This transcript is from a **Planning Commission** meeting. Based on the context provided and the dialogue, the primary speakers are the Commission Members (Brian Douglas, Bill Duncan, Glenn Lindell, etc.), City Staff (Diane Johnson, Jon Radermacher), and various citizens. [5:38] **Chair (Brian Douglas)**: good evening i'd like to call the planning commission meeting of monday july 12th 2021 to order the roll call i'm here mr duncan here mr emma not present mr lindell here mr christensen here mr madsen move on approval of the agenda any questions or additions hearing none a motion to approve the agenda for this evening [6:20] **Glenn Lindell**: so removed [6:21] **Chair (Brian Douglas)**: all in favor opposed approval of the minutes from the june 14 2021 meeting any additions or corrections to the minutes from last month hearing none get a motion to accept [6:37] **Glenn Lindell**: make a motion we accept [6:39] **Bill Duncan**: second [6:40] **Chair (Brian Douglas)**: glenn's made the motion that bill has made the second all in favor opposed public input citizens may speak to the issues not on the agenda please approach the microphone and before speaking give your name for the record please limit your comments as close as possible to the three minutes if you would please [7:07] **Babe O'Gorman**: babe o'gorman cannon falls as many you are aware mr nolton rick nolton applied for a variance that you granted them but in your packet last month was a resolution to deny it and i don't know if that seemed odd to any of you but it did to me and i believe this month you have a resolution on 1206th street and it's to allow the variants which seems odd to me seems like the decisions made before the board meets or this commission as soon as mr knowlton applied for a variance neil jensen put on the public works agenda an item that would call for the closure of sandstone road as we all know the attorney and mr jensen claim that the road is closed so why would they ask to have a motion to close the road if the road was closed it doesn't make sense again neither the city attorney nor mr jensen have ever been to sandstone road neil jensen admitted that at a public meeting last week if the administrator and the lawyer are such authorities on law wouldn't you think that they knew how to follow the city charter the mayor runs the meetings at city council meetings okay he is in charge of the meetings yet we watched some attorney that i've never seen in my life before who doesn't seem to understand that the mayor runs the meetings and somewhere out of the thin blue air they came up with a two minute war a two-minute time limp limit now it's kind of i don't know where she is tonight but i'm sure she's keeping time somewhere else more important but to spend a couple hundred dollars for a professional time keeper doesn't make sense especially if i don't see where it's allowed anywhere in our city charter the administrator doesn't live here nor does the attorney neither one of them know anything about what is and what is going on in cannon falls the lawyer has no idea how long that road has been open nor does the administrator i've been driving on it periodically for 18 years there's been school buses on it there has been traffic on that road including police city trucks they've even been adding blacktop to it the city engineer claims that bluff drive has a rating of a nine and that's a one out of one to ten scale it rates a nine it still doesn't even have the last lift on it so i don't know what he's talking about but it was installed at the same time that the t on sandstone road was installed same day same contractor the curb was put in the street was put in all simultaneously the administrator has admitted that he doesn't want to take care of that street sandstone road so therefore he doesn't want anything built there well if that's the case then why don't they finish bluff drive which they haven't and then why don't you go across highway 25 and look at sands or limestone road which the same engineer rated at a one there's been contracts twice to fix it in the last two years and it's still not fixed it's lined with houses and it's wide open now how can that road be open when it's a one and you're closing one that's attached to an eight and done at the same time it makes no sense our new administrator who's been here for just a little over a year is less than truthful and that is disturbing he continually changes his tune he is inconsistent if you look in your pack tonight you're going to find that we're approving this variance and we were just told by this city attorney they're very very rare why do we have so many all of a sudden and there's more to come it's too bad that we don't have a council that can think for themselves and see through his crap thank you for your time [12:21] **Chair (Brian Douglas)**: okay mr o'gorman any other citizens that would like to speak to an issue come on up state your name try and keep it as close about close as possible to three minutes [12:34] **Chris Albrecht**: you betcha chris albrecht uh 6670 bluff drive cam falls um i i have to say last week i was a little disturbed at the council meeting with not only the limited time but the interruptions as reminding you of how much time you had left which certainly through your train of thought i'm regarding rick's um request for variance on his property first of all we'll i'll cover the road really quickly i've lived up on bluff drive longer than anyone i've lived there now 12 years and so i have seen the road in use the entire time and periodically even during the winter they did plow it in fact the only time the barricades came in were at my request because we had some people going into the far back and shenanigans and what have you so um regarding the road i'm with babe on that in that it is it was laid the exact same time it really needs a top coat the perception that somehow the utilities of sync are unusable that's impossible because i am on those utilities now there's several other houses as well there's an argument last week regarding the house being turned facing now um the other road versus bluff and there are some that well that would be