Agenda - Planning Commission - 08/07/2014

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Regular Planning Commission Meeting Date: 08/07/2014 By: Tom Olson, Community Development 5. 4. Information Title: PUBLIC HEARING: Consider a Request for an Amendment to a Conditional Use Permit at the Property Located at 14650 Ferret St NW; Case of Faulk and Foster on behalf of Crown Castle International Purpose/Background: The City has received an application from Faulk and Foster on behalf of Crown Castle International (the "Applicant") to amend a Conditional Use Permit (the "Permit") that would increase the leased area at the property located at 14650 Ferret St NW (the "Subject Property") to accommodate a new equipment shelter. In accordance with the existing Permit, the leased area is fifty (50) by fifty (50) feet, or 250 square feet, and contains a 165 foot self-supporting lattice tower and related equipment cabinets. As illustrated in Exhibit A, the amendment would increase the leased area by 648 square feet, or eighteen (18) by thirty-six (36) feet, in order to accommodate a new Verizon Wireless generator/equipment shelter. Note that this request does not involve placement of a new tower; it is strictly related to a request to expand the ground lease area to accommodate a new equipment shelter building. Notification: Staff attempted to notify all Property Owners within 350 feet of the Subject Property of the Public Hearing. A Public Notice was also advertised in the Anoka UnionHerald. Observations/Alternatives: Currently, the Subject Property and most surrounding parcels are zoned COR-2; the parcel northwest of the Subject Property is zoned B-2 Highway Business District. The tower and associated equipment cabinets are nonconforming uses in the COR District. However, at the time of the issuance of the Permit (August 1996), the Subject Property and the surrounding parcels were zoned Industrial, which permitted the tower and cabinets as a conditional use. The amendment to the Permit would not change the status of the nonconforming use on the Subject Property, with the exception of the increased ground lease area. It also appears that the amendment would have no effect on the character of the of Subject Property's locality, which is shown in Exhibit B. Despite their current zoning, uses on the surrounding parcels are still industrial or automotive in nature. Current use of the Subject Property also met standards of the Industrial district when the Permit was issued. The minimum setback requirement from the front property line within Industrial districts was forty (40) feet; the leased area is at a distance of approximately fifty-five (55) feet. The proposed expansion would be on the south edge of the leased area, thereby maintaining the fifty-five (55) foot setback. Given the existing nonconforming use on the site and its continuance with the proposed expansion, the current setback is more appropriate than the requirement found in the design standards for the Subject Property's current zoning, COR-2, which is fifteen 15 feet as measured from building front to right-of-way. The design of the proposed equipment shelter also is not in accordance with standards for the COR-2 district. The shelter is prefabricated with an exterior finish of exposed aggregate concrete and the fence will be chain link, which is similar to existing structures within the leased area. While COR-2 design standards are more demanding than this, the amendment is still appropriate as it maintains the character of what exists in and around the leased area. Alternatives Option # 1: Approve Resolutions # 14-08-141 and # 14-08-142 granting an amendment to a conditional use permit on the property at 14650 Ferret St NW. The amendment only impacts the size of the leased area, does not involve a