Plan Commission

Minutes Village of East Troy Plan Commission & Architectural Review Board November 14, 2016 1. Call to order – President Timms called the meeting to order at 6:30 pm 2. Verification of open meeting notice - Administrator Suhm verified the meeting had been posted according to open meetings laws. 3. Roll call Present: President Timms, Commissioners Edward Arendt, John Grudnowski, Linda Kaplan, Anna Mack, Kirk Nelson Excused: Trustee Seager Others: Zoning Administrator Tim Schwecke and Administrator Suhm 4. Approve Plan Commission minutes of October 10, 2016 Motion by Commissioner Arendt, second by Commissioner Kaplan to approve the minutes dated October 10, 2016. Motion carried. 5. Citizen participation John Jacoby 2980 North Street, thanked the Plan Commission for allowing the three minutes of citizen participation. He discussed the beautification topic on the agenda and used an example of Williams Bay, stating it is beautiful. He recognized they do have attributes the Village does not, such as a lake, but stated it would be great if the Village would try to beautify as much as possible and use a community like this as an example. He stated he was not sure what order things needed to be addressed in for these things to occur, but he is interested in the topic. Brady Fredrick, Bluff Road in Little Prairie, was present as an employee of Malcom Drilling Company based in San Francisco. He stated Malcolm Drilling is considering an office in East Troy for their Midwest based operations. He spoke in support of the amendment the Plan Commission would be considering regarding contractor’s yards. After a long search, Malcolm is seriously looking at locating in East Troy. He stated it would be an investment of 5-10 million dollars on building and equipment. The prospect of locating in East Troy is contingent on the Board approval of the amendment. He distributed a booklet with information about the company stating it depicted what a construction yard would look like for Malcolm. Frank Price, business owner at 2535 Energy Drive, stated he was present for the Plan Commission meeting last month. He asked the Commission to consider Plan Commission Minutes November 14, 2016 Page 2 of 3 allowing warehousing (personal storage facility) as a conditional use in general industrial zoning. He stated the code allows this use in light industrial or highway business as a conditional use, but not in general industrial. President Timms inquired whether Mr. Price had begun the application process for the project. Zoning Administrator Schwecke explained in order to allow him to apply he is asking the Village to consider amending the zoning code. President Timms took item 7 out of order. 7. Discussion related to potential beautification efforts (e.g. signage (welcome/Village of East Troy, directional, etc.), landscaping and flowers in public areas and benches potentially sponsored by businesses) Motion by President Timms motion, second by Commissioner Nelson to table discussion related to beautification efforts. President Timms explained he intended to take pictures of each entrance to the Village for discussion purposes and plans to do so prior to the next meeting. Commissioner Mack suggested pictures of examples from other communities would also be helpful. Commissioner Kaplan also questioned if the Commission should be looking at GIS mapping to assist in discussion so they know who the owners of the properties are at the entrances to the community. Vote on the motion carried. 6. Discussion related to potential amendments of the zoning code (Chapter 510 of the municipal code) with regard to contractor yards, school bus yards, and other matters A. Possible decision by the Plan Commission to set a public hearing date Zoning Administrator Schwecke reviewed his staff report dated October 31, 2016. He stated the Village was approached by Malcolm Drilling and noted there was nothing in the zoning code code to specifically allow contractor yards. He stated if the Village establishes this land use, it will apply to Malcolm Drilling’s operation as well as builders, contractors, masons. He also stated Administrator Suhm was approached about a location in the village for a bus yard, which was not a specific use listed in the zoning code either. These two modifications, in addition to Mr. Price’s proposal to amend the code adding warehousing as a conditional use in general industrial zoning, should be considered. He went over the changes stating if the code is amended as proposed the personal storage facility would be allowed as a conditional use in general industrial zoning. Contractor yards and bus yards would be added as land uses. The contractor yards would be allowed as a conditional use in both light industrial and general industrial Plan Commission Minutes November 14, 2016 Page 3 of 3 zoning. Bus yards would be permitted as a conditional use in light industrial and permitted by right in general industrial zoning. Zoning Administrator Schwecke reminded the Commission the contractor’s yards were not being considered specifically for Malcolm Drilling, but really to address a gap in the zoning code since the use does not exist. He read the definition of a contractor yard from the staff report. General discussion occurred regarding the type of outside storage associated with contractor’s yards. The storage of construction materials is only allowed provided the materials are being staged for a specific project and construction debris is not allowed on the site. It was discussed that incidental uses included assembly or fabrication permitted inside. The Commission also discussed the possibility that equipment repairs may occur outside. It was concluded the maintenance of equipment should be done within a building unless otherwise specified as part of the conditional use approval that outside maintenance is allowed. Fencing was also discussed and it was determined the Plan Commission may also require a solid fence where it is determined necessary on a case-by- case basis to mitigate potential impacts to adjoining properties. The outside storage of chemicals was also discussed to be addressed on a case-by-case basis. The definition for the bus yard was also reviewed. Zoning Administrator Schwecke asked the Commission if it was their intent to see personal storage facilities allowed as a conditional use in a general industrial zoning district as well. The consensus of the Commission was to modify the zoning code to allow this. Motion by President Timms, second by Commissioner Arendt to direct Zoning Administrator Schwecke to schedule the Public Hearing to formally consider the proposed text revisions as discussed during the meeting and add to the proposed ordinance the use of personal storage in general industrial zoning as a conditional use. Motion carried. 8. Recommendations for future agendas None 9. Adjourn Motion by Commissioner Arendt, second by Commissioner Grudnowski to adjourn. Motion carried at 7:15 p.m.