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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPCMinutes_2025_09_02Planning Commission Brookings, South Dakota September 2, 2025 OFFICIAL MINUTES Chairperson Scot Leddy called the meeting of the Planning Commission to order on Tuesday, September 2, 2025, at 5:30 PM in the Council Chambers Room #310 on the third floor of the City & County Government Center. Members present were Tanner Aiken, Emily Braun, Billie Jo Hinrichs, Scot Leddy, Jacob Limmer, Nick Schmeichel, Roger Solum and Debra Spear. Kyle Jamison was absent. Also present were Community Development Director Michael Struck, City Planner Ryan Miller and Associate Planner Bailey Maca. Also present was Kyle Rausch, David Schaefer, Jason Crow, Jon Sprang, Jason Harms and Justin Bucher from the public. Item #1— Roll Call Item #2 — Approval of Agenda (Limmer/Schmeichel) Motion to approve the agenda. All present voted aye. MOTION CARRIED. Item #3 —Approval of Minutes (Limmer/Aiken) Motion to approve the August 5, 2025 Minutes. All present voted aye: MOTION CARRIED. Item #4 — Open Forum Item #5 — Convene as the Board of Adjustment Item #5a — David and Laurie Schaefer have requested a variance on Lot 10 of Block 12 of Prairie Hills Addition to install two twenty -five-foot access drives on the lot. Only one access drive is permitted by ordinance in residential districts. Staff recommends denial. (Solum/Schmeichel) Motion to approve the access drive variance. All present voted aye. MOTION CARRIED. Item #5b — Stein Sign Display has requested a variance on Lot 3 of Le Fevre Addition, also known as 3100 6th Street, to install a 268 square -foot sign. The maximum sign allowance in the Business B-3 district is 160 square -feet. Staff recommends approving up to a 240 square -foot sign allowance. (Schmeichel/Limmer) Motion to approve the sign size variance allowing 268 sq ft. Limmer, Spear, Hinrichs, Braun and Solum voted nay. Schmeichel and Aiken voted aye. MOTION FAILED. Item #5c — Jon Sprang has requested a variance on Lot 12 in Block 1 of Fairgrounds Addition, also known as 1016 Oakwood Circle, to install a shed within the front yard setback. The front yard setback in the Residence R-3 apartment district is 20 -feet. Staff recommends approval. (Schmeichel/Aiken) Motion to approve the shed location variance. All present voted aye. MOTION CARRIED. Item #6 — Reconvene as the Planning Commission Item #6a — NE Hansen LLC has submitted a petition to rezone the West Half of the Northwest Quarter, Excluding Platted Areas in Section 20, Township 110, Range 49. The request is to rezone the land as described from Agriculture A District to Industrial I-1 Light District. The Development Review Team recommends approval. (Limmer/Solum) Motion to approve the rezone. All present voted aye. MOTION CARRIED. Item #6b — NE Hansen LLC has submitted a Preliminary Plat of Lots 1-7 in Block 1 of NE Hansen Addition. The Development Review Team recommends approval. (Solum/Schmeichel) Motion to approve the preliminary plat. All present voted aye. MOTION CARRIED. Item #7 — Adjourn (Limmer/Schmeichel) Motion to adjourn. All present voted aye. MOTION CARRIED The meeting adjourned at 6:39 p.m. Ryan Miller, City Planner Scot e dy, kfiairperso Planning Commission Brookings, South Dakota September 2, 2025 OFFICIAL SUMMARY Chairperson Scot Leddy called the meeting of the Planning Commission to order on Tuesday, September 2, 2025, at 5:30 PM in the Council Chambers Room #310 on the third floor of the City & County Government Center. Members present were Tanner Aiken, Emily Braun, Billie Jo Hinrichs, Scot Leddy, Jacob Limmer, Nick Schmeichel, Roger Solum and Debra Spear. Kyle Jamison was absent. Also present were Community Development Director Michael Struck, City Planner Ryan Miller and Associate Planner Bailey Maca. Also present was Kyle Rausch, David Schaefer, Jason Crow, Jon Sprang, Jason Harms and Justin Bucher from the public. Item #1— Roll Call Item #2 — Approval of Agenda Item #3 — Approval of Minutes Item #4 — Open Forum Item #5 — Convene as the Board of Adjustment Item #5a — Lot 10 of Block 12 of Prairie Hills Addition has a lot width of approximately 173 -feet and is zoned Residential R-113. The lot was preliminary platted as two lots but was final platted as one lot for a proposed large home. Given the large frontage of the lot, the applicant is proposing to install a curved driveway with two twenty -five-foot access points onto Sweetgrass Drive. In residential districts, no more than one access drive shall be permitted onto any street which the