City of Portage
Plan Commission Meeting
Monday, October 20, 2008 – 6:00 P.M.
City Municipal Building, 115 West Pleasant Street
Conference Room Two
Members Present: Mayor Kenneth Jahn, Chairperson; Robert Redelings, City
Engineer, Addie Tamboli, Dan Daley, Kirk Konkel, Dennis Nachreiner, Peter
Tofson (arrived at 6:10 p.m.)
Others Present: Larry Plaster, City Administrator; Dave Gunderson, Joshua
Baker, Marie Moe, City Clerk; Michael Meson, Cindy Meson, Jeremy Lemere,
Michael Maas, Jim Grothman, Barb Salna, Ken Manthey, Police Chief; Tim
Schmidt, Susie Yenchesky, Craig Sauer, Bill Welsh
1. Roll call
2. Public Hearing – 6:00 p.m. considering the granting of a Conditional
Use Permit to Bret Esse of Esse’s Sports World at 119 West Cook
Street to sell scooters, mopeds and ATV’s in a B-2 Downtown
Commercial District
Redelings read the Notice of Public Hearing which had been published on
September 9 and October 6, 2008.
Mayor Jahn requested for the first time if there was anyone present who
wished to speak for or against the issuance of the conditional use permit
(CUP).
Tim Schmidt, owner of Schmidt Insurance at 121 W. Cook St. spoke in
favor of the CUP.
Mayor Jahn requested for the second time if there was anyone present
who wished to speak for or against the issuance of the conditional use
permit.
Mayor Jahn requested for the third time if there was anyone present who
wished to speak for or against the issuance of the conditional use permit.
Hearing no more testimony, the Mayor declared the Public Hearing closed
at 6:03 P.M.
3. Public Hearing – 6:05 p.m. considering the granting of a Conditional
Use Permit to Joshua M. Baker at 711 Prospect Avenue to operate a
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law practice in a R-3 Single-Family and Two-Family Residential
District
Redelings read the Notice of Public Hearing which had been published on
October 6 and October 13, 2008.
Mayor Jahn requested for the first time if there was anyone present who
wished to speak for or against the issuance of the conditional use permit
(CUP).
Joshua Baker, 711 Prospect Ave., indicated this would be a sole
proprietor type business, there would be no employees and most of the
business would be via correspondence.
Mayor Jahn requested for the second time if there was anyone present
who wished to speak for or against the issuance of the conditional use
permit.
Mayor Jahn requested for the third time if there was anyone present who
wished to speak for or against the issuance of the conditional use permit.
Hearing no more testimony, the Mayor declared the Public Hearing closed
at 6:06 P.M.
4. Approval of minutes from previous meeting
Motion by Nachreiner, second by Daley to approve the minutes of the
September 15, 2008 meeting. Konkel indicated he had inquired as to the
status of the Wieser Concrete Certified Survey. The change was noted
and the motion passed 5 to 0 on call of roll with Tamboli abstaining.
Peter Tofson joined the meeting at 6:10 P.M.
5. Discussion and possible action on Conditional Use Permit for Brett
Esse of Esse’s Sports World at 119 West Cook Street to sell
scooters, mopeds and ATV’s in a B-2 Downtown Commercial District
Redelings indicated that a phone message was left by Brett Esse
indicating he had a doctor’s appointment and may not be present.
Daley questioned whether the recreational vehicles would be displayed
inside or outside.
Nachreiner stated that in the past action on this type of request was tabled
when the applicant wasn’t present to answer questions.
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Motion by Redelings, second by Nachreiner to postpone action until the
next Plan Commission meeting. Motion carried unanimously on call of the
roll.
6. Discussion and possible action on Conditional Use Permit for
Joshua M. Baker at 711 Prospect Avenue to operate a law practice in
a R-3 Single-Family and Two-Family Residential District
Tamboli inquired as to how long Mr. Baker intended to work out of the
home before relocating to a properly zoned area. Mr. Baker indicated he
intended to move to an office as soon as he could afford it.
Motion by Tamboli, second by Tofson to approve the requested CUP for
one year.
