PC Minutes 12-01-2015
CHANHASSEN PLANNING COMMISSION
REGULAR MEETING
DECEMBER 1, 2015
Chairman Aller called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT:
Andrew Aller, John Tietz, Nancy Madsen, Steve Weick, and Maryam
Yusuf
MEMBERS ABSENT:
Mark Undestad, and Lisa Hokkanen
STAFF PRESENT:
Kate Aanenson, Community Development Director; and Bob Generous,
Senior Planner
PUBLIC PRESENT:
Walter Treat Chanhassen
PUBLIC HEARING:
BETHEL FELLOWSHIP CHURCH, PLANNING CASE 2015-24: REQUEST FOR AN
INTERIM USE PERMIT TO OPERATE A CHURCH ON PROPERTY ZONED
INDUSTRIAL OFFICE PARK (IOP) AND LOCATED AT 1252 PARK ROAD.
APPLICANT: JONATHAN WALL. OWNER: CORE MINNEAPOLIS INDUSTRIAL
PORTFOLIO, ET AL.
Generous: Thank you Chairman, commissioners. Planning Case 2015-24 is the applicant is
John Wall. He’s the pastor with the church. Beacon Management Company is a Management
Company for the building that they’re locating in. Again this is the public hearing. It will go to
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the City Council on December 14. The request is for an interim use permit to permit a church
to operate in an industrial office park district. The IOP District permits churches as interim uses.
The reason is they want to allow churches to be able to grow so that they’re viable to have, large
enough to get their own facilities and as part of our recommendation we’re putting a threshold of
the number of adult memberships that would be permitted before they would have to move out of
this facility. In conjunction with the church there is an adult daycare. The IOP district permits
daycares as an accessory, a permitted accessory use. However it also permits daycares as a
separate use as a conditional use permit and we may be having one of those in the not too distant
future. The property is located at 1252 Park Road. It’s in the Chanhassen Lakes Business Park
which is just south of Highway 5 inbetween Audubon and Highway 101. Or Galpin Boulevard.
It’s Lot 2, Block 4. It’s actually this building crosses two property lines, Lots 1 and 2. This
specific unit is on the east side of the building which is in Lot 2. It’s located on the east end of
the building and there’s a lot of common area in this so we’re only as part of their approval
looking at their specific unit space. This subdivision was developed in the 1990’s and again the
applicable code, conditional use permits we, for interim use we following the conditional use
Chanhassen Planning Commission – December 1, 2015
permit standards. Additionally we’re following the IOP District regulations. Again the total
building is 56,000 square feet. Their unit, they’re proposing approximately 2,900 square feet
which is on the northeast corner of the building. It’s separated by a common hallway that runs
down the middle and I have provided a separate one. Currently this 2,900 square feet represents
5 percent of the building. In the future they would like to, the ability to expand slightly to meet
the membership needs within the confines of once they hit the total adult membership they
would be looking for a separate permanent facility. We’ve tried to, in this one break, go closer
on the total layout of the building. I should point out that this wall is not there right now so this
is one big classroom space. They have a couple offices and 3 classrooms that they use. This
area is for putting together food and as part of the adult daycare they will have food brought in.
Catered into the site and then they’ll put them together and then provide it to the clients in this
area. Again the adult daycare must meet state licensing requirements and staffing requirements.
It’s a 1 staff person for every 6 adult members and so they do, and that would be their licensing.
