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010312 planning commissionCITY OF NEW HOPE 4401 XYLON AVENUE NORTH NEW HOPE, HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA 55428 PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES January 3, 2012 City Hall, 7 p.m. CALL TO ORDER The New Hope Planning Commission met in regular session pursuant to due call and notice thereof; Chair Houle called the meeting to order at 7 p.m. ROLL CALL Present: Paul Anderson, Jim Brinkman, Jeff Houle, Sandra Hunten, Roger Landy, Christopher McKenzie, Sunday Onadipe, Tom Schmidt Absent: Ranjan Nirgude, Steve Svendsen Also Present: Curtis Jacobsen, Director of Community Development, Steve Sondrall, City Attorney, Alan Brixius, Planning Consultant, Eric Weiss, Community Development Assistant, Pamela Sylvester, Recording Secretary CONSENT BUSINESS There was no Consent Business on the agenda. PUBLIC HEARING Planning Case 11 -10 Chair Houle introduced Item 4.1, request for text amendment and Item 4.1 conditional use permit (CUP) to allow a medical clinic in a school facility, 8301 47th Avenue North, Independent School District 281, petitioner. Mr. Eric Weiss stated that Independent School District 281 was requesting two separate zoning approvals — a text amendment for a medical clinic accessory to a school building and a conditional use permit for a medical clinic to be located at the New Hope Learning Center at 8301 47th Avenue North. The site is located in an R -1 single family residential zoning district and is surrounded by R -1 properties. The parcel contains 13.43 acres. The proposed clinic would be 930 square feet initially with the option to expand to 1,187 square feet. The site is located in Planning District No. 8 which speaks to maintenance issues and the need for the city and school district to partner to provide the best services at the lowest cost to taxpayers. Mr. Weiss stated that the school district was proposing a medical clinic for its staff and their dependents in an effort to lower its medical insurance costs. NeoPath Health would operate the clinic. The proposed hours of operation would be 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays. The maximum number of patients per day would be 40 with six medical staff on site. Parking demand should be no more than 14 stalls per hour (six staff and four patients). The existing facility has ample parking to accommodate this use. There would be no changes to the exterior of the building. The clinic would be located in an existing 930 square foot office space, with the potential to expand into another small space and increase the square footage to 1,187. The proposed ordinance would limit the size to 1,200 square feet. No signage has been proposed except for a small window sign to be placed at the building's main entrance. The ordinance would limit signage to one 15 square foot wall or window sign located at the entrance. No sign plan was submitted with the application. Mr. Weiss indicated staff did not believe the use would have a negative impact on the neighborhood. Traffic to the site would be minimal and similar to what the neighborhood is accustomed to from the high school across the street. Mr. Weiss explained that the clinic would store and dispense prescription drugs to clients at no cost. The number of prescription drugs would be limited to 30 -60 generic medications and would be available in pre- packaged units. No scheduled medications or narcotics would be stored or dispensed at the clinic as it does not hold the appropriate license. The police department suggested that exterior windows be illuminated at the entrance to avoid possible break -ins, which is a condition of approval. Mr. Weiss explained that any property owner may request an amendment to the city code. The Planning Commission and City Council then considers the amendment based on 1) whether or not there was a past zoning mistake; 2) the area had changed to warrant an amendment; and 3) the proposed action was in relation to specific policies and provisions of the Comprehensive Plan. Upon review by staff and the Codes and Standards Committee, it was determined that the city had changed from when the code was first adopted and the use would have minimal impact on the neighborhood. The economy has changed drastically in the past few years and alternatives to controlling costs should be considered. The Comprehensive Plan outlines the need to provide services to meet the needs of the community, maintain the tax base, and encourage the school district to maintain and improve its facilities. The conditional use permit should be approved if the applicant meets certain criteria and is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan. The site has been an educational facility since the area was developed. The proposal would be a continuation of that use with an additional service offered for staff. The proposed use would not affect property values. Additional criteria for the R -1 zoning district include traffic, screening and compatible appearance. Traffic from the site would be channeled to Winnetka or Boone avenues from 47th Avenue, which is the same traffic pattern that has been used from both Cooper and New Hope Elementary /Learning Center for many years. The existing building is set back quite a distance from adjacent homes. No exterior changes would be made to the existing building. The applicant has met all requirements of the code. Mr. Weiss stated the Codes and Standards Committee discussed the text amendment, was generally supportive and recommended approval. Property owners within 350 feet of the site were notified and staff received no comments. Planning Commission Meeting 2 January 3, 2012 Mr. Weiss stated that staff recommended approval of the text amendment and conditional use permit subject to the two conditions listed in the planning report. Chair Houle stated that the commission should discuss and vote on the text amendment first and then discuss and vote on the conditional use permit request. Commissioner Anderson questioned how the city would handle a similar request from another business or was the text amendment only related to schools. Mr. Sondrall answered that the text amendment would apply to any