Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting

Meeting Agenda

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Meeting Minutes

RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
MINUTES OF THE PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION MEETING
CITY OF BALLWIN – 300 PARK DRIVE
August 1, 2011

The meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission was called to order by Chairman Michael Wind at 7:00 p.m.  Members in attendance were:
 
PRESENT                                                               ABSENT
Secretary Frank Karr                                       Chairman Michael Wind
Commissioner Pat Apel                                 Commissioner Chris Wright
Commissioner John Schwent 
Commissioner Sue Theodore 
Commissioner Mike Utt 
Commissioner Mark Weaver 
Alderman Frank Fleming 
Mayor Tim Pogue  
Assistant City Administrator Thomas Aiken 
City Engineer Gary Kramer 
City Attorney Robert E. Jones  

Approval of Minutes

A motion was made by Commissioner Apel and seconded by Mayor Pogue to approve the minutes of the July 5, 2011 meeting of the Planning & Zoning Commission as submitted.  The motion received unani-mous approval from the Commission members present. 

Z 11-04 Zoning Ordinance Change (Add Manchester Road Revitalization Overlay Zoning)
 Dean Team Hyundai, 14754 Manchester Rd, Ballwin MO  63011
 Petitioner:  Mr. Patrick Dean, 15754 Manchester Rd, Ballwin MO 63011

Mr. Robert Hiller of Duggan Contracting presented the revised proposal to the Commission on behalf of the petitioner.  He said the petitioner feels they have come up with a compromise to satisfy the require-ments of the Planning & Zoning Commission.  He said the petitioner wants to comply as much as possible while maintaining a financially feasible plan.

Mr. Hiller discussed the easement approach on the east property line.  There is a 32’ strip of land east of the Dean Team Hyundai property.  The petitioner suggests that this become a permanent easement and a landscape buffer.  Currently the northern portion has plantings of evergreens.  The petitioner proposes cleaning the scrub brush from the southern portion and replacing it with decorative rock.  One new tree will be planted. 

Mr. Hiller said the petitioner is requesting a waiver of the 25’ rear yard setback because the southern edge of the property is already a buffer as it exists today.  The petitioner is proposing no new landscaping in this area.

Mr. Hiller said that along the west property line, the petitioner is proposing to secure the promise of a future easement should the property to the west be sold and the building on it razed.  Acting Chairman Karr asked about ownership of the retaining wall and metal fence on the west property line.  Mr. Hiller said that it belongs to the property owner to the west.  Acting Chairman Karr asked if the petitioner has information of a change in the property to the west.  Mr. Hiller said he has no such information.

At the north edge of the Hyundai property, which is 374 lineal feet of Manchester Road frontage, Mr. Hiller said the petitioner is proposing a 10’ wide landscape area along approximately 70% of this frontage. 

Mr. Hiller said the petitioner is proposing to eliminate the central curb cut to provide additional customer and/or inventory parking in front of the building.  He is proposing to build a decorative sidewalk to pro-vide pedestrian access from Manchester Road to the building.  The width of the sidewalk in front of the proposed new building is proposed to match the width of the sidewalk in front of the existing building.

Acting Chairman Karr asked if the 25’ rear yard setback requirement was waived, would the petitioner be willing to provide the required setbacks and green space in the front of the property?  Mr. Hiller said that it wouldn’t help with providing more parking, because what would be lost to the rear yard setback is in-ventory parking, and what would be lost at the front of the property is mostly customer parking.  Ms. Christine Look of Pickett Ray & Silver said that the rear portion of the lot is undevelopable, so parking could not be gained in that area.  Acting Chairman Karr said that people will not see the back portion of the lot, since it is for inventory parking, but they will see the front of the property.  His concern is that passersby on Manchester Road see an aesthetically pleasing development.  Mr. Doug Tieman of Pickett Ray & Silver addressed the Commission, saying that that is why the petitioner has provided the 10’ of green space along 65% of the frontage of the site. 

