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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes__________________________________ Plan Commission Minutes 1 November 7, 2023 PLAN COMMISSION MINUTES November 7, 2023 PRESENT: Thomas Perry, John Kiefer, Ed Bowen, Mamadou Coulibaly, Margy Davey, Paul Esslinger, Kathleen Propp, Meredith Scheuermann EXCUSED: Karl Loewenstein, DJ Nichols STAFF: Jeff Nau, Associate Planner; Brian Slusarek, Planner; Ray Maurer, Director of Parks; Kelly Nieforth, Community Development Director Chairperson Perry called the meeting to order at 4:00 pm. Roll call was taken and a quorum declared present. The minutes of October 17, 2023, were approved as presented. (Kiefer/Propp) Mr. Bowen arrived at 4:04 pm. I. GRANT DRAINAGE EASEMENT LOCATED AT THE NORTH 300 BLOCK OF WEST 35TH AVENUE (PARCELS 1413670500 & 1413670400) Site Inspections Report: No one reported visiting the site. Staff report accepted as part of the record. Marmax Holdings, LLC is requesting the acceptance of a drainage easement from the City of Oshkosh. Mr. Nau presented the items and reviewed the site and surrounding area as well as the land use and zoning classifications in this area. The subject site consists of two City-owned outlots east of and adjacent to 3300 Medalist Drive. An unnamed creek flows north through the eastern City- owned outlot. Plans were recently approved for personal storage buildings at the southeast corner of 3300 Medalist Drive. The approved drainage plan for the development requires surface flow to exit the site as well as existing water that flows off the site and then flows northeasterly until it enters the creek on city property. The Department of Public Works is agreeable to the runoff as it is a pre-existing condition and required for their grading and drainage plan to operate properly. The proposed easement covers the northern portions of Outlot 2 of CSM 5485 and Outlot 2 of CSM 5186. The easement is irregularly shaped, approximately 250 feet wide by 500 feet deep and approximately 122,025 square feet (2.801 acres) in area. The petitioner will be allowed to use the easement area as part of the storm water management plan and allow water to flow into, over, and exit the site into the stream. The City Attorney’s Office is in the process of finalizing the necessary easement documents. The Department of Public Works is in support as it is going to alleviate a pre-existing condition. Staff recommends approval of the granting of the proposed drainage easement as requested. __________________________________ Plan Commission Minutes 2 November 7, 2023 Mr. Perry opened up technical questions to staff. No statement from the owner, the City of Oshkosh. Mr. Perry asked for any public comments. Mr. Perry closed public comments. Motion by Propp to adopt the findings and recommendation as stated in the staff report. Seconded by Scheuermann. Mr. Perry asked if there was any discussion on the motion. Motion carried 8-0 II. ACCEPT PARK TRAIL EASEMENTS FROM PROPERTIES GENERALLY LOCATED AT 1970 PRESERVE DRIVE (CONDOMINIUM PLAT OF THE PRESERVE AT SAWYER CREEK) Site Inspections Report: No one reported visiting the site. Staff report accepted as part of the record. The City of Oshkosh Parks Department is requesting the acceptance of park trail easement from The Preserve at Sawyer Creek Condominium Owner’s Association, Inc. Mr. Nau presented the items and reviewed the site and surrounding area as well as the land use and zoning classifications in this area. The subject site is an existing condominium development consisting of 24 single-family dwellings accessed by a private road (Preserve Drive) off of West 20th Avenue. The development began construction in late 2019 and is now fully developed. The plat identified a 15-foot-wide pedestrian easement (granted to the City in 2008) starting from West 20th Avenue, and then wrapping around the northern section of the property, and then exiting to Rusch Park. Construction is to begin later this year for a pedestrian trail going through Rusch Park and will be connected to the proposed easement. The applicant is asking for an additional pedestrian easement which will connect from Preserve Drive at the northern cul-de-sac bulb and run between units 1800 and 1813 units, and connect to the future trail in Rusch Park. There are two easements in play for this site. The first easement is the pedestrian path trail which runs from Preserve Drive all the way up to Rusch Park. The second easement is a temporary construction easement which gives the City a little more area to construct and maintain the easement. Both proposed easements are located over an existing sanitary sewer easement granted to the City in 2008. The functionality of the sanitary sewer easement will not be impacted by the new