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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001/01/22 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study Session OF ji ST.CITY LOUIS OFFICIAL MINUTES PARK CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION January 22, 2001 The meeting convened at 7:00 p.m. Present at the meeting were Councilmembers Jim Bnmeyer, Ron Latz, Chns Nelson, Susan Sanger, Sue Santa, Robert Young, and Mayor Jacobs. Staff present. City Manager (Mr. Meyer), Director of Public Works (Mr Rardin), Community Outreach Coordinator (Ms. McDonell), Director of Inspections (Mr. Hoffman), Planning and Zoning Supervisor (Ms. Jeremiah), Environmental Health Officer (Mr. Camilon), Zoning Administrator (Mr. Moore), and City Clerk (Ms. Reichert). 1. Human Rights Commission and League of Women Voters Marc Berg and Lynn Littlejohn from the Human Rights Commission were present, along with Dorothy Karlson and Barb Person from the League of Women Voters (LOWV). Mr Berg referred to memoranda received from regarding needs of neighbors and needs of immigrant population He passed along a draft version of a new renter's handbook and reported that funds had already been received toward panting the booklet. Ms Karlson spoke about the research completed by LOWV on whether St. Louis Park is a welcoming community. She indicated that she was pleased with the progress of the publication. Mayor Jacobs was very enthusiastic and felt that this project was a good goal for the Human Rights Commission. Councilmember Sanger inquired what the Human Rights Commission and LOWV needed for the project from Council Ms Karlson replied that they would like funding for the project and help with distribution of the booklet. Councilmember Bnmeyer inquired if work had been done to identify the pockets of immigrant residents in the city Ms Person stated that the census results would be helpful Councilmember Nelson commented that landlords could help distribute the materials. Ms. Persons stated that updating the booklet will be necessary as info changes. Ms Karlson stated that no other city has a booklet of this kind available, and St. Louis Park will be a leader She added that kids at the High School are often communicators for their families and this should be distributed there as well. Mr. Meyer suggested that the Neighborhood Revitalization Fund and the Multi-Family Housing Coalition Fund would both be appropriate sources for funding. Councilmember Nelson suggested that options given in the booklet should be presented in an unbiased way and that options presented should be inclusive rather than exclusive. Study Session Minutes -2- January 22, 2001 2. Friends of the Arts Update Rick Person, Enn Christianson, Susan Schneck, and Carole Humphries were present from Friends of the Arts. Ms. Schneck updated Council on their accomplishments which included hiring an Administrative Coordinator and obtaining funding from the City. She stated they had several goals for the year such as to provide coordination between the schools, the city and themselves. They would also like to begin a newsletter, resource center, and plan arts events. They hoped to get the newsletter out to the entire community within the next several weeks. Ms. Christianson discussed content of the newsletter and stated that a community arts calendar would be part of the newsletter each time it was published. Councilmember Sanger asked if Friends of the Arts had been working with Jack Becker of FORECAST Public Artworks, a private non-profit that helps cities and other agencies with public art initiatives. Mr. Meyer stated that in the context of Park Commons, staff and FORECAST have a meeting planned. He added that the first priority is establishing a relationship with them and then projects will be discussed at a later date. Ms. Schneck reported that Friends of the Arts was surprised that new members were already inquiring about the potential for an arts center in Park Commons. Mr. Meyer stated that the potential for an arts center simply was not realistic for the current phase of Park Commons, but that this was the time to begin planning and determining actual community needs so that future development on the Park Commons West site could include a compatible arts use. Councilmembers Nelson and Bnmeyer echoed Mr. Meyer's statements and urged Friends of the Arts to work with constituent groups to ascertain community needs. Ms. Humphries felt that private teachers and schools could provide better quality programs and a niche for a segment of the population not currently served. Mr. Person felt that Friends of the Arts needs to undergo a rigorous process to determine community needs in terms of art and what should be offered. He suggested that they be ready with a concrete proposal at the next phase of Park Commons. Mr. Meyer suggested that perhaps FORECAST can help explore the issue and work with them to include it in the scope of service. Mr. Persons