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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFebruary 6, 2007 Worksession CITY OF COLUMBIA HEIGHTS 590 40th Avenue N.E., Columbia Heights, MN 55421-3878 (763) 706-3600 TDD (763) 706-3692 Visit Our Website at: www.ci.columbia-heights.mn.us MEMBERS: Marlaine Szurek, Chair Donna Schmitt Rob Fiorendino Mike Peterson David Thompson PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION WORKSESSION 6:00 PM TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2007 CITY HALL CONFERENCE ROOM 1 590 40TH A VENUE NE AGENDA 1. Roll Call 2. Business Items A. Proposal to eliminate the requirement of a Conditional Use Permit fOl' Seasonal Outdoor Sales. B. Proposal to set stricter standards on the use of Temporary Signage throughout the City. 3. Adjourn The Responsibility ofthe Planning Commission is to: . Faithfully serve the public interest. . Represent existing and future residents, and base our decisions and recommendations on the Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Ordinance. . Recognize the rights of citizens to participate in planning decisions. . Protect the natural environment and the heritage of the built environment. . Exercise fair, honest, and independent judgment. . Abstain from participation when they may directly or indirectly benefit from a planning decision, THE CITY OF COLUMBIA HEIGHTS DOES NOT DISCRIMINATE ON THE BASIS OF DISABILITY IN EMPLOYMENT OR THE PROVISION OF SERVICES EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER City of Columbia Heights Memo To: Planning Commission From:Jeff Sargent, City Planner Date: 2/1/2007 Re: Seasonal Outdoor Sales PROPOSITION Staff proposes the Planning Commission discuss amending the Zoning Code regarding the elimination of the requirement for a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) for all future Seasonal Outdoor Sales activities. PROBLEM The Planning Commission and the City Council's time are not put to the best use while processing a request for Seasonal Outdoor Sales proposals. The Seasonal Outdoor Sales applications that are received by the City are proposed by companies that have been conducting the same business in the same location for a considerable amount of time. In the 2006 season, 3 of the 9 Conditional Use Permits that were processed by the Planning Commission and the City Council were proposals for greenhouses throughout the city. Those three companies requesting the CUP have conducted 31 combined years of business in the City of Columbia Heights. The Linder's Greenhouse, which locates in the Rainbow Grocery Store parking lot, has conducted business in Columbia Heights for the past 17 years. Each year, the application is identical to the previous year's application, and each year the CUP gets approved. This redundancy of applying for and receiving a CUP for this type of use throughout the city wastes the Planning Commission and City Council's time. POSSIBLE ALTERNATIVE A possible solution to this problem is to eliminate the requirement for a CUP for Seasonal Outdoor Sales. To implement this solution, the City would have to amend the Zoning Code to move the Seasonal Outdoor Sales use from a Conditional Use to a Permitted Use. It is also suggested that a definition of Seasonal Outdoor Sales be added to the Zoning Code in order to specify the types of businesses that the ordinance amendment would pertain to. City Staff would process the proposals of all future Seasonal Outdoor Sales. Staff proposes the requirement of a license to sell merchandise in a temporary structure during these occurrences. All other previous requirements of a Seasonal Outdoor Sales use would be enforced. Implementing the removal of the requirement for a CUP for Seasonal Outdoor Sales would discontinue the redundancy for the City Council's need of approving these uses. . Page 2 - Me To: Planning Commission from: Jeff Sargent, City Planner Date: 2/1/2007 Re: Temporary Signage PROPOSITION Staff proposes the Planning Commission discuss amending the zoning code regarding temporary signage to better implement the intent of the goats of the Comprehensive Plan and the Design Guidelines adopted for the Central Avenue and 40th Avenue corridors, PROBLEM The current zoning code allows for temporary signage that is not consistent with the intent of the Comprehensive Plan or Design Guidelines for the Central Avenue and 40th Avenue corridors, The current code allows for clutter that is aesthetically unappealing and does not implement the policies, A survey of the Central Avenue corridor revealed that there are currently 112 temporary signs along the 2-mile stretch of road, not including the temporary signage used in the City of Hilltop, Lack of effective regulation is found in the following areas: . Sign Placement The current Sign Code allows temporary signs to be placed anywhere on the building, The current code also allows any number of temporary signs to be placed on the building and does not regulate the length of time such temporary sign may be displayed, This contradicts the specific intent of the Design Guidelines, which focus on enhancing the building's architectural features, . Sign Color The current Sign Code does not regulate the colors used on temporary signs, Whereas the intent of the Design Guidelines is to incorporate permanent signage that complements the existing structure, it allows for temporary sign colors that would detract from the building's aesthetic appeal. . Number of Signs The current Sign Code allows for any number of permanent wall signs to be used on a building, but caps the total