Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Good afternoon. I'm calling to order the planning commission meeting. It is 4:30 on Thursday, August 28th, 2025. First item on the agenda is the approval of the minutes from the June 26, 2025 planning commission meeting. Are there any corrections or additions? Hearing none, I'll look for a motion. I'll offer a motion to approve. Second. I have a motion and a second. All in favor? I.

Opposed? Minutes have been approved. The second item on the agenda is the approval of the minutes from the July 31st, 2025 planning commission meeting. Corrections or additions. Call for a motion. I'll make a motion to approve the minutes. Second. I have a motion and a second. All in favor? I. Minutes have been approved. Um, this opens the public hearing portion of this meeting. I'm looking at comprehensive plan amendment for the garden terrace 2.

All right. So, this is a comprehensive plan amendment to amend the land use category for the property legally described as outlot 178 except the north uh easterly 370 ft from medium density residential to highdensity residential. The applicant uh for this project is Matt Gatner on behalf of Garden Terrace Newm 2 LLC. They are also the property owner. Legal description for the property is outlaw 178 except the northeasterly 370 ft. There's a street address of 1011 North Garden Street. Uh the property is generally located west of North Garden Street between 10th North Street and 11th North Street and south of Oak Street. Deadline for a decision um on this request is October 7th, 2025. Uh the current land use designation in the comprehensive plan uh for the property is medium density residential. The proposed land use um for the comprehensive plan by the applicant is now going to be highdensity residential. Surrounding land uses uh include to the north highdensity residential and lowdensity residential, to the east lowdensity residential, to the west highdensity residential, lowdensity residential, institutional uh/med district, and then to the south medium density residential and public and semi-public uses. Um zoning designation for the property is the highdensity residence district. That's the R4 zoning district. surrounding zoning. Uh to the north is R4, R1 which is the single family residence district, AOS which is the agricultural open space district and then to the east we have RT2 that's our traditional neighborhood single and two family residence district. To the south is R4 and then to the west is R4 and R1.

Currently the site is vacant but it does have a public sorry private street uh running on the south side of it. Uh current area land uses include to the north garden terrace number one single family homes and then hillside to the east single family homes to the south it's vacant and the storm water retention pond in the new medical center to the west garden terrace number two and the oakills living center and more hillside notice was provided to all property owners within 350 ft of the subject property on August 15th 2025 and then published in the journal on August 16th 2025. Uh to date staff has not received any comments on this request. Um utilities are located in North Garden Street and within the subject property. Comprehensive plan does not designate a park within this uh amendment area. Um project designations. So each property in the city of New Alm has two land use designations. The first is assigned by the city's comprehensive plan and the comprehensive plan is intended to be general, long range and comprehens comprehensive in its viewpoint. The comprehensive plan has designated this property as med medium density residential. From a density standpoint, this category uh may allow 1 to 12 units per acre. Second designation uh is the city's uh zoning of the property. Zoning establishes a more precise land use for the property. For example, the city's comprehensive plan has one designation for commercial, but it has four classifications for zoning. There's a difference between uh the two land use designations. The city has recently updated both its comprehensive plan and its zoning ordinance. Uh in some instances, the two land use designations do not properly match uh such as we have here, and staff lack the time to correct those situations, but are addressing them as they come up.

Project description. Uh the property has approximate dimensions of 294 feet by 262 feet and a total lot area of 1.77 acres. And on the screen here, you can see in red uh this is the area that they're proposing change uh to amend the comprehensive plan from medium density to high density. Um uh the property has never been developed. The owner of this property has also purchased lot one and lot two block one garden terrace first edition. Uh this is the location of uh the garden terrace building number one and number two. Combination of these three parcels in total equals 8.81 acres. The owner has also submitted a preliminary plat that is being considered at tonight's meeting. That plat would divide the property into three lots. The lot that this proposed new building uh proposed u property to be property uh would be developed into would be lot number two and would be 2.68 acres. uh the developer is subject to a statement in their purchase agreement with the new homem EDA um that says the buyer shall construct residential housing on that portion of the property herein conveyed and identified as the development of uh the parcel lot 2 within 5 years of the sale of the property. So when the EDA sold this property to uh Rebound Partners, uh they had a stipulation in their uh purchase agreement that this be developed into residential development. They didn't say high density uh necessarily, but they did say residential development. Uh to meet this obligation, the owner is proposing to construct 45 units uh a three-story apartment building on the property. The proposed housing density of this project in combination with the existing housing on the other two parcels requires an amendment of the subject property in the comprehensive

plan. The property is zoned R4 and this is the proper zoning district uh for this project and property. The proposed apartment building would provide independent housing for seniors. The building will have 25 one-bedroom and 22-bedroom units. On the first floor, there will be 42 enclosed parking stalls and an additional 44 surface stalls. Total height of the building will be 45 ft. Uh at a future date, the owner is uh proposing to transfer the ownership to the ownership of the property to Oak Hills Living Center. So, housing needs. In 2022, the Newm Economic Development Authority retained the firm Maxfield Research and Consulting LLC to prepare a comprehensive housing needs analysis. One of the findings of this document was that the demand exists for all senior housing product types in New M. Due to the aging of the county's population, senior housing products show high demand all the way through 2027. Senior housing demand is estimated uh to account for about 440 units and makes up roughly 50% of the total housing in New Demand ex demand exists for most senior housing types in NewM. So there's uh different senior housing types which include independent living, assisted living, memory care and they go on uh with further enhancements. This project is proposed to be independent senior living. The 2022 2022 uh housing analysis uh made the following findings. Uh one that the overall rental vacancy rate was8% an acceptable rate uh would be um 5%. People who may be interested in moving to new have a difficult time finding housing uh that they need for both home ownership and for rental purposes. A community survey showed that there was a desire for affordable housing options,

