[0:28] e [0:58] e [1:28] e [1:58] e [2:28] e [2:58] e [3:28] e e [4:02] hi and welcome to the Monday November 18th 2024 meeting of the Y Zetta Planning Commission I hereby call the [4:08] meeting to order my name is Lissa Stockton and I'm the chair of the Planning Commission and [4:14] I have a few words about how to participate in this evening's meeting first we have some Zoom meeting [4:20] information for the hybrid joining the meeting ID number is 822 3921 5695 passcode 00 [4:30] 2818 members of the public May attend this Planning Commission meeting in person or watch and listen remotely by [4:36] viewing the meeting on Channel 8 WCTV and at the city's website at weta.org [4:42] WCTV public comment during the public forum and or public hearing portions of the meeting may be provided in person at [4:49] the meeting in advance or by logging into the zoom call and raising your hand during the public hearing when your name [4:55] is called in the meeting you will be seen and heard in our council chambers and the cable channel [5:00] you'll be asked to unmute and then you may begin your comment all public comments must include your full name and address the city encourages comments and [5:07] questions about items on the agenda and when possible requests you submit them in advance by emailing public comments [5:13] ata.org calling City staff at 952445 323 or mailing wetta City Hall at [5:20] 600 Rice Rice Street East wetta Minnesota 55391 attention public comment great [5:27] next we can do our roll call planer qus are you going to take our role I sure [5:33] can um chair Stockton me first today here commissioner planton here [5:39] commissioner schwabie here commissioner Severson here commissioner Cameron present and please note that [5:45] commissioner L has an excused absence today thank you okay so next we're going to move on [5:52] to approving the agenda um does anyone have any proposed changes to the agenda [5:59] um and if not may I have a motion to approve the agenda as presented I will make a motion to [6:05] approve the agenda as presented thank you commissioner serson may I have a second second Cameron thank you um may I [6:12] have any any further discussion all those in favor please say I I those oppose nay eyes have it the [6:19] motion uh passes and the agenda is is approved okay next I'd like to move on [6:26] to the uh approval of the consent agenda this evening's consent agenda consists [6:32] of two items approval of meeting minutes of November 4th 2024 which is item A and [6:37] B approval of the report and recommendation for approval for zoning text Amendment amendments for cannabis [6:43] business regulations does any commissioner have any questions or comments on any item on [6:50] the consent agenda or wish to pull an item for further uh for separate discussion or action yes commissioner [6:56] Severson um I just may um noted uh several places that um commissioner elg [7:02] was noted as a council member so um it's on page 11 um lines 29 and [7:11] 35 but in other places he was noted as commissioner Al so I just wanted to make note of [7:19] that thank you yeah so chair I would say that you would [7:25] when you ask for a motion to approve the consent agenda in the minutes thought would be a an amendment to the [7:33] minutes okay the minutes would be an amendment to the minutes so [7:39] moved well I I I'm sorry if that wasn't clear so so when you um um I think [7:45] commissioner Severson has proposed some changes to the minutes and when you ask for approval of the consent agenda you can say with the minutes amended okay um [7:53] and but first I'd like to pull an item so I would address that prior is that correct yes chair you can uh request her [8:01] yourself to pull that item for further discussion okay so I would um like to pull an item for further discussion [8:06] which is um Item B um and my proposal is to uh move it to I think old business um [8:14] as discussed and therefore um have an opportunity to uh bring some further [8:21] discussion to council and uh staff so on that basis yes chair so I I would think [8:28] if that's acceptable to your fellow Commissioners you could ask for a motion to approve item 4A of the consent agenda [8:35] with the Amendments noted by commissioner Severson and pulling B yes [8:43] okay so may I have a motion to approve the agenda with those two adjustments to a make the notes that commissioner cers [8:50] pointed commissioner cson pointed out and on B to pull Item B so moved thank [8:56] you commissioner Schwab may I have a second second planton thank you thank you um may all those in favor oh sorry [9:02] further discussion all those in favor I I those oppose nay none the eyes have it and the [9:10] motion passes and the consent agenda is approved um we have no other uh no [9:16] public hearing this evening but um I think the uh old business comes next [9:22] which would be item number five on the agenda instead of other items um so I'm [9:29] the one who pulled it so I'll start talking that's okay um so uh we had uh a [9:35] very in-depth discussion and presentation around the uh consent agenda Item B for the uh text amendments [9:43] to the Cannabis business regulations uh upon further reflection I had some thoughts um that I wanted to [9:50] share