Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

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Yeah. Heat. Stillwater Planning Commission meeting of November 4th will now come to order. It will be the process this evening called for items on the agenda. The commission will hear briefly from staff first, then the applicant andor their representative, and then open the public hearing and hear from those in favor and then those in opposition to the request. When you come to the podium, please clearly state your name and address for the record. Uh and wanted to let everyone know this evening each speaker will have five minutes to speak and we request that um whatever information you provide try to make it unique from other speakers. Uh before closing the public hearing both the staff, the applicant and or their representative will be provided an opportunity to respond uh to the questions and provide additional information. And after all interested parties have spoken, the public hearing will be closed. We will hear closing remarks and then alternatives from staff. So the first uh item on the agenda this evening will be under general orders and uh we have a final plat and we will hear from staff.

There we go. Sorry, I had the wrong one pulled up to start. Uh good evening. My name is Henry Bebleheimr. I'm with development services. So tonight we're looking at a final plat for Richmond Road and Highway 177 edition which is at 1500 East Richmond Road. Here's the aerial view where you can see the property on the southwest corner of Richmond and Jardo. The property is currently zoned industrial general which does support the current development which is proposed as a data center. Here's the final plat. Um the final plat for this property does have three parcels. We're looking at lots one, seven, and two. Um there's a proposal for additional parcels filling in that three through six that would be proposed at a later date. Um so these lots are at the northeast corner. Um you might notice that some of these easements have books and pages that aren't quite filled in yet. Um those will be filled out. um that so those easements would all be filed and those easement numbers will be added to the document before the full approval and um Miss Chair would sign those documents. So all of those documents would be filled in before that is done. I'm open to answer any questions if you have any.

Any questions from commissioners? I don't know if this directly relates to the plat itself, but I know there's been multiple complaints about road conditions and possible pollution of the pond related to this construction. What's being done to mitigate those complaints? Do you know? I don't gonna pass that one off to David. [clears throat]

Good evening, uh, David Barth, development services director. So, um, with I'll take your first one regarding Richmond Road, I assume is what you're talking about. Um, correct.

So, Richmond Road, uh, the developer is planning to pave that from Perkins Road all the way east to Jardo, so for the full mile. Um, and I believe construction is is scheduled to start on that um, in the next few months. Um and uh they've also got some waterline improvements to do and and and some other things like that, but that will be paved. um they've been maintaining uh that road as it has had experienced some damage um due to you know increased traffic and truck traffic. And so they've uh the contractor out there has been um really great to work with our um public works department to go out there and to um make some temporary repairs until they can get working on the the final construction of that road. Um, regarding the drainage, yeah, earlier on um there's been, you know, we they started grading that site and then we've got all of that rain in the spring and so um they um you know, had to go out and and kind of prop up their erosion control measures and mitigate those um mitigate any, you know, erosion from the site. Um and you know, I believe that uh I've not heard of any complaints since. I know we haven't had a lot of rain in the last few months except for about a week and a half ago. We got some good rains, but uh I haven't heard anything since then. Um but yeah, back in the spring there was some some complaints from the Park View Estates and uh specifically and and as far as I'm aware, they've mitigated those concerns.

Okay. Thank you.

[clears throat] If there are no other questions, staff um present our alternatives.

Yes, ma'am. So, the staff findings, the proposed final plat meets the subdivision and zoning requirements. The comprehensive plan calls for industrial uses at this location. And the alternatives tonight's are accept findings and approve the proposed Sorry, that's just preliminary plat where TR accepts the prelim the final plat and recommend city council approve it to reject the findings um and reject recommend that city council deny the final plat or to find that additional information or discussion is needed prior to making a decision and table the request. Staff recommends alternative number one. I would motion to accept the findings and approve the proposed prelim or final plat as presented.

Second. We have a motion and a second. We shall now vote. Motion passes 40. Next item on the agenda is review and discussion regarding approval of the planning commission uh 2026 meeting schedule. I trust everyone's had a chance to take a look at that. Um we do need to take action to approve that this evening. So moved. Second.

We [snorts] have a motion and a second. We shall now vote. Motion passes 40. Okay. There are no items that were removed from the consent docket. So, we'll move into the public hearing section. Uh the first item on the agenda is um a map amendment MA25-15. And we shall hear from staff first.

Yes, ma'am. So, this is a map amendment for 7-Eleven South Ramsey Street. This is to reszone the property from small lot single family residential or RSS to two family and multif family residential RTM. Here's an aerial view of the property where you can see it on the east side of Ramsey between 8th and 9th. The property, as you can kind of see in this aerial, had a single family house on it. Um, it has been torn down now and is currently vacant. As you can see in this property, this is taken at the corner of A and Ramsey looking towards the development. Um, it's now prepped for a multif family development, which is why we're looking at this reszoning today to go from RSS to RTM. Here's the zoning map where you can see the existing property is RSS. To the north, east, and south, we have RTM or two family multif family residential. On the west side of Ramsey, we do have RSS, small lot single family residential. Um, the future land use map does call for highdensity residential at this location. Um, so this res this proposed reszoning does align with the future land use map and the comprehensive plan. I'm open to answer any questions if you have any.

Any questions for staff? Okay. All right. At this time, we'd offer an opportunity for the applicant or their representative to come forward. Good evening, commissioners. Steven Ghost with Ghost and Associates, 113 East 8th Avenue. Uh here trying to clean up a little zoning issue on the the piece of land our client bought. Like the map showed, it's RTM all around except for this one little piece. It was part of the former Covenant School site. And so we're just trying to get that one one piece to match the rest of it. So there's any questions I can try to answer. Any questions? Thank you.

Thank you. At this time, we'd open the public hearing and ask if there's anyone in the audience this evening that would like to speak in favor of this item to please come forward. Seeing none, we'll ask if there's anyone in the audience this evening that would like to speak in opposition of this item. Seeing none, we'll close the public hearing and um hear findings and alternatives from staff.

