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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes PLAN COMMISSION MINUTES July 16,2019 PRESENT: Lynnsey Erickson, Thomas Fojtik,Michael Ford, Derek Groth, Lori Palmeri, Thomas Perry, Kathleen Propp EXCUSED: John Hinz,John Kiefer, Justin Mitchell STAFF: Mark Lyons, Planning Services Manager;Justin Gierach, Engineering Division Manager/City Engineer; Darlene Brandt, Grants Coordinator;Jeff Nau, Associate Planner; Steven Wiley, Assistant Planner;Mina Kuss, Recording Secretary Chairperson Fojtik called the meeting to order at 4:00 pm. He announced Mr. Lyons has accepted the Planning Services Manager position. Roll call was taken and a quorum declared present. The minutes of July 2, 2019 were approved as presented. (Propp/Ford) I. EXTRATERRITORIAL TWO-LOT LAND DIVISION/CERTIFIED SURVEY MAP AT THE SOUTH 3100 BLOCK OF COUNTY ROAD Z IN THE TOWN OF NEKIMI Site Inspections: Report: Ms. Erickson reported visiting the site. Staff report accepted as part of the record. Two-lot land division/certified survey map from one existing 39.6321 acre parcel. Sizes of the proposed lots are as follows: Lot 1 =5.5919 Acres Lot 2=33.0476 Acres Right-of-Way Dedication=0.9926 Acres Mr. Nau presented the item and reviewed the site and surrounding area as well as the land use and zoning classifications in this area. The purpose of this land division is to separate the wooded area from the agriculturally-used land. The applicant did not indicate any plans for sale or development of either lot. Lot 1 is proposed to be divided as an 840.00-foot wide by 290.00-foot, 5.5919 acre lot which exceeds the minimum lot size per Winnebago County's Subdivision Ordinance. Lot 1 contains all of the approximately four acre wooded area located along County Road Z. Lot 2 is the remainder of the "40" and is sized at 33.0476 acres. The Certified Survey Map (CSM) officially dedicates the south 33 feet of County Road Z to Winnebago County. The proposed two-lot land division will not immediately alter the existing land use patterns in the area and is consistent with the City's Comprehensive Land Use Plan recommendation of Rural Residential for the entire site. The proposed land division will not hamper the ability for future development of the land. The Department of Public Works has reviewed the proposed two-lot land division and did not have any additional concerns. Plan Commission Minutes 1 July 16,2019 Mr. Fojtik opened up technical questions to staff. There were no technical questions on this item. Mr. Fojtik asked for any public comments and asked if the applicant wanted to make any statements. There were no statements from the applicant There were no public comments on this item. Mr. Fojtik closed public comments and asked if the applicant wanted to make any closing statements. There were no closing statements from the applicant Motion by Perry to adopt the findings and recommendation as stated in the staff report. Seconded by Propp. Mr. Fojtik asked if there was any discussion about the motion. There was no discussion on the motion. Motion carried 7-0. II. TWO-LOT LAND DIVISION/CERTIFIED SURVEY MAP AT THE SOUTHEAST CORNER OF FOND DU LAC ROAD AND E.WAUKAU AVENUE (5 &25 E. WAUKAU AVENUE) Site Inspections: Report: Ms. Erickson reported visiting the site. Staff report accepted as part of the record. Two-lot land division/certified survey map from one existing 2.900 acre parcel. Sizes of the proposed lots are as follows: Lot 1 =0.990 Acres Lot 2= 1.910 Acres Mr. Nau presented the item and reviewed the site and surrounding area as well as the land use and zoning classifications in this area. The purpose of this land division is to separate the developed area containing the two six-unit apartment buildings from the remainder of the undeveloped property. Original plans called for three additional six-unit apartments on the Plan Commission Minutes 2 July 16,2019 southern half of the property,however, construction did not occur. Lot 1 is irregularly-shaped and meets the minimum Multi-Family Residential— 12 (MR-12) standards of width and depth but is slightly deficient in the area requirement. Proposed Lot 2 is also irregularly-shaped and meets minimum requirements of the MR-12 District in width, depth and area. The prior Certified Survey Map (CSM) for the property has an access restriction on the northerly half of proposed Lot 1 along Fond du Lac Road. Staff will require the restriction be included on the final version of this map and is also recommending extending the restriction the entire length of this CSM along Fond du Lac Road. The Department of Public Works has reviewed the proposed two-lot land division and reported city water and sanitary sewer is available to serve the lot directly from Fond du Lac Road. Mr. Fojtik opened up technical questions to staff. There were no technical questions on this item. Mr. Fojtik asked for any public comments and asked if the applicant wanted to make any statements. There were no statements from the applicant There were no public comments on this item. Mr. Fojtik closed public comments and asked if the applicant wanted to make any closing statements. There were no closing statements from the applicant Motion by Propp to adopt the findings and recommendation as stated in the staff report. Conditions: 1. Place a vehicular access restriction on Lots 1 and 2 along entire length of Fond du Lac Road for vehicles entering and exiting the property. 