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Minutes Zoning Advisory 12 5 07THE CITY OF D DUB E o Masterpiece on the Mississippi MINUTES ZONING ADVISORY COMMISSION REGULAR SESSION Wednesday, December 5, 2007 6:30 p.m. City Council Chamber, Historic Federal Building 350 W. 6th Street, Dubuque, Iowa Dubuque ~~~~. Zoos PRESENT: Chairperson Eugene Bird Jr.; Commissioners Martha Christ, Ron Smith, Stephen Hardie, Charles Miller, Dick Schiltz and Jeff Stiles; Staff Members Kyle Kritz and Guy Hemenway. ABSENT: Commissioners None. CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m. by Chairperson Eugene Bird Jr. AFFIDAVIT OF COMPLIANCE: Staff presented an Affidavit of Compliance verifying that the meeting was being held in compliance with the Iowa Open Meetings Law. MINUTES: Chairperson Bird requested that the response from Bob Hartig to his question include that the green space in the Medical Associates Clinic PUD was also to screen the view of the Medical Associates building from the residential properties. The minutes of the November 7, 2007 meeting were unanimously approved as modified. ACTION ITEM1 FINAL PLAT OF ENGLISH RIDGE SUBDIVISION: Application of English Ridge LLC for approval of the Final Plat of English Ridge Subdivision located along English Mill Road. Larry McDermott, 11407 Highway 20 West, said that he started working on his project in March of 2007. He said that he met with City departments and solicited their input. He said the requirements for a park and bike path and limitations on drive access did not surface until the last Zoning Advisory Commission meeting. He said that staff had asked for parks and bike trails. He said that, due to traffic safety, the park location proposed at the last Zoning Advisory Commission meeting was shifted to an interior lot. He said the bike trail is not needed in this subdivision because there is no connection for it. Mr. McDermott said that the City has not provided clear standards for green development. He said that covenants for his subdivision require that all houses are energy star rated. He said there are many other collector streets in the community that have direct driveway access and that the section of his subdivision with direct access onto the collector street will only be a quarter mile in length. He asked the Zoning Advisory Commission to approve the plat as submitted. Minutes -Zoning Advisory Commission December 5, 2007 Page 2 Staff Member Kritz discussed the conditions on the preliminary plat. He noted that limitations on access, a requirement for a bike lane and final review by the Zoning Advisory Commission had been proposed. He said that the final plat shifts the park to the interior of the development from the original location at the entrance near English Mill Road. He discussed the park size and access. He reviewed the bike lane alignment and various parking scenarios for the bike path which he said would eliminate parking and require a five-foot wide bike lane on both sides of the street. He discussed possible connections from the bike trail to the proposed alignment for the Southwest Arterial. He said that there are no current City standards preventing driveway access to a collector street. Chairperson Bird asked if the subdivision be phased relative to the park. Mr. McDermott said that he will initially create 40 lots and that the park will be part of the first phase of the subdivision. He said that if parking is prohibited on both sides of the street it would be necessary to create a parking lot for the proposed park area. Commissioner Hardie stated that the recommendation for bike/hike trails and limitations on access to the connector street came from the Zoning Advisory Commission, not from City staff. He said he agrees that the City should have a strategy for green development and provision of bike trails. He said that he is encouraged that the park will be provided in the first phase of the development. He said his only concern is that the park may not be ideally located being next to the C-3 zoned property. He said that it appears that the proposed bike trail may not have a connection to the bike trail system until well into the future. He said he is okay with the proposed driveway accesses onto the collector street. Commission Stiles concurred with Commissioner Hardie. He stated that the Zoning Advisory Commission tested the proposed conditions with Mr. McDermott's representative at the last meeting and he concurred with them. Chairperson Bird said that he approves of the final plat as submitted. Staff Member Kritz said that park and trail standards will be proposed through the Unified Development Code process. Motion by Hardie, seconded by Smith, to approve the Final Plat of English Ridge LLC as submitted. The motion was approved by the following vote: Aye -Smith, Hardie, Christ, Miller, Schiltz, Stiles and Bird; Nay -None. ACTION ITEMIFINAL PLAT SERENITY RIDGE: Application of John Herrig for approval of the Final Plat of Serenity Ridge Subdivision located along Derby Grange Road. The Commission decided to table the Final Plat of Serenity Ridge Subdivision at the applicant's request. Motion by Hardie, seconded by Stiles, to table the request. Motion approved by the following vote: Aye -Smith, Hardie, Christ, Miller, Schiltz and Stiles; Nay -None. Minutes -Zoning Advisory Commission December 5, 2007 Page 3 ACTION ITEMICITY COUNCIL REFERRALIMEDICAL ASSOCIATES CLINIC: Application of Medical Associates Clinic /Robert Hartig for approval to amend the existing Associates Park Planned Unit Development District, located at 1500 Associates Drive, to designate a portion of the existing greenway buffer for business use. Staff Member Kritz stated that the City Council referred the request back to the Zoning Advisory Commission because a Commissioner had visited the site. He said the Council provided the Commissioners the opportunity to visit the site individually to put the information presented at the public hearing into perspective. Staff discussed the procedure for reconsideration. Motion by Hardie, seconded by Schiltz, to reconsider the request to amend the existing Associates Park Planned Unit Development District. Motion failed by the following vote: Aye -Smith; Nay -Hardie, Christ, Miller, Schiltz, Stiles and Bird. Staff Member Kritz said that the request will be heard on the December 17, 2007 City Council meeting. PUBLIC HEARINGIREZONINGIKRESS INDUSTRIAL FACILITY: Application of Toby Kress, Kress Industrial Facility to rezone property located south of Old Highway Road and west of railroad line from County R-1 Residential District to City LI Light Industrial District, in conjunction with annexation. The Commission decided to table the rezoning application at the applicant's request. Motion by Stiles, seconded by Miller, to table the request until the January 2, 2008 Zoning Advisory Commission meeting. Motion approved by the following vote: Aye -Smith, Hardie, Christ, Miller, Schiltz, Stiles and Bird; Nay -None. PUBLIC HEARINGITEXT AMENDMENTICITY OF DUBUQUE: Application of the City of Dubuque for approval of a text amendment to increase required separation between adult entertainment establishments from 50 feet to 2,500 feet. Staff asked that the Zoning Advisory Commission table this request until a future meeting. Motion by Christ, seconded by Hardie, to table the text amendment request until a future meeting. Motion was approved by the following vote: Aye -Smith, Hardie, Christ, Miller, Schiltz, Stiles and Bird; Nay -None. ITEMS FROM STAFF: Ex Parte Communication Staff Member Kritz discussed the memo provided by City Legal staff regarding Commissioner site visits and ex parte communication. Minutes -Zoning Advisory Commission December 5, 2007 Page 4 Commissioner Stiles said he feels it is important to follow the City's policies. Green Citv Task Force Representative Staff Member Kritz outlined the memo requesting that the Commission appoint a representative to the Green City Task Force. Commissioner Stiles volunteered and was appointed unanimously. ITEMS FROM COMMISSION: Ex Parte Communication Commissioner Schiltz said that he was the Commissioner that visited the Associates Park site but wanted to clarify that it was not at the invitation of the applicant, Medical Associates Clinic. He said he feels the City Attorney had vacillated on his position regarding ex parte communication. Commissioner Hardie stated that he was surprised that any Commissionerwould disregard the policy prohibiting speaking with the applicant or neighbors. Commissioners discussed the memo and felt that it was important that all Commissioners abide by the policy, as established. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 7:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Kyle L. Kritz, Associate Planner Adopted