Village of Los Lunas Planning & Zoning Agendas

MINUTES PLANNING & ZONING MEETING November 18, 2015 The Village of Los Lunas Planning & Zoning Commission met in their regular session on Wednesday, November 18, 1915 at 6:00 pm in the Village Council Chambers. Members present were as follows: Commissioner David Crawford, Terry Ulibarri, Stephanie Williams, & Walter Baca. Commissioner Frank Vigil was absent. Staff members present were Christina Ainsworth, Community Development Director, Erin Callhan, Special Project Planner & Marie Marquez, Recording Secretary. Members of the public present were as follows: Len LaClair. Stan Strickman, Mary Strickman, Jim Rickey, Hershall McCarty, Ethel McCarty, Robert Herreri Brenda Garcia Stubbs, Paul Romero, Clem Romero Jr., Rosemarie Romero & Shelley Hughes S. The Meeting was called to order by: Chairman Stephanie Williams APPROVAL OF AGENDA Chairman S. Williams requested to hear Item 2 first she thought it might go relatively faster. Chairman S. Williams called for a recommendation to make that change and approve the agenda. Commissioner W. Baca made a motion to approve the agenda as recommended. Commissioner T. Ulibarri seconded the motion. All Commissioners voted to proceed as requested by Chairman S. Williams. Everyone voted yes, motion carried. SWEARING OF PARTICIPANTS AGENDA ITEMS: MASTER PLAN AMENDMENT - Huning Ranch Master Plan ZONE CHANGE Paul Romero - ITEM 1 — ZONE CHANGE - Paul Romero Chairman S. Williams introduced Item 1- The action requested of this commission is to have a public hearing to review and recommend to council approval or disapproval of this Zone Change. Erin Callahan, the Village new project planner specialist approached the podium and presented the item and gave a brief background & rational of the proposed zone change request. She told the Commissioners Paul Romero has requested a zone change for the property located at 300 Vallejos Rd., NE., she went on to point out the area on the screen of the aerial image on Tract 3,Land of Joe Gonzales, in Council District 4. Paul Romero is acting as the agent for Ms. Rosemarie Romero. Mr. Romero is requesting the property be rezoned from R-l to C-I to allow for a medical clinic. She said, surrounding properties are residential uses and zoning to the north and east. There is commercial to the south and vacant connnercially zoned property to the west. Mr. Romero has submitted plans of how a proposed medical clinic would be situated on this site if it were to be rezoned. Community Development Department has received no letters or phone calls opposing this request and staff recommends approval of this zone change. Mr. Romero was called to the podium. Mr. Romero came up and also called on the architect who would be able to explain more regarding this proposal. Kelly Hughes, Architect approached the podium, she said, the lot is over 1 Y2 acres, she said it was a 4000 sq. ft. building and it would have a medical clinic with a yoga studio mixed with other medical offices. The building sits on the eastside of Vallejos Rd. and abuts the newly constructed adobe building Snake Ranch Farm Store. Chairman S. Williams asked if city utilities were available there? Commissioner W. Baca also asked about the ponding? Ms. Hughes said, they would comply with any requirements in the Village Ordinances. She said, this was just a proposed plan and how this plan would fit in. This will just be a walk in clinic. Commissioner D. Crawford had a question regarding the current zoning map and how updated it was? Erin Callahan said, this future land use map that was presented was prepared with, in conjunction with the most recent comprehensive plan, so since then, there has been a zone change to allow for the Snake Farm Bldg. Chairman S. Williams questioned the lighting and Ms. Hughes replied there was an ordinance in the Village Development Plan and that will be addressed as required. Commissioner D. Crawford also questioned the security equipment and if there would be any particular equipment they would set up. Ms. Hughes said, all of those things would be addressed making sure all cliental information would be secured and away from the public. Traffic issue was also brought up and will come into consideration at the time of the building plan process. Road & parking lot improvements will also come into consideration at a later time. There were no further questions. Chairman S. Williams called for any comments for or against this proposed zone change? Clem Romero, brother of the owner came up and stated that there would be no change in traffic since there is already a clinic situated across the street. ITEM 2-MASTER PLAN AMENDMENT Chairman S. Williams introduced Item 2- The action requested of this commission is to have a public hearing to approve or disapprove the request to amend the Huning Ranch Master Plan Amendment. Christina Ainsworth