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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-06-2014 Planning Commission MinutesThe Planning Commission met Monday, October 6, 20 14 at 5:00 PM at the City Municipal Complex, 161 N. Section Street in the Council Chambers. Present: George Roberds, Vice-Chair; Bernie Fogarty; Bob Clark; Jennifer Fidler; Dick Charles; Councilmember Jack Bu1Tell; Hollie MacKellar; Jonathan Smith, Planning Director; Nancy Milford, Planner; and Emily Boyett, Secretary. Absent: Tim Kant and Lee Turner Vice-Chair George Roberds called the meeting to order at 5 :00 PM and announced the meeting is be ing recorded. The minutes of the September 2, 2014 meeting were considered and Bernie Fogarty made a motion to accept the minutes as corrected and was 2 nd by Bob Clark. Motion carried unanimously . UR 14.08 Request ofMediacom for an 11.52.11 Utility Review and approval of the proposed installation of approximately 7,581 linear feet of underground CATV cable, Toby Eringman. The project will run throughout the Sedgefield Subdivision. Mr. Smith gave the staff report saying the method of installation will include directional boring, pne umatic bore, and plowing. Cable pedestals will be placed in the vicinity of the existing power pedestals and the applicant will work around ex isting trees. Staff recommendation is to approve conditional upon the following: 1. The applicant shall comply with the minimum r equirement s as st ated by the City of Fairhope Building Official, Code Enforcement Officer, and Public Works Director in the Staff Report; 2. Any mechanical equipment should be painted munsell green; and 3. All applicable City regulations shall be met. Mr. Burrell stated he has received several reques t for the internet in Summer Lake and asked if staff is aware of any plans for installation. Mr. Smith re spo nded he has no knowledge of plans for Summer Lake. Mr. Burrell asked Mr. Smith to look into expansion into Summer Lake and Mr. Smith responded h e would. Jennife r Fidler made a motion to accept the staff recomme ndation to appro ve conditional upon the following: 1. The a ppli cant shall comply with the minimum requirements as stated by the City of Fairhope Building Official, Code Enforcement Officer, and Public Works Director in the Staff Report; 2. Any mechanical equipment should be painted munsell green; and 3. All applicable Ci ty regulati ons s hall be me t. Bernie Fogarty 2nd the motion and the motion carried unanimously. ZC 14.10 Request of Preble-Rish, LLC to establish an initial zoning of PUD concurrent with conditional annexation into the City of Fairhope, to be known as Firefly, Steven Pumphrey. The property is located east of Sandy Ford, at the end of South Drive. Mr. Smith gave the staff r eport saying the property is currently unzoned and consists of approximately 80.4 acres with 27 lots proposed. The applicant is proposing site density of 0.34 l ots per acre and maximum allowable lot coverage for the principle structure of 30%. Mr. Smith explained th ere is a 14.6 acre wetland that traverses the property and one crossing is contemplated in order to access the eastern portion of the prope1iy. The applicant is proposing a building height of 30' and setbacks as follows: front -40', rear-35', side -1 0', and street side -20'. The applicant is also proposing to use Low Impact Design (LID) techniques for drainage on the site. Staff recommendation is to approve contingent upon the following conditions: 1. The PUD plan shall be revised to reflect the approved maximum allowable lot coverage; 2. Any wetland crossing shall be in compliance with City Subdivision and Wetland regulations; and 3. The maximum allowable building height shall be located on the site data table on the PUD master plan. Mr. Charles stated there is tremendous water flow through this site all year and he asked if the applicant has looked at it to verify that lots will not be flooded and Mr. Smith responded the site's drainage will be designed to meet the City 's regulations and standards but the drainage will be looked at in detail at the time of plat approval. Mr. Charles noted approximately 20% of the property is wetlands and Mr. Smith stated those areas will remain wetlands and there is a wetland buffer requirement which has been met. Mr. Burrell questioned the lack of greenspace and Mr. Smith explained the applicant is not proposing any open space due to the size of the lots, the 14.6 acres of wetlands, and the wetland buffer. Mr. Burrell stated he feels that developers are getting around our greenspace requirements by using unusable land for greenspace. Mr. Smith stated the applicant is proposing this to be a more natural development and to utilize the wetlands for trails and paths. Mr. Roberds stated that a PUD does allow for some flexibility from the regulations. Mrs. MacKellar expressed concerns with construction traffic and adding additional residential traffic on South Drive and only having one entrance through Sandy Ford and Rock Creek. Andy Bobe of Preble-Rish, LLC addressed the Commission saying the original design proposed to connect to South Drive. He explained this development will be the first actual LID development with only a 1/3 of the impervious area proposed with 8% whereas a regular subdivision would be approximately 24%. He added the traffic will also be approximately ¼ of that of a normal subdivision. Mrs. Fidler asked how Lot 1 and Lot 4 will be accessed and Mr. Bobe responded Lot 1 will be from South Drive and Lot 4 will be a flag lot and accessed from the new entrance. Mrs. Fidler noted the stub-outs need to allow turnarounds for garbage trucks and she expressed concerns with the bridge construction in the wetlands. Mr. Bobe said the developer is looking at a 30' pre-cast open span bridge to install over the wetlands. Mr. Roberds opened the public hearing. Frank Wickline of 460 Clubhouse Drive -He stated there is only 1 two-lane road that provides access and serves over 500 homes and a golf course. He said the entrance also serves a bank, physician's office, and realty office. He argued the traffic generated from this development will not use South Drive but cut through Rock Creek instead. He said these 27 lots will not destroy Rock Creek but this is only the beginning and these small decisions lead to a big problem. He stated an additional access should be created and until then, he recommended the Commission de ny this request. John Burke of 119 Old Mill Road -He stated concerns with traffic on South Drive and the lack of entrances for this development. He suggested if approved the Commission require the applicant pay for upgrades to South Drive and a light at South Drive and US Hwy. 98. Paul Ripp of 22985 Highridge Road -He said the site conditions are very similar to the Publix site. He said the City now wants to construct a fire station on Parker Road and soon they will want to connect Parker Road to Rock Creek. He said Hwy. 98 and Parker Road is the most dangerous intersection in Fairhope and with the new fire station the City will have a reason to connect it to Rock Creek. He also said Jacob Cunningham is part of Summit Industries which worked on the Publix site and ruined Fly Creek. He asked the Commission to consider what this development will impact. John A vent addressed the Commission on behalf of the applicant. He stated greens pace is not required with R-1 size lots and these lots are all an acre or more. He said the applicant is not trying to circumvent the regulations but abide by them. Having no one else present to speak, Mr. Roberds closed the public hearing. Mr. Charles stated he has lived in Rock Creek for 20 years and he agreed that South Drive is inadequate and substandard. He asked if there is another possible connection to Rock Creek and he mentioned a connection through Montrose Woods would even help eliminate some of the north traffic off of the main entrance. Mrs. Fidler questioned the lack of connectivity to the Fly Creek PUD to the south and Mr. Smith responded there are stipulations regarding connecting Rock Creek and the Fly Creek PUD and it is prohibited until there is also access to County Road 13. Mrs. Fidler stated the stub-out should be put in along Lot 18 but not open until the conditions are met. Mr. Burrell asked if the South Drive stub-out is existing and Mr. Smith responded yes. Mr. Burrell stated by using the northern stub-out in Sandy Ford the natural flow of traffic will be through Sandy Ford and Rock Creek not out South Drive. He added the City regulations require connectivity and the applicant doesn't seem to want to have another connection but the Commission needs to either enforce the regulation or change it. Mr. A vent explained the applicant only wants to cross the wetlands once to limit the impact to the natural environment. H e also agreed South Drive is insufficient and is a dangerous intersection so he feels the residents would use the main entrance anyway. Mr. Clark stated connectivity issues are serious and need to be addressed especially in this location because there is already a problem. Mrs. MacKellar asked if Rock Creek and Sandy Ford are aware of this development and any potential effects to property values. Mr. Smith responded that notices were sent to property owners within 300' and the Property Owners Association receives our monthly agenda. Mr. Roberds stated the Council will have the final decision regarding the zoning; however, the plat will come back before the Commission for approval. Mr. Smith explained the subject property would allow approximately 102 lots if it was designed to the regulations for unzoned property. Mrs. Fidler asked who opposed the connectivity for adjacent properties and Mr. Smith responded the Rock Creek and Sandy Ford residents. Mrs. Fidler said a stub-out should be required for future use to connect to the Fly Creek PUD. Mr. Burrell said we don't know what will be proposed from the east either. Mrs. MacKellar asked how far County Road 13 is from this property and Mrs. Fidler answered approximately ¾ mile. Mr. Smith reiterated that the proposed development is only 27 lots on 80 acres but Mr. Burrell said the next one may have 60 lots and we will only be compounding the problem. Mr. Charles asked if it would be possible to table the request and Mr. Smith responded the applicant does not want to table the request. Mrs. Fidler stated there needs to be an additional access . Mr. Burrell asked if Lots 14-18 abut the Fly Creek PUD and Mr. A vent stated they do and he has questioned his client regarding making this connection and his client does not want to stub-out to Fly Creek. Mr. Fogarty, Mr. Clark, and Mr. Charles expressed serious concerns regarding traffic and safety