That’s the maximum that they’d have at this facility. They come in later for a separate approval
should the church move out. They would either have to get their own conditional use permit or
they can look at another facility. Monday through Saturday the uses would be the office space
for the church facility. Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. would be the adult
daycare facility would be in place. Sunday they would have of course their church services. In
the future they would like to expand their programming to do the Wednesday evening programs
but at the present time they don’t have the, aren’t doing that. They’re just trying to let us know
that that’s part of the expansion that they’re looking at. Staff is recommending approval of the
interim use permit. The sunset date, the approval is specified in code we need to give initial
approval for 2 years and then they report to the City that they’re, they meet the health safety
requirements, that there’s sufficient parking on site and that their membership is still under the
threshold. As part of the Arboretum Business Park we did do a study on, to see what size was a
viability. In that development the criteria was either 6 percent of the, limited to 6 percent of the
building and it was a slightly bigger building and 200 adult members. In this instance I was
relying on the applicants more to see that 150 adult members they felt that they would be viable
to go out into their own facility so that’s what we’ve incorporated as conditions of approval and
the sunset date for the use of this building. Really the basic criteria are that they meet building,
health and safety codes and fire codes. In this instance it meant that they had to provide panic
hardware on the doors so people can get our easily and for the adult daycare they need to provide
some type of a fire alarm system. With that we’re recommending approval and adoption of the
Findings of Fact and Recommendation. I’d be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Aller: Questions, Commissioner Weick.
Weick: Yeah, if the request is for 5 percent would growth in the future be limited to that
remaining 1 percent of the building?
Generous: Right without coming back to amend the IUP.
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Chanhassen Planning Commission – December 1, 2015
Weick: And could they separate the church from the adult daycare and thus have greater than 6
percent?
Generous: No because their use is.
Weick: No.
Generous: The adult daycare is an ancillary use to the church use.
Weick: Okay.
Generous: So the church, the daycare could go and come in for their own conditional use permit
in a different part of the building. There’s no specific limitations in the code on either the size or
the duration of that. A conditional use may go on forever.
Weick: Okay.
Generous: The interim use has a sunset date and that’s where the, both the size and the
membership come into play.
Weick: Okay.
Tietz: Bob the adult daycare appears to be a sublet tenant of the church.
Generous: Yes.
Tietz: Are they affiliated at all with the church and does the landlord, obviously the landlord has
to approve a sublet tenancy. Has that been?
Generous: That would, the applicant would be better to answer that.
Tietz: Okay.
Generous: I don’t believe they’re specifically affiliated with them. They work, right now
they’re in Eden Prairie and they’re in another church facility and they’re trying to come here.
Tietz: And the food prep, it’s all catered so there’s no need for any of the requirements, the
licensing requirements for food preparation on site as far as stainless steel countertops and
there’s no ovens or ranges in the facility?
Generous: That’s correct. There’s no preparation of meals on the facility. It’s just basically
taking out of the packages and distributing to the clientele.
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Chanhassen Planning Commission – December 1, 2015
Aanenson: If I can clarify one thing too. They’re still required through the State Public Health,
they still have to apply for a license which they have. We’re just holding that license and
approval of that until they’ve gone through our’s so they will also get inspected by the State and
that’s part of our condition that they maintain that.
Tietz: Yeah because labeling a room as a kitchen puts it in a whole different category.
Aanenson: Right so they have to clear that with the State and they’ll do the inspection on that
part too.
Tietz: Okay.
Aller: What are the other users right now in the building, if any?
Generous: Office, warehouse, some manufacturing. Light manufacturing. Assembly type uses.
This, I think this, I think this specific unit was for a dance studio at one time.
Aller: And then for clarification we’re allowing for a use by approving this motion?
Generous: That’s correct.
Aller: We’re not requiring that they even proceed and that would be up to the potential tenant,
the applicant and the landlord.
Generous: Correct. Commissioner Madsen.
Madsen: Is the building ADA compliant so we can clarify that if any of the adult daycare guests
were in wheelchairs that they would have adequate access.
Generous: I believe so. I’m not positive on that. It’s a one level building so they don’t, you
don’t have the stairs. I believe the panic hardware’s going to help for accessibility.
Madsen: And the automatic doors, that sorts of thing?
Generous: I don’t know if they have that.
John Wall: No. Well the bathrooms have automatic doors. I’m not, I don’t believe they’re
working but it is, well part of the daycare coming in.
Aller: So why don’t we just go ahead and open up for the applicant to come forward.
Madsen: Yeah sorry.
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Chanhassen Planning Commission – December 1, 2015
John Wall: Yeah I just didn’t know.
