PC Minutes 01-05-2016Chanhassen Planning Commission – January 5, 2016
Aller: Pretty straight forward. Great report again Bob. So with that I’ll entertain a motion.
Undestad: I’ll make a motion that the Chanhassen Planning Commission recommends the City
Council approve a conditional use permit to operate an adult daycare in the industrial office
building located at 18976 Lake Drive East subject to the conditions of approval and adopts the
Findings of Fact and Recommendations.
Aller: I have a motion. Do I have a second?
Yusuf: Second.
Aller: Having a motion by Commissioner Undestad and a second by Commissioner Yusuf, any
further discussion?
Undestad moved, Yusuf seconded that the Chanhassen Planning Commission recommends
the City Council approve a conditional use permit to operate an adult daycare in the
industrial office building located at 18976 Lake Drive East subject to the following
conditions and adopts the Findings of Fact and Recommendations:
1. Building permit(s) are required for building code changes and a fire permit for the
proposed adult daycare.
2. The center shall obtain applicable state, county and city licenses.
3. The center shall submit average annual test results for radon gas and shall comply with
all applicable state and federal requirements pertaining to test and requiring mitigation
techniques.
4. The center shall conduct tests of existing noise conditions and submit test results to the
city for review.
All voted in favor and the motion carried unanimously with a vote of 4 to 0.
PUBLIC HEARING:
GOLF ZONE, PLANNING CASE 2016-01: REQUEST FOR ZONING ORDINANCE
AMENDMENT TO PERMIT PAINTBALL IN THE AGRICULTURAL ESTATE (A2)
DISTRICT; INTERIM USE PERMIT TO ALLOW PAINTBALL; AND VARIANCE FOR
NEW SIGNAGE ON PROPERTY LOCATED AT 825 FLYING CLOUD DRIVE.
Ingvalson: Good evening Chairman and Planning Commission members. So this item is, like
you said for the Golf Zone. Planning Case 2016-01 and the Golf Zone is seeking an ordinance
amendment to conditional use permit, interim use permit site plan amendment and a sign
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Chanhassen Planning Commission – January 5, 2016
variance. We’re going to have the public hearing tonight, January 5, 2016 and will go to the City
Council January 25, 2016. The applicant/owner is Jeff Helstrom. So the location of the site is at
the southern intersection of Great Plains Boulevard and Flying Cloud Drive or Minnesota 101
and County Road 61. The site is mostly surrounded by Minnesota DNR land, the wildlife
management area is also north of the Minnesota River. Adjacent to and across County Road 61
is the Seminary Fen. If you look at the image over to the right it shows the site a little bit
zoomed in. The green area shows the wetland preserve area and the open area is the area that’s
outside of that wetland and there is a flood plain that continues right next to the building that
you’ll see on a later image. Here’s an image of the building from the north. This is from the
parking lot. This is the entrance into the Golf Zone. Here’s an image from the south. As you
can see here are the stalls for the driving range. And there’s a lot of background on this item.
It’s come to City Council and the City 3 different times. The first was in July, 1998. At this
point it came to the City for a site plan and then also for a golf improvement center. It also came
for a conditional use permit for alteration of the flood plain. If you look on the image to the right
the flood plain is this dotted line. And the work that was completed was within this area for the
driving range. There’s also an interim use permit for the golf and driving range in the A2. This
interim use permit expires in the year 2020. At this time it also came for a wetland alteration
permit. A variance to allow a 986 square foot office/clubhouse and it was denied a variance
request for extended hours of operation. In September of 1999 it also came to the City again for,
and was given an amendment to city code to allow a golf course driving ranges with permanent
plumbing facilities to be eligible for a liquor license. At that time the City approved a 3.2 malt
liquor license and also approved an amendment to the site plan to allow for an expansion of a
second story to the driving bunkers for the golf course. And the most recent time it came to the
City was in 2006. This time the City granted an amendment to the site plan to allow an 11,100
square foot addition to the principle structure. If you look at the image over here the principle
structure is in blue and the golf driving ranges are in pink. Again here is the dotted line that
shows the 100 year flood plain limits so you can see it’s right next to the building. And then at
this time they also approved a variance for the size of the building and then another variance to
use steel paneling as a primary exterior structure. So the request tonight we have are 3 different
ones. The first one is for an amendment to city code Chapters 11 and 20 to allow paintball
courses as an interim use in the A2 district. Currently city code defines paintball guns as a
firearm and they are not permitted in any districts within the city. Second request is for an
amendment to the conditional use permit interim use permit site plan to allow a recreation area,
upgrades to a patio and a paintball course. The last request is for a sign variance to allow 2
monument signs that exceed the number of signs, maximum display area and maximum height
allowed in the A2 district. So the first request is to amend city ordinance to allow paintball guns.
