120208 Planning commission
CITY OF NEW HOPE
4401 XYLON A VENUE NORTH
NEW HOPE, HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA 55428
PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES
December 2, 2008
City Halt 7 p.m.
CALL TO ORDER
ROLL CALL
CONSENT BUSINESS
PUBLIC HEARING
COMMITTEE
REPORTS
Design and Review
Committee
Item 5.1
Codes and Standards
Committee
Item 5.2
OLD BUSINESS
Miscellaneous Issues
NEW BUSINESS
Comprehensive Plan
Item 7.1
The New Hope Planning Commission met in regular session pursuant to due
call and notice thereof; Chair Hemken called the meeting to order at 7 p.m.
Present: Paul Anderson, Jim Brinkman, Pat Crough, Kathi Hemken, Jeff
Houle, Sandra Hunten, Roger Landy, Ranjan Nirgude, Bill
Oelkers, Tom Schmidt Steve Svendsen
Absent: None
Also Present: Curtis Jacobsen, Community Development Director, Eric
Weiss, Community Development Assistant
There was no Consent Business on the agenda.
There were no Public Hearing items on the agenda.
Commissioner Svendsen reported that the Design and Review Committee
did not meet in November. Mr. Jacobsen added that at this time staff was not
aware of any new planning applications to be submitted for the January
commission meeting. The committee would be contacted if a meeting would
be necessary on December 18.
Chair Hemken stated that the Codes and Standards Committee did not meet
in November.
In answer to a question regarding the opening of the Holiday Station, Chair
Hemken reported she had been told December 17.
Mr. Curtis Jacobsen reported that the city had previously sent its
Comprehensive Plan update to adjoining communities, Hennepin County,
the school district, watersheds, and park districts. The six-month review
period ended on November 10. Mr. Jacobsen stated that only minor
comments were received and there would be no need to amend the
Comprehensive Plan based on those comments. The city of Plymouth
commented on the 2030 traffic volumes along Highway 169. Commissioner
Houle questioned whether MnDOT's numbers had been utilized for streets
crossing Highway 169 accessing Plymouth and New Hope, and this was
answered in the affirmative. MnDOT's numbers were considerably lower
than the original numbers the city used and more in line with the volumes
Plymouth had projected.
Commissioner Landy added that Met Council would now review the plan
and may offer additional comments.
Administrative
Citations
Item 7.2
Mr. Eric Weiss explained that staff had been discussing the possibility of
implementing a new program where staff could issue administrative
citations for offenses such as junk cars, trash cans, weeds, maintenance issues,
et cetera. Many cities issue administrative citations for certain offenses which
would lower the fee due because it does not include the $72 state surcharge.
Due to state regulations, the state auditor and attorney general have issued
statements against cities issuing citations for low level traffic violations. Mr.
Jacobsen added that staff would like the commission to start thinking about
this issue. Staff intends to have the City Council consider this issue and direct
the Codes and Standards Committee to study the matter and develop an
ordinance for review by the Planning Commission and Council. Mr. Jacobsen
stated he felt that many of the fines set by the courts are excessive for the
offense. Animosity is created between the city and residents when a citation
is written to a property owner not properly following city code. This would
also be a source of revenue for the city.
Commissioner Houle questioned how much money was being spent and
how much was received from the state under the current policy. Mr. Steve
Sondralt city attorney, stated this would be impossible to determine due to
the fact that the monies received from the state includes all tickets for code
violations written by the inspectors, traffic violations, and all other tickets
written by the Police Department and administered by the court system.
Occasionally, a resident may contest a ticket in which case a court date is set
and the inspectors must go to court to testify. The greater majority of tickets
are just paid. Mr. Sondrall stated that New Hope cases come before the court
every Thursday.
Chair Hemken asked about the process for someone contesting an
administrative citation. Mr. Sondrall stated that the city would need to set up
a hearing procedure and the hearing would go before the City Councilor to
an independent law judge or hearing officer. That person would make a
determination as to whether the ticket was appropriate and issue a fine
according to a schedule previously established by the City Council. Mr.
Sondrall explained that misdemeanors, gross misdemeanors and felonies
generally require jail time limits. Petty misdemeanors (code violations) are
not considered crimes and do not require jail time, only a fine. The county
handles the felony cases.
Commissioner Hunten initiated discussion on costs associated with the
hiring of a hearing officer. Mr. Sondrall stated that the state had
administrative law judges the city could hire on an as needed basis. This
would only be needed if a citation was contested. If the city were to
implement this program, all of the fine money would be kept in the city.