unusual or what have you well as part of my job a lot of developments i lived in the twin cities for some time i'm in the suburbs all the time and after the meeting i drove around canada falls and did a count and how many houses turn on a corner and don't face the same as the rest of their houses there are a lot that's a common practice in every development in the nation so this is not something that's unusual or what have you and then lastly the whole the whole purpose of setback and what have you is the fact that you're going to you're basically having a hostile encroachment on someone else's quiet enjoyment of their property it's kind of that's the law and in regards to this the the the irony here is the lot that this would be encroaching on is owned by rick nolton so we're not talking about a third mysterious party here that's somehow being adversely affected by this it's rick himself and rick in that lot has made accommodations so that the next house built there will actually function just fine and he and i have gone over it several times and talked about it i've been up there like i watched all of this develop they're digging a hole next to me right now across the street and you know you know we're we we're still paying for an 8 000 population water and sewer system with 4 000 people and we want to encourage development in this town we that's always that since i've lived here that's been part of the the conversation years we need more houses we need more people and here you've got development that sat fallow for many years until rick and i started buying the lots and really making a stab at it and so it you know you got to look at you know what it you know yes absolutely i'm a big love living here i love cannon falls but you have to weigh also what's good for the city but it's also good for the people in the city who are trying to do something to improve the city and yeah risk i make a few bucks i'm gonna make a few bucks but on the other side of it i don't know i i i was disappointed last week highly i got home and i was upset my wife and i talked about for some time i really hope that maybe things can be changed around because it's again these are good people trying to do good things thank you [16:03] **Chair (Brian Douglas)**: thank you chris [16:05] **Rick Knowlton**: oh mr knowlton uh you know me but my name is rick knolt in case somebody here doesn't know me i think i know you all um i didn't know these two individuals were gonna explain my situation better than i can explain it myself i do very well one-on-one i don't do very well with a large group of people i'll try to be correct and i'll try to be as honest as i can about this situation um my thing is they've explained the situation these two gentlemen uh my thing is um i came for a variance and as soon as i applied for the variance the wheels with the administrator started turning already at public works and in public works i didn't know that they had the authority to tell you the planning commission which way i should turn my house but i guess they have but talking with the individual i'm not going to mention his name he happens to be a very good friend of mine um he's since rescinded what he said about which way he should turn the house so and that's been sent to a letter correct bill to all you individuals on the city council [17:34] **Bill Duncan**: which which letter are you referring to from jeremy mull [Mow] [17:39] **Rick Knowlton**: no i have not received a letter from jeremy did you receive it mike [17:43] **Mike Madsen**: no i haven't received anything rick [17:45] **Rick Knowlton**: oh okay well then i was misinformed he made the motion to turn the house at at public works so i thought that was odd so i invited mr mow [Mow] up to the lot like everybody else on the planet commission you glenn john bill even you were up there now with me but you drove up there i appreciate your time doing that um with jeremy when i wanted to meet him up there he said i'll meet you up there and he didn't know where it was he maybe knew where it was but he wasn't there so he he followed me back over so he wrote up he emailed and i thought that you people with ability to make decisions would have got that but i'm sure you'll get it all it says is that he wasn't informed about the situation that was moving forward with the house i want to build turning it towards sandstone road so when i came for the variance i had i had two minutes to talk the lawyer had 15 minutes to tell they hired the city attorney to address this one issue and i was overwhelmed what she said so i was trying to address her concerns and really didn't have enough time to get into my own into the variance about how the house is going to sit who is it going to affect last house on the street into a area that right now is dedicated as a park and it is a park so so i had to start there didn't really get time to go into the variants so my my my question to you as a planning commission is is there a pre-planning commission people that starts at public works that sends up information to you and you vote on it or how does the process work because when i got to the council they said it was closed that road was closed and i don't see any documentation where that particular piece of road was closed and i sure welcome because i have documentation says it's open last fall they came in and put black tap down they plowed it garbage trucks police cars are up there turning around where would you turn around if that little t wasn't open it's not a large amount of road it's a road that can be fixed we shouldn't be throwing roads away we should be fixing them so we can develop more uh andrus farms owns a property that goes out of that development and comes eventually back to my property they want to eventually develop that and i would think that would be something you planning commission people would very interested in hearing because if you want more lots buildable lots and that and that particular loop would leave that development and go into areas where the soil changes to rock not that blue shale clay um other than that uh i guess these guys did a better job than me talking thank you [21:13] **Chair (Brian Douglas)**: okay rick thank you as far as your question as to the public works um we never have any affiliation with the public works as anybody on the commission never okay anybody else public input hearing none we'll move along we'll go into our first public hearing and that is resolution 2021-07 conditional use permit for r r investments of canada falls at 101 4th street north anybody want to stand up and give us an explanation what's going on or any considerations to the project if you'd state your name and once again stay as close to three as possible [22:04] **Marcy French**: my name is marcie french um i was affiliated actually i started up the canon arts board in 2013. the canon arts board just to give you a little bit of history the canon arts board um has received funding from cmac through various grants over this time period since 2013. probably around fifteen thousand dollars for various projects here in canada falls um the one that you're looking at included part of uh part of that funding is from cmac um so i tell you that just because um they've got their eye on cannonballs and you know uh seeing some good things happen with uh cannon arts board and stuff that we're doing so this is just one that we're putting before before you we are we found jeff and mary reinhardt who we were thankful to find that were excited and enthusiastic about putting a mural up on their building and we couldn't have asked for a more perfect spot i hope you agree to add some energy give some life to a corner that many people see and possibly draw people into the community um do you have questions [23:25] **Chair (Brian Douglas)**: well i guess i maybe had one it's uh are you going to redo the side of the building or is it going to go right on the siding that it is [23:36] **Marcy French**: yeah it would be the siding would be taken down okay and then there would be a surface okay i think kelly and jeff have been talking the artist and uh something with a little better presentation yep don't want to go through that much work it would be nice to have it on substantial yep the mural itself is is uh the design is celebrating the culture of cannon falls as it pertains to its natural environment its location in minnesota and all the beautiful things we have around it i think you can see that from the rendering or the sketch that that kelly did we have i think we have one if not more than one of the students that will participate in this project too which is kind of another uh you know plus for cannon falls is we get to incorporate not only a cannon falls grad who is now an artist and coming back to to do some work for with us but um local students who are you know interested in the arts they get to you know put their stamp on the community as well so [24:55] **Chair (Brian Douglas)**: okay we like that thank you yeah we just uh just this evening here in our arrival saw the preliminary drawing okay and uh anybody here that's not familiar with what she's uh trying to describe is a um it's a long old barber shop it was originally known as qualms i don't know how many have been around that long but uh it's a large minnesota to the left side and then it signifies our area with a laundry a line drawn over to a smaller representation of the city's location along the river along with a couple of the main streets and i'm not real clear on what the far side is i see a silo in the barn in the background and she kind of made note did you diane did you present the the copy that kelly like the little information explaining the the drawing farm animal barns tractors [25:52] **Diane Johnson**: no just the words that she used to explain the drawing [25:56] **Marcy French**: oh not those i mean the email that she sent describing her vision with the with the work with the piece [26:01] **Chair (Brian Douglas)**: oh okay so you're missing the her actually that was probably kind of an important piece um her vision along with that and maybe i should explain a little further um the project is uh the youth mural arts project is something that she started up in upstate new york where she lives and she has come back to cannon falls i think it was i'm going to say 2019 to work with us in the library in the teen section where she worked with some youth and they did a large mural there um so anyway this would this design is kind of a general vision of what we're going to put up but the students that are participating will also you know bring input to it so that that side piece i believe is farm um farm animals barns yeah i guess there's a tractor there yeah so that stuff the stuff in the uh the written stuff is uh a starting point okay you know she's hoping to not take it all away from the students who will be involved but the vision is to celebrate the natural environment you know the culture of our natural environment canoeing biking farming you know everything that you see around us but the natural where we where we're situated locally any questions from rc from the commission [27:31] **Chair (Brian Douglas)**: is this do you plan on doing that yet this summer [27:34] **Marcy French**: yeah we're hoping with the stamp of approval to start mid-august [27:40] **Chair (Brian Douglas)**: would it be possible to get a more descriptive mural presentation before the city council um when's the city council meeting [27:49] **Marcy French**: i mean what are you looking for [27:51] **Chair (Brian Douglas)**: a week from tuesday on the 20th i'm not sure what you're going to be something just a little bit more defined than what we're looking at so it's easier for them to make their decision [28:01] **Marcy French**: um well the thing with the drawing is is that the project is for the the kids too for the students [28:08] **Diane Johnson**: here's the text [28:09] **Marcy French**: oh okay okay so here's this is the the artist's uh just a couple paragraphs here the mural project is really taking shape and the energy it's stirring up is soon to be contagious and whoops that's my writing okay let's see did you find it yeah okay the rough draft of our canon falls mirror project the idea of creating a map came to mind after seeing input from community