MINUTES
CITY COUNCIL MEETING
MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2007
ADJOURNMENT TO CLOSED
EXECUTIVE SESSION
5:30 PM
Mayor Les Smith opened the City Council Meeting to
adjourn to a Closed Executive Session on December 10, 2007, at 5:30 PM. Councilman Wayne Beer made a motion to
adjourn to Closed Executive Session pursuant to Missouri Open Meeting Act
Exemption 610.021 (1) for Litigation and Confidential or Privileged
Communications with Legal Counsel, and 610.021 (2) for Real Estate Acquisition Discussion,
and 610.21(3) for Personnel Discussion.
Mayor Pro Tem Mark Revenaugh seconded.
Roll Call Vote:
All aye Councilman Wayne Beer, Councilman Carol Rudi, Mayor Pro Tem
Mark Revenaugh, Mayor Les Smith. (4-0).
Councilmember Carol Suter was also in attendance at
the Closed Executive Session.
Mayor Les Smith recessed the Closed Executive
Session to go into an Open Study Session at 6:45 PM.
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
7:30 PM
PRESENT: Mayor
Les Smith
Councilman
Wayne Beer
Councilman Carol Rudi
Councilmember Carol Suter
City Manager Kirk Davis
City Counselor David Ramsay
ABSENT: Mayor Pro Tem Mark Revenaugh
Mayor Les Smith opened the Regular December 10,
2007, City Council Meeting at 7:30 PM in the Gladstone City Council Chambers.
Item 2. on the Agenda. ROLL CALL
Mayor Les Smith noted that all Council members were
present, except for Mayor Pro Tem Mark Revenaugh.
Item 3. on the Agenda. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE.
Mayor Les Smith led the Pledge of Allegiance, in
which all joined.
Item 4. on the Agenda. APPROVAL OF THE REGULAR NOVEMBER 26, 2007, CITY COUNCIL
MEETING MINUTES.
Councilman Carol Rudi moved to approve the Regular November 26, 2007, City Council Meeting Minutes as presented. Councilmember Carol Suter seconded. The vote: All aye Councilmember Carol Suter, Councilman Wayne Beer, Councilman Carol Rudi, and Mayor Les Smith. (4-0)
Item 5. on
the Agenda CONSENT AGENDA
Following the Clerk's reading, Councilman Wayne Beer moved to accept the Consent Agenda as presented. Councilmember Carol Suter seconded. The vote: All aye Councilmember Carol Suter, Councilman Wayne Beer, Councilman Carol Rudi, and Mayor Les Smith. (4-0)
Councilman Wayne Beer moved to adopt RESOLUTION R-07-92, authorizing execution of a contract with Dennis Johnson Construction, Incorporated, in the total amount not to exceed $102,296.00 for the 2200 Block of Northeast 67th Street Drainage Extension. Councilmember Carol Suter seconded. The vote: All aye Councilmember Carol Suter, Councilman Wayne Beer, Councilman Carol Rudi, and Mayor Les Smith. (4-0)
Councilman Wayne Beer moved to adopt RESOLUTION
R-07-93, authorizing the City Manager of the City of
Councilman Wayne Beer moved to adopt RESOLUTION R-07-94, authorizing the City Manager to execute an agreement with Innoprise Software, Inc., for Financial Management Software. Councilmember Carol Suter seconded. The vote: All aye Councilmember Carol Suter, Councilman Wayne Beer, Councilman Carol Rudi, and Mayor Les Smith.
(4-0)
Councilman Wayne Beer moved to adopt RESOLUTION R-07-95, authorizing acceptance of a proposal from Thoroughbred Ford for the purchase of two 4 x 2 Trucks with Utility Bed and Hydraulic Systems for the net purchase amount of $72,626. Councilmember Carol Suter seconded. The vote: All aye Councilmember Carol Suter, Councilman Wayne Beer, Councilman Carol Rudi, and Mayor Les Smith.
(4-0)
Item 6. on the Agenda. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE AUDIENCE.
There were no communications from the audience.
Item 7. on the Agenda. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE CITY COUNCIL.
Councilmember Carol Suter expressed her appreciation
and congratulations to the Parks and Recreation staff who conducted the Hard
Hat Tours at the Community Center.
Saturday's tour was very successful, even given the bad weather. It was a fun event and people were wowed by
the facility, which is exciting.
Councilman Wayne Beer had no comments at this
time.
Councilman Carol Rudi congratulated Councilman
Beer on the honor he received at the Gladstone Area Chamber of Commerce banquet
for all of the work that he has done to put the Williams House together and
serving as their building contractor.
Mayor Les Smith concurred with Councilman Rudi.
Item 8. on the Agenda. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE CITY MANAGER.
City Manager Kirk Davis reported both Saturday and Sunday's Hard Hat Tours of the Community Center were successful, and offered congratulations to the Parks and Recreation staff. The tours were a great idea. There were close to 700+ people who went through the Community Center in the two days, and there was a lot of wows from folks. City Manager Davis said there would also be tours this coming Saturday from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, and invited all to attend.
City Manager
City Manager
Item 9. on the Agenda. RESOLUTION R-07-96, authorizing the City Manager to execute an
agreement with the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) for Red Light
Camera installations on Missouri Highway One.
Councilman Carol Rudi moved to adopt RESOLUTION R-07-96, authorizing the City Manager to execute an agreement with the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) for Red Light Camera installations on Missouri Highway One. Councilmember Carol Suter seconded. The vote: All aye Councilmember Carol Suter, Councilman Wayne Beer, Councilman Carol Rudi, and Mayor Les Smith.
(4-0)
Item 10. on the Agenda. PUBLIC
HEARING: for consideration of a Rezoning and Site Plan
Revision at
Mayor
Smith opened the Public Hearing and said Council would first hear from
Assistant City Manager Scott Wingerson, then from representatives of the
applicant, and finally anyone from the audience who would like to address the
Council.
STAFF PRESENTATION
Assistant City Manager Scott Wingerson began
saying there is one Public Hearing on this issue, with three separate actions
ordered in a very specific way. The
first action is to create the Final Plat; the second action to consider
authorizing a zoning change classification; and finally the Site Plan. Mr. Wingerson introduced Planning Specialist
Chris Helmer, saying Mr. Helmer would give a brief summary of the request, and
the applicant would give a detailed presentation to City Council.
Planning
Specialist Chris Helmer stated he would begin by discussing the Site Plan for
the Family Video, which is a 5,000 square foot building with three separate
lease spots at 1,200 square feet each.
Currently the proposed applicant is requesting a drive through on the
eastern portion of that site, which would be abutting one of the 1,200 square
foot lease spots. Mr. Helmer said, as
Mr. Wingerson mentioned, the actions this evening are consistent with what we
did with the Planning Commission. Mr.
Helmer said he would quickly go through the packet material to bring everyone
up to speed as far as the revisions that have been done with the applicant.
Mr.
