MORRISON COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION GOVERNMENT CENTER November 25, :00 P.M. MINUTES

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1 MORRISON COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION GOVERNMENT CENTER November 25, :00 P.M. MINUTES The Morrison County Planning Commission held a public hearing and a regular monthly meeting in Meeting Room one (1) of the Morrison County Government Center, Little Falls, MN Members Present: Tom Crawford, Dave Stish, Robert Lorenz, Darvin Keehr, Joe Stumpf and Commissioner Randy Winscher Members Absent: None Also present were Commissioners: Duane Johnson, Jeff Jelinski and Kevin Maurer Commissioners Absent: Don Meyer Ex-Officio Members Present: Amy Kowalzek, Sharon Peterson, Brian Middendorf and Steve Backowski Ex-Officio Members Absent: Darrin Welle Chairman Tom Crawford called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 1. Doreen Moe rd St; Little Falls, MN Application to Rezone 3.54 acres of land from Commercial to Rural Residential for the purpose of keeping a home and up to 1.5 animal units; located in part of the SE ¼ of SE ¼, Section 02, Township 041, Range 031, Belle Prairie Township. Doreen Moe was present Amy Kowalzek entered into record Rezone application, site plan, plat map and parcel location, staff report, aerial photo, aerial photo with zoning, Township Recommendation and Comment Form. There were 23 notices sent out to neighboring property owners. There was no correspondence. Amy entered into record the Zoning Amendment Discussion Questions. APPLICATION SUBMITTED: To rezone parcel number from Commercial to Rural Residential for the purposes of maintaining a dwelling and hobby farm. COUNTY ZONING ORDINANCE REQUIREMENT: Section 508 of the Morrison County Land Use Control Ordinance pertains to amending the official zoning map. STAFF REPORT: The applicant purchased this 3.54-acre parcel in A home, built in 1929, exists on the property. The Commercial zoning district was assigned to this parcel by Belle Prairie Township when they administered their own zoning. A discussion with the Babe Brisk from the Belle Prairie Township Board offered insight into the reason for zoning the parcel Commercial. She stated that the Freedhem Store, the Consolidated Telephone hub and a meat market were adjacent to this parcel, so the decision was made to zone that general area Commercial. The parcel currently is used as a homestead and hobby farm. Dwellings and agricultural use is prohibited within the Commercial zoning district.

2 The Planning & Zoning Office received a complaint regarding the use of the commercially zoned property for agricultural use. Notice was given to the landowner that a violation of the Land Use Control Ordinance exists. The corrective actions were to either remove the agricultural animals or request a rezone of the property to a zoning district that allows such animals. The use of the property for a homestead is considered a legal non-conforming use. If the use of the property for a homestead is abandoned, it cannot be reestablished if it is discontinued for a continuous 12 month period. The applicant is proposing to rezone the parcel to Rural Residential, as the Rural Residential zoning district does permit dwellings and agricultural uses. The Land Use Control Ordinance does have performance standards for the number of animal units on small lots within the Rural Residential zoning district. The parcel is not of adequate size (minimum five acres) to be considered for an Agriculture zoning designation. The surrounding parcels are zoned Agriculture, Residential and Commercial. The parcel is situated along 203 rd Street, which is a county road. The Purpose of the Commercial Zoning District is: to promote and protect areas which currently are active commercial areas or meet the comprehensive plan guidelines for future or desired commercial development. The purpose of the Rural Residential Zoning District is: to promote and protect areas which have low density, generally residential development and are essentially rural in character. It is intended to allow traditional rural activities such as agriculture, forestry, home businesses and occupations in manners that do not degrade the rural character of the area. Applicable Comprehensive Plan Goal B1: Promote the wise utilization of land for organized residential development. Goal Objective 1: Increase the use of cluster designs for rural residential development, especially in development scenarios where open space can be used for buffering residential and agricultural land use areas. Applicable Comprehensive Plan Goal C1: Promote a thriving county-wide community by promoting economic and business diversity. Goal Objective 5 Increase the use of buffering or similar practices to minimize the impacts of residential development on commercial and industrial use, and commercial and industrial use on residential development. Goal C2: Minimize the impacts of business development on other land use within Morrison County. Goal Objective 1- Limit commercial and industrial development only in areas capable of handling such development with adequate infrastructure and services. Goal Objective 5 Reduce the impacts of spot zoning by carefully considering the adverse secondary impacts of the potential business and its future use. The applicant appeared before the Belle Prairie Township Board on January 14, The Belle Prairie Township Board has offered a recommendation for approval of this request and stated the rezone will conform to the Comprehensive Plan. Darvin Keehr stated that in the past there was an insurance agent that owned this property and sold it, it is bordering other agricultural properties. Joe Stumpf asked if there is a meat market or a slaughter house still in the area. Doreen Moe stated there is not. Randy Winscher asked what types of animals are on the property. Doreen Moe stated she has chickens and other small animals. Randy asked if agriculture zoning required five acres. Amy Kowalzek stated the request is to rezone the

