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Planning Commission Meeting <br />Minutes – Wednesday, November 04, 2009 <br />Page 14 <br />informing the public of the actual proposal and tower height being considered. <br />Mr. Paschke advised that, once staff and the applicant had worked through the <br />issues, the public could then be re-noticed, noting that there was no concern of <br />staff in meeting the land use review timeframe, and still allowing staff to re-notice <br />the public sufficiently before next month’s Planning Commission meeting. Mr. <br />Paschke opined that he would prefer to allow staff time to revise the request, <br />address competing interests, and provide a definitive plan prior to it being heard <br />at the City Council level. <br />Commissioners concurred that this would be the best process. <br />Chair Doherty asked that the applicant provide schematics with their <br />resubmission; and also requested other Commissioners’ comments with staff at <br />tonight’s meeting. <br />Commissioner Gisselquist spoke in opposition to this proposal; opining that if it <br />was built, it should be of sufficient height for multiple users, rather than needing <br />additional towers. Commissioner Gisselquist acknowledged that it was a “dead <br />zone;” but further noted that the timing of the request when the Parks & <br />Recreation Commission was in the midst of their long-range planning process, <br />was unfortunate. Commissioner Gisselquist noted that, while the Comprehensive <br />Plan didn’t explicitly oppose such a use, it didn’t address parks as a good <br />location for the use either. Commissioner Gisselquist advised that he would <br />probably still vote “nay” at a future date, based on the proposed location in a <br />park. <br />Commissioner Wozniak advised that he was unsure if he could support <br />constructing a tower in a park, opining that it was not the best use of a park, even <br />while understanding the need for the towers. Commissioner Wozniak noted that <br />the City only had so much park space available, and he was reluctant to turn it <br />over to such a utilitarian use; and reluctant to consider any proposal without <br />some more definitive rendering of what it would look like, expressing surprise that <br />it wasn’t included as part of tonight’s presentation. Commissioner Wozniak <br />expressed further concern in the lack of understanding and accuracy provided to <br />the public on the proposal; and opined that they would, at a minimum, need to be <br />re-noticed based on the additional height of the tower being considered, if the <br />proposal returned to the Commission in a modified form. Commissioner Wozniak <br />suggested that a different location would be preferable in the area, but not in the <br />park; and questioned the City’s rationale in locating a tower within a public park. <br />Commissioner Wozniak expressed interest in providing the Parks & Recreation <br />Commission more time to consider location options and how this may fit into the <br />Master Plan process for Acorn Park. Commissioner Wozniak supported tabling <br />the request, re-noticing the public of any future proposal brought forward, which <br />would also need to include a rendering of the proposed tower at a specific <br />location; and allowing for more feedback from the Parks & Recreation <br />Commission on how they view the proposal. <br />Commissioner Best advised that he support locating a tower in the park at a 150’ <br />height for collocation purposes; however, expressed interest in looking at <br />alternative locations. Commissioner Best further noted that, since the public was <br />noticed for a 100’ tower, as originally proposed for a single user, he would like to <br />have them re-noticed to allow their review and comment on a more refined <br />proposal. <br />Chair Doherty questioned the need for an open house to be held by the <br />applicant, allowing residents more opportunity to comment on a specific <br />proposal; and encouraged the applicant to do so, even though not required by <br />the City. <br /> <br />