[Music] [Music] [Music] all right we'll call the meeting to order uh good evening and welcome to the December 5th 2024 meeting of the minaka Planning Commission the commission generally meets on the 1 and third Thursdays of the month the schedule intent of agendas can be obtained by calling the planing department or by checking the city website at manam mn.gov the commission holds public hearings on land use applications from a specific process standpoint that means we make recommendations to the city council on rezoning subdivisions conditional use permits and amendments to the city's comprehensive plan zoning ordinance and subdivision regulations we also make final decisions on site plans science requests and variance requests and expansion permits unless these requests are part of an application that must be heard by the city council in that case the commission makes a recommendation and the council makes the final decision the city notifies Property Owners within at least 400 feet of the sites post signs on the properties and places notices in The Lakes Shore Weekly News and the manona memo any Agri party May appeal a final Planning Commission decision to the city council if you wish to appeal you must submit a written request to the city within 10 days of this meeting from a broader standpoint the city's comprehensive plan zoning ordinance and subdivision regulations of the city's best efforts to codify a balance between individual rights and Community responsibilities individual rights are easy to understand Community responsibilities are more subtle but the idea is that we as members M of the community agreed to limit our individual rights for the common go of the group The planning department the Planning Commission and the city council are charged with managing the sometimes difficult Balancing Act we ask we ask you to keep this broader perspective in mind as we review tonight's applications so again welcome staff please call rooll Banks here Hansen here Henry here Maxwell here minion here Waterman absent chair here there are six of us seated here tonight uh next on the agenda is is approval of the agenda and I believe uh you've got not a change memo but update yeah uh chair Su we do not have a a formal change memo in front of you but I do want to Note One change for your consideration um this evening uh the first item on the agenda the consent agenda for 5227 Kimberly Road there's an error on page one of the resolution it has a carryover of an old ad an address from a previous resolution so simply to change um the resolution on the address to reflect the actual application address which is 5527 Kimberly Road 5227 Kimberly Road it is sorry just it's 5527 no sorry 5227 okay so noted uh recognizing that would someone like to make a motion to approve the agenda I'll make a motion uh motion Henry I'll second second Maxwell all those in favor signified by saying I I I motion carries next is approval of minutes from the November 21st 2024 meeting uh Commissioners any changes to those minutes doesn't look like it then I'll take a motion to approve those minutes I'd like to make that motion thank you uh motion commissioner Banks I'll second second handson all those in favor signify by saying I I I I motion carries next is report from staff a chair and Commissioners the city council met on um Monday of this week uh December the 2nd there was only one item on the agenda that was a Planning Commission related and that has to do with the uh zoning rewrite process that will begin in January and I wanted to give you a little bit of a um update on that process but I see my slides are not in here so it'll just be verbal um the process will begin in January as I said and will take approximately 18 months uh from start to finish the work would be done in uh four phases and by four what we're calling categories of participants so the first participant group would be a staff work group made up of the development uh review team our our existing development review team this is the the team that puts together recommendations uh to the Planning Commission the people in that group are generally recognized as the city's subject matter experts can just pull up your one from the councils um actually it's this one here yeah [Applause] okay so that uh staff work group uh includes people from oh there we go there you from engineering staff planning staff legal natural resources Public Works uh Public Safety and uh Economic Development and housing sorry we're going to get it together at some point here this evening um the second uh workg group will be a community workg group consisting of 10 individuals that will be appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the council um the group is going to include a current or former member from each of the city's boards and commissions as along with one resident um put on the the bo the work group at large and one resident business owner so we're aiming for a community work group that's diverse in age gender and race and it's important that the members have a basic understanding of zoning as a a principle and as a tool of Regulation because we want that group to really hit the ground running um focusing on creating a new zoning ordinance rather than spending a lot of time um bringing people up to speed on just what zoning fundamentally is the mayor May reach out to one or more of you regarding Service uh on that work group and there'll be more information um related to the two atlarge uh spots on the city's website uh here in the coming weeks the third work group or excuse me the third uh participation group uh are the council and the boards and commissions even if you're not on that um Community work group all of the boards and commissions will be receiving regular updates on the work of the staff workg group and the community workg group and then fourth uh would be the public the city will use all of our available uh media resources to educate inform and and seek feedback on the ordinance the specific formats uh for that feedback will be developed as we get further into the process but they will include uh both in-person and digital or V uh virtual opportunities so the work would be conducted in four phases the first phase is just the kickoff phase which is a gathering of the two work groups and really kind of an introduction and grounding phase that'll take just one month then the second phase is a calibration phase when the staff work group and the community work group will will meet separately begin to formulate those new zoning standards perhaps even new zoning districts um in support of the city's goal gos which we outline in the comprehensive guide plan that process will take roughly 4 months then the third phase is considered the administrative codification phase that's again when the work groups will receive drafts of the ordinances or the separate sections of the ordinances based on the work that they had done in the previous phase we'll get into a highlevel um review and high level editing of those sections