with the commission and see if they um are also thoughts that you share [9:56] and to uh make a make some uh further contribution to our [10:02] recommendation to council as a result the four topics were um [10:08] essentially I'm summarizing here but there's more thought behind it but I'll go straight to the summary um the first [10:14] is one you know the consideration of uh adding to the record that there is a um [10:22] private school bus stop in the loc in the west side of uh the Colonial Square [10:29] which is not covered by the current buffer zone uh as was presented to us [10:35] that evening and I felt it uh prudent and important to uh uh bring that [10:42] information to the table uh for consideration in case Council had not uh [10:49] uh discovered that fact themselves and whether or not you also thought that [10:54] that was an important consideration um I'll I'll highlight the four things quickly and then we can go [11:00] back maybe to each one so you could have an understanding of where my concerns were the second was [11:07] um given the vast amount of dialogue and sort of thought around the buffers zones [11:13] changing themselves um I wanted to suggest to counselor or that uh having [11:21] establishing criteria uh as to changing the buffer um like what that criteria [11:28] would be um might be something that the city might consider establishing at this point in time given the great length of [11:34] dialogue and thought put into the process um I have ideas around that but it's just something to think about the [11:42] third was to um if the zones were uh buffer buffer zones were significantly [11:49] altered in the future to um uh put [11:54] forward a request to council to consider planning commission's review of these [11:59] zones um if there was a significant change uh and and how that would impact [12:05] land use and then four um and maybe this is relevant to a l to a newer or complex [12:12] issue such as this one and not not not most but to be um to request um council's [12:20] consideration uh that we are advised formally of when uh workshops are held [12:25] and that we could potentially um s in or listen to them uh so that we can have [12:32] the ability to digest their thinking for larger complex items uh and in an effort [12:38] to understand the nature of something and then therefore assign appropriate land use uh as a result of that [12:45] understanding from council's uh Direction um and so those are the four [12:51] items does anyone have any thoughts we can go back to the bus stop or any one of them in any order um [12:59] yeah I I do on the on the bus stop is that always going to be a point of like [13:05] is there always going to be a bus stop there and and where is it is it those apartments North of it is that where [13:10] you're so um my I know there's a public bus stop which is um uh North uh on the [13:18] same side of the street as Colonial Square on 101 on the 101 okay the [13:23] private um I cannot speak for all private schools but I can absolutely speak for one that there is a bus stop [13:29] which is uh it's it shifts position a little bit depending on um snow plowing [13:35] and things of that nature but it's been near the um primarily near the jute um [13:41] in front of the jute area there um but also um by The Bagel Shop uh the extent [13:48] of my understanding uh as to the change of that is unknown that would be in the [13:54] transportation system of each private school um but that has been um my [14:00] personal experience okay so it's in Colonial Square versus like at the because I know there is a bus stop for [14:07] wetta schools in the part in the apartment building north of there so the [14:12] the public school that sounds like what you're talking about um the which I know less about um the private school is [14:19] within the parking lot itself okay okay I wasn't aw of that okay um and that would be certainly pick up and drop off [14:25] yeah and I think now some of that changes has changed for the public the private school I'm discussing because [14:31] there's been a uh the closing of the high coft campus however there still is [14:37] so the so the prevalence is going to be less than my experience but it's absolutely still there and I would want [14:42] to I would want Council to be aware of the potential impact of their decisions [14:47] if case they don't know about that and potentially further explore it before determining [14:53] zones um so that was that one does staff any have any further input on that item in [15:01] particular um thank you chair I did discuss this a little bit with the uh [15:07] City uh attorney since uh your and I discussion earlier this afternoon [15:14] um we think there's some Merit to to looking at um things associated with [15:20] schools like bus stops but we are concerned that um as we stated on some [15:26] of the commercial uses that that you look at all similar uses equally so uh [15:31] we would be concerned if we just um parsed out the private school bus stops [15:39] without looking at the public school oh yeah I agree with that um I speaking to [15:45] my knowledge of the bus stops as opposed to isolating anyone in terms of a priority um but thanks for clarifying [15:52] that um which gets to the second item