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Record of Proceedings

Kearney Planning Commission Approves Subdivisions, Rezonings, and Planned Development on August 20, 2021

Planning Commission — Friday, August 20, 2021
BodyKearney, Nebraska
SessionPlanning Commission
DateFriday, August 20, 2021
StatusFILED
Video Record
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Transcript — Verbatim
0:03

Good morning, welcome to planning commission meeting this morning.

0:06

Um in accordance with section 841412 of the Nebraska revised statutes current copy of the open meeting act is available for review and is posted on the wall of the council chambers right over there.

0:18

Uh roll call please.

0:21

Sorry.

0:21

Here taken here Malone here McGuinness and or here.

0:31

Here we have a quorum.

0:33

Um we have several items on the agenda this morning.

0:37

Um I want to make sure that uh as you are here to be heard and to listen to the discussion.

0:43

If you're going to speak to us, please come to the center podium, give us your name and address, and then tell us uh why you are here.

0:51

Um you all have copies of the minutes of the last meeting.

0:55

Uh, is there a motion in regards to those?

0:58

Mr.

0:58

Chairman, I move that we approve the minutes of the July 16th, 2021 meeting, as so written.

1:06

Second.

1:07

It's been moved and seconded.

1:08

Is there any discussion?

1:12

Uh hearing none.

1:14

Um please.

1:16

Taken.

1:18

All right.

1:18

Usner abstain.

1:20

Malone.

1:21

All right.

1:21

Again, it's or abstain.

1:26

Cochrane.

1:27

Abstain.

1:28

Sorry.

1:29

Aye.

1:31

I think we have a majority vote.

1:33

Okay.

1:36

Uh, the first item on uh items on our agenda, and if you have an agenda, uh that are our items four, five, and six.

1:43

They all four, five, six, and seven, they all pertain to the same parcel of the property.

1:48

Uh, the first item of this is to vacate a subdivision of O'Brien's country estates, um, and to vacate lot one of O'Brien's country estates.

1:58

Uh, the second item is to rezone a newly created Acheson Country Estates, and then also to look at the preliminary and final plats for Acheson's country estates.

2:09

This is property that has a rather lengthy legal definite uh designation.

2:14

It is located at 5455 62nd Avenue on a hill so steep that I almost fell into the ditch this time.

2:29

I fell into the ditch last time.

2:32

I learned go ahead.

2:35

I'm not sure how to respond to that.

2:38

People live on too steep a hills.

2:40

We're talking about that.

2:41

It's kind of a bear to mow, too, from what I understand.

2:45

Anyway, moving things along here so we don't keep you too late into the day so that you get after your golf game or weekend.

2:52

Uh for the record, my name is Mitch Humphrey with Buffalo Survey Incorporation.

2:56

I am here to represent Joel and Kim Atchison and actually uh the the whalings who own the property uh to the north uh that is involved in this uh project as well.

3:10

Um as Chairman Dart stated, this property is kind of up on the hill.

3:15

Uh there were three lots, one, two, and three that are located north of 56th Street and about a quarter of a mile east of Cotton Mill Avenue, kind of at the end of the Trail Ridge Country Estates project that were developed by uh Mike O'Brien in a roundabout way that Achinson's ended up purchasing the lot, which is somewhat of an odd-shaped lot that's outlined in yellow there.

3:41

Um there's a nice new house that was built uh since uh 19 or 20 2017, and their backyard with the house being approximately where the yellow dot is, coincidentally, that's fairly close to their rear property line.

3:59

So they contacted uh Joel and Cher Whaling, who own over 20 acres of pasture land to the north, and they live in a house up there as well to see if they could purchase a piece of property that is presently zoned agricultural, but it'd be right in the corner up here north of the house.

4:23

And I'm gonna digress just a minute.

4:25

Uh you can see that the existing zoning is RR1 with the agricultural land around it with the city's ETJ line sweeping through the northwesterly corner of the screen, so you can tell that this is kind of out on the fringe of of the jurisdiction of the of the city of Kearney.

5:00

What we'd like to do then is take a little piece of property from the whalings, zone it to RR1, which uh that property is uh 4800ths of an acre, and then add it to the 3.07 acres to the present lot one of the O'Brien Country Estates that looks like this now, which would be vacated, uh hopefully by the action of this board, and then the preliminary plat would include the 0.48 acre piece then resulting in a single lot subdivision that that we're going to designate as Achison Country Estates to be consistent with the country estates theme that uh started with the trail ridge project with a resulting lot having well.

