1b. Zoning Ordinance to amend Section 20-92 regarding Certificate of Occupancy CITYOF
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CHANHASSEN
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690 COULTER DRIVE • P.O. BOX 147 • CHANHASSEN, MINNESOTA 55317
(612) 937-1900 • FAX (612) 937-5739 Action hY c+!
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' MEMORANDUM ilk tai. 1. - ,A0-Tg
TO: Don Ashworth, City Manager D�tc kinglet! ,c, �ic.:n
FROM: Paul Krauss, Planning Director qL SUt;mittfif to ';o0
' .5—�
DATE: June 20, 1990
' SUBJ: Zoning Ordinance Amendment To Amend Section 20-92
Regarding Certificates of Occupancy by Adding Provisions
' for Landscaping Requirements, 2nd and Final Reading
On June 11, 1990, the City Council approved the first reading of an
' ordinance amendment that is designed to clarify the responsibility
of home builders to install a tree and seed or sod prior to the
issuance of a certificate of occupancy. Staff has been improving
enforcement of this requirement since last fall. The underlying
' requirement has been incorporated into the Subdivision Ordinance
for several years but enforcement has proven to be spotty. The
current amendment has been drafted by the City Attorney to improve
' enforcement and notification by also locating the requirement in
the Zoning Ordinance.
' STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council approve the second and final
reading of the ordinance amending Section 20-92 regarding
' certificates of occupancy by adding provisions for landscaping
requirements as shown in Attachment #2 .
' ATTACHMENTS
1. Memo from Paul Krauss dated May 21, 1990.
2. Ordinance Amendment.
' 3. Planning Commission minutes dated May 16, 1990.
** This item was tabled at the June 25, 1990, City Council meeting.
Second and final reading is recommended.
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CITYOF
I CHANHASSEN
690 COULTER DRIVE • P.O. BOX 147 • CHANHASSEN, MINNESOTA 55317
(612) 937-1900 • FAX (612) 937-5739
' MEMORANDUM _.& b
TO: Don Ashworth, City Manager
FROM: Paul Krauss, Planning Director Dve = "
' w //- cf 0
DATE: May 21, 1990
' SUBJ: An Amendment to the Zoning Ordinance Dealing With the
Installation of Landscaping Prior to Issuance of
' Certificates of Occupancy for Single Family Dwellings
PURPOSE/SUMMARY
The City's Subdivision Ordinance has long required that at least
one tree be placed in the front yard of each new single family home
and that all disturbed areas on the lot be seeded or sodded. The
' purpose of the ordinance is two fold, establishing the boulevard
tree requirement has an impact on the streetscape and the •
environmental quality of the neighborhood, while the requirement to
sod or seed a lot also has a visual impact but more importantly
will eliminate erosion and sedimentation from the property. While
this requirement has been in the ordinance many years, it has only
been enforced on a sporadic basis at best. Since the fall of 1989,
' staff has tried to address this issue. New Development Contracts
have been revised so that the responsibility for installation of
these improvements is clearly established. The development
' contract is filed against the property so that all future
purchasers are fully aware of its conditions. We have also revised
our lot release procedure. In the past, when a lot was sold to an
individual, their attorney would typically request that lot be
released from all conditions that had been attached by the city.
The City Engineering Department had been releasing these conditions
when public improvements where installed but unfortunately this did
' not allow for the retention of funds or the application of
requirements dealing with lot landscaping. This has been revised
by the use of a partial release, whereby only those conditions that
' have been satisfied are released while others would remain recorded
against the property. Finally, since last fall, builders
requesting building permits to build single family homes are
' required to sign off on a form that outlines all required
conditions pertaining to the lot on which the house is proposed.
The landscaping requirement is clearly spelled out. Staff has
established a policy whereby a builder is told that the landscaping
11
Certificate of Occupancy ZOA I
May 21, 1990
Page 2
improvements must be installed prior to requesting a certificate of
occupancy but that if this is not possible due to weather or other
constraints, a $750 escrow will be required to guarantee
compliance. Staff undertook considerable research regarding the
imposition of such requirements and found that it is commonly done
by many other communities, several of which require the deposit of
cash guarantees in advance of the building permit. It is our
belief that requiring financial guarantees only at the time that
certificates of occupancies are requested causes the least
disruption to the builders while being easiest to administer. This
program was submitted to the City Council for their comment last
fall before it was implemented.
