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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes PLAN COMMISSION MINUTES April 16,2019 PRESENT: Ed Bowen, Thomas Fojtik,John Hinz,John Kiefer, Thomas Perry, Kathleen Propp, Robert Vajgrt EXCUSED: Michael Ford, Derek Groth,Andrew Mott STAFF: Darryn Burich, Planning Director;Justin Gierach,Engineering Division Manager/ City Engineer;Mark Lyons, Principal Planner;Jeff Nau, Associate Planner; Steven Wiley,Assistant Planner;Mina Kuss, 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 April 2, 2019 were approved as presented. (Vajgrt/Propp) I. GRANT PRIVILEGE IN THE STREET AND EASEMENTS FOR CONDUCTING SOIL BORING ADVANCES AND INSTALL MONITORING WELLS WITHIN THE COURT STREET, CEAPE AVENUE AND BROAD STREET RIGHTS-OF-WAY AND RIVERSIDE PARK/LEACH AMPHITHEATER PROPERTIES Site Inspections Reports: No commissioners reported visiting the site. Staff report accepted as part of the record. O'Brian& Gere Engineers, Inc. and Wisconsin Public Service Corporation is requesting a privilege in the street and granting of easements to allow for soil boring advances and installation of monitoring wells in city right-of-way and city-owned property. Mr. Nau presented the item and reviewed the site and surrounding area. The proposed work is part of an ongoing remedial investigation of the Oshkosh Manufactured Gas Plant site. Adverse soil conditions were observed during reconstruction of Court Street and Ceape Avenue. This prompted a notification to WPSC. WPSC coordinated with the United States Environmental Protection Agency to expand the site investigation and address data gaps within the site and public right-of-way. The applicant is seeking approval to advance ten soil borings in the city's right-of-way (privilege request) and seven borings within the park property (easement request). The privilege request also includes locations of existing monitoring wells in Court Street and Broad Street rights-of-way. The easement request includes existing monitoring wells located within the park property. The proposed borings located in the right-of-way will be located within the terrace area so that street pavement/sidewalk will not be disturbed. The borings located on the park property are primarily located along the north side of the riverwalk and south of Court Street. The depths of the borings will be based on soil observations but should not be more than 30 feet deep. Plan Commission Minutes 1 April 16,2019 Once the investigation is complete, the boings will be abandoned using methods approved by the Department of Public Works. Need for the additional borings will be based on observations from other borings. Mr. Nau explained there was a slight wording change for condition#1. It changed from"The Petitioner shall follow all of the City's standard specifications for construction, along with all Municipal Code requirements" to "The Petitioner shall follow all of the current edition of the Standard Specifications for City of Oshkosh, Wisconsin for construction, along with all Municipal Code requirements". Ed Bowen arrived at 4:02 pm. Mr. Fojtik opened technical questions to staff. There were no technical questions on this item. Mr. Fojtik asked if there were any public comments. There were no public comments on this item. Mr. Fojtik closed public comments. Motion by Uajgrt to adopt the findings and recommendation as stated in the staff report. Final conditions to state: 1. The Petitioner shall follow all of the current edition of the Standard Specifications for City of Oshkosh, Wisconsin for construction, along with all Municipal Code requirements. 2. The Petitioner shall work with the Department of Public Works regarding the precise location of all soil borings and monitoring wells within the public right-of-way and any parcel used by that Department. The Department of Public Works shall approve all precise locations, but the approval shall not be unreasonably denied. 3. The Petitioner shall work with the Parks Department regarding the precise location of all soil borings and monitoring wells within the Leach property and the Riverside Park property. The Parks Department shall approve all precise locations, but the approval shall not be unreasonably denied. 4. All monitoring wells that are eventually abandoned shall be removed no less than thirty-six (36)inches below the surface, and then abandoned according the requirements of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, or other applicable regulatory body. 5. Petitioner shall provide copies of information and materials related to the soil borings and monitoring wells on City property that are also submitted to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and/or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 6. Petitioner is responsible for costs, expenses, and damages to the extent they are related to Petitioners activities pursuant to the Privilege in the Street and/or easement. Any problem that may arise as a result of the placement of the soil boring and installation of monitoring Plan Commission Minutes 2 April 16,2019 wells be the responsibility of the petitioner to correct in coordination with the Department of Public Works and the Parks Department, depending on the location of the problem. 7. All appropriate permits, including but not limited to right-of-way permits, are obtained prior to the start of soil boring and monitoring well placement. 8. The petitioner/owner secures and submits to the City Clerk a separate insurance policy which names the City of Oshkosh, and its officers, Council members, agents, employees and authorized volunteers as additional insured's with a minimum commercial general liability coverage of$200,000 per occurrence and$500,000 in general aggregate. 9. It is the responsibility of the petitioner/owner to file in a timely manner a new insurance certificate with the City Clerk upon expiration of an existing certificate. Failure to do so may result in the revocation of the privilege in street within ten (10) days of notice. 10. The petitioner shall enter into separate privilege in the street and easement agreements that will formalize the agreements between the City and the petitioner. The agreements shall include these conditions, and City staff is also authorized to include additional conditions that are in the best interests of the City. 11. The facility is part of and documented with Digger's Hotline system. 