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07-22-02 PC Minutes Regular Meeting of the Golden Valley Planning Commission July 22, 2002 A regular meeting of the Planning Commission was held at the Golden Valley Oity Hall Council Chambers, 7800 Golden Valley Road, Golden Valley, Minnesota, on Monday July 22, 2002. Chair Pentel called the meeting to order at 7:00 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 - June 24, 2002 Planning Commission Meeting - Eck referred to page 4, paragraphs 4 and 5 and asked that the words "that corner" in both paragraphs be changed to "the southwest corner of Golden Valley Road and Winnetka". Eck referred to page 7, paragraph 4 and stated the word "side" should be changed to "site" MOVED by Eck, seconded by McAleese, and motion carried unanimously to approve the June 24, 2002 minutes with the above noted changes. II. Informal Public Hearing - Zoning Code Text Amendment (ZOOO-51) Applicant: American Lutheran Theological Seminary e Address: Light Industrial Zoning Districts, Golden Valley, MN Purpose: The applicant is requesting to add non-residential post secondary schools as a Conditional Use to the City's Business and Professional Offices, Light Industrial and Industrial zoning districts. Grimes stated that the applicant has asked the City to delay the public hearings regarding their application for the above Zoning Code text amendment and also their application for a conditional use permit. He explained that the applicants have not yet reached an agreement in purchasing the building. He stated that the Planning Commission could open the public hearing and then close it, or they could just discuss the Zoning Code text amendment issue. Pentel asked why the American Lutheran Theological Seminary is the applicant on the Zoning Code text amendment application and not the City. She stated that it might be useful to discuss the proposed text change without having the actual application for the Minutes of the Golden Valley Planning Commission July 22, 2002 Page 2 conditional use permit before the Commission. Grimes explained that generally Zoning Code text amendments and conditions use permit applications are heard separately, but in this case the seminary wanted to start having classes in September so he agreed to put both items on the agenda at the same time. He stated that he agrees with Pentel that it might be worth talking about the Zoning Code text amendment now, even though this particular request is no longer on this agenda. Shaffer asked if the Commission could discuss this Zoning Code text amendment without taking a vote on it. Pentel stated she would like to make a recommendation, positive or negative, to the City Council. Rasmussen agreed that this would be a good time to discuss the Zoning Code text amendment because it really doesn't have a lot to do with a specific applicant, it's more an issue of whether it is a good idea or not. e McAleese stated that his concern is that the City is not the applicant and is not proposing this text amendment, but that there is an applicant who specifically asked that this item be removed from the agenda. He stated that proponents in the past have had the opportunity to present an argument in favor of a change to the Zoning Code and here the person who specifically requested this text amendment is not here to make their argument. He stated it is a question of process more than anything else. Pentel acknowledged that there is an applicant for this particular request. However, staff is talking about making changes to the Business & Professional Offices, Industrial, and Light Industrial Zoning Districts. McAleese agreed that the issue is a generic one, but it is before the Planning Commission because this specific applicant raised the issue and would probably want to have an opportunity to expound upon it. He stated however, that if staff is comfortable going forward with this text amendment then he would be too. e Grimes agreed with McAleese and stated that if the Commission turned down this request for a Zoning Code text amendment and then the applicant would want to come back in the future, they wouldn't have the opportunity to bring up their point of view. Pentel stated that she'd be fine tabling this request. Groger stated that tabling this request would be his preference because right now there is nobody to present anything to the Commission so it would be a discussion about a hypothetical use. Rasmussen stated that changes to the Zoning Code shouldn't be applicant driven and that it should be a part of planning. McAleese stated that it is a part of planning, but that people do have the right to request a change to the Zoning Code. He suggested that instead of tabling this item, they could remove it from the agenda and ask staff to " bring back an application to the Planning Commission with the City as the applicant. Grimes suggested the public hearing be continued to within the next month in case the applicant chooses to bring their application back to the Planning Commission. Minutes of the Golden Valley Planning Commission July 22, 2002 Page 3 Shaffer stated he would like the Planning Commission to look further ahead and possibly discuss, in more breadth, other types of uses the City might want to add to these zoning districts. Groger stated it would be difficult to add a lot of hypothetical uses to the zoning districts when text amendments are usually driven by a specific need. Grimes stated that in August, staff will have some more potential changes to the Zoning Code and that maybe the Planning Commission could discuss this particular issue then. MOVED by Rasmussen, seconded by Shaffer and motion carried unanimously to continue these public hearings. III. Continued Informal Public Hearing - Conditional Use Permit (CU-97) Applicant: American Lutheran Theological Seminary e Address: Purpose: 800 Boone Avenue North, Golden Valley, MN The Conditional Use Permit would allow for a non-residential seminary on property in the Light Industrial zoning district. The applicant requested that their request for a conditional use permit be removed from this agenda. -- Short Recess -- IV. Reports on Meetings of the Housing and Redevelopment Authority, City Council, Board of Zoning Appeals and other Meetings e No reports from other meetings were given. V. Other Business A Presentation on the Natural Resources Inventory was given by SEH, Inc., consulting engineers, the Environmental Commission and the Open Space and Recreation Commission also attended the presentation. VI. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 7:16 PM.