PRESENT: Chairman Mayor Wescott; Dave Sowieja; Karen Aldinger; Jeff Zabel; Ann Shannon; (Excused, Lois Feldman and Fred Steffen)

ALSO PRESENT: Zoning Adm. Brent Curless; Ald. Rackow, Molski, Sevenich, Stroik & Markham; Tom Schrader, Park & Rec. Dir.; Mayors Assis. Jami Gebert; Lance Stampfli; Jeff Borchardt; Shawn Murphy;Robin Engum; J.D. Manville; Mike Fisher; Jim Billings; John Johnson; Erwin & Joanne Davis; Don Pieczynski; Gene Kemmeter, Po. Co. Gazette; Kate Garsombke, Stevens Point Journal

NOTE: Ald. Dave Sowieja has been newly-elected to the Plan Commission and will be chairing the meeting in the absence of Chairman Wescott.

Index of these Minutes:

1. Approval of the Minutes of the May 3, 2004 Plan Commission Meeting
2. Conditional Use - Apartment Proposal - Maria Dr./Second St. (925 Maria Drive)
3. Variance from Sign Ordinance - Scaffidi Motors - 3733 Stanley St.
4. A. Annexation - 221 Green Avenue B. Zoning Classification - "R-2" Single Family
5. Site Plan Review - 5700 Block - Windy Drive
6. Conditional Use - Group Home - 1034 Francis Street
7. Ordinance Amendment - Increase Size of Accessory Buildings in Residential Zones
8. Property Agreement For Mural At 817 Clark Street

1. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF THE MAY 3, 2004 PLAN COMMISSION MEETING

Chairman Mayor Wescott moved, seconded by Dave Sowieja, to approve the minutes of the May 3, 2004 meeting. Ayes all; Nays none; Motion carried.

2. CONDITIONAL USE - APARTMENT PROPOSAL - MARIA DR./SECOND ST.
(925 Maria Drive)

Chairman Wescott reviewed the attached memo and noted apartment buildings are a conditional use and require review by the Plan Commission and Council approval. Staff recommends approval with the recommendations listed in the staff report.

Ann Shannon questioned whether the final design of the facade is completed.

Robin Engum, project developer, responded he has been discussing the design with John Gardner and the exterior plans are still in the design stages.

Don Pechinski, 1017 Maria Dr., noted there seems to be a lot of units for that little lot.

Robin Engum responded there are actually fewer units. The first request was for 9 units and this is for 7 units.

Mike Fisher noted the first proposal was for 20 occupants and this request is for 22 occupants. Less units with 2 additional occupants.

John Johnson, 100 Meadow St., noted there may be less units but more bedrooms, so you can put more people in less space. Does this request meet codes?

Brent Curless responded the property is zoned commercial which allows for a greater density. The proposal meets the 10' rear yard setback, the parking requirements, and the commercial zoning allows for parking in the front yard. The green area included on the east side is because of the proposed extension of Third Street which is owned by the city. The reason the site plan makes this proposal look more compact is because the zoning doesn't require them to meet a green area requirement in the front other than the 5'. This proposal provides a 5' green area, 40' for parking, and a 5' sidewalk for a total setback of 50' from the property line to the building. Because of the zoning, this is treated as a commercial building.

Karen Aldinger noted she would like to be able to visualize the landscaping/green space.

Chairman Wescott noted those can be part of the conditions as well as those listed in the staff report.

Jeff Zabel moved, seconded by Ann Shannon, to recommend approval of the conditional use request to construct apartments at 925 Maria Drive with the following conditions: 1) the east and west ends of the building should include windows to increase light into the units and to break up the blank wall of the building ends, with the brick to continue around the ends of the building, 2) the gables over the sidewalk should be changed to provide more relief to the front of the building. This could be accomplished by extending the gables over the sidewalk, or by increasing the size of the gable in the center of the building to become more of a focal point of the front of the building, 3) a privacy fence be constructed between the apartments and the home to the south, 4) occupancy is limited to 22 tenants. One parking space must be supplied for each licensed tenant, 5) all drainage must be retained on-site or directed to a storm sewer as approved by the public works director. This includes drainage from the south side of the property, 6) landscaping and green area be provided and reviewed by staff, and 7) staff review final facade.
Ayes all; Nays none; Motion carried.

3. VARIANCE FROM SIGN ORDINANCE - SCAFFIDI MOTORS - 3733 STANLEY ST.

Chairman Wescott noted the memo is self-explanatory and staff recommends approval of the setback variance for the reasons as stated in the memo.

Ald. Markham stated she is not sure what the point is of giving a variance. If we are always going to grant a variance, why don't we change the ordinance. We need to be consistent.

Karen Aldinger moved, seconded by Dave Sowieja, to recommend approval of the setback variance for Scaffidi Motors at 3733 Stanley Street because the site location is unique, the proposed sign is less than the allowed square footage, and locating the sign without the variance would result in loss of parking.
Ayes all; Nays none; Motion carried.

4. A. ANNEXATION - 221 GREEN AVENUE, B. ZONING CLASSIFICATION - "R-2" SINGLE FAMILY

Chairman Wescott noted staff recommends approval of the annexation and single family zoning. He further noted there is a new law that went into effect about 10 days ago for municipalities when they annex large tracts of land (50 or 100 acres of land) or property from a township. The new law has a sliding formula that requires the receiving municipality to reimburse the value of the property tax. He is unsure if it would apply on this property or what the formula would be. The new law will change how every municipality handles annexations.

Dave Sowieja moved, seconded by Karen Aldinger, to recommend approval of the annexation and single family zoning for 221 Green Avenue.
Ayes all; Nays none; Motion carried.

