This transcript has been formatted with timestamps and speaker identifications based on the context provided and the self-introductions within the recording. **Note:** The transcript refers to a **Councilmember Khambata** (phonetically "Combata"). Although not on your initial list, he is identified by name in the dialogue as the Council Liaison. *** **[00:00:00] Chair Frazier:** Good evening and welcome to the Planning Commission's regular meeting for January 23rd, 2023. At this time, we'll move to roll call. Commissioner Raspeth? [No response]. Commissioner Britton? **[00:00:13] Commissioner Britton:** Here. **[00:00:14] Chair Frazier:** Commissioner Fisher? **[00:00:15] Commissioner Fisher:** Here. **[00:00:16] Chair Frazier:** Chair Frazier, here. Commissioner Knable? **[00:00:18] Commissioner Knable:** Here. **[00:00:19] Chair Frazier:** Commissioner Rasmussen? **[00:00:20] Commissioner Rasmussen:** Here. **[00:00:21] Chair Frazier:** Commissioner Stevens? [No response]. Commissioner Wright? **[00:00:23] Commissioner Wright:** Here. **[00:00:24] Chair Frazier:** Thank you. At this time, we'll move to item number three: approval of the agenda. If there's no changes, I would seek a motion to approve. **[00:00:32] Commissioner Wright:** Motion to approve. **[00:00:33] Chair Frazier:** I have a motion to approve from Commissioner Wright. Do I have a second? **[00:00:36] Commissioner Fisher:** Second. **[00:00:37] Chair Frazier:** Second from Commissioner Fisher. All those in favor say aye. **[00:00:40] Commissioners:** Aye. **[00:00:41] Chair Frazier:** All say no. [Silence]. Motion carries 6-0. We'll move on to Open Forum. This is a chance for anyone who's in the audience here tonight to speak to the Commission on something that's not on tonight's agenda. If there's something you'd like to speak to us about or bring to our attention, please step to the podium, state your name and address for the record. All right, seeing none, we'll close Open Forum. Move on to item five: Chair’s explanation of the hearing process. [The Chair reads the standard hearing process and announcements regarding the City Council meeting dates for the upcoming items]. **[00:01:55] Chair Frazier:** With that, we'll move on to item six. 6.1 is Holcim mining permit, case MP2023-001, with Mike Morosa presenting. Thank you. **[00:02:08] Mike Morosa (Staff):** All right, good evening Chair and Commissioners. As the Chair just said, the first item on our agenda tonight is Holcim MWR Inc.’s annual mining permit. The location of this proposed permit or current permit is located at the Nelson sand and gravel facility... [Staff presentation regarding mining operations and environmental impact statement]. With that, I'll leave the recommendation on the screen and the applicant is here for any questions. Thank you. **[00:04:15] Chair Frazier:** Any questions for staff? Commissioner Britton. **[00:04:18] Commissioner Britton:** Thank you. I saw that there was a significant increase in the truck traffic this year versus the last two years. Is there any negative impacts that we feel from that on the roads or anything else? **[00:04:30] Mike Morosa (Staff):** That’s an excellent question, Commissioner. We have not heard any negative impacts or any comments on that. They do use our recommended route out of the facility, which goes up 103rd to Hadley to 161... we haven't heard any complaints. **[00:04:44] Commissioner Britton:** Okay, thank you. **[00:04:46] Chair Frazier:** All right, thank you. If the applicant would like to add anything, please step to the podium, state your name and address. **[00:04:53] Patty Bessler (Applicant):** Hi, I'm Patty Bessler. I'm the Regional Environmental and Land Manager with Holcim MWR. We're located at 2815 Dodd Road in Eagan; that's our main office. We were formerly Aggregate Industries, as I'm sure you realize by now. Operations are status quo... the biggest change this year will be the addition of a suction dredge. [Detailed explanation of equipment]. Any other questions? I'm happy to answer them. I have our plant manager, Mike Murphy, down here with me this evening as well. **[00:06:04] Commissioner Britton:** This new piece of equipment that you have, the suction dredge—is there any expectation that there'll be any out of the ordinary noise? I mean, is this a noisy piece of equipment? **[00:06:17] Patty Bessler (Applicant):** To my knowledge, there's no additional noise other—you know, it wouldn't be over the existing dredge, which we have not had any complaints on. **[00:06:27] Commissioner Britton:** Okay, thank you. **[00:06:28] Chair Frazier:** Any additional questions for the applicant? All right, thank you very much. This is not a public hearing item, so any additional comments