Upon further discussion with the City Attorney, it was determined '
that a problem existed since the landscaping requirement is
established in the subdivision ordinance and the subdivision
ordinance does not directly regulate building but only the platting
of land. Therefore, it was the attorney's opinion that a
modification should be inserted into the Zoning Ordinance, Section
20-92 which deals with certificates of occupancy, that would
outline this requirement in detail. The attached ordinance
amendment simply serves to reconfirm the policy that has already
been established. This not only provides additional support for
the policy, but also would help to put those building and buying
new homes on notice.
The Planning Commission reviewed the proposal at their May 16th
meeting and unanimously recommended its approval.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION '
Staff recommends that the City Council approve first reading of the
amendment to the Zoning Ordinance, Section 20-92, pertaining to
landscaping requirements prior to issuance of certificates of
occupancy for single family dwellings.
ATTACHMENTS
1
1. Zoning Ordinance Amendment.
2. Planning Commission minutes dated May 16, 1990.
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I CAMPBELL, KNUTSON, SCOTT & FUCHS, P.A.
Attorneys at Law
Thomas J.Campbell
Roger N. Knutson
Thomas M. Scott (612)456-9539
' Gary G. Fuchs Facsimile(612)456-9542
James R. Walston
Elliott B. Knetsch
Dennis J. Unger
May 9, 1990
Mr. Paul Krauss
' Chanhassen City Hall
690 Coulter Drive, Box 147
Chanhassen, Minnesota 55317
' RE: Certificates of Occupancy
Dear Paul:
Enclosed please find revised ordinance amending Chapter 20
of the City Code, the Zoning Ordinance, concerning certificates
' of occupancy.
Very truly yours,
' CAMPBELL, KNUTSON, SCOTT
& FUCHS, P.A.
' BY:
Roger N. Knutson
RNK:srn
Enclosure
•
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' Yankee Square Office III • Suite 202 • 3460 Washington Drive • Eagan, MN 55122
Pf-iY-f -lib OV:'b 1-MJI KM.ITSOM, 'SWTT TO ''9375739 P.03
II
CITY OF CHANHASSEN
CARVER AND HENNEPIN COUNTIES, MINNESOTA
ORDINANCE NO.
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CEAPTER 20 OF 7E2 CKANIASSEN
CITY CODE CONCERNING CERTIFICATES OF OCCUPANCY
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CHANHASSEN ORDAINS:
Section 1. Section 20-92 of the Chanhassen City Code is
amended by adding subparagraph (c) to read as follows:
(c) If the lot on which a certificate of occupancy for
a single family dwelling is requested is subject to
landscaping requirements set forth in the development
contract with the City, a certificate of occupancy shall not
be issued unless the landscaping has been completed or
unless a $750.00, or such other amount as determined by the
City's Planning Director, cash escrow or letter of credit is
furnished the City guaranteeing completion within sixty (60)
days, weather permitting.
Section 2. .Thip ordinance shall be effective immediately
upon its passage and publication.
. -
PASSED AND ADOPTED by the Chanhassen City Council this
day of , 1990.
ATTEST:
•
Don Ashworth, Clerk/Manager Donald 3. •Cb4iel, Mayor - I
(Published in the Chanhassen Villager on , ' I , 3,990.)
,
r05/09/90
TATT D 014
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Planning Commission Meeting
May 16 , 1990 - Page 13
Pa . Reflect the existing sanitary sewer easements over Lots 2 and 3 ,
Block 1 and Baldur Avenue .
b . The applicant shall record an easement that runs in favor of the
City over the driveway that services Lot 3 , Block 1 for access to
the lift station .
3 . Park and trail dedication fees will be required in lieu of land
dedication .
' 4 . A tree preservation plan must be submitted prior to issuance of a
building permit . The plan should illustrate how the driveway and home
placement and construction will minimize tree loss . The plan must be
' approved by staff . Preservation areas shall be adequately marked by a
snow fence prior to construction to avoid damage . Clear cutting of
trees 4 " in caliper or larger is prohibited .
5 . The driveway location for Lot 1 must be approved by the City Engineer
prior to any construction of that driveway .
All voted in favor and the motion carried.
PUBLIC HEARING:
ZONING ORDINANCE AMENDMENT TO AMEND SECTION 20-92 REGARDING CERTIFICATES OF
OCCUPANCY BY ADDING PROVISIONS FOR LANDSCAPE REQUIREMENTS.
' Paul Krauss presented the staff report on this item . Chairman Conrad
called the public hearing to order .
' Resident : I 've got one question . Can you explain exactly what the
requirements are for a boulevard tree? How close to the street and all
that stuff?
Krauss: We require that it be , will deciduous but deciduous or coniferous
tree . 2 1/2 inches in diameter for deciduous , 6 foot in height for
coniferous . It has to be in the front yard area . It can't be in the
' right-of-way boulevard so any part of that property is acceptable and if
there 's existing natural trees there , that requirement is waived .