educational facility in an R -1 zoning district. The clinic would be an accessory use to the school for its employees and dependents only. Discussion ensued on a hypothetical situation for a church potentially requesting an auto body shop for its members. Mr. Sondrall stated that the school district's request for a medical facility was supporting the employees of the school and the facility. A church implementing an auto body shop could not be justified as an accessory use to the church. If the church requested a medical clinic for its members, the city may have to consider the request. Section 4- 5(e)(1) of the city code addresses conditional uses for educational, religious and public facilities in the R -1 zoning district. Chair Houle cautioned that allowing any commercial business in a residential district was not a good idea. Mr. Sondrall explained the text amendment would open up accessory uses in schools, public and religious buildings. Commissioner Schmidt interjected that the use in the school was a staff benefit. For the church example, the use would be for customers rather than staff. Mr. Sondrall stated one difference between the district's request and a charter or private school is that a charter school may be one stand -alone building and the clinic would serve the employees in that building rather than several district - wide buildings. Students attending the school would not be eligible to go to the clinic. The reason for the clinic was to help with the insurance plan costs for the district and to serve only those people on that insurance plan. Another example cited was if a church wanted a clinic, it would be open to their employees not the congregants. If the church was part of a district -wide group, the clinic would be open for all employees that were part of that specific group. Commissioner Onadipe stated that he understood that this site does not have students like a traditional school, but offers other programs, such as early childhood education and administrative services for other programs in the district. He stated he felt that, due to the fact that there were no students, this facility was no different than any other commercial business. Mr. Sondrall interjected that the proposed ordinance sets a limitation on the square footage of the clinic, which would make it difficult to establish a commercial business in a residential district. Mr. Brixius added staff's initial concern was bringing a commercial use Planning Commission Meeting 3 January 3, 2012 into the residential area and how best to ensure that it would be compatible. The first component was to determine how to single out this use, narrow the focus and range of uses, and tie it to the school district. Staff wanted to be sure the district could not divide up the partially used school and turn it into a shopping center. For commercial zoning districts, the city code distinguishes businesses allowed as a permitted or conditional use versus those not allowed. The ordinance was drafted as a clinic specific use accessory to a school or education building. The second component was to make sure the site did not become open to general retail or a service center. Other options included limiting the size to 1,200 square feet, limiting the patients for the clinic to school and district employees and their dependents. The clinic could possibly be used on an emergency only basis for a student, if needed. Potential other commercial uses in a school building were a concern to staff, as well as traffic, parking, exterior building changes, signage, and outside lighting. A question was raised whether or not this would set a precedent and the city attorney stated that it would not as every application would be reviewed on its own merit. An applicant would have to meet the code requirements for requesting a text amendment in an R -1 district. Mr. Jim Gerber, director of facilities for District 281, and Mr. Joe McErlane, president and chief marketing officer for NeoPath Health, came forward to answer questions of the Commission. Chair Houle inquired as to the length of time existing clinics have been operating. Mr. McErlane stated that the Brooklyn Center school clinic opened in May 2010 and Farmington opened in June 2011. Both have been well received. Brooklyn Center has 76 percent employee usage and 33 percent usage by dependents. The medical loss ratio has shown significant improvement. Farmington's clinic is open only one day per week with 33 -40 percent usage. Chair Houle questioned why the district was considering a residentially zoned school facility rather than one of the school's properties in a commercial zoning district. Mr. Gerber answered that the New Hope Learning Center is a central location for the school district and the opportunity for high usage by employees and, in turn, reducing costs. The school district completed a facilities study recently and was releasing some of its properties. The 930 square foot clinic fits well within this vacant space in the building with minimal capital costs to the district. Plumbing is also available in this space. The traffic pattern, due to the clinic at this facility, would have relatively no impact on the neighborhood. Chair Houle inquired if the Educational Service Center wouldn't have been a better choice. Mr. Gerber responded that the clinic didn't require elevator usage and there was no plumbing layout that would accommodate waste plumbing. If plumbing would have to be added for the clinic, capital costs would increase. Planning Commission Meeting 4 January 3, 2012 Chair Houle wondered if there had been any discussion to allow Cooper students to utilize the clinic now or in the future and the answer was no due to the insurance coverage. Mr. Gerber interjected that there is a school nurse on that site. He stated he could not foresee whether the school nurse and clinic would ever merge, but at this time, the two entities would be separate. There is a nurse at Cooper so there would be no need for students to go to the clinic. Mr. Brixius asked the applicant if they had any concerns with the text amendment and Mr. Gerber replied that their only question was related to the illumination of the exterior windows. The district has no issue with illuminating