Helmer said Staff has met with the applicant on some preliminary stages at the
very beginning of discussions on this application. The packet that Council members have received
has two portions. One attachment is the
most recent material and the second packet of material is the traditional
summary review that one would see at the Planning Commission and City Council
levels. It includes the Staff Report,
aerial photos of the original rezone map, which is also the same rezoning map
that is seen in the current material.
There are also some very specific information and letters addressed to
Staff regarding addressing some issues in more detail. Mr. Helmer said the applicant was present
this evening with people from Kaw Valley Engineering as well as Lutgen
Engineering firms to address the very specific questions that not only Staff
had, but the Planning Commission had as well.
There have been some significant revisions to this plan, and the
applicant is prepared to address those to the City Council this evening. Mr. Helmer said although it is not being seen
this evening, there was quite a bit of public input at the first Planning
Commission Public Hearing, and he has spoken with some area residents here at
City Hall.
Mr.
Helmer said information included in the packet materials includes the proposed
alignments, one fronting
Mr.
Helmer said the storm water management and traffic were also very big issues
with this plan. The traffic study
recommended that those alignments that he just mentioned be a shared drive to
the north with the
APPLICANT PRESENTATION
Levi Dinkla, 3029 SW Arbonia Place, Topeka, Kansas, began
by saying he represents Family Video, and is the Regional Manager for
Mr.
Dinkla stated he would like to address the issues that came up both in the
preliminary meetings and with the Planning Commission. Mr. Dinkla said that basically what came out
after meeting with the neighbors and City staff were three main issues that
needed to be dealt with. The first of
those issues was traffic and safety concerns; the second issue was landscaping;
and the third and most important issue was water. Mr. Dinkla said he would be speaking this
evening on the first two issues, and will have his engineer, Mr. Dana Bowles
with Kaw Valley Engineering speak about the water. Mr. Dinkla said the issues that came up with
traffic safety from both the neighborhood and City staff were that they felt
his company should be sharing access points with the neighbor to the north,
which is KinderCare, and the neighbor to the east, which is Mr. Strange.
Mr.
Dinkla said the initial Site Plan had both access points going right onto their
property. Through the process of meeting
with the neighborhood and City staff and going through the Planning Commission,
they have worked out 100 percent to getting the driveways to be shared between
both of the adjacent property owners. As
of this afternoon, a tentative agreement was made with Mr. Strange's attorney
to share the access point. Another
traffic issue that came up was the future ability of the City to put in a left
hand turn lane. Mr. Dinkla said he was
able to show in his drawings that was possible, but just to make sure that it
was possible in the future if needed, he has agreed to give away an additional
five foot of right-of-way to the City.
Mr.
Dinkla said the next issue is the landscaping.
Mr. Dinkla reported that he did start out with 77 parking stalls, and he
did feel very strongly that he needed all 77 of those stalls. His business model is one where they are
basically from 6:00 until 8:00 or 9:00 PM on Friday and Saturday evening. Mr. Dinkla said if he had 150 parking stalls,
he could fill them; that is where they make 75 percent of their revenue
during those time periods during the week, so the more parking, the more he is
able to support that property. Mr.
Dinkla continued by saying he understood the City was not as pleased with that
amount of parking, and so they came up with an agreement of 57 parking
stalls. They also came to an agreement
regarding landscaping and moving the garbage enclosure that was originally on
the east side of the property to next to Mr. Strange's building along the west
side of the property. Mr. Dinkla said
that Mr. Strange felt very strongly that where the dumpster has now been
relocated would have an adverse impact on the value of his property, because it
would be right next to his building and would be unseemly for him and his
customers. Mr. Dinkla said he agreed,
and in trying to appease everyone, he would like to suggest and request from
Council to move that enclosure so that it is actually attached to his building. By doing that, it would still be screened
from 72nd Street, and it would be matching the building material of
the building, and would not pose such a visual impairment to Mr. Strange's
property.
Mr.
Dinkla said the second thing he would like to note is that in reducing the size
of the parking lot, going from 77 to 57 stalls, did a couple of things that
helped out with the water. It definitely
increased the green area, especially along 72nd Street; however, one
of the other things negotiated was getting the underground detention, which
ended up being a lot more expensive than he could ever have imagined. Mr. Dinkla asked Council if they would be
agreeable to giving back a couple of those spaces without impairing the green
zone that has been created along 72nd Street. Mr. Dinkla said they would like the
capability to not reconstruct the site plan, but they may need a couple more
spaces to pay for the building. They
have to be sure that financially this is do-able. The main concern with the community and Staff
was the water detention, so his priority was to be sure they got the best water
detention possible. In doing that they
are asking for some give and take, and are asking for a couple of those parking
stalls back from 57 to as many as 64, which is nowhere near the 77, which they
feel is a good in between number.
Mr.
Dinkla asked Council members to look at the middle exhibit on a rendering and
pointed out a sand colored portion of the above ground detention, which will
now be a landscaped area. Mr. Dinkla
stated this plan will allow for a great visual impact at that corner. The monument sign has also been moved from
the corner, because there were some concerns from the community about people
not being able to see when they are taking a left or right turn.
Mayor
Smith asked Mr. Dinkla where he would like to build back in the seven parking
spaces.
Mr.
Dinkla replied if the dumpster is attached to the northwest corner of his
building, he will lose a couple of spaces along the northwest corner; however,
he would also gain a couple of spaces where the garbage enclosure is, so there
would be a net of one stall in that act, and he would like to take one or two
back from the Euclid side. Mr. Dinkla
said they have been very comfortable working with City staff, and so they would
trust that City staff would guide them in the right direction to get them
closer to a number that they can make work for the property.
Mayor
Smith requested clarification as to the northwest corner location for the
dumpster.
Mr.
Dinkla pointed out on a rendering where the dumpster would be located, attached
to the building, and stated it would be made of the same block as the
building. From 72nd Street,
this location will not be such a break in the visual appearance. The way it is now, it is a separate entity
from the building and doesn't flow well with the property, and it disturbs Mr.
Strange. Mr. Dinkla said by having it
attached to his building, it would appear to be just another part of the
building.
Mayor
Smith asked how it would be accessed.
Mr.
Dinkla said he feels there would be adequate room for a garbage truck to get in
there. Typically they do not have very
large garbage enclosure bins. The
dumpster would open to the west.
Mayor
Smith asked if the dumpster could be oriented so it could be accessed from the
north. There may need to be something
done with the drive a bit. Mayor Smith
said his point is, yes, the majority of the traffic is on 72nd
Street, but the majority of the residents are along Euclid. Rather than have the open side facing west,
it could be open to the north, and as that is an access drive, it might also
create a bit easier configuration for the drivers of the garbage trucks, and
maybe block the drive a little less.
Mr.
Dinkla said he sees no significant issue with that and would have no problem
facing the dumpster to the north. He
could just put a pole there to make sure people didn't turn into it, which
isn't an issue.
Councilmember
Carol Suter said she would like to go back to the comment of Mr. Dinkla's that
if he had 150 parking spots, he could fill them on a Friday evening. If there are only 64 or 57 parking spots,
what happens to the other 40 or 50 parking spots that he could fill where are
those people?