Mr. Hiller spoke about the cross-access easement.  Acting Chairman Karr asked if the petitioner is willing to provide access to the adjoining property.  Mr. Hiller said it will eliminate three parking spaces, but the petitioner is willing to do that.

Acting Chairman Karr asked if there is an irrigation plan.  Mr. Hiller said the petitioner is proposing irri-gation for the front plantings only.  The rest of the site will be manually irrigated by Dean Team Hyundai staff responsible for the lot.

Mayor Pogue asked if the petitioner has received a letter from MSD stating that detention or water quality is not required.  Ms. Look said the petitioner has a copy of MSD’s ordinance which applies to this site that states that detention would not be required.  She said that MSD will not provide a letter without having met with the petitioner and/or Ballwin staff.  Acting Chairman Karr asked if the petitioner has met with MoDOT.  Mr. Hiller said they sat down with MoDOT early on and MoDOT is willing to consider the sale of the right-of-way wedge along a portion of the frontage of the site.

Mr. Hiller spoke about providing benches for pedestrians to sit.  He said there would be benches around the building.  Acting Chairman Karr asked about the short area of wood fencing along the south property line.  Will that be replaced?  Mr. Hiller said it would probably be replaced with vinyl fencing.

Acting Chairman Karr asked about the architecture of the building, and achieving the feel of a two-story building.  Has the petitioner considered raising the parapet on the building an additional four feet from what is shown on the plans?  Mr. Hiller said this would raise it 8’ from where it is presently.  Raising it to the height shown on the plans will already require substantial reinforcement of the roof.  It would be vir-tually impossible to achieve an additional 4 feet and maintain structural integrity.  It would be as costly to raise the parapet to 8’ as it would be to tear down the building and start over. 

Alderman Fleming asked if there will be good roof screening.  Mr. Hiller said that the required screening will be provided around the rooftop units.  The petition review report recommended extending the parapet around all sides, but the petitioner is proposing standard screening of the rooftop units for the south side.

Alderman Fleming said he doesn’t feel that the proposed sidewalk in front of the building is adequate.  Mayor Pogue said that he is concerned that it will not meet the ADA clearance for turnaround.  Alderman Fleming asked City Planner Aiken about the east and the north sides of the site.  Mr. Aiken said that on the east there are 2-3’ of green space on the property.  He feels that adding another 3 feet to achieve the 5’ minimum would not necessarily cause the petitioner to lose as many parking spaces as are indicated on the drawings. There is also flexibility in lane width in the inventory storage areas.  City Planner Aiken said that the petitioner’s concerns about the north side of the site are, in his opinion, legitimate.  He said, however, that the petitioner must meet ADA standards for the sidewalk. 

Mayor Pogue said he counted eight issues for which the petitioner will need to go before the Board of Adjustment.  He said some of the items regarding irrigation and setbacks duplicate themselves between the C-1 district and the MRD.  These mainly relate to landscape buffers of islands with greater than five parking spaces, screening, irrigation, right-of-way parking frontage, setbacks, and the 12’ sidewalk.  Mayor Pogue said he is amenable to waiving the requirement for the 25’ rear yard setback.

Acting Chairman Karr reopened the public hearing and asked if there were any opponents who wished to speak in opposition to Petition Z 11-04.  There were none.  Acting Chairman Karr asked if there were any proponents wishing to speak in favor of the petition.  There were none, and Acting Chairman Karr de-clared the public hearing closed.

Mayor Pogue made a motion to recommend approval of Petition Z 11-04 to the Board of Aldermen, with the provision that the petitioner convince the Board of Adjustment to grant variances for the following:  C-1 District regulation Article IX (4)(1)(i), and the MRD regulations 5(5), 5(6), 5(8), 5(11), 6(1), 7(3), and 9(7).   Alderman Fleming seconded the motion, which received unanimous approval from the Commission members present.