which is criteria um [15:59] is school appr proximity a criteria um like is that [16:05] uh I don't know because that's not my decision but I guess what I'm saying is um my my my thought would be to as part [16:12] of our um approval process this evening to uh have a finding of recommending to [16:20] council that they do establish criteria uh for why the buffer is there and why [16:26] or how it uh would be a trigger for um advocating for a change in One Direction [16:33] or another from where it's established are you talking about in the [16:38] future right now I'm talking about the that both in the sense that um it's [16:47] challenging to WR make land use recommendations um when there's a [16:53] variable that could change may not be may not likely change but could change [16:59] and we don't know when or why to what extent so yeah chair if I can just break [17:04] in I I think that's a good way to to put it that um to think about the buffer [17:09] zones as a significant variable that was a basis of your finding and [17:14] recommendation at the last meeting and I know we talked about this as staff a little bit the language and the findings [17:20] of the draft report talk about that in a few places I think it's three of your [17:25] findings say something to the effect like this we would recommend uh them in [17:32] this area provided reasonable buffers are in place um we could we talked about [17:37] this staff we could make a modification to the report that would replace the [17:43] concept of reasonable buffer with the actual buffers that were presented to you at the last meeting so that Council [17:50] can see that your recommendations are based on those uh staff developed [17:55] buffers which were based on the planning or I'm sorry the city council's Direction at their workshop so what you [18:01] see before you here on the screen from staff is is some possible edits um now [18:07] that's just part of what you're saying chair I know but it would at least alert Council to the fact that that variable [18:13] you're talking about you were looking at the the buffer zones presented at your [18:18] last meeting when you made this finding if that makes sense it does I [18:24] question just on the buffer zones and I I we kind of delved into a little bit last two weeks ago um but at the state [18:31] level is there any requirement for any buffer zones in any capacity at all no [18:38] there is not so you could literally have one right next to a church you could have one right next to a preschool yes [18:43] City of Minneapolis to exactly and so the the statute allows local uh units of [18:52] government like cities to establish those buffer zones um in certain [18:58] specific places and it's it's very uh it's explicit about schools uh [19:03] residential treatment facilities areas of public parks where children may gather um there's also a general [19:10] language in there um about reasonable restrictions on time men are in place [19:15] that my opinion is the city could probably look at creating buffers around bus stops again with uh um planners [19:23] Weber's observation you know we would want to look at all bus stops where children gather right in the city and [19:29] that could be an awful lot of places um and we'd have to be careful that in [19:35] doing that we didn't all of a sudden make it impossible for a business to locate in the city so like we talked about the last meeting we we're trying [19:41] to strike a balance so that at least one retailer could locate here uh if not [19:48] we'd be in violation of the statute but the statute does allow us to place some some restrictions reasonable [19:55] restrictions on time enter in place which we haven't done yet right so and I I think that was my point Cher [20:00] Stockton's point is like kind of our recommendation is to to go forward and [20:08] say R2 R3 r3a but if it goes forward just like that and nothing else changes [20:15] right then one of those you could put one of those businesses anywhere in that in that area right because council is [20:20] the one who's require who's responsible for setting those buffer zones and they haven't done anything like that yet they [20:25] haven't defined that that's correct and in my earlier point point was to say that the findings of the draft report [20:32] call out the fact that your recommendation is predicated on the fact that there would be these buffer zones [20:38] as staff presented them but you're right until those are established they could those businesses [20:43] could locate um anywhere within well presuming the the the zoning recommendations are um adopted anywhere [20:50] in these C zones including ones that could be right next to a residential treatment facility or a playground how [20:57] they're established and on what criteria like what's the goal of the buffer zone so that there's common understanding as [21:03] to why they exist is it safety or is do they increase because the crime [21:09] statistics have gone up do they decrease because crime statistics have gone down right and chair on that score you know [21:15] the the statute allows cities to adopt any buffers for any reason based on [21:22] health safety welfare reasonable time man are in place so it doesn't have um [21:27] you know a