For those of you that don’t know paintball guns, as you can see look similar to this one in the
Woods Field image and they use expanding gas or CO2 or compressed air to shoot projectiles of
paint that are in a hard state when shot but when hit at a fast enough level break on impact. They
typically are a team game but can also be done individually. The objectives vary from either
being capturing an item or elimination of opponents or protection of an item and after
researching paintball courses in the area there are very few within the west metro area. The
nearest ones are within Scott County. There’s one outside of Jordan and also one outside of
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Chanhassen Planning Commission – January 5, 2016
Lakeville. Outside of that they’re fairly far away. In Wisconsin or in also outside of Buffalo,
Minnesota. Looking at a lot of these different paintball courses, a lot of them are more rural in
nature. Especially the outdoor ones are found in rural areas and the type of fields that I have
down here is 2 different examples. One is a woods field. These primarily use nature as sort of
their barriers between people and then also the one to the right is a speed field which are smaller
and this one uses actually plastic items that are inflatable as blockers. The next slide we have
here is looking at paintball course standards. So when looking at these we had a lot of different
areas that really were important to consider when having a paintball course within the city. First
area that we looked at was safety which is very important. Some items that we had that we put
in for standards would be having protective gear for people playing paintball. Also using plugs
on barrels so that there are, so an errant gun can go off. Also limiting the velocity to 285 feet per
second. That is sort of the standard that we found in other areas and also in different areas within
the state. And also requiring a chronograph to measure the projectile velocity and requiring a
minimum operating standards for the business. Making sure that they have standards for their
staff requirements and also having briefings and equipment and use trainings. For safety we also
had a standard that would be to mark boundaries of the paintball course so those are clearly
defined on the site. And then also prohibiting alcohol consumption on the paintball course. Next
item we looked at was adjacent property protection. This was to insure that properties were not
affected negatively by this new use. The first item we had on there was to have non-toxic, non-
caustic, water soluble and biodegradable paintballs so that they would waste away after the use
from rain. Rain after the use on the site. Also an important part of this was to establish a
standard for the size of the site. Staff is looking at having this be allowed only within the A2
district and also on sites that are, only on sites that are over 50 acres in size. The image to the
right shows the properties that would be over 50 acres in size and they’re within the A2 district.
Looking on here a lot of those sites are publicly owned such as the Minnesota Landscape
Arboretum. Then also Minnesota DNR land around the subject site. However there are other
sites to the north that are privately owned. Also setback requirements were put into the standards
of 300 feet from property lines and 500 feet from residential homes. Screening from their
residential sites and then finally we had operation standards. Operation standards we had were to
limit the use to daylight hours and then also to limit retail sales and rental to paintball related
items and 20 percent of the floor area. For the code amendment, to allow paintballs as an interim
use in the A2 the City will need to amend Section 11-2 Firearms and this would to exempt
paintball guns on city approved sites from the restriction of them as a firearm. Next would be to
add Section 20-263.5 that would have standards for a paintball course within the city. This
would be in the conditional use permit standards for agricultural and residential districts. And
then lastly add paintball courses to Section 20-576 within the agricultural estate district for
interim uses. Staff after researching this for a code amendment realized that this will allow an
opportunity for businesses to use a site that currently doesn’t receive city services and will also
allow them to use that flexible space but will limit in the future and set a sunset date for them as
development comes closer with those areas such as for this site the sunset date for the interim use
permit is 2020 and this would stay with that. Moving to the specific site for having an interim
use permit for paintball. The applicant has proposed a couple different things for the site. First
of all a new recreation area which will be located northwest of the existing building. Then also
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Chanhassen Planning Commission – January 5, 2016
an upgrade to the patio area which is directly north of the building and then a paintball course
which can be seen on the image to the right which is in red. To the left you’ll see an example of