members as well as our dialogue and what this mural could become in order to best reflect cannon falls at left you will see a large outline of the state of minnesota pinpointing cannon falls location as the destination this is followed by an overview map of the major highways will be labeled accordingly running through town as well as showing the outline of the river moving right we see a map of the downtown streets we'll adjust to the windows that are there so we see the full fourth street and at far right from a far a farm landscape the landscape will expand to include animals and crops local to the area the fine details will be filled in by the students as we move forward students will be given specific areas to study and then include into the mural in the appropriate locations within the framework of the mural see the list on the bottom to show what we plan to include the state of minnesota will be filled in with various flora and fauna as well as other noteworthy information twin cities rochester mississippi river etc i hope this helps to bring a great greater vision of what this mural will become i hesitate to add any further detail as this is where the students create the magic that makes a community engaged project successful okay so that's what she has written up along with the you know her what you have there in front of you any any questions from the commission [30:05] **Bill Duncan**: no sounds good to me yes [30:10] **Chair (Brian Douglas)**: is there anybody else here this evening that would like to speak as in accordance with the murals presentation got somebody in the back if you're done marcy thank you yeah thanks thank you [30:35] **Dave Mahacek**: john yeah i'm on uh this is dave mahack [Mahacek] i'm on zoom i don't know if you can hear me at all [30:42] **Chair (Brian Douglas)**: yeah we can okay [30:44] **Dave Mahacek**: um yeah i'm on the um canon art sport as well and um yeah it's just a great project and with a a great artist who's very established and has has had a long career of doing wonderful things and she's coming back she certainly did a nice project as marcy mentioned at the public library so you know i have no reservations in anything that she does um topic-wise or whatever i think it's going to be really a wonderful um i'm really excited to see what it turns out to be okay [31:21] **Chair (Brian Douglas)**: thank you anything else is that pretty much it [31:26] **Bill Duncan**: i got i got one question for him okay go ahead if uh do you know what happened to the cow that we approved for downtown across from canon bells [31:36] **Marcy French**: i think we proved that when was that build you remember yeah no we we were doing that in conjunction with livewell goodhue county and that is now actually completed um it's morphed a little bit because it's no longer going in front of the cheese shop cannon bells it's it so it morphed a little bit it's now a life-size uh bison but it's worked out really good and it's um it can park six bicycles one uh fat tire bicycle and such so you'll be seeing that in front of uh artwork there right next to the vfw so if you're going in the vfw it'll be right next to right on our grass right next to there and we're going to be putting it there in the next couple days it's it's all completed now uh councilman guess me does that uh answer your question you're good [32:43] **Bill Duncan**: okay any other input to the mural resolution 20 21 07. anything else from the commission no motion to close that part particular part of the public hearing [32:56] **Glenn Lindell**: i'll i'll make a motion we close it [32:59] **Chair (Brian Douglas)**: motion's been made by glenn seconded by a second bill to close it all in favor aye opposed hearing none passes let's uh move along to the second public hearing resolution 2021-08 habitat for humanity at saint clair street 1200 6th street north state your name if you would please and as close as possible to three minutes [33:23] **John Parks**: you bet uh john parks from goodyear county habitat for humanity and uh what we're looking for is a simple lot lot split here we have a lot that's currently 142 by 105 and we'd like to divide that to 71 by 105. so our variance allows us to build a small house on that lot and we have a habitat homeowner that has offered to sell us that lot and that pretty much sums it up um [33:51] **Chair (Brian Douglas)**: one real quick question here i've got i've got two layouts for whatever your presentation as far as the house as it sits on that lot one shows the east side or excuse me the west side facing the alley at 15 feet and the other one seems to show 10. [34:11] **John Parks**: i think we have to set it at 10. i think that's what what's required there [34:15] **Chair (Brian Douglas)**: okay so that would move the dimension on the east side to 15 and the west side at 10. [34:23] **John Parks**: that's correct [34:24] **Chair (Brian Douglas)**: what uh which particular direction is the garage going to enter [34:28] **John Parks**: which direction it'll will come in from the alley the plot should show a door on that side if it doesn't then i've got an updated drawing [34:39] **Chair (Brian Douglas)**: yeah we just have uh unless somebody's got something different like a site plan no but we can see that i see the alley but i just see the the dimensions of the home as well as the garage with with really truly no openings [34:51] **John Parks**: right the plan the plan now uh has been developed further and we're coming in from the alley side it makes more sense than cutting another driveway into sinclair okay [35:05] **Bill Duncan**: but you only have 10 feet [35:07] **John Parks**: 10 feet right and that's what's required minimum requirement there [35:12] **Bill Duncan**: right park a car you can't park a car it's going to be in the alley correct [35:16] **John Parks**: no you'd you'd have to park in the garage but i think we all know that's not going to happen it's always sit right there i don't know the mark in the alley i don't know that we have if we have 15 feet we'll use it i don't think we did what is the what is the minimum requirement there on that side for that for to park