stated that as a result of some visioning Friends of the Arts had done, a basis existed that could be checked out with FORECAST. Councilmember Sanger inquired if there will be an art fair this year. Ms. Schneck replied that they were planning an arts event called Celebrate the Arts in conjunction with the Ice Cream Social in May. 3. Traffic Signal Mr Rardin presented to Council a set of criteria staff had proposed for evaluating traffic signal requests. Council indicated support for the recommendations and asked questions to clarify some points. Councilmember Santa felt that staff and the Council should be prepared to evaluate all citizen requests on criteria presented. She wanted to be sure that the criteria were all sound Study Session Minutes -3- January 22, 2001 Councilmember Bnmeyer inquired if the cntena will need to be ranked or prioritized. Council initially felt that "weighting" cntena would be helpful. Mr. Meyer interjected that different requests may require different considerations and that for some requests weighting one critena over another may be appropriate, but in others the same cntena may be very different. Mayor Jacobs suggested that flexibility be left in the process. Mr. Rardin agreed. Councilmember Nelson felt Council should always be respectful of staff presenting alternative ideas. His concern was that even thought the criteria are all reasonable, each request still needs to be evaluated individually. Mr. Rardin suggested applying critena to a couple of existing situations and then bring their recommendation back to Council using the criteria. The cntena could be formalized upon approval. 4. Zoning Ordinance Text Amendment Allowing Uses Closer to Residential Districts Mr. Moore explained that staff would like to discuss with Council the topic of allowing certain uses closer to residential areas. This had been presented to Council previously and Council had asked that it be brought to a study session for discussion. Councilmember Sanger was opposed to the amendment but would consider variances on a case by case basis. Councilmember Young pointed out that the buffer that would be eliminated was of an extraordinary size. Councilmember Latz felt that the ordinance should be written so that it could be applied consistently to all cases. Ms Jeremiah suggested keeping the setback for resident and institutional use. She added that the setback should be removed for industnal and commercial use. Council agreed. 5. Liquor License Referendum Options Ms. Reichert reported to Council that there was a need to add more liquor licenses in the City and that a ballot question to do that should be presented to the public After discussion Council directed staff to contact members of the business community to get their input and to research restrictions regarding campaigning. 6. Recodification— Chapter 6, Building and Property Maintenance Mr Hoffman stated that the current building code is an assembly of various ordinances adopted throughout the years and recodification provides the opportunity to adopt State and model codes. Mayor Jacobs was concerned that the code could be open to a broad interpretation by enforcement officers. He did not want to criminalize property maintenance violations. Councilmember Latz felt that provisions for penalties should be kept as wntten. He suggested that administrative policies be created to guide staff members on enforcement standards. Council had several questions regarding individual provisions of the property maintenance code. Councilmember Sanger asked if the code would apply equally to rental or owner occupied properties. She would like to see inspections done at the time a rental property was sold. Study Session Minutes -4- January 22, 2001 Mr. Hoffman suggested that rental properties be included in the survey to be done later in the year Councilmember Sanger inquired about putting time limits on construction projects. Mr. Hoffman replied that the state will not allow cities to impose time limits. Councilmember Sanger inquired how the City can ensure compliance. Mr. Hoffman replied that they staff had made significant progress in working through the court system. Mr. Hoffman also indicated that the City might consider developing a housing court program as some other communities have done. 7. Communications Councilmember Nelson questioned the impact of investments in Pacific Gas and Electnc on the City. Councilmember Sanger raised the issue of the ice rink at Twin Lakes and stated that she had received several calls from residents disappointed that the rink was not being maintained. Council had agreed at a previous study session to cease maintenance of the Twin Lakes rink. At Councilmember Sanger's request, Council requested staff to remove snow for the remainder of this year and to consider alternatives for providing ice rink facilities for the neighborhood for the next. 8. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 10:25. • , ty Clerk Mayo