sort of what this might look like. The applicant has stated that they will be only using organic
materials that will, that are not a structure. That are temporary structures. Here’s an example of
they’ll be using a hayfield for different bunkers for the paintball course. Here’s some images
that show the existing site. The existing patio is north of the building. Here is where the
temporary structures would be placed for this patio, specifically chairs and tables for guests of
the site. To the bottom we have the area that would be for the new recreation area. The
applicant has proposed having volleyball, sand volleyball courts and then horseshoe pits. And
here we have 2 different images that show the area that will be the paintball course. Here’s a
more open area that could be, that will be used for a paintball course. To the bottom is an area
that could use trees as bunkers for this paintball course. This is pictures taken within the red
area. So with this site there are some items that are currently not in compliance with city code
and with the existing site plan, conditional use permit and interim use permit. First one we have
is the signage that is on the site exceeds the maximum number of signs for the site, sign display
area and site height within the A2 district. The next item we have that was found upon
inspection of the site was that the driving range nets are currently down on the site. The original
and existing site plan for the site had nets up for it. Staff contacted the DNR to gain input on
what they had regarding these nets. Their recommendation was that the site should meet the
existing conditional use permit and should have the nets up. Other areas of non-compliance
include the parking lot. The parking lot is currently non-compliant with the conditional use
permit, interim use permit’s site plan. The site plan had their requirement to have 3 islands or
peninsulas on the site that were landscaped with 6 overstory trees. Currently there are 2 islands
that you can see, none of which have overstory trees. However staff after reviewing this the
expiration date for the interim use permit is 2020 so at this time staff will not be moving forward
with obtaining compliance with this for the parking lot. Next soil samples have not been
submitted in recent years. Part of their condition of approval was to have submitting soil
samples prior to chemicals being applied to the site. However they have not been submitted
recently but after speaking with the applicant they have not been using chemicals on the site so a
simple letter stating that they have not been using chemicals and are not using them will suffice
to fill this requirement. And lastly there is outdoor storage on the site that is not compliant with
city code Section 20-909. So all these non-compliances will have to be met or achieved either
through a letter or some of them will not be done but they’ll need to be completed to move
forward with the amendment. The last item we had was for the sign variance. So there’s a sign
variance request for signage in the A2 district that exceeds the number of signs. There’s only
allowed one sign on A2 properties. This applicant has moved forward with having 2 different
signs on the property. One located at the entrance. Here’s County Road 61. At the entrance of
the site and then another sign located on the northeast corner of the site. They also will be
seeking a variance from the maximum sign display area. The maximum display area in the A2
district is 24 square feet. However these signs greatly exceed that. The sign at the entrance will
be 120 square feet and the sign at the northeast corner will be 96 square feet exceeding the
maximum square footage by 5 times and 4 times the size. The maximum height for the signage,
city code permits 5 feet as a maximum for signage in the A2 district. These greatly exceed that
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at 15 feet and 12 feet and currently the signage is non-compliant in these areas and also is non-
compliant with having the multiple signs due to the angle of the sign exceeding 45 degrees. So
here’s a rendering of what the signs will look like down at the entrance of the site. This was an
image put is not to scale but gives an approximation of what it will look like coming at the
Flying Cloud intersection onto the site. Here is an image of what the second site on the northeast
corner will look like going east on County Road 61. Flying Cloud. So the character to the
neighborhood. There haven’t been any variances granted within 500 feet of the property upon
research within the area. However there might be some non-compliance within the area due to
legal non-conformities of properties being there prior to the city having ordinances. I believe
there’s a sign across the street that is non-compliant that was there prior to city ordinance. Also
after looking at the site staff feels that the site currently has adequate signage and that can be
achieved by having a sign located at the entrance to the property at the intersection of Great
Plains Boulevard and Flying Cloud Drive. That will give the site reasonable amount of exposure
to coming traffic and give that advertising for the site. Also there are not any topographical
