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HomeMy WebLinkAbout6.j. Amending the City Code Relating to Public Notice Area EXECUTIVE SUMMARY City Council Regular Meeting: November 14, 2016 AGENDA ITEM: Amending the City Code Relating to Public Notice Area AGENDA SECTION: Consent PREPARED BY: Kim Lindquist, Community Development Director AGENDA NO. 6.j. ATTACHMENTS: Ordinance; Excerpt of Planning Commission Minutes from October 25, 2016, Maps, Survey Information APPROVED BY: ddj RECOMMENDED ACTION: Motion to adopt an Ordinance Amending Rosemount City Code, Section 11-12-2; Board of Appeals and Adjustments Procedures SUMMARY During the public hearing for the Harmony apartments, the greater Harmony neighborhood expressed concern about the notification standards used by the City for the apartment project. Many residents noted that they did not receive a notice and that they would have liked more time before the public hearing to prepare for the Planning Commission meeting. Currently the ordinance states that for a public hearing: Notices shall be mailed to each property owner within three hundred fifty fee (350’) of the affected property, except when located in agriculture, agriculture preserve and rural residential districts in which case notice shall be mailed to each property owner within one-fourth (1/4) mile of the affect property. Along with sending notices per the above regulations, the City also publishes the public hearing notice and also posts signs at the site, stating that there is a planning application filed and giving a phone number to call with questions. PLANNING COMMISSION At their October 25, 2016 meeting the Planning Commission recommended approval of the amendment on a 4-2 vote. During the meeting the Commissioners discussed the practical impact of modifying the mailing area from 350’ to 500’ and noted that the change would still not have resulted in the entire Harmony neighborhood being notified. Several Commissioners felt that process worked well and agreed with the various approaches the City is using for notification, but could support the amendment. The two Commissioners who voted against the amendment felt that since so many in the neighborhood were in attendance the process worked correctly as is. They also expressed some reservations that changing the notification area would not necessarily result in less people indicating they weren’t notified since it is not a dramatic increase in area. DISCUSSION Often questions about the city’s development notification process come up when projects are particularly controversial. Residents are interested in finding out about projects in their community and wonder why some people are notified and others not; especially if they feel their neighborhood expands beyond the 350’ 2 borders prescribed by the ordinance. Staff is hesitant to vary from the ordinance standards because it is difficult to guess whether a neighborhood will, or won’t be interested in a project in their area. For example, residents beyond the notification area for the Wilde Estate subdivision project or the Carbury Townhomes weighed in on the application. It is difficult to determine at the time of the public hearing notice going out, what the level of public interest will be on a project. From a timing standpoint the Public Hearing notice in the paper must be published 10 days before the hearing, which means submission three weeks before the meeting. Similarly, staff mails the notice so it will give at least 10 days notice to the residents. Staff has asked various communities in the Metro area about their notification standards for public hearings. In many cases, the city requirements are consistent with Rosemount’s. In a few cases, cities have raised the standard to a 500’ mailing distance. In a few, the distance is further, and may vary by application. While varying the standard may have some appeal, staff is hesitant to recommend varying notification. First, as mentioned previously, it is difficult to anticipate what application will have the largest public interest. It might be tempting to assume a rezoning or land use change could be the most controversial; sometimes a subdivision or variance may have a lot of neighborhood interest. Second, staff believes in consistency between applications so there is no questions about the notification requirements. And often projects require more than one approval which could mean varying mailer standards, although staff would choose the most generous. In other words a project approval often requires multiple approvals, like the First State Bank of Rosemount required both a site plan and conditional use permit