Madsen: Yeah sorry.
Aller: Why don’t you come up state your name and address for the record and your
representational capacity.
John Wall: I’m John Wall. I’m the Pastor of Bethel Fellowship and.
Aller: Welcome Pastor Wall.
John Wall: Yes the, forgot the question now. Just got.
Generous: ADA.
Aller: We’re talking about ADA accessibility.
John Wall: Oh yeah. No when Kathleen came in to see if the building would work for her adult
daycare she had to have it inspected by multiple different levels and so it has, she can’t use it
unless it meets all of the legal requirements so I’m, as she’s proceeding I’m sure that it is.
Aanenson: If I can clarify that again. So there’s a State requirement, our Fire Marshal and our
Fire Department have been out there to inspect it as well as building inspector so there’s some
things that they have to do to be compliant. That’s part of all the licensing requirements.
Madsen: Okay, thank you.
John Wall: You’re welcome.
Aller: So Pastor tell us about your congregation. What are your plans?
John Wall: Well I started in January and we’re hoping to just be something that is meaningful to
the community. We want to, we want to help, really my goal is to help people grow in their
lives. You know when Jesus taught his disciples to pray he said may your will be done on earth
as it is in heaven and so I just want to see that we do God’s will here on earth and you know in
heaven no one’s sick. No one’s alone. No one’s any of those things and so we want to work
however we can to see that happen and we’re here and so we want to be the best citizens of
Chanhassen that we can be. The best citizens of the state and it seemed like a really good fit for
this adult daycare to be a part of what we do because we want to care for people. The founding
pastor Jim Bledsoe, his father-in-law actually goes to the daycare. That’s how we first were
connected with them and this is our spot and we’re here for now and so we just want to be a
good church.
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Chanhassen Planning Commission – December 1, 2015
Aller: And the shared parking is that going to be?
John Wall: No because the businesses in the building they’re basically all Monday through
Friday where our biggest use is Sunday morning so the parking lot isn’t an issue. In fact in the
picture you see there’s an awful lot of spaces on our side so we’re okay.
Aller: Great. Any additional questions? Commissioner Yusuf.
Yusuf: Will there be signage just pointing people to your facility site?
John Wall: Right now we have like a little you know plastic sign. If we do do anything signage
wise I know it has to comply with whatever the codes are. I believe just based on other places
we’re allowed to have big silver letters that match everything else if we would do that. I think
anyway, that’s just what some of the other businesses have. I’ve seen others have decals in their
windows but as of right now we don’t have any plans for signage. I’m not saying in the future
we wouldn’t. It’s just, this is all kind of new to me so I’m just.
Aanenson: If I could give the Planning Commission a little bit more frame of reference. So this
is the first one we’ve done as far as a adult daycare so we’re treating it the same as we would if it
was a daycare except for the fact that because this has going into a church use, which already has
a conditional use, as Bob stated it’s ancillary. But we have daycares in industrial parks. Little
bit different you know when you have peak time drop offs. We’re assuming that some of your
clients may be there part of the day. Some you know they may be there all day but a little bit
different than daycare where you have kind of more peak morning, peak evening drop offs so
those are the things under the interim use that we’re monitoring to make sure we don’t anticipate
a problem but that’s what we’re monitoring. But we’re going to see different iterations of adult
daycares coming forward. You’re going to see, we’ve got another application in too in different
areas so what they’re trying to do is find places that work for them. In this case they found a
church to host kind of an outreach service but there’s going to be different variations of that
coming forward that you’ll see some other variations of the same theme. Adult daycare.
John Wall: What she said.
Aller: Any additional questions?
Aanenson: It’s education for everybody.
Aller: Okay thank you.
John Wall: Thank you.
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Chanhassen Planning Commission – December 1, 2015
Aller: At this point in time we’ll open up the public hearing portion of this item. If anyone
wishes to come forward and speak either for or against the item they can do so at this time.
Seeing no one come forward I will close the public hearing portion and open it up for comment.