easements. The pedestrian trail would run down a ten foot wide gap between units 1800 and 1813. Staff recommends approval of the acceptance of the two easements as requested. __________________________________ Plan Commission Minutes 3 November 7, 2023 Mr. Perry opened up technical questions to staff. Ms. Scheuermann wondered if this was planned all along when the condominiums were built. Mr. Nau stated back in the early 2000s the City acquired a pedestrian easement along the northern part of the Preserve Drive area knowing that eventually Rusch Park would have some passive recreational uses and then eventually connect to Carl Traeger School. The easement was already in play when the condominiums were initially sold. Ms. Scheuermann wondered if the owners of units 1800 and 1813 were asked their opinions on this. Ray Maurer, Parks Director, stated he has been working with the condominium association ownership, for almost a year, on the plans for this. His understanding is when people were purchasing lots in this subdivision that they were being informed at that time that there would be a connection in this location. Residents have come to the City Council during the last two years, during the CIP process, requesting a connection to the Rusch Park trail system. The condo association took a vote on the easement and 19 were in favor, 2 opposed, and 2 abstained. No statement from the owner, the City of Oshkosh. Mr. Perry asked for any public comments. Darrell McGill, 1841 Preserve Drive, lives within this association and he is a member. He is the former board member who worked with the Parks Director on initiating this plan with the City. His neighborhood does not have a sidewalk along 20th Avenue, so there is no way to walk along 20th. In lieu of that they have asked the City to at least provide a pathway to be able to recreate/walk, and allow the children to commute to school, without being subjected to traffic along 20th Avenue that exceeds the 35 miles-per-hour speed limit. It is a safety issue. Jim Preller, 1813 Preserve Drive, resident of the subdivision and owns one of the properties adjacent to the path. It is true they were told about the path right from the get-go during the purchasing process. They still want the bike/walking path. He is concerned with what the path will actually be. No concern from where it enters in from Preserve Drive but when it makes the turn. He understands that part of it will be gravel and not blacktop and that is a concern, as the rest of the Rusch Park trail path is all asphalt. There is an existing trail easement on the north side of their small north pond and he is wondering if that will also be built. Mr. Maurer referenced the Rusch Park Master Plan, developed in 2018, available of the City website: https://www.ci.oshkosh.wi.us/Parks/ParkPlans/RuschParkMasterPlan.pdf (Page 11). The trail system is pretty extensive throughout this western section of Rusch Park. The City has to do it in phases based on available funding, and CIP projects, because it is an expensive endeavor. Based on neighbor requests, the City’s first priority was to get the main artery from just north of the Traeger School property to the corner of the Preserve subdivision. Residents were asking for the __________________________________ Plan Commission Minutes 4 November 7, 2023 trail connection for safety. The north trail easement that Mr. Preller was questioning is still planned, but when it will happen depends on funding. The City is finding it more difficult to get the trail in along the creek because the area is becoming more of a wetland with all the development taking place in the area. That is not saying it cannot be done. Mr. Preller canvassed the rest of Rusch Park trail and looked at all the entrances and exits. Each one is very well developed, and has man-made infrastructure as well as vegetative buffers. As he understands it, theirs does not have a plan for that. He and his neighbor on the other side of the trail have not been contacted to discuss that aspect. He welcomes any and all discussion as it will be in his backyard. Mr. Perry reminded everyone that we are only talking about the easement at this time and not what it is made of, or how it is going to be landscaped. Mr. Perry closed public comments. No closing statement from the applicant. Motion by Propp to adopt the findings and recommendation as stated in the staff report. Seconded by Coulibaly. Mr. Perry asked if there was any discussion on the motion. Mr. Perry hopes that beyond this there is thoughtful consideration of working with the condo homeowner’s association on what this will eventually look like as a finished product. Motion carried 8-0 III. GENERAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN AMENDMENT AND SPECIFIC IMPLEMENTATION PLAN