Yes, ma'am. So, the proposed map amendment aligns with the future land use map in the comprehensive plan. The proposed reszoning to RTM aligns with the zoning districts to the north, south, and east. So, the alternatives tonight are to um accept, deny, or table the request. Staff recommends alternative number one, which is to accept findings and recommend that city council approve the proposed map amendment as presented. Thank you. Uh, I move we accept the findings, recommend the city council approve the map amendment as presented. Second the motion. We have a motion and a second. We shall now vote.

Motion passes 40. Next item on the agenda is uh a request for a map amendment MA25-13 and we shall hear from staff.

Yes, ma'am. This is a proposed map amendment for 998 South Murphy Street. This is to reszone a subject property from um RSS or small lot single family residential and commercial general to commercial general. Here's an aerial view of the subject property. You can see sixth along the northern edge of your screen. Um this is just south of the Walmart on the west side of town. So you have Murphy Street coming down and then you have the subject property outlined in pink. Um just to the north of the property you can see the existing hotel and to the west we have um multif family. So, here's a street view of the property. This is on Murphy Street looking kind of northwest of the subject property. Um, you can see the existing hotel there on the right side of the picture and then the rest of the pictures some of the existing multif family development in the area. Um, and you can also kind of see that pod right there which is adjacent to the site. So, here's a PUD which I know you can't read very well. This was approved in 2007 and this is just to explain how we got to the scenario where we are where this property is zoned RSS or small ass single family residential. So I'm going to turn on my pointer here and just point to a few things just to make this make sense. So here's the site where there's the proposed it says proposed hotel that has been built and is existing. Um this is a proposed future apartment development. Um so this is the multif family development that has since been developed um based on this PUD. This is a proposed park to support the residential development. So you have the multif family here, the single family along the south. All of which has been built similar to this. It was changed with different PUDs throughout time. But um that's how we got to this existing RSS which was under this PUD in 2007. There was a new PUD that was a preliminary PUD that was approved in 2011 which proposed a commercial or restaurant use at this property. Um that PUD was never final. there was not a final PUD for that property. So, it never changed that zoning or those

allowed uses. So, it's still this existing PUD from where it was proposed to be a park to support that residential. Um, so yeah, that's how we got to where we are today. Um, as a part of that PUD process, there was a PUD or plan unit development amendment that was submitted to remove this property from the PUD and reszone it commercial general to align with those commercial uses that were that were proposed in the 2011 preliminary plat. So, that just gives all the context of how we got to where we are. Um, here's the zoning map where you can see the existing zoning on the property, which is RSS. on the very northern edge of that property along that property boundary with the hotel you have some CG or commercial general. Um so this is also cleaning that up. The future land use map does call for commercial at this property. So reszoning it to commercial general does align with the future land use map in the comprehensive plan. I'm open to answer any questions if you have any.

Any questions for staff?

Thank you. give an opportunity this evening um for the owner or representative to come forward. I don't think we have one. No. Okay. So, we'll open the public hearing and ask if there's anyone in the audience that would like to speak in favor of this request to please come forward. Seeing none, I'll ask if there's anyone in the audience this evening that would like to speak in opposition of this item. Seeing none, we'll close the public hearing and hear findings and alternatives from staff. Yes, ma'am. The proposed map amendment aligns with the future land use map in the comprehensive plan. The proposed reszoning to CG aligns with the commercial uses proposed by the preliminary PUD which was approved in 2011 on this property and the properties to the north and east of the property are zoned CGPU with that original PUD. So, the alternatives once again are to accept, deny or table the request. staff recommends alternative number one, which is to accept findings and recommend that the city council approve the proposed map amendment as presented.

Thank you. I I would just say this seems to be um kind of like the previous one, this seems to kind of clean up and get something more in line with our comprehensive plan. So, it seems quite straightforward to me. Is um anyone entertaining a motion? [snorts] I [clears throat] move to accept the findings. Recommend the city council approve the map amendment as presented. Second the motion.

We have a motion and a second. We shall now vote. Motion passes 40. Next item on the agenda is a map amendment MA25-12. And we shall hear from staff first. Yes, ma'am. This is a proposed map amendment for 802 Southwestern Road. This is a proposal to reszone from Smalla Single Family Residential or RSS to office or O. Here's an aerial of the property where once again you can see sixth across the top of the screen. So, you're south of six on the west side of the western. So, you're on the southwest corner of 8th and Western. Um, as you can see, the property is currently vacant. Um, here's the street view looking western looking west. This is from western looking west. Um, and you can see a going on the right side of your screen there. Here's a zoning map where you can see the existing zoning of RSS or small lot single family residential. Um, and that's surrounded by RSS or small out single family residential. Um to the north of the parcel to the north you have CS or commercial shopping and just to the north of that along six you have CG or commercial general. Here's the future land use map which does call for commercial properties along western. Um the lines there don't seem to align with the property lines. So the western portion of this property the conference of plan does call for highdensity residential. And just to make that make a little more sense, um I do have a snippet from the conference of plan which defines what high density residential is. Instead of reading this whole paragraph, I'm just get to the very last sentence where it says convenience and neighborhood scale commercial may be located in this area. Um so since the majority of the property is comprehensive plan calling for commercial, you'd have do have some highdensity residential which does still allow commercial. That's why that wasn't a concern for staff.

So, here's a conceptual exhibit that was submitted that shows a proposed singlestory office um with parking on the rear. Um north on this would be up. So, you have Western along the right side of the screen and then parking would be off of Western off of ETH. Um this isn't proposing access onto Western, it's just proposing one access drive onto ETH. Um I do want to point out that since this is a resoning, um we're not locking anything in on this conceptual exhibit. It is conceptual just to show what the applicant is proposing. But if this resoning were approved, they would be allowed to do anything in the O or office zoning district. Um, I'm open to answer any questions if you have any. Any questions for staff?

