion okay no new discussion all in favor say I [13:31] **Commissioners**: I I I [13:34] **Chair Melanie Peters**: opposed [13:35] **Commissioner Tyken**: I [13:36] **Chair Melanie Peters**: okay motion carries with one no okay [13:37] **John Hinzman**: and Commissioners this item will go before the city council on May 20th for first reading of the resoning and then full action on the second reading of resoning and the comprehensive plan Amendment would be on the council for Jun 3rd thank you [14:02] **Chair Melanie Peters**: all right thanks John okay uh next up is another public hearing for city of Hastings ordinance Amendment keeping of chickens ducks and quail and the staff reporter will be Justin Forney [14:24] **Justin Forney**: yeah thank you very much a citizen request was made to council members to allow up to six chickens along with ducks and quail in the city of Hastings a Council planning committee met on the request and directed staff to draft a proposal we've allowed up to four chickens for nearly 3 years in the city of Hastings and currently have eight license holders uh there was an instance where chickens had gotten out of one of the properties um but other than that there hasn't been any other complaints for any of the other chicken uh license holders staff doesn't believe that another two chickens would cause any ill effects many cities at first allowed around four chickens have increased to six or more since they originally um began allowing them there have also been some cities that have more recently modified their ordinance to allow additional poultry um Beyond chickens when it comes to those additional type of poultry um there's little consistency um in in the types um but what's kind of uh been consistent is the response from staff that there hasn't really been um much interest in those additional types of poultry um they've some of them reported between one and a few uh license holders for something else besides chickens um and they haven't really had any issues with those uh with those either um the the types of uh poultry that are often um chosen when they is a wide variety that they could choose from some cities just uh allow poultry in general and sometimes they they exclude different types um but generally the ones that people choose are ones that lay eggs so that would be typically ducks and quail um that have high production of eggs and are often eaten uh ducks have a reputation uh for being quiet like chickens but are a little bit more messy and they require a little bit more uh uh management and cleaning in space some cities allow them to be mixed with chickens and others do not the internet internet of course is filled with both opinions on the matter um staff understands that mixing them together uh does work but it's not the best practice so we're proposing that a license holder can be issued uh for chickens or for ducks but not mixing them together Quail are substantially smaller than chickens um at most they can weigh up to about a half pound whereas chickens weigh up to 10 lbs Quail mature much more quickly and can lay eggs in as quick as six weeks compared to six to 7 months for chickens Quail are even more quiet and can be housed compactly their hutches take up little room and are not very noticeable for these reasons staff is proposing that keepers of ducks and keepers of chickens could also keep Quail the draft language was clarified um in the handout to you this even um that just makes that more clear um along with um a comparison on Duck chicken and quail eggs and a comparison of quail uh versus chicken and then just uh shows what a typical Quail Hutch might look like in comparison to a typical chicken Coupe um most of the amendments are in the animal ordinance under keeping of chickens um but the zon ordinance does have uh um um mentions the the use under allowable uses for each district which are currently in the predominantly single family typical zoning districts and the only change we're proposing there is to change it from uh keeping chickens to keeping chickens ducks and quail um I can offer any other uh clarification or explanation um before or after the public hearing [18:31] **Chair Melanie Peters**: okay thanks Justin um quick question so I'm on the um chain sheet here so with the picture of the coupe and the hutch so it says here that 10 Quail can mix with any size chicken or duck so does the does the person have to have a separate Quail Hutch [18:56] **Justin Forney**: oh yeah they're not compatible in the same in the same housing they would have to have a chicken Coupee and then they would also have to have a a quail hutch so how is the city going to how does the city how does the city handle kuret chicken Coupe building again refresh our memory from the conversation two years ago well somebody would make an application and they would uh draw a sketch plan of where the coupe would be located in the chicken run um and show the setbacks for it and once that's approved they would make the improvements and then inspection would be done and make sure that it meets all the the regulations and consistent with the plan that they submitted so they would have to have a chicken Coupe and a quail Hutch to allow them to mix okay or to have a mix of the to have both okay [20:06] **Chair Melanie Peters**: all right Commissioners any questions the only other question I has is when those chickens got out was there a did the city have to do an inspection or what happened there [20:19] **Justin Forney**: um somebody called code enforcement and said that there was chickens in their front yard and they followed up with the the homeowner and you know reminded them to make sure that they don't let them get out [20:30] **Chair Melanie Peters**: okay so like an inspection just to make sure that it met the city's requirements