approval or a subdivision which requires preliminary plat approval and approval of a master development plan. Additionally, the City Attorney has responded to a request from staff to weigh in on this subject. She is not recommending a specific standard but strongly suggests using objective criteria to determine the mailing requirement. The more subjective a standard, and therefore more discretionary, may raise questions of fairness and uniform treatment. Planning Staff also supports objective standards and does not want to be placed in the position of determining “what is the neighborhood” or “who will be impacted by the project”. Staff has mapped out the Harmony neighborhood and determined that in order to notice all property owners within the development, notices would have needed to be sent to all properties within 1500’ of the subject property. The green ring is the 1500’ mark, whereas the blue ring is the current standard, 350’ notification with the green ring a 500’ ring. If the distance mark touches any part of a property, staff notifies that property owner. Also the distance is measured from the perimeter of the subject property. Staff provided three other maps of received applications to also illustrate the 350’, 500’ and 1500’ notification marks. With Warren Israelson’s apartment project, much of the Downtown and some of the neighborhood to the west of Downtown would be notified as well as portions of the Enclave and the entire Rosewood single family neighborhood under the 1500’ notification. With a 500’ or 350’ notification requirement the more eastern portion of the Downtown would be notified, and the residential properties more adjacent to the project. For the Dunmore project, a majority of the Harmony project would have been notified using the 1500’ mark. With the 350’ or 500’ mark, properties within one or two blocks would have been notified. Finally, the new Greystone subdivision map shows the differing notice list for the three different distances. RECOMMENDATION Adopt the Ordinance to amend the public notice radius from 350’ to 500’ in the City Code. 1 CITY OF ROSEMOUNT COUNTY OF DAKOTA STATE OF MINNESOTA ORDINANCE NO. 2016- ORDINANCE AMENDING ROSEMOUNT CITY CODE, SECTION 11-12-2; BOARD OF APPEALS AND ADJUSTMENTS PROCEDURES THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ROSEMOUNT, MINNESOTA ORDAINS as follows: Section 1. The Rosemount City Code, Section 11-12-2 is amended as follows: 11-12-2: BOARD OF APPEALS AND ADJUSTMENTS PROCEDURES C. Public Hearing: Notice of the hearing shall be published at least ten (10) days prior to the date of the hearing, and notice shall be mailed to each property owner within Five hundred feet (500’)three hundred fifty feet (350’) of the property to which the variance relates. However, zoning changes in the agriculture district, agriculture preserve and rural residential districts shall require mailed notice to each property owner within one-fourth (1/4) mile of the affected property. The city shall use its available records to determine the names and addresses of property owners. Failure to give notice to individual property owners or defects in the notice shall not invalidate the proceedings, provided a bona fide attempt was made to comply with these provisions. Section 2. This Ordinance shall be effective the day following its publication. [Underlined material is new. Stricken material is deleted.] Adopted this 14th day of November, 2016, by the City Council of the City of Rosemount, Minnesota. ____________________________________ William H. Droste, Mayor ATTEST: ___________________________ Clarissa Hadler, City Clerk Published in the Rosemount Town Pages the _____ day of ______________, 2016. EXCERPT OF DRAFT MINUTES PLANNING COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING OCTOBER 25, 2016 5.b. Request by City of Rosemount for a Text Amendment to increase the public notice area from 350’ to 500’ (16-51-TA) Community Development Director Lindquist gave a brief summary of the staff report. Commissioner Mele stated the change feels like the change is a reaction to the complaints to the Harmony Apartment application and what will happen the next time when 500 ft. isn’t enough. Due to the turnout on the recent Harmony public hearing he feels that the system isn’t broken and shouldn’t react to those who cry the loudest. Chair Kenninger confirmed that using subjective criteria isn’t recommended. Lindquist stated that both the city attorney and staff agree it is best to have a specific range. It is hard to define what each person defines as an appropriate area or the boundaries of the neighborhood. The city also uses