or discussion from the Commission? Otherwise, I would look for a motion. **[00:06:40] Commissioner Britton:** I'll move to approve subject to the conditions in the staff report. **[00:06:44] Chair Frazier:** I have a motion from Commissioner Britton. Do I have a second? **[00:06:47] Commissioner Knable:** Second. **[00:06:48] Chair Frazier:** Second from Commissioner Knable. Any further discussion on the motion? All those in favor say aye. **[00:06:54] Commissioners:** Aye. **[00:06:55] Chair Frazier:** Opposed say no. Motion carries 6-0. We'll find item 6.2: daycare at 7781 Hardwood, cases SP2023-002, PUD2023-003, and CUP2023-004 with Connor Jakes presenting. **[00:07:11] Connor Jakes (Staff):** Good evening Mr. Chair, members of the Commission. Great to be with you this evening. The proposal before you is a child care facility... [Presentation on site plan, PUD flexibility, architecture, and landscaping]. With that, I'll turn it over to our City Engineer, Amanda Meyer, to talk through the site access. **[00:09:48] Amanda Meyer (City Engineer):** Thank you, Connor. Good evening Chair, members of the Commission. So this property is a little unique in the access. [Detailed explanation of traffic sight triangles and the relocation of the access point]. With all that analysis, we do support that access being in the location as proposed. Staff is here for questions and the applicant is also here tonight. **[00:11:13] Chair Frazier:** Any questions for staff? Commissioner Rasmussen. **[00:11:17] Commissioner Rasmussen:** I've got a question and a comment. I definitely agree with moving that away from East Point Douglas; it makes a lot of sense. Can you talk us through—if I'm coming north to the parking lot, is there going to be a turn lane created? **[00:11:32] Amanda Meyer (City Engineer):** Mr. Chair, members of the Commission... the road is actually quite wide and that allows the furthest outside lane to be transitioned into a designated right turn lane. Like we did with the apartment buildings just north of there, the applicant will be putting in a left turn lane for that southbound traffic. **[00:11:58] Commissioner Rasmussen:** That helps, thank you. **[00:12:00] Chair Frazier:** All right, thank you. The applicant would like to step to the podium and state your name and address. **[00:12:08] Dan Harris (Applicant):** Good evening Chairman, my name is Dan Harris with 814 CRE. We are a commercial development company; our address is 1695 12 Mile Road, Berkeley, Michigan. This site looked like it is a perfect spot for a child care facility... it specializes in early education, preschool, and after-school activities. If you have any questions for me, feel free to ask. **[00:12:35] Commissioner Britton:** I noticed in the report that the age was—was it four years old that was the maximum age? **[00:12:43] Dan Harris (Applicant):** So that's for the preschool function. When there is a need for elementary before-school or after-school care or summer camp care, that is when they start to enroll those kind of children. **[00:13:00] Commissioner Rasmussen:** Curious how many children a facility like this takes? **[00:13:05] Dan Harris (Applicant):** We'll have 222 people total... 27 staff and 195 children. **[00:13:17] Chair Frazier:** All right, thank you very much. At this time, I'll open the public hearing on this application. [Pause]. Seeing none, I'll close the public hearing. Any additional comments or discussion from Commission? **[00:13:35] Commissioner Knable:** Just a question for staff. Will the retaining wall that they're planning to build match the wall that's currently there? **[00:13:42] Connor Jakes (Staff):** Yes, Commissioner Knable, it will match on the East property line. Same color. **[00:13:48] Commissioner Fisher:** My question was actually about the retaining wall too... what is the purpose of putting two retaining walls right next to each other and then sticking a bunch of shrubs in between them? **[00:14:03] Connor Jakes (Staff):** Mr. Chair, members of the Commission... by excavating some of that material to allow more of the parking area, another retaining wall would be necessary. You kind of step those retaining walls... it’s more of a tiered wall system. **[00:14:48] Commissioner Knable:** And the play area is west of that new proposed retaining wall? **[00:14:52] Connor Jakes (Staff):** Correct, and then it'd be enclosing that fencing. **[00:15:00] Chair Frazier:** I have one question... the PUD is based partially on the parking setback. Is there a reason it's a PUD request and not a variance request? **[00:15:13] Connor Jakes (Staff):** As we talked through, the original proposal came back when the old code was going through... we felt that a Planned Unit