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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning & Zoning Commission Minutes 06-09-2010 /�� ' ' , Planning and Zoning Commission F � City of Cape Girardeau 401 Independence Street (('%��vr!/.�c i•irrvinrn.��t[l�urr,�uu��lctl�°,� C8p2 GIfBfCj@2U, M0. 637�3 � . � 573-339-6326 MEETING MINUTES June 9, 2010 Present: William Hinckley, Trae Bertrand, Scott Rhodes, Charles O. Haubold, Jr., Ralph Maxton, Raymond Buhs, Patricia Mothershead, and Marcia Ritter Absent: Scott McClanahan Staff Present: Ken Eftink, Martha Brown, and Richard S. Reinhardt, Jr. Call to Order. Chairman Hinckley called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Chairman Hinckley made a suggestion to amend the agenda so that voting on the public hearing items would take place after each individual item instead of waiting till all of the public hearings are through before voting on any. Hinckley's suggestion was that item 4 would become 2a and item 5 would become 3a. Charles Haubold made the motion to amend the agenda, seconded by Ralph � Maxton, and approved unanimously. Approval of Minutes. The minutes of the May 12, 2010, meeting were unanimously approved upon motion made by Charles Haubold and seconded by Trae Bertrand. 1. TTF-4 Presentation. Mayor Harry Rediger gave a presentation on transportation trust fund projects. Mayor Rediger gave a history of how and why the transportation trust fund was created. The purpose was to provide a method to fund new street projects. Mayor Rediger mentioned that TTF-1 had passed with a 68% approval, TTF-2 had passed with a 53.6% approval, and TTF-3 had passed with a 81.6% approval. Mayor Rediger stated that TTF-1 and TTF-2 finished on budget and on schedule. Mayor Rediger gave an update on completed projects in TTF-3 and added that TTF-3 was on time and on schedule. TTF-4 is on the ballot for August 3, 2010 and if approved will expire on December 31, 2015. Mayor Rediger mentioned that the list of projects should be prioritized and that Bloomfield Road to White Oaks should be at the top of the list. Mayor Rediger gave a summary of all of the projects listed on TTF-4 and gave the total cost which was $21,256,000 and that includes a $2,000,000 contingency fund and each of the individual projects were calculated with contingency funds as well. It was emphasized again that the vote was to take place on August 3, 2010. Hearinqs, Discussion, and Votinq 2. Request of Kerry Smith and Tim Smith for a Special Use Permit for a mix of commercial and residential uses of the property located at 260 North Middle Street. � Kerry Smith and Tim Smith of Fredericktown, Missouri were present to speak for their application. They stated that they are seeking to purchase the property at 260 North Middle Street. They went through their business plan and stated that the name of the venue would be, The Parlor. They mentioned that they would serve specialty coffee drinks that was locally roasted at Broadway Book and Roasting. They would also serve beer and wine that was produced locally as well. They added that they had sent very general letters to the � adjoining properties that may have been misinterpreted. Kerry Smith read sections of their business plan to explain what their intent was. She mentioned that the venue would appeal to ages 18 to 55 and would draw business from Cape Girardeau and surrounding towns. Kerry Smith addressed the noise concern stating that bands would only be performing their once per week and films would be 3 nights per week and these events would be held indoors only. The Smith's emphasized that their venue would be geared more towards entertainment rather than drinking. They added that they would be living in the building as well so they have a vested interest in the neighborhood. The Smith's mentioned that they are looking more towards revitalizing that neighborhood. They addressed the parking situation as well and mentioned that they had planned to have a sign in their business encouraging their customers to park along Broadway and in the commercial lots along Broadway rather than on the right of way in front of people's homes. Patricia Mothershead inquired if the property changed ownership if the new owners would still have the special use permit. Richard Reinhardt stated that if the property changed ownership the new owners would have to go to City Council for a transfer in ownership of the special use permit. The Smith's also mentioned that they would be operating a screen printing business as well. Chairman Hinckley inquired about parking. The Smith's stated that the parking lot for the structure has 11 spaces. Chairman Hinckley inquired if there had been any complaints in Fredericktown regarding their venue there. The Smith's stated that there had not been any problems. Ralph Maxton inquired which night music events would be. The Smith's responded by stated that it depended on what night the artist could come and they emphasized that the music would be inside and that the building is sound proof. Michael Jackson of Broadway Books and Roasting located at 605 Broadway spoke in favor � of the request. He mentioned at Broadway Book and Roasting they have many of the same customers as what the Parlor would