Any comments or discussion? I think it’s a good use of an underutilized property.
Madsen: Complimentary use.
Aller: And shared parking in the downtown has always been allowed for these uses and we have
that additional hard cover down there so it’s good that it’s actually being used and utilized.
Tietz: I’m assuming that if you go to Wednesday night services or activities in the church, I
don’t know how that parking lot is lit. If it’s appropriate for night time activities. Sometimes
those lights go pretty low when it’s a non-business daytime and then security, I don’t know if
that’s a card access building. I didn’t try to go through it but if it’s, how it’s accessible on an
after hours. It’s more for my information I guess than a concern.
John Wall: Well our doors are not card access. There’s a dance studio right behind us and I
don’t think they’re card access either. There are some doors on the other side that are card
access.
Tietz: That’s what I was, I was curious about the outside access and how, if that’s going to be
limited at after hours. Most business parks are limited after hours and.
John Wall: And I believe there’s parking lot but I’ve never really paid, I mean I’ve never, I
honestly can’t answer. I haven’t paid attention but I can always find my keys so there must be
something helping me.
Tietz: Thanks.
Aller: Thank you Pastor. I think the lighting is a good question and I think that they’ll raise that
with the landlord with the accessibility. Those are items that they’ll still be working out and
what’s before us right now is the actual use and whether or not it’s an appropriate use for this
structure and the combined use and getting the two... With that I’ll entertain a motion.
Yusuf: The Chanhassen Planning Commission recommends the City Council approve the
Interim Use Permit for a church use in the industrial office building located at 1252 Park Road
subject to the conditions of approval and adopts the Findings of Fact and Recommendation.
Aller: I have a motion. Do I have a second?
Madsen: Second.
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Chanhassen Planning Commission – December 1, 2015
Aller: Having a motion from Commissioner Yusuf, seconded by Commissioner Madsen. Any
additional discussion?
Yusuf moved, Madsen seconded that the Chanhassen Planning Commission recommends
the City Council approve the Interim Use Permit for a church use in the industrial office
building located at 1252 Park Road subject to the following conditions and adopts the
Findings of Fact and Recommendation:
1. Building permit(s) required for alterations necessary to provide code-compliant exiting
for an assembly occupancy (church).
2. Once the use is permitted, the applicant will need to apply for a building permit for
building code changes and a fire permit for the proposed adult day care.
3. The applicant shall be issued a two-year Interim Use Permit (IUP). The IUP may be
extended thereafter subject to the applicant demonstrating adequate parking, life safety,
and adequate occupancy. The applicant must annually in December report its adult
membership.
4. The church may not occupy more than six percent of the building (3,360 square feet).
5. The interim use shall terminate and the church shall be required to relocate from the
building once its adult membership exceeds 150.
All voted in favor and the motion carried unanimously with a vote of 5 to 0.
PUBLIC HEARING:
CITY CODE AMENDMENTS: CONSIDER AMENDMENTS TO CHAPTER 18,
SUBDIVISION AND CHAPTER 20, ZONING, OF THE CHANHASSEN CITY CODE.
Generous: Thank you Chairman, Commissioners. We brought, some of these items to you back
in September and we just had an informal discussion and then in October we took it to City
Council and in the interim we did additional research and study, especially on the parking issues
and that’s the more, most significant changes we’re making in here. While we have a report it’s
really easiest to review the actual ordinance to see what the changes are and so that’s an
attachment and in Section 1 we’re actually amending the subdivision ordinance and the City by
policy has been requiring that developers put wetlands into either outlots or separate lots or have
drainage and utility easements and we just wanted to clarify as part of an ordinance that that is
really acceptable and something that developers should be forewarned if you will that the City
may look at that. Not all of them will be that way but it depends really on the quality of it and so
we’re making the change to Section 18-78(b)(11) just to add that wetlands may also be protected
under, either through dedication or some other easement requirement. And then the rest of these
changes are to the zoning ordinance which is Chapter 20 of the code. Section 2 deals with
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