approached the podium and presented Item 2 which is the Huning Ranch Master Plan. The final version was approved in 2007. It went through a couple of different versions prior to her employment with the Village. It does provide all the guidelines for the area known as Huning Ranch west of the Interstate that we are all familiar with. What was currently developed, was a small portion of the entire plan, but because it’s zoned special use, it does require that it have its own guidelines that are separate from the Municipal Code. That is what that document does, it establishes the densities, as well as the zoning standards for those particular properties. What we are here to discuss is the particular requirements for accessory structures within the Huning Ranch area which are different than our Municipal Code. Currently there is a conflict with the provisions that are in the Huning Ranch Area Plan that restrict accessory structures to 120 sq. ft., anything larger would require a conditional use permit which is approved by this body. Unfortunately, since the time that it was adopted our code enforcement division was not aware of that particular standard, and we do have quite a few structures that we determined are possibly in violation of that particular provision. Currently it has not been enforced and now, we have had a particular structure. The number of structures that we estimate might be out there are over 100 and have not had complaints about any of them, they have not posted a safety hazard and as far as the Village is concerned are not bothering anyone. The recommendation of the Village is to rectify that situation to amend the master plan to be compatible with our municipal code. The amendment being proposed would change what’s in the Huning Area Plan as far as accessory structures so that it references the municipal code, which in our municipal code permits an accessory dwelling, if it’s not within the setbacks, they can have an accessory structure that is 30% of the required yard. This is what is being proposed to permit in Huning Ranch Area by this amendment. Letters were sent to all property owners in the Huning Ranch Area. There were a couple of phone calls received by Christina Ainsworth not really in opposition until today that a letter was received from the attorneys which has been provided to you opposing changes in the Huning Ranch Area. It was adopted by the council based on the desires of the property owners who developed the area. They have concerns about it not being compatible with their provisions. She explained the grammatical document provided to the commissioners tonite for the purpose of better understanding the provisions. Commissioner T. Ulibarri had a question regarding a phrase on the document received from the attorneys, but Christina told the commission that she was not prepared to speak for our village attorney, however, there are instances where the public seeks recourse to our judicial system and that is their right. However, our process for the adoption of an amendment to a plan is the right of our legislative body which is the Planning & Zoning Commission and our Council. Commissioner T. Ulibarri asked if this had been reviewed by our attorney? Christina said, she has been in touch with him throughout this process and discussions on our options for what to do about the structures that have already been constructed so he’s aware that we are processing this amendment and, he has been provided with this letter that was sent to him directly. She said, our proposed amendment is in keeping with what is permitted by statue as far as adoption of a comprehensive plan, and any area plans that may be approved in conjunction. This buildings in the Huning Ranch subdivision have not been issued building permits because they are not required under our building code and municipal code. Our municipal code allows accessory structures up to 200 sq. ft. without a permit. It also allows accessory structures to be a certain size in an area that is not normally permitted for building. What the Huning Ranch Plan says is that they must have a conditional use permit if it’s over 120 sq. ft. and that, we’ve never enforced. The covenants are a separate documents which the village does not have authority over and does not enforce. The reason for this amendment is that no one has ever complained about it and therefore the regulation is not valid. Chairman S. Williams suggested that before we go any further perhaps we should have our legal council study this more carefully and perhaps table it for now until further legal advice is given. Christina said, she had spaced enough time between this hearing and the council hearing date to allow more time in the event an extra P& Z date was needed. Christina said, this is the place for public input and it is also your prerogative to propose an additional motive