FOR A HOSPITAL DEVELOPMENT AT NORTHWEST CORNER OF OREGON STREET & WEST 6TH AVENUE (PARCEL 0900010000) Site Inspections Report: Ms. Scheuermann, Mr. Kiefer, Mr. Esslinger, and Ms. Davey reported visiting the site. Staff report accepted as part of the record. The petitioner requests approval of a General Development Plan (GDP) amendment and Specific Implementation Plan (SIP) for a hospital development at the northwest corner of Oregon Street and West 6th Avenue. Mr. Slusarek presented the items and reviewed the site and surrounding area as well as the land use and zoning classifications in this area. The subject area consists of a 21.38 acre vacant property __________________________________ Plan Commission Minutes 5 November 7, 2023 with Fox River frontage at the northwest corner of West 6th Avenue and Oregon Street. The site is zoned Riverfront Mixed Use District with Planned Development and Riverfront Overlays (RMU- PD-RFO). The surrounding area consists primarily of residential uses to the south and west along with commercial uses along Oregon Street. A General Development Plan was approved for the proposed hospital development on November 22, 2022. The approval included a condition that all requested base standard modifications (BSM) will be addressed as part of the Specific Implementation Plan (SIP) application. The applicant is proposing an 18 bed hospital and medical office building with an ambulatory surgery center. The proposed use is consistent with the approved General Development Plan. The proposed plans were discussed at a Plan Commission workshop on September 19, 2023, with Plan Commission voicing support of the proposal. A neighborhood meeting was held on September 14, 2023 with neighbors supportive of the project. The proposed hospital use is considered an indoor institutional use, which is prohibited in the RMU district. Staff is supportive of a base standard modification (BSM) to allow the proposed land use as it is consistent with 2040 Comprehensive Plan goal of supporting expansion of industry clusters that have high growth potential based on the Oshkosh region’s assets, which includes Healthcare/Medical. The use is also consistent with South Shore West (Center City) subarea desired land uses, which includes medical practices. The site will have two accesses off of West 6th Avenue and will have parking lots on both the east and west sides of the building as well as an ambulatory drop-off on the northeast end of the building and a pharmacy drive-through on the south side of the building. This is a modification from the approved GDP, which had the building and parking lot further to the east, along Jackson Street. Staff is supportive of the revised site plan as a larger setback from Oregon Street will allow for sufficient space to be maintained for future Oregon Street bridge re-construction in 2029. According to the applicant, industry standards require 4 stalls per bed for hospitals and 1 stall per 250 sq. ft. of the building’s gross floor area for medical office building/ambulatory surgery center. A total of 312 parking stalls are needed. The plan includes a total of 321 parking stalls to meet this requirement. A traffic impact analysis (TIA) was completed for the site. Staff reviewed the TIA and did not note any concerns with the plans as they relate to the TIA. The applicant is requesting a base standard modification (BSM) to allow the pharmacy drive- through pick-up window on the south façade, facing West 6th Avenue, where code prohibits drive- through windows from being located between the principal building and the street right-of-way. Staff is supportive of the requested BSM as the pick-up window will be in the most suitable location as it will not face the riverfront or Oregon Street and will not obstruct parking/circulation for the site. Additional yard landscaping has been provided on the street side of the pick-up window which serves to offset the requested BSM. Also, the significantly increased setback of approximately 110’ from the West 6th Avenue right-of-way mitigates the impacts of the drive- through window on a street-facing side of the building. The applicant is requesting a BSM to allow increased waterfront setback to 80’, from the maximum setback of 45’ from the ordinary high water mark for the RMU district. The applicant has stated that the increased setback is needed due to contaminated soils along the river and is also intended to allow additional privacy to the hospital patients from the public Riverwalk. Staff does not have __________________________________ Plan Commission Minutes 6 November 7, 2023 concerns with this setback increase as the maximum setback is intended for water-oriented commercial uses. A waterfront presence would not typically be associated with a hospital land use. The