multifamily housing, and entry- level single family homes. During the next decade, growth in new alm is anticipated to continue. Over this time, the largest increase in population uh is forecasted to be in the senior population. The development of additional senior housing serves a two-fold purpose in meeting the housing needs in new that older adults and senior residents are able to relocate to new age restricted housing in new and existing homes and rental units that were occupied by seniors will then become available for other new households in the community comprehensive plan analysis. So, the purpose of the comprehensive plan, the new m comprehensive plan is an official statement by the new elm city council that describes the community's shared vision, goals, and objectives for future growth and development. The plan's recommendations provide guidance for the city's priorities, growth, investments, and development over the next 20 years. as a guide to development. It is intended to be flexible and responsive. It is intended to be a flexible and responsive document that can be amended to acknowledge changing conditions and new opportunities. So, land use history uh um for this site specifically. The comprehensive plan for new alm in 1963 designated the subject property uh for permanent agriculture or conservation area. 1996 the plan designated the property for a combination of lowdensity residential and highdensity residential. 2007 uh the plan designated the property as highdensity residential and then in 2024 the plan uh designated the property as medium density residential. zoning ordinance for new home in 1968 designated the property as RA that's residential agricultural and then um in 1993 the property was zoned to R3 that's multiple family residence district so at that point in

time the R3 was our highest density zoning district in the city um the property was then uh zoned to R4 the highdensity residential in 2022 so one of the purposes of the RA agricultural residents district um is to provide a district which would allow extensive areas of the community to be retained in rural uses in advance of the need for these lands for urban purposes. This site has been considered for multifamily development in the past but has remained vacant due to poor soils on the site. Construction technology is now improved and the property owners will believe that the the property owners believe they can develop the property in a cost-effective manner. Okay, I'm going to read through two definitions um in our comprehensive plan. First is for the medium density residential. This includes a range of housing types such as single family, detached and attached housing, twin homes, town homes, duplexes, row houses, and moderate density multifamily housing consisting of attached and detached housing units. The density range for this C category is 1 to 12 units per acre. Highdensity residential. This includes higher density multifamily housing, including apartment buildings and condominiums with separately divided living units. The density range for this category is between 9 and 21 units per acre. So, as noted earlier, the new apartments uh new apartment units would be located on lot number two uh of of the preliminary pl. The total square footage of this lot is uh 116,626 square feet or 2.68 acres. Uh the standards for the uh medium density residential or R3 uh zoning district would allow for 21 units. Um standards for the highdensity residential R4

um highdensity residence district would allow for a total of 58 units. 45 unit apartment uh building could only be allowed uh in the R4 zoning district and the comprehensive plan would I need would need to identify the property as high density residence district so need to match up. Um so comprehensive plan questions regarding amendments. Does the proposed change generally comply with the identified criteria found in the findings of fact form? And then two is this an appropriate location for highdensity residential land uses given the surrounding comprehensive plan land use designations. Um we have a number of attachments. First we have the petition for the comprehensive plan which includes an exhibit uh that they provided to us showing uh the area where they would like the land use designation amended. Second is the uh location of the subject property with regards to the surrounding uh surrounding community. Um our third attachment is a zoning map. So you can see all of the um brown colored um properties that's all highdensity residential. The lighter yellow is R1, that's single family residential. And then this green, a lighter green over here to the east is RT2. That's single and two family residence district in the traditional grid lot neighborhoods. Um, attachment four is a site map and outlined in red is the proposed location of the new building that they would like to construct. And when staff did uh measurements, at least off varial photos, um, garden terrace 2 to the north here uh, is approximately 190 ft from the nearest residence. and the

proposed new building is right in line with that and approximately 190 feet from the nearest single family residence. They're also uh the building is also proposed to be 130 ft from garden terrace uh 2 and also 130 ft from garden terrace 1. Um here is our uh attachment number five is our comprehensive land use map showing that this property is indeed designated as medium density residential. Attachment six is a site uh and proposed plat map. So you can see um it would be replplatted. Lot number one would hold garden terrace 2. Lot number three would contain garden terrace one. And then new lot number two would be the proposed garden terrace 3. Um just in light of other uh or past applications uh we've taken a look at with highdensity residential, we also did some crosssections to look at differences in elevations um with this new build at 45 ft as it compares to uh the houses across the street. And as you can see, uh it's going to be roughly uh let's say about 30 30ish feet taller than the buildings across uh the street on Garden Street. Um but generally speaking, um pretty close to the same elevations as uh garden the existing garden terrace buildings to the west. Um here are some photos. This is looking from um from the north entrance of Garden Terrace uh towards Oakill's Living Center in the hospital. Um this

is taken from Garden Street looking north towards Garden Terrace 1 and two and then the private street. This is from the private street looking towards garden terrace 2 and then in front of garden terrace one looking towards looking northeast towards garden street and then again this is looking straight south. So the building would be proposed to be right in this area. This hillside would be cut down substantially. And lastly we have attachment nine which is the staff's responses to the findings of facts. And that would conclude the staff report. Thank you. Um, does anyone have any questions for the city or for the developers?