features that are really limiting the site or any other hardships. The sign greatly exceeds the
maximum requirement within the A2 district and all those areas and actually exceeds
requirements for anywhere in the city for any sort of sign to be allowed in any district. There is,
if this was approved it would really create an inequitable distribution of signage within the area
as this would be greatly, the signs would greatly exceed any signage in the area along Flying
Cloud Drive or in the southern portion of the city. The approval of this would also diminish the
civic beauty of this area and this gateway into Chanhassen and could create a situation with
colored signage where this could set a precedence for other properties to come forward and
request a variance and could really create a proliferation of signs within the area. So after review
staff recommends that the Planning Commission recommends that City Council approve
amendments to City Code Chapters 11 and Chapter 20 to allow paintball courses as an exempt
firearm use and as an interim use in the Agricultural Estate district and amend Conditional Use
Permit 1998-02, Interim Use Permit 1998-02 and Site Plan Review 1998-08 to allow an outdoor
recreation area, upgrades to an existing patio area and the paintball course with conditions at 825
Flying Cloud Drive and adopts the attached Findings of Fact and Recommendation. With that
staff also recommends that the Planning Commission recommends denial of a variance request to
allow 2 signs that exceed the number of signs allowed, display area maximum and height
maximum for signage in the Agricultural Estate district at 825 Flying Cloud Drive and adopts the
attached Findings of Fact. With that I finish the staff’s presentation on the site and I open it up
to any questions that you might have regarding these items.
Aller: So if we approve the request it’s still classified for all intensive purposes as a firearm.
Ingvalson: Correct.
Aller: It’s just allowed under the code that it be used within city limits.
Ingvalson: Correct. We’d be giving an exemption to paintballs on city approved sites as long as
they meet Minnesota standards also.
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Aller: And those Minnesota standards.
Ingvalson: Yep.
Aller: That was going to be my second question. If the State changes or modifies it’s licensing
requirements or it’s requirements regarding firearms they will still have to comply with those
like every other individual or business.
Ingvalson: Correct.
Aller: Any additional questions on the report?
Madsen: I have a question.
Aller: Commissioner Madsen.
Madsen: There’s a reference to paintball guns and there’s also other guns called air soft guns.
Would this allow air soft guns or only paintball guns?
Ingvalson: Only for paintball guns.
Madsen: Okay. And I did a little reading on this and I read somewhere that paintball guns can
have reusable ammunition. Would this prohibit reusable ammunition?
Ingvalson: I did not see any review of reusable ammunition. As far as I know the ones that I
researched just break on impact so they’d be that type of paintball use.
Madsen: Okay so only.
Ingvalson: We had nothing exempting that in our report for reusable paintballs. Yeah. As Bob
said it would probably be tough to make those be biodegradable but, because we do have to have
them required to be biodegradable, non-toxic so they are removed from the site after it rains.
Madsen: Okay, then that would take care of the eliminating the reusable.
Ingvalson: Correct.
Aller: In preparation for the report did you have the opportunity to talk to the sheriff’s
department or?
Ingvalson: This review when to the sheriff’s department and they did not come with any
comments.
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Aller: And did you have the opportunity to talk to any other paintball locations that you had
identified that are?
Ingvalson: I did not. There was research conducted looking at what standards they had. Also
looking at what was had for sort of their own requirements on site. None were contacted. Just
looked at reviews that were found online.
Aller: Okay.
Undestad: Then all of this ties into the 2020?
Ingvalson: Absolutely. So everything here would, this interim use would be connected to the
golf course which expires in year 2020.
Aanenson: If I can, if I may just add to that. So as we went through this process you know we
just up-zoned a lot of the property down there. The 61 corridor and we don’t know when we’ll
get all the funding for the 101 so this property could sit there for a while but we left the 2020.
We think that’s a pretty reasonable timeframe. Again it gives the property owner some
additional use of the property and trying to fit in but the standards that we talked about that were
given relief are the standards that we wouldn’t allow if it was a permanent, more permanent
structure such as steel siding, those sort of things we don’t typically do but this gives them use of
the property and if for some reason it’s not there in 2020, you could incrementally, he could
come back and ask for some more time if for some reason we’re not down there yet.