allowable square footage of all signs as a function of the amount of building frontage along the public right-of-way. The current Sign Code allows any number of temporary signs to be placed on the building at any given time and restricts each sign to be no more than 60 square feet in size. . Freestanding Signs The current Sign Code allows for any number of freestanding temporary signs, as long as they do not exceed 8 square feet in size. The Sign Code does not regulate where the signs may be located, the materials the signs should be made of, the professionalism of the sign, or how long the sign may be erected for. Without effective regulation to establish minimum standards to guide the use of temporary signage, 40th Avenue and particularly Central Avenue will continue to have a shoddy, cluttered and unkempt appearance. COMPREHENSIVE PLAN Discussion of regulations begins with identifying the community's goals for aesthetics and image found in the Comprehensive Plan. The Comprehensive Plan identifies the goals; the purpose of th'e zoning ordinance is to guide private activity toward the achievement of those goals. The City's Comprehensive Plan indicates several goals for the economic and commercial vitality of the city. Some of these goals include: 1. Establishing and maintaining a strong sense of community, 2. Strengthening the image of the community as a desirable place to live and work. 3. Enhancing the physical appearance of the community. 4. Improving the image of commercial areas as friendly and safe environments for residents and visitors, The implementation of these goals centers on the City's ability to redevelop the commercial and retail sectors and establish a friendly working and living environment for the residents of and visitors to Columbia Heights. The Comprehensive Plan indicates that a coalition should be formed to develop a framework to help implement these goals. A coalition was formed in 2002 to draft the Design Guidelines required for future development and redevelopment projects along 40th Avenue and Central Avenue. .. Page 2 The Design Guidelines establish a set of minimum standards for developers to follow when constructing new buildings or building additions to existing ones. The objective in the Design Guidelines for signage is that "signs should be architecturally compatible with the style, composition, materials, colors and details of the building, and with other signs on nearby buildings. Signs should be an integral part of building and site design" The Design Guidelines regulate such things as the types of signs to be used, the shape of signs, the placement of signs on the building, the colors and materials the signs could incorporate, and the illumination of the signs. The Design Guidelines incorporate these specific criteria in order to enhance the aesthetic appeal of the city. The Design Guidelines were adopted on September 22, 2003 to insure a standard of quality in all new construction that was compatible with the visions and expectations of the community as a whole. The intent of the guidelines is to bring the aesthetic appeal of the Central Avenue and 40th Avenue corridors to a level that met the expectations of the community. POSSIBLE ALTERNATIVES Some proposals to solve the problem are as follows: 1. Regulate the number of temporary signs allowed for each business. This would enable to City to control the number of temporary wall signs displayed at any given time and throughout the calendar year. A permit process would be needed' to control this. A recommendation would be to allow 5 temporary wall signs per business per calendar year, and no more than1 temporary wall sign displayed at any given time. 2. Regulate the amount of time that a temporary wall sign may be displayed for. Temporary wall signs should be limited to a 30-day display period per sign. This would ensure that the temporary wall signs were not in place on a year-round basis. 3. Limit the size of the temporary wall sign. The current Sign Code allows a temporary wall sign to be no more than 60 square feet in area. A recommendation would be to decrease the maximum size to 40 square feet. This would help proportion the sign in a more aesthetic manner on buildings within the city. 4. Language should be included in to Code that temporary wall signs may not be used for permanent wall signage. Currently, the Sign Code does not regulate the requirement of a permanent wall sign for a business. The intent of temporary signage is to promote an event, sale, etc. Temporary signage should not be used for permanent means. .. Page 3 5. Create provision for sandwich board sign. A sandwich board sign is a freestanding sign. Once defined, the City could regulate the types of building materials of the sign, the professionalism of the sign, the location of the sign and the number of such signs to be allowed per business. This would reduce unnecessary clutter in the City. 6. Disallow "stick-in-the-ground" signs. This would reduce clutter and increase the aesthetic appeal of the City. .. Page 4 .,.. , >>,", '~, .~, '.~ "7~"... ~."."", ,,'. <''''~'''' '''>:':~''' """<::', , ':4X;.:';~~i:i~:';"'::', '" ~.' : ",'<1;'~ -"...." ,', ., ,..' ..f'~,".,"". ..(.".... ~" ,..'.. . I I .' ..;;. ~ ~ .<<,....-.',."":., ..... -"".;:., ...""d';....~~ _~"C,~r-~; ~~:"'~"- ......''''' ?~--- .~ .- _ .--",'", '~ '~':;":::~e. ~ ,- ',"'i,~->",,,J~',_ ". ,.. ~. "~:" ~'::'> . __y::C- ~q4"" ,~'''\~;.~f KL, \ ", ..,,:;, < "...f!p>J,t", "1"'" [. '. ~_.~--_.---- ......- - -,,--,~, /" - .~ ~t~ t:..fQ~ =ti1(I.ii:Nr:t!il.~~i=i ;4" J i . . . ,- ':- ~",,:' " ,. '" .' '. 'j "-'.