public input. She recommended to hear the people who have come to speak tonite, and then decide if you would like additional time to consider or recommend some other type of discussion needed. Chairman S. Williams asked Christina if she had received any calls andlor correspondence of any kind? She said, her and Erin had received calls. The only formal opposition received is this letter from the attorneys which you have provided. Chairman S. Williams called on anyone who wished to come up and speak in favor of the action requested of this body, which is to approve or disapprove recommendation to amend the Huning Ranch Master Plan. Brenda Garcia Stubbs & Roberts Stubbs came up to speak in favor of this recommendation They are residents of the Village . and have been living in the Huning Ranch Subdivision for over 6 yrs. and it is their property that there have been complaints about. It’s a Cabana structure that they have in their back yard in the Wild Flower Subdivision. It is just this year that they received complaints of their structure. The actual homeowners who live with them at that location of Wild Flower have never complained. They would like to propose that they be allowed the same zoning regulations that all the other members of the Village of Los Lunas have in our Community. Commissioner T. Ulibarri asked, what the square footage of the cabana was? Mr. Stubbs replied that it was 154 sq. ft. Ms. Stubbs said, that when they went to purchase the house, they submitted a request for approval by the Huning Ranch Homeowners Association, prior to the purchase of the structure and they requested we make sure that the structure matched our home. They had to have it re-shingled to match the shingles on their home, they reduced the size of structure as requested. Never had a complaint, now we received a complaint from the homeowners association on January of 2015. Mr. Robert Stubbs stated currently they have had many compliments on the accessory structure on their property. It is visible from Hwy 6 and Huning Ranch Loop. It was professionally built by Charter Homes Builder. The Code Enforcement Officer from the Village of LL came down, and inspected the structure in March of 2015 per request of the HOA, they found no violations. It met all conditions as required. They have documentations from the HOA and the Village. Mary Strickland came up. She stated she is on the Huning Ranch Association Board. She is also one of the developers of Huning Ranch. She was a little confused in the language that is being proposed to replace the existing language in the area plan that was originally approved. It specifically does not address the height of the accessory structures. Ex: Accessory structures are not to exceed 150 sq. ft. and 10 ft. in height and this is on a one acre lot. The proposed language dimensions shall be regulated by section 17.48 30 ft. in depth but no discussion in height. The Huning Ranch says the other buildings should be 26 ft. in height which would be the home, accessory structures would be limited to 10 ft. in height. So she is confused why the height language has been thrown out. The drawing provided to Ms. Strickland does not match the language that the village is proposing and it says accessory structures may be located anywhere the main building would be permitted, in a rear or side yard and may be placed no closer than 10 ft. from the main building or other accessory building. There is a lot of confusion on the Huning Ranch plan on how large the building can be as well as how tall it can be. A structure 26 sq. ft. is not appropriate for a residential community. It is not a vision that was planned for Huning Ranch. Ms. Strickland also stated that she is the chairperson of the architectural control committee for Huning Ranch and in addressing the Stubbs Cabana they went back to the files. There was a letter dated June of 2009 denying this Cabana because it exceeded 10 x 10. She’s concerned that the Stubbs preceded information that was not accurate regarding an email they received that was not from her. At this point she is recommending that this not be approved for recommendation based on lack of clarification, more work on this perhaps a compromise of some kind that could be reached. Mr. Joe Herrera also came up, he said he received the letter from Christina but did not get an opportunity to review the documentation of what’s being amended. He said, when they purchased their home, they purchased the home in the gated community and since there is a new developer he heard the gates were being removed and he wanted to know if that was part of this Master Plan revision? Christina replied, that this was not part of that, but to clarify that a couple of years ago an application was submitted to change that gated community to public streets, however, that plan has expired and if anyone wishes to propose