Currently, the city receives very little of the money collected. Commissioner
Hunten stressed that the city would incur costs associated with handling all
of this in house and wondered what that would cost. Mr. Weiss stated that he
spoke with Crystal staff and they only had seven citations contested in three
years that needed to come before a hearing officer. One of the reasons
residents don't contest the ticket as often is because the fine is lmver. Mr.
Plcuming Commission Meeting
2
December 2, 2008
Sondrall stated that if the administrative fine was not paid it could not be
assessed to the property taxes. The city could issue a criminal complaint if a
fine is not paid and take the resident to district court.
A question was raised whether the city would write more administrative
citations than it does now knowing the fees are high. Mr. Jacobsen stated that
he did not believe the inspectors were purposely holding back from writing
tickets due to the fines. He pointed out that keeping the revenues collected in
the city would be a better way to go. Even lowering the current fee by half or
more, the city would benefit by retaining the entire amount rather than only a
small portion the court sends to the city. This system and lower fines may
lessen the ill will between neighbors when a violation is reported at a
neighboring property.
Mr. Jacobsen reiterated that this topic was introduced to get the commission
thinking about this issue and to see if there might be a value to the program.
The issue would be studied by the Codes and Standards Committee and
brought forward to the Planning Commission and City Council for
consideration and approval. Cities utilizing this program all speak favorably
of it.
In answer to a question, it was noted the building officiat inspectors and
police officers are allowed to \'\'rite citations. The procedure to follow prior to
the issuance of a ticket for code violations would probably stay the same.
Staff sends a notice for correction of a violation within a specified amount of
time and then d1ecks the property after that time. If the violation is not
corrected, staff sends another letter. If the violation is not corrected after the
second notice, a citation is sent to the property owner. City staff was trying to
achieve compliance of existing city codes in the most effective way.
Chair Hemken pointed out that in the material provided to the Commission,
it stated that the state may withhold highway funds if the cities issued
administrative citations for traffic violations. In conversations with Senator
Ann Rest and Representative Sandra Peterson, Chair Hemken indicated they
felt cities should not issue tickets for traffic violations. Mr. Sondrall stated
that cities were not allowed to write administrative citations for traffic
violations per Minnesota Statutes. Zoning and building code violations can
be dealt with by the cities.
Mr. Jacobsen stated that if the Commission felt it worthy of study, staff
would take the matter to the City Council to determine if it wanted the Codes
and Standards Committee to study the issue in detail cu1d propose an
ordinance for review by the full Plcuming Commission and City Council. He
suggested that as mayor, Chair Hemken would be eligible to sit on a number
League of Minnesota Cities committees cu1d could possibly work with the
League on broadening the cities' authority. At this time it would be
impossible for city staff to determine how much revenue would be generated
or what the cost of running the program would be. Mr. Sondrall added that
administrative fines were established by the city for failure to comply with
the alcohol and tobacco complicu1Ce checks.
Planning Commission Meeting
3
December 2, 2008
MOTION
Item 7.2
Motion to Approve
Minutes
ANNOUNCEMENTS
ADJOURNMENT
Planning Commission Meeting
Motion by Commissioner Houle, seconded by Commissioner Schmidt, to
refer the matter of administrative citations for codes and quality of life
issues to the City Council for consideration and direction for the Codes
and Standards Committee to further study the issue and provide a
recommendation.
Voting in favor:
Anderson, Brinkman, Crough, Hemken, Houle Hunten,
Landy, Nirgude, Oelkers, Schmidt, Svendsen
None
None
Voting against:
Absent:
Motion carried.
Motion by Commissioner Landy, seconded by Commissioner Schmidt, to
approve the Planning Commission minutes of October 7, 2008. All voted in
favor. Motion carried.
Chair Hemken reminded the Commissioners that a new chair would need
to be elected at the first meeting in 2009. She also asked that the
Commission think about reducing the size of the commission from eleven
members to nine, which was a very workable number. It was noted that
there should be an odd number of commissioners to alleviate any tied
votes. Commissioner Anderson was the only commissioner up for re-
appointment at the end of 2008. Anderson indicated he had agreed to
another term. He represents the business community, as well as
Commissioner Brinkman, who is a business owner and resident in the city.
A suggestion was to leave the number of commissioners at ten for the time
being. For a ten member commission, a quorum would be achieved at six.
The subcommittees can each have five members and not violate the open
meeting law. Discussion ensued on the fact that Commissioner Landy was
not a regular subcommittee member, but had been considered a floater. He
attended either subcommittee meeting in place of an absent member or sat
on special task forces. Chair Hemken also chaired the Codes and Standards
Committee.
Commissioner Landy, along with all the commissioners, thanked Chair
Hemken for her time on the Commission.
The Planning Commission meeting was uncu1imously adjourned at 7:39 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
c;;p~ '5J~
Pamela Sylvester
Recording Secretary
4
December 2, 2008