a vehicle isn't there a minimum requirement of like 16 feet or something so it's not according to 15 is it not [35:41] **Chair (Brian Douglas)**: diane not according to permitting for if you're going to have a garage entering on there it's what is the zoning requirement there do you remember diane [35:55] **Diane Johnson**: a side setback on a garage side is smaller than normal setbacks if the commission if you want to turn to the rb section the very back page 324 i thought we had room to meet the setback requirement and accessing alley 15 15 feet 15 feet 15 feet [36:23] **John Parks**: so we're at 15 and can you make that 22 i think we can make that work 15. it just it depends on how deep we drive you know draw the garage and we can comply with whatever we need to there and john that's what you did i believe with the um the survey from david wrap is when you moved it to 15 after we talked to them okay together okay 15 22 we're 15 if we go 22 on the garage and then the house is 24. you shorten the garage up to 20 feet last time we talked and then it went to 15 feet where it accesses the alley see 46 after the we got the survey from david around 15. 46 15 is square footage of the home is 900. it's just about um just a little under 900. if you if the commission wants to look at the raps land surveying an interior side setback is 10 feet that he does meet and um he did make it the 15 feet he did almost shrink up his garage two feet to make the 20 20 foot 20 feet is what we drew the garage at yeah yeah on that last plan yep yep that was i've drawn so many plans i can't that was the final plan yes [37:51] **Chair (Brian Douglas)**: the presentation that we should be looking at as a commission would be the one that's labeled rap slash ring yeah this is the one that's correct yep any questions from the commission [38:05] **Bill Duncan**: no the 15 and the 10 meet the requirements then [38:08] **Diane Johnson**: they do yeah [38:15] **Bill Duncan**: um i do have a question the homeowner and i don't know this i'm assuming she has a mortgage are they going to release that part of the lot they'll have to [38:26] **John Parks**: well no they don't have to well to sell they have to do anything if they're going to sell it to us [38:31] **Bill Duncan**: well that's my concern can you you know has that been checked into is whoever holds the note on that property going to release that part of the lot [38:40] **John Parks**: a good huge account it's for you we own the note yes [38:43] **Bill Duncan**: oh okay all right yeah so they will have to i got shot yes i got it now i was thinking i don't think we've already had that discussion we're going to buy it and we're going to give them the money i do i do have a concern and i don't know if this is for you or whatever as we look at the lot what we're going to do to that other lot the homeowner lot now becomes 71 foot deep right 105 wide right so you're applying for variance here to reduce that lot size from a hundred and forty down to a hundred and five correct [39:35] **John Parks**: that'd be correct okay [39:36] **Bill Duncan**: but then the other lot because of how the home sits in there um that lot becomes 71 feet deep by 105 so does that if we approve this at automatically does that you're right it would conduct the variance here automatic for this so my concerns are that versus you know what would happen to this home in the future if it was to burn or something yeah you wouldn't compliance not compliant would it be compliance with the whole right i see your point or actually but so being 71 foot deep is that going to be a problem i don't personally have a problem with it you know but just some things to think about [40:24] **John Parks**: in this case the homeowner has been very happy to think about the idea of not mowing that extra space anymore but [40:31] **Chair (Brian Douglas)**: and i'm i'm not seeing any notes from the city attorney or anything on that this would be a problem but no in fact the end of it says an administrative subdivision lot split that's really what we're talking about in addition to the variance on the depth of the lot and this home is 26 by 36 is that what i'm saying 24 by 36 that's that was my latest drawing i think that's what i gave you um i got 26 by 36 but you're saying that 24 right that's so we could get the garage deeper yes 36 24 by 30 24 36 correct okay so we got 864. how many bedroom home is this [41:01] **John Parks**: that'll be a two bedroom home um but it has we we will build the house with a bathroom roughed in on the basement level and you know it has the potential to i mean we we've built the same house believe it or not with four bedrooms [41:21] **Bill Duncan**: so yeah i was just looking at the square footage required for a two bedroom home right where are we at i don't even know that okay [41:31] **Chair (Brian Douglas)**: it's in here i believe we're okay though i mean we're going the wrong direction if if that's the case no no we just you know what i mean we asked the purple question we're trying yeah yeah i get it yeah what what's the square footage you have on that again john [41:43] **John Parks**: 864 for score of 464. [41:45] **Chair (Brian Douglas)**: now two-bedroom home requires 800. so you're in you're good we just want to make sure a little wiggle room yeah i just want to clarify because our our drawing shows something different from what you're right we saw 26 36 and that's what okay any other questions excuse me questions from the commission no not here um no just that's it thank you for your time is there any more input from the floor with this situation [42:30] **Joseph Paulson**: state your name and once again keep it as close to three as possible joseph paulson i would be the resident right across reality on the west side i'm not happy about finding out that there'll be a house maybe 10 15 feet away from my home where the alley is the issue with that the alley is higher right now than my property all right anytime we get a big rain snowfall i have runage going off and flooding my garage i've bought a sump pump to go ahead and take care of that problem the city comes in adds class five raises the alley