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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning & Zoning 06-10-03AMENDED ST. CROIX COUNTY NOTICE OF COMMITTEE TO: Clarence Malick, St. Croix County Board Chairperson FROM: Art Jensen, Chairperson COMMITTEE TITLE: Planning, Zoning & Parks DATE OF MEETING: Tuesday, June 10, 2003 TIME: 9:00 a.m. LOCATION: St. Croix County Government Center 1101 Carmichael Rd -Room 1281 Hudson WI CALL TO ORDER: ROLL CALL: ADOPTION OF AGENDA: ACTION ON PREVIOUS MINUTES: DATE OF NEXT MEETING 1. Park Business a. Bills and Invoices b. Directors Report c. Homestead Parklands -Post Open House d. Capital Outlay Plan e. Private Lands Agreement (Fish & Wildlife Service) f. Wildwood Trail Update g. Hay Study Report-Park Reorganization* h. Parks Department Under the Direction of Land and Water Conservation* 2. Planning Business a. Bills and Invoices b. Town Planning Projects c. Regional Wastewater Issues d. Real Property Lister Report* e. Land Information Program f. Capital Outlay Plan g. Legislative Update* 3. Ordinance Development* a. Work Plan b. Nonmetallic Mining* c. Subdivision Ordinance /Sanitary Code* 4. Zoning Business a. Municipal Plats b. Discussion of Ordinances e. Pfeliminar-y Plat hidige Ponds Town of Hudson d. Rezoning Decisions *Robert Pike -Town of Stanton •Falde/Wildwood View Inc -Town of Eau Galle e. Viewings 5. Register of Deeds a. Capital Outlay Plan b. Update on Staff Position & Overtime Request AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING - ANNOUNCEMENTS & CORRESPONDENCE - ADJOURNMENT (This agenda not necessarily presented in this order.) Date: June 5, 2003 *Items added or revised for amended agenda. Cc: County Board Office, News Media/Notice Board, County Clerk, Committee Members MINUTES PLANNING, ZONING AND PARKS COMMITTEE ST. CROIX COUNTY GOVERNMENT CENTER, HUDSON WI JUNE 10, 2003 Present: Chairman Art Jensen, Supervisors Jan Zoerb, Veronica Anderson, Lois Burri and Linda Luckey. Staff: Dave Fodroczi, Ellen Denzer, Brett Budrow, Shar Croes, Bob Heise, Dave Larson, Steve Fisher, Rod Eslinger, Debbie Zimmerman, Judy Kahler and Judy Olson. Guests: County Board Chairman Buck Malick, Robert Pike Adoption of the Agenda -The meeting was called to order at 9:02 a.m. Motion by Anderson, 2nd by Burn to adopt the agenda and carried. Meeting /Minutes- Motion by Burn, 2 °d by Jensen to approve the amended minutes of May 13 th , 2003 and carried. The next meeting has been scheduled for June 24 at 9:00 a.m. at the Government Center for the Zoning portion of the monthly meetings. PARKS BUSINESS Bills and Invoices -Heise presented Parks bills to the Committee. Motion by Anderson, 2nd by Burri to approve payment of the Parks bills in the amount of $29,954.29. Motion carried. Homestead Parklands -Post Open House -Heise reported on the open house the previous weekend. He thanked the committee members for their help in planning the event. He stated there were great comments from the public. Jensen commended the staff for the extra efforts, especially with uncooperative weather on the preceding days. Heise stated that it was hard to tell how many people actually attended the event, but, from the registration list, he will create a GIS map of where people came from and present it next month. 100 oak trees were given to the first 100 cars. The trees were gone by 11 a.m. The playground equipment at Glen Hills is installed and completed with the total cost less than budgeted. Heise mentioned the drowning at Glen Hills in May. An accident involving a rollerblader at Homestead Parklands was also reported. A letter was received from the Heinemanns asking to eliminate the lighting on the pole shed. However, that lighting is shielded and will be left on for security. Heise stated that they are working to remove the large of amount of fill from the area south of the pole shed. A bid of $5,900 was received from the excavator to remove the fill and provide surfacing for the parking lot, about $2,000 over budget for the building. Jensen suggested contacting other contractors who need fill and would remove it for no cost. Heise handed out draft St. Croix County Parks and Trails maps and asked the Committee to review and email suggestions for additions and changes. He stated that advertisements will be added to one side and Park narratives will be added to the back side of the map. Heise stated that all the trees that were planted on the crib wall at Homestead Park are dead. It seems that the problem is failure of the cuttings which were probably held dormant too long before planting in August. They will need to be replanted since root structure is needed to hold within the crib wall. There is also a small failure of the ajax on the lake side. Some financial retainage is left in the bid. Money should also be included in the 2004 budget for the repairs. Investigation will be done to determine the cause of the breakage. Capital Outlay Plan -A revised Capital Outlay Plan for the park system was reviewed including an addendum of $7,500 for shop furnishings. Larson and Heise will attend a training session on June 19 with Highway Department on PASER. This is a pavement assessment training to assess the condition of the Park roads. Heise asked the committee to review the