What's the timeline outlook on having all of Western commercial because there's a significant amount of residential, single family residential up and down Western currently. That's it's going to be a long time that Western's anywhere close to looking like that.

Yes, sir. There's no set timeline that I could say. Um the I can say the conference is a plan. We're working on an update too. Um and in that update, it does also call for commercial along Western. So there's no set timeline for any of that to transition. It's just kind of whenever that development will occur. Um and those parcels would just generally be bought andor redone individually. So I don't think there's any plan to do one large sweep. It's just can I get some insight as to why that the city thinks that that will become commercial all up and down Western.

Yeah. So I generally think that comes from a the comprehensive plan but b Western being kind of a prime thoroughare on arterial street right there. It's four lane on the north side of sixth and four lanes on the south side of 12th. Um so I do think I don't know the timeline myself. I'm a little curious, but I do think eventually that being a prime arterial street would likely become commercial. Is there any timeline on when that will be for lane through there? There's no funded projects at this time. Um, that could be a general goal. That might be an idea that people like, but right now there's no funded projects for that. So, no set timeline. Thank you.

Yes, sir. All right. Any other questions for staff? Thank you. At this time, we'd like to give the applicant or their representative an opportunity to come forward. [clears throat]

Good evening again, Commissioner Steven Ghost with Ghost and Associates. uh here on behalf of our client Allora who's also here and they'll speak after me. Um seeking amendment um the map amendment for this reasonzoning. There were some Henry covered the current comprehensive plan. The the future comprehensive plan that's un in the works right now also calls for this area to be neighborhood commercial instead of just blanket commercial all the way along 8th over to Devon with the remainder of that neighborhood in that area to be the smaller lot lower density single family as opposed to the highdensity residential on the current comp plan. Um our client had been looking all over town for land. This was available. They know it has to be reszoned, so that's why we're here. They're looking to do a medical office building on the site, which could provide a somewhat of a good buffer between Western and the neighborhood to the west. Um, there were some concerns. We got some of the same letters you all did. We've seen them with concerns from the neighborhood. A lot of those have to do with the design, final design that will be handled by staff through the process and making sure the site meets code with regard to setbacks, drainage, um access and things like that. Uh the there was one concern with the property owner list that was prepared in accordance with section 2358C of the code measuring from the edge of the partial exclusive of rights away. So, I think that's why there was a few properties that a few years ago when this was up for consideration got notices and this time didn't. Um, the office they're asking for office as opposed to commercial shopping which is to the north because there's a lot fewer

uses allowed within that that would be more neighborhood scale in our opinion. Um, and again, I think the rest of those will just leave time for the neighbors to to voice their concerns and comments and we can come back up and try to address those as they're appropriate. So, thank you. Thank you. With that, at this time, we'll open the public hearing and ask if there's anyone in the audience this evening that would like to speak in favor of this item first. In in favor, sir. Yes, sir. Okay. Please come forward. Oh, okay. If

you like to go ahead and come to the um podium and state your name and address for the record, please.

My name is Craig Weldon Carson. I represent Allora and Oklahoma Arthritis Center. So, planning commission um neighbors and citizens. Uh thank you for giving me a chance to tell my Stillwater story. I grew up in Ogden, Utah. and early on recognized that I loved science and I loved serving people. My father suggested that a career in medicine would satisfy those two passions. And he was right. I'll forever be grateful for his guidance. I love the practice of medicine and I love practicing medicine. I love building medical clinics and serving patients. My personal goal is to provide arthritis care within two weeks of when a patient gets sick. If you wake up and you can't move, you shouldn't have to wait 8 months. When I started, I thought the 8-month wait time was just because I was such a good doctor. That's a pretty conceited view. I attended college in Ogden, Utah, and medical school in Salt Lake City. Penny and I married in college and had our two children during medical school. One Sunday night, we were watching a PBS television program. And we watched as people crawled across the street to go to Mayo Clinic for arthritis care. And Penny said, "That's where you need to go." She called him the next day and got me in. And Mayo was everything I had hoped it would be. At Mayo, I learned you put the patient first above all else. We came to Oklahoma originally to do biomedical research. I worked at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation for

3 years. I thought the cure to arthritis was just a step away. I really did. We did come up with some very powerful tools to help patients with arthritis, now called biologics. And I'm sure anybody who's suffered from or knows anybody with arthritis recognizes the word biologic. I was grateful to have had a part in that. We started Oklahoma Arthritis Center January 1 of 2000 because our children wanted to graduate from school here. For over 10 years, we attended church in Oklahoma in Stillwater. Oklahoma is now our home and my mission is to provide arthritis care. Oklahoma Arthritis Center grew quickly. One day talking about um why come to Stillwater, a very good friend asked me that if I really loved patients and wanted to provide good care, why was I making them wait 8 months to be seen? And if I really loved my patients as I said I did, why was I making them travel over an hour for the care they needed, the care that Mayo taught me how to provide? Those two piercing questions stirred my soul because of our connection with church and Stillwater and because of that those deep questions. We determined that we needed to provide arthritis care in Still Water. Part of my model is to work with nurse practitioners and physician assistants, and if they don't know what to do, I'm there for them. We found the perfect provider and office manager and began hiring

office staff, but we could not find a suitable location. It took over a year to find our current home in Dr. Shusler's dental building on Sixth Street. We've now been in Stillwater for four years. We have three providers, 10 support staff. In total, 15 Stillwater families rely on Oklahoma Arthritis Center. Everyone loves providing excellent arthritis care, just like Mayo taught me. Our 5-year lease expires next October and I am not optimistic that our new landlord will allow us to extend. I have always been nervous about being evicted. Evicting a medical practice is a is a it is very difficult to move a medical practice. I'm looking for a permanent solution. [sighs] To me, it's really important to stay in the heart of the medical community. We rely heavily on other offices and providers on Sixth and 12th Street for support care.