specific set of CR criteria that cities need to apply to that but as long as it's a reasonable time manner [21:34] Place restriction um and right now uh the the buffer zones developed by staff [21:39] on council's direction are essentially at the maximum um with with a little cave out [21:44] on where we measure them from uh could potentially be a little bit greater in some of these but for the most part [21:50] they're the maximum okay so can you apply time restrictions like you can't [21:57] open before n and you have to close by three is is that can that be part of the [22:04] buffer zone it can be part of the regulations that yeah and again that would be something that council's going [22:09] to be looking at with the other regulations that that they'll be adopting uh for registering businesses [22:15] in the city okay well understand if I could sorry I could just expand on that a little bit the the state statute [22:23] States hours that the business must be closed [22:29] and then of the Hours That Remain they give the city a little bit of buffer to [22:36] uh require them to be closed a a little longer in the beginning and a little longer in the end but the state statute [22:42] does provide a set of hours that the community must allow that business be oh [22:48] okay I get it so they give us a little bit of latitude of of allow of the city could [22:55] allow them to be closed more than what the state maximum amount of openness for that [23:01] business is but it wouldn't allow us to shrink that to like an hour yeah exactly [23:07] chair yeah right okay and that and that's something that was discussed maybe at the workshop so that's where [23:13] the the understand the sort of uh it would be helpful for us to uh make our [23:20] recommendations with more certainty having been have learned what had been under consideration in that case right [23:27] hindsight is just a wonderful thing um but in this case I think it's worth noting that that um the decision becomes [23:34] more challenging when these parameters are are not known for us when it comes to land use for the reason for example [23:41] of of the bus stop um or many bus stops potentially um [23:48] uh you know for the private schools I don't I don't know the bus the public school bus stop uh situation but for the private school there's only like one or [23:54] two pickup points um and that's [24:00] yeah worth noting okay um so uh We've [24:06] sort of mentioned all four items does anybody have any further thought on the [24:13] idea together to um which was uh to request or to ask Council to consider [24:21] that if the zones uh buffer zones do significantly change that um they [24:27] consider uh the uh this coming before the Planning Commission again in that in [24:33] that time yes uh chair if I could uh maybe asked if you could expand a little bit [24:39] on the fourth one which my understanding was that's not necessarily cannabis [24:46] specific but kind of any issue so um two things because it's not Canabis specific [24:54] I don't know and I'll listen to the city uh attorney on that I don't know that it's appropriate being in this Canabis [25:01] specific report and recommendation but I did talk to the city manager about that [25:06] after our conversation and we have a couple ideas how how to implement that um both when [25:15] the department heads talk about uh our work session agendas adding the appropriate uh board [25:23] or commission that would be affected by that and then we could discuss is it something that maybe could just simply [25:30] be uh you know in a phone call with the chair updating that is that something [25:36] more uh that should rise to the level of being on an agenda that kind of thing [25:41] but as you the other thing we discussed um you know on the Planning Commission [25:48] agenda uh you know that we have today um you know we do have the section below [25:54] that says upcoming meetings we could expand that particular on the city council to put um land use related items [26:02] on that council meeting on that agenda so Andor we could uh you know add that [26:09] to our development activity so I think I think there's a number of ways that we can we can add that and um city manager [26:16] was real supportive of figuring out a way to to communicate that more but I'm [26:21] just a real a little bit reluctant that the fourth one isn't cannabis specific that I don't know that it fits in the [26:28] cannabis PC uh I I agree it's probably not cannabis specific however the degree [26:33] to which cannabis has a lot of unknowns that fall under policy yep um brought [26:39] this to our attention and um so yeah it's probably not cannabis specific but [26:45] I wouldn't want to request being in every Workshop I mean I think it's at the council's discretion it's more like [26:50] hey this is something that uh in hindsight would have been a good one and so with some foresight other are there [26:58] other ways that we could spend um to to have our meetings be more efficient [27:05] with some more understanding of uh policy Direction and the items that we don't actually decide upon but need to [27:13] understand and order to prescribe land use I have one question yes so without [27:20] altering the buffers that we already talked