2. Place cross-access easement for vehicular/pedestrian traffic between Lots 1 and 2. Seconded by Ford. Mr. Fojtik asked if there was any discussion about the motion. There was no discussion on the motion. Motion carried 7-0. III. RESIDENTIAL DESIGN STANDARDS VARIANCE TO ALLOW A DOOR CLOSURE ON THE FRONT FACADE AT 1849 KNAPP STREET Plan Commission Minutes 3 July 16,2019 Site Inspections: Report: Mr. Groth reported visiting the site. Staff report accepted as part of the record. The applicant is requesting approval of a variance from the City's Residential Design Standards to allow a door closure on the front facade at 1849 Knapp Street. Mr. Wiley presented the item and reviewed the site and surrounding area as well as the land use and zoning classifications in this area. The applicant is requesting a design standards variance to allow the removal of a balcony door on the front facade. The applicants intend to remove the balcony, the balcony door and replace the door with a window. With the removal of the second floor balcony, the existing door would no longer have a purpose. Based on the window sizes provided, staff estimated the current glazing area to be 11.80% of the facade. Ordinance requires changes to front facades to ensure a minimum of 25% of the facade area to be dedicated to window and door openings. The existing facade is nonconforming and the house was constructed before the current ordinance went into effect. Staff is of the opinion that the proposed change will not have a detrimental impact on the home's architectural integrity. Though the facade does not meet the letter of the ordinance,it does appear to meet the intent of the standards. It is important to note,however,that the window will be smaller than the previous door. Mr. Fojtik opened up technical questions to staff. There were no technical questions on this item. Mr. Fojtik asked for any public comments and asked if the applicant wanted to make any statements. Ray Panske (applicant), 1849 Knapp Street, stated he is the property owner and thinks the proposed design standards variance is a good idea. Ms. Propp commented it will improve the appearance of the house. Mr. Fojtik agreed. There were no other public comments on this item. Mr. Fojtik closed public comments and asked if the applicant wanted to make any closing statements. There were no closing statements from the applicant Motion by Erickson to adopt the findings and recommendation as stated in the staff report. Conditions: Plan Commission Minutes 4 July 16,2019 1. Window trim to match color and appearance of the existing windows on the home. 2. Completed work to be revised so that the perimeter of this window maintains the same appearance as the perimeter of existing windows on the same fagade. 3. All new siding shall be consistent in appearance throughout. Seconded by Palmeri. Mr. Fojtik asked if there was any discussion about the motion. There was no discussion on the motion. Motion carried 7-0. IV. REVIEW OF 2018 CONSOLIDATED ANNUAL PERFORMANCE AND EVALUATION REPORT (CAPER) OF THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM Staff report accepted as part of the record. Ms. Brandt presented the Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report for the period of May 1,2017 through April 30, 2018 summarizing accomplishments and detailing how funds received from HUD were expended. Funding is received annually from HUD based on census data and is required to be utilized on programs benefiting low to moderate income activities such as housing, public services, acquisition and demolition,neighborhood initiatives and planning/administration. Available funding for 2018 was$925,916.27 comprised of$815,197.00 of grant funding and$110,719.27 of program income. Expenditures totaled$720,679.77 with a percentage of 71.79% of current funding expended to benefit low and moderate income, 10.95%for public service programs and 8.84%for administration activities. Ms. Brandt explained some of the projects these funds were utilized for such as housing rehabilitation projects and homebuyer assistance loans, lead abatement grants and rental rehabilitation. She also summarized the amounts granted to local public service sub-recipients,funding spent on demolition of slum and blight properties in the central city,neighborhood projects, acquisition of two properties in neighborhood areas to be demolished, oversight of programs involving Fair Housing issues, and total planning and administration expenditures. She discussed the carryover of funds from last year and why this occurs. Ms. Brandt stated that the full CAPER report has been prepared and will be submitted to HUD, who will perform a comprehensive review of the program activity. A copy of this report is available in the Planning office,library or online for anyone who wishes to review it. Any comments on this report can be either mailed or emailed to her by July 25f. Ms. Brandt asked if anyone had questions. Ms. Palmeri questioned the expenditures and if there was a more specific breakdown for each category in the Expenditures by Type of Activity chart. Plan Commission Minutes 5 July 16,2019 Ms. Brandt replied there is not. She explained the HUD program that is used online is based on the expenditures and draw downs. She said there is not a section in the CAPER showing the projects that were undertaken. She said the report is generated from the HUD system and there is nothing that would show the actual street addresses of the rehab projects. She explained there is nothing entered that would show amounts spent on each specific item or property address. Ms. Palmeri asked where someone would find that information if it is not in the program. Ms. Brandt replied it could be requested from staff through an open records request. Ms. Palmeri questioned if that information should be with the report or not. Ms. Brandt replied no because it is not something that would get submitted to HUD. Ms. Palmeri said out of the million dollars, it shows on page 14 that 14 people were served through the program whereas page 13,under affordable housing, shows 21 households were served. Ms. Brandt replied correct. She stated there were 13 housing rehabs and one down payment assistance. She explained the down payment assistance project had a very small amount of rehab work. She said that is why there is a total of 14 because all the