Mr.
Dinkla said those people are either driving to his competition or they are
waiting to get a stall, which is why he is always trying to get as much parking
as possible.
Councilman
Wayne Beer asked Mr. Dinkla if he is no longer giving consideration to the
underground collection?
Mr.
Dinkla said the underground collection is what they have decided upon; the
above ground detention is what they were originally going to do. Staff made comments that they were not
comfortable with that, and there were comments from the community that they
were visually concerned about it, so they agreed to go underground, which is
where the extra cost is.
Councilman
Beer said he thought Mr. Dinkla said the cost was prohibitive.
Mr.
Dinkla replied the cost is high but not prohibitive, which is why he is asking
for more parking spots.
Councilman
Carol Rudi stated at the Planning Commission there was a question about the
width of the drive-thru all around the building, and inquired into the width.
Mr.
Dinkla replied the driveway width is 12 feet; there was some concern as to
whether it narrowed, and it does not narrow in the northwest corner, and is
consistent all the way around the building.
Councilman
Rudi inquired into the hours of operation.
Mr.
Dinkla replied that 10:00 AM to Midnight are his company's standard operating
hours. That is adjusted community by
community. If people in this community
are done renting at 10:00 PM, then the business will be closed at 10:00 PM.
Councilman
Rudi asked if that would apply to the other businesses.
Mr.
Dinkla replied, no, that would not apply to the other businesses, because he
would not operate those businesses.
Councilman
Rudi said Mr. Dinkla said at the Planning Commission meeting that the signage
would all be uniform; however, if he had a particular tenant with a particular
logo, that would be on their sign, if that is what they wanted. Councilman Rudi said she does not have a
problem with that, but asked if there will be any digital reader boards.
Mr.
Dinkla replied no, and it is his understanding from Staff that by the time he
came before Council, they would be outlawed, so they received a forewarning
from City staff. Digital signs are not
something they typically do, but he can't speak for a tenant like Edward Jones
who might have a ticker symbol running in their window, but as far as he is
concerned, his company does not use digital signs that change a message.
Councilmember
Suter said the plat shows three additional spaces, and asked if Mr. Dinkla is
building them out to order or is the space also available as one?
Mr.
Dinkla replied right now the plan is to build those out to vanilla box
(incomplete construction). Mr. Dinkla
said his company is also in the commercial leasing business, so they have
national tenants, and they have found that this size of space is pretty easy to
fill. If someone came along and wanted
it all, they would gladly do that, but they would have to let them know before
they started building.
Councilman
Beer stated in regard to shared drives, and especially to the drive shared with
Mr. Strange, there was an issue in the Planning Commission in regards to
alignment of that shared drive with North Euclid Court across the street from
72nd Street. Councilman Beer
asked Mr. Dinkla to address that issue.
Mr.
Dinkla replied that the tentative agreement his business has reached with Mr.
Strange and his attorney would place this access point across from that corner,
which he believes meets with what City staff had recommended.
Councilman
Beer asked if that will mean some significant changing of the existing drive?
Mr. Dinkla replied, yes, he believes what
would happen is they would be closing the existing drive and opening a new one
across the street. Mr. Dinkla said he
could not completely speak for Mr. Strange, but that is how their conversation
went, and that has always been an understanding that his would be closed and
they would have one shared access point.
Mayor
Smith said, from his standpoint, that drive needs to align with Euclid
Court. It doesn't seem practical to do
it any other way.
Councilman
Rudi stated regarding the driveway entrance, the Planning Commission asked that
the curbs in and out be softened a little bit, and asked if Mr. Dinkla had
worked with Staff to address that.
Mr.
Dinkla said he did not have time in the last week to get it all revised on the
drawings, but not only are they open to that, he agrees that it will fit better
with the flow of the traffic, so Council will see that softened.
Councilman
Rudi asked if there would be in and out arrows on the drive.
Mr.
Dinkla replied he believes they will need one or two more feet of driveway
width in order to accommodate those arrows, but if Council is agreeable to
that, he is agreeable, and Mr. Strange would also have to be agreeable.
Councilman
Beer said the Council can see a benefit with that. Councilman Beer said he believes that we
should provide all the ingress/egress safety and signaling and signage that can
reasonably be put in there. Turning onto
72nd Street, eastbound, can be a real challenge. He would not want to force the issue of
putting everyone on Euclid to go eastbound onto 72nd Street, because
he does not believe that is an appropriate traffic movement. Anything we can do to provide a safer access
onto 72nd Street, we need to do.
Mr.
Dinkla said if he can get the one or two feet to have the appropriate width of
the turn lanes, then he definitely will do that. Mr. Strange would have to agree as well, but
one of the concerns is that there is a telephone pole by his current entrance
and that makes turning out of his business very hard. One of the benefits of having this drive
where it is proposed to be located is that it will reduce the problem of the
telephone pole impeding drivers' vision line, so doing the turning lanes would
not be a problem.
Councilman
Rudi asked if there would be a dimmer switch on the tower with the light.
Mr.
Dinkla replied it turns off, and does not really project. The light meets all the photometric codes of
any city they have been in. It doesn't
project a whole lot of light. It
illuminates it from within, so it's turned off when the business is closed at
Midnight, but it is not something that would emit a whole lot, because of the
density of the block. It doesn't let off
that much light.
Councilman
Rudi stated she knows if she were in one of the two houses right across the street
or one of the townhomes on Euclid, and the light is on at Midnight, and she was
trying to go to sleep on the weekend, she would not be happy to look at that
all the time. This is why she is
thinking at 10:00 PM, it could be turned down and at Midnight, it would be
turned off, which might be beneficial.
Councilman Rudi said she does not know if this is possible.
Mr.
Dinkla said in the 21 stores he has in this area, he had not heard a single
complaint from neighbors, and they are frequently across from houses. Mr. Dinkla said he does not know if he has
that capacity, but he knows he does not have it currently in any of his other
stores, so he would not want to say he would do something that he cannot do.
Councilman
Rudi said she would like for Staff to discuss this with Mr. Dinkla.
Dana Bowles, Kaw Valley Engineering, began by saying he
was prepared to discuss storm drainage issues on this site. Mr. Bowles said when they looked at this
site, they were evaluating the storm drainage from two perspectives. One was a one inch rain which would fall over
the entire site, with the idea to maintain that on site and let it discharge
either through percolations or in an under drain system or something, but for a
one inch rain, that would be retained.
The other method they used was to evaluate it based on a two, a ten, and
a hundred year storm, and then size the detention for a hundred year
storm. The volume that was calculated
that was required to hold a hundred year storm was about 9,000 cubic feet.
Mr.
Bowles stated he provided a packet to Council, which is a product called
StormTech. For an underground detention
system there are generally two methods.
