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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12072021 Planning & Zoning Minutes Ciry of Seward,Alaska Planning&Zoning Commission Meeting Minutes December 7,2021 Volume 7, Page 509 CALL TO ORDER The December 7, 2021 regular meeting of the Seward Planning & Zoning Commission was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Presiding Officer Craig Ambrosiani. OPENING CEREMONY Commissioner Nathaniel Charbonneau led the pledge of allegiance to the flag. ROLL CALL There were present: Swann presiding,and Gary Seese Craig Ambrosiani Nathaniel Charbonneau essa hey Clare Sullivan Comprising a quorum of the Commission; and Jason Bickling, Community Development Director Courtney Bringhurst, Community Development Planner(telephonic) Brenda Ballou, City Clerk Excused—Swann, Verhey Absent—None Vacant—One CITIZEN COMMENTS ON ANY SUBJECT EXCEPT THOSE ITEMS SCHEDULED FOR PUBLIC HEARING—None APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND CONSENT AGENDA Motion (Sullivan/Charbonneau) Approval of Agenda and Consent Agenda Motion Passed Unanimous The clerk read the following approved consent agenda items: Approval of the November 2,2021 Regular Meeting Minutes. SPECIAL ORDERS,PRESENTATIONS AND REPORTS Administration Report.Community Development Director Jason Bickling stated there would be a brief respite over the next couple of weeks for the holidays. After the new year,he was hoping to start having regular meetings with the chair and one rotating commissioner,on a regular basis,to improve the process of preparing for meetings. As well,he wished to bring forward some City ofSeward,Alaska Planning&Zoning Commission Meeting Minutes December 7, 2021 Volume 7, Page 510 training opportunities for the commission. Other Reports and Announcements—None Presentations—None PUBLIC HEARINGS Resolutions Requiring Public Hearing Resolution 2021-027, Of The Planning And Zoning Commission Of The City Of Seward, Alaska, Granting A Conditional Use Permit To OBI Seafoods To Construct An Employee Campground With Modular Housing On Lot 2, Block 3, Leirer Industrial Subdivision, Located At 1607 Northwestern Circle; Within An Industrial (I) Zoning District. This resolution was postponed from November 2, 2021. Bringhurst recited the terms contained in the agenda statement and recommended approval. Notice of the public hearing being posted and published as required by law was noted and the public hearing was opened Brian O'Leary (telephonically)from OBI stated he wished to have a positive relationship with the city, and looked forward to working with Community Development and the commission. No one else appeared and the public hearing was closed Sullivan wondered if there was a process for OBI to self-report life safety inspections. In response,Bickling stated he would provide the business with a checklist of safety items. In response to Seese,Bickling said Carol Griswold's comments had been read thoroughly, and added that Griswold had taken a tour of the premises;the input she provided had been seriously considered. Sullivan concurred that Griswold's input was valuable and much appreciated. Motion Passed Unanimous Resolution 2021-029, Of The Planning And Zoning Commission Of The City Of Seward, Alaska, Granting A Conditional Use Permit to Bornstein Seafoods To Construct an Employee Campground with Modular Housing on Lot 2, Block 7, Fourth of July Creek Subdivision, Seward Marine Industrial Center, Located at 3207 Morris Avenue Within an Industrial (I)Zoning District. Motion (Charbonneau/Sullivan) Approve Resolution 2021-029 Bringhurst recited the terms contained in the agenda statement and recommended approval. City ofSeward,Alaska Planning&Zoning Commission Meeting Minutes December 7, 2021 Volume 7,Page 511 Notice of the public hearing being posted and published as required by law was noted and the public hearing was opened. Blaine Bardarson wanted to be clear that the housing units would be placed back-to-back, and wanted to make sure that was acceptable for the spacing requirements. In response, both Charbonneau and Bickling confirmed that it was acceptable to place the containers back-to-back. Brandii Holmdahl from Bornstein thanked the commission for their attention and support; she appreciated that the commission understood how important having a CUP for these housing units were to the seafood businesses in town. No one else appeared and the public hearing was closed. Charbonneau thought this CUP was similar, so didn't have any concerns. In response to Sullivan and Ambrosiani,Bickling stated the drawing provided as a laydown tonight included updated measurements that were more to scale from the applicant. Motion Passed Unanimous Resolution 2021-032 of the Planning and Zoning Commission of the City of Seward, Alaska, Granting a Variance to City Code §15.10.222 Development Requirements to Christopher and Christine Aumick to Construct a Building with a 7' Side Yard Setback Adjacent to a Street,Instead of the Required 10'Setback on Lot 21,Block 32,Original Townsite of Seward, Located at 502 Sixth Avenue; Within an Urban Residential(UR) Zoning District. Motion (Sullivan/Charbonneau) Approve Resolution 2021-032 Bringhurst recited the terms contained in the agenda statement and recommended approval. Notice of the public hearing being posted and published as required by law was noted and the public hearing was opened No one appeared and the public hearing was closed Sullivan wondered what the reason for the setback was, if for convenience or to mitigate an undue burden on the property owner. Seese supported this variance because having a corner lot presented an additional restriction of a greater setback from two streets; allowing this reduction in the setback would enable the property owner to build a more reasonable sized home. He said it was fairly common to make this kind of allowance. Charbonneau asked about the parking spots for each dwelling; it appeared that one of the two parking spots was located in the road-side setback area, and he wanted to make sure this was acceptable. Ambrosiani said it appeared by the aerial map that all the residential parking was in the road-side setback areas. Seese believed there would be adequate space to allow for two parking spaces for each dwelling on the alley side. Bringhurst stated the parking requirements were not City ofSeward,Alaska Planning&Zoning Commission Meeting Minutes December 7, 2021 Volume 7, Page 512 specifically under review tonight,unless the commission thought that allowing the variance would have an impact on the property owner's ability to provide adequate parking spaces. Motion Passed Unanimous UNFINISHED BUSINESS Resolution 2021-025 of the Planning and Zoning Commission of the City of Seward,Alaska, Recommending the City Council Amend Portions of Seward City Code 15.10.140 Definitions, to Amend Definitions Related to: Apartment, Boarding House, Dwelling, Duplex, Unit, Hostel, Hosted Lodging Unit, Housing Unit, Insurance Company, Licenses, Listing, Listing Site, Lodging, Motel, Multistory Unit, Owner, Short-Term Rental, Short-Term Rental Transaction,Sleeping Unit,Townhouse,Transient, and Whole House Nightly,and Enacting Language in 15.10.226 K Pertaining to Short-Term Rentals. This resolution was postponed from October 19, 2021. Bringhurst recited the terms contained in the agenda statement and recommended approval. Charbonneau liked the language for the definitions, as it had been updated. Motion Passed Unanimous NEW BUSINESS Resolutions .� Resolution 2021-030,of the Planning and Zoning Commission of the City of Seward, Alaska, Recommending the City Council Amend Portions of Seward City Code 15.10.226 Land Uses Allowed,J Employee Campground. Motion (Sullivan/Charbonneau) Approve Resolution 2021-030 Bringhurst recited the terms contained in the agenda statement and recommended approval. Charbonneau wondered if the term "employee campground" should be changed to "temporary labor camp"to better reflect the conditions of the dwelling; camping suggested tents. Bidding agreed with the concept, but wished to consider the best approach to updating the terminology overall in city code. Seese suggested there would be ample opportunity to continue to update terminology going forward. Charbonneau concurred, but didn't want to forget to make improvements. Motion Passed Unanimous Resolution 2021-031 of the Planning and Zoning Commission of the City of Seward, Recommending the City Council Amend Portions of Seward City Code; 15.10.140 City ofSeward,Alaska Planning&Zoning Commission Meeting Minutes December 7, 2021 Volume 7, Page 513 Definitions,to Amend the Definition for Light Manufacturing,and to Amend 15.10.226 Land Uses Allowed Table; Allowing Light Manufacturing in a Central Business District with a Conditional Use Permit. Motion (Charbonneau/Sullivan) Approve Resolution 2021-031 Bringhurst recited the terms contained in the agenda statement and recommended approval. Seese stated his wife was the chair of the Historic Preservation Commission(HP)and had submitted comments to the commission saying that HP was working on several projects, and she opposed allowing manufacturing in the Central Business District. Ambrosiani confirmed that everyone on the commission had received that letter. Charbonneau liked the wording change of the definition being proposed.He did not support allowing light manufacturing in the Central Business District for just one business;making a large, sweeping change for one business was not a good idea. He said there were a lot of other zones and areas in the city that allowed manufacturing outright. Ambrosiani said his concern was that there were light manufacturing businesses that already existed in the Central Business District, like candy making and jewelry making; he didn't want to remove their ability to continue doing business in this area. He was concerned that if one of the existing businesses wished to sell their business, the new owner should be able to continue the business, even if it was light manufacturing;he did not want to harm the value of any existing businesses.He wanted to make sure the downtown area remained walkable,attractive,and friendly to visitors. Seese wondered if the existing businesses could be grandfathered in; one of the candy making businesses had been in business since the