HomeMy WebLinkAboutPCMinutes_2024_02_06Planning Commission
Brookings, South Dakota
February 6, 2024
OFFICIAL MINUTES
Chairperson Tanner Aiken called the meeting of the City Planning Commission to order on Tuesday,
February 6, 2024, at 5:30 PM in the Council Chambers Room #310 on the third floor of the City &
County Government Center. Members present were Kyle Jamison, Jacob Limmer, Jacob Mills via
telephone, Richard Smith, Roger Solum, Nick Schmeichel, Debra Spear and Aiken. Scot Leddy was
absent. Also present were City Planner Ryan Miller, Russell Atkins- Christianson Development
Corporation, Rick Intermill, Nick and Kristin Uilk, Heath Rasche, and Colleen Vukovich.
Item #1— Roll Call
Item #2 - (Solum/Schmeichel) Motion to approve the agenda. All present voted aye. MOTION
CARRIED.
Item #3 — (Smith/Solum) Motion to approve the January 2, 2024 minutes. All present voted aye.
MOTION CARRIED.
Item #4a — TH Companies LLC submitted a petition for annexation of the Northeast Quarter of the
Northwest Quarter, Excluding Outlot A in Section Three, Township 109, Range 50, Brookings County,
South Dakota, also known as 1115 West 20th Street South.
(Schmeichel/Smith) Motion to approve the annexation request. All present voted aye. MOTION
CARRIED.
Item #5a — TH Companies LLC submitted a petition to rezone the Northeast Quarter, Excluding
Outlot A in Section Three, Township 109, Range 50, Brookings County, South Dakota, also known as
1115 West 20th Street South.
(Solum/Spear) Motion to approve the rezone request. All present voted aye. MOTION CARRIED.
Item #6a — TH Companies LLC has submitted a preliminary plat of Blocks 1-4 in Prairie Sunset
Addition.
(Schmeichel/Solum) Motion to approve the Preliminary Plat as presented. Jamison voted no. All
others voted aye. MOTION CARRIED.
Item #7a — Business B-2A Office District Discussion. No action required.
Item #7b — Future Land Use Man Discussion. No action required.
The meeting adjourned at 8:08 p.m.
Ryan Miller, City Planner Tanner Aiken, Chairperson
Planning Commission
Brookings, South Dakota
February 6, 2024
OFFICIAL SUMMARY
Chairperson Tanner Aiken called the meeting of the City Planning Commission to order on Tuesday,
February 6, 2024, at 5:30 PM in the Council Chambers Room 4310 on the third floor of the City &
County Government Center. Members present were Kyle Jamison, Jacob Limmer, Jacob Mills via
telephone, Richard Smith, Roger Solum, Nick Schmeichel, Debra Spear and Aiken. Scot Leddy was
absent. Also present were City Planner Ryan Miller, Russell Atkins- Christianson Development
Corporation, Rick Intermill, Nick and Kristin Uilk, Heath Rasche, and Colleen Vukovich.
(Following is a summary of the meeting and not a word for word dictation. Please see the City's website to
view the meeting video for full details. https:Hciiyofbrookings.legistar.com/calendar.asl2x )
Item 94a — The annexation location is on West 20th Street South and is zoned Agriculture. This item
did come to Planning Commission in March of 2023. Planning Commission did recommend approval
but the applicant did not follow through with the petition to City Council due to some zoning issues.
Smith asked city staff to explain the advantages and disadvantages of this annexation. Miller
explained the benefit is that this is a vacant piece of land, zoned Agriculture, and if this land is
developed as a residential development, they would be able to follow city zoning regulations and
additionally they would have sewer availabilities. If this was not annexed, the development would not
be able to hook on to city sewer. If annexed in, the roads would be considered part of the city road
network.
Item 95a — This request is from Agriculture to Residence R-3 Apartment District. A Future Land Use
Map amendment was complete in March of 2023 for this area. There is adjacent JJ-R1A to the north,
Residential R-3 to the east and Agriculture to the south and west.
Atkins explained that the intention of this development is not to build apartments but to build slab on
grade twin homes or single-family homes.
Intermill, 1302 W 20" St S, inquired if proper notice was given to surrounding property owners. He
questioned if the roads, sidewalks, drainage and increased amount of traffic had been looked at. This
development will bring a significant amount of traffic to this area and currently there are not sidewalks
installed to the east of this development. He is concerned about the drainage and where the water from
this development is going to go because currently, he is receiving a lot of the water runoff onto his
property.
Uilk, 1206 W 201h Street S, is also concerned with the public notice. She explained that what they
were first told is completely different than what the plan is now. Uilk has many concerns with the
rezone and feels that rezoning to one of the R-1 or R-2 zones would be better to make sure it is for
single family housing and to potentially change the lot sizes to make them bigger. She is concerned
about the drainage and wonders what studies have been done. She wondered if studies had been done
on the wells, currently they are on wells but will they be supplied with city sewer and water or if
services are going to be included for them. The hill on 20th Street South is a major concern for her and
she wonders if this has been looked at. She has many concerns with drainage and utilities and safety
that she is hoping the city and the developers have looked in to.
Rasche, 1817 Brighton Road, is wondering if the rezone request is to R-3, the developer says they
won't be building an apartment building, but what protection to the neighbors have that there will not
be apartments built. He is also concerned about the drainage.
Nick Uilk is also concerned that if the R-3 zoning is approved, then an apartment building could be
built. A different zoning district would be better.