You can use a circular pipe to get the volume or you can use the
StormTech, which is basically a half of a pipe, which is HDPE (High-Density
Polyethylene), constructed
in conjunction with a gravel bed, which can be buried from six to eighteen
inches. The thicker you go with that
gravel bed, the more volume that can be achieved through it. The advantage of going with the StormTech
system that they are proposing is that it not only serves to hold the
additional water in storage in the gravel bed, but also allows that water to
perk into the ground and take water out of the storm drainage that would normally
come off of the site, and also serves as a way of water treatment.
Mr.
Bowles said a normal storm sewer system that is just an enclosed pipe system is
going to take all the water and everything else coming into that system and
wash it down the stream. This does allow
some VMPS (Soil Vapor Monitoring Points) to be incorporated right into the
design, so you do get better water quality, and a reduction in your storm water
release from the site. There is the
ability to size this system to whatever we need to, which in this case is about
9,000 cubic feet. Mr. Bowles said he
believes this addresses the concerns with the above ground system, which may
have more maintenance issues. This can
go underground, under the parking lot.
Mr. Bowles pointed out on a drawing the rectangular area where the
underground system is proposed. There
will be about two feet of cover over it, so it's now a green space that can be
landscaped.
Mayor
Smith asked for confirmation of the drive width of the drive thru.
Mr.
Bowles replied he believed the width is 12 feet, but he does not recall
specifically.
Assistant
City Manager Wingerson stated it is intended to be 12 feet, and that can be
confirmed. There are painting and
striping and scale issues, but the drive needs to be 12 feet, and if Council
approves the permit, it will be 12 feet.
Councilman
Beer said that is how he reads it on the plans.
Councilman Beer pointed out an illustration and said it indicates two
areas for the underground collection system.
It appears it is possible to park vehicles over that system.
Mr.
Bowles stated that was correct.
Councilman
Beer asked, in regard to the 9,000 cubic feet volume, if that is 9,000 cubic
feet of actual volume that is there, or is that 9,000 cubic feet over a time
period?
Mr.
Bowles replied that would be 9,000 cubic feet over a time period. Generally there would be water coming in and
going out at the same time, and so the 9,000 would be at a minimum what it
would be designed for, which would be the required volume for a one hundred
year storm, with a release rate that doesn't exceed what is currently coming
off that site.
Councilman
Beer said in some of Gladstone's earlier history there was probably not as much
attention given to storm water management as we find it to be necessary now;
both from just a general knowledge standpoint to the increase in sophistication
of engineering that we know today.
Gladstone has suffered quite a bit from some of those early engineering
deficiencies. Councilman Beer said he
calls that deficiencies based on what we know today. It might not have been deficient engineering
at that time. Gladstone has had to spend
millions of dollars to try to remedy some of those situations. Councilman Beer said from a Planning and
Council standpoint, we have become a bit sensitive to storm water management,
so the storm water management is going to be of utmost concern, at least to
this one Councilman. Councilman Beer
said he would like for Mr. Bowles to take a hard look at looking further down
the line and take into consideration some of this engineering which still may
be evolving.
Councilman
Beer said his point is that if we know that our detention capacity is 9,000
cubic feet, and given the storm water issues that particularly occur downstream
from this site, he would like to see us take some special measures to reduce as
much as possible the rate of discharge even more greater than engineering
suggests to us now. Councilman Beer said
he believes we need to increase the volume of detention for this underground
system so that when we get to the heavy run-off situations, we don't sheet
water into that creek as quickly as this system would let us now.
Mr.
Bowles replied he believes the system does address Councilman Beer's concerns,
and he will certainly look into that as he gets into professional plans about
what that volume is going to be.
Previously the water would sheet flow straight to either Euclid or 72nd
Street, and there would be waves of water going onto those sites. What a detention basin will do is offset peak
run-offs. If the water coming off that
site was coincidental with water coming down Euclid or down 72nd
Street, and that runoff combines, that tends to inundate a system.
Mr.
Bowles stated what the modeling programs available allow us to do is to look at
volumes, look at pipe dialers on the discharge, length of the traveled path or
even routing the water slightly differently through the system to avoid the
coincidental run-off peaks from 72nd Street or Euclid, and reduce it
that way as well. Mr. Bowles said as
this site is 1.35 acres, the run-off is generally pretty quick. With the detention basin, that same amount of
water will be released over generally a 24-hour period. This will help downstream. This system will always maintain that
one-inch runoff in the lower portion of the system.
Councilman
Beer said he believes that capturing the first inch of rain is pretty
innovative and commendable, and he does not recall any systems that have come
before Council that dealt with that first inch of rain. Councilman Beer said he does still feel we
need a greater detention capacity to prevent the sheeting that may occur on the
heavy rainfalls.
Mr.
Bowles said he would certainly look into that.
Mr. Bowles stated that a one-inch rain that comes quickly can easily
cause problems downstream, and that can be totally alleviated with this
design.
Councilman
Beer said he does feel we need to go a little bit further and look at a greater
detention capacity so that if we do have a big rain, that we are not sheeting a
bunch of water. There will be sheeting
of water coming off, because it is not a completely pervious surface, but there
will be a whole lot more sheeting off of the parking lot without these
detention capacities that are being discussed.
It will sheet off a lot faster than is currently coming off of
there. Councilman Beer said he likes the
idea of catching the first inch of rain, so that rain from this area does not
affect the folks downstream, but he does feel we need to take a little bit of
extra care and catch a little bit more of greater rainfalls and release it at a
reasonable discharge rate.
Mr.
Bowles said he would look into that.
Mayor
Smith asked Councilman Beer how he would like to incorporate that into any
actions being considered this evening.
Councilman
Beer suggested a way might be just a larger area of excavation. Since it is possible to park over this
system, perhaps a larger field or fields, or perhaps a greater depth of
excavation, where there is a greater capacity of holding the water.
Councilman
Rudi said she had the same concern that the amount of water that is held and
released becomes less than the current situation not just equal, but
less. Councilman Rudi said she knows it
was said the 9,000 cubic feet of water would be released over a period of time,
but Mr. Bowles also said the 9,000 cubic feet would be the minimum amount we
need to release for the area to have the same rate coming off.
Mr.
Bowles said for a one hundred year storm event we are going from 2.61 cubic
feet predevelopment to 2.51 cubic feet per second for post development. The actual volume of storage that is required
is 8,718 cubic feet. With 9,000 cubic
feet, we are over what the analysis says we need to be.
Councilman
Rudi asked which size of stone basin will be used as shown in the brochure
provided by Mr. Bowles.
Mr.
Bowles replied it would be the 18-inch size, which is the one that provides the
largest volume of storage.
Councilman
Rudi said she is looking for a larger amount of retention and a figure to give
Staff to work with, but is uncertain how to best verbalize that.
Assistant
City Manager Wingerson suggested a possible way to address this is with
percentages, and enlarging the detention capacity by a percent, which may help
arrive at a number. Seven to ten percent
is a range that would make a significant improvement to the system.
Councilman
Rudi said she would like to see the capacity enlarged by the higher amount of
ten percent.