Capital Outlay and email comments and suggestions. Changes can be made until August. Most of the 2003 items have been purchased. There are some issues with DOT on the signs in Glen Hills Park, particularly with the color of signs in right -of -ways on Highways 128 and 12. Private Lands Agreement (Fish & Wildlife Service) -Heise suggested that this be a standing resolution that would not have to be taken to County Board each time or even just have the signature of the County Board Chairman. Don Gillen believes the Fish and Wildlife agreement does not require a resolution as long as those monies toward that agreement are allocated in the budget. Wildwood Trail Update- Heise, referred to the Wamstad letter from Jennifer Emmerich regarding the Wildwood trail crossing, indicating all the requirements the applicant needs to submit prior to it being taken to Board of Adjustments. Luckey stated that applicants should have all plans in order and the application completed before requesting to be put on a meeting agenda. This committee needs to be briefed on anything that has taken place before the applicants appear at a meeting. Heise will follow up with the landowners. Hay Study Report -Park Reorganization -All job descriptions were sent to the Hay Group for evaluation. The results have been received. The organization chart showed Heise as director. Other park staff are shown laterally across and graded a grade 6. One of Heise's concerns is that one park is a full year -round park needing a manager all year, another park is a six month seasonal park, yet the two jobs are evaluated the same. Only one job description is written for site managers. An extremely large number of points were given for supervising seasonal staff, yet there is no seasonal staff during nine months of the year. The Operation Manager job description has not been evaluated since 1985. This job was given fewer points than the site managers. 2 Heise mentioned that his job grade was not changed even though he has taken on another full department, and supervises four additional full -time staff. Heise mentioned the complexity of the budgets in both LWCD and Parks department, which encompasses over 27 individual programs and separate budgets and wonders if this was taken into consideration when his new position was evaluated. Heise had calculated his daily time since the beginning of the year and noted that 30+ % of his time is spent on Park business. Heise did not have a chance to review the information before it was sent to the Hay Group for evaluation. Heise stated that, not including time spent at home, he spent over 200 extra office hours over the past five months. Heise noted that Grant's salary was red - lined. After much discussion regarding the results of the study, Zoerb and Burri will form a sub- committee to study this problem and report to the Committee. Motion by Zoerb to have Personnel deliver to the sub - committee any information pertinent to this subject that was forwarded to the Hay Group along with the results. 2 nd by Burri. Motion carried. Park Department Under the Direction of Land and Water Conservation -Heise stated that, at the last Land and Water Conservation Committee meeting, it was suggested that Parks Department be under the authority of that Committee. Because of some committee changes and ordinance changes expected in the next several months, this might be a good time to consider the move. Jensen stated he has no objection to this change. It would save time and travel for Heise since he would report to only one committee. Anderson stated that the idea makes sense since the Land and Water Conservation Committee has working knowledge of natural resource environmental issues, however, park development and acquisition is related to land use planning as well. She said that she would like to see a more formalized argument for the change. The change must move through Administration, resolutions be approved by both committees and County Board. This issue can be discussed at a future meeting and may require a joint meeting with both committees. Recess at 10:25 a.m.- Resume 10:38 a.m. ZONING BUSINESS Robert Pike Rezoning Decision: Fisher went over this request with the Committee. The Committee had voted to deny the request for rezoning of the 3.99 acres from Agriculture to Ag/Residential, and for rezoning 53 acres from Agriculture to Ag -II. In researching the 3.99 acres further, it was determined by staff that this request does meet the Town of Stanton rezoning criteria, as 70% of the soils are Class IV, rather than Class II and III as previously thought. Discussion held. Motion by Luckey, seconded by Zoerb and carried to reconsider the previous motion to deny the 3.99 acre rezoning request from Agriculture to Ag/Residential. Motion by Jensen, seconded by Zoerb and carried to recommend approval of the 3.99 acres of land from Agriculture to Ag/Residential, based on the following findings: 1. Site consists of an existing single family home in the southwest corner and open rolling land that is about a third woods and the rest planted to prairie. 