Aller: And then liquor licensing, will that be reviewed on a regular basis and does that terminate
as well?
Aanenson: Well it runs with that property so I’m assuming that if you’re going to have the
liquor license you’d have to have that building. Something would have to be operational there
tied to that use. It’d be the same thing with the other golf for example the Halla Greens. Be
similar to that sort of thing so they would have to have structure and meet those requirements.
Aller: Additional questions?
Yusuf: I have one.
Aller: Commissioner Yusuf.
Yusuf: Did the applicant have a chance to provide some alternate sign options?
Ingvalson: No other ones were submitted.
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Chanhassen Planning Commission – January 5, 2016
Aller: Okay.
Madsen: I do have one additional question.
Aller: Commissioner Madsen.
Madsen: The report talks about using the site’s existing topography and vegetation and there
was a mention of using hay bales for this site but the report mentioned that other paintball sites
had used car hoods, spools, tires and other forms of items for bunkers. Would that be allowed
here or would that not be allowed?
Ingvalson: No, that would not be allowed. This went through all of our staff and our Water
Resources Coordinator stated that specifically they could only be using organic materials within
this area. None ones that are non, that are not permanent structures also so hay bales is what the
applicant stated would be what they would use on the site and then also that, and then also that
would also maybe use other things like logs and things like that. Things that would essentially
would float away because this is within the flood plain so to float away wouldn’t have any harm
to any water in the area.
Madsen: Okay, thank you.
Aller: The testing that was required on the property, will there be testing in the future after the
paintball or paintballs are dropped and degrading on the property?
Ingvalson: So if they are non-caustic, all the fence, all the requirement there wouldn’t be any
testing along with that unless there are chemicals put onto the site. Currently we have something
where if they, the applicant is putting chemicals on the site for the golf ball, golf ball area, for the
field area, that would be need to come to show and prove that there’s a reason to have those
chemicals on there. There won’t be any testing as part of with the paintballs because they will be
non-caustic.
Aanenson: If I may Mr. Chair I’d like to also add, all conditional uses are inspected like every
other year. That’s something on Drew’s to do list so those are, those are made so whether or not
it’s for the fertilizer, there’s still an inspection out there and it’s also complaint driven if there’s
concerns but, so we would go out and visit or he would and make sure that they are following
conditions so if there’s any other potentially noise complaints or something like that, then we
would follow up and work with the applicant to make sure they’re in compliance.
Aller: And it may very well be that the applicant doesn’t know or isn’t aware of for instance me
coming onto the property and using improper paintballs which might be caustic and causing
damage to the community. I just want to make sure that we’re monitoring that.
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Chanhassen Planning Commission – January 5, 2016
Ingvalson: There’s also a condition that states that any materials left on the site would be put on
the onerous of the property owner to clean.
Aller: Alright. Would the applicant like to come forward and make a presentation?
Jeff Helstrom: Sure.
Aller: If you can state your name and address for the record sir that would be great.
Jeff Helstrom: Jeff Helstrom, Golf Zone.
Aller: Welcome.
Jeff Helstrom: 825 Flying Cloud Drive. Happy New Year.
Aller: Tell us about your project.
Jeff Helstrom: I do have a spec sheet on the paintballs so I can pass that around. They are non-
toxic which is important. Kate kind of spelled it out pretty well. We’re looking for a way to stay
in business. Do you have that sheet that kind of, the site plan that shows what we’re doing. How
many have been to the Golf Zone? So 3 out of 4, not too bad. If you look at the site plan we
used to have an outdoor mini putt course on top of the, like next to Flying Cloud Drive so it was
between Flying Cloud Drive and our parking lot and when the new road came in they tore that
out and now after having a meeting with Kate we realized that there is no use for that land
anymore. Sewer and water coming in so, and we’re trying to find a way to stay in business and
paintball really for the site that we have seemed really to make some sense. There’s only a
couple other sites around. It’s very popular and it allows us to keep going for 5, 6, 7 years,
whatever that is and then once sewer and water comes in there’s no permanent structure or
anything like that that we have to take out. The, you know the improvements we’re going to
make in front of the club house is basically to have, have it be more like an event center so you
can come down. We have all the indoor seating inside where the mini putt is and then we’d have
volleyball courts. You could do some small weddings, things like that down there because we
just don’t have, we don’t have the parking anymore. We don’t have the outside putting course so
we can’t rebuild that so we just need to figure out some you know reasonably inexpensive ways
to keep going because we want to stay in business obviously. Worked hard at you know
providing a really nice spot and a nice business for your community. We have people that come
from Duluth to hit balls down there and we bring a lot of business, we bring 100,000 golfers
down there in a winter but it’s been a struggle in the summer. You know we’re trying to
compete with Halla Greens and it’s just, it’s not easy to do so this is just a way for us to retool
and we already have the facility there. We have great employees. It’s basically all set up for it.