about and included during our [27:26] last meeting are you suggesting chair that perhaps there be like little mini [27:31] buffers where where the bus stops would be uh I'm not making any suggestions of [27:37] of that kind more that um in our I think what I'm saying is in our findings we're [27:43] looking we're um adding some in our uh motion we are adding some [27:50] supportive highlighting some supportive findings that aren't that aren't lost in all of the notes that we have that that [27:58] touch on the the potential impact of whether or not the buffers should include these bus stops or not and how [28:06] that impacts the overall recommendation um that Council has it it may it may not but um I feel a [28:14] responsibility to bring it to the council's attention thank you yes commissioner [28:21] Clanton yes so is it appropriate to make um a recommendation of approval with the [28:26] following findings that we would like to have included or mentioned um and one is [28:32] regarding the consideration of bus stops we don't know where they are exactly but to have the council um consider the [28:38] location of bus stops as they exist today the second would be if we find bus [28:43] stops popping up that there could be some flexibility if it affects the buffer zones and if it affects land [28:50] use that's all that covers two and three um I mean I think that's kind of still [28:57] one still one and then but because two and three I see is slightly different two is um criteria could be outside of [29:06] schools right it could we don't know maybe maybe there's nothing you know uh [29:11] maybe they want to for example consider the existing business of the of the rehab more closely um whether or not [29:18] that's you know maybe they don't I don't know but criteria would be good um [29:24] without crossing the boundary of commission to counsel um the CR criteria would be things like um you know safety [29:32] right around school children and then for example um off the cuff like um [29:40] Consulting with the police uh chief of police and inquiring at what statistically significant change uh has [29:47] occurred if any uh with regards to any new addition to the business uh to the [29:52] city uh and whether or not that impacts these buffers as my understanding that's [29:57] already included in state law but that's a separate thing it sounds like okay so [30:03] it sounds like it doesn't have to be tied to this is that what you're saying yeah um chair I I think um what I was [30:12] referring to earlier about state law is that state law empowers cities to place [30:18] reasonable time Manner and place regulations on this um within the [30:24] parameters that state law has set such as well you you can't say they can only be open 15 minutes on a Thursday night [30:30] or something um and and it says specifically that cities can create buffer zones up to a, [30:37] or 500 feet in certain sensitive areas so when I read that whole section I think there's room for the city to look [30:45] at um regulations that would um address the potential health safety welfare [30:52] issues uh around bus stops where children get get off and on the bus to school so [30:59] there are you know there what I hear you saying about criteria for Council to [31:05] revisit the um not to revisit the buffers but it's like upon what CR I [31:11] guess I'm maybe maybe it's semantics maybe I'm but it's like okay well if you have something that's a variable and [31:18] what on What basis do you change the variable what are the criteria what trips the what trigger trips in order to [31:26] it's one way or another right right so so I guess my earlier point was that I think it's the same criteria under which [31:32] Council would adopt those buffers in the first place okay and so far the direction they've given staff was to be [31:38] fairly um to take advantage of the full extent to which a city can adopt those [31:45] buffers and so and that's B based on health safety welfare reasonable time [31:52] place manner restrictions around these activities so that's how reason why I'm getting hung up on the criteria because [31:58] it didn't understand all the criteria in the first place so it sounds like there's already some of those things in [32:03] there that again goes back to the workshop and and yeah great um the only other thing [32:11] was um commissioner planton if if we're making a finding is the request to um to [32:18] see it again if there is a significant change in the buffers uh as a finding to [32:25] council that you want them to bring it back to like if suddenly um let's use an [32:31] extreme there's no buffers uh instead of it just being approved it came comes back to Planning Commission to look at [32:37] appropriate land use first um that's just a request um it doesn't have to be [32:43] granted but uh it's something that I thought about since we're in charge of land [32:49] use and chair I think um I think the suggested changes that are on your [32:56] screen now get you you halfway there okay I think you're making clear to council that your recommendations are [33:03] based on the buffer zones that were presented by staff at your last meeting I think you could go the whole way by [33:09] saying adding a a finding at the end uh that