Minutes: ULDC: January 2010

City of Evansville
Unified Land Development Code Advisory Committee
Thursday, January 20, 2010, 6:00 pm
City Hall, 31 South Madison Street, Evansville, Wisconsin

MINUTES

1. Call to Order. Stockham called the meeting to order.

2. Roll Call. Present: Mason Braunschweig, Tony Wyse, John Gishnock, Lori Allen, John Decker and Roger Berg. Absent: Bill Hamman and Michael Pierick. Also present: City Planner John Stockham, City Administrator Dan Wietecha.

3. Approval of Agenda. Braunschweig made a motion, seconded by Berg, to approve the agenda. Motion approved unanimously.

4. Minutes of April 16, 2009. Braunschweig made a motion, seconded by Berg, to waive the reading of and to approve the minutes as presented. Motion approved unanimously.

5. Code Amendments. Stockham reviewed the four ordinance changes to be discussed. He emphasized that the focus of amendments will be to facilitate administration and make the ordinance more “user friendly” and understandable to applicants, while maintaining adequate public protections.

a. Landscaping Regulations. The committee discussed proposed changes to the landscaping regulations to simplify the point system and make other changes. Staff recommended an additional amendment changing the vegetation height in 130-272 from 12” to 8” to be consistent with the City’s noxious weed ordinance. The committee requested staff to confirm the types of ash tree that should be permitted under Section 130-271. Berg made a motion, seconded by Braunschweig, to recommend approval of the amendments to the landscape regulation as presented by staff.

b. Sign Ordinance. Stockham presented a potential changes to Sec. 130-1279(h) and Sec. 130-1281(a) of the sign regulations to allow business directory signs. The committee also requested staff to draft an amendment to Sec. 130-1274(a)(2) and 130-1274(b)(2) to allow expanded text on historical markers and plaques. Wyse made a motion, seconded by Braunschweig, to recommend approval of amendments to the sign regulations recommended by staff, plus a change to the code with respect to historical markers and plaques. Motion approved unanimously.

c. Proposed Parking Requirements. Stockham presented staff recommendations for amendments of the parking requirements. The proposed parking requirements will be incorporated into a new parking sub-section of the Zoning Ordinance. Berg made a motion, seconded by Braunschweig, to recommend approval of the amendments to the parking regulations recommended by staff. Motion approved unanimously.

d. Erosion Control Ordinance. Stockham presented a potential amendment to the erosion control ordinance that was referred back to the ULDC Committee by the Plan Commission. The committee discussed a potential change in the draft ordinance to require city engineer review of projects within 100 feet of Allen Creek and Leota Lake. Berg made a motion, seconded by Decker, to recommend approval of the erosion control ordinance language as originally proposed at the ULDC committee meeting on October 29, 2009 meeting, without adding the requirement for city engineer review of projects within 100 feet of Allen Creek and Leota Lake. Motion approved 5 to 1.

6. Future Meetings. The next meeting will be scheduled at the time that additional amendments are prepared by staff and ready for review. The anticipated next meeting date will be in mid April. Draft materials for the next meeting will be mailed to members two weeks before the next scheduled meeting.

7. Adjournment. Wyse made a motion, seconded by Berg, to adjourn the meeting. Motion approved unanimously at 7:40 pm.