Please wrap up. We have five minutes. I will wrap up. Our current property on 8th and Western seemed to be an answer to years of prayer. We were able to get an offer in before a developer of multifamily structures. We are committed to providing rheumatology care in Oklahoma and hope you will support us. We want to be good neighbors. We want to comm community to contribute to the community. Thank you.

Thank you, sir. At this time, I'll ask if there's anyone else in the audience that would like to speak in favor of this item. Seeing none, um we're going to ask for those that want to speak in opposition. And I have have a list here. So, we have some that um contacted online. We'll start with those. Uh do we have a Brian Korea in the office or in the in the audience? And I hope I pronounced your name correctly. Close. You can correct me. Korea. And your address, sir?

2401 West 8th Avenue. We are the western border of the subject property. I submitted three separate written comments packages to you. Um the first two are are greatest concerns. One is the use of the use of West 8th Avenue for commercial access. Um the street is in terrible condition. We've lived there 15 years. it's just gone downhill. Our second major issue is flooding in the area and I submitted a separate paper to you regarding that. So I want to repeat that here tonight, but there are a few other things that I would like to talk about. We all recognize Western Road is uh going to be commercial someday if the homeowners want to sell and people want to develop it. Um people always talk about widening Western Road. I've lived in Stillwater for 18 years and it was one of the first things I ever heard when I moved here. We're going to widen rest Western Road. Um, so anyways, in the comments I said that this was our second goround on this particular property, but the property just north of it between it and the Wikllo Professional Center has also been the subject of reszoning attempts and that occurred in 2015. And way back in 2015, the planning commission and the city council realized

even though that law is attached to the Wicklo Professional Center, everybody realized it doesn't make any sense. Western Road is a mess and West 8th Avenue is in terrible condition. And to even suggest that it's suitable for commercial traffic uh is something that I have a hard time getting my head around. Um transportation to or from these commercial properties is one of the most important things to be considered when making a decision about it. Um, it would create an island within a big residential neighborhood. At least the Berry property was attached to commercial and it could wave that flag and say, "Hey, you know, I'm attached." But this would be an island. I have a hard time understanding that, too. Um, it's a bold move to say, "I'm not even going to try to attach like down by the Glow Salon or something like that. We're going to plant a flag right in the middle of your neighborhood." You know, that way anybody in between has got the same justification that is being put forth here. So, that just opens up Western for everything, both sides of the road. At least that's the way I see. If if if if the ice is is broken, so to speak, I have a very difficult time with this routing commercial through residential neighborhoods. It doesn't I guess it's legal, but it doesn't make much sense to me. And it's not going to be just West 8 in Devon. A lot of folks coming from the south when things are

backed up, they're going to turn on Ninth and they're going to run down Ninth, come around Wiklo Street and back up pace to this development and there is going to be a lot of traffic. We talked about this last time. This is a large building, 10,000 square ft. 50 offices, 200 square feet each. That's a big office. 53 parking places. They're expecting a lot of traffic. Okay. [snorts] So, when we say hundreds of additional vehicles, I don't think that's an exaggeration. This issue about a property not being in the affected property owners list. I heard some kind of legal interpretation there. 58B hinges on the legal description of the property, not some other easement thing that was waved around. And if that's going to be the city's legal interpretation, well, maybe we should adjust the code to say the legal ex description except blah blah blah. Okay. I don't see that in the code.

Thank you, sir. Sir, that that's five minutes. Did you have any parting thought or is that a good good spot to end? I have a question about this 40% coverage maximum. All right, we'll we'll note that and see if we can get that answered at the end. Any questions for me? No. Thank you.

Okay, the next name I have is Bobby Bonner. Hello. Um, my name is Bobby Bonner. I live at 801 Wikllo Street. [clears throat] Excuse me. MA25-12 is not as much of a proposal to commercialize Western as it is a plan to commercialize 8th Avenue, a single lane, poorly maintained residential street with numerous blind spots. 8th Avenue is merely 17 ft wide in front of our house. Two cars cannot safely pass by each other. ETH already suffers from heavy high-speed cutthrough traffic from commercial property on Devon and Sixth and others avoiding the crowded intersection at Sixth and Western. The C3 plan says that on local streets like ETH, quote, "through traffic and excessive speed should be discouraged." End quote. Commercializing 8th is in direct opposition to this goal and cannot be done safely without major changes to 8th Avenue and the properties on it. The crowded intersection at 6 and Western backs up traffic all the way to 12th Avenue at peak times of the day. It is already difficult for residents to turn off ETH onto Western and the addition of cutthrough traffic only intensifies this problem. Just a week a oh a few weeks ago we witnessed a wreck at 9th and Western from a car who could not safely merge into traffic. It is clear from previous hearings concerning that this lot that the commercial driveways will enter and exit on 8th Avenue. That same traffic will no doubt attempt to turn onto Western from 8th leading to the type of hazardous congestion the C3 plan clearly seeks to avoid. We cannot urge you enough to consider the enhanced flooding risk that commercial property would bring to our community. Please consider the safety of our homes, their continued value, and the people who live in them. During the flooding of 2019, our property sustained tremendous water damage. Our neighbors were rescued by boat. You saw that on the news, and it took years and more resources than we personally had to overcome the damage to our home. I know