Have a couple if I if I may. Oh, you may. Um, I'm wondering, John, did do I understand from the report that the comp plan designation for this property changed in 2024 from high density to medium density residential? Mhm. Why' that happen? What was the reason for that? I think the idea was that there was going to be a buffer uh between the highdensity residential behind it and the low density across the street.

All right. I also think at the time that because of the soils, the idea of a multi-story building maybe wasn't structurally feasible, but maybe a singlestory type of attached uh development might be possible. Okay. And the only other question I've got is is um I notice in here that I'll call him developer will build the structure and is is is the deal struck so that somehow it gets transferred then to Oill's living center in the future and how's that guaranteed? How's that work?

I would actually ask the developer um of the project to answer that question probably better than me. Okay. Could you step forward, please, and state your name and address?

Uh, good afternoon. My name is Jay Scott. I'm president of Rebound Real Estate. Uh, our address is 527 Professional Drive in Northfield, Minnesota. Um, first of all, thank you for, uh, taking this action tonight or reviewing this and considering this action tonight. Um, you know, we're excited. We bought the property back in March of 31 from the EDA. And really the reason that we were most excited about this was the opportunity to present this plan that we're starting to present to you uh this afternoon uh was really to be able to build uh a senior facility and add to the existing senior uh facilities that are here to try to meet the demand or the need in the community. Um so this has been an exciting process. We have been as many of you know working closely with Oak Hills throughout this process and uh in excite very excited about that partnership. So how this would be potentially conveyed in the future to answer your question specifically is right now we would enter into a lease agreement with Oak Hills as the business owner and operator of the property. We would thus be the property owner initially but in the confines of that lease agreement there would be a right for Oak Hills to purchase the property from us. So when they are financially able to do so, those terms would be set forth and codified in that lease agreement. So they would have a contractual right to buy the property. They actually have that right with us at this present time as well for the garden terrace one. uh at some point I think there's been thought or discussion that this would be part of a campus in a continuum of care kind of uh senior facility where you'd have these different services that John mentioned all within kind of a campus setting and ultimately possibly garden terrace one or the first two buildings could be a part of that component of that campus. Would the would Oak Hills provide any services in the near term for the for independent living or or is this something further down the line?

Yeah. And I so I'll try to answer that question. Obviously, we meet with them on a weekly basis and I think have a pretty good sense for what their plans are. Maybe Andy Bible who who's here tonight uh representing Oak Hills could speak more specifically to that. But through our planning effort right now, we've we've considered with them assisted care, some different versions of senior housing for this site, and it was really determined that at this point the kind of the most viable option and maybe the greatest need in the community was more of the independent living version of the the senior housing. So, that's the direction we're going with this this first building. It's possible the other buildings could be converted in the future as well. Um, I know they're going to be providing various services uh to this, so there will be healthc care services available to the residents. of course are in close proximity uh to this building. So those services I think are planned to be offered on a regular basis to any of the the residents that might need that. Um and the building itself, again, we're not here to talk about maybe the building site plan approval tonight, but it'll be a very highly amenitized building. So we've been working again closely with Oakills on that and their consulting team. Uh it'll have everything from, you know, full kitchen, dining room area, outdoor plaza areas, uh for outdoor dining for events, grill stations, obviously enclosed heated parking, uh so that everybody would have access to that as well. But movie theater, salon, um gosh,

courts, uh there no there won't be that. But all right, I'm not moving in then. But there will be fitness center. there will be, you know, kind of a a tavern area with big screen TV, kind of a great room, grand area where people can gather and so forth. So, it' probably be the most highly amenitized kind of multifamily product in the community in part because it's new and we have the space and we're able to sort of design that day one into the into the programming that we're looking at. So, really exciting building. I think they're excited about it. Uh, and it's been really a great working partnership with them since day one. Thank you. Any other questions for the city or

I have a question for Andy. If Andy would you would you step up state your name and address please Andy Beville 1927 Crrest View Drive New uh I am here representing Oak Hills. Candace could not be here today. I'm a volunteer uh assisting Oills with some of their financial areas. Uh retired CPA from New Al.

I understand that. And I don't want to be putting you on the spot, but and I'm just trying to get my head wrapped around this because um there are so many senior communities now that have step up communities. Like you come in at the lowest level and you have ownership. This would be rental of a property. And then when you need my husband could go into assisted living and or care. Is that type of community being set up here or do I still have to apply to get into the nursing home or is it not?

The the the concept is that those coming into the senior independent living structure would have a priority to move into additional lows levels of service. Um, one of the things you should understand is that Oak Hills, and I think this is well known in the community, is struggling financially.

