Minutes - Council - 04/09/1996 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Motion carded. Voting Yes: Mayor Hardin, Councilmembers Beahen, Beyer, Peterson and Zimmerman. Voting No: None. Case g9: Review Proposed Ordinance to Amend Chapters 5 and 9 of Ramsey City Code Regarding Parking and Storing Vehicles and Equipment in Residential Districts Zoning Administrator Frolik stated that as the per Council's direction, the following concerns regarding the proposed ordinance to establish regulations for parking and storing private and commercial use vehicles and equipment in the residential districts were forwarded to the Planning Commission for additional consideration: a) The types of surfaces considered acceptable for outside storage of vehicles and equipment should be specifically identified and there should not be any language allowing for another type of surface that will require City Staff to make a judgement call. b) Perhaps there should be stricter regulations in the urban service area like restricting outside parking to the driveway or a pad immediately adjacent to the garage, and requiring equipment as well as vehicles to be parked on a hard surface pad adjacent to the garage. City Attorney Goodrich has indicated that it would not be considered discriminatory to set different standards for the urban and rural areas, c) Perhaps there should be a cap on the number of vehicles and pieces of equipment that can be stored or parked outside, d) Screening should be better defined: height, width, from what angle, seasonal, type of materials, etc. f) Review Coon Rapids regulations for applicability and workability in Ramsey. The response from the Planning Commission to these items are as follows: a) the Planning Commission eliminated that language that allowed for alternative type of surface that had been pre-approved by the City Administrator. The only surfaces allowed for outside parking of vehicles is bituminous, concrete, con-bit or gravel, b) The Planning Commission rejected the idea of requiring equipment as well as vehicles to be parked on prepared surfaces or requiting the outside parking pads to be located immediately adjacent to the garage, c) The Planning Commission recalled previous discussions that led to the decision to not put a cap on the number of vehicles and equipment that can be stored outside. As a compromise, the Planning Commission proposed an amendment to the regulations for the R-1 Urban Residential and R-2 Urban Residential districts to limit the number of vehicles that can be parked outside by limiting the amount of prepared surface allowed on a lot. Currently City Code restricts structure coverage on lots in these districts to 35%. The Planning Commission proposed to amend the regulation to 45% and it will include structures and surfaced areas of the lot. d) The Planning Commission clarified screening by adding the following language to the ordinance: shall be screened to a degree of 75% at ground level view from adjacent properties and p~bii~ streets 100% of the time while unattended, f) The Planning Commission noted that they reviewed ordinances from other communities last year and really aren't interested in going that far back in the process at this point. Ms. Frolik presented the proposed ordinance, with suggested changes, to Council. Bob Tomaszewski, 15645 Yakima Street NW, Ramsey, stated he would like to see this in writing. His concem is being a car owner and a member of a real large car-owners association - we are concerned that these restrictions will pose undue hardship. Not everyone can, or is allowed, to enclose their vehicles. As far as hardened surfaces, this is also restrictive. "We are talking about antique and classic cars. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder". He asked that Council find a way - an end to these restrictions. It's been his experience in the past that the Planning Commission had enough authority to restrict car owners and what they do on their property. He would like the City Council to strike this in favor of something better for the people of his hobby. "We are forced outside for one reason or another". Marlys Williams, 5180 - 157th Lane NW, Ramsey, stated that Mr. Tomaszewski is her neighbor. What he calls classic cars are cannibalized vehicles. She strongly suggested the City Council stick to the Planning Commission recommendations. City Council/April 9, 1996 Page 10 of 17