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MINUTES-PLANNING COMMISSION-REGULAR MEETING-NOVEMBER
18, 2008
The regular meeting of the Morris Planning Commission was
called to order at 5:15 p.m. this 18th day of November, 2008, in the
Council Chambers of the Morris Senior Citizens/Community Center by Chairperson
Kuchenreuther.
CALL OF THE ROLL: Roll call was taken with the following members present: Commissioners Johnson, Gades, Rudney,
Granger, and Chairperson Kuchenreuther.
Commissioner Hoffman arrived at 5:18. Absent was Commissioner Carpenter. Also present were City Manager/Zoning Administrator Hill and
Ex-officio Miller.
READING AND APPROVAL OF 10/21/08 REGULAR MEETING MINUTES: Commissioner Johnson noted the word
“Hearings” in “Public Hearings” should be “Hearing”. Commissioner Granger moved, seconded by Gades, to approve
the 10/21/08 regular meeting minutes with the noted change.
PUBLIC HEARINGS: None.
OTHER BUSINESS:
Riley Development Tree Updates: City Manager/Zoning Administrator Hill indicated he spoke
with Joe Riley regarding the planting of trees in the Riverview Townhome and
Iowa Avenue Townhome Developments.
Riley indicated trees are being planted in the Riverview Development as
houses are being built. Hill
indicated he thinks Riley’s forgot about the trees in the Iowa Avenue
Development and indicated they will go in and start working on that.
Courthouse Update: Hill indicated the architects for the Courthouse project
were at the last Council meeting.
He anticipates they will have a conditional use application at the December
Planning Commission meeting. He
doesn’t feel they will need any variances with the way they have set up the
parking, green spaces, etc. He
stated they intend to ask that the street in front of the courthouse be closed,
and they are purchasing a home across the street from the courthouse to use for
use as a parking lot. He indicated
they will lay out all their plans at the conditional use public hearing.
Rudney asked if a crowd is expected at the public
hearing. Hill indicated he does
not know, but pointed out public notices of the hearing are sent to everyone
within a 300’ radius of the property.
School Property Meeting: Kuchenreuther invited Planning Commission members to a
meeting at 5:15 p.m. tomorrow, November 19th, here in the Council
Chambers with the architects and landscape architects on the school
property.
Hill indicated he thinks this development will require the
City to add a zoning district because as planned, the layout will not fit into
any current zoning districts.
Front Yard: At the October meeting Granger asked
about the front yard at 617 East 7th Street. According to City Code the front yard
cannot be used for parking in the HB zone when it abuts the R zone.
Hill indicated he has not talked to the owner. He feels it is a rather obscure item in
the Code. He stated building a
home is allowable, but with a duplex he questioned where the residents are
supposed to park.
Hill indicated when this building permit was applied for,
this restriction on parking was not caught or shared with the owner. Hill indicated the City has to tweak
how it handles building permits.
He indicated this was a case where the City was not made aware the owner
planned to install a parking lot in the front yard. Hill will contact the owner regarding this.
Zoning Map:
Granger had a number of items to discuss on the zoning map. The area by Mohr Plumbing and Carrie
Melchert’s property is zoned HB.
She questioned if that is the intent next to the Hillside Addition and
suggested the zoning be changed to R.
It was the consensus to revisit this at a later time.
The area along Iowa Avenue where the Iowa Avenue Townhomes
sit is zoned HB. Also there is a
small triangle across Iowa Avenue by 7th Street that is also
HB. It was the consensus that
these areas should both be RM, along with the area north of the Townhomes where
the apartment building sits.
The area east of the senior high school where the University
fields are located is zoned RF. If
someone wanted to build a home in that area, the zoning district would control
the lot size.
Kuchenreuther indicated that the area north of the school
that is proposed to be RF should be R along with the small triangle to the
northwest of this area along Columbia Avenue.
Granger asked why the CBD district extends to the east of
California Avenue between 5th and 6th Street. It was felt this little “jut” should be
RM.
Granger asked about the I1 along East 10th Street
off of Atlantic Avenue. The consensus
was that I1 is the appropriate zoning for that area.
Granger questioned the fact that all zoning along the
railroad is I2. It was the
consensus the zoning along the railroad should be that of the adjacent
property.
Granger asked if Hennen Tire at Pacific and East 5th
Street should be HB instead of CBD.
It was the consensus it should.
Hill indicated something the Planning Commission should consider
is whether it wants to allow homes in the HB district.
ADJOURNMENT:
Commissioner Hoffman moved, seconded by Rudney, to adjourn. Motion carried and the meeting
adjourned at 6:30 p.m.
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