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10-09-95 PC Minutes119 Minutes of the Golden Valley Planning Commission October 9, 1995 A regular meeting of the Planning Commission was held at the Golden Valley City Hall, Council Chambers, 7800 Golden Valley Road, Golden Valley, Minnesota.' The meeting was called to order by Chair Prazak at 7:00 PM. Those present were Commissioners Groger, Johnson, Kapsner, Lewis, McAleese Pentel and Prazak. Also present were Mark Grimes, Director of Planning and Development; Elizabeth Knoblauch, City Planner and Mary Dold, Planning Secretary. I. Approval of Minutes -September 26, 1995 MOVED by Groger, seconded by Kapsner and motion carried unanimously. to approve the August 28, 1995 minutes as submitted with the following sentence added to Page Three, Paragraph Two: "He added that the Planning Commission realizes that the addition of this convenience store would create competition for this particular area but it is not the Planning Commission's role to control competition." II. Informal Public Hearing -Subdivision (Preliminary Plat) Applicant: PBK Investments Inc. Address: 3940 and 4010~GIenwood Avenue, Golden Valley, Minnesota Request: Subdivide a portion of the property located at 3940 and all of 4010 Glenwood Avenue for the purpose of creating three platted residential lots Mark Grimes, Director of Planning and Development, gave a brief summary of his report to the Commissioners dated September 3, 1995 commenting that these lots are currently unplatted thereby requiring a full subdivision. The request would allow for the owner of 4010 Glenwood Avenue to purchase 10 feet from the owner of 3940 Glenwood Avenue which would give the applicant the required minimum width of 80 feet at the minimum required front setback for the two proposed lots. Mr. Grimes also commented that the existing house at 4010 Glenwood Avenue, which sits on one of the proposed lot lines, would be demolished in preparation for the construction of two houses on the new lots. The Engineering Department has some concerns regarding the depth of the basement of the proposed house on lot 2 because of the depth of the sanitary sewer in Glenwood Avenue. Also, the County has requested that all three lots share one common driveway. Staff has written the County stating that three driveway cuts presently exist and that lots 1 and 2 are planning, at this time, to share one driveway. The applicant would like the option, for the future, for each lot to have its own driveway off of Glenwood Avenue. Commissioner Lewis questioned the setback requirement of the house located at 3940 Glenwood Avenue. Director Grimes commented that the house sits approximately four or five feet from the east property line. Because this is an existing nonconformity and does not affect the proposed Lots 1 and 2, no action needs to be taken to make the house legally nonconforming. The other. house will have to be demolished prior to plat approval in order to avoid creating a new nonconforming situation. Brian Pellowski, Applicant, told the Commission that he and his partner, Thomas Lindquist, would be the owners of Lot 1 and Lot 2, with Mr. Lindquist owning Lot 1. Mr. Pellowski talked about the size of each property and the houses proposed to be built, and felt that the proposed subdivision would be 120 Minutes of the Golden Valley Planning Commission October 9, 1995 Page Two an enhancement to the area and add to the tax base for the City. He commented that demolition of the existing house at 4010 Glenwood Avenue would not occur until Spring when they would like to begin construction of the proposed houses. Director Grimes stated that delayed demolition would be a problem because once the plat is approved the City loses its ability to enforce the .demolition requirement, staff will have to discuss this further with the applicant. Chair Prazak opened the informal public hearing; seeing and hearing no one, Chair Prazak closed the informal public hearing. Chair Prazak commented that the proposed development should be a significant improvement to the area. Commissioner Kapsner was concerned about not having a covenant agreement for the shared driveway. Commission McAleese said that he would like to see a covenant agreement. City Planner Beth Knoblauch commented that the City does not require a covenant agreement because each lot fronts Glenwood Avenue and there are three existing curb cuts to Glenwood Avenue. MOVED by Johnson, seconded Groger and motion carried unanimously to recommend to the City Council approval of a subdivision for the properties located at 3940 and 4010 Glenwood Avenue to allow for a portion of the property located at 3940 Glenwood Avenue and all the property at 4010 Glenwood Avenue be subdivided into three lots. III. Informal Public Hearing -Rezoning Applicant: Daniel Otten/Otten Realty Inc. Address: 1800 Winnetka Avenue North Request: Rezone the property from Single-Family Residential to R-2 (Two-Family) to allow for the construction of atwo-family dwelling Mark Grimes, Director of Planning and Development, gave a summary of his staff report dated October 4, 1995. Mr. Grimes commented on the requirements for the two-family zoning district, which include that lots have to be at least 12,500 sq.ft. in area and at least 100 feet of width. He reviewed several issues relating to the proposed rezoning and its accompanying minor subdivision .for double bungalow application: minimum lot requirements, slopes and wetness, sewer and water connections, easements, county consideration and Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions. Mr. Otten commented that he did have an interested party who would live on one side and rent the other side out. He said that each unit would have about 2,200 sq.ft. and have a total value of about $228, 000. Daniel Otten, Applicant, showed the Commission a site plan of how the two-family dwelling would sit on the lot. 1 1 1 Chair Prazak opened the informal public hearing. The following persons opposed the proposal of rezoning the property at 1800 Winnetka Avenue North. Below are some reasons for their opposition: 121 ~ Minutes of the Golden Valley Planning Commission October 9, 1995 Page Three • Concern that once the property was rezoned the owner could build something other than what he showed the Commission • Concern about the amount of green space left on the lot once the townhouse was built • Residents want to see the neighborhood remain single-family residential and feel atwo-family dwelling is incompatible with the existing single-family homes • Upset that the covenant that was originally set up, which stated that the Val-Wood area lots could only be used for single-family homes, is not being upheld. (The 30-year covenant expired several years ago and was not renewed.) Robert Johnson, 1940 Sumter Avenue North Ray Lemke, 1921 .Rhode Island Avenue North Karen Olson, 1720 Valders Avenue North Donald Schwartz, 1831 Valders Avenue North Phyllis Bailey, 1941 Sumter Avenue North Jack. Germain, 2000 Winnetka Avenue North Richard Wicklund, 1559 Sumter Avenue North Vandon Jopp, 1600 Winnetka Avenue North Donald Brockel, 1545 Winnetka Avenue North Mr. Bill Bergquist, 1920 Winnetka Avenue North, commented that he did not think that another four or eight cars on Winnetka Avenue would cause any more congestion and doesn't believe this is an issue. He also commented that he has known the applicant, Mr. Otten, for many years and believes that Mr. Otten's previous developments are an asset to the neighborhood. Mr. Otten commented that the covenant that had been in place for many years had expired four years ago and was no longer relevant. Chair Prazak closed the informal public hearing. Chair Prazak commented that Mr. Otten had developed a similar two-family dwelling in his neighborhood and it has been well maintained. Commissioner Kapsner wanted to clarify an earlier statement by Mr. Johnson, 1940 Sumter Avenue North. Mr. Kapsner commented that the Commission has no control over how the two-family dwelling would look if the Commission approved the rezoning, but also has no control over the appearance of single family homes. Commissioner McAleese commented on Phyllis Bailey's concern that the petition signed by 57 residents opposing the previous request to rezone this lot and three others., be made part of the record. Ms. Bailey wanted to know what had happened to the petition, which had been turned into the Planning Commission at the meeting of July 24, and would it be passed on to the City Council. Mr. McAleese commented that the Council does have all correspondence included in their agenda packets. Beth Knoblauch, City Planner, commented that the Council has seen all the petitions but because Mr. Otten had withdrawn his earlier application, the petitions were not discussed at a City Council meeting. ~:.-~~~ Minutes of the Golden Valley Planning Commission October 9, 1995 Page Four Commissioner Groger said he would have to vote against the proposal because of the basic issues -- it is asingle-family residential neighborhood. The lots in the neighborhood are uniform and atwo- dwelling unit would not fit. The Commission agreed with Commissioner Groger's comments. MOVED by Kapsner, seconded by Johnson and motion carried unanimously to recommend to the City Council to deny the request for rezoning of the property from single-family residential to R-2 (two- family) to allow for the construction of atwo-family dwelling at 1800 Winnetka Avenue North. IV. Informal Public Hearing -Minor Subdivision Applicant: Daniel Otten/Otten Realty Inc. Address: 1800 Winnetka Avenue North Request: Subdivide the existing lot which would allow each half of the proposed two- family dwelling to be situated on its own lot Mark Grimes, Director of Planning and Development told the Planning Commission that because they recommended denial of the rezoning, they could not approve the minor subdivision. Staff and the Commission want to make it clear to the City Council, that the minor subdivision does meet all City Code requirements if the rezoning had been approved. The Council, if they approve the rezoning, may act upon the minor subdivision. MOVED by Lewis, seconded by Johnson and motion carried unanimously to recommend to the City Council to deny the request of a minor subdivision for the property located at 1800 Winnetka Avenue which would allow the subdivision of the existing lot so that each half of the proposed two-family dwelling could be situated on its own lot. V. Reports on Meetings of the Housing and Redevelopment Authority City Council, Board of Zoning Appeals, Community Standards Task Force, and Valley S,guare Task Force Commissioner Groger updated the Commission on Task Force meetings. VI. Other Business No other business was reported V. Adjournment Chair Prazak adjourned the meeting at 8:30 PM. an Lewis, S cretary