lot abuts, regardless of frontage length. Rausch, Dakota Land Design, explained that the lot was 174 feet of road frontage whereas the other lots average 85 feet of frontage. He went on to explain that the property owner thought the design improved ingress and egress to the property while complimenting the architecture. The lot across the street is also owned by them and Rausch pointed out that the request would equate to two access drives in an area that would have had three as preliminary platted. The developer and all three neighbors have granted letters of approval. Schaefer reiterated that the property was originally two lots that were parceled together to allow for the construction of a larger home and explained that the "V" design of the home would be complimented with a curved driveway. He went on to say that his spouse has limited movement on her right side that would make this type of access ideal. Schaefer read a letter of approval from Mills Development out loud. Schmeichel clarified that the lot across the street does have landscaping without an access drive. Schaefer confirmed and stated that it was a non -buildable lot that would be landscaped and maintained in the same manner as the dwelling. Hinrichs asked staff to explain the reasoning for, the denial recommendation. Miller stated that the requested variance was a hardship created by the design chosen by the applicant and that the property was a "clean slate" that could be designed to not require a variance. Hinrichs pointed out that there were other area properties in the area with a horseshoe drive. Limmer asked staff what the setbacks were and how the driveway would look if it met the requirements. Miller pointed out that the setbacks were shown with the red lines and demonstrated how the driveway would need to be altered to meet city ordinance. Schmeichel asked the applicant if his spouse's limitations were the reason for the design. Schaefer explained that it was a factor and they looked at many options before selecting the one proposed. Solum vocalized that the property was originally two lots and if they were developed independently there would have been two curb cuts so he is in favor of approving the variance. Limmer agreed with Solum's perspective but failed to see the hardship. Schmeichel asked what curb cuts would be allowed if the property was two lots. Miller stated that city ordinance would allow one access drive up to 36 foot wide per lot. Item #5b — Lot 3 of Le Fevre Addition, also known as 3100 6th Street, is zoned Business B-3 which allows for a maximum of 160 square -feet of signage. The applicant is proposing to install a 268 square foot billboard, due to physical limitations of the site for sign placement. The proposed billboard is set back 140 feet from the road. Signs in the area vary in size from 129-200 square- feet. The Brookings Marketplace was approved with signs up to 240 square feet for lots fronting US Highway 14. Staff feels it would be appropriate permit a sign consistent with adjacent Business B-4 district zoning. Crow, Stein Sign, explained that his request is based on safety siting statistics on sign legibility at speeds of 35 miles per hour, consistency with other signage in the area and community enhancement by complying with city ordinances requiring landscaping which contributes to the commercial corridor aesthetics. Spear asked what would be on the display. Stein stated it would be off premises advertising. Solum asked the reason for the exact dimensions selected and what the next size down was. Crow stated that he requested a standard size they offer so there would not be a need to rework graphics and he was not certain what the next size down was. Spear asked if the sign was static. Crow explained that the image typically changed every 6 seconds. Spear inquired if the statistics were for static signs or digital displays. Crow stated it was digital. Schmeichel asked if the images had motion. Crow confirmed that the images had no motion. Hinrichs noted that the requested setback seemed natural when she drove to the site but was concerned about saturation of signage. Miller explained that the city revised the sign ordinance a couple of years ago but the revisions did not change the per lot sign allowances as it was not deemed to be an issue at that time. Struck explained that the Marketplace across the street was limited to 240 sq ft of signage despite being a much larger lot. Currently, 240 sq ft is the largest allowable digital signage per city ordinance. Limmer inquired what the hardship was and explained that he