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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutesPLAN COMMISSION MINUTES September 1, 2009 PRESENT: David Borsuk, Jeffrey Thorns, Thomas Fojtik, Dennis McHugh, Kent Monte, John Hinz, Karl Nollenberger EXCUSED: Ed Bowen, Paul Lowry, Kathleen Propp, Robert Vajgrt STAFF: Darryn Burich, Director of Planning Services; David Buck, Principal Planner; Jeff Nau, Associate Planner; David Patek, Director of Public Works; Steve Gohde, Assistant Director of Public Works; Deborah Foland, Recording Secretary Chairperson Fojtik called the meeting to order at 4:00 pm. Roll call was taken and a quorum declared present. The minutes of August 18, 2009 were approved as presented. (Thoms /Monte) L STREET VACATION OF AN ALLEY LOCATED NORTH OF E. LINWOOD AVENUE BETWEEN ASHLAND HARRISON STREETS The applicant requests the vacation of a 16 foot by 100 foot alley located north of E. Linwood Avenue between Ashland and Harrison Streets. Mr. Nan presented the item and reviewed the site and explained that the remaining part of the alley to the north of this area had been vacated in 1984. The area was currently a grass surface and was being maintained by the adjacent property owners. If the vacation is approved, each adjacent property owner will receive one half of the vacated area. Staff is recommending that a utility easement be placed on the entire vacation area as there may be private utilities located in the area. Mr. Fojtik questioned what private utilities may be located there. Mr. Nan responded that Time Warner Cable, AT &T, and other private entities could possibly have utilities located in the area as the City does not monitor these types of utility placements. Mr. Thorns asked if there were any easements placed on the alley previously vacated to the north of this site. Mr. Buck replied that the city does not know what is located on the previously vacated area and the utility easement was being recommended as a safety precaution. He further stated that there was a 25 foot setback from the lot line for any types of structures on the property and each property owner would only receive an eight foot addition to their lot. Steve Gohde, Assistant Director of Public Works, added that the City does not know if any gas, power, or other private utilities were located in the alley area as the City does not track the installation of private utilities. Mr. Borsuk inquired if the City has ever done an inventory of the alleys in the city and if there were any plans to vacate the remaining ones. Mr. Gohde responded that the City has not inventoried alley locations in the city and that some have been re- paved in the last year as they are still in use. Motion by Nollenberger to approve the street vacation of an alley located north of E. Linwood Avenue between Ashland and Harrison Streets as requested with the following conditions: 1. A utility easement is placed on the entire vacation area for any existing private utilities /structures. Plan Commission Minutes September 1, 2009 Seconded by Borsuk. Motion carried 7 -0. II. STREET VACATION RAINBOW DRIVE WEST OF PUNHOQUA STREET The applicant requests vacation of Rainbow Drive from Punhoqua Street west 144 feet to the street terminus. Mr. Nan presented the item and reviewed the site and explained that the only functional use of the street vacation area was driveway access to property located at 1703 Punhoqua Street. If the vacation is approved, each adjacent property owner will receive one half of the vacated area and arrangements have been made between the two owners to transfer the southern portion of the vacation to the residence to the north to increase the lot size and make it more buildable. There is currently a street light on the west side of the site which will be removed, however staff is recommending that a utility easement be placed on the entire vacation area as there may be private utilities located on the site. Bruce Sager, 1703 Punhoqua Street, stated that he would like the condition removed regarding the utility easement placement on the entire vacation area as he had plans to construct a workshop on the site. He further stated that there were no private utilities located in the area other than the Wisconsin Public Service electric leading to the street light and that he had contacted Digger's Hotline who confirmed this information. Mr. Gohde commented that until the Wisconsin Public Service line servicing the street light is removed there are utilities located in the vacated area and after that line is removed, they would have to go back and attempt to verify that there are no private utilities located there. Mr. Fojtik inquired if once the utilities are removed, could the condition be removed as well. Mr. Nan suggested that Wisconsin Public Service could release the easement once they have removed their electric line. Mr. Gohde commented that a release would also have to be obtained from Time Warner Cable and AT &T as well. Mr. Borsuk questioned if Digger's Hotline would be checking for utilities on private property at the City's request. Mr. Thorns commented that they would perform this service as he has had it done at his residence. Mr. McHugh stated that to his knowledge, Digger's Hotline will not locate utilities on private property at the City's request for liability reasons. Mr. Monte commented that they would locate utilities on private property but only at the property owner's request. Mr. Nan suggested that the property owner may have to sign a waiver with Wisconsin Public Service to obtain the release of the utility easement. Mr. Buck suggested that the condition be rephrased to state that the utility easement be retained if private utilities are present. Mr. Gohde stated that verifying if private utilities are present is quite a task to track as there are a lot more than just the entities previously mentioned such as NTD, Kentucky Datalink, etc. Mr. Borsuk inquired if he would have any thoughts on the appropriate verbiage for the condition Mr. Monte commented that as the current verbiage discusses existing utilities on the site, he did not feel that any