Development fit better for those kind of constraints instead of working through variances. **[00:15:33] Jennifer Levitt (City Administrator):** Mr. Chair, Commissioner Britton, I'll just clarify one thing. So PDO (Planned Development Overlay) was certainly something that was used in the past... the PUD is more of an overlay. The underlying zoning remains, but we use the PUD in cases where potential flexibility is needed. **[00:15:52] Commissioner Britton:** That helps, thank you. I’ll move to approve subject to the stipulations in the staff report. **[00:16:01] Chair Frazier:** I have a motion from Commissioner Britton. Do I have a second? **[00:16:04] Commissioner Fisher:** Second. **[00:16:05] Chair Frazier:** Second from Commissioner Fisher. [Motion carries 6-0]. Move on to item seven, approval of the Planning Commission minutes for December 19, 2022. **[00:16:15] Commissioner Wright:** Motion to approve. **[00:16:16] Commissioner Rasmussen:** Second. [Minutes approved 6-0]. **[00:16:20] Chair Frazier:** Item 8 is reports. 8.1 recap of January 2023 City Council meetings with Emily Schmitz presenting. **[00:16:26] Emily Schmitz (Community Development Director):** Yes, Mr. Chair, Commissioners. Looking back to the January 4th council meeting, the Council adopted the legislative agenda... [Recap of industrial park and zoning code updates]. I'd also like to welcome Councilmember Khambata, a friendly face here. I will turn it over to him as well. **[00:17:15] Councilmember Khambata:** Thank you, Emily. It's nice to be back as the Council Liaison to the Planning Commission, and I look forward to being able to assist you guys in any way I can. **[00:17:28] Commissioner Britton:** Was the recommendation that we had to approve the zoning changes—was it passed based fully on the recommendation that we gave, or was it passed different than what we recommended? **[00:17:47] Jennifer Levitt (City Administrator):** Mr. Chair, members of the Planning Commission... if I'm understanding the line of questioning, it was related to a setback in one of the zoning districts. You had indicated that you desired seven and a half feet, and the code as presented to the City Council is five feet. We did look at a lot of those elements in our discussion... but at the final vote, the City Council did decide to stay with the five foot. **[00:18:43] Councilmember Khambata:** I believe that was a 3-2 vote. It was just kind of based on what the market is asking for... by reducing that to five feet, we're making it easier for developers to come in and kind of know what the rules are. **[00:19:28] Chair Frazier:** Thank you. 8.2 is a response to Planning Commission inquiries; we didn't have any. 8.3 Planning Commission requests? Nothing. At this time, I'll turn it over then to Administrator Levitt. **[00:19:39] Jennifer Levitt (City Administrator):** Mr. Chair, members of the Planning Commission. I'm here this evening along with our Mayor and Councilmember Khambata because you have undertaken a lot of work in the last year. After 70 years of not looking at the zoning code, it needed a lot of updating. One of the things that I don't think our residents really appreciate is all of the hard work that you put in behind the scenes. So tonight, we're here to say thank you. One of the things that we do at the city is we have a City Coin, and the City Coin is awarded for exceptional service... [Explains the values of responsiveness, commitment, and initiative]. **[00:22:15] Mayor Myron Bailey:** I wasn't really expecting to speak, but yeah! I just want to say thanks. You guys were the starting block. There are fun things to do on the Planning Commission, and then there's the more tedious things... the general public doesn't necessarily know about all the time and effort you guys are putting into the work. On behalf of all of our staff and the Council, we want to say thank you. **[00:23:25] Councilmember Khambata:** Seriously, I’ll echo what Mr. Mayor said. There’s a lot of man-hours involved. It is a thankless job. You guys deserve it, and thank you. [The Mayor and Councilmembers present coins and take a photo with the Commission]. **[00:24:25] Commissioner Britton:** Thank you, and this is very appreciated to be acknowledged for that. But I just have to say, it's really staff that did a tremendous job of this overhaul and all the research and dedication to get it right. It's just amazing what staff has done. **[00:24:48] Chair Frazier:** Any additional comments? Otherwise, we are on item number nine, motion to adjourn. **[00:24:52] Commissioner Wright:** Motion to adjourn. **[00:24:53] Commissioner Rasmussen:** Second. **[00:24:54] Chair Frazier:** All those in favor say aye. [Ayes]. Motion carries 6-0. We are adjourned.