12. The Petitioner shall take into consideration the City's use of the easement property and the right-of-way and as a result plan its actions to provide the least amount of disruption that is reasonably possible. Seconded by Kiefer. Mr. Fojtik asked if there was any discussion about the motion. There was no discussion on the motion. Motion carried 7-0. II. RESIDENTIAL DESIGN STANDARDS VARIANCE TO ALLOW WINDOW AREA REDUCTIONS AND CLOSURES ON THE FRONT FACADE AT 2038 ROOSEVELT AVENUE Site Inspections Reports: Ms. Propp 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 window area reductions and closures on the front facade at 2038 Roosevelt Avenue. Mr. Wiley presented the item and reviewed the site and surrounding area as well as the land use and zoning classifications in this area. Planning Services staff sent a correction notice to the property owner on February 6th, 2019 after becoming aware that the owner had closed off front window openings without obtaining a permit. A number of windows were reduced in size and some windows were removed entirely. Planning staff explained to the owner that a design Plan Commission Minutes 3 April 16,2019 standards variance was required for closing off front windows. The front facade previously included seven(7) windows and an entry door with a porch stoop,railing and overhang. The facade now includes four (4) windows, with an entry door and a wood entry platform. The applicant closed off a number of windows and shifted/reduced the sizes of others. Additionally, the front overhang was removed and the entry door shifted. The applicant explained that he replaced the windows because the window frames were rotten. He mentioned that he spoke with a number of his neighbors and they thought the house looked attractive. After evaluating the petitioner's application and completed work, staff is of the opinion that the Plan Commission should deny the variance. Staff did not have information on what the total previous window and door area was on the front facade. The completed work disrupts the balance of the front facade. The windows are a number of different sizes and there is no continuity in their spacing, size or sill heights. The applicant has not made himself available to discuss ideas with staff. Mr. Fojtik opened technical questions to staff. Mr. Bowen asked if staff could guess the percent of glazing prior to the reconstruction. Mr. Wiley guessed the glazing would have been around 15%. Mr. Bowen said he was trying to understand if the percentage was close to the 25%required glazing. He stated there have been similar variance requests in the past with the common theme of work done without a permit, without the right permit or something along those lines. He was curious what the process is from Inspections when approving siding permits and if they provided additional information relating to exterior improvements. He said there are people that purposely do not follow the ordinance but there are others that do not know. He feels it would be beneficial for Inspections to be more proactive when approving exterior work. Mr. Burich said there is sign-off form from Zoning which states the applicant will comply with the ordinance. Mr. Bowen said it couldn t hurt to be more proactive. Mr. Burich said he believes siding permits do not have to be obtained in person. Mr. Hinz commented most people update windows when they are updating the siding. Mr. Bowen said there are many contractors that are aware of the ordinance and regulations but the homeowners are not as aware of them. He suggested discussing this with Inspections. Mr. Hinz said it would be different if beforehand,the applicant requested closing the window by the stairwell because it may have been approved. Mr. Fojtik asked if there were any public comments and asked if the applicant wanted to make any statements. Plan Commission Minutes 4 April 16,2019 Jesse Williams (applicant), 2038 Roosevelt Avenue, said he did not know he needed a variance. He stated he should have gotten a permit for the windows but did not. He said he takes full responsibility for that because he should have gotten a permit but got busy trying to finish before winter. He said the front steps are going to be changed. He explained the front stoop was removed due to the sealing the basement walls to prevent water damage. He plans on putting on a new front stoop but has not gotten a permit because he is waiting for the ground to thaw to pour the footers. He said he would like to put an overhang back over the door which he would have to get a permit for. He explained the door was moved because it was a smaller 30" wide door that was not insulted and did not function properly. He picked a door that looked nicer. He expressed he is only trying to improve the house. Ms. Propp asked if Mr. Williams would be agreeable to laying the request over to give him time to work with staff to find an alternative that would bring him closer to meeting code requirements. Mr. Williams said he would be agreeable but stated there is not a lot of wall space in the house. He explained the layout of the house. Ms. Propp suggested inserting windows where it would impact the rest of the house minimally. Mr. Williams said inserting windows would impact other work on the house such as redoing the drywall. He said he would hate to do it because it would be costly but he is willing to comply. Mr. Fojtik closed public comments. Mr. Vajgrt questioned what the alternative would be if the applicant does not comply. Mr. Burich said citations would be issued and they would have to go the court route. He said the other alternative that they prefer is to lay it over and give the applicant and staff time to find other solutions. He said there have been discussions on possible solutions such as shutters or making the windows symmetrical. He stated the biggest concern is going from roughly 15% of glazing to about 7%. He said staff needs to evaluate the interior of the house and not just the exterior. He said it will take compliance and willingness from both sides to find an alternative solution. He brought up a similar variance request on Bent Avenue where staff was able to work with the applicant because they were able to meet with the applicant and tour the home. Mr. Wiley explained how seeing the interior of the home at Bent Avenue helped staff make their recommendation. He commented it would be nice to go on-site to see the interior. Mr. Burich stated the glazing is only at about 7%. He reviewed the alternatives again. Ms. Propp suggested again to lay it over to give staff and the applicant time to find an acceptable alternative. Mr. Perry reviewed the process if the request was denied. He explained the applicant would have to re-apply for the variance and pay the associated fees for re-applying. Plan Commission Minutes 5 April 16,2019 Ms. Propp said if the item was laid over, there would be no additional fees. Motion by Propp to lay over the residential Design Standards Variance to allow window area reductions and closures on the front fagade at 2038 Roosevelt Avenue until May 21st. Seconded by Vajgrt. Mr. Fojtik asked if the applicant wanted to make any other statements. Mr. Williams said he would be willing to work with staff on finding other alternatives. Mr. Fojtik asked if there was any discussion about the motion. There was no discussion on the motion. Motion carried 7-0. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at approximately 4:30 pm. (Vajgrt/Hinz) Respectfully submitted, Mark Lyons Principal Planner Plan Commission Minutes 6 April 16,2019