items fall under the housing category. Ms. Palmeri commented she is a little confused. She said she did not understand how 21 households were served but only 14 people. Ms. Brandt explained the table at the top of page 13 identifies the number of non-homeless owner occupied households assisted;the table on the bottom includes rental rehab assistance for 1 unit, owner rehab of 14 units and acquisition of 6 slum and blight properties. She commented it is strange how she has to enter some of the data. She said the acquisitions eliminated slum and blight in neighborhoods and those lots will be re-sold for construction of new homes. The table on page 14 is based on households served where income is used to determine eligibility (owner rehab). Ms. Palmeri referred to the spreadsheet on page 2-5 and asked if that would be the proper area to list the specifics of the$1,085,657.54 spent. Ms. Brandt replied she did notice that the information did not populate in the HUD program. She said this has been an ongoing problem for the last few years. She apologized and said she will have to manually populate that section. Ms. Palmeri inquired about when the Plan Commission would receive that information. Ms. Brandt replied she will forward that information once the report has been compiled. Plan Commission Minutes 6 July 16,2019 Ms. Palmeri questioned the Plan Commission date on page 26 because it states public comments to be taken at the Plan Commission date of July 171h but the today's date is the 161h. She asked if public comments could be received up until the July 251h deadline. Ms. Brandt replied that is a typo and public comments are being accepted until July 25. Ms. Propp commented it looks like there are not very many properties involved and that it should not be difficult to create a table independent of the report. She stated she understands Plan Commission is evaluating the CAPER only, which has some detail in it,but would be interested in seeing a separate report with more details. Ms. Erickson asked how the activities and action plan under Public Service are decided and what agencies receive some of the funding. Ms. Brandt said the city has a Public Service consortium made up of the City of Oshkosh, United Way and Community Foundation. She explained based on those three organizations, they combine their funds together so there is less overlap of funding for the same types of programs. She said the consortium will accept applications and then has a committee that ranks and reviews them. She explained the committee has representation from each of the organizations. She said depending on the allocation from HUD, a percentage of that can be used for Public Service activities. Ms. Palmeri said having the follow-up information with more detail would be helpful for everyone. Mr. Fojtik said as a new employee of an agency that receives funding, the reporting is based on the Federal government's regulation. He said the report is difficult to fill out. Ms. Palmeri agreed. Ms. Brandt reiterated it is on online program where data is inputted based on activities that have been accomplished/undertaken within the program year. She said she would definitely update the charts and create the table on the owner rehab projects and forward those to the Commission. Ms. Palmeri asked where the public could submit their comments before the July 251h deadline. Ms. Brandt said they could contact her by sending written comments to City Hall, e-mail her (DBrandt@ci.oshkosh.wi.us) or call her at 920-236-5029. Mr. Perry stated he appreciates the fact that this community utilizes the CDBG funds for Public Services because there are plenty of communities throughout the state that do not use it for Public Services at all. He said he understands it is a small portion but it helps all of the smaller agencies tremendously. Mr. Fojtik and Ms. Propp agreed. Plan Commission Minutes 7 July 16,2019 Ms. Brandt mentioned in the 2019 program year, they had more applications for the Public Service agencies and unfortunately not everyone will be funded. She said not everyone will receive the funding they requested either because there is not enough funding capability through the program. Ms. Palmeri said she sees a lot of the same entities that get funded through the years and asked if there was a limit of funding. She inquired about the process. Ms. Brandt said the process is getting the information out to the Public Service agencies. She explained the information for the Public Service consortium grant is noticed by contacting the prior year applicants, putting a notice in the paper, putting a notice on the City website, the partner agencies also put the information on their sites and so on. She stated the information is out there but it is up to the agencies to apply. Ms. Palmeri asked if there was any restriction on how long an organization can use the funding. Ms. Brandt replied there is not a restriction. She said it is preferred that the funding is not used as a long-term funding source but understands there are State and Federals budget cuts that occur that impact public service agencies. She said these cuts make it difficult to go without the funding. She said agencies also utilize the funding if they are expanding a program or adding a new programs. She said there is a need in the community and the Public Service agencies help address those needs as best as they can. Ms. Palmeri commented it is wonderful that the funding can be used for Public Service agencies though it is only a small portion. She said it is surprising to see the almost$500,000 of funding being used to serve such few people. She thanked Ms. Brandt. No Plan Commission action is required. This item is informational only. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at approximately 4:35 pm. (Propp/Ford) Respectfully submitted, Mark Lyons Planning Services Manager Plan Commission Minutes 8 July 16,2019