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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC minutes-1-23-17 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,January 23,2017 7:00 o'clock p.m. PUBLIC /CITY ENGINEER REPORT(continued) • Well No.4 site develo ururrently underway • Lift station 2 backup generator msta?113ti artell.ari will be completed this spring • SADA upgrade is underway F� • Installed MH risers atF.,�a,$.e • The Baldur Par Cr�'Access was repaired • The ark information sign was instaVed,with increased usage being n PLANNING DEPARTMENT REPORT 6. JAKE BARKLEY,430 OLD CRYSTAL BAY ROAD,DETERMINATION OF USE Barnhart stated in every zoning district different uses are listed as permitted conditional use permits. Construction of a new building within a zoning district typically requires a site plan review as well as approval by the City Council. Conditional use permit applications also require a public hearing. Conditional uses are uses that are allowed but certain conditions should be placed regarding that particular use to prevent unwanted elements or uses from occurring. The industrial zoning district allows for manufacturing of a broad range of products. Manufacturing is permitted provided there is no exterior noise,glare,fumes,obnoxious products,by products or wastes,or creates other objectionable impact on the environment. Barnhart noted this includes vibration or dust, which is virtually impossible. Barnhart stated the purpose tonight of this item is for Council to review the proposed use and to make sure that Staff understands what the Council means by no noise,etc. Barnhart stated exterior noise is prevalent in the use of all property and that Staff understands the criteria to mean"no manufacturing activity outdoors that produce noise observable beyond the property." Onside handling of byproducts will be resolved as part of the site plan approval process. Jake Barkley is considering purchase of 430 Old Crystal Bay Road to construct an industrial building that would house his business that takes in large limestone blocks or slabs and cuts them using large saws. The finished stone is used in landscaping and building architecture. Onsite activities include the loading and unloading of the large stone blocks using end loaders and trucks. While the activity occurs primarily inside the building,occasionally the door will be open to accept new material and ship out the finished product. Barnhart noted there will be some limited noise for every industrial use. Barnhart illustrated the proposed site on the overhead. The property is located on Old Crystal Bay Road. Mr.Barkley is proposing to construct a new building on the site to house his business and there will be some exterior storage associated with the business. Orono Preserve,a new residential development,will be constructed across the street commencing this spring. Staff believes the proposed use is appropriate in the industrial zoning district. Site plan approval for a new building requires a public hearing and review by the Planning Commission and City Council. Barnhart indicated Staff did investigate a similar business in St. Cloud over the holiday break. Barnhart noted the various sound readings are outlined in his memo. Page 4 of 15 .8� MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,January 23,2017 7:00 o'clock p.m. 6. JAKE BARKLEY,430 OLD CRYSTAL BAY ROAD,DETERMINATION OF USE (continued) Barnhart indicated they measured the noise outside the building at various distances. The noise at the closed door measured at 68 decibels and 30 feet from the closed door the noise measured 58 decibels. On the south side where there is no exterior door the noise measured 65 decibels at 15 feet away from the building and 59 decibels 30 feet away. Barnhart noted background noise and street noise is about 60 decibels. Barnhart stated the door configuration is important to consider since the applicant has indicated that as part of his process his goal is to have the saw running 24 hours a day,which is fine if noise is not detected off the property. Barnhart stated there will be times when the exterior door is open to allow for loading and unloading of product and that some noise will be discernable but that the noise level drops off.fairly quickly 30 feet away. Eighty feet away with the door open the noise level is at 63 decibels,which is close to street noise. Barnhart stated currently the property is vacant and is situated higher than Highway 12. Barnhart stated in his view it is an appropriate use from a noise standpoint. Barnhart displayed a picture of the saw to be used by the applicant. Following a review by Staff of the proposed use and what is allowed in this district, it is Staff's feeling that the use is consistent with the purpose and intent of the industrial zoning district. Barnhart noted the applicant will undertake a significant investment in the development of building design and site review and that he would like to know whether the City Council would be amenable to this type of business prior to incurring that expense. Staff anticipates conditions will be imposed as part of the site plan approval and would include screening of exterior storage and a requirement for exterior doors to be closed when stone cutting activities are occurring except when loading and unloading. Walsh asked if there are any houses on the south side that fall within 350 feet. Barnhart indicated there are a couple of properties,with one of the lots being vacant at this time and owned by MnDOT. Walsh noted there is also the new development located across the street. Seals asked whether houses will be located in the circled area depicted on the map. Barnhart indicated there will be and that constructed is expected to start sometime this spring,early summer. Walsh stated his only concern is the 24 hour a day delivery,especially with houses being right across the street. Walsh commented someone cannot perform house construction in the middle of the night or have home deliveries and that there will probably will be 15 homes in that circle once the development is completed. Page 5 of 15 I J� MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,January 23,2017 7:00 o'clock p.m. 6. JAKE BARKLEY,430 OLD CRYSTAL BAY ROAD,DETERMINATION OF USE (continued) Barnhart stated the challenge Staff has is that this is an industrial zone and that another use would also likely have trucks backing up into this space. Barnhart stated there is always some give and take a little bit with industrial and that in his view the bigger issue is not the noise generated from truck engines but rather from the backup alarms. Jake Barkley,3640 Bayside Road, stated his current business is located in Mankato, Minnesota,and that they presently run a day shift from 6 a.m.to 4 p.m.,which is also when shipping and receiving occurs. Barkley stated one block of granite takes about 36 hours to saw and that there will not be 20 trucks coming a day. Barkley indicated limestone saws can cut three to four stones a day,and to be economically feasible,the plant needs to run 24/7. Walsh stated his main concern is the deliveries and the lights given the residential development that will be located across the street. Walsh stated while Mr.Barkley can say deliveries are rare,that does not mean there are not ten loads coming