issue keeps on happening chances are putting a garage with an apron it's all going to run right back down into my property maybe into my house if they raise the grade at all building when they built the first habitat on that property there was no consideration that that alley is the only access into my garage from the street and with the construction workers delivery of materials so on they use it as a parking spot instead of an alley and i've constantly had in the past ask the city if i can go ahead and use the other side which is supposed to be an alley but they have a resident that vacates that part of the alley in the winter and the city it does not give me a complete answer if that's an alley or not and the homeowner on the other end considers it his property mows it plants grass vacates and puts a barrier up every winter i need to know what's going on and i just feel right now that this is going to be way too close to my property ever since i bought my house there was never a building that close to my property in the past i'm losing the view and what's potentially going to come up and flood my property in the future has to deal with the city looking into that and seriously having somebody come out and put more than just a patch on that alley it has to be dropped probably a good foot it's never been done in the 18 years i've been there thank you [45:19] **Chair (Brian Douglas)**: thank you joseph anyone else [45:26] **Misty Dearing**: misty dearing i'm the homeowner of 1200 sixth street um i just want to say as a habitat owner it's been a very big privilege to have a habitat home and i really feel honored to be able to give that privilege to another mom and you know we've taken really good care of the property and the alley has been a source of contention for for the whole neighborhood that surrounds the alley ever since i moved in and um you know i guess i would just say it like to say in public on record it doesn't belong to any of us it's city property and to be claiming it as our own i think is ridiculous and so i think we need to think about others and think about what building this home can do for another family for cannon falls itself and move forward with it thank you [46:38] **Chair (Brian Douglas)**: thank you misty mr o'garment [46:42] **Babe O'Gorman**: so this is a public hearing for uh variants correct and it's new construction to split to split the lot yeah but there's a variance also correct yes am i correct there you are i want to make sure i'm correct you are correct okay so there is a variance and it is new construction and i would like to know how this even got before you folks because that's what i was addressing earlier and and i believe in your packet that the recommendation is basically approved because there is a resolution stating that am i correct you are correct okay so the city attorney her name is sarah schwartoff schwartz off and she's of hoff berry appeared before the city council on july 7th last week and this is what she said when granting a variance a state statute sets forward the standards that have to be considered a variance may only be granted if it is in harmony with the general purposes in the and must must follow the intent of the zoning ordinance and be consistent with the comprehensive plan and and in addition a variance can only be granted if the variance can demonstrate practical difficulties practical difficulties exist if there are three things number one the property owner proposes to use the property in a reasonable manner not permitted by the zoning ordinance number two the plight of the landowner is due to circumstances unique to the property not created by the landowner and they went over that and over that and over that at the council level and number three the variance if granted won't alter the essential character or charter of the location i'm sorry a lot of time was spent on number two and if the plight of the landowner is is caused by the unique conditions of the property she was talking about all variances okay so this is new construction this is a variance and and she also stated that it is very rare for a variance to be required for new construction on a new lot now i watched him build that habitat for humanity because it was your lot john was goobin's place i don't know what the hell is going on and and there's nothing wrong with that i have absolutely no problem with that i have absolutely no problem with them doing the next one but what i'm telling you is is that the city attorney and why isn't she here and why why isn't she explaining to you that this is very rare and and that's been my issue and that's mr knowlton's issue the entire time for some reason mr knowlton was singled out we've been doing these ordinances or these variances for decades that i'm aware of all over the place when all of a sudden rick nolton comes along and there's a roadblock put up and it was the administrator that did it she also implied that if the city planning commission city council don't act consistently in their decision that it opens up the city to potential lawsuits well let's face it anybody can sue anybody anytime for anything anywhere anytime doesn't matter okay so boo hoo who cares sue me i don't care i'll see in court what defend yourself be consistent and i think that's the problem here we are not being consistent and it is not you folks believe me it is our city council it's too bad that they don't have minds of their own thank you for your time [50:41] **Chair (Brian Douglas)**: thank you mr government yes anything further in this particular public hearing no further questions from the commission hearing none um glenn [50:50] **Glenn Lindell**: well are they gonna you know would they have to do the city have to do something with that alley or claim that it is the city's alley or i think that's something that we can put in uh all right and pass it along to the city council i think so to paul's point so we're not flooding his basement that that alley should sit down it could be cut down can't create a hardship for existing dwelling yeah i already wrote that question down okay oh okay [51:24] **Bill Duncan**: is there any other further questions