Baker indicated he would like a sign. It was stated that a sign up to 6
square feet would be permitted and would need to be placed one foot
behind the sidewalk. Further discussion indicated the CUP was being
issued to the applicant and not the property owner.
Motion carried unanimously on call of the roll.
7. Discussion and possible action on Certified Survey Map (CSM) from
Habitat for Humanity
Plaster indicated the CSM was required to split the parcel into two lots and
that a variance had previously been granted regarding the lot widths.
Motion by Redelings, second by Tamboli to approve the CSM.
Nachreiner expressed a concern for setting a precedent. Plaster indicated
that many of the lots throughout the city. Nachreiner expressed his
concern for being consistent.
Motion carried unanimously on call of the roll.
8. Discussion and possible action on change of street name in Rolling
Hills Country Estates Subdivision from Night Owl Lane to Eagle
Ridge
Redelings indicated that it appeared the City never took formal action to
change the street name from Night Owl Lane to Eagle Ridge and as such,
it has never been recorded as Eagle Ridge.
Dave Gunderson indicated that when he purchased the street name sign,
he was informed he could call it Eagle Ridge. Subsequently, three homes
have been constructed and all have Eagle Ridge addresses.
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Motion by Nachreiner, second by Tamboli to approve the street name
change of Night Owl Lane to Eagle Ridge.
Motion carried unanimously on call of the roll.
9. Discussion and possible action on Certified Survey Map from
Gunderson Construction Company
Nachreiner inquired as to the vacation of the utility easements along the
common lot line of former lots 109 and 110.
Gunderson indicated the vacation would be processed subsequent to the
recordation of the CSM.
Motion by Nachreiner, second by Tamboli to approve the CSM (with the
corrected name change).
Motion carried unanimously on call of the roll.
10. Discussion and possible action on Appleton Papers addition
Mike Maas, Gunderson Construction, presented a preliminary plan for
Appleton Papers proposed building expansion.
Maas explained that the preliminary plans had previously been presented
to city staff (Agenda attached) and that timing was critical for the project to
proceed. All approvals need to be obtained by January 1, 2009 and
construction needed to begin no later than March 1, 2009.
The building would be fully sprinklered and a stormwater management
plan was currently being developed. Parking would be provided in
accordance with the ordinance to accommodate employees and visitors.
Though an office is planned for, the timing would be dependent upon
available funds. Two alternative exterior treatments are being considered
– the preferred one with concrete panels and the more economical one
with steel siding.
Several questions were asked of Maas and Jeremy Lamere regarding
negligible impacts on public infrastructure, adequate parking, building
setbacks, truck movements and the potential for future expansion. All
questions were answered affirmatively.
Motion by Jahn, second by Nachreiner to approve the preliminary site plan
and if the final plan abides by all city ordinances, staff review would be
adequate and it would not need to come back before the Plan
Commission.
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Tamboli inquired as to whether the City Administrator and City Engineer
were comfortable with this and they indicated they were.
Konkel indicated he was not comfortable with the procedure and a
discussion ensued. The need for checks and balances was mentioned
along with time is of the essence.
Motion carried 6 to 1 on call of roll with Konkel voting no.
11. Discussion and possible action on Conditional Use Permit for
Michael Meson, 1721 New Pinery Road
Plaster indicated this matter was coming back to the Plan Commission
because the CUP was issued over a year ago with the stipulation that The
Porterhouse Motel would have all 35 units licensed by the State within one
year. To date, no more units have been licensed beyond the five that were
licensed a year ago.
Barb Salna, Columbia County Nurse, presented her findings from her last
scheduled inspection on September 23 and a surprise visit on October 17,
2008. Though only required to inspect 10% of the units on behalf of the
State, she inspected 2 of the 5 units and declared them both unfit for
licensure as motel units. She was denied entry into a third unit due to the
presence of a pit bull. Additionally, there were cats in the lobby, fecal
matter in the lobby and a strong ammonia smell was also present. She
stated this would never, ever be an acceptable condition. She inspects
about 60 motels in Columbia County and this is the worst one. Conditions
have gone down hill over the past year and nothing had been done with
the two unacceptable rooms as of October 17.