many of our neighbors face similar challenges and more. Even in normal downpours, 8th Avenue experiences localized flooding. The introduction of more imperous surfaces from commercialization, where grassy lawns once resided, would endanger the lives and property of residents already living in this flood plane. Still Water is in short supply of affordable housing in vibrant and established family neighborhoods like ours that are a desirable elementary district and close to workplaces like OSU and the hospital. The C3 plan proclaims that the city should quote maintain the established character of existing neighborhoods. End quote. Commercial property extending into our community severs our residential blocks from the larger original neighborhood, essentially cutting us off from important community resources like Meyers Park and Westwood grade school. This will cause decline in our area and interfere with the walkability of our neighborhood, creating a traffic vein dangerous to our children who walk to parks, schools, and neighborhood h I mean neighbors houses. We have a young child at home who plays outside. We feel adamantly that our commercial that commercial properties sharing the same street as our home were to no sidewalks are present on a 17t wide street is not in the best interest of our child's safety and well-being. Commercialization commercializing Western and bringing more traffic and air pollution to the area surrounding Westwood Elementary compromises the ability of our children to walk to school safely or even to play freely in their own neighborhood. So, in answer to some of the stuff we saw today, uh the proposed map, if you look back at that what they showed, uh it goes past the line of the commercial into the neighborhood. That's our neighborhood goes past the proposed. And then the first map, uh you can see that there is in fact commercial north of us. Nothing to the south. Let's not start that process. We can stop it right now. Uh, if they do the four lanes right going down Western, it will cut into the property you're trying to change right

now. Okay. And then I believe it's Dr. Carson. Love what you do, sir. Really do. I have several family members with arthritis. I notice you didn't say your address. Do you want to build one of your buildings, a commercial building on your address? I know I do not. Sir, sir, you need to direct all your questions. I'm so sorry that to the commission help that um I nothing against you, sir. Um my wife has arthritis. We can drive. We can drive to a place to go get it. There's tons of open uh uh commercial buildings. We've been taking photos of them all around Stillwater. Let's not change our neighborhood. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. Next name I have on the list is Steve Trumper.

Good evening. I'm Steve Trump. My address is 818 Wikllo Street where my me and my family have resided for over 25 years. I'm just outside of the 300 ft radius. So, uh, the first concern I have with the resoning request is the additional water runoff. I submitted some, uh, paperwork, which should be in your packet showing a couple of pictures. You can see a picture in my mailbox as it's underwater. 34 in of water in front of my house in 2019. And then there's a picture of it on a clear day so you can tell the difference. We can't take any more water in our area. and and that lot is going to drain down 8th Street towards my property down Wikllo Street in front of my house. Um, my second concern, as Brian mentioned, 8th Street is not built to city standards. There should also be pictures in your packet of two vehicles that can't pass each other on the road. As I was coming here tonight, I turned off of Wikllo onto ETH had to pull off in front of Bobby's house, barely missing his trash cans so that another car that was coming at a fairly good clip, could pass me before I could continue down the road. It's not a dedicated city street, as I understand it, never has been. Um, we do appreciate these reszoning requests every few years because the city comes in and makes the road real nice for you guys to come drive by and see the lot and all that. The last time it was addressed was 2019 and now again it's it's pretty nice. They they filled in all the potholes and stuff. So that's pretty handy. Um in 2021 in a 2021 resoning effort for this property as well as the property to the north, uh one thing the planning commission discussed was the importance of walkability of our neighborhood. Um and I would argue we already have that. Uh within a short one half mile walking distance of my residence, we have 52 businesses.

Everything from groceries to medical offices to gas station to animal care to auto care to insurance agencies, dry cleaners, you name it. I could go down the list, but within a half a mile radius, we have all of that. Um, in the October 30th edition of the Stillwater News Press, it was stated that the Envision Stillwater Plan, which is the revision of the comprehensive plan, as I understand it, revealed that there are more than 5,000 acres of land in Stillwater city limits that are vacant and available for Greenfield development. That's a quote from the newspaper, 5,000 acres. And we can't find one place other than this lot in this established neighborhood to build an office. Um, and so that's that's my question to you is why must we take the first step in destroying a wellestablished neighborhood? The report [clears throat] also showed that feedback from residents showed 32% of Stillwater residents think that Stillwater's housing types should focus on medium or large lot single family residences, which is what this particular lot used to be. It used to have a house on it. So why not take the opportunity to keep the neighborhood intact and leave the lot as a residential lot? to Commissioner Williams' comment earlier about the timeline of commercialization on Western. As Bobby said, let's just don't start that process. Why take out 30 or so houses that have been in families, you know, for generations, at least decades. I know mine has. You're if you widen the road and commercialize both sides of Western, you're taking out 30 to 40 houses between 6th and 12th. And I would hate to see that happen for an established neighborhood when we already have a housing shortage in Still Water from what people have said. So anyway, the land the majority of the land owners in the area I feel have spoken. I appreciate your time and thank you for your service to our community.

Thank you. Let's see. Yeah, I started to talk, right? Okay, those were all the names that we had that pre-signed up and I noticed there were several people that came in after we took the um signup sheet in. So, I'll um give an opportunity for those that did not have a chance to sign in if you would like to speak in opposition to come forward. Yes, sir. Please come to the podium and state your name and address for the record.

My my name [clears throat] is Bob Hall. I've been a resident of Stillwater since 1970. So that puts me here about 55 years if I added right. I won't bore the rest of the crowd with my family history or any of that. My opposition to this this whole idea is that you've got a traffic problem here that you need to solve before you do anything. All you have to do is drive down Western or 6th somewhere between 7:30 and 9:30 every morning and somewhere between 4:30 and 6:00 every evening and it's just chaos. We've got Stillwater Middle School on the southwest side of town. We've got that Stillwater Junior High on the northeast side of town and all of those kids and families are going back and forth. And of course, the main intersection is Sixth and Western. There needs not there doesn't need to have any more businesses, anything other than family development there to replace houses that have been uh vacated or moved out, destroyed. So, my thing would be a s a traffic problem. There's talk about, and I get very emotional about this because I've been here so long, there's talk about Sixth Street being widened to two lanes. Well, the last thing that we've heard there in the Westwood area, and I didn't tell my address, 2218 West 5th. Uh, [laughter] they're going to widen that and but that's been delayed since 2031. Now, someone my age may not even be here by then anyway, but we do care. So, let's let's stop this now and think it over before we go any further. Thank you.