Councilman
Beer agreed with Councilman Rudi and said his concern is when you have gone
beyond the capacity of the system because of the sheer volume of rain coming
down from the skies so that water is sheeting into the creek, that is
unabated. Councilman Beer said he wants
to capture more of that water before it sheets off, and he knows the water is
going to go downstream, and he wants it to take longer to get there, so there
is less effect on folks downstream.
Mr.
Bowles said this can be addressed in the final design. If Council members would like for him to look
at ten percent more volume, he would be happy to see what that will drop the
release rate to.
Councilmember
Suter asked how many more parking spaces does Mr. Dinkla need in order to bear
the additional expense for this?
Mayor
Smith stated there is a limit to what this property owner is responsible. If Mr. Dinkla is willing to work with the
City and try to increase the capacity to some degree, then Mr. Wingerson and he
can visit and do the best they can within the limits of what the developer is
supposed to do.
Mr. Dinkla stated he is not excited about
doing more, because this is already an awfully lot more than what they had
originally planned. Having said that,
going into this project three weeks in, he knew water was going to be the
biggest issue. Mr. Dinkla said if the
City could work with him on the parking, then he could work more on the
detention, and find a balance there, because every time we make this bigger, it
substantially increases his costs. Mr.
Dinkla said he was confident he could work this out with City staff.
Councilmember
Suter asked City staff if there was discussion of the capacity of the detention
system at the Planning Commission meetings.
Mr.
Wingerson replied there was general discussion that bigger was better, but
nothing specific.
COMMENTS FROM THOSE IN FAVOR OF THE APPLICATION
Mike Keleher, of Keleher and Eastman, 403 NW Englewood Road, stated
he represents Larry and Lenora Strange.
Larry conducts his State Farm insurance company directly east of the
applicant's site. Mr. and Mrs. Strange
strongly support the relocation of the existing driveway to a location directly
aligned with Euclid Court. Mr. Keleher
said they had some significant concerns about the details and costs of that
relocation, but based on discussions he had with Mr. Dinkla this afternoon, he
believes an accommodation can be reached in that regard, and they, therefore,
support the application. They also
strongly urge the Council and Staff to grant the applicant's request to relocate
the dumpster. The potential odors and
other activities surrounding that location of the dumpster directly adjacent to
his client's building would have an adverse effect on the use of the property.
COMMENTS FROM THOSE IN OPPOSITION TO THE APPLICATION
John Woody, 7201 North Woodland, said he is not
speaking in opposition to the application, but more speaking as a friend of the
Council. The City of Gladstone and its
Council has been very protective of the residential nature of 72nd
Street. They have denied applications
for that particular intersection for a filling station, a car wash, and a
number of garden apartments. Mr. Woody
said he would even cite the name of former Councilman Lee Bussinger as being
very supportive of the 72nd Street neighborhood. Mr. Woody said this reminds him of Alice in
Wonderland and the Mad Hatter Tea Party.
Alice came upon the Mad Hatter sitting at a tea party, where there is a
table set out with 20 settings of cups and saucers. The Mad Hatter and Alice have their tea at
the first place setting, and the Mad Hatter says time to move. They get up and move down. Mr. Woody said this is reminiscent of what we
do in today's society in that we dirty one area, abandon buildings, and move on
and find some other green space to tear up the grass and build.
Mr.
Woody said he visited the Family Video store in Lee's Summit, and found it to
be well run, well-organized, neat, and good prices for a family. The only objection he had was that they had a
Coke machine outside, which he did not think was conducive for a neighborhood,
and Mr. Dinkla said that would not be included at this site. Mr. Woody said it is rumored that there is
going to be 100 units of housing placed around the Family Video store, and his
observation of the store in Lee's Summit was that it had a similar 100 units of
duplexes and fourplexes around that store.
Mr.
Woody said those units are an eyesore.
The paint has faded on them; the sides are wavey, and they are not
maintained. There is always the usual gas
grill sitting in the front yards. Mr.
Woody said the applicant has been very vigorous in cooperating with the City of
Gladstone, and have been responsive to the requests from the City. Mr. Woody said he is impressed with their
solutions for the water retention, because they went the more expensive
way. The only thing he would point out
is that the water that comes off of that site either goes into the street, if
it overflows, or it goes into a pipe.
Where does that pipe go? The pipe
goes down 72nd, parallel, right next to 72nd Street. Mr. Woody said it empties into the ravine
just beyond North Woodland, and goes right beside his property, and it also
meets a ditch that is coming from this direction that is carrying the water off
from everything else in that neighborhood.
If it overflows, then you are compounding the problem. Mr. Woody said when it overflows, it will
overflow into my property and the properties next to it, because we are
downstream.
Mr.
Woody said his concern is a row of yews in the back of his property. Mr. Woody provided a picture to City Council
members showing the back of his property, and said it has taken 20 years to get
the yews to grow. At some point the City
will be addressing the ditch behind those yews, and it is his concern that
these yews be maintained. It would take
a bulldozer five minutes to take the trees down. It may take a little extra engineering and
effort to preserve those yews, but they are on his property and he asks that
the City be sensitive to this and work to preserve the trees.
Mayor
Smith said Mr. Woody has been a fine protector of the neighborhood for a very
long time, and the neighbors have a lot of respect for him.
Mayor
Smith asked, to clarify what Mr. Woody was saying, where does this eventually
daylight or dump into?
Mr.
Bowles replied the enclosed system goes down the north side of 72nd
Street and daylights into an open ditch.
Mayor
Smith said what Mr. Woody is suggesting is that when it does daylight and dumps
into the ditch, it does so perpendicular to the ditch, and asked how we
mitigate the erosion concern.
Mr.
Bowles replied grouted riprap can be installed opposite the flared-in section
where it is discharging, or a structure can be installed so the discharge is
parallel to the stream.
Mr.
Wingerson stated there are erosion concerns in the channel behind Mr. Woody's
house from storm water from the north traveling to the south towards 72nd
Street. This issue is Priority Number 35
in the Storm Water Master Plan.
Mayor
Smith said there is a lot of work to do downstream before we do this project,
which is an extremely expensive project.
Mayor Smith asked if we have an issue with storm water eroding the
western side of the bank, and if we do, how do we mitigate that?
Mr.
Wingerson replied there is an erosion concern there, and this particular
project attempts to reduce the rate of flow, which should reduce the velocity
and make the problem less severe than it is today.
Mr.
Bowles stated that Mr. Woody brought up a good point that the flows come in
from two directions and combine at his property. Mr. Bowles said his intent is to reduce the
run-off from the site. The run-off will
be reduced from what is currently coming off of the site, and it will also be
reduced downstream. This design will
address all the issues very well.
Mr.
Wingerson reported that Staff has drafted additional conditions for the Bill
for Council's consideration.
Regarding
hours of operation, Mayor Smith suggested midnight seems to be late for that
neighborhood and asked if the hours of operation would apply to all businesses
in the project.
Mr.
Wingerson replied the hours of operation would apply to all businesses in the
project.
Mayor
Smith asked City Council members for their input, but his suggestion would be
to limit the hours of operation to 11:00 PM.
Councilman
Beer asked the applicant how much business occurs between 11:00 PM and
Midnight.
