Plan Commission (Meets 2nd Tuesday of each month at 5:00 p.m.)

PLAN COMMISSION Minutes December 21, 2022 Regular Meeting The meeting was called to order by Chair Jim Paine at 4:00 pm on December 21, 2022 in Government Center Room 201. 1 ROLL CALL PRESENT: Jim Paine (chair), Dennis Dalbec (vice chair), Tylor Elm, Brent Fennessey, Brian Finstad, Ann Porter, Garner Moffat, Dave Strum VIRTUAL: Lindsey Graskey (joined at 4:15) ABSENT: CITY STAFF PRESENT: Planning, Economic Development and Port Director Jason Serck, Planning Tech Stephanie Becken OTHERS PRESENT: Shelly Nelson, Clint Massie, Jeramie and Melissa Olson, Ben and Mary Anderson, Cathy Casper, Jason Jauhola 2 APPROVAL OF MINUTES MOTION to approve minutes by Commissioner Dalbec, seconded by Fennessey and carried. 3 OLD BUSINESS 3.1 Request for amended Small Business Grant Development Agreement Eddie’s Ribs Planning, Economic Development and Port Director Serck introduced Ben and Mary Anderson’s request for an amendment to their Small Business Grant Development Agreement. The amendment would allow them to submit proofs for ½ of their grant obligations in order to access ½ of their grant funding and also allows the Planning Department to amend the development agreement to extend their contracted time and substitute unfinished projects due to unforeseen circumstances. The Plan Commission has made all of the modifications before in previous grants. MOTION to allow modifications including ½ pay out, extension, and change of projects to the Eddie’s Development Agreement by Commissioner Dalbec, seconded by Finstad and carried. 3.2 Discussion and recommendation for Scenery and Home Superior Landscaping Project with Council President Van Sickle Chair Paine asked to hold topic until Council President Van Sickle was in attendance. Commission agreed. 4 NEW BUSINESS 4.1 Small Business Grant Program Allocation a. Louada Granite LLC b. Shelly LLC DBA Central Pub c. Five Star Automotive PLAN COMMISSION - 12/21/22 Mtg (Meets monthly on 3rd Wednesday at 4:00PM.) Page 1 of 4 Chair Paine introduced the Small Business Grant topic. MOTION by Commissioner Dalbec to consider all of the grant applications together and approve. Seconded by Elm. Planning Technician Becken introduced the 3 applications for 4th quarter, as all applicants were in attendance. The update for the year included the 4th quarter total requests as $32,988 with $53,311 available, making it possible to fund all of the grants at request value if desired. The Small Business Grant Program totals for 2022, if Q4 grants were approved. Total awarded for 2022: $179,638 with $8563.25 declined in Q3 due to amount of grants requested. Commissioner Fennessey asked about the 2023 SBGP allotment. Chair Paine noted it was budgeted the same and would include roll over remainder from 2022. Chair Paine asked commissioners to consider any changes they want to make to the program and have them ready for the January meeting. Vote called on Commissioner Dalbec’s motion and carried.. 4.2 Discussion on housing in manufacturing districts Director Serck introduced topic of allowing new housing in manufacturing districts as citizen Jeramy Olson requested permission to build a residential home in a manufacturing district. Director Serck requested guidance on what the commission would like to see happen with options like if they’d like a special use permit, ordinance change, something else or nothing. Commissioner Moffat thought a Special Use Permit might work best until the full code re-write happened. Commissioner Finstad liked the idea of having the option to put residential into manufacturing, rather than dropping manufacturing into residential with the idea that many people used to live near where they worked. Chair Paine noted that it might be different to put a housing development of multiple housing additions within manufacturing—not wanting to change the nature of manufacturing. Director Serck asked for what sort of conditions the commission might want to see. Commissioner Fennessey asked Director Serck what sort of conditions he’d suggest. Director Serck noted size requirements were most on his mind, thinking that setbacks would still apply as they do in current residential areas. Commissioner Fennessey noted that without conditions, every application becomes approved due to Wisconsin statute. Chair Paine asked the Planning staff to put together a proposal to review at the next Plan Commission meeting. 4.3 Discussion and recommendation for Scenery and Home Superior Landscaping Project with Council President Van Sickle Chair Paine noted Councilor Van Sickle’s joining of the meeting and asked to bring up this topic as it had been held from earlier in the meeting. There were no objections. Director Serck introduced the program, highlighting modifications that had been made with commissioner input. Changes included making the pilot less of a public driven contest and instead rely on staff judges making a recommendation from the applications to Plan Commission. The amount per yard was standardized and increased to make most impact. Plan PLAN COMMISSION - 12/21/22 Mtg (Meets monthly on 3rd Wednesday at 4:00PM.) Page 2 of 4 Tech Becken added that CDBG areas continued to be a priority, but that all homeowners in Superior could apply. Councilor Van Sickle