This transcript is for a **Planning Commission** meeting. Please note that the names provided in your list (Cadenhead, Dragisich, Hirn, etc.) are for the City Council; while they are the final authority, the primary speakers here are the Planning Commission members and specific staff members mentioned by name in the dialogue (Jason, Nathan, and Sophia). [00:00] **Chairperson:** Very boss. I'll wait for Sophia to take her... All right. Ready? All right. Good evening, everybody. At this time I'd like to commence the April 13, 2026 meeting of the Lake Elmo Planning Commission. Meeting is now open. For those who are entering, if you want to speak publicly during the public hearing, we need you to fill out a form. And with that, the first item on our agenda as always is to stand and say the pledge of allegiance. [00:30] **All:** I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. [00:45] **Chairperson:** All right. Thank you. Next item is to approve the agenda for tonight's meeting. Do I have a motion? [00:50] **Commissioner Chars:** Motion to approve the minutes. Agenda. [00:52] **Chairperson:** Agenda. [00:53] **Commissioner Chars:** I'm sorry. Motion to approve the agenda. [00:55] **Commissioner Dunn:** Second. [00:56] **Chairperson:** All right. Motion from Commissioner Chars, seconded by Commissioner Dunn. And the motion. [00:58] **Commissioner Chars:** Call a question. [01:00] **Chairperson:** I call the question. Thank you. All in favor of approving the agenda. [01:05] **Commissioners:** Aye. [01:07] **Chairperson:** And the agenda is passed. Next item is to approve the minutes from the March 9th meeting. Do I have a motion? [01:12] **Commissioner Chars:** Motion to approve the minutes from 3/9/26 planning commission meeting. [01:15] **Commissioner Dunn:** Second. [01:17] **Chairperson:** Uh, we have a motion and seconded. All in favor? [01:19] **Commissioners:** Aye. [01:21] **Chairperson:** Minutes are approved and our next item would be moving to the public hearing the zoning text amendment for short-term rentals. We'll hear from— [01:30] **Jason (Planning Staff):** Good evening. First start with the short-term rentals. Give you a little bit of an overview. As you know, we introduced this zoning tax amendment to the bed and breakfast definition as part of city code housekeeping last year to essentially allow non-owner occupied businesses built to be in a bed and breakfast. That amendment was before you on January 27th, 2025 and it was not recommended for approval. So, as you remember, housekeeping went forward without that. We removed it and then we went to a workshop with the city council and then also we came back and went to the planning commission to give an update for that workshop and just talk about feedback that we received from the city council. The city council asked that we prepare an ordinance bring to the planning commission and then to the city council to vote on. [02:30] **Jason (Planning Staff):** Currently, the city does not allow short-term rentals in any zoning district, but the city does permit bed and breakfast in most residential and mixed use districts with the minimum standards being that they have to be owner occupied, single family homes, not to exceed five rooms unless it's conditional use permit. The issue before the commission is being asked to hold a public hearing tonight and make a recommendation to the city council. We met with the county to discuss their process. Short-term rentals do require a permit license from the county just like bed and breakfast do. We met with Washington County Sheriff's Department just to talk about nuisance complaints and we met with representatives from Stillwater, Maplewood, and Cottage Grove just to talk to them about their licensing process. [03:45] **Jason (Planning Staff):** Stillwater licenses—the new licenses are approved by the city council on a consent agenda. They are capped at 50 outside of downtown. They also have a three strikes rule for revoking a license. Maplewood does not distinguish between long-term and short-term rentals. Cottage Grove is the same. The proposed language we are proposing align with the fire code. The short-term rental means the use of a dwelling unit rented for a period of at least one night and less than 30 consecutive days. Each short-term rental is limited to a total of five guest rooms and 10 guests. [05:00] **Jason (Planning Staff):** The licensing standards we are proposing require a license. The applicant must provide 24-hour contact information. Local contact must be within 60 miles. We decided that proposing a cap of 20 gives you roughly one for every thousand people. We also added an HOA "opt-in." If someone lives in a neighborhood association and the board has not sent us a letter saying they can go through the process, we would not even accept the application. Short-term rentals must provide at least one parking space per bedroom but are not required to provide more than four spaces. [06:30] **Jason (Planning Staff):** Regarding denial or revocation: it is three substantiated complaints or violations within a 12-month period, failure to pay fees, or breach of peace upon recommendation of the sheriff. We received four public comments through today: Joyce Kelch, Joan Zimmerman, and Anne Wheelen in opposition, and George Crocker in support of Joyce's comments. I'll stand for any questions. [07:15] **Chairperson:** Thanks for all the work you put into this. Stillwater, you said they allow 50 outside of downtown. Do we know how many within downtown? [07:22] **Jason (Planning Staff):** I think there's only one or two available at this point. [07:30] **Commissioner Chars:** I've got a question. Was there some reason you left Woodbury out because Woodbury did not allow this type of STR? [07:35] **Jason (Planning Staff):** We were talking to people that do permit it. We just talked to cities that... [07:40] **Commissioner Chars:** So, Woodbury chose to protect their city by not allowing them. Thank you. Can you clarify what's the driver of this? What is behind the precipice? [07:55] **Jason (Planning Staff):** We acknowledged that people were receiving bed and breakfast licenses that were not owner-occupying the property. Since we didn't have complaints, housekeeping was to allow people that didn't have owner-occupied properties to move forward. The council workshop vote was 3 to 1 in favor of moving forward with rules. [08:45] **Commissioner Chars:** Have we done research in terms of the administrative efforts to stand this up and manage inspections? [08:50] **Jason (Planning Staff):** I've done this in other cities. We don't think we're going to have more than maybe 10. We think 20 is manageable. [09:30] **Commissioner Chars:** How are the licenses administered? Is it first come, first served? [09:35] **Jason (Planning Staff):** It’s first come, first served. We will prioritize those who currently have bed and breakfast licenses to allow them to change their license if needed. [09:50] **Commissioner:** On private wells—is there anything to make sure those wells are in compliance? [09:55] **Jason (Planning Staff):** Wells and septic go through the county. They would have to have both a county license and the city license. [10:15] **Commissioner Chars:** Washington County has a license requirement, but they don't do any enforcement? [10:20] **Jason (Planning Staff):** I'm not sure if they're proactively looking for people, but it's something they could do. [10:45] **Commissioner Chars:** Can you talk about what the inspection includes? [10:50] **Jason (Planning Staff):** We are working on a checklist, but essentially it’s a building final for property maintenance, fire extinguishers, smoke alarms, and carbon monoxide. [11:30] **Commissioner Chars:** What other types of commercial businesses are allowed in residential areas in Lake Elmo? [11:35] **Jason (Planning Staff):** Home-based businesses, bed and breakfasts, and sometimes group homes. [12:30] **Commissioner:** I'm wondering—we have a percentage of the city that doesn't have an HOA. They don't have that ability to opt-in; they're just "in." Are there issues with that? [12:40] **Jason (Planning Staff):** That was discussed in the workshop. Those older neighborhoods are essentially already "opted in." [13:00] **Chairperson:** Any other comments for staff? All right. Thank you, Jason. We will move to the public hearing portion. Do I have a motion? [13:10] **Commissioner Chars:** Motion to open the public hearing. [13:12] **Commissioner Dunn:** Second. [13:15] **Chairperson:** All in favor. [13:17] **Commissioners:** Aye. [13:18] **Chairperson:** We will open the public hearing at 6:57 p.m. First person I have is Peter Castler. [13:30] **Peter Castler (Public Speaker):** My name is Peter Castler. 9130 55th Street North. My family has been part of Lake Elmo since 1869. We are one of the properties running a short-term rental using the current bed and breakfast permit. Our experience has been positive. We don't have people coming to party. This helps our family financially. I think the $1,500 fee for three years is punitive; Stillwater and others are much lower. I encourage you to require that owners homestead in Lake Elmo to prevent corporate landlords. [15:45] **Chairperson:** Thank you. Next, Joan Zimmerman. [16:00] **Joan Zimmerman (Public Speaker):** I live at 5761 Keats Avenue. I work in Stillwater. We have had STRs since 2018. It is a very time-consuming program. Under state building code, if you don't have a permanent resident there, it's considered an R3 commercial occupancy. This means accessibility requirements apply. You can't just license short-term and long-term the same. Also, if there is a pool or hot tub, it's considered a public pool by the county. [19:30] **Chairperson:** Joyce Kelch. [19:40] **Joyce Kelch (Public Speaker):** I'm at 4485 Keats Avenue North. I am a fourth-generation resident. I am opposed to short-term rentals. It will erode the housing character of Lake Elmo. We should stay with no short-term rentals. [20:30] **Chairperson:** And