with this proposal. Mr. Clark stated he is in favor of connectivity and there should be additional connections for this development and for future expansion; however, he is more concerned with the safety of the residents in Sandy Ford and Rock Creek and the traffic should be looked at again. Bob Clark made a motion to table the request until the next Commission meeting for all parties to look into the access issues that have been brought up. Jack Burrell 2nd the motion and the motion carried unanimously. SD 14.14 Public hearing to consider the request of the Fairhope Airport Authority for Preliminary and Final Plat approval of Stream Bank 1, a 2-lot minor subdivision. The property is located on the south side of County Road 32 just east of US Highway 98. Mr. Smith gave the staffreport saying the property is zoned M-1 Light Industrial District and is approximately 82.97 acres. The applicant is pursuing the minor subdivision to facilitate a sale of approximately 5.63 acres, which is Lot 2, to be utilized for stream mitigation credits. Mr. Smith stated the subdivision will ultimatel y create a conservation easement. Staff recommendation is to approve contingent upon the following conditions: 1. Notes shall be placed upon the plat that finish floor elevations, fire hydrants and fire protection, and a flow model shall b e provided at the time of construct ion for the property. The applicant shall also provide a letter from the property owners stating that they understand these items will be required at the time of bui lding construction, if construction is ever proposed. 2. Verify and provide documentation based on the City of Fairhope Subdivision Regulations regarding whether a stream buffer or a wetland buffer i s required. Staff recommends the applicant provide some documentation assuring that the 5.63 acres proposed to be used for mitigation banking in this area will continue to be used as a wetland mitigation bank in perpetuity. 3. The applicant shall add a note on the plat stating "Stream boundaries including each buffer zone must be clearly delineated on all grading plans, subdivision plats, site, and any other development plans. The outside limit of the buffer must be clearly marked on-site with permanent signs placed every 100 feet prior to any land disturbance activities." 4. A note shall be placed on the plat that all water and sewer requirements shall be met. 5. All required utility certificates shall be placed on the plat. Kirk Clayton of Goodwyn, Mills, & Cawood addressed the Commission saying the subdivision is being created for offsite mitigation program that is being done through the Corp. of Engineers and Lot 2 wi ll be in a perpetual restrictive covenant which will prevent any development on the 5.63 acres. Mr. Charles asked what does the mitigation mean and Mr. Clayton explained there has been a stream impacted and this w ill take the place of what has been impacted on a prev ious development. He added they will remove invasive vegetation and replace with native species of vegetation. Mr. Roberds opened the public hearing. Having no one present to speak, Mr. Roberds close the public hearing. Dick Charles made a motion to accept the staff recommendation to approve continge nt upon the following conditions: 1. Notes shall be placed upon the plat that finish floor elevations, fire hydrants and fire protection, and a flow model shall be provided at the time of construction for the property. The applicant shall also provide a letter from the property owners stating that they understand these items will be required at the time of building construction, if construction is ever proposed. 2. Verify and provide documentation based on the City of Fairhope Subdivision Regulations regarding whether a stream buff er or a wetland buffer is required. Staff recommends the applicant provide some documentation assuring that the 5.63 acres proposed to be used for mitigation banking in this area will continue to be used as a wetland mitigation bank in perpetuity. 3. The applicant shall add a note on the plat stating "Stream boundaries including each buffer zone must be clearly delineated on all grading plans, subdivision plats, site, and any other development plans. The outside limit of the buffer must be clearly marked on-site with permanent signs placed every 100 feet prior to any land disturbance activities." 4. A note shall be placed on the plat that all water and sewer requirements shall be met. 5. All required utility certificates shall be placed on the plat. Bernie Fogarty 2 nd the motion. Mr. Burrell asked if the Airport Authority has agreed to the conditions and Mr. Clayton responded yes. The motion carried unanimously. Old/New Business 2014-2015 Comprehensive Plan Update -Mr. Smith announced the three Town Hall meetings are coming up and the Consultants will also be holding interviews with stakeholders throughout the week. He asked the Commission to let him know if they have any suggestions of potential interviews. Sidewalks -Mr. Smith stated staff may have a possible amendment to the Subdivision Regulations regarding the construction of sidewalks in subdivisions at the November meeting. Having no further business Dick Charles made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Bernie Fogarty 2 nd the motion and the motion carried unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 6:15 PM.