And the reason is that they are essentially a skilled nursing facility. The problem with that is they they are restricted on by state law restricted on what they can charge. They can only charge Medicare Medicaid rates to everyone. So, it's a real handicap to any facility that is exclusively skilled nursing beds. Uh we've seen others around the area, the the Lafayette and other communities with just skilled level nursing close. So the the obvious solution is that Oak Hills needs to expand to additional levels of care. And the traditional concepts are at the entry stage senior independent living, very limited services, assisted living, memory care, and then of course what we do now, skilled nursing. So this would be the first step in expanding Oakill's offering of services. Uh Oakills did this with a demand study done by a health professional. Health dimensions group in Minneapolis was engaged early this year to study what the needs were in this area in this community. Uh interestingly we are well covered on the assisted living. Orchard Hills, Ridgeway, uh Oak Hills, etc. We have a total void on what's labeled senior independent living. So senior independent living essentially is people that are capable of coming and going. They have a car, they move around on their own. They're independent, but they're at the stage where they would like some additional services. The basic services and independent living would be number one, a meal a day. Number two, some light housekeeping maybe once a week and then some health services, blood pressure checks, physical fitness plans, um those types of things, which Oakill is equipped to deliver on all of those. And then as people progress into your question, they'd have the further further levels of services. So this is really a first step. It's not going to be a total solution for all kills, but it's a first step.

Okay. So all we need is the staff to support. I'm sorry. Uh do we need additional staff to support? Uh they may need some but not significant. Uh, as you probably know with Good Assassin, uh, Oak Hills is a very significant provider of meals and this would be essentially just adding a meal literally 50 yards away for somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 people. So, that piece is easy. Uh, they have physical therapy staff, they have health care staff, so those those additional services. They have housekeeping staff. So, this will be very small incremental and that's part of the the profit model that hopefully makes this work for Oakills.

Yeah, Oakills is very valuable to the community. I think we all understand that. I'm just trying to understand then the difference between assisted living and um independent living if you're providing meals and stuff, but that's okay. I guess my mind Well, yeah, senior independent living is uh something that that is attractive. People leaving the home

could be just fine in a in an apartment, but are at the stage where they're saying, you know, a meal a day. Uh, and I'll give you another example. In the demand study, and I think this is telling. The demand study that we engaged looked at all of the facilities around our area within our market reach. They found that in within the city limits of New Alm, three of our assisted living facilities have 14 people that are actually independent living. They do not need any assisted living services. But because of the void in this community, we put dad, the example would be the 85 year old dad who's living out in the farmhouse, not taking care of himself, not eating well, not having anybody around. And the kids are saying, "This makes more sense." Today, they're in assisted living, paying 5,000 a month with no additional services, just a meal. Uh, this is a notch down from that, less expensive, but satisfies that need. And right now, we do not satisfy that need in this community. Excellent. Thank you.

Okay. Anyone have any other questions? Thank you. Thank you.

I have one question for Dave. You had made a comment about that. Um the reason it was changed to median density was because of the soil. Did I understand that correctly? What has changed that that's no longer an issue? Yep. Um it's a different type of structural system that would be um utilized. Um actually the same one that we used for our swimming pool. Yep. Okay. Um it's something that's has come on the scene more more currently. Something that wasn't available let's say 10 years ago or 20 years ago. Okay.

Being on the council, we did a soil boring test uh in the last 10 years as well and that's what determined some conditions at that time, but you know, new technologies come out and ways of building. That was my other one of my questions to to the city was I see that there's retention pond in front of the parking lot for if you go back in the back up a couple please. Thank you. That this one. That one. Yeah, it does show. Is that a retention pond in the bottom? Yes.

Okay. So, that is the drain the swamp kind of spot because but I look at the property now and that used to have a a water problem like it does in front of the hospital, but it seems to have mitigated because it looks pretty dry and is a nice lawn now. So that is that is there taking up the slack from well any any development like this in the city of Newm uh the city engineering department requires storm water management on site. It'll go to their holding pond here and then will be moved down to that larger holding pond that's in front of the hospital.

So is this taking the direct runoff from the paved lot in front of it? Is that part of it? Yep. It should be both the lot, pave lots and the building. Okay. And I see that there am I looking there are driveway entrances into both ends of this building rather than the other ones have just one entrance if I recall. Nope. There is actually only one driveway entrance um into the building. So the driveway comes in here. Um Okay. Goes to the north and then you can go underneath the building and then drive back out. Oh, you said so it's an exit. All right. Thank you.

When did this become senior only? Because when I remember visiting friends in that apartment, there were high schoolers and stuff. You're saying in garden terrace one. Garden terrace one and two. I mean I it's never been senior own only. It's never been age restricted. It's just that a lot of the tenants most of the tenants are are of that age. Okay. I thought the um the building uh was originally just supposed to be market housing, but the people that um event, you know, initially moved in were predominantly or exclusively seniors.

Yeah. Well, I had a friend that lived there and and she had a high school daughter. She just loved it. She had plenty of grandmas to take care of the the her daughter. Okay. So that really hasn't it's just kind of developed from to senior housing. Okay. Well, the project that we're talking about tonight there the developers talking about specifically age restricted housing correct for

seniors. But he's also talking about Oakill's taking over possibly garden terrace one or two. So that kind of leans it towards just circularly senior housing. Okay. That was my questions. Go for it. The um on this new building then since it's intended as independent living, there will be people probably every unit will have a car. Um I know this is not site analysis yet, but has parking been looked at? There will be enough. There's going to be underground parking as well as service, right? Yep. There's going to there's going to be both and they're going to meet the standard that's in our zoning ordinance.

