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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes__________________________________ Plan Commission Minutes 1 December 1, 2015 PLAN COMMISSION MINUTES December 1, 2015 PRESENT: Ed Bowen, Thomas Fojtik, John Hinz, Kathleen Propp, Gary Gray, Donna Lohry, Robert Vajgrt EXCUSED: David Borsuk, Jeffrey Thoms, Steve Cummings, Karl Nollenberger STAFF: Darryn Burich, Director of Planning Services; David Buck, Principal Planner; Jeffrey Nau, Associate Planner; Brian Slusarek, Planning Technician; Steve Gohde, Assistant Director of Public Works; Allen Davis, Director of Community Development; 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 November 17, 2015 were approved as presented. (Gray/Lohry) I. ACCEPT SIGN EASEMENT AT 2100 S. KOELLER STREET (HARDEES) The City of Oshkosh is requesting acceptance of an easement from Aviation Restaurant Corp. for placement of a “Welcome to Oshkosh” sign at the parcel that currently contains Hardees Restaurant near the intersection of S. Koeller Street and W. South Park Avenue (State Highway 44). Mr. Nau presented the item and reviewed the site and surrounding area as well as the land use and zoning classifications in this area. He reviewed the general location of the easement area and explained the reason for the request which is to place a “Welcome Oshkosh” sign at this location. He reviewed renderings of the proposed signage and a map depicting the easement area. He discussed why the sign could not be placed in the public right-of-way as it is within control of the State of Wisconsin Department of Transportation (DOT). He further explained the process to install it in the DOT’s right-of-way which could be lengthy and more costly and that the City was therefore requesting an easement from the property owner to allow the sign to be placed on their property instead. Mr. Hinz questioned why it could not be located south of the Hardees property in the area of right-of- way. Mr. Nau responded that the right-of-way was under the control of the DOT. Steve Gohde, Assistant Director of Public Works, added that the DOT has outdoor sign regulations and has control of offsite signs placed near highways. He further discussed their regulation of business signs in the right-of-way near highways and that the DOT applies these regulations to this sign as in their opinion it is no different than offsite signage for a business. Signage is allowed in this area, however not in the right-of-way that they control, and the City is still in the process of researching the issue so if there is a way to place the sign in the right-of-way, it will be done in that manner. The easement is being requested in case this is not feasible. Mr. Gray questioned if the City needs to comply with signage ordinance requirements. Mr. Nau responded affirmatively. __________________________________ Plan Commission Minutes 2 December 1, 2015 Mr. Gray then questioned the sign design and its content. Mr. Nau replied that the Plan Commission was reviewing the request for acceptance of an easement at this location for the sign placement only and discussion on its content was not relevant. Mr. Gray suggested that the sign should say “Welcome to Oshkosh” rather than “Welcome Oshkosh” as the renderings depicted. Allen Davis, Director of Community Development, stated that he would bring this suggestion to the group that is working on this project. Motion by Vajgrt to approve the acceptance of the easement at 2100 S. Koeller Street. Seconded by Hinz. Motion carried 7-0. II. RESIDENTIAL DESIGN STANDARDS VARIANCE REQUEST TO PERMIT LESS WINDOW AREA ON AN ADDITION THAN REQUIRED BY THE DESIGN STANDARDS FOR SINGLE AND TWO-FAMILY HOMES AT 1834 CRANE STREET The applicant/owner requests approval of a variance from the City’s Residential Design Standards to permit less than 25% window area on the north and south side façades of a second story addition to the single-family home at 1834 Crane Street. Mr. Slusarek presented the item and explained the City’s code requirements for design standards for window and door openings related to building additions and reviewed the site and surrounding area. He explained staff’s reasoning to grant a variance to the standards in this particular case and discussed that the elevations of the home’s addition would not meet the code requirements relating to window openings on the side facades of the second story on the north and south elevations. He also reviewed renderings of the home’s proposed elevations with the addition and the areas that would not meet the design standard requirements. He further explained that staff was supporting the variance request in this particular case with a finding that the design standards do not apply to this project as the enforcement of the standards would cause the addition to be architecturally inconsistent with the existing home. Also, as proposed, the addition would not adversely affect the neighborhood character or curb appeal of the block. There no was discussion on this item. Motion by Vajgrt to approve a residential design standards variance to permit less window area on an addition than required