Chief Manthey presented a record of calls to the Porterhouse from
September 1, 2007 to October 20, 2008 (attached). There were 130 calls
and he indicated that the average of all the other motels in the City is one
to two. Most of the calls result from the long term tenants.
In response to the Mayor, Plaster indicated the Porterhouse property is
zoned B-1 and a CUP is required to operate a motel. Also, long term
occupancy isn’t permitted because it isn’t zoned residential.
Cindy Meson spoke to several issues. She was under the impression that
their CUP ran until December 1, 2008. Also, she and Michael have had
some health problems and their housekeeper had let them down. She
wasn’t trying to get away with any thing and if Larry Meitner, the State
inspector, had performed an inspection, he would have found that another
10 rooms would have qualified for licensure.
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The commissioners discussed the situation at length; considering the
consequences of permitting and not permitting the motel to remain.
Motion by Nachreiner, second by Tamboli to deny the CUP until all 35
units pass State inspection and qualify for licensure.
Nachreiner indicated that the State inspector would be expedited to
Portage upon the City receiving notice that all units were ready for
inspection.
Motion failed 4 to 2 on call of roll with Jahn, Redelings, Konkel and Tofson
voting no and Daley abstaining.
Motion by Konkel, second by Tofson to extend the existing CUP until
November 1, 2008, to grant a CUP to all units passing State inspection by
November 1, 2008 and require vacation of tenants from all units not
passing inspection by November 1, 2008.
Motion passed 4 to 2 on call of roll with Nachreiner and Tamboli voting no
and Daley abstaining.
12. Discussion and possible action on O’Reilly’s Auto Store
Development
Redelings presented construction plans for a new auto parts store to be
located where Noah’s Marine is located on New Pinery Road. He
explained that the plans have been reviewed by staff and the consultant
building inspector. A wetland delineation had been performed and
stormwater fee calculations provided. Suggestions were made to the
parking and driveway access and all required modifications have been
made to the City’s satisfaction and in accordance with the City’s code of
ordinances. The exterior is designed with split face concrete block.
Konkel expressed his disappointment of not having an opportunity to
review the plans as provided for in Section 90.35 of the Zoning Code.
Redelings apologized for the oversight, stating he had only recently
become aware of the requirement.
Motion by Tamboli, second by Tofson to approve the Plans for the
O’Reilley Auto Store. Motion passed 6 to 0 on call of roll with Konkel
abstaining.
13. Discussion on Certified Survey for Wieser Concrete
Mayor Jahn presented a memorandum from City Attorney Voigt pertaining
to the City’s extraterritorial review authority.
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Konkel took issue with the last sentence of the memo, contending that the
CSM could not be administratively approved.
Motion by Nachreiner, second by Tamboli to take the matter off the table.
Motion carried unanimously on call of the roll.
Motion by Nachreiner, second by Redelings to approve the revised CSM.
Motion carried unanimously on call of the roll.
14. Discussion and possible action on Section 90.35 of the Zoning Code
Mayor Jahn suggested that there may be development requests
sufficiently minor in nature that City staff review may be sufficient and may
not warrant coming before the Plan Commission for approval. He
suggested there may be some threshold that should be considered which
would change the language of section 90.35 of the Zoning Code.
Nachreiner and Tamboli expressed the merits of having a system of
checks and balances.
Mayor Jahn indicated that past Plan Commissions actually granted
variances and approved items requiring variances.
Konkel indicated the language should be left as is. He also indicated that
in the past, a checklist was used in the review of plans submitted for
developments and memoranda issued to the Plan Commission to aid in
their approval.
Redelings indicated that it had only been provided the checklist about 3
weeks ago.
Tamboli suggested the checklist be employed in the future.
15. Adjournment
Motion by Tamboli, second by Redelings to adjourn. Motion carried
unanimously on call of the roll.
The meeting concluded at 9:20 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
Robert G. Redelings,
Public Works Director
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