' Resident : It doesn 't have to be within so many feet of the street?
Krauss: No .
' Resident : It 's not a boulevard tree . . .
Conrad: Any other comments?
' Emmings moved, Batzli seconded to close the public hearing. All voted in
favor and the motion carried. The public hearing was closed.
Ahrens: I have one comment . I think we should make the developer
guarantee the tree for a year . Really . I mean so what if they put a tree
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Planning Commission Meeting
May 16 , 1990 - Page 14 1
and it 's dead and it doesn 't last? • I
Emmings: A good example is right out here on Kerber Blvd . . There 's a row
of pine trees up there along there and they 're all dead.
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Krauss: You know we 've tried to enforce it in different ways . Having the
developer do it up front causes a lot of problems . Because the lot 's not I
developed yet , likely the tree will get killed when they build the house
and there 's nobody there to maintain it . Requiring installation when the
home is built and the developer may be long gone at that time and the lot
sold several times . Usually means that there 's a property owner who takes I
some pride in the property that they just bought and will try to keep that
tree alive . It 's not a perfect system but at least we 're getting those
improvements or trying to .
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Ahrens: That 's assuming that the developer puts in a healthy tree to begin
with .
Krauss: Right . I
Ahrens: I think a lot of times that 's not true . Just a suggestion .
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Conrad: I assume the public hearing 's closed . Joan , your comments? Based
on what 's in front of us tonight , do you want to make any changes to what
you 've seen here? Do you want to look into this guarantee further at some II
other time?
Ahrens: Do any other cities have anything like this where they guarantee
or that they have the developer guarantee that the trees live for a certai
period of time?
Krauss: Well we in fact do that with our new landscaping bond or letter of
credit . The trees in landscaping have to survive for a full growing season
past the date of installation . Frankly again you come up against a tough
one to administer . We can go out there and inspect the thing to make sure '
it 's installed when we give them back their money or when we sign off on
the building permit . Then going back out there a year later to make sure
it was done properly is a second trip and then you 're dealing with the
homeowner and not the developer . Escrow accounts get rather unweildy . Th
answer is we can but it 's difficult .
Conrad: That 's a tough one . I
Wildermuth: Let 's see how this works for a while .
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Conrad: Jim , anything on this? Brian anything here?
Batzli : Well I had a question . I didn't look in the code book . Does thif
just apply then to people who enter into development contracts?
Krauss: Exactly Commissioner Batzli . What we do and development contract
are worded , I mean for every development contract they 've been different uf
until about 3-4 years ago . The development contract which is recorded
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Planning Commission Meeting
May 16 , 1990 - Page 15
against the property will have a condition and it 's being written into all
of them today that states that the property owner , future property owners
are obligated to install the tree and seed and sod . That condition , the
' development contract is filed against the property so anybody that does a
title search in the future is going to be made aware of it . Then what we
do is when we enforce it at the time the building permit 's pulled which
might be 5 years or 5 months after the plat is filed .
Batzli : I think it 's a great idea .
' Ellson: I like it too . Better late than never .
Emmings : It looks fine to me . The question raised in my mind is do we
' have any different standards for double frontage lots than we do for single
frontage lots?
Krauss: I don 't think we do .
Conrad: I have no comments .
' Resident: When I lived in Richfield , the City installed and maintained the
boulevard trees . Trimmed and replaced them when they died . It was a real
boulevard tree right next to the street .
IKrauss: Yeah , Minneapolis did that too but the tree in that case is
between the sidewalk and the street .
1 Conrad: A little bit different . Anything else? Is there a motion?
Batzli : I move that the Planning Commission recommends approval of the
' amendment to the Zoning Ordinance Section 20-92 pertaining to landscaping
requirements prior to issuance of certificates of occupancy for single
family dwellings as set forth in the staff report dated May 9th .
Wildermuth: Second .
Batzli moved, Wildermuth seconded that the Planning Commission recommend
' approval of the amendment to the Zoning Ordinance, Section 20-92 pertaining
to landscaping requirements prior to issuance of certificate of occupancy
for single family dwellings. All voted in favor and the motion carried.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Emmings moved, Ellson seconded to approve the Minutes
' of the Planning Commission meeting dated May 2, 1990 amended as follows:
Steve Emmings stated that the word "ban" should be changed to "band" when
referring to the sign bands . Brian Batzli changed condition 13 of the
motion on page 28 to read , "application and receipt" rather than
"application or receipt" . All voted in favor of the Minutes as amended and
the motion carried .
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