5. SITE PLAN REVIEW - 5700 BLOCK - WINDY DRIVE

Chairman Wescott reviewed the attached memo and noted the proposed site plan meets parking and setback requirements. The Dir. Of Public Works recommends approval of the circulation and access issues. Staff recommends approval with a heavier planting of tall trees to separate the buildings and screen the service area of the building, subject to meeting the Town of Hull/Stevens Point land use agreement. He further noted until the new access drive between Hwy. 10 and Windy Drive is completed, access to the site would be from Amber Lane.

Dave Sowieja moved, seconded by Karen Aldinger, to recommend approval of the proposed site plan for the 5700 block of Windy Drive with the restrictions of heavier plantings of tall trees to separate the buildings, screening the service area of the building, and subject to meeting the Town of Hull/Stevens Point land use agreement.
Ayes all; Nays none; Motion carried.

6. CONDITIONAL USE - GROUP HOME - 1034 FRANCIS STREET

Chairman Wescott noted staff recommends approval of the request to operate a group home for up to 4 unrelated persons until December 31, 2006 pending neighborhood input. These homes are not for anyone associated with the justice system.

Chairman Wescott moved, seconded by Jeff Zabel, to recommend approval of the conditional use request to operate a group home at 1034 Francis Street with the following conditions/restrictions: 1) occupancy limited to 4 unrelated persons that have a developmental disability, and 2) occupants shall not include persons associated with the justice system. Ayes all; Nays none; Motion carried.

7. ORDINANCE AMENDMENT - INCREASE SIZE OF ACCESSORY BUILDINGS IN RESIDENTIAL ZONES

Chairman Wescott noted this is the second time this item has come before the commission. There was a request last month for an accessory building that would exceed the 900 square feet. Do we wish to increase the size of an unattached accessory building.

Brent Curless stated staff is recommending against increasing the size of accessory buildings in residential zones. A 4-car garage would be 900 sq. ft. which we feel is adequate considering you could still have an attached garage to your residence. In order to house any larger vehicle, such as a motor home, a 16' wide building to house that could be 55' long. All of the covenants that we could find for new subdivisions have 900 sq. ft. or smaller. Buildings larger than 900 sq. ft. tend to be more commercial or warehouse in nature.

Jeff Zabel noted at the last meeting, there were a lot of positives and we should look at a sliding scale. To him, a sliding scale means as the acreage increases, then the square footage of the building increases. He was disappointed because he doesn't see any of that in the attached memo. The other issue was the number of vehicles. If we don't allow a larger building, is there an ordinance that deals with cars parked on the lot. If we don't approve this, are we saying it is okay to have cars parked all over the lot.

Brent Curless responded vehicles are okay if they are licensed and parked on the driveway or in the side or rear yard on a hard surface such as blacktop, concrete, or red granite.
He and John had discussed the sliding scale and concluded that a large building placed next to a residence is still going to be a large building and won't have a residential feel to it.

Jeff Borchardt, 3225 Olympia Ave., noted he lives in an area where things have happened that he had to put up an 8' privacy fence to hide piles of wood and 8' logs. We have covenants but they are no where near what an ordinance can do. He begs that this ordinance stays as it is. You can hide a car with a fence if you live next to someone who decides to store one. You can't hide a 2-story 1500 sq. ft. pole shed. We have a wonderful business park for builders or roofers or people that decide to store business equipment.

Lance Stampfli, 4617 Heffron St., questioned what if a person owns three lots and wants to put up a garage.

Brent Curless noted lets say you own two lots, you have your house on one lot and the other lot is vacant. You could put an accessory building on the vacant lot if you are treating those two lots as one residential zoning lot. Our ordinance states that you must have an accessory building to a residence/main building. If you have two adjoining lots, you are entitled to have a residence on one lot and an accessory building on the second lot as long as you use it as one zoning lot. If you have three lots, such as Mr. Stampfli, you cannot put an unattached building on each lot. In many municipalities, you would not be allowed to construct an accessory building on a parcel by itself. The City considers it all one zoning lot and when you go to sell the property, it goes as one lot.

Ann Shannon felt based on staff recommendation, the ordinance should remain as it is.

Ald. Stroik noted we have been talking about an unattached accessory building. Is there any way they could attach it to a house with a breezeway and have it as large as they wanted to.
The sliding scale came up to be accommodating.

Brent Curless responded our ordinance does not address the size of an attached garage. As long as the garage would meet the setbacks, it would be okay.

Chairman Wescott noted a sliding scale would be a regulatory nightmare to enforce.

Brent Curless responded it would be very difficult if someone wanted to split a lot and it would be tricky to keep track of the land and what is on it.

Chairman Wescott moved, seconded by Karen Aldinger, to stay with the 900 square foot maximum size for accessory buildings in residential zones. Ayes all; Nays none; Motion carried.

8. PROPERTY AGREEMENT FOR MURAL AT 817 CLARK STREET

Chairman Wescott noted the Design Committee of downtown businesses has an agreement with the current owner of 817 Clark Street that would allow a mural to be painted there and remain there for 20 years and the property owner would not erect obstructions in from of the mural. The city would be the holder of the agreement and any interest in the property would be reviewed the Plan Commission and Common Council. The license would transfer if the property is sold. An endowment has been established with the Community Foundation for future maintenance.

Chairman Wescott moved, seconded by Dave Sowieja, to recommend approval of the property agreement for a mural at 817 Clark Street.
Ayes all; Nays none; Motion carried.

Meeting adjourned at 5:00 p.m. Next meeting to be Tuesday, July 6 at 4:00 p.m.

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