Minutes - Council Work Session - 01/09/2024

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Councilmember Woestehoff asked how residents would get approval from the City for temporary accessory structures. Zoning Code Enforcement Officer Swalchick shared they would need to get approval for an appropriate accessory structure. He noted it would have to be approved through the zoning or building code depending on the size of the structure. Councilmember Woestehoff asked if the City has one of these temporary accessory structures as their salt shed. Zoning Code Enforcement Officer Swalchick said yes and explained that this is approved through the building department as it has all the appropriate inspections and meets the commercial standards. He also reviewed the animal ordinance and how it pertains to the nuisance code. He noted that there were items in the nuisance code that belonged in the animal ordinance which is why they opened this up for discussion. Councilmember Howell shared that the changes made to the animal ordinance look great. Zoning Code Enforcement Officer Swalchick reviewed the traffic and vehicles draft ordinance. He shared this item may warrant more discussion. Councilmember Musgrove stated that the order of the traffic and vehicle items seems haphazard. She asked if they would cite someone for leaving their keys in their car. Zoning Code Enforcement Officer Swalchick shared this was already existing in the code. He explained that most municipalities have a rule or ordinance as such, which he believes mimics State statute. He shared that leaving keys in cars is prohibited as there are a lot of car thefts that come from people leaving their keys in their cars. He noted this also gives the law enforcement officer the ability to remove the keys from the car if they happen to come upon a car with its keys left inside in order to secure the car. Councilmember Howell asked if since this is a State statute if the law enforcement officer would already have the ability to remove the keys and if if it is already a State statute then it does not need its own ordinance. Police Chief Katers shared that some of these items within the ordinance have just never been removed and the list is building over time. He noted that a majority of car thefts happen when the keys are left in the vehicle and allowing officers to remove the keys helps with crime prevention. He stated he does not know about the State statute and believes that they had to pass this as an ordinance. He noted this was pushed by the Crime Prevention Association of Minnesota. The consensus of the Council was to move forward with the nuisance code updates, including the animal ordinance and traffic and vehicle ordinance. 3. TOPICS FOR FUTURE DISCUSSION City Council Work Session / January 9, 2024 Page 8 of 9