site plan includes a medical gas tank storage area on the west side of the western parking area for storage of tanks up to 15’ in height. The proposed enclosure will be constructed of 8’ tall metal panel fencing to match metal panels used on the building. The applicant is planting evergreen trees around the perimeter of the fencing to further screen the enclosure from view. The applicant has noted that the existing building located at the northeast corner of West 6th Avenue and Iowa Street is intended to remain at this time and will be maintained. At this time the applicant is reviewing options for the remaining undeveloped area of the site. Staff suggest adding a condition to the approval that the remaining undeveloped portion of the property will need to be maintained in compliance with City of Oshkosh ordinances. The landscape plan meets all building foundation landscaping, paved area, and street frontage point requirements. The applicant is requesting a BSM to allow street frontage landscaping to planted further than 10’ from the West 6th Avenue and Oregon Street right-of-way lines. According to the applicant, the increased distance from the street is needed along West 6th Avenue due to the presence of impacted soils in this area. They are proposing the increased distance along Oregon Street to accommodate future construction of the Oregon Street bridge. Staff does not have concerns with the requested BSMs as they are needed due to unique site circumstances related to contaminated soils and the proximity to the Oregon Street bridge. The landscape plan is exceeding the landscaping points requirement. Although the residences to the southwest of the site immediately abutting the development are zoned RMU, staff is recommending that the 0.4 opacity bufferyard be applied to mitigate the impacts of the development on these residences. To meet this bufferyard requirement, the applicant has provided a 30’ setback along with a solid row of Arborvitae trees along the property line, along with additional deciduous trees. The applicant has not submitted finalized signage plans. The proposed site plan includes a monument sign along West 6th Avenue and the provided building elevations show wall signage on the north, east, south, southeast, and northeast facades. The monument sign meets the 10’ street side setback requirement and the wall signage appears to be within the maximum sign area of 1 sq. ft. per linear foot of building frontage. Final signage plans will need to meet RMU district signage standards and will be reviewed under a separate permit for signage. The photometric plan meets the minimum lighting level for all parking/drive areas. Lighting levels do not exceed the maximum of 0.5 fc at the property lines and 1.0 fc at the right-of-way line. The fixtures will be full cut-off fixtures and will have a height of 20 ft., which is under the maximum fixture height of 23’ (including base) for the RMU district. The fixtures will be shielded so that the lighting elements are not visible from neighboring residential properties. The proposed elevations include a combination of glass, brick veneer, wood composite panel, and metal panels. The submitted building elevations are meeting the 70% Class I material requirement on all facades, with the exception of the west hospital façade, which includes 67.5% Class I __________________________________ Plan Commission Minutes 7 November 7, 2023 materials. According to the applicant, the reduced Class I materials on this façade are the result of the west delivery and services area, which also includes screened mechanical and storage areas. Staff is supportive of the requested BSM as this part of the building will be least visible from the streets and riverfront and will only be minimally (2.5%) less than the code requirement. The applicant has offset the request as the overall building façade area for the site exceeds the 70% requirement by 4.2%. The building facades meet window/door area requirements except for the west hospital façade (5% first floor, 13.2% upper floor), north clinic ground floor façade (0%), and south clinic ground floor façade (16.4%). As previously noted, the west hospital façade is utilized as a delivery and services area. The applicant has noted that windows on this façade are not desirable based on the interior functions of the mechanical and storage areas. The ground floor of the north-facing clinic façade also includes mechanical/storage and delivery area, which would not benefit from window area. For the south clinic facades, the interior functions along the ground floor are for patient surgery prep and recovery spaces which need privacy due to their function. To compensate for the window reductions on these façade areas, the applicant has exceeded the overall first floor