change was necessary to the phrasing of the condition. There may be some delay in construction if private utilities are found to be present and would be required to be moved or removed, but the current verbiage appropriately addresses the issue. Plan Commission Minutes September 1, 2009 Mr. Borsuk questioned if a party could build on a designated easement area. Mr. Burich responded that any construction would be subject to the removal of the utilities first, but the condition only applied to existing private utilities on the site and if it was confirmed that none existed, it would not prevent the property owner from constructing in that area. Mr. Monte stated that it would be up to the property owner to make the necessary contacts to ensure that no private utilities were present prior to any construction on the site. Motion by Monte to approve the street vacation of Rainbow Drive west of Punhoqua Street as requested with the following conditions: 1. A utility easement is placed on the entire vacation area for any existing private utilities /structures. Seconded by Hinz. Motion carried 7 -0. III. AUTHORIZATION TO ACQUIRE PROPERTY LOCATED AT 1100 W. SMITH AVENUE (OSHKOSH NORTH HIGH SCHOOL) This request is for the acquisition of 1.35 acres of land from the Oshkosh North High School property for construction of a stormwater management basin. Mr. Buck presented the item and reviewed the site and the surrounding uses and stated that the City was considering purchasing the property for stormwater management use. He also reviewed a map of the Libbey/Nicolet Drainage Study which depicted the stormwater basin area and location of the storm sewer which is right under the street in the area considering to be acquired. He further commented that it was an ideal location for the detention basin and would also preserve the trees in that wetland area as the basin could be located on the parcel to be acquired rather than in the wooded area of wetlands to the north. Mr. McHugh commented that this issue was more political and that the Commission members should not be voting on this as a single item as it was being offered to the City by the School Board as a package deal for a certain sum of money and if the Commission approves of this single item, they would also have to approve other items as well to satisfy the School Board's offer. Mr. Buck stated that the package deal was a decision to be considered by the Common Council and that the Plan Commission needs to look at this item as a separate land use issue. Mr. Borsuk commented that it was good planning individually and that the Commission needs to vote on the item for it to move forward for Common Council consideration. Mr. Burich added that the Plan Commission makes a recommendation to the Common Council to approve or deny a request by voting on the item. It is within the realm of responsibility of the Council to consider the entire package deal of the School Board, which includes the financing. Mr. Gohde presented further explanation to the Commission members of the drainage basin plans and the Libbey/Nicolet Drainage Study map presented. Mr. Thorns asked if all the basins represented on the map currently exist. Mr. Gohde responded that they do not, most are proposed sites for basins Mr. Thorns then questioned if the proposed basin on this site would be a wet or dry detention basin. Mr. Gohde replied that this proposed area would be for a wet detention basin. Plan Commission Minutes September 1, 2009 Mr. Hinz stated that it appeared that there would be some crossing over between the proposed basins and questioned if it would create issues with the DNR. Mr. Gohde responded that they did not anticipate any issues with the DNR regarding the matter. Motion by Nollenberger to approve the acquisition of property located at 1100 W. Smith Avenue as requested. Seconded by Monte. Motion carried 6 -0 -1. Ayes- Borsuk/Thoms/Fojtik /Monte /Hinz/Nollenberger Nays none. Abstained McHugh (he stated that he did not feel he could legally vote on this item) IV. AUTHORIZATION TO ACQUIRE PROPERTY LOCATED AT 137 S. CAMPBELL ROAD (OSHKOSH AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT MAINTENANCE FACILITY) This request is for the acquisition of 2.12 acres of land from the Oshkosh Area School District (OASD) for future use of Central Garage /Sanitation/Street Division operations. Mr. Buck presented the item and reviewed the site, surrounding area and uses. He stated that the School District was interested in moving their maintenance facility out of this site and the City was interested in combining the Street, Sanitation, and Central Garage facilities. He displayed a map showing the locations of the various municipal facilities in the area and stated that the Capital Improvement Program has funding for the acquisition and design of a new facility in the budget. Mr. McHugh inquired if the Plan Commission considers the fact that this area is heavily contaminated when voting on whether to acquire it. Mr. Buck responded that the Commission should consider this as part of the suitability of the purchase. Mr. Borsuk commented that the Universal Foundry property was heavily contaminated and all of the South Shore area is as well. The City is experienced in dealing with Brownfield sites and the Commission should consider whether the consolidation of the various divisions is good planning. Mr. Fojtik commented that anyone making improvements on this site will have to deal with the contamination issue. Mr. Burich added that when the item is presented to the Common Council, those issues could be discussed at that level. The Plan Commission's responsibility is to determine if this is an appropriate land use and whether it agrees with the Comprehensive Plan's use recommended for this area. The remediation issues are dealt with on a regular basis by the City when acquiring property and should not be considered when determining the appropriate land use. Mr. Thorns stated that from a planning standpoint, he was not sure that this is a good land use for this site. He further stated that the Dumke's were criticized for their proposed uses along the