Okay. It was what? 44 in the building and 42 above ground. To double check that. Yeah, that's almost two for one then. For 45 it was one short, I think, of of one per unit. So, no, it's a little over 1.5 per unit with the exterior. Yeah, it's one interior. Okay. Interior. Correct. Yeah.

Are there any other questions? If not, the motions are um I want to talk about this. We want to do the staff. You want to do the finding of facts? Uh well, if you all had had a chance to read through them. They're quite extensive. I would um if everyone's ready, I would just ask if they want to go and approve them or Yes. see if they agree rather than read the entire Sounds good. And is everyone in favor? You've all read and in favor of accepting them as written. Yes, I've read them and accepted them.

All right. So then I would call for a motion. I'll make a motion to recommend approval of the petition of Matt Ganter on behalf of Garden Terrace Newm 2 LLC to amend the city's comprehensive plan to allow highdensity residential land uses in place of medium density residential land uses for the property legally described as outlot 178 except the northwesterly 370 and generally located at 10 1011 North Garden Street. The reasons for approving this motion are found in the attached findings of fact form. I have a motion. Do I have a second?

Second. I have a motion and a second. Is there any further discussion? If not, all in favor? I I opposed. Motion is carried. When does this appear at the council? This will go September 2nd. So, next Tuesday. Next Tuesday at 4:30. Thank you for your attendance and your help understanding the issue. Good luck. It's a it's a it's a hefty undertaking. It really feel fills a need in the community. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you for seeking us out.

Yeah, we do appreciate it. this second. Um, I'm going to close the public hearing for that that portion of the meeting and we'll open the public hearing for the variance on 117 South Valley Street.

Okay. Staff report.

In this particular case, the applicant is Larry Mack. The property owner is G&M Real Estate LLC. The legal description is lot 10 except the southeasterly 2 ft of block one south of Center Street. Street address 117 South Valley Street. Property is generally located east of South Valley Street and south of First South Street. Description of the variance. The required rear yard setback in the I2 zoning district is 15 feet. When an industrial property is across the alley from a residentially zoned district, the setback increases to 30 ft. The applicant is requesting a variance to allow a setback of 22 feet or 8 feet less than the zoning ordinance requirement. The deadline for a decision on this matter is October 9th, 2025. Um the comprehensive plan designates the property for industrial. The surrounding land uses in the comprehensive plan. To the north is industrial. To the east is low density residential. To the south is industrial and low density residential and to the west is industrial. The zoning designation is I2 which is general industrial district. Surrounding zoning is to the north I2 to the east RT2 which is traditional neighborhood single and two family residence district. Then RT1 traditional neighborhood single

family residence district. To the south is I2 and then RT2 and to the west is I2. current um site land use is there is an office building surrounding area land uses to the north we have single family residences then industrial and then there's some vacant property to the east we have single family residences and riverside park to the south we have a repair shop and single family residences and to the west we have a railroad yard storage buildings and then some vacant um property notice was uh provided to all property owners within 350 ft of the subject property and published in the journal on August 16th, 2025. We have not received any public comments um to date. Um, the purpose of the I2 zoning district is to provide locations for a wide variety of more intense manufacturing and industrial land uses, which because of the nature of the product or character of the activity should be located in areas that will minimize their impact on neighboring and less intense residential, business, commercial, and industrial land uses. when we had uh previously two industrial districts, we had an I1 and an I2. And we always said the I1 was for industrial uses that went in buildings and the I2 was for industrial uses that had buildings but also did things outside. So a good example would be a construction company or someone like Heyman Construction Company operated in

that area. um new steel on recycling. So those are the types of land uses that fit in that uh zoning district. The variance is requested for a property that has dimensions of 48 ft by 165 ft. The lot to the south has the ownership of the southeast 2 feet of lot 10. So that's where um that 2 feet went. Um, the applicant is proposing to construct a storage building in their rear yard area with dimensions of 32 ft by 50 ft. The applicant's lot is across the alley from an RT2. Um, we previously talked about that district. As a result, the applicant's lot must maintain a rear yard setback of 30 ft due to its location across the alley from the residential district. The following new zoning districts have requirements that they maintain a greater rear yard setback when abudding a residential zoning district. So this is not a requirement that solely applies to industrial and residential uses. Um it applies to residential uses of budding business districts. all of the industrial districts and then a select number of special zoning districts that we have. And the um staff report uh provides what the typical rear yard setback is and then um what the residential rear yard setback would be. And you'll note that there are some uh significant uh differences. Um, it is common to require a greater setback for commercial or industrial

zoning districts located across an alley or adjoining a residential zoning district. This is part of a buffering strategy to mitigate the negative impacts that an industrial commercial property can have on a residential area. A setback from a commercial property may be less than that for an industrial zoning district. The larger setbacks are intended to protect residents from adverse impacts such as noise, vibration, light, glare, aesthetics, air quality, and traffic. There are other limited locations within the city where we have residential and commercial industrial properties um that abut each other. The 30-foot rear yard setback for industrial properties across the alley from residentially zoned properties, excuse me, has been in place since October 1st, 1968. This setback was carried forward into the 2022 zoning ordinance update. The front and sideyard setbacks on this particular property for this particular um project would be maintained. The current zoning of the property is the same as it was in 1968. Access to the storage building would be from the alley or an existing curb cut on South Valley Street. The rear yard of the subject property is level and there are no obstructions um on the property in the R1, R1S, RT1, R2, RT2, R3, and R4.

