Minutes - Council - 09/25/1990 - Laserfiche WebLink

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highway commercial zone. Page 43 of the green section outlines the activities allowed in the B-3 District - which is on Highway #10. Everything that is on Highway #10 right now is allowable. The creation of a new industrial zone and business warehousing district was suggested. He feels that there has to be fairly extensive revisions to unify the approach on CUP's. He stated the criteria should be listed and highlighted, therefore anytime a CUP is requested, the criteria would be evaluated to determine what is or is not met. This will aid in sound-decision making and consistency. Some evaluation has to be done but the consistency is established. Page 12 of the zoning section creates another element of control. It contains material that could be utilized to confront a new adult business in Ramsey. The ordinance suggestions need to be reviewed and the material needs to be tailored to Ramsey. Adult use today may be considered non-conforming uses. We have redrafted the nonconformance section, however it needs the input of City Council and Planning and Zoning. Any lawful non-conforming use of land not involving a structure, and any lawful nonconforming use involving a structure with an estimated market value of $5,000.00 or less on November 1, 1990 may continue until January 1, 1996. After which date, non-conforming use shall cease or be brought into compliance with this Chapter. Non-conforming use of land may be continued to the year 2001 with the following exceptions: 1) If a variance is granted, the business may continue; 2) Applicable only to non-residential uses; 3) regarding adult uses in the City today, if upon documented study, a use that is judged as a danger or a threat to the City, the City may take action by terminating such business. The City may come up with an amortization schedule that states that a business has to be closed down in a certain amount of time. Mr. Licht suggested that the technique and responsibility for enforcing businesses to abide by the rules should be done by the City Administrator and not the City Council. It should be kept an administrative function with the right of appeal to legislature body. It needs to be decided if the Planning Commission would serve as the Board of Adjustment and Appeals of if it would be the City Council who would serve as the Board of Adjustment and Appeals to be the review body for variances. Another technique of control is the licensing with the concept of having the City Administrator serve as the issuing and revoking agent. The criteria should be listed and followed or the license will be revoked and that should also be handled administratively. Council may be involved, but administrative will hold the primary responsibility for that activity. The pink pages at the end of the report regard enforcement and inspections. Inspections should be done and documented. If a use is questionable, Council should take note and deal with it. This needs to be done on a uniform basis. Mr. Licht also stated that the City of Elk River is performing a study on signing and he feels it would be to the benefit of the City of Ramsey to review their results. Mr. Hartley stated that the original intent was to have the green and gold sheets formulated into an ordinance to introduce tonight, however, there is still legal research being done on nonconforming use questions and on details of licensing regulations. The next step is to submit this report to the Planning and Zoning Commission and set a date for a public hearing. The Planning and Zoning recommendations will be received and then the Council will act on it. He feels the most significant item to deal with is the rezoning (e.g., rezoning districts, implementation of Highway #10 study, procedure for CUP and variances)..There will be a significant change in licensing. He wants to be sure the City Council is comfortable with having this activity handled administratively. By the City Administrator handling the licensing, it gives an appeal process of one more level meaning the City Council. Regarding nonconforming uses, even if part-uses, if not consistent with local zoning, it has to cease within 10 years and that's everyone, not just adult uses. The second most significant item is enforcement of various laws and regulations. Presently, the level of enforcement is quite low, therefore, there needs to be a major effort put forth to do the enforcing whether it's regarding adult uses or otherwise. A discussion took place regarding the dates available for the public hearing and also that it should be held at the Ramsey Elementary School if possible because it is a larger facility than City Hall. Mr. Hartley stated he would contact the school and get that set up, he would publish the public hearing in the paper and also get a letter sent to the interested individuals. Mr. Hartley City Council/September 25, 1990 Page 9 of 20