the windows where the proposed clinic would be located. There was no one in the audience wishing to speak at the public hearing. Motion by Commissioner Landy, seconded by Commissioner Schmidt, to close the public hearing regarding the text amendment request for Planning Cast 11 -10. All voted in favor. Motion carried. Chair Houle stated he appreciated the district trying to save money, however, he was fearful that the city was opening the door for commercial uses in the residential district. MOTION Motion by Commission Anderson, seconded by Commissioner Item 4.1 Brinkman, to approve Planning Case 11 -10, request for a text Text Amendment amendment to allow a medical clinic in a school facility, 8301 47th Avenue North, Independent School District 281, petitioner. Voting in favor: Anderson, Brinkman, Hunten, Landy, McKenzie, Onadipe, Schmidt Voting against: Houle Absent: Nirgude, Svendsen Motion approved. Chair Houle opened the floor for discussion of the conditional use permit portion of the request, which staff had recommended approval subject to submission of a sign permit and illumination of the three windows near the clinic entrance. Commissioner Landy questioned whether or not a pharmacist needed to dispense prescription drugs. Mr. McErlane stated that a physician's medical license was all that was required. Landy asked for clarification regarding the storage of the drugs on site. Mr. McErlane explained that the drugs are kept in a locked, steel case. The physician and LPN are the only staff that have access to the drugs. Chair Houle pointed out that Cooper currently has a conditional use permit for parking that applies to football games and graduation and that the New Hope Learning Center parking lot would be utilized for all of Planning Commission Meeting 5 January 3, 2012 those events. He wondered how this would affect the clinic's 14 spaces. Mr. Weiss replied that he did not anticipate a problem. The clinic may or may not be open until 7 p.m. every day. Mr. Brixius added that the New Hope Learning Center is not a full use facility and staffing has changed. Fourteen stalls per hour is an aggressive parking projection based on six employees and 40 patients per day. When the stadium conditional use permit was approved, it was with a full elementary school use. Commissioner McKenzie inquired as to the delivery of medication. Mr. McErlane stated that NeoPath delivers direct to the clinics where the staff receives the drugs. Chair Houle asked for clarification of the educational programs offered at the building. Mr. Gerber responded that the New Hope Learning Center had a variety of educational programs: pre kindergarten, early childhood education through secondary school. There is special education in the south wing, primarily secondary age level. The middle area is a variety of administrative offices for the educational programs. There is a computer lab, media services center and various special education program staff. The north wing is a combination of early childhood programs and adventure club for before and after school programming. The district has a vision that some programs will be moved to other locations as space becomes available. District staff sees this facility as a long -term educational program space for the district. Commissioner Brinkman asked for clarification on the lighting requirements. Mr. Brixius stated that the recommendation was for adding lights to the three windows on the north side of the center building that have direct access from the outside. The police department requested that this area be illuminated for easy vision when patrolling the area. If the area is well lit, the police department believes it would be less likely someone would try to gain access to the clinic. There was no one in the audience wishing to speak at the public hearing. Motion by Commissioner Landy, seconded by Commissioner Brinkman, to close the public hearing regarding the CUP request for Planning Case 11 -10. All voted in favor. Motion carried. MOTION Motion by Commission Schmidt, seconded by Commissioner Landy, to Item 4.1 approve Planning Case 11 -10, request for a conditional use permit to Conditional Use allow a medical clinic in a school facility, 8301 47th Avenue North, Permit Independent School District 281, petitioner, subject to the following conditions: 1. Submission of a sign permit for any wall or window signage. 2. Illumination of exterior windows. Plans to be approved by the building official and public safety. Planning Commission Meeting 6 January 3, 2012 Voting in favor: Anderson, Brinkman, Houle, Hunten, Landy, McKenzie, Onadipe, Schmidt Voting against: None Absent: Nirgude, Svendsen Motion approved. Chair Houle stated the City Council would consider this request at its meeting on January 23, 2012. COMMITTEE REPORTS Design and Review Chair Houle inquired if there would be a January Design and Review Committee Committee meeting and Mr. Jacobsen stated staff would contact Item 5.1 committee members regarding a January meeting. Codes and Standards Mr. Jacobsen stated that Codes and Standards Committee meetings have Committee been scheduled for January 19 and February 16 at 6 p.m. to review Item 5.2 recommendations from the Transit Oriented Development (TOD) study and necessary code changes. NEW BUSINESS Chair Houle opened the floor for nominations for the 2012 officers. Mr. Jacobsen stated that Commissioner Svendsen had called and recommended the same officers as last year. Commissioner Landy nominated Commissoner Houle as chair, Commissioner Brinkman as vice chair and Commissioner Anderson as third officer. Seconded by Commissioner Onadipe. All voted in favor. Motion carried. OLD BUSINESS Approval of Minutes Motion by Commissioner Landy, seconded by Commissioner Anderson, Item 7.1 to approve the Planning Commission minutes of December 6, 2011, as amended. All voted in favor. Motion carried. Mr. Jacobsen updated the commission on the potential acquisition of the Kmart property. ANNOUNCEMENTS There were no announcements. ADJOURNMENT The Planning Commission meeting was unanimously adjourned at 8:02 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Pamela Sylvester Recording Secretary Planning Commission Meeting 7 January 3, 2012