2. The site is located on State Highway 64. The applicant has provided a letter from the Department of Transportation stating that DOT does not object to the conceptual proposal for one new access to the site further to the east, with the condition that the existing driveway be removed and the new driveway provide access to all remaining lands, including the existing residence. 3. The Town of Stanton recommends approval of the request and has considered §91.77 in making their decision. 4. There is no town plan, however the town does have criteria under which they will consider rezoning exclusive agriculture land. Because approximately 72% of the parcel contains Class IV soils, this is consistent with the Town of Stanton rezoning criteria. This will be forwarded to the County Board for their June agenda. The Committee discussed the fact that the Town of Stanton has not modified their rezoning criteria at this point. Fisher has spoken with the town attorney, and he is working with the Town, but nothing has been decided. Bob Pike stated that he has spoken with an attorney and does not believe that the Committee has the authority to delay the rezoning of property in order to wait for the Town to change their criteria. The Committee stated that they have delayed action on this rezoning request in order for the applicant to have a better chance of a favorable outcome. Motion by Anderson, seconded by Zoerb and carried to deny the rezoning request of 53 acres from Agriculture to Ag -II, based on the following findings: Policy Findings: 1. The Town of Stanton has various inconsistent rezoning policies. The county originally tabled this request and requested that the Town codify their inconsistent rezoning policies. The Town has not yet codified their policies. 2. The applicant stated in a letter dated March 18, 2003, that he would like a decision on this rezoning and was not willing to go back to the Town and have his application reviewed against the codified rezoning criteria. 3. Any rezoning should be consistent with Town policies and plans. Below is an excerpt from the Town of Stanton rezoning policy adopted October 1982: "Parcels may be rezoned from the exclusive agriculture if they meet the following criteria: Land which has less productive soils than S.C.S. classes I, II, III." Approximately 75% of the proposed Ag -II site contains class II soils. This rezoning is not consistent with the Town rezoning policies. 4. There is no Town Plan. Site Specific Findings: 5. Surrounding zoning is predominantly agriculture. Agricultural land exists to the north, east and south, Ag II to the west and a small commercial site to the south. 6. Site features include part of a wetland with a closed depression, Shoreland, 12 -20 percent slopes and two intermittent streams, which drain to the wetland. 7. There are soil limitations for Private Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems (POWTS) around the wetland and in the northwest corner of the site. 8. Approximately 75% of the site contains productive farmland. 4 9. The majority of the site is located in an environmental corridor. 10. Surrounding land uses include large acreage farms on all sides except for a 20 -acre hobby farm with an existing homesite to the west. This decision will be forwarded to the County Board for the June agenda. Falde /Wildwood View Inc. Rezoning Decision: Eslinger went over the reasons for tabling this request at the May 21 hearing. The request is for 5 +/- acres of land to be rezoned from Ag /Residential to Commercial. The staff had recommended that the Committee rezone only what is needed for the two additional mini - storage units, which would be less than the requested 5 acres. After reviewing the information, it was determined that the driveway into the property should also be located on Commercial property as well. At the time of the hearing, the applicant was unclear as to how many feet would be needed for the driveway to be included in order for it to be part of the rezoning. The Committee directed the staff to visit the site and determine how much land needs to be rezoned to allow the two additional mini - storage units and the driveway to be added onto the existing commercial property. Staff has visited the site and determined that a total of 2.245 -acres needs to be rezoned to allow the two additional mini - storage units, and the driveway, to be located on the commercial property, making the entire Commercial property 4.64 -acres in size. Discussion held. Motion by Zoerb, seconded by Jensen and carried to rezone 2.245 acres of the parcel from Ag/Residential to Commercial based on the following findings: 1. The land is in the rural planning area and is an appropriate use. 2. Site consists of existing mini - storage buildings and open land. The applicant constructed the units in 2001. 3. The applicants own a 2.4 -acre commercial site, with three mini storage units, on land adjacent to the land proposed for rezoning. 4. Site is located on County Trunk Highway B. The existing access would be utilized. 5. None of the parcel is identified on the primary environmental corridor map. 6. There are no environmental features. 7. Proposed use of the site is to correct the zoning for the two existing mini - storage units and to expand the mini - storage use with additional structures. 