Mr.
Dinkla replied he could not guarantee it, but would say that he feels the owner
would not do the project with that time frame.
Mr. Dinkla said they find out after six months how important the ending
time is. In the stores where there is
industry or second shifts, they get very busy between 11:00 PM and Midnight.
Mayor
Smith said he believed that Mr. Dinkla said earlier that different communities
have different standards and they have been able to adapt to those.
Mr.
Dinkla said standards as far as customer demand, not as far as communities
telling them when to be open. Mr. Dinkla
said he looks at the businesses every four to six months and looks at how much
money is spent in the store every hour of the day. Once it is no longer profitable to be open
from 11:00 PM to Midnight, they go to 11:00 PM or 10:00 PM. Very few stores do not do well between 11:00
PM and Midnight.
Councilman
Beer said he felt the trash pick-up service hours at this site should be the
same as residential hours, which is 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM. Council members agreed.
Council
members confirmed they agreed on the same times, 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM, for
deliveries in this area.
Mayor
Smith asked if Council members agreed to the condition that the dumpster would
be moved to the northwest corner of the Family Video building, orienting the
open side to the north, and any manner that they need to reconfigure that
corner in the drive.
Councilman
Beer said from a Site Planning issue, it seems to be a do-able thing, and from
an aesthetics standpoint, it is very practical.
Councilmember
Suter said she agrees the relocation is good, but which side it opens on may
still need an engineering look, in case orienting the opening to the north
interferes with the drive shared with KinderCare.
Councilman
Beer stated the property owners can restrict their trash pick-up even further
than the City, and most of their business will take place in the hours after
5:00 PM, so sometime in the hours before that, it shouldn't be a big issue in
cutting off the driveway in the two minutes it takes to pick-up the trash.
Mayor
Smith invited Mr. Wingerson to weigh in on the parking spaces issue.
Mr.
Wingerson stated Council may want to balance storm water management and
parking. Mr. Wingerson said he believes
20 more parking spaces is a healthy number.
Councilmember
Suter said she would much rather see the parking spaces than people driving
through a parking lot looking for spaces on Friday and Saturday nights.
Councilman
Rudi said she would rather see people waiting for the spaces than extra spaces
that sit for most of the day and evening.
We are only talking about three hours, two nights per week, where it
becomes so critical to have those extra spaces.
Councilman
Beer said he believes by giving them the extra spaces and requiring additional
storm water management mitigates the problem of run-off with extra spaces, and
he has no problem in giving them the extra spaces that they need.
Councilmember
Suter agreed and said if it is part of the formula for success, she wants to
see a successful business go in here, not something that is handicapped.
Mayor
Smith said we also have the opportunity to pick up some spaces in the
relocation of the dumpster. Mayor Smith
said the City has made, and will continue to make, a very concerted effort with
the adoption of some of our sustainability design standards to require a lot of
green, and very aesthetically pleasing designs, and very aesthetically pleasing
colors and a lot of green space and landscaping. Mayor Smith said he would not want to give up
any green space. This is an area where
there is development going on this vacant ground, and we need to set the design
standard for what is going to happen in the remaining acreage. Mayor Smith encouraged Staff to look at this
and try to work with the applicant, but not give away any of the green space and
landscaping.
Councilman
Beer said his comments about giving them the spaces they need was predicated
upon the proposal that they brought before us, and he did not see a lot of
green space disappear with it, but rather just a changing of the
configuration.
Mayor
Smith said he believes that Council is recommending that the applicant work
with Staff and this will be part of the final building permit approval. Council is not closed minded to this but is
not willing to give a blank check.
Councilman
Rudi said the question about permeable surfaces was brought up at the Planning
Commission. Councilman Rudi stated the
Planning Commission was told that this is a new kind of surface that people are
waiting to see if it really works.
Councilman Rudi said she wanted to ask the question because it goes to
the sustainability issue that Council is trying to move forward with in
Gladstone. Councilman Rudi said this is
an option that is out there, and she is looking for all options.
Mr.
Dinkla said his company did look at this, but the cost is quite a bit higher
than traditional methods. His company is
an owner/operator business and not a giant developer, and if they make a bad
financial decision, they have to live with it.
Mr. Dinkla said they want to see this proven before they invest that
much money into something, which is their major concern with this. They would rather put their money into
something that is proven, which is why they are proposing a top line detention
system.
Councilman
Beer said he believes there is one permeable asphalt surface project in Kansas
City. Councilman Beer stated this is
such a new technology that if he were in the business of trying to make this
thing go, it would have to be a much more proven process than seems to be there
yet. While the process shows promise, it
is an awfully expensive process that lasts perhaps only five years instead of
15 or 30 years.
Mayor
Smith closed the Public Hearing.
Item 11. on the Agenda. FIRST READING BILL
07-38, approving
the Final Plat of a portion of Tract CD, Block 21 Stratford 4th
Replat and a portion of Tract A and a portion of vacated Euclid Street,
Stratford 4th Plat, a subdivision in the County of Clay, City of
Gladstone, Missouri, and directing the appropriate officials to affix their
signatures to said Plat for recording. Applicant/Owner: JA Peterson
Enterprises, Inc. File #1308
Councilman Wayne Beer moved to place Bill 07-38 on First
Reading. Councilmember Carol Suter
seconded. The vote: All aye Councilmember Carol Suter,
Councilman Wayne Beer, Councilman Carol Rudi, and Mayor Les Smith. (4-0).
The Clerk read the Bill.
Councilman Wayne Beer moved to accept the First Reading
of Bill 07-38, Waive the Rule and place the Bill on Second and Final
Reading. Councilmember Carol Suter
seconded. The vote: All aye Councilmember Carol Suter,
Councilman Wayne Beer, Councilman Carol Rudi, and Mayor Les Smith. (4-0).
The Clerk read the Bill.
Councilman Wayne Beer moved to accept the Second and
Final Reading of Bill 07-38 and enact the Bill as Ordinance 4.056. Councilmember Carol Suter seconded.
Roll Call Vote:
All aye Councilmember Carol Suter, Councilman Wayne Beer, Councilman
Carol Rudi, and Mayor Les Smith. (4-0).
Item 12. on
the Agenda. FIRST READING BILL
07-39,
amending Ordinance No. 3.973 and being
an Ordinance relating to Zoning Ordinance Regulations and the establishments of
Use Districts within the City of Gladstone, Missouri. Applicant/Owner: JA Peterson Enterprises,
Inc. File #1306
Councilman Wayne Beer moved to place Bill 07-39 on First
Reading. Councilmember Carol Suter
seconded. The vote: All aye Councilmember Carol Suter,
Councilman Wayne Beer, Councilman Carol Rudi, and Mayor Les Smith. (4-0).
The Clerk read the Bill.
Councilman Wayne Beer moved to accept the First Reading of
Bill 07-39, Waive the Rule and place the Bill on Second and Final Reading. Councilmember Carol Suter seconded. The vote:
All aye Councilmember Carol Suter, Councilman Wayne Beer, Councilman
Carol Rudi, and Mayor Les Smith.
