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10-22-01 PC Minutes Regular Meeting of the Golden Valley Planning Commission October 22,2001 A regular meeting of the Planning Commission was held at the Golden Valley City Hall, Council Chambers, 7800 Golden Valley Road, Golden Valley, Minnesota, on Monday, October 22, 2001. Chair Pentel called the meeting to order at 7 pm. Those present were Chair Pentel and Commissioners Eck, Groger, Hoffman, McAleese, Rasmussen and Shaffer. Also present were Director of Planning and Development Mark Grimes, City Planner Dan Olson, and Recording Secretary Lisa Wittman. I. Approval of Minutes - September 24, 2001 Planning Commission Meeting MOVED by Hoffman, seconded by Shaffer and motion carried unanimously to approve the September 24, 2001 minutes as submitted. II. Informal Public Hearing - Zoning Code Text Amendment Applicant: International Health Care Services Address: Industrial Zoning Districts, Golden Valley, MN Purpose: The applicant is requesting to add "Daytime Activity Centers" as a Conditional Use to the City's Industrial zoning districts. City Planner Dan Olson stated that this proposal is to amend the Zoning Code text to allow adult day care centers as a conditional use in the Industrial Zoning District. He stated that currently, this use is not allowed as either a permitted or conditional use in any zoning district in Golden Valley. He referred to similar uses that are allowed in other zoning districts and discussed what a few other cities allow. He stated that the applicant's specific proposal doesn't necessarily need to be discussed in depth at this point and that the first step in the process is to change the Zoning Code text. Pentel asked Olson if he made any recommendations for parking requirements. Olson stated that he didn't make recommendations for parking requirements. Pentel stated that the State regulates the ratio of employees to clients in this type of business so the City would have a good idea of how many employees would be on the site and how many parking spaces would be necessary. Eck stated that it would seem reasonable to change the Zoning Code text in other zoning districts at the same time and asked why this proposal is restricted to the Minutes of the Golden Valley Planning Commission October 22,2001 Page 2 Industrial district. Olson stated that these types of text changes only arise when an application is received and this particular application is in an Industrial zoning district. Shaffer stated that the text change could apply in any district where there is a daytime activity center or a daycare center. Grimes stated he would be concerned about changing the text in the Residential district because this type of use might produce more traffic. Pentel suggested changing the definition to daycare facilities. Olson stated that the term daycare specifically applies to children. Pentel suggesting adding a new paragraph to the text in each of the districts to be changed. Rasmussen suggested using the words "daytime activity center". McAleese stated that there currently is a definition for "daytime activity center" so that would need to be changed to the appropriate words. Pentel stated she supports this text change and asked staff to come up with a definition and expand it to other districts. McAleese stated he would favor a more narrow definition. Groger stated that as long as this type of use is a conditional use and not a permitted use he sees no problem with it. Grimes stated that the City does have a couple of similar operations in existence already. McAleese stated that another issue is the parking requirements and that he would like to see stricter parking requirements similar to other cities. Pentel opened the public hearing. Michael Tobak, 2525 Nevada Avenue North, Suite 302, applicant, stated that they would like to open, in the same building, an adult daycare program. He stated that adult daycare programs have two models, a medical model and a social model and that they would like to start with a social model program. Pentel asked how he defines the social model. Tobak stated that the program would be for people who don't have major illnesses, but rather they are isolated and often don't have friends, don't speak the language or don't have access to transportation. This would give them the opportunity to socialize, exercise and participate in field trips. Pentel asked if the program would be licensed by the State. Tobak stated that these types of programs are licensed by the State. Pentel asked if they had connections with other facilities for the recreation elements of the program. Tobak stated they do have affiliations for their recreational activities. Minutes of the Golden Valley Planning Commission October 22, 2001 Page 3 Eck asked the applicant to clarify the number of people that would be on site at any given time. Tobak stated that the space in the building would accommodate up to forty people but their goal is to have approximately twenty clients. Shaffer asked what the ratio of clients to staff would be. Tobak stated that he believes the ratio is 10 or 12 clients to one employee and that they would have more than adequate parking. Grimes asked if the Commission generally agreed with the other cities recommended ratio of one parking space per employee and stated that the City has used that ratio in other circumstances in the past. Pentel stated she agreed with McAleese in making sure that the City requires adequate parking. McAleese stated he assumed that the ratio of staff to clients would be different in the medical model program. Tobak stated that the ratio is higher and thought it was five or eight clients to one employee. Pentel closed the public hearing. Pentel stated that it seems the Commissioners are interested in changing the code text and asked staff to come up with some definitions. Grimes asked if the Commission would like to table this proposal. Pentel stated she thought that would be a good idea. MOVED by Shaffer, seconded by McAleese and motion carried unanimously to table the request to add "Daytime Activity Centers" as a Conditional Use to the City's Industrial zoning districts until the November 12, 2001 Planning Commission Meeting. -- Short Recess -- VII. Reports on Meetings of the Housing and Redevelopment Authority, City Council, Board of Zoning Appeals and other Meetings Pentel discussed the October 9,2001 HRA meeting and stated that the HRA voted to designate Infinity Motel Holdings as the developer for the former White House site. VIII. Other Business A. Discussion of outside storage of PODS in residential areas Olson stated that the City has received a few complaints from residents regarding the use of outside storage containers (PODS). Rasmussen asked if there were any rules regarding dumpsters. Olson stated the only rule is they can't be on the street and there is no rule about how long they can stay on someone's property. Rasmussen thought that allowing people to keep the POD on their property for 30 days seems reasonable. Pentel asked what staff is able to enforce. Grimes stated that they could require them to be licensed. Minutes of the Golden Valley Planning Commission October 22, 2001 Page 4 Groger stated he thinks Golden Valley needs stronger code provisions in regards to outside storage. The commission decided that they would like to get more information from staff regarding the PODS Company and they would like to get a better sense of the market. They decided they would like to discuss this further at a later date. IX. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 8: 1 0 pm.