SUE 11-02 Special Use Exception
 (Alcoholic Beverage Sales by the Drink for Consumption on Premises where Sold)
 Kabuki Restaurant, 15015 Manchester Rd, Ballwin MO  63011
 Petitioner:  Ms. Michele Yan Liu, 754 W. Canterbury Rd #A, St. Louis MO 63132

Ms. Michele Liu addressed the Commission, requesting approval for the special use exception.  Acting Chairman Karr asked if the restaurant would employ any minors.  Ms. Liu said she did not believe so.  Acting Chairman Karr asked about the hours of operation.  Ms. Liu said she plans to open the restaurant in September and will be open seven days a week, from 11:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. The restaurant will reopen at 4:30 and remain open until 9:30 p.m. during the week; 10:30 p.m on the weekend.  Alcohol is typically served during the evening hours.   Mayor Pogue said there have previously been two restaurants that served alcohol in this strip mall.  It would be consistent with previous practice to allow this petitioner to do the same.

Acting Chairman Karr opened the public hearing and asked if there was anyone who wished to speak in favor of Petition SUE 11-02.  There were none.  Acting Chairman Karr asked if there was anyone wishing to speak in opposition to the petition.  There were none, and Acting Chairman Karr declared the public hearing closed.

Alderman Fleming made a motion to recommend approval of Petition SUE 11-02 to the Board of Alder-men.   Commissioner Utt seconded the motion, which received unanimous approval from the Commission members present.

SUE 11-03 Special Use Exception (Site Plan Amendment)
 McDonalds Restaurant, 15204 Manchester Rd, Ballwin MO  63011
 Petitioner:  Mr. Dan Gross, 281 Veterans Memorial Parkway #11, Warrenton MO  63383

Mr. Chris Hagen of Epic Design Group addressed the Commission, requesting approval for the amended site plan for McDonald’s.   Mr. Hagen said that McDonald’s is undergoing a nationwide program to up-date its brand, modernize its image, and enhance its operation.  As part of this process, they are installing side-by-side drive-thru lanes to more efficiently serve the public.  The petitioner is also pursuing a cross-access agreement with the property to the east.  Mr. Hagen said McDonald’s will lose two parking spaces as a result of this cross access agreement. 

Mr. Hagen submitted a revised drawing to the Commission members, which showed additional landscap-ing.  Acting Chairman Karr asked about stormwater detention.  Mr. Hagen said the nature of the altera-tions to the property does not generate any significant change in stormwater.  The petitioner will, however, submit drawings to MSD for their approval.

City Planner Aiken said that the Board of Aldermen recently passed an ordinance that requires all sites, regardless of size, to come into compliance with MSD detention and water quality standards.  The ordi-nance contains a provision that if the reworking of the site is 1/3 or less of the area of the site, then deten-tion equal to 1/3 of what site would require must be provided, 2/3 of the site would require 2/3 of the de-tention, and anything over 2/3 would require detention for the entire site.  This petition falls into the 1/3 category of the ordinance.  Presently there is no detention on this site.  

Alderman Fleming noted that City Planner Aiken and the Board of Aldermen invested a lot of time, thought, and effort into this ordinance; however, this petition is not one that the Board envisioned when the ordinance was written.  This proposed change will, in effect, improve the situation in relation to queu-ing and traffic flow for the drive-thru window.  It will not impact runoff because the petitioner is replac-ing pavement with pavement.  City Attorney Jones noted that the ordinance cited give the Board of Al-dermen make the decision the authority to waive the detention and water quality requirements.

Acting Chairman Karr asked about the loss of parking spaces that will result from this site plan amend-ment.  City Planner Aiken said that the petitioner is marginally compliant with what they need to provide peak period parking.  He said he feels the cross-access easement across the adjoining property to Old Ballwin Road is more valuable overall to the City than the potential, occasional parking issue would be detrimental.    Mr. Hagen said the drive-thru accounts for 70% of McDonald’s business. 

Acting Chairman Karr asked if there would be changes to the building.  Mr. Hagen said there would be cosmetic changes.

Acting Chairman Karr opened the public hearing and asked if there were any proponents who wished to speak in favor of Petition SUE 11-03.  There were none.  Acting Chairman Karr asked if there was anyone wishing to speak in opposition to the petition.  There were no opponents, and Acting Chairman Karr declared the public hearing closed.

