PRESENT: Acting Chairman Dave Sowieja; Fred Steffen; Ann Shannon; Karen Aldinger

Excused: Ch. Mayor Wescott; Jeff Zabel; Lois Feldman

ALSO PRESENT: Comm. Dev. Dir. John Gardner; Ald. Molski, Stroik, Moore, & Markham; Tim Laatsch; Dave Davis; Greg Hansel

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 June 7, 2004 Plan Commission Meeting
2. Stora Enso - 800 Block of Wisconsin Street
Rezone from "M 1" Light Industrial to "M 2" Heavy Industrial
Conditional Use for Silo/Pump House Addition
3. Rezone - 1101 Francis Street - from "B-4" Commercial to "R-3" Two Family Zoning
4. Conditional Use - Pacelli High School, 1301 Maria Dr. - Accessory Building
5. Maximum Size of Accessory Building

1. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF THE JUNE 7, 2004 PLAN COMMISSION MEETING

Fred Steffen moved, seconded by Karen Aldinger, to recommend approval of the minutes of the June 7, 2004 meeting. Ayes all; Nays none; Motion carried.

2. STORA ENSO - 800 BLOCK OF WISCONSIN STREET

- Rezone from "M 1" Light Industrial to "M 2" Heavy Industrial
- Conditional Use for Silo/Pump House Addition

John Gardner summarized the proposal to construct a broke silo and brick pump house to recycle waste paper that is generated on site.
He stated a portion of the property is zoned light industrial with the balance zoned heavy industrial. At one time, the site was occupied by residential buildings that were acquired by then- Consolidated Papers, the houses were removed, and their building was constructed. The city has changed permitted uses in the Manufacturing districts which now makes the existing building nonconforming and the proposed addition would not be allowed. Staff recommends changing the zoning to heavy industrial to make the building conforming and to make the zoning consistent with adjacent zoning.

Some time ago, the council approved amendments to the zoning ordinance that changed some heavy uses, including paper mills, from "permitted" to "conditional" to allow review of proposed uses. Prior to that change, Stora Enso could complete improvements without council approval. Staff recommends approval of the conditional use because the building is matching the existing setback, and the use will not result in any additional trucking, noise, or odor.

Ald. Stroik questioned because of concerns about existing truck traffic, are there any assurances that they won't be trucking in any waste from another facility for recycling.

Tim Laatsch, Stora Enso, noted we can provide that kind of assurance that there won't be additional trucking that would come about as a result of the construction of this facility. The recycled material, "broke" as we call it, that would go into this tower would all come from inside the mill. There would be no exterior access point for trucking in waste.

Fred Steffen moved, seconded by Ann Shannon, to recommend approval of the request of Stora Enso for "M 2" Heavy Industrial Zoning and a conditional use to construct a Silo/Pump House addition in the 800 block of Wisconsin Street.
Ayes all; Nays none; Motion carried.

3. REZONE - 1101 FRANCIS STREET - FROM "B-4" COMMERCIAL TO "R-3" TWO FAMILY ZONING

John Gardner reviewed the surrounding zoning and uses and stated the request is to expand their house and they cannot because it is not a permitted use in the existing commercial zoning. It is unlikely that these existing small lots and valuable homes would be candidates for commercial development. Staff feels Two Family Zoning is compatible with the existing use and the zoning to the north across Francis Street, and he will be recommending review of Business 51 zoning patterns as part of the comprehensive planning process.

Fred Steffen moved, seconded by Karen Aldinger, to recommend approval of rezoning 1101 Francis Street to "R-3" Two Family Zoning.
Ayes all; Nays none; Motion carried.

4. CONDITIONAL USE - PACELLI HIGH SCHOOL, 1301 MARIA DR. - ACCESSORY BUILDING

John Gardner stated the request is to eliminate one of the two existing garages and replace it with a 50' x 60' garage to house a vehicle and storage. Adjoining lots on Union Street are very deep and staff doesn't feel the garage will cause any disturbance to those neighbors. Any water concerns are more of a neighborhood issue that go from Maria Dr. down to Sixth Ave. and he doesn't feel the request will aggravate that at all because the area is already paved. If this were new commercial or apartment development, we would certainly be concerned. Staff recommends approval of the request.

Fred Steffen moved, seconded by Dave Sowieja, to recommend approval of the conditional use request to construct an accessory building at 1301 Maria Drive.
Ayes all; Nays none; Motion carried.

5. MAXIMUM SIZE OF ACCESSORY BUILDING

John Gardner this is a follow-up issue from last month when detached garages were addressed but attached garages were unlimited. He stated he had received a call from Plover asking about our ordinance on accessory buildings because someone with a 1,200 sq. ft. ranch house is constructing a 1,600 sq. ft. garage and the neighbors feel this is too large.

Staff has looked at some of the larger homes recently built in the city. The larger garages were 1,100 sq. ft. He suggested two options for consideration: 1) any garage larger than 3 stalls be reviewed by the Plan Commission and Council, or 2) limit garages to 1,200 sq. ft. and anything larger would require review. He prefers allowing 1,200 sq. ft. which would allow most homes to be built without review.

Karen Aldinger expressed concern with the owner of a single story home wanting to build a two-story attached garage that would still meet the square footage requirements.

Fred Steffen noted he knows of a house that has a 3-car garage with one door on each end and can pull 3 cars straight in. Some homes have 2-car deep garages which could be a 4-car garage, but you would only see two doors from the front. The only problem might be height for a motor home. We need to look at the height of a garage door.

Dave Sowieja noted he would be willing to allow a 1,200 sq. ft. single-story garage and anything more would require review.

John Gardner noted if the Commission is concerned with the oversized garage door, we should then refer to the size of garage door openings and put some numbers in there, and he would then define single story.

Karen Aldinger moved, seconded by Fred Steffen, to recommend approval of one single story attached garage per residence not larger than 1,200 sq. ft. with the garage door opening(s) not higher than 8' unless reviewed and approved by the Plan Commission and Common Council. Ayes all; Nays none; Motion carried.

Meeting adjourned at 5:00 p.m.

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