5:45

I guess I should state there is just a little bit of a drainage way or floodway that starts there or flood zone, not floodway, but that does not impact where the buildings are or nor will there be any structures built in that uh draw there as you can see the contours are rather steep, as Mr.

6:04

Dart alluded to, basically resulting in a single lot subdivision, and with that being an image of the mapping zoomed in mapping portion of the final plat.

6:15

So it's really that simple.

6:16

There isn't really thing complicated about it.

6:19

Um to keep things short and sweet to the point, so we have time for another project or two today.

6:25

I can answer any questions that you might have.

6:30

Any questions for Mitch?

6:35

No questions.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Zoning and Land Use█████████████████████████████████████████████56%
Procedural██████8%
Engineering And Infrastructure██████7%
Transportation Safety██████7%
Public Works████5%
Public Safety████5%
Public Engagement████5%
Parks and Recreation███4%
Water And Wastewater Management█1%
Summary of Proceedings

Kearney Planning Commission Meeting – August 20, 2021

The Kearney Planning Commission met on Friday, August 20, 2021, at 9:00 a.m. in City Council Chambers, 18 East 22nd Street, Kearney, Nebraska. The commission conducted public hearings and voted on four major land-use applications: a subdivision vacation and rural-residential re-subdivision (Atchison Country Estates), a business-park/commercial re-zoning and planned development for a storage-unit complex (Midwest Elite Subdivision), a 15-lot rural-residential subdivision (Wood River Valley Estates), and the annual election of officers. All applications received favorable recommendations; one commissioner dissented on the planned-development deviation for Midwest Elite.

Consent Calendar

  • The commission approved the minutes of the July 16, 2021 meeting as written.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No public testimony was offered on the Atchison Country Estates vacation, rezoning, or plats.
  • For Midwest Elite Subdivision, the commission noted emails from three neighboring landowners (Travis Holman, Norris Marshall, and Kurt Carl Julan) expressing concerns about the project’s visual impact on the expressway corridor; no opponents spoke in person.
  • For Wood River Valley Estates, adjacent property owner Douglas King, who holds a permanent access easement on the southwest corner, stated he supported the proposed subdivision but raised concerns about Highway 40 safety: the 65 mph speed limit drops to 55 at his driveway, truck traffic is heavy, the nearby curve has an unpaved shoulder where trailers drop off, and three children were killed at that curve. He urged that the speed limit be moved back to 30th Avenue and that the county improve the shoulder.

Discussion Items

  • Atchison Country Estates (Items 4-7): Applicant representative Mitch Humphrey (Buffalo Surveying Corp.) explained that Joel and Kimberly Atchison purchased Lot 1 of O’Brien Country Estates (about 3.07 acres) and sought to add an adjacent 0.48-acre parcel purchased from Merlin and Chere Wehling. The proposal was to vacate the existing lot, rezone the added acreage from AG (Agricultural) to RR-1 (Rural Residential), and create a single-lot subdivision of about 3.55 acres at 5455 62nd Street. Staff noted the lot had been divided over time and supported the requests. The commission approved the vacation, the rezoning, and the preliminary and final plats.
  • Midwest Elite Subdivision (Items 8-11): Mitch Humphrey, joined by owner Austin Guardian of Midwest Elite Contracting LLC, presented a two-lot subdivision east of the Kearney East Expressway and south of Coal Chute Road. The south lot (1.47 acres) would be zoned BP (Business Park) and become Midwest Elite’s new office/shop; the north lot (3.4 acres) would be zoned C-3/PD (General Commercial/Planned Development) and developed as a self-storage facility with 127 units in phases. The applicant requested a deviation to use crushed rock rather than concrete for internal drives, citing cost, in exchange for increased landscaping, a brick/masonry facade, and an opaque security fence. Discussion focused on visual quality along the new expressway corridor, landscaping density, fencing during phasing, emergency access, and whether the use would set a precedent. Staff said the plan exceeded minimum landscaping requirements by nearly 44% and supported approval. The commission approved the rezoning, the preliminary and final plats, and the planned development with the crushed-rock deviation; Commissioner McGinnis voted against the planned development.
  • Wood River Valley Estates (Items 12-14): Craig Bennett (Miller & Associates) represented Randys Classics LLC in seeking to rezone 50.27 acres north of Highway 40 from AG to RR-1 for nine exterior lots (each above 3 acres) and RR-2 for six interior lots (roughly 2.5-2.6 acres). The preliminary and final plats create a 15-lot rural residential subdivision served by a new public road looping from and returning to Highway 40, with two access points and 125-foot paved transitions per Buffalo County requirements. The existing driveway access will be abandoned. DOT had approved the access locations. Stormwater will be detained before release into the Wood River drainage. The commission approved the rezoning and both plats unanimously.