or it's just a quick FYI to the homeowner I'm not sure I I I just found out recently I wasn't involved in the the incident I'm just trying to get wrap my head around that so because this is an expansion of the space so I just want to yep all right all right with that I'm going to go ahead the open the public hearing anyone wish to speak on the chicken ordinance nope anyone on Zoom chicken okay we'll close the public hearing all right commissioner has any further questions comments all right commissioner tyen [21:11] **Commissioner Tyken**: uh thanks Justin this is one of the best reports I've seen so there's like a lot of data in here that you didn't go over um and a lot of research my my my only real question is why did we limit it six was is just the size of the coupe that they would need [21:23] **Justin Forney**: um yeah that was the request um you know the the coupe would be getting you know larger um you know I think the reason why people want to keep chickens is for you know consumption of you know the eggs for their family um I've had chickens before and um when you have six chickens laying eggs that's that's that's more I eat a lot of eggs and and that's that's more eggs than than than our family could eat so I don't know if there's a a reason to go beyond that and still call it uh an accessory use for the family [22:07] **Commissioner Tyken**: okay and then just so I I understand this uh they could have six chickens and 10 Quail on the same property correct okay and uh I the other thing I was just going to note I didn't realize that uh if you had egg allergies you could eat Quil eggs or duck eggs so uh well it's it's a possibility I think there I think there's like like 60 or 60% chance you could be allergic to to the other but but you might might not okay cool otherise I I think it looks good thanks Mr chair [22:42] **Chair Melanie Peters**: you're welcome commissioner any other questions if not uh a motion [22:47] **Commissioner Tyken**: commissioner tyen uh I recommend we recommend approval of the ordinance Amendment 202 24-16 amends ordinances 155 and 91 keeping of chickens in residential areas [22:54] **Chair Melanie Peters**: all right motion to approve commissioner tyen the second [22:56] **Commissioner Melanie Peters**: I'll second commer Peter second [22:58] **Chair Melanie Peters**: any further discussion if not all in favor say I [23:01] **Commissioners**: I I I [23:02] **Chair Melanie Peters**: opposed that motion carries okay [23:06] **Justin Forney**: as we move forward with this first reading by Council will occur on May 20th and then second reading and final adoption would be on June 3rd thank you [23:18] **Chair Melanie Peters**: okay all right and our next uh public hearing is let make sure I get this correct Judith is is it kala k a Kula Kula thank you Judith Kola special use permit cannabis sales 427 Vermillion Street and staff report John hensman [23:40] **John Hinzman**: thank you Mr chairman planning Commissioners the next two items we have are are similar they are for the same type of application so I'll go through some explanation of what we're looking at in total here and then uh what we're looking at specifically for each of the requests so what we have tonight are two special use permits two separate properties for cannabis retail sales one for Judith koua which be looking at here at Caring Hands massage at 427 Vermillion Street uh the Planning Commission has asked to hold a public hearing tonight and then to review the application and provide a recommendation to the council so with cannabis business regulation these were adopted in November of 2023 they are within the zoning code itself as a special use permit within the C3 and C4 zoning districts and then also as a licensing requirement a business license that is required through city code chapter 117 now any business license is regulated through the clerk's department so we worked hand inand with the clerk's Department in the clerk providing the background information on the applicant also the police chief's report on the uh location itself and security plan and we take those regulations and wrap them into the special use permit itself uh we also have a notification process as part of the special use permit all Property Owners with than 350 ft we're notified we have not heard any comments at this time pertaining to this application property itself is owned C3 so it is consistent in being able to have a cannabis retail license with a special use permit when you take a look at the location here we're on Fifth and Vermillion Street uh you do have some commercial to the South and to the west and North uh one residential home over towards the east here the primary primary entrance to Caring Hands massage is all focused on to Vermillion Street and the corner of Fifth Street so mostly commercial properties and all properties are Zone C3 which surrounded Caring Hands massage has been in operation for a number of years uh they do not have a tobacco license and we're not aware of any compliancy issues with them within your report I put the performance standards present for cannabis products some of the highlights include you have to be 21 years or older requ ire proof of age prior to sale cannabis products must comply with the testing and labeling requirements of Minnesota state law sales are limited from 10: p.m. to no sales between 10: p.m. and 8:00 a.m. they have to have a security plan approved by the police chief which uh police chief has signed off on this one and they're subject to compliance checks periodically to ensure that things are being uh run as per the ordinance so when we take a look at this we take a look at the licensing requirements which I've pointed out to you earlier we also take a look at special use permit requirements that are in general now most of