Zoning Ordinance Steering Committee

Zoning Ordinance Steering Committee Meeting March 17, 2017 Page 1 of 3 The meeting began at 8:00 A.M. with a discussion of recommendations made by the weed ad hoc committee. Lang started explaining his proposed changes to allow urban agriculture with an interim use permit in all districts that do not permit farming. He stated that no growing of medicinal marijuana would be permitted and that a minimum area of two acres would be required for farming with a minimum time commitment of three years. He was less certain about requiring a 20-foot buffer strip, pointing out that specifying which crops to allow in Section 5-6b-vi-1 was open to debate. CHAPTER 5 – “R1” SINGLE-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL DISTRICT Section 5-6. Interim Uses: Within any R1 District, no structure or land shall be used for the following uses except by an interim use permit issued by the City Council: b) Limited Agriculture – Urban Farms. This section of the code is not intended to regulate or allow the growing, collection, or distribution of medical marijuana or Compassionate Care Centers. Also, this section does not allow for grazing of livestock in any zoning districts where it is not currently a permitted use. For aggregate parcels containing four (4) or more R1 lots, farm operations are allowed and shall be regulated as follows: i. Minimum aggregate parcel size shall be two (2) acres. ii. Candidates interested in enrolling land in this program, or famers interested in production on lands enrolled in this program, shall complete the appropriate application at the City of Minot Planning Department. The minimum enrollment period is three (3) years. iii. Site preparation, planting, on-going care, maintenance , and harvest may be conducted using farm scale machinery such as, but not limited to; combines, tractors and implement attachments such as plows, discs, chisels, hay rakes, balers, etc. iv. The right-of-way of public streets shall not be farmed, but must be maintained by periodic mowing during the growing season, litter control, and weed control in addition to mowing, if warranted. The required sight visibility triangle must be maintained at all street intersections and street/alley intersections. Repair of any damage to existing street or curb pavement caused by the farming activity shall be the responsibility of the farm tenant. v. A twenty-foot (20’) buffer strip of unfarmed land shall be maintained alongside any property line of which the adjacent property is a developed residential use. The owner is responsible for reasonable maintenance of the twenty-foot strip including, but not limited to; periodic mowing, litter control, and weed control. In some instances the buffer strip may be reduced or eliminated, but only after review by Planning Staff and written authorization from the Planning Director. Zoning Ordinance Steering Committee Meeting March 17, 2017 Page 2 of 3 vi. Allowable crops include the following varieties and their cultivars: 1. Including, but not limited to; alfalfa, wheat, oats, barley, rye, millet, corn, soybeans or other crops as permitted on a case-by-case basis by the terms of the interim use permit. 2. 3. Warm season perennial grass, legume, and wildflower seed mixes, such as CRP (Conservation Reserve Program) approved mixes are allowed to encourage soil stabilization, ecological diversity, and habitat for wildlife. Urban farms that elect to grow native grass mixtures shall not hay these parcels until after June 15 of any given year. vii. In areas with significant surrounding residential development, the City Council may: 1. Deny the request for an interim permit if the Council feels that such interim use will be detrimental to the health, safety or welfare of the neighboring residents. 2. Specify an increase in required buffer width. 3. Specify allowable hours of operation. 4. Specify exact and limited access point(s) to the parcel for agricultural access. 5. Specify haul route(s) on existing public streets during periods of high activity, such as planting or harvest, so as to limit the transportation impacts on surrounding street networks and neighboring property owners. Ackerman expressed skepticism that allowing urban farming would attract many applicants for an interim use permit given the financial risk, and stated that he would like to see an entry for “urban agriculture” under the definition section. Pankow agreed. Pankow also agreed that imposing a 20-foot setback or buffer would be far too restrictive and that anyone farming a property should be expected to exercise proper judgment. He then opened the floor to public comment. Dennis Smetana stated that he farmed alfalfa west of the US Highway 83 bypass in the vicinity of the Hyatt House and that he was similarly concerned that imposing a 20-foot buffer from any property line would be unreasonably restrictive. Lang responded that he had only intended for that restriction to be applied to property lines abutting residential properties, but that he now agreed with the other members of the Committee that such a restriction was unnecessary. Pankow pointed out that properties in Agricultural and Residential Agricultural zoning districts would not be affected by the proposed Zoning Ordinance Steering Committee Meeting March 17, 2017 Page 3 of 3 regulations as farming is a permitted use in both districts. He then stated that crops permitted should match the soil conditions. Neether then asked for clarification on whether any sort of setback should be proposed. Ackerman commented that those issues should be addressed in developers’ agreements. Lang responded that granting the Council authority to impose a setback as provided in the proposed Item vii-2 would be sufficient. CHAPTER 30: ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES Section 30-2. Variances: g) Any variance approved by the Planning Commission shall have a time limit of one (1) year after the Commission’s approval, during which the variance must be put into effect by the owner. Alternatively, the Planning Commission may establish a different time limit for any variance implementation if special circumstances warrant the same. If the time limit should expire before the variance is put into effect, the City EngineerPlanning Director, upon the owner’s written request, may grant additional time, not to exceed the number of days originally allowed by the Commission. Ackerman moved to approve this change, expressing disagreement with the need for granting variances to properties zoned R-4. Seconded by Sanders, the motion carried. Lang then presented a Powerpoint outlining the need for more flexible changes to the landscaping regulations. Elmquist then stated that in response to Ackerman’s comments on Section 7-7d3 at previous meetings, he had proposed to reduce the required area for each additional unit to 2,500 square feet. CHAPTER 7 – “RM” MEDIUM DENSITY RESIDENTIAL DISTRICT Section 7-7. Lot, Height, Area, and Yard Setback Requirements: d) Minimum lot area shall be as follows: 3) Area for a three-family dwelling in RM and R3 districts shall be ten thousand (10,000) square feet and in R3B district six thousand (6,000) square feet. For each additional dwelling unit in the RM and R3 districts in excess of a three-family dwelling, the lot shall have an additional area of three thousand (3,000) twenty-five hundred (2,500) square feet. For each additional dwelling unit in the R3B district in excess of a three-family dwelling, the lot shall have an additional area of two thousand (2,000) square feet. Motion to approve changes by Ackerman, seconded by Pankow. Motion carried. Davis then asked when the next meeting should be held. The Committee came to a consensus of April 20. The meeting closed at 10:15 A.M.