many other outlets to reach all citizens interes ted; social media, signs on the property, publishes in the newspaper, and posts on the website. Commissioner Forester confirmed that the 500 foot radius is always from the property line, Lindquist confirmed that is correct. Commissioner VanderWiel feels that the State has spent time reviewing and determining the appropriate limit and feels there isn’t a need to increase the notice radius. Commissioner Henrie stated that he feels that each city would need to determine what is best for them and may need to adjust accordingly. Commissioner Clements feels it is a common courtesy for citizens and the cost is minimal to the city. Public Comment opened at 9:16 Public comments: None MOTION by VanderWiel to close the public hearing. Second by Henrie. Ayes: 6. Nays: 0. Motion Passes. The public hearing was closed at 9:16 pm. Additional Comments: Chair Kenninger agrees with both Clements and VanderWiel’s comments. Motion by Henrie recommend approval of an amendment to Rosemount City Code, Section 11 -12-2; Board of Appeals and Adjustments Procedure changing the notification radius from 350’ to 500’ Second by Forester. Ayes: 4. Nays: 2, Mele and VanderWiel. City Name Is your notice area 350' for public notices? If No, explain what your city has adopted for public notices. Do you have different guidelines for different zoning districts? If yes, please explain what your city has adopted for public notices. Do you post notices signs on the site(s) for Planning applicaions to give residents an opportunity to call or go to a website for more information? Do you post your Planning public notices on your website? Is there anything else that your city does to let residents know about planning applications? Please explain what additional things your city does to notify residents about planning applications Woodbury Mike Mrosla No within 500 feet of the subject property Yes Applicants for development proposals which are located adjacent to or within a residential zoning district shall hold a neighborhood meeting for the following applications: preliminary plat, special use permit, planned unit development, rezoning or multiple applications.n/a n/a n/a Prior Lake Casey McCabe Yes No No No Yes The actual meeting notice is not posted on the city website but the agenda, meeting calendar and agenda packet materials are available on the city website. The public hearing notice is posted at City Hall. Neighborhood meetings are recommended but not required. Developers are encouraged to schedule neighborhood meetings to explain their project to surrounding residents when staff feels the request may be somewhat controversial. Richfield Melissa Poehlman Yes No No No Yes Notices are published in the newspaper. Apple Valley Kathy Bodmer Yes Yes Most zoning actions require only 350' notification. Sand & gravel requires notification to all City property owners within 3,600 feet of the proposed central plant or 350' from the property lines from the proposed district and sand & gravel conditional use permit; whichever is greater.Yes No Yes Our public hearing signs have a QR code. Instead of going to the actual public hearing notices, residents are directed to a hearing summary page. New Brighton JANICE GUNDLACH Yes No No No No Roseville Thomas Paschke No Roseville adopted a 500 foot notification for its planning/zoning public hearings a number of years age. Recently the City Council approved a pilot for expanded notification> this expanded notification is mailed to property owners, renters of multi-family units, and renters of business properties (tenants) within 500 feet of a subject request property on land use actions seeking an interim use, rezoning, comp plan amendment, subdivision of 4 or more lots and planned unit development.No No Yes Yes Roseville has a type of opt-in list for individuals to receive all notice items to be considered by the planning commission. The City also has an open house process for the same expanded notification noted question 2, that must begin prior to acceptance of an application. The City will soon be implementing a large proposed development sing process. Chanhassen MacKenzie Walters No Our code mandates 500' rather than 350'.Yes Areas on lakeshore may have expanded mailings, if the development would be visible over an area beyond the 500' threshold (Community Development Director's discretion on the expanded mailing).Yes No Yes The City keeps an updated list of proposed and processed developments on our website. Residents can sign up to be notified of any action taken on projects that interest them. Brooklyn Park Kathy No notifications are to