Saint Paul Planning Commission Meeting - September 6, 2024
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Saint Paul Planning Commission Meeting - September 6, 2024
The Planning Commission met on September 6, 2024, to approve minutes, consider two zoning cases for 629 Bush Avenue, and deliberate on the Drive-Through Zoning Study. The meeting concluded with a vote on the study recommendations, which passed after an amendment.
Consent Calendar
- Minutes from the August 16, 2024, meeting were approved by a motion, seconded, and passed unanimously.
Discussion Items
- 629 Bush Rezoning and Variances: The Zoning Committee reported on two cases for the same property (629 Bush Avenue), a historically railroad-associated brownfield site. The rezoning from H2 residential, I1 light industrial, and T2 traditional neighborhood to IT transitional industrial was recommended to allow an outdoor garden center. Variances were also recommended for accessory use location and standards. Conditions include final plan approval by the zoning administrator, screening every 20 feet along property lines adjacent to residential uses, and ensuring outdoor storage is accessory to the landscaping business. The committee unanimously recommended approval. The Commission voted to approve both recommendations.
- Drive-Through Zoning Study: The Comprehensive and Neighborhood Planning Committee presented a recommendation to amend zoning code regarding drive-throughs. Key proposals included: prohibiting new drive-throughs for fast food and coffee shops; allowing pharmacies and banks only with indoor walk-up service during same hours; requiring additional stacking spaces; increasing separation from residential properties from 60 to 120 feet; and requiring conditional use permits in certain districts with minimum building height/size. Extensive discussion occurred on the separation distance, with concerns about feasibility in built-out areas. Commissioner Starling moved to amend the separation distance back to 60 feet. The amendment was seconded and passed. The main motion (as amended) was then voted on. The vote tied 7-7, with Chair Kristine Grill voting in favor, resulting in the motion passing. The recommendation will be transmitted to the Mayor and City Council.
Key Outcomes
- Approved minutes of August 16, 2024.
- Approved the 629 Bush rezoning and variances (no opposition recorded).
- Approved the Drive-Through Zoning Study amendments (with the 60-foot separation) by a 8-7 vote (including the chair's tie-breaking vote).
- Next steps: The drive-through study recommendation will go to the Mayor and City Council for final action.
Meeting Transcript
All right, I'm gonna call the order the May 10th meeting. Sorry, well, first order approval from August 16. Do I have a motion? Okay, second by commitment. Uh we have a motion and the second. Is there any discussion on the minute? Um all those opposed. All right, uh motion passes and then it's uh next up is chair. Um I just want to say thank you all on the vacation for taking care of business. Um appreciate it, and then you've been like backtracking um for about weeks. Very hard and very challenging. Uh and it took me a little bit of time when I got back home to sort of get up to speed. Uh uh meet uh and we'll go on to the thing. Just one quick announcement that's so the conference next week. So I'll be there. Jenny Johnson meeting members. So if any kids you are attending, reach up and meet up. All right, and that moves using um the secretary. Yeah, he's traveling for business. Um we have another criteria that was at some committee that is capable of thinking about the items. I couldn't make it happen as well. Um or we actually we have the planner and staff based on the morning commissioners. Uh the uh last zoning committee in 20 today. Um two zoning cases for the same properties 29 Bush Avenue. We decide this is a uh historically associated with railroads for decades, then uh six it's gonna have technically jump yard on site uh brown fields for the type of situation. A few years to have one is taking up to a tiny home property uh subdivide in it. Um just around the corner from Payne and Phalan intersection um over the bridge across the roadway. But yeah, you can see it from there. Um that's significant because that's the center of a neighborhood node or reason to pick our box whether zoning on the side. I see transitional and possible pretty good. One is that what's supposed to be used to be used. And then also uh the outdoor garden setting is supposed to be on the side of the building or behind the building. Um there is no permanent building. So that's not so fine. Um very narrow parcel though, so we didn't discuss that situation quite a bit. So it's a brown field, it's very narrow. And this land use could serve as an effective uh buffer from railroad use active rail reduce uh use of very difficult parcel that allows the neighborhood uh cell appeared to uh benefits presence for the very day and also in the future it makes it easier for in for development. Um so the uh zoning committee unanimously recommended approval of both the rezoning and the variance. There's the rezoning recommendation city council, that's one resolution, and then uh vote on the variance and squares here at this team. Okay, thank you, pal. Um the one thing we want to do for the uh the first one there has not been out of the penny. Is there actually not hard to look there? So that's what I was expecting to provide uh description. So um the zoning is is uh is a mixed use of the zoning today is three different zoning districts. It's the H2 residential, T2, X use traditional neighborhood, and then uh I want to depart this when uh one's only just replied. And then I used like in the middle of how one side of the other. Yeah, so uh I won't put the map up what I could if we need that. Uh we've got Pain Avenue, use side of it, and a small parcel owned by the HRA that's gonna remain so T2. Um then this long skinny parcel that's got railroad north that and south bit is residential for the most part. Then you get West of Edmonton, which Western piece of this parson is actually less than that little bit less.
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