Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

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Good evening everyone. I call the March or February 4th, 2026 planning commission meeting to order. First item of business tonight is the approval of the agenda. Any changes from staff? Any changes from the commissioners? Move approval. Second. Moved by Commissioner Schindler and seconded by uh Commissioner Mahwald. Any discussion? If not, all in favor say I. I. I. Oppose. Nay.

Motion carries. Next item of business is the consent agenda. The consent agenda items are considered routine and will be enacted with a single motion without discussion unless a commissioner or citizen requests to have any items separately considered. It will then be moved to the regular agenda for uh consideration. Can I get a motion of approval? So moved. Second. Made by Commissioner Schindler, seconded by Commissioner Hass. All in favor say I. I.

Motion carries. Next we have a public hearing tonight. And the public hearing is consider text amendments to sections 155.156F and 155.157B of the zoning code regulating on sale liquor, wine, and 3.2% 2% beer in the retail business zoning district. We will now open the public hearing for agenda item 4A. The affidavit of publication for the notice of public hearing is available for inspection in the planning department. Everyone wishing to speak at this public hearing should be sure to fill out the attendance roster. Include your name and address so that accurate records can be maintained. We will begin the procedure with a brief presentation by city staff followed by a presentation by the petitioner of the hearing. Upon the conclusion of the presentation, city staff will be asked to comment on the proposal's conformance with pertinent regulations and policies. After that, comments will be taken from the general public. Sydney,

thank you, chair and commissioners. Tonight I will be presenting to you text amendments related to on sale alcohol. Specifically, you're asked to consider text amendments um to the retail business zoning district regarding on sale liquor, wine, and 3.2% beer. And that would be removing it from the permitted and conditional uses in that district. The uh draft ordinance was prepared for you and within your staff report. Um the draft ordinance is as shown on this slide. So, first to uh remove on sale wine and or 3 3.2% liquor in conjunction with the restaurant facility from the permitted uses in the RB district and then removing on sale liquor from the conditional uses in the RB district. When the city reviews a conditional use permit for on sale liquor, the primary considerations relate to the site plan and then the floor floor plan of that business. Just to give some context, the retail business zoning district is highlighted in red on the map. Um the retail business district primarily is within our downtown and then shopping areas within the city along uh high volume roadways.

[clears throat]

The primary consideration for um this amendment was that chapter 111 which is the alcoholic beverages section chapter of city code and then chapter 155 the zoning code um both regulate alcohol in um the reason for the amendment is to reduce redundancies between those two chapters. So to give some background on the alcoholic beverages chapter, it primarily includes the licensing process for on sale alcohol. Um and with that there's application process which includes applicant information, uh the type of license that they're applying for, description of the premise which includes a site plan and floor plan, financial information, references of the applicant, previous tax information, and then a description of the business itself. Along with that, there is a background check, a public hearing, and then an annual renewal process. Outside of that, there's also an inspection process and um as well as a um a method of revoking or suspending a license if the business is not in compliance. So, the licensing process is far more comprehensive than anything that we would review within the zoning chapter. With that staff considered um this amendment, we overall we do want to remove outdated uses from the zoning code. So besides liquor and alcohol as a use, we do have a lot of outdated uses within our code. So in the future, we're trying to remove those outdated uses. Um many cities don't have alcohol as a use in their zoning chapters at this point anymore. We'd also like to reduce fees and processes for applicants. So by eliminating the conditional use process, applicants would only have to apply for the liquor license and that would reduce fees for them. We'd also like to again eliminate the red redundancies between chapter 111 and chapter 155. And then lastly, most on sale liquor control use permits are for businesses

within the retail business district. Um, so at this time we are only suggesting to amend the retail business district and then in the future we would like to amend other commercial zoning districts as well as plan developments that list uh beer, wine or liquor as a permitted or conditional use. [clears throat] So with that, you're asked to hold the public hearing and then if there are no outstanding questions or comments, staff is recommending that the commission recommend approval of the ordinance to remove onel wine and 3.2% 32% liquor as a permitted use and then remove on sale liquor as a conditional use from the RB zoning district. And with that, I can stand for any questions.

Okay. Thank you, Cindy. Any questions or comments at all for Cindy? Makes sense. So, I guess there's kind of quiet on this side. So, you did a good job explaining.

Thank you. And with that meaning that there is no one in the audience I think at this time I will close the hearing. If there are no further comments I will close this public hearing. It is the policy of the planning commission not to act on an item on the same night as its public hearing. The planning commission will weigh all comments and information received tonight in its deliberations at future meetings. This item will continue to appear on future planning commission agendas until a recommendation on the petition can be forwarded to the city council. However, there are no public comments. So, how does the planning commission feel?

Madam Chair, I move we recommend approval of an ordinance amending the retail business zoning district to remove on sale wine and 3.2% 2% liquor as a permitted use in sections 155.156 and remove on sale liquor as a conditional use in section 155.157. I'll second. Okay, that was a motion made by Commissioner Schindler and seconded by Commissioner Hass. Any discussion? If not, all in favor say I. I. Oppose. Nay.

Motion carries. Thank you. That brings us to we don't have any land use tonight or action items. So that brings us to other business and that is Terry Dill, sorry, February 18th and March 4th and city council will be on February 12th and the 26th. Um, and then I just wanted to remind you that this Saturday is actually the Midwinter Fest um, at 4 o'clock in Johnny Cake Ridge Park with temperatures being fairly decent, right? Fingers crossed. It should be fun. I live right close to there, so I get to hear all the fireworks and all that good stuff. Okay. Uh, with that, can I get a motion for adjournment?

So moved. Second. Motion made by Commissioner Schindler and seconded by Commissioner Hass. All in favor say I. I. I. This meeting is adjourned. [music] [music] [music]