continued mapping out the project noting she’d had positive feedback so far. Commissioner Porter asked about an RFP and for clarification of cohorts and the timeline. Director Serck noted that RFP’s don’t need to be issued if the budget stays under $25,000 per year, which it should for each of the years of the grant. For a pilot, using a single known vendor has been a common practice. The timeline was clarified to be over 3 years with an overlap year between the two winning groups (1 for 2023 & 1 for 2024). When the second group of winners is getting their yard done and the other is in a maintenance year. The final year, 2025 would be the maintenance year for the group that won in 2024. If the program continues, then there would be another overlap year with new winners. Commissioner Dalbec noted a city-wide positivity and the hope that the change would allow for long-term maintenance. Councilor Van Sickle added that the vendor would include education in the package, making sure the winners would be equipped to care for their new spaces. Van Sickle shared she spoke with Planner Skrenes about chunking houses/areas vs scattering winners and the Planner Skrenes said that while chunking might be helpful, programs like this could make for contagious improvements. Commissioner Fennessey asked for clarification about what locations around the city would be considered most favorable for winners. Councilor Van Sickle cited the Comp Plan as showing 5 underserved areas. Chair Paine added a criteria would be what’s most seen. Director Serck gave popular intersections as examples. Commissioner Fennessey asked what the Neighborhood Improvement Fund usually does. Chair Paine said it’s usually used for abatements and tearing down houses, clearing sidewalks and some staff costs. With fewer homes being razed, the fund balance has accumulated the last few years. Commissioner Fennessey shared he didn’t think the amount was too much but considered how beneficial the pilot would be. Councilor Van Sickle shared she’d had positive feedback so far. Commissioner Graskey added that she liked the education piece of the pilot and liked the investment into neighborhoods for homeowners. Chair Paine noted if the program was to continue after 2025, it would likely need to seek another budget source, or request money specifically for the task. Commissioner Porter stated she liked the pilot and would also like to see more investment into parks around the city, continuing to improve the playgrounds to be accessible. Chair Paine replied that parks improvement has been a priority and a volunteer coordinator is being added to maximize volunteer efforts in parks. Commissioner Dalbec added the investment in landscape was great for Tower and trying it residential communities could have a similar impact. MOTION by Commissioner Elm to hold in committee. No second. Failed. MOTION by Commissioner Dalbec to approve the pilot Scenery and Home landscape project with a budget of $30,000 over 3 years with an amendment to keep the pilot limited to the timeline presented. Second by Moffat and carried. PLAN COMMISSION - 12/21/22 Mtg (Meets monthly on 3rd Wednesday at 4:00PM.) Page 3 of 4 RECURRING BUSINESS 4.4 Zoning Code Update a. RFP language discussion Director Serck explained the RFP draft and purpose. Chair Paine directed commissioners to the ‘scope of work’ and asked for any further input beyond what had already been included. Director Serck added there are different styles of zoning code and the current RFP keeps the asks open, but could be more specific if the commission wanted. Chair Paine said the RFP would be sent out to professionals, inviting proposals from different vendors and groups. Commissioner Porter asked for a cost estimate. Director Serck shared it would be similar to the Comprehensive Plan, between $150,000-$200,000. Commissioner Moffat asked if the re-write could be done internally to save money and keep the process local. Chair Paine said the level of involvement for the Plan Commission could be negotiated with whoever is awarded the RFP. Commissioner Elm asked how the current scope was formatted. Director Serck shared Contract Analyst Darwin put it together after researching other similar RFPs in similar communities. Commissioner Porter added she had no interest in doing everything internally, as taking on a $100,000-$200,000 project was not something she could do. Chair Paine said the process will be work, even with a consultant and that it would most likely last a year and he expected exciting proposals. b. Presentation by Commissioner Moffat Commissioner Moffat shared a presentation on different kinds of modern zoning code and the options cities like Superior have—different from the last time the zoning code was written. Commissioners asked if the RFP could be updated to include reference to experience with Open Source code and other code options as Moffat shared. Director Serck said he would see to an update. Chair Paine added there are education and travel opportunities to learn about code/zoning and to talk to him about possible opportunities in the future. 5 ADJOURNMENT With no further business, Mayor Paine adjourned at 5:15 pm. Respectfully submitted by Stephanie Becken. PLAN COMMISSION - 12/21/22 Mtg (Meets monthly on 3rd Wednesday at 4:00PM.) Page 4 of 4