Four planning commissioners were present on Monday night for a meeting that ran nearly 80 minutes. Commissioners Marty Chambers and David Cadwallader were absent while Amanda Schrauben has resigned from her position for personal reasons, leaving one vacancy on the commission.
Among the items on the agenda were a review of the master plan update, an ordinance amendment to prohibit temporary vehicle sales in the city and an informal presentation by Rick Seese of Greenridge Realty. That presentation offered a first look at a development being proposed for three acres of land between Main Street and Bowes Road.
Housing Development Will Likely Be a PUD
“We want to be upfront. We want to be transparent. We’d like to put a plan together that everyone can agree to,” Seese said in introducing the Greenridge Development Plan. He added that this was the first step in what he expected to be a long process.
The development would be located on land behind the Greenridge Realty office and Dollar Tree store on W. Main Street. Josh Strautz of Rockford Construction was also in attendance and provided details of the proposed development:
- 72 units on approximately three acres
- Four buildings with 18 units per building
- Most units 700-800 square feet with some as small as 630 square feet
- Three stories per building with zero-step entries to ground floor units
- Private garages on the ground floor
- Covered and open parking available for units on the second and third floors
- 107 parking spaces provided in total
- Shared courtyard may include grill stations, kayak storage and other amenities
- 10-foot vegetative buffer on east side between the development and backyards of homes on West Street
- Impermeable surfaces cover 68% of lot
- Access off Bowes Road
In offering the details, Strautz and Seese said this was only an initial proposal, and Strautz noted possible areas of concern might be the setback on the east side of the development, the number of parking spaces which are roughly 1.5 per unit, and the lot coverage.
Commissioner Tony Ellis asked about water flow given the lot coverage. Strautz said no borings have been taken from the site yet, but there was some consideration to creating underground chambers to collect and hold stormwater.
Andy Moore, a consultant to the planning commission from the firm Williams & Works, clarified that the lot coverage requirement of 60% refers only to the building and not all impermeable surfaces. He also noted that the property was currently zoned C-3 and would need to be rezoned.
He suggested a Planned Unit Development, or PUD, might be the best zoning for the project, and that allowed some flexibility in ordinance requirements. Since the process of approving a PUD is lengthy, he didn’t think the development would be ready for construction until 2025.
In other feedback from the commission, Chair Bruce Barker said he appreciated that the building orientation meant no one would be looking into the yards of neighbors on West Street. However, he also felt that adding another access point, either from Main Street or West Street, was “crucial.”
At the end of the conversation, Seese and Strautz thanked commissioners for their feedback.
Ordinance Amendment Would Prohibit Temporary Car Sales
Earlier this year, an out-of-town car dealership proposed holding a temporary auto sale in the Tractor Supply Co. parking lot. Several residents, councilmembers and Lowell car dealerships took issue with the sale, noting many people felt misled by advertising for a similar sale held in 2022. The Planning Commission ultimately denied a special land use permit for the sale.
At Monday’s meeting, Moore presented an ordinance amendment that would prohibit future temporary car sales in the city. The proposed amendment would allow temporary sales for seasonal or holiday products such as fireworks, pumpkins and Christmas trees but would prohibit the temporary sale of larger items such as cars, motorcycles and boats.
The amendment would also change the process by which temporary sales could be authorized. Rather than going to the Planning Commission for a special land use permit for an open air business, an applicant would obtain a permit from city staff.
“We feel this is something staff can handle from a review perspective,” Moore said.
A public hearing on the amendment will be scheduled for February, and after that, commissioners can make a recommendation to Lowell City Council on its approval.
Other Meeting Items: Master Plan, Public Comments
Other agenda items included a review of the Master Plan update. Moore said that about “230ish” responses had been received to the community survey, and representatives of Williams & Works met with an 8th grade class at Lowell Middle School to get their feedback as well. The firm also held one pop-up event at a summer concert to gain public input, but the second event was cancelled because of inclement weather. Williams & Works plans to be at the Lowell Expo in March to receive further feedback from residents.
The Planning Commission unanimously voted to accept an annual report submitted on the gravel mining operation off Bowes Road. No complaints have been received in the past year.
The Planning Commission voted unanimously to keep their regular meeting time as the second Monday of each month in 2024.
Commissioners also unanimously approved a change to the language on their agendas that will bring the commission’s public comment policy in line with that of Lowell City Council. The new language will allow members of the public five minutes to speak; representatives of a group or subdivision can be given 10 minutes to speak.
The meeting ended on a sweet note as Barker passed out homemade peppermint patties made by his wife to everyone in attendance.
The meeting adjourned at 8:16pm, and the next regular meeting of the City of Lowell Planning Commission will be held on Monday, Jan. 8, at 7pm in Lowell City Hall.
Leave a Reply