by the commission nobody's out there okay motion to pass this public hearing on well i'm going to make a statement first but i do not agree with uh mr o'gorman's statement that i agree with what he's saying but i don't agree with the city attorney of this interior this is not rare this happens all the time so i don't agree with that and i am going to be consistent by making a motion that we do approve this this variance and this lots but i have to do that after the public hearing okay mr christopher yep it's okay uh any further questions hearing none is there a motion to close this particular public hearing [52:03] **Mr. Christensen**: i make a motion to close [52:05] **Chair (Brian Douglas)**: motion's been made by mr christensen is there a second [52:07] **Bill Duncan**: second [52:08] **Chair (Brian Douglas)**: second by mr duncan all in favor aye opposed passing on third and final public hearing conditional use permit for david olson um 20 21-09 i know there's somebody out there this evening [52:21] **Kurt Nelson**: hi there gentlemen thank you for the opportunity my name is kurt nelson i'm a veterinarian that's locally here i've been here since 2009 mostly in zumbrota the good hue area lake city and i get up to the hastings and through canaan falls quite a bit so what i'm here for is is i um so david olson is the owner of the artesian plaza and that's why his name's on there but i am leasing or planning on leasing that south end of that building to start up a state-of-the-art small animal clinic here in cannes falls and we're getting bids put together for for doing some from build-out work so it's nothing to the outside structure or anything like that it's only going to be putting walls up inside basically exam rooms there'll be three exam rooms in the and i think you have the plans right over here yes everyone's seen them or not um it's changed a little bit just minor stuff nothing major but it's just going to be a state-of-the-art small animal it's going to have state of the art x-ray equipment ultrasound equipment and it's something that i feel like with my business now i own another veterinary clinic out of goody it's out of my home it's called youtube clinic and we have gotten the demand to expand into more small animal stuff and right now we're doing a lot of that stuff in my house which i'd like to get my house back to my house but um so we're expanding that and trying to do this here in canaan falls and uh with your guys's blessing i would love to start doing that and if you guys have any questions please don't hesitate anything is i'll answer anything [54:01] **Bill Duncan**: commissioner i have any questions for dr nelson yeah describe small animal we talking cats dogs [54:07] **Kurt Nelson**: cats dogs maybe not snakes but i'm kidding we're not touching farm animals we're not that's what my other business is for so they're going to be two complete separate entities i have had some and i've talked to mike about this but like right now i've had a lot of demand for like equine stuff for horse stuff i do all that on their farms now so that's not going to be involved with this i'll still continue to do that um and that the cows and horses and pigs and all that kind of stuff is all going to be not here this is just going to be a small basically what it's going to be is it's going to be a small animal hospital you bring your dog or your cat or whatever and they're in and they're back out there's no grooming there's no housing there's no overnight unless it's like any complete emergency i'll have facilities in there but typically it's going to go home the same day [54:53] **Chair (Brian Douglas)**: is this open 24 hours [54:55] **Kurt Nelson**: it will not be no okay [54:57] **Chair (Brian Douglas)**: what are you thinking for business hours [54:59] **Kurt Nelson**: probably and i haven't completely right now to beginning because we're starting this from ground zero so there's nothing we're not we don't have any you know anything like that so we're starting from ground zero right now it's probably gonna be eight to five but that may change to like 7 30 to 5 30 it may be depending on demand and how busy we get right away it may be maybe a late night like say like seven o'clock or you know something like that so people that get off work can come and and and utilize the the facilities and i still probably not gonna do saturdays but that's another possibility like like eight to noon on saturdays so all that's up and for discussion with you guys if that's an issue or not but that's kind of what i've been thinking typical small animal you know hospital hours [55:53] **Chair (Brian Douglas)**: okay well there aren't any houses around there anyway so no it wouldn't matter if you're open nope whatever no [56:01] **Kurt Nelson**: and david and i david olsen and i've had numerous discussions about the sound and stuff like that so we're taking precautions with if that restaurant ever opens which he says right now may not i don't know that's up to him but we're taking sound barrier you know keeping so so we're going to be doing surgeries right so dogs waking up can be whiny and can get loud so we're taking you know sound board and i actually just met with jeff's one of just assistants and doing the the material stuff and that's one of the things that we talked about with you know trying to make sure that there's a barrier there that we're basically sound proofing this whole thing so that way there's no carryover even within the building if the restaurant opens back up there'll be considerations for animals pets always want to relieve themselves of something yup for that yo [56:44] **Chair (Brian Douglas)**: okay i just had one quick question we spoke earlier about it today maybe could explain to the rest of the commission uh as far as euthanasia goes uh how the disposal would transpire [56:55] **Kurt Nelson**: so typically with euthanasia we use the solution to do that we usually cremate him it's a process that we send off so what will happen is if you bring your pet in and we euthanize it for whatever reason it'll get frozen until that guy from hayfield can come up and pick it up and then it's cremated just