Key Outcomes

  • Approved Subdivision Vacation No. 2017-09 (O’Brien Country Estates Lot 1).
  • Approved Rezoning No. 2021-13 (Atchison Country Estates, AG to RR-1).
  • Approved Preliminary Plat No. 2021-14 and Final Plat No. 2021-14 (Atchison Country Estates).
  • Approved Rezoning No. 2021-14 (Midwest Elite Subdivision, AG to BP and C-3/PD).
  • Approved Preliminary Plat No. 2021-15 and Final Plat No. 2021-15 (Midwest Elite Subdivision).
  • Approved Planned Development Plan No. 2021-14 (Midwest Elite storage development, including the crushed-rock paving deviation) with one dissenting vote.
  • Approved Rezoning No. 2021-15 (Wood River Valley Estates, AG to RR-1 and RR-2).
  • Approved Preliminary Plat No. 2021-16 and Final Plat No. 2021-16 (Wood River Valley Estates).
  • Elected officers: the transcript identifies the chairperson as “Stan Dart” and the vice-chair as Rich McGinnis, though the agenda lists Dave Malone as Chairperson; both elections carried by majority vote (one abstention for chair).
  • Staff agreed to provide a future presentation on land use and zoning along the Kearney Expressway corridor to inform possible code changes.
  • The Nebraska Planning and Zoning Conference (September 15-17, 2021) was announced; registration is due by the following Friday.

Meeting Transcript

Good morning, welcome to planning commission meeting this morning. Um in accordance with section 841412 of the Nebraska revised statutes current copy of the open meeting act is available for review and is posted on the wall of the council chambers right over there. Uh roll call please. Sorry. Here taken here Malone here McGuinness and or here. Here we have a quorum. Um we have several items on the agenda this morning. Um I want to make sure that uh as you are here to be heard and to listen to the discussion. If you're going to speak to us, please come to the center podium, give us your name and address, and then tell us uh why you are here. Um you all have copies of the minutes of the last meeting. Uh, is there a motion in regards to those? Mr. Chairman, I move that we approve the minutes of the July 16th, 2021 meeting, as so written. Second. It's been moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Uh hearing none. Um please. Taken. All right. Usner abstain. Malone. All right. Again, it's or abstain. Cochrane. Abstain. Sorry. Aye. I think we have a majority vote. Okay. Uh, the first item on uh items on our agenda, and if you have an agenda, uh that are our items four, five, and six. They all four, five, six, and seven, they all pertain to the same parcel of the property. Uh, the first item of this is to vacate a subdivision of O'Brien's country estates, um, and to vacate lot one of O'Brien's country estates. Uh, the second item is to rezone a newly created Acheson Country Estates, and then also to look at the preliminary and final plats for Acheson's country estates. This is property that has a rather lengthy legal definite uh designation. It is located at 5455 62nd Avenue on a hill so steep that I almost fell into the ditch this time. I fell into the ditch last time. I learned go ahead. I'm not sure how to respond to that. People live on too steep a hills. We're talking about that. It's kind of a bear to mow, too, from what I understand. Anyway, moving things along here so we don't keep you too late into the day so that you get after your golf game or weekend. Uh for the record, my name is Mitch Humphrey with Buffalo Survey Incorporation. I am here to represent Joel and Kim Atchison and actually uh the the whalings who own the property uh to the north uh that is involved in this uh project as well. Um as Chairman Dart stated, this property is kind of up on the hill. Uh there were three lots, one, two, and three that are located north of 56th Street and about a quarter of a mile east of Cotton Mill Avenue, kind of at the end of the Trail Ridge Country Estates project that were developed by uh Mike O'Brien in a roundabout way that Achinson's ended up purchasing the lot, which is somewhat of an odd-shaped lot that's outlined in yellow there. Um there's a nice new house that was built uh since uh 19 or 20 2017, and their backyard with the house being approximately where the yellow dot is, coincidentally, that's fairly close to their rear property line. So they contacted uh Joel and Cher Whaling, who own over 20 acres of pasture land to the north, and they live in a house up there as well to see if they could purchase a piece of property that is presently zoned agricultural, but it'd be right in the corner up here north of the house. And I'm gonna digress just a minute.

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