finally, Doug Loveitt. [20:40] **Doug Loveitt (Public Speaker):** We live at 4370 Stillwater Boulevard. We have a short-term rental. We use it to help pay for repairs to our 1875 farm home and 28 acres. Our guests are usually families who like the animals and the rural setting. [21:50] **Chairperson:** Is there anyone else? Motion to close the public hearing. [22:00] **Commissioner Chars:** Motion to close. [22:02] **Commissioner Dunn:** Second. [22:05] **Chairperson:** All in favor. (Aye). Public hearing is closed at 7:16. Discussion amongst the commission. [22:15] **Commissioner Chars:** I'll move to recommend the approval of the proposed text amendment as presented by staff. [22:20] **Commissioner:** Second. [22:25] **Commissioner Chars:** I think the stigma of STRs is that they are party places. My family uses them to be together. I think staff has put checks and balances in place. [22:50] **Commissioner:** If one owner has multiple licenses and one is revoked, do they all get revoked? [22:55] **Jason (Planning Staff):** They can. It's written to give us that flexibility. [23:15] **Commissioner:** My concern is the corporate ownership. The HOA being the only way to stop it is unfair to those without HOAs. [24:00] **Commissioner Chars:** I have concerns. 20 doesn't move the needle, but there is a community cost. Outside of HOA neighborhoods, residents don't have a say if a transient situation moves in next door. [24:50] **Commissioner Dunn:** Susan Dunn here. I've lived here for quite a few years. I prefer to prevent problems for our existing residents. I live in an area without an HOA. I am against short-term rentals. It is okay to say no. [25:30] **Commissioner:** What is the Washington County fee? [25:35] **Jason (Planning Staff):** $300 per year. [26:15] **Chairperson:** My perspective is on protecting private property rights. I live in an HOA, and I'm on the board because I don't like HOAs. If you don't provide a venue to do this, people will do it anyway with zero enforcement. I'm in favor of the framework. [27:45] **Commissioner:** We already have something on the books: Bed and Breakfasts. They are owner-occupied. [28:00] **Chairperson:** I’m going to call the question. All in favor. [28:05] **Commissioners:** Aye (4 votes). [28:07] **Commissioners:** Nay (3 votes). [28:10] **Chairperson:** The motion passes 4 to 3. Five-minute recess. We will return at 7:45. [29:00] **Nathan (City Staff/Engineer):** This is a project for High Point Crossing. Rachel Development is looking at a preliminary plat and several variances for 80 acres on Inwood Avenue. They previously looked at 65 units with communal septic, but that didn't work. Now they are looking at 18 lots with individual septic systems. The zoning would change from Rural Residential to Residential Estate. [31:00] **Nathan (City Staff/Engineer):** There is a required road connection from Inwood to Imperial. There are three variances: a front yard setback for the existing farmstead, a request to reduce landscaping, and a request to not provide a sidewalk. Staff recommends approval of the plat and the sidewalk variance, but denial of the landscaping variance as there is a deficit of 45 trees. [35:45] **Paul Robinson (Rachel Development):** Here we are again. 18 lots between 2.5 and 5 acres. We are doing the rural road with ribbon curb. We are planting almost 10 trees per lot. We feel 173 trees is enough. We are also asking for a 50-foot front yard setback instead of 100 feet to work better with the topography and preserve backyards. [40:15] **Chairperson:** Motion to open public hearing. (Seconded). All in favor. Opened at 8:20. [40:45] **Anne Cohen (Public Speaker):** 8276 2nd Street North. It’s fascinating to see this evolve. The developer has been very open. Seeing more open space is welcome. [41:30] **Ken Mos (Public Speaker):** 2397 Hines Avenue. We’ve watched this from the beginning. Paul has always answered our calls. I’m pleased with how this is turning out. [42:15] **Chairperson:** Motion to close. (Seconded). Closed at 8:19. [42:30] **Commissioner Chars:** Move to recommend approval of the rezoning, preliminary plat, and variances, but excluding the landscaping variance. [42:40] **Chairperson:** I’d like to amend the motion to include the 50-foot setback variance and the landscaping flexibility. [44:00] **Nathan (City Staff/Engineer):** I just need some discussion on the rationale for the 50-foot setback variance for the findings of fact. [44:15] **Commissioner:** It's to work with the topography of the land. [44:30] **Commissioner:** Also, it results in less impervious surface with shorter driveways. [45:30] **Chairperson:** Call the question. All in favor. (Aye - 7-0). The motion passes. [46:00] **Sophia (Planning Staff):** Communication updates: The Firehouse minor subdivision was approved. Grand Via was approved. Upcoming meetings are April 27th and May 11th. The STR ordinance goes to Council on May 5th. [46:30] **Chairperson:** With that, we will adjourn the April 13, 2026 meeting. Thank you all.