like you and i are cremated if we decide to do that and then they bring back the ashes so it'll be and he he we've already been in contact he'll come up twice a week from hayfield to pick up animals that are euthanized so it will be anything that is done will be immediately put into unless they're taking it with them but yeah to bury wherever within city ordinances or out in their farm or wherever it is just depends but if they want them cremated they will be frozen so any further questions from the commission thank you doctor [57:43] **Kurt Nelson**: thank you [57:44] **Chair (Brian Douglas)**: is there anyone else in the public that would like to add to this any comment whatsoever yes please state your name if you would then stay as close to three as possible [58:04] **Don Lanning**: uh don lanning and i'm a cannon falls resident here and a small animal owner and i would love to have another vet available in this area i don't know about any of you but if you have any small animals in the area it is very hard to get in for routine kind of procedures because vets right now are very strained in their time just with the covid procedures and stuff that they're using um so i would love to see another vet in this area right now i take my dogs either to oatana hastings or kenyon so it would be a very nice add to the community thank you [58:53] **Chair (Brian Douglas)**: any further discussion from the crowd any additional questions from the commission no motion to close this particular final public hearing [59:06] **Bill Duncan**: so moved [59:08] **Chair (Brian Douglas)**: motion's been made by mr duncan is there a second [59:10] **Glenn Lindell**: second [59:11] **Chair (Brian Douglas)**: second by mr lundell all in favor all right opposed pass okay that concludes the public hearing now we're open for discussion as the commission let's go with the first one resolution twenty twenty one oh seven one oh one fourth street north condition new permit for r r investments cannon falls this is the mural any further discussion by the commission on this item no motion to accept or deny [59:44] **Bill Duncan**: i'll make a motion to accept [59:46] **Chair (Brian Douglas)**: motion's been made to accept by mr duncan is there a second to that motion [59:51] **Glenn Lindell**: i'll second it [59:52] **Chair (Brian Douglas)**: motion's been seconded by mr lundell all in favor all right closed hearing none pass public hearing variant 20 where am i at here 20 2108 variants for the habitat humanity at st claire street 1206th street north conversation questions by commission no questions that is an awful big lot you know and i believe that it uh does support a small home going in there i think it would look pretty good um knowing the neighborhood and everything and i think it would fit right in there to mr paulson's point i though we should do something with that alley whether it's cut it down or something like that to keep that water from going into his property i think that's going to have to be addressed but i think it'll it'll fit good in there my only concern there would be what we're doing to the other lot making it 71 deep and 105 that would be my only concern that the council will have to take into consideration to the other lot but i think it will fit nice in there is there any further discussion of the commission [1:01:06] **Glenn Lindell**: so would that be do we have to put in something to have an engineer look at that or something to see how to lower that alley or what they're going to do [1:01:15] **Chair (Brian Douglas)**: i think probably would be the public works commission right it would be our intent to uh rational what needs to be done in a motion to uh submit to the city council it's going to be rather a technical motion i'm guessing with uh the two technicalities that mr christensen has spoke of you're showing concern also mr lindell of the elevation on the alley [1:01:46] **Bill Duncan**: if we just say the engineer has to look at it and approve lowering the alley or something i don't know but i think you don't know the exact wording up for that we just want to make sure we're not going to flood mr paulson's home right yeah is there a form of emotion you can come up with that explanation um you did pretty good the first time can you remember it [1:02:18] **Jon Radermacher**: mr chairman if i might mr you have a perfectly capable public works director that could handle that i know he could thank you for without an engineer because they just charge big bucks [1:02:35] **Bill Duncan**: well then we could just say um the public works will take care of the alley so there's not flooding mr paulson's garage right [1:02:46] **Chair (Brian Douglas)**: so you would make a motion either mr christensen or mr lindell of uh variants passing in with the conditions of re-elevating um lowering the elevation [1:03:08] **Glenn Lindell**: lowering the elevation yeah yes i'll i'll make that a motion that we let public work say we got that as a motion um okay if we can word it correctly the public works will lower the the alley to accommodate accommodate mr paulson's property that it doesn't have that he doesn't have runoff into his garage and lot i i would guess i don't know how you want to put that undue hardship from adjacent experience yeah [1:03:48] **Chair (Brian Douglas)**: have a second to that motion [1:03:51] **Bill Duncan**: i'll second though [1:03:53] **Chair (Brian Douglas)**: all in favor aye opposed hearing not available public hearing for resolution 2021-09 mr olson's uh air distance plaza for the proposed veterinarian clinic from dr kurt nelson [1:04:12] **Bill Duncan**: i'll make a motion to approve the conditional use permit [1:04:18] **Mike Madsen**: i'll second it [1:04:19] **Chair (Brian Douglas)**: wilson's been made by mr duncan seconded by mr christensen all in favor aye opposed hearing none that one passes also is there any other further discussion on anything that doesn't pertain to what we've listened to this evening by the commission okay here's the discussion look for a motion to adjourn [1:05:07] **Bill Duncan**: all moved [1:05:09] **Chair (Brian Douglas)**: all in favor opposed meetings closed