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CITY OF GEM LAKE <br />Office of the City Clerk <br />136 9 Co unty R oad “E” East <br />Gem Lake, MN 55110-5231 <br />Telephone: ( 651 ) 426 - 6443 Email: gemlakecity@aol.com Facsimile: ( 651 ) 426 - 6444 <br />Fritz Magnuson, City Clerk Paul Emeott, Mayor Sarah Cobian, Treasurer <br />M emo to: M ayor E meo tt <br />Fro m: Jac k Ho eschle r, Plan ning C omm ission C hair <br />Date: February 16, 2006 <br />Re: Planning Commission Meeting of February 13, 2006 <br />The Gem Lake Planning Commission held its February meeting at 7 pm on Monday, February 13, 2006 at Tousley Ford. <br />Messrs Lindner, Rafferty, Wippich and H oeschler were present, along with M essrs M agnu son a nd E meo tt as co-zoning <br />administrators. W e discussed the following: <br />1. Fred M acalus V ariance and Interim Use P ermit Req uest. Mr. Magnuson described a request by Fred Ma calus for a <br />variance and Interim Co nditional Use Per mit for 1 432 SF o f acces sory b uildings , includin g a pig eon coo p. The code <br />allows 1000 S F of accessory buildings. Mr. Mac alus was in Mexico, but Tom Campbell was present to represent him. <br />Mr. M agnu son d escrib ed ea rly issues with M r. M acalu s who mov ed in la st fall. These include tree removal, grading and <br />burning withou t a perm it. He also desc ribed (and M r. Raffer ty provide d a picture o f) the various accesso ry structures, <br />trailers, trucks and equipment currently parked on the property. It was commented that the property looked like <br />som ething in th e bac k woo ds of B urnett C ounty. <br />M r. Jim Stagerm ark, a neighbo r, raised several co ncerns: <br />a.W hat will happen to the v arious vehicles pa rked on the premises? <br />b.Should the city consider ado pting a pigeo n ordinanc e like those of surroun ding com munities? <br />c.Should we be concerned about avian flu issues involving pigeons as has been seen in Canada? <br />Another neighbor expressed her concern about the appearance of the property and the outdoor storage of numerous <br />vehicles. Mr. Magnuson replied that the city’s ordinances have clear limits on this and will be enforced. <br />It was agreed as follows: <br />1.The file is not complete (and the 60-day clock has not started to run) because of missing information such <br />as: <br />a.A site p lan sho wing d rivewa y and e ntry layou t; <br />b.Details regarding the pigeon coop including the number of birds and how they will be handled; <br />c.The owner’s intentions regarding how the outdoor storage problems will be addressed since all <br />of these vehicles cannot fit in the proposed garage. <br />2.The matter will be set over until our March meeting (March 14, 2006) so that Mr. Macalus may provide <br />additional written informa tion and ap pear to d iscuss with us his plans. <br />3.Fritz Magnuson will review possible pigeon ordinances and make a recom mendation; <br />4.Fritz M agnu son w ill prep are a d raft versio n of an interim use permit proposing certain controls and <br />standards for consideration by the Commission; <br />5.Mr. Macalus needs to clean up and solve the existing problems on the property as a precondition to review <br />and poss ible ap pro val of a v arianc e and interim u se pe rmit. <br />2. Rev ision o f Land Use Co ntrols . Mr. Hoeschler described the history of our ordinance review and the present status <br />of our determinations. He described two parallel paths that we are pursuing: <br />1.The general revision of our land use control ordinances for all districts within the city (evidenced by <br />Version F of Ordinance 43(G) that Fritz recently emailed to everyone. <br />2.The development and articulation of a special site revie w process for Hillary Farm that would be <br />incorporated into an amended Developer’s A greement and which would possibly supersede the general <br />controls. <br />Fritz Magnuson gave a summary overview of Version F and described how provisions in various sections were <br />developed. He explained that § 14 .23 re ferenc es a site review com mittee a nd sa id that he will be wo rking w ith the City <br />Attorney to come up with a Council resolution that will be legally adequate to create and empower such an entity if we <br />decide to use it. He also pointed out § 14.19 which provides for a park dedication fee and § 14.20 which forbids special <br />grad ing to cr eate a walko ut lot whe re the na tural terra in do es no t allow it.