(4-0). The Clerk read the Bill.
Councilman Wayne Beer moved to accept the Second and
Final Reading of Bill 07-39 and enact the Bill as Ordinance 4.057. Councilmember Carol Suter seconded.
Roll Call Vote:
All aye Councilmember Carol Suter, Councilman Wayne Beer, Councilman
Carol Rudi, and Mayor Les Smith. (4-0).
Item 13. on
the Agenda. FIRST READING BILL
07-40,
approving a Site Plan revision for
property legally described as Family Video Addition Lot 1. Applicant/Owner: JA Peterson Enterprises,
Inc. File #1307
Councilman
Beer asked Mr. Wingerson to recite the additional conditions he had noted for
this bill.
Mr.
Wingerson read the additional and amended conditions as follows:
Amended
Conditions:
Condition
#2 The trash services shall be scheduled from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM.
Condition
#3 Deliveries shall be made between 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM.
Adding
Conditions:
Condition #10 - The dumpster may be relocated to an alternate
acceptable location. Final location will be deferred to building permit
approval.
Condition #11 - A minimal number of parking
stalls may be added with preservation of open space. Final approval is subject
to building permit approval.
Condition
#12 - Center hours of operation shall be 6:00 AM- to Midnight.
Condition
#13 - Digital signage shall be prohibited.
Condition
#14 - Detention capacity shall be increased by 10%.
Condition
#15 - Exterior vending or storage shall be prohibited.
Condition
#16 - 72nd Street driveway shall align with North Euclid Court.
Council
members discussed Condition #12 and as to whether the hours of operation should
begin at 6:00 AM or 7:00 AM.
Mr.
Wingerson stated that there was testimony at the Planning Commission Public
Hearing concerning a potential coffee shop as one of the tenants.
Councilman Wayne Beer moved to place Bill 07-40 on First
Reading and read the amended and added conditions. Councilmember Carol Suter seconded. The vote:
All aye Councilmember Carol Suter, Councilman Wayne Beer, Councilman
Carol Rudi, and Mayor Les Smith.
(4-0). The Clerk read the Bill.
Councilman Wayne Beer moved to accept the First Reading
of Bill 07-40, Waive the Rule and place the Bill on Second and Final
Reading. Councilmember Carol Suter
seconded. The vote: All aye Councilmember Carol Suter,
Councilman Wayne Beer, Councilman Carol Rudi, and Mayor Les Smith. (4-0).
The Clerk read the Bill.
Councilman Wayne Beer moved to accept the Second and
Final Reading of Bill 07-40 and enact the Bill as Ordinance 4.058. Councilmember Carol Suter seconded.
Roll Call Vote: All
aye Councilmember Carol Suter, Councilman Wayne Beer, Councilman Carol
Rudi, and Mayor Les Smith. (4-0).
Item 14. on the Agenda. PUBLIC
HEARING: for consideration of the amendment of Section
7.135.010, and 7.140.010 of the Gladstone City Code relating to C-1 and C-2
Zoning Districts within the City of Gladstone.
File #1309.
Mayor
Smith opened the Public Hearing, and said the procedure would be the same as in
the previous Public Hearing.
Assistant City Manager Scott Wingerson
began by saying this is an application brought forward by the City. What is being proposed is an amendment to the
text Zoning Ordinance to move the allowable location for the sale at retail of
auto parts. This is fundamentally what
this is about. Currently, that use is allowed
in the C-2 zoning classification. The
proposal is to shift that down to the C-1, neighborhood zoning
classification. There are two main
reasons for this. The first reason is
that our Zoning Ordinance was written in the 1950s and 1960s. The actual language says auto supplies and
petroleum products, and if you look at the time the ordinance was written,
there was really only one primary place where people bought retail auto parts,
such as windshield wipers, brake pads, and those types of things, and that was
at the neighborhood service station.
When one reads the ordinance with an eye towards the approximate time
frame when the ordinance was written, you have a use that doesn't exist in
today's market, which are petroleum sales and retail auto parts. The second reason is an automotive retailer
approached City staff about locating at the north out-parcel of Tower Plaza,
which is currently zoned C-1.
Mr.
Wingerson said knowing some of the history of that project, he immediately said
not a good idea; that's not going to happen; papers should not be filed to see
if it is possible. Mr. Wingerson stated
that weekend he looked at it, and what's approved on the plan is a Sonic style
drive-through. Mr. Wingerson said he
drove into the cul-de-sac and looked and thought if he lived there would he
rather be next to a Sonic style drive-through or would he rather see the back
of a retail building. Mr. Wingerson said
he could not answer that question, so he asked a couple of the people who live
in that neighborhood. What they have
told him is that they would prefer to look at the back of a retail building,
but really do not want the zoning to change in Tower Plaza. The application was filed late last week for
the retail auto parts store in Tower Plaza, and he has not yet had a chance to
look at that. Ultimately what this does
is move auto retail parts sales from C-2 to C-1. The Planning Commission recommends approval
of the text amendment with a couple of changes.
In the C-1 classification, the Planning Commission suggested adding
language that specifically excludes wholesale automotive supplies and
automotive services, so that addition is in the proposed ordinance. In the C-1 classification, there was
discussion about whether selling a case of oil at an auto parts store is the
same as changing oil, so the word dispensed was added in front of petroleum
products, so it reads automotive supplies and dispensed petroleum products,
meaning they are dispensing oil, fuel, or brake fluid and so forth. Mr. Wingerson said this is a very brief
summary because it is late this evening, but he hopes it helps to frame the
issue adequately.
Councilman
Wayne Beer said he is generally in agreement with what is being proposed. He understands there is a big difference in
dispensing and sales of, and there is a big difference between bulk versus
small container sales. Councilman Beer
said he believes this adequately covers that, and permits a pretty
non-intrusive retail sale of product, and does not provide or present an issue
of contamination, which oftentimes goes with dispensing of product. Councilman Beer said he is generally in favor
of this issue as it is presented.
Mayor
Smith said his problem with this is twofold.
Number one, this was a very controversial project with a lot of
neighborhood input. A lot of that
discussion centered around what type of usage was allowed. Someone even made the comment what's to keep
you from changing what's allowed in that center somewhere down the road. Mayor Smith said he is not going there, so he
is one no vote. Mayor Smith said the
second reason is that he does not like changing zoning ordinances in reaction
to someone who wants to file an application for a business in our City. Mayor Smith said a third reason, which is so
coincidental, just the other day, he, an adult friend and one of his children
were driving down North Oak Trafficway.
They went to Baskin Robbins at 77th and North Oak
Trafficway. When they came out, there
were two people in the parking lot of the auto parts store across the street
working on their cars. One car was up on
jacks; the other had the hood up. Mayor
Smith said they drove down the street
to the auto parts store at Gladstone Plaza.
There was one person changing his oil in the parking lot of the auto
parts store at Gladstone Plaza. They
went further down North Oak Trafficway, and there was a person working on his
car in the parking lot of the auto parts store.
