Planning and Zoning

MINUTES OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING PLANNING COMMISSION/ BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS March 20, 2012 Commissioners Present: McLean, Smith, Peterson, Pfefferkorn, Hardwick Commissioners Absent: Cowman, Wrischnik Others Present: Mike Gotfredson, Amy Barenklau, Brian McCauley Item 1: Pledge of Allegiance Item 2: Consider minutes from the February 21, 2012 meeting. Vice-Chair McLean called the meeting to order. The first order of business was the consideration of the minutes from the February 21, 2012 meeting. Commissioners Pfefferkorn and McLean made a motion to approve the minutes as submitted, with Commissioners McLean, Peterson, Pfefferkorn and Hardwick voting in favor. Commissioner Smith abstained since he was not present at the previous meeting. Item 3: Public Hearing: Consideration and vote on an amendment to Section 11.250 Residential Access Drives of the Land Development Ordinance, City of Paola, applicant. Commissioners Smith and Peterson made a motion to open the public hearing with all Commissioners voting in favor. Planner Gotfredson presented history of the request for the proposed amendment and gave a review of the Land Development Ordinance requirements for Rights-Of-Way and road access. He reminded Commissioners that variance guidelines are very narrow and would not apply to the property in question or the property owner’s situation. Councilman Pritchard was contacted by the property owner in regards to this request and he then asked to have this amendment sent to the Planning Commission for consideration. Planner Gotfredson stated that he had received a letter from city staff today which he handed to Commissioners prior to the meeting. The letter stated staff’s position and reasoning for opposition to the proposed amendment. There were no comments from those in attendance. Paola Planning Commission Minutes March 20, 2012 1 Commissioners Pfefferkorn and Hardwick made a motion to close the public hearing with all Commissioners voting in favor. Commissioner McLean asked if the inquiries were coming mostly from property owners with larger homes and three-car garages. Planner Gotfredson stated that they were and the main reason was that the homeowners did not like tapering their drive. Commissioner Pfefferkorn stated that he has noticed that homes with larger drives tend to park on the drives and block sidewalks. Commissioner Peterson inquired if there was a setback before a homeowner could expand the drive, like behind the sidewalk. Planner Gotfredson stated that drives could expand on their own property, but not on city Right-Of-Way. Commissioner Smith stated that he felt drives that are 20 feet at the Right-Of-Way look better and with the information provided he couldn’t see any reason to amend the LDO at this time. Commissioner Peterson stated he agreed with Commissioner Smith’s opinion. Commissioners Pfefferkorn and Smith made a motion to deny approval of the amendment to Section 11.250 of the Land Development Ordinance. All Commissioners voted in favor. Item 4: City Planner Report and Items from Commissioners Planner Gotfredson informed Commissioners they are invited to attend the spring conference of the Kansas Association of County Planning and Zoning officials in April which is being hosted by Miami County. He told Commissioners if they wanted to attend to please let him know as the City of Paola would cover their fees. Planner Gotfredson updated Commissioners on site plans that would possibly be forthcoming in the next several months. There were no items from the Commissioners at this time. Item 5: Adjournment Commissioners McLean and Pfefferkorn made a motion to adjourn the meeting. All Commissioners voted in favor. Meeting was adjourned at 5:20 pm. Paola Planning Commission Minutes March 20, 2012 2