So that's virtually all of our residential zoning districts. Where adjacent structures within the same block have different front yard setbacks from those required. The front yard minimum setback can be the average of the adjacent structures. And we've dealt with that um before in some instances. So if you have a house that's set back 30 ft, you have a vacant lot, you have a house that's set back 10 ft, you take the average of those two. And so the house in the middle, the new house in the middle can move up from what might be the normal 30foot setback. Yard averaging, that's the terminology that's used, is not legal or permitted in any other city zoning district or setback area. So yard averaging only applies to the front yard. Block one south of Center Street is bounded by South Front Street, First South Street, South Valley, and Second South Street. The half block of property facing Front Street has seven residential houses. The half block of property facing Valley Street has five houses, one repair shop, and one office building. So, 12 of the 14 structures in this block are residential. The half block of property facing South Front Street has been zoned R2 or RT2 since 1968. The half block of property um fronting

South Valley Street has been zoned I2 since that same date. ment with the exception of the repair shop. In 1981, that property was reszoned to I to to B2 to permit the use of an existing building that formerly served as a railroad hotel. It also served as a restaurant. It also served as a bar. Um, it served a variety of different functions. It's a good way to put it.

Yes. But the reason that it was there was because of its proximity to the railroad depot. Um the proposed new building would total 1,600 square ft. The remaining accessory buildings in this half block average 83 square ft. Those are the other garages uh in the half block. The zoning ordinance states the following about variances. Number one, this process is intended to provide limited relief from the strict requirements of this ordinance in those cases where strict application of a particular requirement will create a practical difficulty due to circumstances unique to the individual property under consideration. And then number two, variances are intended to address extraordinary, exceptional, or unique situations that are not caused by the applicant's act or omission. Staff does not believe that a unique situation exists in this location and the need for the variance is self-imposed. The applicant has identified the width of the lot as the unique situation. The lot width does not prevent the applicant from meeting their rear yard setback requirement. When the lot was purchased by the applicant, the width of the lot was 48 ft. The requirement that a 30-foot setback be maintained because of the property's proximity to a residential area was also established at that time. A storage building is permitted in this location with the exception of the repair shop.

The remaining properties are residential and the area has developed in this manner. Um so basically what we have is a residential area in an industrially zoned area. Um this has resulted in garages being closer to the alley for access purposes. Um and some of and many of them are closer than they should be and they have not maintain the 30foot setback. The applicant has the option of reducing the size of the building or moving it to the west towards the existing building where sufficient area exists for the building. Further staff evaluation can be found in attachment six which is the staff completed findings of fact project considerations. Um in order to recommend approval of the variance request, the commission will need to adopt the findings of fact and recommendations using the review criteria as provided on the form in attachment six. Planning Commission and City Council must make an affirmative finding on all variance criteria in order to grant a variance request. The applicant has the burden of proof to show that all of the criteria above have been satisfied. There are six attachments. The first is the application and a site building plan. And John has those on the video monitor. The second is the site location map. The third is the zoning map. The fourth is the site map.

The fifth are ground level photographs of the property. And why don't you explain, John, what we're what you're looking at? Uh so this uh this is standing in the in the alley facing towards um facing towards uh um Valley Street, South Valley Street. Um to the left side of the picture is the existing uh storage building owned by the neighboring property owner. Um um this is another view from the alley. Um, also looking uh towards Valley Street. And to give you a better sense of where this building would be proposed to be located on the property where my pointer is on the concrete right right here, this concrete line, um, the applicant is proposing to build from that edge towards the alley um, out 50 ft. So from this edge from of the existing concrete back towards the alley. And then this is a photo from Valley facing east towards Minnesota River. So the applicant has uh stated that they would use this existing driveway to access um uh the front side of the building and there also would be should be access from the alley site as well.

Thank you. Um conditions if this request should be recommended for approval. Uh, one is that the applicant shall pay the cost to record the variance with the Brown County Recorders Office. Two, that the applicant will contact the city to verify the location of the building once it is staked. And three, the applicant will provide a site plan showing the location of required off- streetet uh parking. Then two motions are provided, one to approve and one to deny the request. That would conclude the staff report. Thank you. I'm going to open it to questions, but I have one question myself. Um, when did this 30foot set how long has this 30-foot setback been in existence in the alley of a industrial building with residentials across the street?

Since 1968. When did the building next door go up? um that went up in 2000 because that obviously is not in the 30oot. That property though was zoned B2 at that time. At that time. Okay. Yeah. There's a story behind this. Okay. I'm open to hearing the story. Okay. So the you remember the uh buyer's um building and it was you know threestory. Yes. And it had tenants off and on. Yes.