early 1900s. Motion to Postpone(Seese/Sullivan) Postpone Resolution 2021-031 to February 1,2022. Bickling stated that each board and commission had its own authority granted by council, and each should be staying in their own lane. Having someone from the Historic Preservation Commission asking the Planning & Zoning Commission to wait on conducting business was outside of HP's purview; he thought council would have something to say about one commission interfering with the work of another commission.He said light manufacturing had been conducted in the Central Business District forever. Bickling suggested that putting a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) process in place would allow for review and control, without preventing new businesses from starting, or for existing businesses from continuing to be viable. He was cautious about potentially and inadvertently closing the door on future business. Ambrosiani wondered if the CUP process could be used to compel a light manufacturer to have a retail component to their business. Bickling said the goal of businesses in the downtown area was attracting people and visitors; the new definition of light manufacturing inherently prohibited manufacturing that would be unattractive to visitors by preventing things that were City ofSeward,Alaska Planning&Zoning Commission Meeting Minutes December 7, 2021 Volume 7, Page 514 noisy, smelly, or obnoxious. Bickling added that the downtown area needed to be protected, but also should be promoted and kept open to new growth opportunities. Bickling believed that between the new definition and the CUP process, the commission would be striking a balance. Sullivan thought the new definition would allow for existing light manufacturing businesses to continue, yet still protect the Central Business District because there would be safeguards against undue fumes, odors, and noise. Sullivan said that in the one case of a cannabis extraction business, the business owner would have to prove that it would meet the definition of light manufacturing, as well as pass a fire inspection. She has performed her own research, and said a marijuana extraction business would be required to pass a lot of stringent requirements, including state requirements; she thought this provided fail safes and thought this commission could move forward with this resolution. Charbonneau just didn't want to see the downtown shopping area turn into a manufacturing area, and he liked the idea of encouraging retail. He understood that perhaps the best way to accomplish this was to use the CUP process. Motion to Postpone Failed Yes: Seese No: Sullivan, Charbonneau, Ambrosiani Charbonneau wondered if the CUP could include a retail component; perhaps there could be a specific requirement just for light manufacturing in the downtown area. Sullivan asked what the definition was for the Central Business District. In response, Bringhurst recited the definition which specifically mentioned retail,entertainment,and professional services. The commission was satisfied that the existing definition for the Central Business District encompassed all the components they wished to encourage. Main Motion Passed Unanimous Other New Business Items Discuss and set the topic for the January 18, 2022 work session. Bringhurst said the commission had expressed interest in reviewing the Land Use Table on the whole, as well as reviewing the format of the table. Ambrosiani liked that suggestion,and added that matching the definitions to the Land Use Table (and vice versa) was also something the commission had expressed an interest in doing previously. Bickling said R&M Consultants was contracted to assist in planning duties while Bringhurst was out on maternity leave. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS AND REPORTS Reminder: December 21, 2021 work session has been cancelled City ofSeward,Alaska Planning&Zoning Commission Meeting Minutes December 7, 2021 Volume 7, Page 515 LReminder: January 4, 2022 meeting has been rescheduled to January 11, 2022. PAS Quick Notes—Small-Lot Subdivision Design. CITIZEN COMMENTS—None COMMISSION AND ADMINISTRATION RESPONSE TO CITIZEN COMMENTS Sullivan thanked the commission and staff for a good meeting with good discussion. Charbonneau thanked staff and wished Bringhurst well. Seese appreciated the unity of the meeting tonight; a lot had been accomplished. Bickling was planning to develop a sample of a completed CUP to assist the public in completing the forms and furnishing documentation. He appreciated the commission for their hard work. Seese looked forward to receiving training in the future. Ambrosiani appreciated the staff; he wished Bringhurst well. He said it was challenging L to keep up on citizen comments and input, and wondered if there could be a deadline established to receive comments in a timely manner so that the commissioners had a reasonable amount of time to review the input. ADJOURNMENT The meeting w adjourned at 8:47 p.m. .40e------ Li-A__ (17\/ t City Clerk �IC/ t S V ig t L \` Presiding Officer C.(City Seal) -�0+�- Pi)- ��`11 tzar P\ _swim %, .•••"OF S ELp SEAL 0 *.L S .ENE 1.'`,,,,Q` •` ,''.,I OF A\-P••••