these special use permit requirements uh are really not applicable I did go through them within the report pertaining to Ingress egress parking refu services and the like frankly the the nature of the operation is not really intensifying here it's more of a matter of another product being offered for sale on site here so really none of these are applicable so staff is recommending approval of the special use permit for Judith koua at King Hands massage you can open up the public hearing at this time or I could stand for any questions thank you [27:12] **Chair Melanie Peters**: all right thanks John I will go ahead and open up the public hearing is there anyone here that wishes to speak no all right nobody on Zoom are we even doing Zoom that no Zoom tonight oh no Zoom tonight okay we don't have to worry about that we'll go ahead and close the public hearing all right open up to Commissioners any questions comments motions [27:42] **Commissioner Melanie Peters**: Comm Peters I'll make a motion to um approve the special use permit as recommended [27:49] **Chair Melanie Peters**: all right motion to approve commissioner Peter second [28:01] **Commissioner Halberg**: a second commissioner halberg [28:03] **Chair Melanie Peters**: any new discussion if not all right if not all in favor say I [28:09] **Commissioners**: I I I [28:11] **Chair Melanie Peters**: opposed that motion carries [28:13] **John Hinzman**: thank you Mr chairman the recommendation for this will go to the city council at the May 20th meeting [28:19] **Chair Melanie Peters**: all right and we can do the next one as well this will be a public hearing again for and again is it the name yeah vapol Patel vapol Matel Patel okay special use permit cannabis sales 1608 Vermillion street [28:28] **John Hinzman**: thank you Mr chairman this would be for 1608 Vermillion Street similar type of application similar requirements pertaining to it we ask you to hold the public hearing tonight and then review the special use permit application itself in this circumstance we've got uh the property located west of Vermillion Street between 16th and 17th Street most of the property or all of the property is zoned commercial surrounding it but for the luk Mansion across the street which is zoned public institution in within a C3 District in which this property is zoned you can consider a special use permit for cannabis retail sales uh with the background investigation here police chief did perform this as well signed off on the security plan here uh the existing condition the property has been run as Jake's Liquors for a number of years now uh they do have a tobacco license on the property that's an eror in the report and we're not aware of any present compliancy issues uh pertaining to Jake's lickers and um so we bring this forward with those recommendations the recommendations we have on here are very similar to what we had with the former one which is to adhere to the chapter 117 licensing requirements the special use permit requirements on this that we generally look at for Ingress egress and Etc is not really effective the uh it's really an additional business item as opposed to change in the services itself so we are recommending approval of the special use permit as present presented in the report you can open the public hearing at this point or I can stand for any questions thank you [30:04] **Chair Melanie Peters**: all right thanks John we'll go ahead and open the public hearing anyone here wish to speak NOP all right we'll go ahead and close the public hearing commissioner is open up for comments questions motion [30:11] **Commissioner Tyken**: commissioner taken I'll make a motion that we recommend approval for the special use permit to cannabis retail sales for B Patel Jake Slicker at 1608 from Street [30:22] **Chair Melanie Peters**: all right motion to approve commissioner tyen do I have a second [30:29] **Commissioner Missy McGrath**: commissioner McGrath second okay second by commissioner McGrath [30:33] **Chair Melanie Peters**: any new discussion all right all in favor say I [30:38] **Commissioners**: I I [30:40] **Chair Melanie Peters**: oppos that motion carries okay thank you [30:47] **John Hinzman**: and the recommendation will be brought forward to the city council for final action on May 20th thank you [30:57] **Chair Melanie Peters**: all right next up is other actions [31:01] **John Hinzman**: well Mr chair I don't have any other actions tonight I will point out that the city council did authorize execution of a contract to redo our zoning code over the next year so this will be something that we'll have involvement by the Planning Commission as we get down the road we're going to have a an initial meeting with kod metrics the consultant tomorrow morning be establishing a time frame for working with the Planning Commission and how we will go through through reviewing and updating the code the code itself has been around for 28 years you can imagine that development types and uh the industry have changed quite a lot in that time period and from I think Justin and I's experience of working with it for a long period of time there's many things that we've scratched our heads at but boy we'd really like to change this and now is the opportunity to do so so bring that forward as an informational item something that we'll be working on more in the future [31:47] **Chair Melanie Peters**: okay thanks John Commissioners any other business if not we'll accept a motion to adjourn [31:54] **Commissioner Halberg**: commissioner halberg make the motion to adjourn [31:59] **Chair Melanie Peters**: okay second [32:01] **Commissioner Melanie Peters**: Peter second [32:03] **Chair Melanie Peters**: all in favor say I [32:05] **Commissioners**: I I I [32:06] **Chair Melanie Peters**: opposed we are adjourned okay