City of Ottawa Plan Commission met June 27.
Here are the minutes provided by the commission:
Vice Chairman John Stone called the meeting to order at 6:15 PM in the Ottawa City Council Chambers.
ROLL CALL - Present: Stone, McConville, Ruiz, Hughes, Mangold. Absent: Barron, Burns, Sesto, Volker Others: City Planner Doug Carroll
MINUTES
McConville made the motion to approve the minutes from the April 25, 2022 meeting. Seconded by Hughes.
Ayes: Stone, McConville, Ruiz, Hughes, Mangold
Nayes: None
Motion Carried.
OLD BUSINESS
NEW BUSINESS
1. Public hearing to consider a text amendmentto Chapter 118 (Zoning) of the City of Ottawa Municipal Code to allow warehouse and storage facilities as a conditional use in the C-3 (Special Business) zoning district.
Vice Chairman Stone opened the public hearing. Planner Carroll briefed the Plan Commission on the request. He noted that he looked at some of the surrounding communities to get an idea of what they have done. LaSalle allows it as a permitted use in their C-3 commercial district which encompasses areas of their downtown. Peru allows it as a permitted use in their highway commercial district; Oglesby allows it as a special use in their general commercial district; Morris allows it in their light manufacturing district but not in their commercial district. Carroll noted the advantages of a conditional use in that the Plan Commission can restrict and condition aspects of an application.
McConville liked the idea of a conditional use and being able to place conditions on an application to mitigate any impacts.
Hughes noted she was concerned with possible traffic impacts and asked Carroll about where C3 zoning occurs in the City. She said in reference to the Southtown Mall she liked the idea of being able to place restrictions and having transitional uses instead of an empty building. Stone said he would like the City’s retail consultant to look at the mall.
Ruiz said it would be nice to get some movement on the Southtown Mall while being able to place restrictions on any user.
Stone asked about the realtor open house and if the Mall got any hits. Carroll and McConville said it did not. Stone also noted he would be concerned with what type of storage and would not necessarily want hazardous materials.
Some general discussion ensued about a possible specific user to the Southtown Mall.
Being no further discussion, McConville made the motion to recommend to the City Council a text amendment to Chapter 118 (Zoning) of the City of Ottawa Municipal Code to allow warehouse and storage facilities as a conditional use in the C-3 (Special Business) zoning district. Seconded by Mangold.
Ayes: Stone, McConville, Ruiz, Hughes, Mangold
Nayes: None
DISCUSSION
Carroll discussed that he, McConville, and Stone met about the draft sign ordinance. He is planning on meeting again with McConville and Stone in July then hopefully bringing a revised draft sign ordinance to the Plan Commission in August.
Being no further business, Stone adjourned the meeting at 6:40 PM.
https://cityofottawa.org/wp-content/uploads/Government/Boards_Commissions/Plan_Comm/2022_Agendas/6_27_22-OPC-Minutes.pdf
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