in the following week at night. Barkley stated they would not be unloading blocks at night and that they currently only have deliveries during the day. Barkley noted there are trucks going up and down Highway 12 around the clock,which is different from Old Crystal Bay Road,but that there is traffic on that road throughout the night. Barkley stated any amount of shipping would be minimal in the grand scheme of things. City Attorney Mattick stated under a site plan approval,limiting site hours is more difficult,but that Staff can take a look at that. Barnhart noted he spoke earlier about screening and door orientation,which is something that will be looked at during the site plan process. Barnhart stated it would be appropriate,as part of the site plan review,to look at where the exterior doors are located. Barnhart stated any industrial property will have noise issues and responsible site design can mitigate those issues to some degree. Seals asked whether it is possible to position the doors and deliveries towards the back or sides that are not facing residential areas. Seals stated her big concern is Orono Preserve and that she would like to mitigate some of those issues. Barkley stated they intend to have an office and a more presentable street front. Barkley stated he is assuming they will want to put that on the west side and face the street but that they have not begun designing the building at this point. Barkley indicated his current building is approximately 65,000 square feet but their flow is not good. This site can handle roughly 60,000 square feet of building. If the building layout is efficient,they will be able to grow into that for the next 10-20 years. Barkley stated the idea with manufacturing is to put the raw goods at one end,with the end product coming out the other end. Barkley indicated they perhaps could run it from east to west but that they will want to store a lot of finished goods on the north or south side. Council Member Printup asked if berming could be required along Old Crystal Bay Road. Page 6 of 15 11 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,January 23,2017 7:00 o'clock p.m. 6. JAKE BARKLEY,430 OLD CRYSTAL BAY ROAD,DETERMINATION OF USE (continued) Barnhart stated he would expect there be an office component to the building and that the better way to address these types of concerns is through design and not regulation. Barnhart stated the design of the manufacturing process is built into how that building operates. Printup asked if there are some platted areas for future roads behind JEM. Barnhart stated that road would be the responsibility of the person who develops the lot. Printup asked if there is anything that goes up to Wayzata Boulevard behind JEM. Barnhart indicated there is an east/west road there. Crosby asked if Mr.Barkley's current building is close to residential. Barkley indicated there is a residential neighborhood adjacent to them at the current site. Crosby asked what their noise situation is currently. Barkley indicated there is truck traffic during the day and that is about it. Crosby asked if there is any noise from the saw running. Barkley stated the neighborhood is to the north and a lot of the equipment is located on the south side of the building. Barkley stated you really cannot hear the noise from the saw when the doors are closed. Walsh asked whether he would be willing to limit deliveries of the stones from 9:00 at night until 6:00 in the morning to avoid deliveries during the night. Barkley stated there are specifics and details to that question that he cannot answer. Barkley indicated right now they do not open the doors during those hours but that if they have a truck coming across the country,the truck will park and wait there until the receiving hours are open. Walsh commented there will always be unexpected circumstances,but that he is talking from a general logistics standpoint. Walsh stated if there are five or ten homes that are valued at half a million dollars across the street that they cannot sell due to a perceived issue,that could be a problem and that he is trying to mitigate that. Walsh stated he is not worried about the noise during the day but that it is the middle of the night hours that could cause issues. Barkley stated another way to respond to that is that a lot of their product gets unloaded with mobile equipment and overhead cranes and it is not safe to do that in the dark. Walsh stated he would be comfortable if Mr.Barkley would say there would be no deliveries from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. Walsh stated he is trying to mitigate the worst possible situations that could come up. Page 7 of 15 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,January 23,2017 7:00 o'clock p.m. 6. JAKE BARKLEY,430 OLD CRYSTAL BAY ROAD,DETERMINATION OF USE (continued) Barkley stated he wants to be a good neighbor but that he does not want to curtail his ability to do business on the front end. Walsh stated if Mr.Barkley feels he can mitigate those concerns,the Council can do so as well. Barnhart stated he is hearing that the Council supports the use and that the concern to address is the truck noise due in part to loading and unloading. Barnhart stated the saw noise can be mitigated with the design of the building and that Staff can address that with the site plan review. Barnhart stated he would prefer not to put restrictions on the use if they can be addressed through the site plan review. Barnhart stated based on the discussion, Staff will move forward with the applicant on the next steps. The City Council took no formal action on this item. SENIOR PLANNER RECRUITMENT Barnhart ted Senior Planner Mike Gaffron will be retiring effective May 31,2017. To meet the customer se ' e goals and to manage the planning department workload,it is Staff's recommend on that this or a sim' position be filled. Rather than filling the position with another senior pl r,Staff recommends hiring ity planner and reducing the pay grade from Step 12 to Step 11. Barnhart stated the comm ' development director and existing current senior pl currently address many of the goals the City has t that they do need somebody to fill in the holes t will be created by Mr. Gaffron retiring,which are ma' land use applications. Barnhart no id outline in his memo how the responsibilities would be spli and that he would take over the a complex subdivisions and issues and the two city planners would do code enforcement and lan a cases. Barnhart noted hiring a city planner rather than a senior planner wo result in a'savings in, l ary expense. At this time Staff is requesting approval from the Co it to shift4department resources. Barnhart indicated the start date of May 11 would provide some ov to allow for some training of the new planner and that Staff is attempting to bridge that gap as c they can. Crosby asked how many planners the City currentl as. Barnhart indicated there is currently one city inner,one senior planner, a community development director. Seals asked how that compares to of cities Orono's size. Barnhart stated Mound has a elation of approximately 9,200 and they employ a staff pl a community development d' . r,and a city planning consultant. Mound had 14 land use cases July to December and Orono 34. Mound had 9 variances and Orono did 21. ��� Page 8 of 15