properties within 500 ft. of the site up for discussion except for Variances, which are only 100 feet No n/a n/a n/a Andover Brenda Yes Yes Outside MUSA 700' of subject property n/a n/a n/a Public Notice Survey of Metro Cities City Name Is your notice area 350' for public notices? If No, explain what your city has adopted for public notices. Do you have different guidelines for different zoning districts? If yes, please explain what your city has adopted for public notices. Do you post notices signs on the site(s) for Planning applicaions to give residents an opportunity to call or go to a website for more information? Do you post your Planning public notices on your website? Is there anything else that your city does to let residents know about planning applications? Please explain what additional things your city does to notify residents about planning applications Maplewood Michael Martin Yes No Yes No Yes Maplewood publishes notices in the new newspaper. City of Blaine Lisa Derr Yes No Yes Yes No Forest Lake Donovan Hart Yes No No No Yes the City Administrator lists them in weekly reports and the applications are in the Planning Commission and City Council packets online. There is a weekly notice of public meetings that lists the applications. There is the published notice in the newspaper as well that runs for two (weekly) issues. City of Edina Jackie Hoogenakker Yes Yes For notices required by State Statute Edina's public hearing notice radius is as follows: Conditional Use Permit 1000-Feet Rezoning 1000-Feet Subdivision 500-Feet Final Development Plan, Preliminary Development Plan and Site Plan 1000- Feet Variance 200-Feet except for variances and preliminary and final plat all other required notification is 1000-Feet. The City of Edina requires notification of a tear down/rebuild of 300-Feet With regard to question 3 the City requires the applicant to post a sign 10-days prior to the meeting of the Planning Commission.Yes Yes Yes With regard to question 4 all public hearing notices are also published in the Edina Sun Current newspaper. There is also a press release option on the website residents can look at. The City also notifies the president of an "identified neighborhood" giving that neighborhood a "heads up" above and beyond the public hearing notices, publications, sign posting etc. Eagan Michael Ridley Yes No Yes No Yes For Rezoning requests, we will physically post a sign on the subject parcel that announces "Development Pending" and includes the general Planning phone number for info. New Hope Jeff Alger No The New Hope City Code states the following: Notice of hearing. For applications involving zoning amendments, conditional use permits, and variances, the city manager shall set a date for a public hearing. Notice of such hearing shall be published in conformance with chapter 1 of this Code and individual notices shall be mailed not less than ten days nor more than 30 days prior to the hearing to all owners of property, according to the records available to the city within 350 feet of each parcel included in the request, as provided in chapter 1. Note that we recently moved to a 500-foot radius, but the City Code has not yet been updated.No Yes No No City Name Is your notice area 350' for public notices? If No, explain what your city has adopted for public notices. Do you have different guidelines for different zoning districts? If yes, please explain what your city has adopted for public notices. Do you post notices signs on the site(s) for Planning applicaions to give residents an opportunity to call or go to a website for more information? Do you post your Planning public notices on your website? Is there anything else that your city does to let residents know about planning applications? Please explain what additional things your city does to notify residents about planning applications South St. Paul Peter Hellegers Yes No No Yes Yes Depending on the issue we might put something on the Facebook page (or if we knew of it far enough in advance it might go in the newsletter) On residential cases I've been using 400 feet instead of 350 just to make sure we're not missing anyone who's just beyond the typical notice area. Ramsey Chris Anderson No Any change in district boundaries on an area 20 acres or less in size triggers a mailing to property owners within 350 feet of the affected property.No Yes No Yes We try and keep a Development Updates page current with approved projects, projects under review, and concept plans under review. It gets outdated sometimes, but it seems to be helpful. http://www.ci.ramsey.mn.us/developmentupd ate Fridley Stacy Stromberg Yes No No