The most significant event of the month was Greg Colby’s resignation from the Planning Commission. (Et tu, Colby?)
Seriously, though, while we’re sorry to see Greg go, we know all good things must come to an end, and we wish him well in his future endeavors. Since Greg spent time in the 90s on the City Council, and a good chunk of the aughties on the Planning Commission, his commitment to the community is well known, and I suspect Northfield hasn’t seen the last of Greg Colby.
In terms of Planning Commission business, March’s weekly meetings and work sessions continued the Commission review of the draft Land Development Code. The first portion of the final draft of the LDC (as it relates to current/built residential districts) will be presented to the City Council at their April 13 work session.
The meeting dates and materials for March were:
The most current version of LDC (3/4/2010) can be found here.
Oops…. I forgot to publish this.
There’s not much to report for the rest of February; the Planning Commission continued its weekly review of the draft LDC. From the Planning Commission portion of the February Boards & Commissions report:
As noted in last month’s report, in February the Planning Commission continued its arduous weekly meetings on the review of the draft Land Development Code. The Commission is now finalizing the site development standards for residential zones which apply to the current built environment (not standards for currently undeveloped areas, which will be different). We hope to get this section finished and on the council’s agenda for their work session in April.
During the review process we’ve had the benefit of some excellent research and information provided by City staff, including statistical analysis of the current built area ratios on residential lots, and estimates of lot coverage of impervious service; information on performance standards and best practices for managing surface water runoff; and examples from different cities around the country as to how they handle various aspects of neighborhood compatibility standards.
We’re tired, but hopeful.
Here are the meeting agendas, materials, and minutes for February:
I’ve gotten behind in my detailed logging of the weekly happenings. The last two weeks have primarily been about continued work on the review of the Land Development Code at the 2/11 work session and the 2/18 special meeting.
I also attended part of the business park Master Plan Steering Committee meeting on 2/18. Unfortunately, Thursday meetings now conflict with the Planning Commission meeting schedule, so I wasn’t able to attend the whole thing.
I hope to be able to post an update about the business park master planning process Real Soon Now.
The Planning Commission met on 2/4 to continue our review of the Land Development Code. I have some supporting materials to post, but won’t be able to do it for a couple of days; or perhaps I’ll include it with the update at the end of this week.
On 11/24/09, the Planning Commission held a public hearing on the request for annexation from two landowners in Bridgewater Township. The Commission discussed the request and its attendant issue at our 12/8/09 and 12/15/09 meetings. The links for the dates referenced contain the minutes from those meetings.
On 1/7/2010 the Planning Commission made its official recommendation, which will be presented to the City Council at their 2/9/2010 meeting.
The Planning Commission’s recommendation to the Northfield City Council, along with its rationale, is as follows:
The vote of the Commission was five to one in favor of the request. The vote
against annexation was based on the position that it should be delayed until
completion of both the Land Development Code and the updated stormwater and
stream protection ordinances, both critical tools given the unique, sensitive
natural resources involved.
Commission members stated that they are unanimous in their support of the
annexation requests, but have significant concerns about the impact of future
development on the environmental resources, including the two streams in the
area and more particularly the Brook Trout habitat represented in Rice Creek.
The Planning Commission advises the City Council that development in this area
should preserve and enhance the environmental features of the annexation area,
while at the same time pursuing viable economic development for Northfield.
To accomplish this, the Commission encourages the Council to direct that any
eventual development on the site be informed by a complete hydrological and
biological work-up for both Rice Creek and Heath Creek, research needed to
ensure that these acres are developed in a manner that accords with the principles
of the 2008 Comprehensive Plan. Furthermore, in accordance with the conditions
stated in Option #1, the Planning Commission encourages the Council to direct
City Staff to work closely and cooperatively with Bridgewater Township and to
engage the technical expertise of the Rice Creek (Spring Brook) Concerned
Citizens Group, the Cannon River Watershed Partnership, and other interested
groups, in the revision of storm-water and stream protection ordinances.