8. The Town Board has reviewed the rezoning and recommended approval 9. The property owner constructed two mini - storage units on Ag/Residential land adjacent to an existing commercial site which houses existing commercial mini - storage buildings. This rezoning will allow the land surrounding these units to be zoned to commercial to correct a non - conforming use situation. The county chose to only rezone a total of 2.245 acres, which is a portion of the 5 -acre rezoning request to correct the non - conforming situation. The balance of the rezoning request was not approved as that would constitute spot zoning. 10. If rezoning is successful, applicant would be required to apply for and obtain a Special Exception Permit, through the Board of Adjustments, for the expanded commercial use. This decision will be forwarded to the County Board for its June agenda. 5 ORDINANCE DEVELOPMENT - Fodroczi stated that they have been working together as a staff group and caucusing by conference call with regional planning staff. All of the conservation design language that had been developed previously has been incorporated into the existing text of the subdivision ordinance in appropriate places. They are about halfway through the process of reviewing remedial changes suggested by Zoning staff. They will continue to meet and expect to be done after three more sessions. Eslinger and other staff have developed a preliminary draft of the sanitary code, which is ready for full staff review. Fisher stated that he is working with some Minnesota developers and getting advice on septic codes in relation to the subdivision ordinances. This integrates fully with conservation design development. Towns and developers as well are anxious to have this ordinance changed. The single most pressing issue recently has been how to consider community systems in towns which only allow minor subdivisions. PLANNING BUSINESS Bills and Invoices -The Committee reviewed the revenue report. Fodroczi presented the May Planning bills. Motion by Zoerb, 2 nd by Luckey to accept the revenue report of $619.50 as presented and approve the payment of the bills in the amount of $732.43. Motion carried. Town Planning Projects -Three towns are working well. Open house flyers went in the mail June 9th for Pleasant Valley, Hammond and Cylon. Hammond and Pleasant Valley will hold their open houses jointly on June 24 with a presentation at 7:30 p.m. New information will be on our website this week. Cylon will hold its open house on June 26 Denzer stated that Cylon could be the "poster town" on intergovernmental cooperation. The town has a joint agreement with the Village of Deer Park on the fire department, first responders, the community center, support of the library, as well as a joint recycling center. Fodroczi stated that there are problems causing delays in the towns of Baldwin, Erin Prairie and Stanton. A revolt seems to be taking place, lead by a small number of people. Baldwin has a moratorium on comprehensive planning set by the Town Board. That moratorium was set at the Town Board meeting at the request of the Plan Commission Chair. Following that meeting, Fodroczi and Jensen met with the Town Chair. The next Plan Commission meeting had lots of questions and comments, but no action was taken. Members suggested they take some action to make a recommendation to the town board, which was resisted by the chair. The Plan Commission Chair then had two property rights advocates from outside the county speak at the next Town Board meeting, without acknowledgement or endorsement of the plan commission or the town board. The moratorium issue will be addressed again next month by both the Plan Commission and the Town Board. Erin Prairie has an entirely new Town Board this year and the Plan Commission Chair is also a new Town Board member. Erin Prairie Plan Commission had scheduled an open house for late June. However, at the Town Board meeting the following evening, a presentation was given by the Baldwin Plan Commission Chair, and the Erin Prairie Plan Commission Chair recommending putting the project on hold for three to six months. The item would be taken up at the next Town Board meeting. The Plan Commission met in the interim, but no plans were 0 made for the open house or continuing work on the plan. During a closed session at the end of the meeting, the Plan Commission asked for a 45 -day delay in the process to evaluate the situation. A decision should be made by late July. Stanton had not formally acted, and there has been no progress with the Plan Commission for three months. One of the Plan Commission members is networking closely with Baldwin and Erin Prairie Commissions. Denzer and Fodroczi attended the last Stanton Town Board meeting, no vote was taken, but feedback indicated that it wanted to continue with the process. This item was again discussed at last week's Plan Commission meeting where Denzer answered questions. It will be back on the agenda for the Town Board meeting later this week. All of this has created a four to six month delay in those towns. The grant deadline is November 2004 to finish these projects, and this delay will cause real difficulty in completing on time. Depending on the outcome of the next Erin Prairie and Stanton Town Board meetings, Fodroczi plans to send clear and strongly worded letters explaining that the delays have serious implications