Thank you. Is there anyone else in the audience this evening that would like to speak in opposition? Sure.

My name is My [clears throat] name is John Tilda. I live on 8th Avenue uh 2210. So, I'm actually outside just beyond the 300 foot area of the site under discussion. But the only point I really want to make besides agreeing with all the points that have been made already, I think they are excellent points and I really have no um corrections that I'd like to make to anything that's been said. All very fine. One more point would be that uh related to walkability. people that live in my area like to walk across Western to go to Brahms and all those other businesses on on the other side of Western and getting across Western by foot right now is really difficult during the times that were mentioned and almost any time of day. So, um I think in order to maintain the walkability of the area, uh we should not have any more commercial development. Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone [snorts] else like to speak in opposition? Yes, please. [snorts] Um, you have to get a little closer, I think.

Okay. I am Maxine Mustard. I live at 2201 West 10th. I have lived there since July of 1972 or 53 years. I am very aware of the flooding problem that they have people have spoke about even though I live on the other side of Western because through there is a creek that goes through Meyers Park which thank goodness they are renovating and I appreciate that very much. But three times in 50 years, I have had lakefront property because the creek would come all the way up on my driveway. And the last uh time just in I think it was 19 when we had lakefront property it was waste deep in on on in ridge on ridge. It was waste deep to college boys. So it was pretty deep. And so, and I know that that flooding goes west of me and south of me. If we're going to develop that land there any further, we need to someone needs to address the flooding problem because the more concrete

you cover dirt with the more your flooding problem is going to exist. I think a medical clinic in our area is so much more preferred to me than to than apartments and commercial, regular commercial, but because I managed a medical clinic here for 35 years and Um, I know that they are good neighbors and maintain their properties, which is a major plus. But that property on that side of Western, that entire area floods and it always has, at least the last 53 years I have seen it. And so the more concrete drive um parking lots and things, the worse the flooding is going to be because water has to go somewhere. And so that's my objection to this is that if the city wants to develop that more for commercial, they need to address the Still Water Creek flooding problem first. Thank you. Is there anyone else this evening that would like to speak in opposition?

All right. Okay. So, seeing none, um close it. I'd like to give the um applicant and the representative an opportunity to address the questions that have been raised. um to address this 5,000 acres of land of vacant land available in Still Water. I've asked through some of those public meetings on the comprehensive plan the same question. Where are these 5,000 acres? Um as my client mentioned, he's been looking for four years for a piece of property that would fit their needs. And this is one of the few that have been available. So, I mean, he's been trying. He's looked at those 5,000 acres and trying to figure it out. There was a question about whether 8th Avenue is even a public street. The plat for that JT Grace neighborhood does show a 33 foot um line that rep appears to represent an ease or a rideway same as it shows on Western. So 16 1/2 ft on on the south side of 8th Avenue and the same on the north side. and additional rightaway dedication will be done as part of this project should it move forward. So to address the ultimate rideaway width on Western, I believe it's an extra 17 ft that would be needed to get to a 50ft half rideway for a full 100 foot total rideway on Western. And on 8th it's another 7 and 1/2 ft or something to get to a 25 or 30 foot half rideway. So, the plan that was presented tonight does have those rightaway dedications um accounted for. So, it nothing would have to be dedicated or moved in the future should it move forward. Uh sidewalks would be

added as part of this project to help with some of these walkability issues. I know there's two sides of that, the traffic side and actually having places to walk. The commercial development would require sidewalks both on Western and on 8th. Uh again, should it move forward, a drainage study will be done. There will have to be detention on this site. I mean, we're aware of it. The client's aware of it. That will be accounted for, reviewed by city staff or their third party consultant. Uh there was a question about the 40% lot coverage. The code definition of lot coverage is the building footprint. It's not the total impervious area. So, it it talks about the coverage of the buildings. That's one that we always have to check um when we're working on sites to make sure that that lock coverage because it's relevant in a lot of the districts. Uh the initial traffic numbers we've kind of penciled out based on a medical office clinic is 31 peak hour 40 p.m. peak hour uh trips. So the rest of the stuff with regard to the encroachment that's for a decision for you all to make. We feel again that based on the current comprehensive plan, the one that's being worked on, that this appears to be an appropriate use based on those maps. So, are there any questions you all have for me?

All right. Thank you.

I see any. Thank you. At this time, we will um close the public hearing and ask staff to present uh findings and alternatives. So the findings are that the land development code allows professional and administrative office and services by right in the office or o district. The proposed map amendment aligns with the future land use in the comprehensive plan. Your alternatives tonight are to accept and recommend approval, denial, or tableabling. Staff is recommending alternative number one, which is to accept findings and recommend the city council approve the proposed map amendment as presented. Thank you. Jana, you said you were part of planning commission when this was brought up in 2021. Can you give me a little bit of insight as to kind of the decision that you guys came to then to not because it sounds like this would have been on the

on the comprehensive plan then still saying that it's for commercial general but you elected to not do it then. So I I I think and um certainly um Commissioner Shanahan can chime in after me because he was also here. [laughter] Um, not to just throw you No, it's okay. I'm trying to get a little bit historical context from y'all.