3 property to rural residential with a limit of 1.5 animal units. Randy asked if this is two different areas for uses. Amy stated that agriculture and rural residential zonings are two separate zonings with different lot sizes. Dave Stish asked Doreen Moe if she was familiar with the number of animal units allowed on properties. Doreen Moe stated that she is and was given a list. Jeff Jelinski stated he does not have an issue with this rezone it has been this way for years and I support the request. Doreen Moe stated that she never knew that the property was zoned commercial. Tom Crawford stated that Doreen Moe has been on the property since Kevin Maurer stated that it states on your tax statement what the zoning of the property is. Amy Kowalzek stated that the tax statement shows how the property is being used or the tax classification, this is not the zoning. Randy Winscher asked if a condition should be placed on the request that the property cannot exceed 1.5 animal units. Amy Kowalzek stated that you cannot condition a rezone and the 1.5 animal unit maximum is already in the ordinance. Dave Stish stated that this is the third time someone has come in and they are unaware of the zoning on their property or what they can do on their property. Is there a way we can eliminate this confusion. Amy Kowalzek stated that property owners have a due diligence to check with our office to see what the zoning is and what is allowed there. It is always nice to have that interface with property owners. Audience Comment: Robin Hensel stated she is in support of the rezone to allow animals on her property. The standards seem tough for a rural area. Concerned with complaints, this seems to be a problem in this area. Chairman Tom Crawford went through the Zoning Amendment Questions with the board. The voting sheets were polled. A motion to approve the rezone request was made by Darvin Keehr. The motion was second by Randy Winscher. The vote was all in favor. This application will go in front of the Morrison County Board of Commissioners on December 3, Central MN Credit Union Haven Rd; Little Falls, MN Application for a Conditional Use Permit to establish a bulk fertilizer facility; located in part of N ½ of NW ¼, Section 20, Township 040, Range 032, Little Falls Township. Tom Wilczek and Lon Johnson (Centra Sota) were present Amy Kowalzek entered into record Conditional Use Permit application, aerial map, right of way aerial map, site plan, plat map and parcel location, aerial photo, staff report, picture of containment structure, Township Recommendation and Comment Form. There were 40 notices sent out to neighboring property owners. There was no correspondence to this request. Amy entered into record Conditional Use Criteria Questions. APPLICATION SUBMITTED: To store and transfer bulk fertilizer to area farmers. REQUIREMENT: Section Commercial District Conditional Uses (bulk fuel depot). REPORT:

4 The applicant is proposing to operate a bulk fertilizer business on two parcels that make up a acre tract within the commercial zoning district. Bulk fuel depot is defined as, Bulk storage of oil, gasoline, liquid fertilizer, chemicals & similar liquids in excess of 2,500 gallons. The Morrison County Land Use Control Ordinance allows bulk fuel depots within the commercial zoning district with a conditional use permit. The applicant will be utilizing the existing buildings that were part of the Hilmerson Auto Parts complex, which is located on Haven Road, between Tri-County Action Program and Hilmerson Collision Center. The fertilizer storage tanks will be located outdoors within secondary containment consisting of a metal ring and a rubber membrane. The applicant is proposing to store 120,000 gallons of liquid fertilizer amongst up to ten storage tanks. The loading pad will be located indoors and within secondary containment. Vehicle wash down will occur indoors and the rinsate will be contained and applied on agricultural land, per Minnesota Department of Agriculture recommendation. There are several fertilizers the applicant is proposing to store and sell. They go by the products names of GoldStart Liquid Fertilizers, Conventional Liquid Fertilizer, Urea Ammonium Nitrate Liquid and Citri-Che Zinc. According to the material safety data sheets, the fertilizers are odorless, or may have a slight ammonia odor. The fertilizers are made up of various N-P-K solutions, and are non-flammable. They are considered to be a low health hazard, and contain no hazardous components as per 29 CFR (subpart Z). The area where the fertilizer will be stored is outside of the Little Falls City Limits, but there has been effort by the City to locate new water wells south of town. There is a small possibility the bulk fertilizer site will fall within the City s wellhead protection plan if wells are sited within the area. The site is within restricted air space for the Little Falls/Morrison County Airport. Subsequent building activity will be subject to height restrictions and review by the FAA. Licensing, storage, handling, disposal and incident response for bulk fertilizer is outlined in Minn. Statute 18C. The Minnesota Department of Agriculture is the licensing agency and regulatory authority. The applicant must receive a Bulk Fertilizer Storage Permit from the MDA before they store fertilizers on the premises. The applicant has submitted an emergency response plan. The Little Falls Township Board has offered a recommendation for approval of the conditional use permit stating they strongly recommend approval of the CUP application as the location is perfect and compliments the existing enterprises within the immediate area. Recommended Conditions: 1. Abide by federal, state and local law. 2. Future construction shall be in compliance with Little Falls/Morrison County Airport zoning requirements. Tom Wilczek stated anything we do forgoes MDA regulations and they are very restrictive. Structures heed to be designed by a certified engineer. Lon Johnson stated the State office conducts follow-up inspections yearly. Also the growth of the company with a 10 year program may eliminate the city site.

5 Dave Stish asked if currently the business just stores and sells products. Tom Wilczek stated that is correct. Darvin Keehr asked if there will be fuel at this site as well. Tom Wilczek stated no just liquid fertilizer; this is considered a fuel. Steve Backowski asked how much traffic this site would generate daily. Tom Wilczek stated that in the peak season about 10 semi truck loads per day in and out. Steve stated that currently the traffic is about 5000 per day. The cap on this road is 10 ton. There may need to be some consideration of no parking on County Road 76. Joe Stumpf asked if there would be an access off of Highway 10. Tom Wilczek stated that there would not be an access from Highway 10 and don t think we would ever get one. Also there is a fence on the property currently that is over the size of what we need. Jeff Jelinski stated the business of Centra Sota has been around here for over 30 years and are currently in a highly residential area. There has never been a specific spill or issue that I am aware of. The facility south of town is more conducive and safer. This would be in everyone s best interest to move the site. Audience Comment Chuck Parins Little Falls Township Board member stated this would be a better prospect for the environment and it will be in a better situation. This property would also allow for future expansion. This is a good opportunity for Centra Sota. George Sandy Little Falls Township Board member stated that he used to work for the company and they do a good job of maintenance, this would also be good for the township. Robin Hensel stated she lives close to the location and a customer of the business. There are concerns with dangers to public drainage ditches that dump into the Mississippi River. There is a number facilities NW of the city now that dump snow into the ditches that run to the Mississippi River. The county does a poor job of maintenance of the drainage ditches. John Theis Little Falls Township Board member stated this would bring business back into the area where it has been sitting vacant for a long time. The voting sheets were polled. A motion was made by Robert Lorenz to approve this request. The motion was second by Joe Stumpf. The vote was all in favor. This application will go in front of the Morrison County Board of Commissioners on December 3, Proposed Septic Ordinance Amy Kowalzek handed out the newest version of the proposed septic ordinance which would need to be adopted by 02/04/2014. A discussion was held on the proposed ordinance. A motion was made by Dave Stish to adopt the proposed septic ordinance as presented. The motion was second by Darvin Keehr. The vote was all in favor. This will be brought to the Morrison County Board of Commissioners on December 17, The public hearing was closed at 8:08 p.m. A motion was made by Randy Winscher to approve the September 23, 2013 minutes. The motion was second by Joe Stumpf. The vote was all in favor. Correspondence None Old Business None New Business None

6 A motion was made by Darvin Keehr to adjourn the meeting. The motion was second by Dave Stish. The vote was all in favor. With no further business at hand, the meeting was adjourned at 8:10 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Amy Kowalzek, Secretary Morrison County Planning Commission