Planning Commission

MINUTES OF THE PLAN COMMISSION MEETING – MARCH 12, 2012 Call to Order The Plan Commission meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m. by President Pro Tem, Bill Peerenboom. Roll Call PRESENT: President Vanden Berg Trustee Bill Peerenboom John Elrick Richard Schevers Bill Van Berkel Roy Van Gheem EXCUSED: Jerry Verstegen ALSO PRESENT: Community Development Director Jim Moes, Village Administrator Charles Kell, Village Clerk Vicki Schneider Public Appearance for Items Not on the Agenda None Approve Minutes of the Plan Commission Meeting of February 13, 2012 Moved by Commissioner Van Berkel, seconded by Commissioner Schevers to approve the minutes of February 13, 2012 as presented. Ayes 6, Nays 0 – Motion Carried Review/Recommendation – CSM – Poly-Flex- Stephen Street/Nixon Street J. Moes stated that signature pages are not being presented at this time with the CSM because it is not yet known who the actual owners are going to be of the property that is presently owned by the Village and WOW. J. Moes stated the proposed CSM takes the 4 Lots and creates them into 2 Lots and the Village will end up keeping Lot 1 and Lot 2 would be sold to Poly-Flex. J. Moes stated that he is looking for a recommendation from the Commission to approve the lot layout. Commissioner Elrick questioned what the reason is for the 15 foot no build restriction on Lot 2. Staff responded that the 15 foot no build restriction was requested by Keller and it is needed for fire protection for the building that will be on Lot 2. Commissioner Elrick stated that in essence then, we are creating more of a hardship on the Village in trying to sell that lot. J. Moes agreed and C. Kell stated that the separation will be needed for any building that would be built on Lot 2. C. Kell reported that the Village will be receiving a request for a right-of-first refusal for Lot 2 from Resource One. Moved by Commissioner Elrick, seconded by Commissioner Van Berkel to recommend to the Village Board approval of the CSM for Poly-Flex on Stephen St./Nixon St. Ayes 6, Nays 0 – Motion Carried Discussion/Recommendation – Amending Village Code Chapter 44 Zoning Code – Section 46 RC Conventional Single Family District (e) Dimensional Requirements J. Moes stated that what is being proposed is removing the language that references lots less than 7,500 sq. ft. and have it apply to lots that were initially platted prior to 1950 that don’t meet the 70 ft. width. J. Moes stated there are probably 100 or more lots in the Village that were platted at 50 or 60 ft. width that are non-conforming and many have deep lots so they have more than 7,500 sq. ft. Commissioner Peerenboom stated one of the concerns he has is not requiring the front yard setback and if the lots are deeper, they should be able to comply with the front-yard setback. Commissioner Peerenboom stated if the 7,500 ft. minimum is taken from the code he would like to see it required that the front-yard setback has to be met. J. Moes stated that currently the setback requirement is 25 ft. or no less than the average of all properties in a 500 ft. radius. Commissioner Peerenboom stated that he recalled this ordinance originally being put in place to address the extremely small lots in the older part of town and his point is if you have that deep of a lot, you don’t need an exception to the front setback if the lot is over 7,500 sq. ft. J. Moes commented that this ordinance language was added because  Minutes of the Plan Commission Meeting – March 12, 2012 – Page 2 of the number of requests that were being received for variances from the setback. Commissioner Elrick commented that these are the homes that would typically do some type of remodeling project and requiring the setback would make them non-conforming so they would then be required to apply for a variance and he isn’t sure why the Commission would want to stand in the way and he doesn’t understand why a new home would have to be set back farther than the other homes in the neighborhood as it wouldn’t make the street any safer. Commissioner Peerenboom commented on his concerns with not requiring new construction to adhere to the 25 ft. setback. President Vanden Berg, Commissioner Elrick, and Commissioner Van Berkel commented that they did not have a problem with leaving the requirement as the average setback for the neighborhood. Moved by Commissioner Van Berkel, seconded by Commissioner Elrick to recommend to the Village Board that they set a public hearing on the proposed ordinance amendment and approve the ordinance amendment as presented. Ayes 5, Nays 1 (Peerenboom) – Motion Carried Unfinished Business None Items for Future Agenda None Adjournment Moved by Commissioner Schevers, seconded by Commissioner Elrick to adjourn the Plan Commission meeting at 6:13 p.m. Ayes 6, Nays 0 - Motion Carried VILLAGE OF LITTLE CHUTE By: Michael Vanden Berg, Village President Attest: Vicki Schneider, Village Clerk