This is not the kind of thing we told the folks would happen at Tower
Plaza.
Councilman
Beer said he would hope those types of activities would be prohibited but the
problem is how are they prohibited.
Mayor Smith asked how is this prohibited? These people had broken down cars, not too pretty to look at, and they made it somehow to the auto parts store, bought the auto parts, and worked on their vehicles in the parking lot. Mayor Smith said we went over and over with the neighbors of Tower Plaza the types of businesses that would be allowed in the shopping center right, wrong, or indifferent, that is what we told them.
Councilman Beer said one of the issues that was brought forward during that process was the concept of four sided architecture, and he does not believe that was a condition of the project. Whatever would happen to be built there, even if this ordinance fails, is going to have to be like the rest of the project four-sided architecture, because these people have to look at the backside of those buildings. This was a big deal to them, and it still needs to be. Councilman Beer said to Mayor Smith that he sees his concern about reacting to a project, and he is looking at this a little bit differently now because of that. Even if this ordinance were to become enacted, that's an issue, no matter what goes in there. If this ordinance does not become enacted, any project that gets set on that property is going to have to be assured that it becomes a four-sided architecture project.
Councilmember Suter asked if there was public representation at the Planning Commission hearing on this issue.
Assistant City Manager Wingerson said he did not believe anyone spoke, beside himself, at the Planning Commission hearing.
Councilmember Carol Suter said given the amount of citizen involvement around this project in the first place, that would be surprising if there were any concerns whatsoever from those folks about reneging on the deal. Councilmember Suter said she would like to think that even the public can sometimes change their mind and realize that the thing that they approved in the first place may not be as good as the new thing that has just come along. As Mr. Wingerson said, better than a Sonic, she would rather see something else.
Mayor Smith asked if this is better than a Sonic for those one or two homes behind it maybe. Is it better than a Sonic for the image and the economy of our City maybe it is not. We have three auto parts stores within 2.5 miles on North Oak Trafficway is this the next Pay Day Loan or the next pawnshop? The whole point of being in a C-2 zoning is that they had to be in an area that the City felt was a little more comfortable than C-1, but not quite C-3, but is it better for the overall image of the community to have an auto parts store sitting there than to have a going concern with a Sonic, with people coming and going, and it's a destination? Mayor Smith said he does not know if it is better. It might be better for the person living behind it, but that might be the exception. Mayor Smith said being the point person on that project, as Mr. Wingerson can attest he still is to this day, he cannot support this. There was too much discussion as to what was and wasn't allowed for them to find out that we changed the zoning classification for a certain type of business so it could go in there.
Councilmember Suter said the public was noticed that the City was seeking a change.
Assistant City Manager Wingerson said he would like to clarify that in a text amendment, the only public notice is the published notice, so there is not specific neighborhood notification.
Councilmember Suter replied that is the reason the public was not there.
Mayor Smith said if we are willing to continue this Public Hearing, and notice even the closest thirty or forty homeowners and see if they have any concerns, that would be one thing. Mayor Smith explained to Councilmember Suter that this was a tough project, and we, as Council members, gave those people our word that a lot of things were going to happen like we said they were. Mayor Smith said he cannot, in good conscience condone changing something like that in mid-stream. He looked too many people in the eye and told them that was the way it is and that is what was going to be allowed, and nothing else was allowed.
Councilmember Suter said her position on this is different now, realizing that the neighbors did not have notice. If the neighbors had notice, and were able to participate or not participate at the Planning Commission, that would weigh heavily in her opinion on whether to go with this or not. Councilmember Suter said she agrees that perhaps the ideal way to resolve it is to continue this Public Hearing and allow for public input.
Mayor Smith agreed, and said recognizing that would possibly raise the mistrust level. They could say here we go again, and we knew it was coming, and we could say yes, you are right, but we are trying to get your feedback on it.
Councilmember Suter agreed and said given the situation around economic development and the City's interest in maximizing every opportunity, it is only fair to let those folks know that we are interested in new business opportunities in the community where it works, and where our rules don't allow it, we want community input into whether that meets with their expectations about that site.
Councilman Carol Rudi said it seems to her it almost needs to be tied with an application to make a change, because we would be changing all C-1 zoning. We are not just changing that one place. If we give notice to the 30 or 40 people in this area, why are we not giving notice to the 30, 40 or 50 people at 56th Street or North Oak Trafficway or 72nd Street. Councilman Rudi said she knows we posted it and did our legal duty, but if we give preference to one group over another group by giving special notice, that is not right, especially if we are talking about ordinance changes. Councilman Rudi said her problem with this is the other issue the Planning Commission brought up in that there is really no way to regulate what happens in the parking lot. Councilman Rudi said she gets tired of running over cans of oil in the Wal-Mart parking lot that someone left because they did not need a whole can of oil when they put it into their cars. This is a trash issue that perhaps the neighbors have not considered, because those trash cans possibly will go into their yards, and they won't like that. Councilman Rudi said when this was first discussed at the Planning Commission, it sounded like a good idea, but the more she thinks about what happens in the parking lots around these types of facilities, she is not so certain it is a good idea.
Mr. Wingerson asked if City Council members should decide to hold a public hearing for the neighborhood, he would suggest that this be remanded back to the Planning Commission and allow them to hold the hearings.
There were no comments from the audience.
Mayor Smith closed the public hearing.
Item 15. on the Agenda. FIRST READING BILL 07-41, amending Section
7.135.010, and 7.140.010 of the Gladstone City Code relating to C-1 and C-2
Zoning Districts within the City of Gladstone.
Councilman Wayne Beer moved to place Bill 07-41 on First Reading. Councilman Carol Rudi seconded.
Councilman Beer said based on everything that has been stated and heard this evening, he will be opposed to this action.
The vote: All
aye Councilmember Carol Suter, Councilman Wayne Beer, Councilman Carol
Rudi, and Mayor Les Smith. (4-0). The Clerk read the Bill.
Councilman Wayne Beer moved to accept the First
Reading of Bill 07-41, Waive the Rule and place the Bill on Second and Final
Reading. Councilman Carol Rudi
seconded. The vote: All nay Councilmember Carol Suter,
Councilman Wayne Beer, Councilman Carol Rudi, and Mayor Les Smith. (0-4).
Mayor Smith
stated this is a 0-4 vote, and asked City Counselor David Ramsay if further
action is necessary.
City Counselor
Ramsay replied the Bill is defeated. It
could be brought up again with the Planning Commission.
Item 16. on the Agenda. OTHER BUSINESS.
There was no other business.
Item 17. on the Agenda. QUESTIONS FROM THE NEWS MEDIA.
There were no questions from the News Media.
Item 18. on the Agenda. ADJOURNMENT.
There being no further business to come before the
December 10, 2007, Gladstone Regular City Council Meeting, Mayor Les Smith
adjourned the regular meeting.
Respectfully
submitted:
______________________________
Cathy
Swenson, City Clerk
Approved
as submitted: ___
Approved
as corrected/amended: ___
______________________________
Mayor Les Smith