2015 05-12 CC Special Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Special meeting City of Gem Lake City Council meeting minutes – Tuesday, May 12, 2015 Page 3 Report from the City of Gem Lake Planning Commission meeting Tuesday, May 5, 2015 Attached, please find Interim Use Permit drafted by the City of Gem Lake Planning Commission outlining the conditions and requirements necessary for Mr. Salvador Torres to conduct his automotive detailing business at 1581 County Rd E East in the city Gem Lake. The Planning Commission met on Tuesday, May 5, 2015 for our regularly scheduled meeting. Members present at the meeting were Beth Herzog, Dan Marier, Derek Wippich and Benjamin Johnson. Also in attendance were the Gem Lake City Attorney, Patrick Kelly, Tom Riedesel, Planner with White Bear Township and Gloria Tessier, City of Gem Lake. On the agenda was a public hearing for the Interim Use Permit application for the previously mentioned business. There were no members of the public present for the hearing, nor were the applicants nor representatives of the applicants present. The Planning Commission meeting was called to order at 7:00. At 7:20 p.m., the Public Hearing was opened and the Commissioners heard from Tom Riedesel regarding the Staff Report produced in response to Mr. Torres's Interim Use permit application. Mr. Riedesel provided an overview of the proposed business and talked generally about the building and area. There was discussion about the history of the project including the applicability of interim use permits as compared to non-conforming use permits; interim use being preferred as it allows control over the duration of the permitted use. The Public Hearing portion was closed and the Commission discussed the Interim Use Permit conditions, reviewing each of the original 12 items in turn and making adjustments as the discussion warranted. Changes and additional conditions were agreed upon utilizing information and recommendations of the Planner and City Attorney who participated in the discussion. Additional conditions were added to restrict business hours (no Sundays), limit the duration that vehicles awaiting service or otherwise parked at the business could remain (72 hours), requiring that the business close the exterior doors when tools such as pneumatic wrenches or high pressure sprayers are in use (noise abatement for residential area just east of the business) and requiring that when conducting activities like degreasing engines and engine compartments, washing the exterior of vehicles or otherwise detailing in a manner which produces runoff, that those activities must be accomplished in the work bays with floor drains that capture that runoff. Neither Mr. Torres (the business owner) nor SGS Holdings (the property owner) were present at this hearing. However, Mr. Torres had been present at the April Planning Commission meeting when the Commission was unable to act on the application as we were without quorum. As such, despite the application language stating the owner must be present at the Planning Commission and City Council meetings, the Planning Commission felt that Mr. Torres had made an effort to comply with the proscribed application process and his absence was an oversight. The Commissioners did not feel is should be grounds for withholding a recommendation and were satisfied with the information we