(Found on p. 17 of the 19-page Staff Report on the Gill-Prawer Annexation in the 2/9/2010 meeting packet.)
The Planning Commission continued its weekly meetings to review and revise the draft Land Development Code (LDC); at Thursday’s work session, commissioners also gave brief updates on any meetings they attended (Rholl – EDA; Thomas – Council goals meeting). Councillor Buckheit, the City Council liaison to the PCZBA, reported that completion and adoption of the LDC is one of the Council’s top goals for 2010.
I provided a summary of Planning Commission activities for the City Administrator’s monthly Boards & Commissions report, which I believe will be include in next week’s “Friday Memo”; most of what I wrote for the report has already been posted here in some form.
Earlier in the week, Griff Wigley, Ross Currier, and I had Councillor Erica Zweifel as our guest on the LocallyGrown audio show. (Earlier in the month Councillor Betsey Buckheit and Councillor Rhonda Pownell were also on the show; Locally Grown is doing a series, trying to have each councillor as a guest for a review of the past year, and looking forward in 2010.)
After the show I talked a bit with Tim Freeland of KYMN Radio about their ability to stream and store City meetings in the Council Chambers, and asked about doing the same for the Planning Commission (and possibly the EDA). Tim said that technologically there is no obstacle, that everything is set to go, but that there may be some City Hall bureaucracy to work around regarding security and access to Mission Control behind the door in the Council chambers. Erica heard some of this discussion, and I hope will bring it forward to staff/Council for a solution.
… [read more]
On Monday I met with Joel Walinski, Brian O’Connell, Dan Olson, and Betsey Buckheit in advance of the City Council work session on Tuesday, 1/12. Both Betsey and I had expressed concerns about the original staff report provided to the Council for the work session, so the meeting was held to clarify everyone’s understanding of what would be discussed.
At the 1/12 City Council work session, input and direction on the LDC review process was given to the Planning Commission by the Council. From the Northfield League of Women Voters Observer Report of the meeting:
The Planning Commission has been working for over a year on the ordinance creating regulations to implement the comprehensive plan. According to Councilor Betsey Buckheit, who has been the commission’s council liaison, the planning commission felt that the version of the ordinance which the consultant provided was not aligned with the comprehensive plan. This work has been difficult and time-consuming for both staff and commissioners who have met weekly for a year to work on this.
Buckheit, Planning Commission Chair Tracy Davis, and city staff met yesterday and agreed on a new way of approaching the requirements for commercial and residential zones. Zones will be considered in “chunks” rather than in more global form. At issue is how much mixture of land use is acceptable in an area and where the city wants to have in each zone. Buckheit believes the new approach will not only make the work more efficient, but will result in better regulations. It should also improve communication between the staff and commissioners. At each stage of the process, the commission will ask for council review to assure that the regulations are consistent with the comprehensive plan. Before the final adoption by the city, the regulations will be brought to the public for information and response. The commission will take up the new approach at the Thursday meeting.
… [read more]
There was a Planning Commission special meeting on 1/7/10. (Meetings are considered “special meetings” rather than “regular meetings” until the City Council approves changes to the City ordinances reflecting the change of meeting nights for 2010).
At the meeting, the Planning Commission discussed and voted on the Prawer-Gill annexation request in Bridgewater Township. The Planning Commission voted 5-1 to recommend that the City Council approve the annexation request. Details on the vote, and a written summary of the discussion, will be published in the staff report to City Council, which I’ll post here as soon as it’s available.
The Commission also elected its officers for 2010 (Chair: yours truly; Vice Chair: Alice Thomas), discussed new liaison assignments, and conducted its annual review of the Planning Commission by-laws, making a couple of small updates.
There will be a Planning Commission work session on 1/14/10.
Links to the individual meeting meeting date pages on the City of Northfield website will also include the minutes of the meeting after they have been approved on a subsequent date.
