City Council Oversight Committee Meeting

CITY COUNCIL OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE MINUTES November 14, 2019 The City Council Oversight Committee of the City of Norman, Cleveland County, State of Oklahoma, met at 4:07 p.m. in the City Council Executive Conference Room on the 14th day of November, 2019, and notice and agenda of the meeting were posted in the Municipal Building at 201 West Gray 48 hours prior to the beginning of the meeting. PRESENT: Councilmembers Holman* Carter and Chairman Bierman ABSENT: Councilmembers Petrone and Scott OTHER STAFF PRESENT: Mr. Darrel Pyle, City Manager Ms. Jane Hudson, Director of Planning & Community Development Ms. Beth Muckala, Assistant City Attorney Ms. Kathryn Walker, City Attorney Ms. Rendy Martin, Administrative Tech III * Councilmember Holman left at 4:53 p.m. Item 1, being: REVIEW OF SPECIAL USES FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA COMMERCIAL GROWER, EDUCATIONAL FACILITY, PROCESSOR, STORAGE FACILITY ALLOWED IN THE RE, RESIDENTIAL ESTATE DWELLING DISTRICT, AND A-2, RURAL AGRICULTURAL DISTRICT, FROM THE M-1, RESTRICTED INDUSTRIAL DISTRICT. In mid-2018 Staff presented to Council information on the recently adopted State Question 788, Medical Marijuana. The presentation by Staff addressed Oklahoma state regulations as well as local and nation-wide municipal approaches to licensing and zoning of medical/marijuana uses/businesses. City Council adopted Ordinance O-1819-17, adding medical marijuana uses to various zoning districts. Additional state legislation was passed in spring 2019, requiring updates to the City Code, which were adopted in August 2019 under Ordinance O-1920-4. Today’s discussion is centered around RE, Residential Estate Dwelling District, Special Use-M-1, Restricted Industrial District. Currently, in the M-1 districts marijuana uses include Commercial Grower, Education Facility, Processor, and Storage Facility. In RE districts an applicant has the option to request Special Use for “one and only one of the specific uses permitted in the M-1 district. If the Special Use request was approved by Council, it could potentially allow any of the marijuana uses listed in M-1 to be approved as a Special Use in a residential district. Ms. Jane Hudson, Director of Planning and Community Development, said the Staff’s concern about allowing medical marijuana uses is that it is not consistent with Council’s determinations for RE. She said an additional concern is about the location and current nature of RE developments. They are typically developed with private streets. Additionally, when the parcel already contains a home or is surrounded by homes, there are no longer indications that the parcel is “underutilized” to invoke justifications for the amendment language. She said that is the basis of why we are here and Staff wanted to get additional input from the Committee before moving forward to City Council. Chairman Bierman ask is this one of the reasons we do not allow home base business. City Council Oversight Committee Minutes November 14, 2019 Page 2 Ms. Hudson said we actually had a discussion today that yes. If you look at A-2, Rural Agricultural District, under F, a home occupation is listed as an allowed use, but under the RE district home occupation is not shown as an allowed use. Chairman Bierman asked if this is something that Council should look at as a larger discussion about what is allowed in RE outside of medical marijuana. She said all of the uses that needed a conditional use permit were inspected annually, we do not do that anymore. Ms. Hudson said this particular item is pressing as Staff is are getting many applications for both zoning and building permits for grow facilities. She feels moving forward with this part is important at this time. She said if Council desires, we can talk about other special uses that no longer receive annual reviews at a different time. Chairman Bierman said she likes the fact that they still have to come to Council; however, she is concerned about opening the door for an arbitrary and capricious case if Council allows it in one parcel out in the eastern part of Ward 5, but not in other RE districts. She said the are RE district is almost every Ward so this is not just an east Norman problem. Ms. Hudson said if you look at the zoning map and you are looking east Norman those lighter colored areas, if there are very few those are the RE districts in east Norman, there is just a hand full are R-1 zoning districts out there in east Norman and those were done 50 years ago. Ms. Hudson reminded Council that RE areas are typically two acre tracts and A-2 properties are typically five and up on average. Council did want to allow growing or processing in residential district districts. Chairman Bierman said she was not sure she could really, with any confidence, make any distinction between the two; Special Use or Planned Unit Development/Simple Planned Unit Development (PUD/SPUD). Ms. Hudson said within special use there are six criteria by which to evaluate each application. She said Staff looks at conformance with applicable regulations and standards established by the Zoning Ordinance; compatibility with existing or permitted uses on abutting sites; unfavorable effects or impacts on adjacent property; modifications to the site plan that would result in an increase compatibility or would mitigate potentially unfavorable impacts; safety and convenience of vehicular and pedestrian circulation in the vicinity; and any conditions applicable to approval are the minimum necessary to minimize potentially unfavorable impacts on nearby uses. Mr. Darrel Pyle, City Manager, said Council does have the option of amending the current ordinances to remove the various options for marijuana uses from the Code. Chairman Bierman asked what the process would be for doing that this, would it just be an ordinance, which requires First and Final readings? Ms. Kathryn Walker, City Attorney, said it would have to go to Study Session first, this is an amendment to the zoning ordinance so it would have to go through Planning Commission as well before moving forward to City Council for action. Chairman Bierman indicated to go ahead and schedule it for the January Planning Commission meeting. Items submitted for the record 1. Memorandum dated November 14, 2019, from Jane Hudson, Director of Planning and Community Development, to Oversight – Council Committee ***** City Council Oversight Committee Minutes November 14, 2019 Page 3 Item 2, being: DISCUSSION REGARDING POSSIBLE ADMINISTRATIVE APPROVAL OF MEDICAL HARDSHIP SPECIAL EXCEPTION RENEWALS, CURRENTLY APPROVED BY THE BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT. Ms. Hudson said Staff has applicants come in with either aging parents or children with disabilities who need additional oversight on a regular basis. She said in some cases the parents have a home on a piece of property and the children want to add a structure to the property for them to live in to be close by to address the needs of their family. She said in 2014 an allowance was constructed a/k/a Medical Hardship Special Exception, which was added to the Board of Adjustment (BOA) responsibilities for review and approval. The exception is good for a three-year period and must be renewed through the same BOA process. She said the BOA process can be pretty expensive totaling approximately $500 and Staff has to notify the adjacent property owners. The BOA members asked if there was a way this renewal process could be performed administratively. An administrative approval would be less costly and take far less time that going through formal Board approval. Therefore, Staff prepared an amendment that would allow Staff to approve the renewal of a Medical Hardship Exception if nothing had changed in the situation. It would still require a doctor’s note, verification the site plan had not changed, and no complaints from the neighbors. It was the consensus of the Committee to move forward with the ordinance change. Item submitted for the record 1. Memorandum dated November 14, 2019, from Jane Hudson, Director of Planning and Community Development, to the Oversight – Council Committee ***** ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 4:59 p.m.