Agenda - Planning Commission - 06/04/2015

Home

Regular Planning Commission Meeting Date: 06/04/2015 By: Tim Gladhill, Community Development 5. 5. Information Title: PUBLIC HEARING: Consider Ordinance #15-12 Amending City Code Chapter 10 (Animals) and Section 117-111 (R-1 Residential District) Amending Approval Process for Certain Animals Purpose/Background: The purpose of this case is to hold a Public Hearing and provide a recommendation to the City Council for Ordinance #15-12. The intent of Ordinance #15-12 is to revise the approval process for the following requests: 1. Four (4) or more dogs 2. Horses on 1.5 to 2.99 acres 3. Beekeeping 4. Non -Traditional Domestic or Exotic Animals 5. Wild Animals Each of these types of requests currently requires the issuance of a Conditional Use Permit. Based on a number of recent reviews with the Planning Commission and feedback from potential Applicants, the following Ordinance was developed to consider reducing the timeframe and costs to processing the requests above. With the exception of the wild animal category, the Ordinance would either streamline or eliminate the process for approval. Please note that the draft ordinance would remove the Planning Commission from the review process for the above requests, with the exception of wild animals. Notification: A notification regarding the Public Hearing was published in the Anoka County UnionHerald. Observations/Alternatives: Observations Ordinance #15-12 recommends approval processes as follows: 1. Conditional Use Permit: Wild Animals 2. License: Four (4) or more dogs, Beekeeping, and Non -Traditional but domestic animals (exotic) 3. Administrative approval: Horses on lots of at least 1.5 acres. When considering the appropriate process, Staff used the following assumptions for tools available to the City to process these requests: 1. Conditional Use Permit: used when the City desires the highest degree of public comment, flexibility in attaching reasonable conditions, and ultimate approval authority. 2. License: used when request is routine in nature but still desires some opportunity for public comment and City Council approval (non -administrative approvals). The Planning Commission would not be part of this review process. 3. Permitted use without license: when the request is so routine that public comment and City Council approval is not necessary. The following definitions apply to the request: 1. Horse: any stallion, mare, gelding, foal, pony, donkey, ass, burro, mule, or animal of horse kind. 2. Non -Traditional or Exotic Animals: City Code definition; those animals that are not normally considered to