and the ordinance as a whole with um various drafts potentially created um based on that third phase work and then the fourth and Final Phase certainly the longest phase uh is the public review and engagement where um draft ordinances will be available to the public revisions may be made to those ordinances based on that public engagement and after that time we would finally get into the more typical ordinance review that you're used to where there's an introduction at the council and then just a minor twist where we would have two Planning Commission public hearings one of which would be jointly with the council so the commission and Council um sitting as one body receiving feedback and then finally um a council action that's again the longest phase taking 9 months likely between October of 2025 and may of 202 6 so consider this your first update on uh the zoning uh rewrite process the only other uh comment for you this evening is we do not have any agenda items for December 19th so we are officially canceling that meeting that is our holiday gift to you so this is the last meeting of the Year Susan if I may uh just uh a notice to all Commissioners that we do have the applications posted for four new Commissioners so we do need a couple of folks this uh time around not only on this commission but other boards and commissions so that's all on the internet uh for you to share with your friends so thank you thank you for canceling the meeting the gift that keeps on giving so uh Commissioners anything to report yeah commissioner Henry you have something to report yeah thanks chair maybe I missed it but can you talk about the impetus for the the zoning rewrite is this a mandatory thing that every happens every X number of years uh chair Su and and commissioner Henry No in fact the city has not undergone a zoning rewrite since 1986 and back in 2023 the city uh Council engaged a consultant Zone Co to do a review of the city's zoning ordinance um in light of the comprehensive plan essentially looking at the ordinance and how do the standards in the ordinance help support the goals of the plan or how are they impeding the goals of the plan and in 20124 this spring that consultant provided to the city um a diagnostic report and I think we talked about that um previously and that diagnostic report really um pointed to several sections of the ordinance that are um barriers to achieving the goals of the comprehensive plan maybe barriers is too strong of a word but um in Conflict um with the goals of the comprehensive plan and um so that that diagnostic report is available on the the city's website the council having received that diagnostic report took some time to reflect on it and they decided that they wanted to move forward um with a full rewrite of of the zoning ordinance I would say that it's not atypical for cities to do a full rewriter or what we call a full um codification of a new ordinance after um decades um our first ordinance was adopted in 1966 and it was recodified 20 years later and now um and recodified I mean Rewritten um 20 years later and now we're working under a an ordinance that in its um bulk was written in 1986 with some with some change es here and there so the goal of the rewrite is is twofold again to um have an ordinance that supports the stated goals of the community helps us achieve those goals and then second secondarily but really important to staff is to have an ordinance that's written in plain language and involves um charts and graphs and visuals so that any person even if they don't have a background in zoning would be able to pick up that document and understand what it's trying to say yeah that explains a lot thank you remind us and everybody listening outside too what is the Cadence for modifying the comprehensive plan and when's the next modification coming up yeah the the comprehensive guide plan is required uh by state law the city is required to update that plan every uh 10 years so I think that the update process will probably begin in 2027 um for us thank you mark your calendars now we'll need people to do that uh work as well sounds good thank you anything else Commissioners all right yeah you have something else commission Henry oh sure might as well I really liked in the last uh Planning Commission where you impromptu reached out to to me and commissioner Banks about our work on the other commissions and since we have a platform here and I don't anticipate the meeting going too long then I could just share a little bit some things I didn't share last week are a couple of things and you may have seen it in the minaka memo but there are free home audits so if you're interested in trying to make your home more fuel efficient saving energy saving the Earth you can reach out to the city and there is some budget for it so it has no cost to the homeowners it's quite exciting and one of the big change for Organics recycling uh before you had to opt in and there was a separate cost for it but now it's all mashed in together so if you have if you have garbage and of course recycling goes along with it and now Organics has goes along so all you have to do is just say I'd like to be in and then you can be in for no additional extra cost it's already worked into the the monthly cost for you great thank you great updates anything else Commissioners right otherwise we'll keep uh moving on to item number seven uh consent agenda items these items are usually routine in nature and we'll pass with one motion uh and approve them unless someone like to pull the item and have a full discussion on them uh the three items on the consent agenda tonight are uh expansion for garage Edition at 5227 Kimberly Road to get that address right all right um and expansion and flood plane alteration permits for a new house at 14411 McGinty Road West and variance to display more than one wall sign on building facades at 146 111 and 14617 Highway 7 uh Commissioners would you like to pull any of these items and have a full discussion on them doesn't look like it is there anyone in the audience who'd like to have a full discussion and pull one of these items doesn't look like it all right then I think we're uh probably ready then to make a motion to approve these would someone like to make a motion to approve uh these three items I will make that motion uh motion Hansen I'll second second Henry uh staff please pull the commission Banks yes Hansen yes Henry yes Maxwell yes minion yes chair yes motion carries uh and Miss Thomas these are final Decisions by the Planning Commission correct all three of them correct fantastic good luck with your uh your projects uh and uh hopefully the weather cooperates all right moving on to item eight we have nothing item nine we have nothing uh which brings us to item 10 a German with something like to make a motion to adjourn I'll make that motion chair thank you commissioner Maxwell motion Maxell I will second second hen all those in favor signified by saying I I I motion cares we are Jour good night [Music] [Music]