We just need to, like you said use some biodegradable hay bales, you know wood, things like
that in back to create a little course and we’re on our way so it’s not a huge undertaking for us so.
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Aller: And then Drew had outlined some of the deficiencies in the present CUP requirements
and those are going to be taken care of. You don’t have any questions or problems about that?
Jeff Helstrom: Yeah. So we don’t, we’re not using the chemicals because we don’t have the
course anymore so that was the soil sample deal. I know that pile of junk looks bad but it’s way
back in the weeds that we’ve just kind of over time there’s been stuff that we piled up that
obviously that’s going to be our paintball course so that will all be gone. The sign, well they
ripped out everything so they took out our sign and then I wasn’t going to spend a bunch of
money on it because I knew I had to get a new sign but I just needed it up so people knew we
were still there so that’s why it wasn’t in compliance. We just basically put it in the ground and
just so people know we were there but obviously the new signage would be entirely different.
As far as the new signage goes, you know we’ve got that little plywood, it’s basically the size of
a piece of plywood and I understand that the city has, and like you had said we haven’t had, this
is the only shout we’ve had at it. We basically had a sign company put this together and this is
what you’re looking at so we haven’t had another go around. It doesn’t necessarily have to look
like this but you know driving around Chanhassen I see the other businesses that have a pylon
sign. You know the Target sign is obviously a lot bigger than a piece of plywood and then CVS
has signage all over their building, which I don’t have because I’m set so far back. You
wouldn’t even see it so I need an opportunity to pull those people in from that new roundabout to
see what we’ve got going on there and I just can’t do that with building signage so it sounded
like you know, you know maybe you can work with me on that somehow. I mean it doesn’t
have to be exactly what it is here but I need people to know I’m there and they can’t, from the
roundabout you can’t even see my building. I mean there’s woods in front of me and I need an
opportunity to pull those people in and get some more business so do you have any questions?
Aller: Not right now. Commissioners.
Yusuf: Not a major question but is the name changing from Golf Zone to just the zone?
Jeff Helstrom: Well we’re working on that. That’s a possibility just because we’re adding the
paintball.
Yusuf: Of course.
Jeff Helstrom: So it could be The Zone. It could be something else. It’s a work in progress.
Aller: Okay.
Yusuf: Can I make another comment?
Aller: Absolutely.
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Chanhassen Planning Commission – January 5, 2016
Yusuf: I do agree with your concerns about the signage just because I know the first couple
times I went there I drove right past it and had to turn around to get back in there so I do think
it’s kind of hidden back there and I think staff would welcome the opportunity to work with you
to kind of find a working solution.
Aanenson: Yeah I think how we visited that, you’re in an agricultural district down there and the
signs that you mentioned are, we require architectural compatibility so while Target has a big
sign there’s also 3 users on that. It was put together as a PUD. Same with CVS which is on the
building so trying to find, strike that balance between now and planning, I mean City Council
that’s something that we could take a look at. Try to find you know again some architectural
compatibility. The right size. Maybe a directional sign. Those sort of things that we can work
with the applicant on.
Jeff Helstrom: That would be great. I just, I’m a little bit limited because I can’t go and spend
$20,000 on signs that are going to be ripped down in 5 years either.