that again, they will have to go through that process again and you will be provided notice and you will be able to come before this body to either support or oppose it. Len LaClair also came up, he is also a resident of Huning Ranch. He said, Huning Ranch also has their own set of CCRs and he wondered if this would be confusing to the home owners to say, the town has approved this and if they go ahead and proceed with the building and they invest time, money and materials into it, and then if the homeowners association would not approve this, then this would cause a lot of confusion and cost money Christina clarified a couple of statements made. She said, Mr. Stubbs stated that our building inspector went out to look at his accessory structure, which he did. He did tell him that it was not in violation of any regulations, and that was prior to us learning that we had the provision in the Huning Ranch Plan. So what he told him, was correct that it was not in violation of our residential or municipal code, it is however, in violation of the Huning Ranch Area Plan. Also she clarified, that our building inspector is not certified to do electrical mechanical or plumbing inspections so when he went out there, he was strictly looking at the construction of the structural elements. With regards to the height, Ms. Strickland is correct, we do not address height for accessory structures in the Municipal Code and while the provisions were removed in the Huning Area Plan, we would be agreeable to writing something as a comprise for what we are intending to do. Christina also clarified distinction between the two provisions that the Village has. Christina also clarified the statement made by Mr. LaClair. She said, it is confusion for homeowners if they are in a subdivision where there is a homeowners association that has convenants. We usually ask if they are, we send them back to their homeowners association before we even issue a permit. Commissioner D. Crawford asked who takes precedence in these regulations? Is it the City or the Homeowners Association? Christina said, it depends on who is reviewing. When it’s the Village, we do not recognize private convenants they are considered a civil matter. There were no further questions.  Commissioner T. Ulibarri made a recommendation that we wait until this is 95% clarified before any recommendation is made. Chairman S. Williams called for the Commissioners recommendation? Commissioner T. Ulibarri made a motion to table this item until the commission waits for further clarification from Christina Ainsworth as to height, sizes and language. Perhaps meet at later date. Christina recommended that this be postponed until December d 2 • Commissioner D. Crawford seconded it until we claris’ what we are voting to change. We can only change the City’s restrictions ,and that does not mean we are voting to change Huning Ranch Covenants. Christina clarified that by stating that we are not proposing that. The Huning Ranch Area Plan is a document that the Village adopted. It is separate from the covenants which are in place in Huning Ranch. Chairman S. Williams said, they need some clarification. Everyone voted in favor of waiting for better clarification before recommending approval of this amendment, motion passed. ITEM 3-APPROVAL OF P & Z AGENDA FOR 2016 Chairman S. Williams called for a motion to approve the Planning & Zoning Calendar for 2016 which is the l and 3 Wednesday of each month at 6:00 p.m. Commissioner W. Baca made a motion to accept the calendar as presented by the Village of Los Lunas. Commissioner T. Ulibarri seconded the motion. Everyone voted in favor, motion passed. ITEM 4- APPROVAL OF MINUTES — Minutes of September 2, 2015 Chairman S. Williams called for a motion to approve the minutes for September 2, 2015. Commissioner D. Crawford made a motion to approve the minutes as presented. Commissioner W. Baca seconded the motion. Everyone voted yes, motion carried. ITEM 3-DISCUSSION Community Development Activity Report — a. Community Development Activity Report —Christina also gave the Commissioners an update on the development that will be taking place in front of Lowes. A shopping center and two stores right now, a sporting goods and a clothing store. There are some very interested potential buyers for the Merrilat building. The interchange beautification is undergoing and should be finished in January hopefully. Tortuga is almost ready to go to final plat. The only thing the Village is waiting for is financial guarantee but they have already gotten their construction documents approved for infrastructure improvements. b. Code Enforcement Issues — None ITEM 4- ADJOURNMENT Williams called for a motion to adjourn. Commissioner D. Crawford made a motion to adjourn, Commissioner W. Everyone voted yes, motion passed. (Absent) Frank Vigil, Commissioner Walter aca, Commissioner [