Minutes: Evansville Plan: June 6, 2006

Evansville Plan Commission
Regular Meeting
Monday, June 6, 2005, 6:00 PM
City Hall, 31 S. Madison Street, Evansville, WI

MINUTES

The meeting was called to order by Mayor Ringhand at 6:00 PM. Present were: Mayor Ringhand, Ald. Aikman, Ald, Hammann, Messrs. Sauer, Skinner, and Vrstal. Ms. Dickert was absent. Staff present: Tim Schwecke, City Planner, and Bill Connors, City Administrator. Also present in the audience were Ald. Cothard and Ald. Sornson.

The Agenda was approved as printed.

Motion by Hammann, seconded by Skinner, to waive the reading of the May 2, 2005, Minutes and approve them as printed. Motion carried.

Citizen appearances other than agenda items listed. None.

Unfinished Business.
The commissioners reviewed a draft ordinance permitting sidewalk cafés in the B-2 district, which was prepared by Mr. Schwecke. The maximum allowed table size was specifically addressed. Ald. Hammann and Ald. Aikman agreed to sponsor the ordinance as drafted. Staff will check current sidewalk widths.

The commissioners reviewed a revised draft of an ordinance that would comprehensively revise the subdivision chapter of the Municipal Code, which was prepared by Mr. Connors with assistance from Mr. Schwecke. Mr. Sauer suggested that the new ordinance incorporate Rock County’s ordinances on storm water management and erosion control. There was general support for this idea. Ald. Hammann suggested some revisions and indicated he would sponsor the ordinance. Ald. Aikman indicated she also would review the ordinance. Mr. Sauer and Ron Combs, Combs & Associates, said they would review and comment on the second revised draft.

The commissioners reviewed a draft ordinance clarifying the existing sign regulations, which was prepared by Mr. Connors. Mr. Connors said the purpose of this ordinance was not to change anything, but to make the text clearer so that the sign regulations would be interpreted in the future consistent with how city staff currently interprets the regulations. There was discussion of the regulation of sandwich board signs placed on sidewalks in the B-2 district. It was suggested that during construction projects, businesses negatively impacted by the construction should be allowed to place sandwich board signs in a designated location or locations away from their businesses to direct customers to them. Mr. Connors recommended that sandwich board signs be addressed by a separate ordinance. Ald. Hammann and Ald. Cothard indicated they would sponsor an ordinance regarding sandwich board signs. Ald. Hammann and Ald. Aikman indicated they would sponsor the ordinance clarifying the existing sign regulations.
Mr. Connors updated the commissioners about issues that had arisen with Francois Oil’s new gas station/convenience store/Subway restaurant project at the northeast corner of E. Main St. and Union St. City staff discovered that part of the site for this project inadvertently had not been rezoned to B-3. Francois Oil’s rezoning application had only covered the full lot it purchased. Later, Francois Oil expanded the site to include, in addition, the west 20 feet of the lot immediately to the east, and this 20-foot strip of land still is zoned R-1. Francois Oil will submit an application to rezone this 20-foot strip to B-3. In addition, city staff discovered that the required buffer yard along the east edge of the site was not 20 yards wide, as required by the Municipal Code. Francois Oil also owns the parcel immediately to the east and will record a landscaping easement on that parcel to bring the width of the bufferyard to 20 feet. This will necessitate removing an existing garage on this adjacent parcel.

New Business.
Motion by Hammann, seconded by Sauer, to recommend to Council adoption of Ordinance #2005-12, annexing Rachel Elmer’s property. Ron Combs gave an overview of the proposed residential subdivision development on behalf of the developers, Evansville Development, Inc. Roger Berg, one of the developers, reported that the state Department of Administration had overruled an objection to the annexation made by the Town of Union. He said the annexation does not include the strips of land in between the lots along CTH M that were created by certified survey maps, and that if they acquire the property from Ms. Elmer, they will give or sell those strips of land to the owners of the CSM parcels. The commissioners discussed whether the annexation would create any town islands, and were informed it would not, because all of the parcels on USH 14 and CTH M that still are in the township would remain connected to the rest of the township by parts of the USH 14 and CTH M right of ways that remain in the Town of Union.

Mr. Hammann discussed Mr. Connors’s memorandum, dated June 1, 2005, in which Mr. Connors discussed a proposal by Evansville Development, Inc. to manage the rate of residential grown even if the city agreed to let development go forward on Capstone Ridge, Westfield Meadows, Grand Orchard Estates (Ms. Elmer’s property), and land currently owned by Larson Acres Farm north of Porter Road and west of the Berg, Woodworth & Petterson Subdivision. Mr. Connors’s memo included a spreadsheet that provided an example of how this growth management proposal could work. Mr. Skinner asked what would happen if the city approved all four of these subdivisions and another developer came forward with another subdivision during the next 10 or 11 years. Mr. Connors responded under those circumstances, the city could not approve the additional subdivision unless it would give up on the idea of trying to keep the rate of population growth to no more than 27% over 10 years. Mayor Ringhand commented that the proposed Grand Orchard Estates Subdivision on Ms. Elmer’s land is the only “new” subdivision in this equation, because even the potential subdivision on the Larson Acres Farm land was contemplated at the time that the final land divider’s agreement for the Berg, Woodworth & Petterson Subdivision was negotiated. Ald. Hammann said he supported the suggestion in Mr. Connors’s memo that additional housing units created by downtown redevelopment and in-fill should be excluded when attempting to keep the population growth rate to 27% over 10 years. Ald. Aikman asked why Mr. Connors memo did not include the impact of building on vacant lots in previously approved residential subdivisions, such as the Berg, Woodworth & Petterson Subdivision. Mr. Connors conceded this was an oversimplification, but Mr. Combs and others argued the impact of the homes that will be built on those lots on the overall analysis would not be significant. Also, the estimate in the analysis of 175 lots on the Larson Acres Farm land might be high. There was discussion of the issues raised in Mr. Connors’s memo, dated June 1, 2005, about issues raised by the proposed annexation of Ms. Elmer’s land. Finally, there was discussion of the proposed rezoning of the lots in the proposed subdivision. This issue will come before the Plan Commission in July, if the Council grants annexation. The developers are no longer seeking to include in this subdivision any single-family lots for houses smaller than 1,450 square feet total on the first floor and above.