Share share my thoughts and um certainly, you know, if needed, we could probably pull up some old minutes or something. But, um, my thoughts on this previously when we looked at it, um, a lot of what's been said this evening, there's there's conversation about Western being widened. Um I I've lived here some total 40 plus years, not all contiguously, but for the last 25 I've been a Stillwater resident again as an adult. Uh grew up here, so I'm very familiar with the flooding that happens in this area of town. Um and with Western being four lane to the north of of six, that's kind of one thing, right? with Western being fourlaned south of this area um up to 12th, it seems pretty logical that it's someday this will be four lanes. And I think to kind of sum everything up that's been discussed this evening, walkability and such, um that in in 2021, that was not someday. It was it was not the time where it felt like um it was it was being embraced by anybody to make the change in the neighborhood. And and I and I I do really appreciate um all all of the the citizens of the neighborhoods really doing your homework. You guys have really done a lot. Uh and I think it's helpful to kind of take that look at how many businesses um are are walkable in the area. So, I think 52 was the number I wrote down um this evening is what was what was stated was 52 businesses within a half mile radius. That's wonderful. That that's incredibly walkable. And I and I think that's one of those things that I look at and how do you improve quality of of life in an area is how walkable is it? Can you really live your life in a in a

small condensed area and not spend a lot of time uh in the car? Are you interacting with other people? um are you getting out or you walking? Is that a healthy thing um for yourself and for your neighborhood? You get to know your neighbors that way, right? Because you see their faces. U those are all really positive things. So, you can kind of look at that as a double-edged sword in my mind on this. Um so, if there's already businesses in the area, does it make sense to have a few more businesses that would be beneficial? Um but then it sounds like the neighbors are saying we've got plenty. So, that's kind of kind of where we are on that one. But um just kind of straining a little bit into some of my thoughts from what's been presented this evening and I would um love to hear thoughts from my fellow commissioner Shanahan. Now, I think you summarized it pretty well, so I won't rewind it, but um and again, we had some discussions back in 21 about the uh walkability, meaning some mixeduse neighborhoods and having smallcale commercial enterprises be integrated into uh neighborhoods. And there was that discussion um and I think u that a medical office wouldn't be a high impact item certainly but I also think there is a high degree of uh what's the word I want to use u viability about the concerns of adequate housing in the city. And here we are uh reszoning from RSS to office when

I think really that land that area should be used for housing. Now whether or not that would ever happen, I don't know. That's speculation. Uh there's often talk in development about highest and best use. Often times that really means is who can make the most profit out of a piece of land rather than what is really the best use for a community. I think in this case housing would be the best use of this land. Uh but again, you have to speculate was that what will happen if we decide not to reszone this to office? I don't know. And and I agree there's been at infinitum discussions about widening of Western. I've been here for 28 years and heard it and so is everyone else. And a lot of that is contingent of course on funding and it would be city funding and I don't know where they'll get the funds to do that anytime in the near future. So that's another consideration. I I I don't see Western being commercialized between uh the southeast corner of 12th and Western up to uh 7th. But again that's speculation. And I'll I'll also add, you know, as we sit here tonight and we talk about this and talk about the increased traffic along Western and I live southwest of of this location and uh had occasion to run some errands on my way into work and drove past this way the other morning and I was a little startled at at how that traffic has increased over probably the last 5 years or 10. Um, and it's it's one of these things as we get to have more population and

more destination on either side of this area along Western that traffic's just going to increase. Um, a lot of people that are a lot smarter than me on the way traffic studies go and flow could tell you more, but it it raises a question for me, too. If Western were widened, would that relieve some of the congestion? Would it flow a little better if if it were widened? Um, so that that's another question I I have, but again, that's that's probably would need a traffic study and somebody that knows more about that topic than myself

or me. But that being said, I think from discussions with people, if there was added a turn lane at 9th and maybe a turn lane onto ETH or whatever, that would alleviate some amount of congestion on Western, but I'm not a traffic engineer to be. So, yeah.

So, I it's it's interesting. I think one of the other things from from past is um that past time when we reviewed this in 21 was how far back the zoning was going into the neighborhood. Um the comprehensive plan takes about 2third of the um depth of this property and says that's what it kind of outlines as being um commercial [snorts] use and then residential beyond that. You know, I think I think you would want to have something that would kind of be some of that step down zoning to kind of give you a little bit of a buffer. And I think what was mentioned tonight, and we've seen a lot of this, I think, in Still Water is medical offices do tend to provide that. They give kind of that smaller one scale, one-story um maybe a more residential kind of feel and and provide that. So, the in my mind, this seems like a good fit for this area. But again, I fall back to how deep it goes into the neighborhood and is this really the right time.

I think that's what it is for me is if I can see the grand plan for it to all be zone commercial or office all up and down Western. But the amount of tra I mean Western's chaos on that road right now. every time I just don't drive down it because it's always so busy and it just it's not the infrastructure to me doesn't seem to be there to accommodate starting down this road yet. I applaud efforts, you know, provide more convenient medical services. Uh those are are needed by many. I just think this is the wrong location in a neighborhood. Um I just I hope they can find another location, but I think it it really impacts the integrity of the neighborhood at this point in time. Uh and uh I don't think it's the proper location.

So would any any other conversation or I hear perhaps maybe a motion being formulated Um, I move that the map amendment is not approved use for the property based on the impacts to the surrounding vicinity and do not recommend that the city council approve the specific use permit. I believe that is a typo on the staff report. It's not a specific use permit. It's just a straight up amendment. So stated. Thank you. We have a motion. Do we have a second? I second the motion.

We have a motion and a second. We shall now vote. Motion passes 40. The next item on the agenda is um a text amendment to Stillwater City Code Chapter 23 Land Development Code. And we shall hear from staff.