Aanenson: Understood but I think if you look at the architectural detail on this, I know you’re
trying to include it to be fun. That sort of thing and then you look at the scale there’s nothing
down there along that corridor that’s quite this size and I want to say kind of loud and bright so
we just are trying to figure out how we can work that into what we consider kind of that unique
area. You’ve got the Seminary Fen across the street so we’re just trying to find that right balance
and I think we can do that.
Jeff Helstrom: Okay because I’m across the street from a trailer park and I’ve got the junk yard
down the road and trying, I don’t think I’d have to do too much to class up that part of town. I
mean I think I’ve worked hard to really provide a nice property that’s well maintained and
you’ve never had any issues with me not doing everything I can to make that property look great.
Aanenson: Yep, I think the garden center across the street is tasteful.
Jeff Helstrom: And I can definitely work with you.
Aanenson: Yeah, they’ve got a non-conforming sign but their sign’s pretty tasteful. The garden
center.
Jeff Helstrom: Yeah, oh the garden center’s fine. I was just.
Aanenson: Yeah, yeah. I mean we can find plenty of examples…
Jeff Helstrom: Okay.
Aller: Comments, questions? Alright, thank you sir.
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Jeff Helstrom: You’re welcome.
Aller: At this time I’ll open up the public hearing portion of the item so any individual wishing
to do can come forward and speak either for or against the item before us. Seeing no one come
forward I will close the public hearing and open it up for comments and questions and inquiry on
as we’re sitting as a Board of Appeals and Adjustments on that variance so that we would need
to deny it in order for it to move forward?
Aanenson: Right. Right. What I would recommend is you take action on the first items that are
in front of you now and then take the variance separately and you could recommend denial but
you could also say that you would like the applicant, for that specific application to work with
staff when it goes to City Council that we can maybe find an alternative.
Aller: Which is that, that’s my intent is to make sure that we continue to work together and take
the appropriate process so. Okay, comment, question or entertain motions.
Undestad: I’ll go with the motion here.
Aller: Commissioner Undestad.
Undestad: So we’ll do the Chanhassen Planning Commission recommends the City Council
approve amendments to city code Chapter 11 and Chapter 20 to allow paintball courses as an
exempt firearm use and as an interim use in the Agricultural Estate district, A2 and amend
Conditional Use Permit 1998-02, Interim Use Permit 1998-02 site plan review, and 1998-08 to
allow an outdoor recreation area, upgrades to an existing patio area and paintball course with
conditions at 825 Flying Cloud Drive and adopt the attached Findings of Fact and
Recommendation.
Aller: I have a motion. Do I have a second?
Madsen: Second.
Aller: Having a motion by Commissioner Undestad and a second by Commissioner Madsen,
any further discussion?
Yusuf: Do you want to add the recommendation that the applicant work with staff?
Aller: That will be the second.
Yusuf: Oh separate motion, okay.
Aller: Yeah. So hearing no further discussion.
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Chanhassen Planning Commission – January 5, 2016
Undestad moved, Madsen seconded that the Chanhassen Planning Commission
recommends that City Council approve amendments to City Code Chapter 11 and Chapter
20 to allow paintball courses as an exempt firearm use and as an Interim Use in the
Agricultural Estate District (A-2), and amend Conditional Use Permit #1998-02/Interim
Use Permit #1998-02/Site Plan Review #1998-08 to allow an outdoor recreation area,
upgrades to an existing patio area, and a paintball course at 825 Flying Cloud Drive, with
the following conditions, and adopts the attached Findings of Fact and Recommendation:
1.Guests must wear protective gear (consistent with International Stock Paintball Players’
Association or American Society for Testing and Materials Standards).
2.Guests must use barrel plugs off the playing field.
3.Velocity of paintball gun projectiles cannot exceed 285 feet per second.
4.A chronograph must be on site to measure projectile velocity.
5.The facility must provide minimum operating standards including staffing requirements,
safety briefings and equipment inspection.
6.Paintballs must be non-toxic, non-caustic, water-soluble and biodegradable.
7.The facility is responsible for the clean-up of any accumulation of materials on the site.
8.A minimum parcel size of 50 acres is required for the operation of a paintball course.