The original motion passed.

Mayor Ringhand opened the public hearing on Ordinance #2005-13, rezoning Rachel Elmer’s property from A-1 Town of Union to A-1 City of Evansville, at 7:15 PM. Mark Schnepper, 547 S. 6th St., said he is okay with the annexation, as long as the limits on population growth are enforceable. Roger Berg responded that the limits on development of lots would be included in final land divider’s agreements. Becky Imhoff, 7600 N. CTH M, the house north of the Red Barn Restaurant, said annexation of her property would not be in her best interest, and she is concerned about the noise of construction in her back yard. Lou Rinehardt, 7605 N. Orchard View Dr., said this would increase traffic in the Morningridge Subdivision in the Town of Union, making it less safe for children. Bonnie Luchsinger, 7716 N. CTH M, said she and her husband might want to come forward with a proposal to subdivide their property, located immediately to the north of Ms. Elmer’s property, within the next 10 years. Therefore, they oppose the proposed limits on growth. Their property is marked for rural residential development on the future land use map of the proposed City of Evansville Smart Growth Comprehensive Plan. Mayor Ringhand closed the public hearing at 7:22 PM.

Motion by Hammann, seconded by Sauer, to recommend to the Common Council a zoning change for the subject property from Agricultural District One (A-1) Town of Union to Agricultural District One (A-1) City of Evansville contingent on annexation of the parcel and based on the findings contained in the staff report and on the conclusion that the public benefits of the proposed zoning classification outweigh any an all potential adverse impacts, if any. Motion passed.

Motion by Hammann, seconded by Sauer, to recommend to Council approval of the preliminary land divider’s agreement with Evansville Development, Inc. for Grand Orchard Estates. Motion passed.

Motion by Hammann, seconded by Vrstal, to recommend to Council adoption of Ordinance #2005-14, amending the Municipal Code relative to outdoor seating for restaurants and taverns.

Mayor Ringhand opened the public hearing at 7:32 PM. There were no comments from the public. Mayor Ringhand closed the public hearing at 7:33 PM.

Motion passed.

The commissioners discussed whether the Municipal Code should be amended to permit drive-through windows (in addition to drive-up financial institutions) in the B-2 district. Roger Roth, Roth Accounting, 8 S. Madison St., said his business intends to purchase the current Bank of Evansville building, and since the drive-through window for the bank has never been a problem, he wonders why his accounting business should be prohibited from using it. Dave Hamby, 8 S. Madison St., said there would be less traffic volume using the drive-up window for the accounting firm than for the bank. It will be convenient for businesses for which the accounting firm does their payrolls. He said he thinks this will be the first accounting firm with a drive-up window in the state, which might get some press for Evansville. Nicole Hamby, 8 S. Madison St., said the accounting firm would only operate one lane of drive-up service, not two lanes as the bank does now. Ald. Hammann said he foresees drive-up windows everywhere as a future trend and that he will sponsor an ordinance changing the Municipal Code. Mr. Connors said he would draft the ordinance when another alderperson agrees to join Ald. Hammann in sponsoring it.

Preliminary Development Presentations. None.

City Planner’s Report.
Mr. Schwecke provided an update on the situation enforcement of the Municipal Code regarding the property owned by Tom Nonn on Maple St. just north of the intersection with E. Church St.

The commissioners discussed the possibility of enacting design standards for commercial buildings/duplexes/multi-family housing. Mr. Connors suggested this might allow builders to trade off making the buildings themselves more attractive than the minimum design standards in exchange for a reduction in the landscaping requirements, which builders might view positively. The commissioners urged Mr. Schwecke to start the process of developing design guidelines by speaking first with builders and the business community.

Ald. Aikman said that, in the future, she wants to make sure that the conditions the Plan Commission places on approvals are worded tightly enough that builders will be required to construct buildings that actually look like the pretty pictures they show the Plan Commission when they are requesting approvals.

Sandy Decker, chair of the Historic Preservation Commission, distributed a copy of proposed design standards for the HPC to apply to properties in the historic district for review and comment. The HPC presently has design guidelines only for residential properties in the historic district. It is possible there will be different design standards for commercial buildings inside and outside the historic district. Ald. Hammann suggested that the HPC hire an architect to assist with developing the commercial design standards in the historic district. There was no consensus on this suggestion.

Mr. Schwecke and Mr. Connors will meet with builders and the business community about design standards for commercial buildings outside the historic district.

Report of the Evansville Redevelopment Authority.
Mr. Connors reported that the attempt to negotiate a redevelopment agreement with a developer for the roller rink site at the northeast corner of E. Main St. and Railroad St. was unsuccessful. He said it was his understanding that the roller rink building has been sold to a local church to use as a youth center, and thus this site would not be available for redevelopment indefinitely.

Motion by Hammann, seconded by Skinner, to adjourn. Motion passed. The meeting adjourned at 8:30 PM.


Prepared by:
William E. Connors
City Administrator

The Minutes of the Plan Commission are not official until approved by the Plan Commission.