And it sat empty for longer than a year's period of time. Mhm. which means that any future use has to be compatible with the existing zoning which was I2. Someone wanted to open up a bar, which was not permitted in the I2 zoning district, and the council's solution to that was to reszone the property to B2, which has different setbacks than the I2 zoned.

And so the building that was built there, the property remains owned B2. And so the individual built the building to that. Um,

but it's obviously not a B2 business. It's an I2 business. Um it is a business that falls within I think um it could it could be classified as either depending upon um your um definition of uh you know the uses that are permitted in those two zoning district. Okay. Why are there no setback changes allowed for for averaging in in alleyways even if it's an I2

what averaging it it um it's not something it's not something that you find in zoning ordinances. Okay. But you do in the front yard. You do in front yards. I would note though only in our residential districts and Yeah. Okay. So, that's strictly a residential zoning variance. Okay. I mean, it just appears to me that the building fits in line with everything, but because it is it I'm looking at this and it looks like it's equally in line with the building on either side. Is that correct? It's averaged.

This location is averaged. Correct. Rough. roughly it's um it's be the neighbor to the north which is a residential property if I remember my measurements correctly I think it's six feet back from the closest point of their garage okay to the alley property line and then uh with property to the south I believe it was about 2 feet back from the closest point of that building to the property line so behind I should say behind both of those buildings to the north and south. Okay. Any other questions? Is there any requirement with how far away you have to stay from the buried cable box?

No, not that I not that I know of. If I understand correctly, though, you can't pour concrete up right up next to it. I'd have to double check that with the public utilities. I'm I'm looking at you. Okay. It's it's it really is a strange situation and it's because of the history of the property. If that if that repair shop or or whatever the building to the south is didn't exist, then this wouldn't be a discussion. Obviously

that building doesn't belong the accessory the storage building being proposed wouldn't belong there

but I I'm I think there has to be a really good reason for variance and I don't think it meets those tests. I know the property to the south of it is unusual. History is unusual, but I don't think in my mind that satisfies the requirements for variance. Are there any other questions or if not I'm going to move to the finding of facts form and ask has everyone read the finding of facts form and if you agree with the conclusion or have any questions on the finding of facts form. My opinion might be different than others, but I'm I agree with staff on this this case, and so I'm I support the findings of fact as they're written.

Michelle, I agree. Bobby, I don't know. I'm torn on this one. I mean, to me, what's going on with the building next to it? So, if he would open this up as a restaurant for a minute and have it reszoned, he could then go and put the storage building there. You couldn't reszone it today without changing the comp plan anyway. It shouldn't have been reszoned in the first place to B2 because it was in the comp plan. But

so it was reszoneed to B2 and then when we redid the um zoning ordinance, we reszoned it to I2. So that's what it is at the present time. So its uses are limited to what's permitted in the I2 zoning district. and and when you we zoned it to I2 that was consistent with the comp plan which designated this as industrial. That's correct. Right.

So to go back to B2 the question you'd have the comp plan have to change as well and that's that's a tough hill to climb. When this property was purchased, was it I2? The the building here that we're talking about, was that I2 when they purchased this?

Um, there was I believe there was a fire there and the building was demolished and then the property was sold and the person that purchased it built the current building that's there. The question is what was it zoned or is it zoned? It was zoned B2 at that time. So it was B2 and has been changed to I2 and has now been changed to I2. In what year? 2022. Wait, I I are we I think we're confusing things. I think we're talking two different properties. I think we're I think we're confusing things. Uh this is the property Dave was just referring to.

What is this? Bobby is asking about the property that requesting variance on. Okay. That's been I2 since 1968. Yeah, that building is an office building. It's been I2 and the building next door, this was the B2 property was B2. I I agree with you. I would I agree with all of you then.

I I think it's unfortunate the situation that occurred next door, but yeah, I agree. Okay, I'm going to call for a motion as everyone has agreed with the condition with the finding the facts form. Am I correct in that assumption? Yes. Yes.

Okay. I'm calling for a motion. Potential motions are on page four. Well, I'd move that we um recommend denial um of the variance request as um documented by staff in the report with with the conditions and the findings of fact. I have a motion. Do I have a second? Second. I have a motion and a second. Is there any further discussion hearing? None. All in favor? I I

opposed. Motion is carried and this appears next Tuesday. Next Tuesday, we go to the city council. Thank you. That closes the public hearing portion of that variance for um 117 South Valley Street. I am now opening the preliminary plat for Garden Terrace portion of the meeting. staff report.

Okay, this is the preliminary plat of Garden Terrace, second edition. The first page is the is identical to what you previously read. So if you or heard, so if you don't mind, I'd like to move to the second page. And to be honest with you, there may be things on as we proceed that have already been discussed. So we'll perhaps skip over those. If you don't have any objection, please do.