window area requirement for the site by 10% and overall upper floor window area requirement by 6%. Staff is supportive of the reduction of window area on these particular facades as they would be better suited with the reduced window area and the applicant has increased window areas in other façade areas to compensate for the reduction. The Riverfront Overlay District also specifies that at least one functional entrance is required on the waterfront facade. The plans do not include an entrance on the north building facade. Staff is supportive of a BSM to allow this facade without an entrance as a waterfront entrance would not typically be associated with a hospital land use. The RFO standards also state that if a riverwalk path is present, a minimum 5-foot wide paved pedestrian path shall be provided that connects the riverwalk path to the waterfront entrance. The proposed plans show a sidewalk being provided from the site to the Riverwalk to meet this requirement. Staff is comfortable that the applicant has adequately offset the requested BSMs and the overall site is complimentary to the surrounding area. Staff recommends approval of the General Development Plan Amendment and Specific Implementation Plan with the findings and conditions listed in the staff report Mr. Perry opened up technical questions to staff. Mr. Perry asked if the owner/applicant wanted to make any statements. A Power Point presentation was given by the three people listed below. https://www.ci.oshkosh.wi.us/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=1157802&dbid=0&repo=Laserfiche  Lynn Detterman, Senior Vice President of ThedaCare South Region, at 130 Second Street in Neenah. She runs the trauma and stroke hospital in Neenah.  Ryan Marks, Vice President Facility Planning and Development with Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin, 9200 West Wisconsin Avenue in Milwaukee. __________________________________ Plan Commission Minutes 8 November 7, 2023  Tim Scanley, Design Architect with HGA Architects, 333 East Erie Street in Milwaukee. Mr. Perry asked for any public comments. John Ramsey, of 313 West 6th Avenue, received a notice in the mail and wanted to see what the hospital would look like. Paulette Feld, of 416 West 5th Avenue, is a chairperson on the neighborhood association in this area. She said they have been kept informed since day one. There have been no substantial concerns brought to her attention by the neighbors. She is looking forward to the hospital and could not ask for anything better to be built here. Mr. Perry asked if the owner/applicant wanted to make a closing statement. Tom Arquilla, Chief Strategy Officer of ThedaCare, 1 Neenah Center in Downtown Neenah. He wanted to thank the City staff. They have been incredible to work with. The professionalism is exceptional. He thanked the neighbors and said they would continue to get their feedback. Mr. Perry closed public comments. Motion by Propp to adopt the findings and recommendation as stated in the staff report. Seconded by Kiefer. Mr. Perry asked if there was any discussion on the motion. Ms. Propp finds this very attractive. The neighbors are happy and it will be so much better than what is there now. Ms. Scheuermann stated ThedaCare has done an incredible job of talking to the community and neighbors since day one. Motion carried 8-0 PLANNING MANAGERS REPORT: UPDATE ON LAKE BUTTE DES MORTS DEVELOPMENT Kelly Nieforth, Community Development Director, wanted to inform the Plan Commission members that Council had a resolution, at their last meeting on October 24th, requesting that Lake Butte des Morts development for the multi-family units come back through Plan Commission and Council. They would like to review it again. This was reviewed previously by Plan Commission in which they approved the GDP and SIP as presented, whereas Council then decreased the number of stories from four to three. Council would now like it to be four stories. Plan __________________________________ Plan Commission Minutes 9 November 7, 2023 Commission will be reviewing this on November 21st. Staff will be adding information as to what has happened since you first reviewed it, but otherwise everything else is the same. Mr. Perry wanted to know what the housing development plan is and how it would be impacted. Ms. Nieforth stated that could certainly be included in the meeting. Ms. Davey asked if there would be another neighborhood meeting before November 21st. Ms. Nieforth stated Council decided, since the plan is not changing from what was originally proposed, that there will be no neighborhood meeting. Mr. Perry stated the neighbors have been informed. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 4:59 p.m. (Kiefer/Propp) Respectfully Submitted, Mark Lyons Planning Services Manager