did not view advertising an off -premises business as a hardship. He went on to ask the applicant if it would be worthwhile to amend the request to 240 sq ft. Crow stated that it would be worthwhile to consider 240 sq ft. Aiken clarified that the original motion was to approve 268 sq ft. Item 95c — Lot 12 in Block 1 of Fairgrounds Addition is a double frontage lot abutting Oakwood Circle and Medary Avenue South. The lot is zoned Residence R-3 apartment district which requires a 20 -foot setback on the front yards. The owner would like to install a shed 6 -feet off the west property line along Medary Avenue South. The applicant emphasized that the shed would be screened from Medary Avenue South by the existing privacy fence and mature trees. Accessory buildings may be located within 5 feet of rear and side property lines. However, due to the lot's double frontage, the west side is classified as a front yard and must comply with the 20 -foot setback requirement by ordinance. Sprang was available for inquiries and explained that he was asking for a variance similar to nearby properties. The applicant stated that the neighbors on both sides didn't have concerns but he had not spoken with the neighbor across the street. Spear asked if that side of the property had a fence. Sprang stated that there is a six foot fence. Aiken viewed the property having two front yards as a hardship. Hinrichs stated that the area has mature trees and did not believe it would be visible. Item 46 — Reconvene as the Planning Commission Item #6a — The rezone area is approximately fifty-four aces located at the southeast corner of 34th Avenue and US Highway 14 bypass. The area was recently annexed into the City of Brookings. Prior to annexation, a future land use map revision was applied for and approved changing the area from Urban Medium Intensity to General Industrial for future use. The General Industrial future land use category supports a rezone to Industrial I-1. Bucher, Banner Engineer, was available for inquiries. Item #6b — The preliminary plat includes seven lots covering roughly fifty-four acres southeast of the 34th Avenue and US Highway 14 Bypass intersection. The area was recently amended in the Future Land Use Map from Urban Medium Intensity to General Industrial in anticipation of a future industrial use. An annexation of the area was approved earlier in 2025. A rezone to Industrial I-1 Light District has been applied for in tandem with the preliminary plat. A proposed road, Ron Reed Circle, will intersect with 34th Avenue providing access and utility extensions for Lots 2-7. The preliminary drainage plan has been accepted by the City. The drainage plan will require additional annexation to the east where the drainage pond will be located. The area is not impacted by the updated floodplain map. Bucher was available for inquiries. Schmeichel asked how wide the street and cul-de-sac are. Bucher stated the plans were the same as Century Circle on 32nd Avenue. Hinrichs inquired about access drives to Lot 1. Bucher stated that access to Lot 1 restricted from the highway by DOT so access would be to the west from 32nd Avenue. Aiken asked about the final drainage plan requiring annexation and if it was typical. Miller stated that they have received the annexation petition and it will be on the October Planning Commission Agenda. Hinrichs asked if the detention pond overlays with the floodplain. Miller stated that would be a question to ask while hearing the annexation and Engineering has stated that they are comfortable with the plan, providing the property become annexed. Announcements: There are scheduling conflicts for the Planning Commission Meetings in June and November 2026 due to election dates. The county has opted to reschedule their meetings to the first Thursday of the month and the City will need to discuss if they will adjust their schedule accordingly. Struck proposed Planning Commission Members and staff taking a bus through the community for a field trip. Struck would like to gauge interest and get it scheduled soon so they do not lose daylight. Many members appeared to be agreeable. Notice of quorum will be required. Staff will send out date proposals. Miller noted that on October 7, 2026 the City Clerk would present the first annual discussion on open meeting laws. Struck noted that staff can also create informational resources upon request on for members to reference. Struck appreciated the board discussing how each request met hardship requirements. Item #7 — Adjourn The meeting adjourned at 6:39 p.m. Ryan Miller, City Planner