Um the uh property being platted consists of two lots and then I'm going to term it one parcel of property. Uh the property generally slopes from the west and north to the east and south. These parcels total 8.8 acres. You're going to see 8.8 and 8.81. It's just a rounding situation. Um the parcel described as part of outlot 178 has never been developed. Two of the lots have the same ownership name. The third has a separate name. The ownerships however belong to the same company. So we have a series of tables. Uh the first table shows um you know the current information of the property. So, we've got um lot one, lot two of block one of Garden Terrace Edition, and then we have out lot 178 except the northwest 370 ft. And then the acreages are provided, square footage, and the owner. Um the new plat would establish three lots. The exterior property lines of the new plat would retain the same property lines as the old plat. So listed below is a table with information on the new plat. So we have a lot one block one, a lot two block one and a lot three block one. And the acreage amounts are provided. Um

lot one is 2.68. 68 the same as lot two. Lot three is 3.45 square footages and owners also provided. I then did a comparison of the two tables. So lot one block one garden terrace edition was 3.44 44 acres and now lot one block one garden terrace second edition is 2.68. So there's a loss in in acreage. Lot two block one garden terrace addition was 3.59 acres. That particular lot is now going to be um described as lot three block one garden terrace second edition and that has 3.45 acres. So it also lost a little bit. Then part of outlot 178 was 1.77 acres. It is now being replatted as lot two block one and that's at 2.68 acres. Um lot two is the parcel that will be developed. So that's the location of the new apartment building. You've already heard that the owner is proposing to construct a 45 unit uh building. Um the the building will be consistent with the R4 zoning district.

Um the property lines between lots two and three and lots one and two cross the paved surface of the parking lots and circulation roads serving garden terrace one and two. The owner is proposing to use declarations in these locations. A formal declaration establishes a legal certainty and protects the rights and interests of the involved parties. Declarations provide a clear and documented record of one's intentions, ensuring that all parties involved are aware of the legal implications. And John, maybe you could just show where that property line um runs across and where it um crosses the existing parking area.

For the most part, it's uh for the parking area for garden two. That's garden terrace one. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Anyways, um right here. and then it just touches the corner of the parking lot. Uh itself that's about it.

Okay. Thank you. In this instance, uh the size of lot two was determined by the number of dwelling units in the building. This resulted in the property line having to expand into the parking lot area. The declarations will firmly establish the ownership of the parking and circulation area shown on the plat and the will continue to be used by garden terrace one or two. Um, as was previously discussed, upon completion of the project, um, the ownership, um, or the potential leasing of the property is, uh, what will potentially take place. Um attachments include the preliminary plat, the site location map, the zoning map, and the ground level photographs, which I think you've seen all of these previously. Staff would recommend approval of the preliminary plat with condition since it complies with city code requirements. There are four conditions. Number one is pay the parkland dedication fee of $3,150 for the plat. That's $1,50 per lot. Provide an electronic file of the plat in AutoCAD 2016 or newer format. Number three, the resolution approving the plat will be filed with the Brown County Recorders Office along with the plat. And number four, the applicant shall cause to be recorded against the property contemporaneous with the recording of the plat a

declaration of easements and covenants in a form approved by the city addressing the rights and division responsibilities between the platted lots with respect to the parking lot encroachments. And I want to advise the planning commission that the city attorney wrote that. Um, you have two motions. One is to recommend approval and one is to recommend denial. That concludes

that would um are there any questions for the city? I have just one with with the reconfigured lot sizes for the existing two buildings. Are all the densities still okay? All the densities are still okay and the setbacks are also met. Okay.

I got nothing. Is that it? That's it. That's it. I don't have any screen. So I don't I nothing beyond page one. So, I'm flying blind. Um, so I hear no questions and and no further discussion. So, I would call for a motion. Offer a motion to recommend approval with conditions of preliminary plot garden terrace 2 edition. Second. I have a motion and a second. Is there any further discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? I I opposed. And I'm assuming this appears to stay at the city council.

Yes, it will. Next item on the agenda is um reports, city council decisions concerning planning commission matters in July of 2025. Thank you, gentlemen. It was a pleasure meeting you.

Okay. for the August 5th meeting, they approved the simple division of um at 1300 Oak Street. Um the second thing they did is they um received an alley vacation petition and they set a public hearing date on that for uh their next meeting. That's um located uh right next to um McDonald's and it's only one um lot worth of alley. So, it's 50 by 20. Um at the um August 19th meeting, they had a public hearing for the um extension of a compliance date for southern Minnesota tooling. Um they had previously received financial assistance from the city. they were not able to meet their job requirements within the required time frame. State statute allows them to petition for an additional year to meet those job requirements. And so that's a process that they went through. City council approved the request. This is the fourth time that we have um had to do this um for uh for businesses. Um, they approved the development agreement with the Land Haven uh LLC. That's at 2211 Jacob Street. And um we signed um the development agreement um this past um couple days ago. They're in the process of um getting the plat uh prepared and that should be finished shortly. and they mentioned that they've been receiving a lot of calls. Um

so they're looking forward to uh proceeding. Uh we also um approved the development agreement for the River Haven project that's at 1800 North Highland Avenue. And we gave them a copy of the development agreement. uh they're the individual who's financing that project is um located in Spirit Lake, Iowa. So, there's a little bit of driving that has to be done there. And then the final thing is council had a work session on um their budget for next year. Don't know if you're interested or not, but they're looking at an increase of 9.79%.

Understand they've got equipment moving into keepers. Is that correct? Yes, they're under construction. Good. Um, Heritage Preservation Commission. No items. Okay. Is there any other business that needs to come before the commission? Hearing none, we stand adjourned.