just says you know should Council [33:15] uh adopt buffer zones that are significantly different than the ones that were presented the Planning [33:22] Commission would request that you revisit uh that and it wouldn't be [33:27] binding on Council but no they they they would take that into account yes yes [33:32] that's what we're [33:38] saying so back to commissioner [33:43] planton so how excuse me how does she add that into the last [33:48] Bing my notes are kind of I'm going all over commissioner planning I thought you had a good suggestion about the bus [33:54] stops what was that um about adding in adding a consideration of that as they are today [34:01] and as they may change M um that we consider that and take that in um yeah [34:06] so I think that that that's an easy addition to your report and recommendation at the end just that Council would look at that yeah and then [34:13] if there are any significant variables um in changing of the buffers that they would consider if it does affect land [34:20] use bringing it back of course to the Planning Commission that sounds [34:26] right so so chair if if you want to ask for I'm sorry go ahead I was just uh I [34:33] was just going to suggest that those two items be um stated as items H and I in [34:39] the findings of the Planning Commission report and recommendation I would be in favor of [34:47] that so chair if you'd like to you can ask for a motion to adopt the report and [34:53] recommendation with the edits prepared by staff that are reflected on your screen and the two additional findings [35:01] articulated by commissioner planton okay um can I have a motion uh for [35:09] that I can say it again for the report and recommendation of approval um with the uh findings on the screen and the [35:16] two addition additional as stated um thank you commissioner moved [35:22] thank you commissioner may I have a second second sson thank you commissioner [35:29] um uh further discussion all those in favor please say I I I I those [35:36] opposed okay the eyes have it thank you the motion passes and um we'll move on [35:43] to city council is that correct that will pass on to city council from here yes chair that's [35:49] correct this will go on to city council and um they'll take up the zoning ordinance amendment when Eric uh it will [35:58] be December December 3 okay great that's good chair will be [36:05] the first reading and then there'll be a second reading and then the ordinance will take effect so the second reading [36:10] will be at the second meeting in December by great well thank you very much um staff for helping us uh work [36:16] through those details and um Council um and commission appreciate it great [36:24] that's great thank you very much um next we can move on to item six on the agenda which is other items we have two which [36:30] is to a review the uh review of development activities and B um the [36:36] Planning Commission meeting schedule um planners wer uh yes uh um [36:43] regarding development activities um if you've been driving by the former Wells [36:49] Fargo site you will see that the um old building has pretty much been [36:54] demolished um getting ready for the apartment building to be [37:00] constructed um we have approved the uh [37:05] development agreement for Westway Condominiums but we're still having discussions with them about their [37:12] building permit and then uh we are currently negotiating the development agreement [37:18] for moments Yetta uh planner quarrels did I miss [37:24] anything on development activities I think that the only other thing to note is uh when it comes to our [37:30] r3a study of new houses in the r3a district we have a survey out right now [37:35] to the community uh went out in the Friday Weekly Newsletter and already has uh almost 50 responses which is amazing [37:42] so I would encourage you all to take a look at that uh those results will uh be summarized along with code changes [37:48] that'll come forward to the Planning Commission at the December 16th meeting so just an update that that's continuing [37:53] to Roll Along that's great thank you um do we have a new um 2025 calendar coming [38:01] out soon yes and I'll have it attached at the next meeting uh so that everyone can review and if you already know that [38:07] you'll have some vacations in the spring definitely let us know that's great thank you all right wonderful well um I [38:14] think that's everything we've covered other items we can move to urement so sure if I if I could uh just under [38:21] Planning Commission meeting schedule our next what would be our next regular schedule meeting on December 2nd is [38:28] cancelled due to lack of uh items so our next Planning Commission meeting would be December 16th perfect thank you okay [38:38] great well thanks everybody for your participation in this evening's meeting that concludes all the items on our [38:43] agenda can I have a motion please to adjourn so moved thank you commissioner planton may I have a second second [38:50] Schwab thank you commissioner Schwab any further discussion all those in F favor please say I I those oppose nay [38:57] the eyes have it the motion passes in the Monday November 18 2024 meeting of the Yetta Planning Commission is [39:03] adjourned