Mayor Pogue made a motion to recommend approval of Petition SUE 11-03 to the Board of Aldermen, and that the Board of Aldermen waive the detention and water quality requirements in SUE section 2(7).   Commissioner Utt seconded the motion, which received unanimous approval from the Commission mem-bers present.
 
Z 11-05 Zoning Ordinance Change (Amend MRD Overlay Zone Site Development Plan)
 Wendy’s Old-Fashioned Hamburgers, 14799 Manchester Rd, Ballwin MO  63011
 Petitioner:  Mr. Kris Kaffenberger, One Dave Thomas Blvd, Dublin OH  43017 

Mr. Brandon Harp of Civil Engineering Design Consultants addressed the Commission, requesting ap-proval for the proposed development.  Mr. Harp described the site and the development.  He said that the petitioner is in negotiations with the property owner to the east to try to remove the retaining wall between the properties.

Mr. Harp addressed the concerns raised in the petition review report.  He distributed a revised landscaping plan showing the required landscaping and ornamental fencing along the east property line, as well as a landscaped island on the west side of the development that has been increased to a 5’ width.  As a result, and in cooperation with the owners, the U-Gas development was shifted 2’ to the west.   While a continu-ous line of shrubbery is shown, there are no trees.  The concern was that trees would scrape the sides of cars passing along that roadway.  The petitioner will be conforming fully to the type “B” buffer on the east side.  Mr. Harp said that the interior access road was adjusted to allow more green space on the Wen-dy’s site.  Mr. Harp said the petitioner will appeal to the Board of Adjustment for a variance to the street trees and ornamental fencing requirements.  

Mayor Pogue asked City Planner Aiken if this would be acceptable.  Mr. Aiken said yes, if the Planning & Zoning Commission is willing to accept the additional 10’ of landscaping as an alternative site im-provement to meet the green space requirement as it did with the Nissan site. 

Ms. Carla Welch of Arcturis spoke about the architecture of the building.  She said Wendy’s agreed to increase the parapet height to 21’ with the tower element at 30’.  This is a significant increase for the company.  The main entrance on the east side is a covered entrance.  The secondary entrance is not cov-ered, since it is not used as heavily as the main entrance.

Acting Chairman Karr asked about site lighting.  Mr. Harp said it will meet City of Ballwin requirements.  Mayor Pogue recommended using high efficiency fixtures for site illumination. 

Acting Chairman Karr asked when the petitioner planned to open.  Mr. Harp said they anticipated spring construction and opening in 2012.

Acting Chairman Karr asked about parking spaces.  City Planner Aiken said that there is no room for ad-ditional parking spaces; for the vast majority of the hours of operation, there is more than enough parking on the site.  For the peak lunch hour, the U-Gas site is available for overflow.  He doesn’t feel there is a serious problem in terms of parking.  Mr. Harp said that typically if a customer doesn’t find parking, they will go through the drive-thru or they will go elsewhere.

Acting Chairman Karr opened the public hearing and asked if there were any proponents who wished to speak in favor of Petition Z 11-05.  There were none.  Acting Chairman Karr asked if there was anyone wishing to speak in opposition to the petition.  There were no opponents, and Acting Chairman Karr de-clared the public hearing closed.

Mayor Pogue made a motion to recommend approval of Petition Z 11-05 to the Board of Aldermen, with the provision that the petitioner obtain a variance from the Board of Adjustment for MRD section 5(6) in regards to the west side landscaping.   Alderman Fleming seconded the motion, which received unani-mous approval from the Commission members present.

September Meeting – Holiday Conflict

City Planner Aiken said that since all items on this evening’s agenda received a positive recommendation from the Planning & Zoning Commission, there are no September agenda items. 

Adjournment

A motion was made by Acting Chairman Karr and seconded by Commissioner Apel to adjourn the meet-ing.  The motion received unanimous approval, and the meeting was adjourned at 9:02 p.m.

Frank Karr, Acting Chairman
Planning & Zoning Commission