Yes No City of St. Louis Park Nancy Sells Yes No Yes Yes Yes We publish and mail public hearing notices for Planning Commission consideration. We also mail a notice when the item comes before City Council for approval. Staff reports are available online as part of agenda packets for Planning Commission and City Council. Neighborhood meetings are frequently held for development proposals. Maple Grove Dick Edwards Yes No No Yes Yes Public notices are placed in the local newspaper Golden Valley Lisa Wittman Yes No Yes Yes Yes Golden Valley notifies all property owners within 500 feet of the subject property. We also publish a legal notice in the local newspaper at least 10 days prior to the public hearing before City Council. White Bear Lake Samantha Crosby Yes No Yes No Yes We post in the classifieds section of the local newspaper in addition to the mail notices and the signs. Burnsville Jane Hovind Yes No Yes No No West St. Paul Ben Boike Yes No No No No Savage Bryan Tucker Yes No No No No Cottage Grove Kathy Dennis No property owners within 500 feet of the subject property No no no Yes Public hearing notices are posted on the public bulletin board at City Hall ROBERT TRL SCONNEMARA TRL BONAIRE PATH W DODD BLVDBRASS PKWYBRONZE PKWYBRAZIL AVEBISCAYNE AVEBROCKWAY AVE138TH ST W BRI CK PATHBUNRATTY AVE1 3 3 R D S T W 139TH ST W UPPER 1 38 TH S T WCARLINGFORD LNBRIANBORU AVE140TH CIR 140TH ST WCARBURY AVE132 N D ST W LOWER 1 38 TH ST W 135TH ST W BELMONT CT 1 3 6 T H S T W BLANCA CT134TH ST W BLANCA AVE132ND CT WBURGUNDY AVEBUMLEY WAY BRI L L I ANT GE M AV E CARBURY WAY135TH CT WBRONZE CT1 3 5 T H S T WBROCKWAY AVEDODD BLVDDocument Path: K:\02235-040\GIS\Maps\ApartmentSiteBuffer.mxdÜ 0 250Feet Apartment Sit e 350ft Buffer 500ftBuffer 1500ft Buffer Parcel Boundary Apartment Complex SiteRosemount, MN 150TH ST W 145TH ST W BISCAYNE AVEROBERT TRL SBRAZIL AVECAMEO AVEBLANCA AVE148TH ST W BUSINESS PKWYLOWER 147TH ST W BISCAYNE WAYBURMA AVEBEECH ST W 142ND ST W CAMBRIAN AVEBLOOMFIELD RDBOXWOOD PATHB E L F A S T S T W CAMERO LNBIRCH ST W 143RD ST W 144TH ST W 146TH ST W B E L F A S T C T PRIVATE RDBURNLEY AVE151ST CT WCAMFIELD CIRB L U E B E R R Y C T BITTERSWEET CTBRENNER CT BLACKBERRY WAY BOSTON CIRDocument Path: K:\02235-040\GIS\Maps\145thStLocation.mxdÜ 0 600Feet Site Location 350ft Buffer 500ft Buffer 1500ft Buffer Parcel Boundary Site LocationRosemount, MN ROBERT TRL SCONNEMARA TRLDODD BLVD131ST ST W 130 T H S T WCHARLSTON WAY BRASS PKWYBRONZE PKWYBONAI RE PAT H W C A R R A C H A V E BROCKWAY AVE138TH ST W BRI CK PATHCARLINGFORD LN1 3 3 R D S T W 139TH ST W UPPER 1 38 TH S T W BUNRATTY AVECOUCHTOWN AVEBRAZIL AVE134TH S T W CARBURY AVE132 N D ST W 137TH ST W 136TH ST W 1 3 5 T H S T WCOACHFORD AVECOUCHTOWN CTBOLIVIA AVEBLANCA CTC O L E S H I R E PA T H 132 ND CT W BURGUNDY AVEBRI L L I ANT GE M AV E CARBURY WAYC O A C H F O R D W A Y CARLINGFORD WAYCORLISS TRL BLARNEY CTBRONZE CTDODD BLVD1 3 5 T H S T WBROCKWAY AVEDocument Path: K:\02235-040\GIS\Maps\132ndStLocation.mxdÜ 0 600Feet Site Location 350ft Buffer 500ft Buffer 1500ft Buffer Parcel Boundary Site LocationRosemount, MN AKRON AVEBONAIRE PATH E ABBEYFIELD AVECONNEMARA TRL BONAIRE PATH W A D A I R A V E ADDISON AVE141ST ST E AIL E S B U R Y A V E Document Path: K:\02235-040\GIS\Maps\138thStLocation.mxdÜ 0 750Feet Site Location 350ft Buffer 500ft Buffer 1500ft Buffer Parcel Boundary Site LocationRosemount, MN EXCERPT OF DRAFT MINUTES CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MEETING SEPTEMBER 12, 2016 2.e. Discussion of Public Notification for Planning Applications Community Development Director Lindquist gave an overview of the potential change in the planning notification policy. Ms. Lindquist stated that the reason for the discussion is due to complain ts during the Harmony apartment application. Ms. Lindquist discussed difficulties in tracking changes in the Homeowners’ Associations for direct contact to those organizations. She gave an overview of current communications efforts, including signage at the property, website, Facebook and Twitter. She stated that staff cannot arbitrarily decide to send notice to additional residents. Council members DeBettignies and Weisensel stated support for the current policy of 350 feet, but increasing the other communications. Council members Demuth, Nelson and Mayor Droste expressed support increasing the notification radius to 500 feet in the residential areas. Council member Weisensel expressed that the city should try and do more with the HOAs. Mayor Droste stated that the new developers should also meet with the HOAs. Ms. Lindquist stated that the change will require a public hearing.