MINUTES
Planning and Zoning Commission
September 30, 2023
The Clarkson Valley Planning and Zoning Commission, pursuant to notices published in the West Newsmagazine on Wednesday, August 23rd and in the Legal Ledger on August 16th, the bulletin board, the City’s website and letters mailed to residents living within 500′ of the proposal on August 14th met in person on Wednesday, August 30, 2023, to consider three agenda items and to make a recommendation to the Board of Aldermen.
Planning and Zoning Commission Members present:
Steve Howard, Chairperson
Honora Schiller, Alderperson, Ward 2
David Grable
Jack Hauser
Karl Hussey
Commission Member Joe Mayberger and unable to attend. The City Clerk, Michele McMahon, took Minutes.
The Chairman opened the meeting, introduced the Commission Members, and asked the petitioners, Dr. Gary Jansen, Executive Director of Secondary Education, Dr. Christopher Brandriff, Principal of Crestview Middle School, and Matt Hrdlicka, owner of Excel Signs and Design Company if they had objections to any of the Members of the Planning and Zoning Commission, to which they responded they did not.
The Chairman explained that we are proceeding with the application received and are present tonight to ask this Board to consider if circumstances exist to recommend approval of an electronic message center at Crestview Middle School according to the Special Use provisions at Section 405.120 of the Clarkson Valley Land Use Ordinance.
The Chairman then gave the floor to Matt Hrdlicka, owner of Excel Signs and Design, who was hired by Rockwood School District to bring this proposal forward for approval of the electronic message center (EMC). He thanked the Board for holding this meeting and stated their request was for an 8’ wide by 6’ tall sign. He said it would be in the same location as the existing sign, further stating that the existing sign requires changing the letters outside in the elements and was also subject to vandalism. This will be near the Clayton Rd. entrance. The sign measures the same as Marquette High School, but Marquette’s signage has a 16 mm digital pitch whereas Crestview’s will be 9 mm, presenting a clearer, better display because the pixels are closer together.
Dr. Gary Jansen introduced himself and was asked who was paying for the sign and he stated that this was coming out of the school’s budget.
He explained to those present that the lighting on the sign automatically powers down to 20% at dusk because the sign in the evenings is not fighting the sun and can still be viewed. Mr. Hrdlicka said to change the content on the sign takes training and Excel Signs and Design will instruct Crestview’s staff so they can perform the necessary updates. Alderperson Schiller commented that Marquette High School’s electronic message board is ridiculous because you cannot read it. Mr. Hrdlicka said this proposed sign is produced by Next LED Signs, headquartered out of Wichita, KS and is known for having a good range of readability.
Mr. Hrdlicka said the current sign will have to come down no matter what because it is over twenty-five years old and is not in good shape. The last question asked pertained to the security of this sign and Mr. Hrdlicka said he has over thirty signs in the area and has not encountered a hacker. He further explained that this is a cloud-based digital sign system which means the sign can be changed on a remote server and accessed via internet. It is in contrast to traditional digital signage systems, typically installed on-premises, and requires a dedicated server and IT support to maintain. That way if school were to close due to inclement. weather, the message can be changed remotely to indicate the closing.
The Chairman called for proponents or opponents and upon hearing none, called for the vote.
Chairman Howard made a motion to make an affirmative recommendation to the Board of Aldermen to consider the change to the Zoning Code to allow the electronic message center at Crestview Middle School at the Clayton entrance, seconded by Commission Member John Hauser. A roll call vote was taken with the following results: Ayes: Grable, Hauser, Howard, Hussey, and Schiller. There were no Nays. Chairman Howard declared an affirmative recommendation would go forward and stated the time and date of the Public Hearing to take place at the next Aldermanic Meeting, September 5 at 7:00 p.m. (meeting begins at 6:30).
The Chairman read the second Agenda item which was to add language to Section 405.060.E.1 and 405.060.E.3.regarding Encroachment into the Setback to include the word “Structure” and to make a recommendation to the Board of Aldermen. The City Clerk stated the reason for this change was that the City cites “structure” in many of the nuisance code violations along with requests from residents when going to the Board of Adjustment with variance requests. Further explaining that “structure” represents fences, retaining walls, etc. which are not allowed in the setback, but the code merely states “buildings” as being required within the building lines. The City Attorney is not able to be here tonight but was onboard with this change. The P&Z Members brought up a third paragraph in this Section that would require changing and that was Sub-paragraph E.5. It was agreed that should be included.
A question was asked if this pertained to anything currently being discussed, which it was, and mention of the real estate sign frames was conveyed. It was asked what would happen with the real estate sign frames if the Aldermen approved this code change, to which the City Clerk said this same case also had a drainage pipe exiting at the street. Since the code was changed at the August 2023 Board Meeting to limit drainage to no closer than 10’ from the street, according to the City Attorney the pipe would be grandfathered. She said she believes that this would be the same scenario with “Structures” in this particular case, but we would still need to learn the opinion of the City Attorney, especially since we’ve always considered something like this a structure.
The Chairman called for opponents or proponents and upon hearing none, Chairman Howard made a motion to make an affirmative recommendation to the Board of Aldermen to consider the change to the Zoning Code to add the word “Structure” contained in Section 405.060 to include the added language in those three sub-paragraphs, seconded by Commission Member Jack Hauser. A roll call vote was taken with the following results: Ayes: Grable, Hauser, Howard, Hussey, and Schiller. There were no Nays. Chairman Howard declared an affirmative recommendation would go forward.
The Chairman read the third Agenda item which was to add language to Section 405.080 Area Regulations and Building Lines, by adding language regarding corner lots and sight distance triangles on corner lots and to make a recommendation to the Board of Aldermen. The City Clerk stated the reason for this change was that the City has a definition of “Sight Distance Triangle” in the “A” Residential District, but it only prohibits infringements of this sight distance in the “C” Office District Regulations, further stating that one cannot issue citations on merely a definition. Further explaining that while dealing with this, the wording used in our current “C” Office District Sight Distance Triangle and in most other cities, codes state “on Corner Lots”. She explained that our Code defines “Through Lots” (which have a front yard of 75’ minimum and a rear yard with 75’ minimum, but it does not define a “Corner Lot”. To clear up this matter would be ideal.
The question was again asked if this pertained to anything currently being discussed, which it was, and the mention of a tree in one of our subdivisions’ corner lots was investigated at length. Two police officers and the Lieutenant lent their opinion that this was not a problem. However, if we were to ask someone to remove a healthy 25-year-old evergreen to be removed, it would be important to have the appropriate language contained in the Code.
The Chairman called for opponents or proponents and upon hearing none, Chairman Howard made a motion to make an affirmative recommendation to the Board of Aldermen to consider the change to the Zoning Code to add the language and definition to the Code in Section 405.080.E.1, seconded by Commission Member Jack Hussey. A roll call vote was taken with the following results: Ayes: Grable, Hauser, Howard, Hussey, and Schiller. There were no Nays. Chairman Howard declared an affirmative recommendation would go forward.
The Commission Members were thanked for giving up their night and attending and invited everyone to consider attending the September 5th Aldermanic Meeting.
Chairman Howard made a motion to close this Hearing, seconded by Mrs. Schiller. The meeting adjourned at 7:05 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Michele McMahon
City of Clarkson Valley