for our contract and the towns' grant agreement. They have already received reimbursement for last year's expenses, and we will be billing them for our work for the first half of this year. They will have to repay any monies already received. Fodroczi will have Timmerman review the letter, as well as Jensen as Committee Chair. The committee will be copied on the letter. Fodroczi stated there is some confusion among towns regarding what the County's role is in creating the towns' plans. Fodroczi feels we must maintain communication with the towns and continue to support and advise members of the Plan Commissions. Because this project is for the towns, we must focus our priorities on working with those towns that are making progress. Regional Wastewater Issues -We have been working with consultants getting estimates to do this regional evaluation. Three estimates are in, and we expect two more. The regional wastewater commission will begin to start the process of evaluating. Prices range from $190,000 to $400,000. Comments and suggestions were also received from the consultants to improve the request for proposals. After all estimates are in we will work with the Regional Wastewater Commission to organize its next meeting. Feedback was also received that Baldwin was making progress with facility planning. Malick stated that he had spoke with Scott Humrickhouse, the regional DNR supervisor from Eau Claire, about his concern of the possibility of untreated sewage being shipped through unincorporated areas. Humrickhouse agreed that it would be problematic because of potential breaks in the lines and could also create problems politically as subdivisions try to tap into the lines. The proposed treatment area may be annexed to the Village of Roberts, just south of the existing village limits east of Hwy 65. Real Property Lister Report - Fodroczi introduced Shar Croes, new Real Property Lister. Croes reported that 6 municipalities are completed with Boards of Review. We are completed with them until tax time in November. 19 municipalities are entered in the system for tax VA purposes. One municipality is being entered now, and 14 are left to come in. The 1997 DOS version of the GCS software is still in use, but we will need to convert to a Windows version of the same system next year. A demo was given recently by the software vendor. The Treasurer's office is also converting. There should be some improvement with the system. The staff has contacted listers, treasurers and computer services staff in other counties that have converted to this new software and received very specific suggestions on what to anticipate and be prepared for. They have also talked with the New Richmond assessor who had some report formatting issues that need to be considered. The best time for the conversion will be September 2004. Fodroczi stated that he is confident that it would be better to make this conversion rather than look to other vendors with all new software and equipment at this time. The cost will be less that $10,000. Land Information Program - Fodroczi reported on follow up of last month. Despite our efforts to meet a June 30` deadline, the state is not ready to receive the modified property file, but should be by the end of the year. A software company in Eau Claire has developed an extension to export this for $300 as opposed to our software vendor who can sell one for $2,000. The $300 version is on order. Capital Outlay - Fodroczi is still working on the numbers on one new component for Real Property with this conversion. We need to review hardware requirements for the Windows version of the GCS software against existing hardware. It will be best to replace existing production machines, which will then replace counter machines, and the present counter machines will be retired. More details on the costs will be reported at the next Committee meeting. Legislative Update -The budget bill from Joint Finance Committee cut the transportation money that was committed to the Comprehensive Planning Grant Fund so that funding for the biennium will be $2 million per year instead of the current $3 million. One of the last things Joint Finance did was to lapse the Farmland Preservation Tax Credit in a fiscal effort to save that money for General Revenue purposes. With the elimination of the credit, they also cut all but the contract portion of Chapter 91, Farmland Preservation Law. Fodroczi stated, however, that he has not been able to find exactly what was proposed. Other provisions were also proposed to extend preferential tax rates to forested and swamp and waste portions of agricultural land. Four counties passed resolutions to rescind the new state comprehensive planning law. Three of those counties are in one representative's assembly district — Rep. Mary Williams. She has made a proposal to rescind the law. She had until May 29 for other legislators to sign on, but there is no evidence that it is in bill form yet. There was discussion on land classified as forested and swamp /waste. REGISTER OF DEEDS Will report at next meeting. 0 The Committee recessed for lunch and to do the viewings. The chairman adjourned the meeting at 3:45 p.m. Respectfully submitted: Judy Olson, Recording Secretary t Lois Burri, Secretary 9