by the design standards for single and two-family homes for property located at 1834 Crane Street with the following findings: 1. The design standards do not apply to this particular project. Seconded by Lohry. Motion carried 7-0. PLANNING DIRECTOR’S REPORT Zoning Ordinance Update __________________________________ Plan Commission Minutes 3 December 1, 2015 Mr. Buck reported that a final draft of the zoning ordinance has been completed however final staff review is still in process on some sections. He stated that a fully reviewed draft code of all the sections will be available in December. He further discussed that the signage section of the ordinance will need to be revised again as it is problematic at this point due to a recent Supreme Court decision that has complicated matters relating to typical municipal sign codes. He gave further explanation of the issue with the Court’s decision and that it will affect the drafting of the City’s draft Zoning Ordinance signage article but that it is staff’s intention to have the sign section completed and incorporated in the full rewrite. Mr. Burich added that more signs may be in the community due to this legislative decision and that it will put the signage section of the zoning ordinance on hold. Mr. Buck reported that the Zoning Ordinance Working Group and the Plan Commission have currently reviewed all sections of the revised ordinance with the exception of the definition and sign sections and a full document will be sent out when completed. Central City Investment Strategy Plan Update Mr. Burich stated that he was setting up a meeting for a round table discussion to be held on December 15th from 5:30 to 7:30 pm to review the Downtown Action Plan update with the consultant that was hired. He passed out copies of the Central City Reinvestment Strategy Proposal submitted by the consultant and stated that the entities involved with the meeting would be the Plan Commission, Business Improvement District, Common Council, and the Redevelopment Authority to determine where the City would like to go with the downtown in future years. A notice for this meeting will be sent out next week and a stakeholders meeting will be held in the future. Mr. Gray questioned if the meeting scheduled for December 15th would just be discussion or if some type of initial reports would be presented at this time. Mr. Burich responded that this meeting was for discussion purposes only. Mr. Burich commented that the last Downtown Action Plan was produced in 2000 or possibly 2002 and that this proposal would be more comprehensive than the last version. Mr. Gray then questioned if this proposal would just apply to the north side of the river. Mr. Burich replied that this proposal was planned to address commercial areas on both the north and south sides of the river. Mr. Gray then questioned if the City had made any attempts to contact business owners on the south side of the river regarding this matter as they are not part of the Business Improvement District. Mr. Burich responded affirmatively and stated that it was early in the process at this time. Ms. Propp inquired about how this plan would fit in with other City plans as it seems like we keep layering plans over one another and that the Plan Commission was not getting the right opportunity to comment on what they wanted to see in the redevelopment areas. She was concerned with how this plan was going to relate to other City plans already adopted or in the process. __________________________________ Plan Commission Minutes 4 December 1, 2015 Mr. Burich indicated that there were Riverwalk, TIF, redevelopment, and riverfront visioning plans already completed and the consultant was provided all of these documents and would use these various plans to create a mini comprehensive plan for the area. He further stated that the Plan Commission’s comments need to be shared with the consultant and discussed development for areas that have been proposed. Mr. Buck added that a lot of elements in these multiple plans can be put into one component with this strategy. Ms. Lohry stated that she is the chair of ADRC and had concerns with the elderly and disabled citizens in the community as she felt the bus system in the city is defunct. She further stated that she has been attending Transit board meetings as she feels the city needs more buses and another central location for buses other than the downtown location. She discussed issues with the time required and number of transfers necessary to get from one location to another with our current bus routes. Mr. Burich indicated that there was a time and place for this discussion which would be more appropriate when the City is updating its Comprehensive Plan. Ms. Lohry then commented about the proposed welcome sign that was discussed today and felt that the city’s corridors are coming along well and she was happy with the sign being proposed. Mr. Burich stated that the city is looking to improve the 9th Avenue and Oshkosh Avenue corridors at this time. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at approximately 4:30 pm. (Vajgrt/Hinz) Respectfully submitted, David Buck Principal Planner