attract which is students and adults. Jackson added that they have never had any problems because they tend to get the arts crowd and those who want to learn. He mentioned that the Parlor will not cause a problem in the neighborhood. He added that the hard partiers would be there much later and with the Parlor closing at 10:OOpm during the week, this should not be an issue because the loud partiers would not be there in the first place. He addressed the parking situation and stated that their business would probably attract those who would park further away or walk anyway. Laurie Everett of Annie Laurie's Antiques located at 536 Broadway spoke in favor of the request. She stated that she had known Tim and Kerry Smith for a long time and had nothing bad to say about them. She added that downtown needed more venues like the one that Tim and Kerry Smith are proposing. Marla Mills spoke on behalf of Old Town Cape in favor of the request. She mentioned that Old Town Cape voted to support the business concept. Marla Mills added that it is a unique concept but it fits with the Downtown Strategic Plan. Mills added that since the applicants are not renovating the building it could easily be converted back into a residential dwelling. She also stated that since the applicants would be living there, they have a vested interest in the neighborhood. Mills also added that the commercial parking lots along Broadway would probably be empty by the time the business would be looking at having their various events so customers could park in those lots and along Broadway. Adrienne Poe who is the real estate agent spoke in favor of the request. She addressed � parking by stating that with the parking lot and the parking in front of the house, they would probably have about 20 spaces. The person living across the street briefly stated that he had no objections with the request. Scott Browning who is the owner of 419 Bellevue which is the property adjacent to the east, � spoke against the request. He stated that there are neighbors that sleep at night and the proposed business would cause noise problems. He mentioned that he had read the business plan and admitted that there was merit to some of their ideas. However, he had a problem with the location. He stated that it had been residential for many years. He also mentioned that a 1,000 watt amp that they will need for the different bands will put out a lot of volume. He emphasized that the location on Bellevue and North Middle is bad and that it will be crowded. He said that it wouldn't be a problem on Broadway though. Jerry Westbrook of 504 Bellevue spoke against the request. He mentioned that he had read the business plan and is concerned about their hours of operation. He is concerned about the noise at that location. He was also concerned with how much of the traffic and noise would impact the children's museum. He said it would be disheartening to see a business move in across the street after all of the work that he and his wife did to get their home added to the local historic register. He added that he is concerned with Ms. Malone's ability to sell her property at 260 North Middle Street and does not want to do anything to stop that. However, he also does not want to see the proposed business move in across the street. 2a. Upon motion made by Charles Haubold and seconded by Scott Rhodes, the Special Use Permit application was opened for discussion. The hours of operation were briefly discussed. The Commission debated if midnight would be too late and if the business outs should only last till 10:00 p.m. on any night verses whether or not the business would need to be open till midnight on Friday and Saturday evenings. There was discussion on how the applicants would have to abide by the noise ordinance anyway and if the neighbors have a � problem, they can always address those problems then. There was also discussion on how this area is recommended for downtown commercial uses in the future land use plan. The Commissioners discussed how they knew there would come a time when some property owners would become upset but at the same time there is not a desire to stop growth. There was also discussion on the previous zoning being for commercial uses. Had the applicants came in before the zoning was updated, they would not have had to obtain a special use permit. The motion to recommend approval passed unanimously. Chairman Hinckley added that this was a difficult decision. He added that he came in feeling like they could not approve this application and stated that the success of the business will depend on how well the applicants can get along with the neighbors. 