9.The paintball course shall be setback a minimum of three hundred (300) feet from all
property lines and a minimum of five hundred (500) feet from any residential dwelling.
10.The paintball course boundaries must be physically designated with signage or boundary
markers.
11.The paintball course must be completely screened from neighboring homes.
12.Alcohol use or consumption is prohibited on the paintball course.
13.The hours of operation are limited to daylight hours.
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Chanhassen Planning Commission – January 5, 2016
14.Retail sales and rental is limited to paintball-related material and equipment and may not
occupy more than 20 percent of the floor display area of the existing building.
15.Structures, fill, or storage of materials or equipment are not permitted on the paintball site.
16.Approval shall expire on November 1, 2020, unless extended in the future.
All voted in favor and the motion carried unanimously with a vote of 4 to 0.
Aller: That motion carries unanimously and then we’ll move onto the second portion dealing
with the variance. So Commissioner would you like to make that motion?
Yusuf: I thought for a second it was already on the screen. I would love to make that motion.
The Chanhassen Planning Commission recommends that the applicant work with staff to identify
workable solution to address the signage request.
Aanenson: Technically we need, we have the motion in front of you is, you have to recommend
approval or denial so you could say we recommend denial as stated here but you would
encourage that the applicant work with the staff to present a modified version before it goes to
City Council because that’s where it’s going to go because he would appeal it anyways so.
Yusuf: Okay.
Aanenson: Did that make sense?
Yusuf: Should I try again?
Aanenson: Sure.
Yusuf: The Chanhassen Planning Commission recommends denial of the variance as stated in
the packet and encourages the applicant to work with staff to identify a workable solution for the
signs.
Aller: Okay, having a motion to deny the variance to allow 2 signs that exceed the number of
signs and allow him to display the maximum height, maximum for signage in the agricultural
estate district A2 at 825 Flying Cloud Drive with the recommendation. Do I have a second?
Madsen: Second.
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Chanhassen Planning Commission – January 5, 2016
Aller: Having a motion by Commissioner Yusuf, a second by Commissioner Madsen, any
further discussion?
Yusuf moved, Madsen seconded that the Chanhassen Planning Commission recommends
denial of a variance request to allow two signs that exceed the number of signs allowed,
display area maximum, and height maximum for signage in the Agricultural Estate District
(A-2) at 825 Flying Cloud Drive, encourages the applicant to work with staff to identify a
workable solution for the signs, and adopts the attached Findings of Fact and
Recommendation.
Aller: So the motion is denied with the recommendation that staff and the applicant work
together on the signage issue prior to this matter which will be again before the City Council on
January 25, 2016. Also sir can we keep this?
Jeff Helstrom: Sure, absolutely.
Aller: So this should be attached to the package that goes to the council and that is a document
entitled paintballs materials safety data sheet.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Commissioner Undestad noted the verbatim and summary
Minutes of the Planning Commission meeting dated December 1, 2015 as presented.
COMMISSION PRESENTATIONS.
None.
ADMINISTRATIVE PRESENTATIONS.
th
Aanenson: Thank you. The last meeting of the year December 14 the City Council did
approve the other adult daycare that you recently saw for the Bethel Fellowship. As Mr.
Generous indicated those are on our to do list for code amendments is to clean those up and so
they service adult daycare and children so there obviously are some things that are, have
commonality and some that don’t so we’ll get those straighten out. Also we had some
conditional use permits that we talk about that you don’t always see these and but that is
something we do an annual inspection. Try to get through them all and those, the ones that have
extinguished or no longer in the works we actually take those off and so they’re no longer,
someone in 10 years couldn’t come back because it’s still on there because they run with the
property so we just try to clean those up so the council did see those. So some of them, excuse
me, so the other one that we did do is also some amendments which you had seen and so those
are going to be codified then. That’s something again that we ongoing when we find, just like
we talked about for the senior care. We need to constantly be looking at what’s changing out in
the marketplace to adjust our code for that. And finally you guys looked at the Gateway Medical
and at the last minute the applicant withdrew that request, which was a very nice building which
is, but he withdrew that application so we’ll look for something else to go on that site so. And
then if I may just future planning items.
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