Schmeichel asked for the process of the LSRD. Miller explained that the Preliminary Plat would
include the LSRD and the developers would have to follow the LSRD. If changes were to be made,
they would have to revise the preliminary plat.
Limmer asked for details on R-1 or R-2 zoning rather than R-3. Miller explained the R-1 zoning
districts are limited to single family with different lot sizes, R-2 zoning then enters the two-family use,
apartments and townhomes can be approved by conditional use, and R-3 brings in a larger scale of
uses, apartments, townhomes, condos and it also has smaller lot sizes and smaller setbacks.
Item #6a — This preliminary plat and large-scale residential plan is for Block 1-4 of Prairie Sunset
Addition. The R-3 Apartment zoning allows for 2-unit single family dwellings which is the plan for
this development. This development will provide 58 lots/116 units over 4 Blocks. The plat also
includes two drainage tracts and one recreation tract. Rights of way for three streets and three cul-de-
sacs are proposed. The LSRD does note that all lots will be 2-unit dwellings. Staff does recommend
to eliminate two cul-de-sacs in the development. Staff recommends connecting A Circle and D Circle
in order to ensure secondary access for Block 3 and 4 for greater connectivity.
Vukovich, a realtor in Brookings, feels that cul-de-sacs provide a sense of community in our city.
They are aesthetically pleasing and home buyers actually have an interest in houses on cul-de-sacs.
Atkins explained the history of this project. He explained that they have looked into the drainage and
have worked with the utility company to be sure they are able to provide adequate services to this
development. Atkins also believes that cul-de-sacs are an important part of a development and people
enjoy living on these streets. The plan is not to come in and build these houses and sell them, but to
sell the lots to be built on.
Intermill is wondering if the development will be affected if the flood plain gets changed. Miller
explained that this property does not sit in the new proposed flood plain.
Rasche is wondering if any work will be done on 20th Street South with the road or sidewalk. Miller
explained that this is outside the scope of this project. Rasche is concerned about the safety on 20"
Street South and there needs to be something done with the hill and it is not safe on 201h Street South.
Uilk is also very concerned about the safety on 20th Street South and the additional traffic is going to
cause more concerns. She would like to see that the developer is required to install sidewalks for
connectivity. She is still very concerned about the runoff and sewage when it floods.
Jamison explained that cul-de-sacs are actually more dangerous. Connectivity within the development
for walking traffic also needs to be considered. These kinds of developments force people into cars
until designing is done for pedestrian traffic. He feels that the developers worked on the drainage to
mitigate any issues. He is concerned about safety though on 20th Street South.
Schmeichel asked how connecting A Circle and D Circle will impact the drainage. Miller explained
that staff has asked about potentially shrinking the size of the drainage tract and installing a culvert and
reconfiguring some lots to allow a connection of the streets. Solum feels that removing 2 of the 3 cul-
de-sacs changes the plan from the developers. Aiken feels that connecting A Circle and D Circle will
provide connectivity but for this site but it might do more harm than good to the site with the drainage.
Jamison feels that additionally connectivity could be accomplished through increased pedestrian paths.
Schmeichel is trying to understand how we start to balance the need for housing in this community
with the lack of buildable land will also requiring developers to remove lots from a plan to provide
connectivity that the city wants. Miller explained that the connection of A Circle and D Circle would
also potentially provide a secondary access for this development. In the current plan as presented,
Blocks 1 and 2 would meet secondary access immediately if Avenue A and Brighton Road were built.
Anything south of C Street, unless Brighton Road was extended to the south and connected elsewhere
in the city, could not be developed until a secondary access is provided. Mills noted some concerns
with the secondary access and asked Miller for clarification. He also wants people to consider the
existence of a road/hard surface on top of a sewer line for this development. Schmeichel noted that the
City Council can still add in the recommendation for connecting the streets for final action.
Item #7a — A recent proposal for a rezone to the B-2A zoning district created discussion and concerns
regarding some of the uses allowed in this district. Miller reviewed the current uses that are Permitted
Uses, Permitted Special Uses, Conditional Uses and the Cannabis dispensary permitted use. Spear and
Limmer asked for clarification of some of the uses. Limmer recalls the previous request, and
specifically a drive-thru coffee shop was of concern. Miller explained that a coffee house with less
than 1,000 square feet could have a drive thru. Schmeichel believes that the buffer between the
residential and business districts is more of a concern. He feels that the B-2A district should be more
of an 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. type business. Limmer wonders if moving a coffee house from Permitted
Special Uses to Conditional Uses would be a better option. Aiken wondered if having any type of
business with a drive-thru would need to be approved by Conditional Use, this could include a
restaurant, bank, etc. any type of business with a drive-thru. Jamison wondered if there were any other
uses that maybe need to be added to the B-2A district such as a bodega. Miller will draft a proposal for
the commission to review.
Item #7b — Staff has begun exploring areas along 20th Street South with considerations for future land
use map revisions. Miller explained the areas that he has currently looked at for discussion and
potential amendments. By amending the Future Land Use map, developers would have more options
for rezoning/redeveloping.
Spear asked if there were any reasons why it wouldn't be a good idea for the Planning Commission to
approve these amendments. Miller stated it could actually save future developers some time so they
wouldn't need to request a map amendment before a rezone request.
Aiken and Mills are both in favor of the proposed sites for amendment. Mills would like staff to also
look at the Wetland areas. Miller stated that staff, in the future, will be looking into other areas but
they were directed to look at the Commercial Corridor areas first.
The meeting adjourned at 8:08 p.m.
Ryan Miller, City Planner
Tanner Aiken, Chairperson