river and he felt that this was too close to the river's edge to be used for a maintenance facility. He commented that he was not in favor of this concept and felt that it was poor planning on the City's part to suggest locating a maintenance facility right by the Fox Valley Technical College, the new bridge, and the University. He felt that the site would be more suited for commercial development. Mr. McHugh agreed and commented that to approve this land acquisition for use as a Central Garage site is wrong. Mr. Buck stated that the request at this time is for a land acquisition and the potential use is background information. If the site would be determined to be appropriate for use as an expansion to the City's Central Garage, it would be brought forward at a later date when some type of plans had been finalized as the Plan Commission and Common Council would have to approve of the use prior to moving forward with this concept. Plan Commission Minutes September 1, 2009 Mr. Borsuk commented that he was not sure that this concept would be incompatible with the surrounding area as the University's maintenance building is located across the street from this site and the remediation of the site would be less costly for the City than for a private developer. He commented that he did not feel it was bad planning, but the nature of the area. Mr. Nollenberger stated that the Commission and Common Council approved the University's maintenance facility within the last year and technically it was closer to the river than the site proposed to be acquired. Mr. Thorns responded that the University's facility was a re -use of an existing structure and this concept was proposing constructing a whole new building. He further commented that the City has other property they could use for this purpose such as land in the industrial park. Mr. Monte commented that the City does have other property in the industrial park, however there are a number of uses which the public utilize at the Central Garage site and having it more centrally located would be more convenient than moving it out of town. He also commented that the costs to demolish the building and complete remediation on the site would be assuming the School District's responsibility for the property. Mr. Borsuk stated that none of the property in this area was any bargain as it was all Brownfield sites and the Commission needs to look at if this is the best use for the property, or could it be developable for other uses. In this case, it may be the best use of the site for our community. In addition to citizen's use of the Central Garage area, it also provides for a more centrally located dispatch of vehicles for City purposes. Mr. Fojtik commented that regarding other developers interested in this site, the Cub Foods property was vacant for about ten years after the store closed before the University acquired it for their maintenance facility. Mr. Thorns reiterated that he did not feel that the City garage /dump was appropriate one block off of the river, but he was not as concerned with it being a Brownfield site. David Patek, Director of Public Works, stated that as the recommendation indicates, the request is to decide whether to acquire property and the Common Council would later decide the use for the site. If the property is not acquired, the Oshkosh Area School District's maintenance facility will remain there. The industrial park can be utilized for the location of the Central Garage, Street, and Sanitation Divisions if the Common Council approves it. It would be easier for the City to move these services out of town; however the Commission needs to determine if acquiring this property for any use is in the best interest of the City. He further stated that combining facilities with the School District did not make sense as the Public Works and School Board's functions are not compatible. Any building constructed on this site would look better than what is there now and additional review of the matter would be made with the Common Council. The acquisition of the land is the only issue at hand at this meeting. The School District is offering the three parcels as a package deal which includes the detention basin sites at Perry Tipler Middle School and Oshkosh North High School and this site. This site could be remediated and sold for other use, but we need to give the Common Council the option to vote on this issue. If this land acquisition is denied, it will deter both detention basins at the school locations from being constructed. Mr. Hinz questioned if the three City divisions were to be combined, what would happen to the facilities they currently occupied. Mr. Patek responded that the Sanitation Department building on 4 1h Avenue would be removed; the area occupied at the Senior Center would be vacated as the Senior Center wants Public Works out of the building so they can utilize the space for their own purposes; and the County would like to sell their property and do not want to continue to lease space to the City for the storage of salt. After the relocation was complete, there would be two additional properties that would go back on the tax roll. Mr. McHugh inquired how soon these departments would move if the land was acquired to relocate them. Plan Commission Minutes September 1, 2009 Mr. Patek replied that it would depend on the decision of the Common Council, but it would have to be funded over several years. The Department of Public Works would be able to do some of the work themselves such as grading, paving, and utility installation. The budget would dictate when this relocation could be completed. Motion by Nollenberger to approve the acquisition of property located at 137 S Campbell Road as requested. Seconded by Borsuk. Motion carried 5 -1 -1. Ayes- Borsuk/Fojtik /Monte /Hinz /Nollenberger. Nays Thoms. Abstained McHugh. (he stated that he did not feel he could legally vote on this item) There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at approximately 4:57 pm. (Borsuk/Monte) Respectfully submitted, Darryn Burich Director of Planning Services Plan Commission Minutes September 1, 2009