Yes, ma'am. Um, so this is a text amendment to the land development code specifically for a setback exception um with this list of sections that we're changing. We'll get into those in just a second. Um, but [snorts] some context of how we got to this um, one good example of why we're doing the setback um, exception, why we're doing a text amendment to the setback exception is a board of adjustment case that's going to be heard by the board of adjustment on Thursday. Um, so this setback exception, I'll go ahead and go to this first slide so we can read through that verbiage which is on the bottom part of the slide, which is for development on property that abuts any local street that currently has 100 foot of continuous rideway for the entire block, the front yard setback may be reduced by up to 50%. So what that means is when there's 100 foot of continuous rideway on a local street, um, where that's relevant is a lot in our downtown area where um, it's platted with the original city of Stillwater Plat. Um, a lot of our local streets, like you know, the Lowry, the Lewis, the Seventh, ETH are 100 foot of rightway. Now, if you're building a new development and you have a local street, city code currently requires either 50 or 60 ft of rideway. It's 60 foot of rightway that can be reduced to 50 if certain easements are given. Um, so really we need 60t of rideway for local streets. So, in a lot of the original platted town, there's more rideway than is required. Um, so that's why this exception is written into certain zoning districts to allow you to reduce that front setback to let you build closer to the street while still allowing the city to maintain that right of way. Um, so the example I was pointing to that's going to be a variance heard later this week, um, assuming that continues is, um, there's a property that is on the corner of I want to say 7th and West. Um, both of those streets have 100 foot of rightway. So, and it's in the RSS zoning district, which the list of the zoning districts this is currently in, it is included in

RSS. So, they would be allowed to use this exception except on the east side of West and on the north side of 7th, someone has closed 20t of right ofway, which means there's not 100T of rightway continuous for the entire block. So, someone else closing that ride ofway basically has negated the ability of the entire block to use this exception. Um, and we saw that as something we could potentially modify to make this ex exception a little more applicable. So that's why we're proposing this proposed amendment. Um, so we'll start with on the bottom. Oh, we'll get to the districts in a second. Let's look at the verbiage first. So on the bottom part of the slide, we're proposing that for property that for the full length of the property abuts a local street and one the ride ofway has a minimum width of 100 ft or the center line of the plattered ride ofway is a minimum of 50 foot from the property line, the front yard setback may be reduced by up to 50%. So what this does is it limits the scope of the relevant ride ofway to the width of the property and it allows you to measure from either the full width of the property or from the center line. So that's the one change we're proposing. Um, I'm going to go back to current real quick. Um, just to talk about the zoning districts. Right now, this is allowed in our single family zoning districts. So, our RSL, our RSS, and our two family districts, our RT. It's also allowed in our mobile home districts. Um, our commercial districts, which are OC, CS, CB, and CG, as well as industrial light. A pretty comprehensive list. Um, we've had some projects that are in our multif family districts that wouldn't be allowed to have the setback exception. and we read through old records and we weren't able to come with come up with a reason of why this exception wasn't included in more zoning districts. So, as a part of this text amendment, we're proposing to change the verbiage. We're also proposing to include it into our multif family districts which include RTM, RMI, RMU, our high-rise district, industrial, general, and agriculture. Just including it to the rest of the zoning districts, as well as updating this verbiage. Um, I would click to the next slide, but I'm open to answer any

questions if you have any, and I'll just leave this up there for you to look at. [clears throat]

I think you've already addressed the one question I had after reading through it. So, your presentation answered my question that I had. Any others? Okay. All right. We will now um open for public hearing. Is there anyone like to speak in favor? Again, Steven Ghost with Ghost and Associates. We've worked with staff over the last decade on a number of issues, but we've gone to board of adjustment for these cases. So, as for board of adjustment for the setback reduction, it's typically granted there. For a while, there was the option to close the rideway like the example Henry gave on the other side of the streets. Well, now the city's a little less willing just to give right away away. Totally understandable because especially in these older parts of town between here and between really downtown and Washington 12th to 6, that's where a lot of the original plat is. And so we can't close a rideway and you end up at the same location anyways with a building setback and that process is a lot more arduous. So you got to go to city council, you got to go through district court again just to move a setback to keep setbacks in general accordance with where the structures in those neighborhoods are today. So instead of sticking them back. So this really helps I think alleviate a lot of concerns. It seems like the some of those multif family districts got missed. Maybe there weren't as many of them in that area when it was originally granted. But I ask you to consider this in a affirmative manner because it'll really help and I don't think I haven't seen an adverse impact yet. So thank you.

Thank you.

Is anyone else in the audience this this evening that would like to speak in favor of this item? Seeing none, is there anyone in the audience this evening that would like to speak in opposition of this item? Seeing none, we'll close the public hearing and ask staff to present findings and alternatives. Yes, ma'am. So, our findings are that the proposed text amendment updates the verbiage for the exception that allows the front step back to be reduced when the development abuts a local street with 100 foot of rightway. The proposed text amendment will also expand the zoning districts that that the exception applies to. The alternatives are to accept findings and recommend the city council approve, deny, or table this request. Staff recommends alternative number one, which is to accept findings and recommend that the city council approve the proposed text amendment as presented.

Thank you.

I will move that we accept findings and recommend the city council approve the proposed text amendment as presented. Second the motion.

We have a motion and a second. We shall now vote. Motion passes 40. The next item on the agenda is for preliminary plat. And we have a note that um the preliminary plat for uh 2002 East Maroy Road uh has been withdrawn at the applicant's request. So then we will move to the next portion of the agenda which is the meeting summary for review and possible action. We have the regular meeting summary from October 21st. Are there any additions or corrections? I move to accept the minutes as presented.

Second. We have a motion and a second. We shall now vote. Motion passes 40. The next item on the agenda is miscellaneous items from staff, planning commissioners, or city attorney for discussion and possible action. We have anything this evening? No. Okay. Last item on the agenda agenda is adjournment. Do I hear a motion to adjurnn? So moved. Second. We have a motion and a second. We shall now vote. Motion passes 40. We are now adjourned.