3. Public Hearing for the first five sections of the Development Code: General Provisions, Signs, Billboards, Off-Street Parking and Loading, and Exterior Lighting. Martha Brown stated that there has never been a light ordinance in Cape Girardeau before and that the other sections came from the zoning ordinance. More detail was added to the section on parking regarding whether parking needed to be paved or gravel. It was added that the lighting of parking lots needs to be direction and aimed away from neighboring properties. The Public Hearing began by going through each individual section. Siqns Matt Chibbloy of Watch Fire Signs was concerned with the timing for LED signs. He stated that with the 4 second timing, that would not give people passing by a chance to read the entire message. It could also hurt the number of words that a business is able to get on a � sign. He mentioned that businesses need to be able to get their entire message in a 3.5 to 5 second window of time. With a 4 second amount of time to leave words up at a time, it is not possible to get an entire message across in 3.5 to 5 seconds depending on the number of words that are needed. Chairman Hinckley stated that the main concern is with people being able to keep their eyes on the road and drive safely. Continual scrolling and animation is okay but once a word is there, it needs to stay for 4 seconds. � It was suggested to look into more information regarding this, such as timing and accidents caused by this type of sign. It was stated that this would be on the next Development Code meeting and the sign companies could get together and prepare some information to share with the Development Code. They would be limited to one hour and the City Council and everyone on the Planning and Zoning Commission would be invited and encouraged to attend. Ellis Bradshaw of Canedy Signs & Graphics in Sikeston, Missouri asked the Commission not to restrict businesses. He also mentioned that texting and using cell phones while driving can be more dangerous than a rapidly changing sign. Tim Smith of Coastal Signs stated that the brightness and flashing of signs is a concern. He added that this update makes more sense than the old method. It was added again that this section would go back to the Development Code and that sign companies would have one hour to educate the Commission on signage. Billboards Jeff Bohnert of Drury Southwest Signs spoke regarding billboards. He inquired on how the light from the signs would be measured. His concern was with the brightness of the light if a standard is set and if it would be measured from a certain distance. � Chairman Hinckley stated that the Commission needed to be educated on the topic of measuring brightness of a sign. Martha Brown mentioned that the standards were obtained from various Cities. However some Cities did go into more detail regarding a different number of nits per color. However the update kept the nit requirement the same from color to color. Parkinq — no one spoke on parking Exterior Liqhtinq John Clifton, of 2504 Fairview Drive spoke regarding billboards. He has learned to accept the light from the neighboring business that gets into his home. However he wants to make sure that this does not happen to anyone else. Deborah Clifton of 2504 Fairview Drive spoke regarding billboards. She stated that she knew it would be a noisy area before they moved their. However the lights from the neighboring business shine right on her property and neighbors property. It was added that the ordinance was designed to make sure light stays on property and does not move to adjacent properties and that when fixtures are added and replaced that they need to comply with the ordinance. Lighting shining on neighboring properties is another reason why bufferyards between commercial and residential districts are required. General Provisions— no one spoke on general provisions � 3a. Charles Haubold made the motion to forward General Provisions, Off-street Parking and Loading, and Exterior Lighting to City Council and to send Signs and Billboards back to the Development Code for further review. Ralph Maxton seconded the motion and it was approved unanimously. � Subdivision Plats 4. Resubdivision of Lots 13-15 of Arbor Heights Second Addition. Richard Reinhardt informed the Commission that this is a situation where three lots are being subdivided into two lots. The Commission was informed that acceptable plats have been submitted and that staff recommends approval. Upon motion made by Charles Haubold and seconded by Patricia Mothershead the record plat was unanimously recommended for approval. 5. Resubdivision of Lots 352-354 of the Highlands at Dalhousie, Phase IV. Richard Reinhardt informed the Commission that this is a situation where three lots are being subdivided into two lots. However when this subdivision was originally platted, the side lot lines had easements along them which means that once these three lots are divided into two lots, that will cause an easement to run down the center of each lot. The applicant has contacted the Division of Engineering to vacate these easements. The subdivision plat can run concurrent with the easement vacation. Charles Haubold made the motion to recommend approval contingent upon the easements being vacated and any existing utilities (if any) be relocated. Trae Bertrand seconded the motion and it was approved unanimously. Other Items and Communications 6. Staff Time. Ken Eftink informed the Commission that the Development Code meeting to discuss the � sign and billboard sections of the Development Code would be on Tuesday, July 13`h at 3:00 p.m. 7. Adjournment. Upon motion made by Charles Haubold and seconded by Scott Rhodes, the meeting was adjourned unanimously at 9:05 p.m. Respectfully submitted, ��.�� ott`1VI. Rhodes Secretary �