This regular meeting of the Duluth City Council on December 9, 2024, included public hearings, approval of consent agenda items, a quasi-judicial appeal hearing, budget presentations from the Duluth Airport Authority and the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center (DECC), allocation of tourism tax funds, and a vote on a tourism marketing services contract. The meeting lasted several hours, beginning with an appeal hearing at approximately 5:00 PM and the regular session at 7:00 PM.
The council will hold a committee-of-the-whole meeting on the water infrastructure surcharge and related ordinance on December 12, 2024. The 2025 budget and tax levy ordinances will be adopted after the Truth in Taxation hearing. The tourism marketing contract with Madden Media begins January 2025.The VDU enforcement process will be reviewed in early 2025.
Good evening. Um, tonight we will be starting with the appeal before us from planning commission. Um, is the applicant here? Um, so this evening we will hear an appeal filed by the property owner, Brian Moores, which asked the city council to reverse the November sixth planning commission decision. The planning commission denied Mr. Moore's, I hope I'm saying that correctly, application for an interim use permit for the vacation dwelling unit or BDU. State statute and our city code authorize the city council to hear this appeal and make a final decision on the application for an interim use permit. An appeal hearing is different from our more familiar public hearing or public comment process. So I would like to take a minute to orientate council members on the city council's role in an appeal hearing. When I'm finished with this introduction, we'll hear from the applicant. Um, that is appealing the planning commission's decision, and then hear from staff who will speak in support of the planning commission's decision. We'll also have some time during this hearing to ask questions of staff, staff and the applicant. Counselors will have the opportunity to discuss this matter during the regular council meeting when the two opposing resolutions are read. The council's role this evening is to function in a quasi-judicial capacity. In this role, we'll be acting more like a court than an administrative body. This is why it's a more formal process for an appeal hearing, and that's why we are meeting at this time ahead of the regular meeting. After consideration, the facts presented at the hearing and in record. We have to determine if the application for the interim use permit or vacation dwelling unit meets the following applicable criteria outlined in the UDC related to the special use permits. Number one, the application is consistent with the comprehensive land use plan, and number two, the application complies with all applicable provisions of the UDC, including any use specific standards applicable to the proposed use. In addition, we are determined, we are to determine whether the application for the interim use permit for a vacation well dwelling unit meets the following interim use permit criteria. Number one, a time limit is needed to protect the public health, safety, and welfare from potential long-term impacts of the requested in the use location. And two, the applicate applicant agrees to sign a development agreement with the city. If the application for the interim use permit does not satisfy the applicable code provisions, we may affirm the planning commission and thus deny the appeal. This means that the application for a VDU is denied. If the application for the interim use permit satisfies the application code provisions, we may reverse the planning commission's reverse the planning commission and thus grant the appeal. This means that the application for the BDU is approved. We may also approve the application for the interim use permit with conditions. We will make our decision on the appeal by passing a resolution related to the appeals appeal during tonight's council meeting. In deciding the appeal, we will set out the factual findings and legal conclusions that support our decision. Either by passing a resolution as currently drafted or by amending a draft to confirm to our findings and conclusions and passing that amended version. The applicant will have five minutes to present their case, and the city staff will have five minutes to present on behalf of the planning commission. Counselors will have 15 minutes to ask questions following those presentations. And just to let you know, up there the timer says three minutes. I'm gonna do two minutes here, so when you see the light come on, it means that the we're two minutes in and you have three minutes remaining. You have five minutes. Okay. All right. So I'm gonna try to go through this pretty quick then. Um so my name's Brian Morris. Um, I'm of course writing for the appeal for the um decision from the Duluth Planning Commission. Um, first to give some little background information. I've been a landlord city of Duluth since 2012. Um as long as I've been a lifelong resident, I've worked in Duluth, I've been a teacher in Duluth, I've I've committed my life to you know living in Duluth, Minnesota, working and being a landlord. So just to give you some I and also I submitted this to the city council, so and also a couple other letters too. Um so um I guess I'll just go straight through it. Um so on approximately one for 2022. I was drawn number uh 77, initial vacation unit lodge. So the original one back, I was I was drawn 77. I went through all the process, so I'm trying to go through this kind of quick because I thought I had 15 minutes. Um, what I did was I got a vacation or accessory home share dwelling unit.