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08-139Suspension 2/13/08 Council File # 08-139 Green Sheet #Q�6&8971 RESOLUTION Presented by SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA 1 WHEREAS, the Legislative Hearing Officer recommends that the application for (I.D. #20070004299) 2 Auto Repair Garage License for Henry Ba Tra, Vice President, Rice Auto Repairs, Inc., doing business as 3 Rice Auto Repairs located at 601 Rice Street, be approved with the following conditions: 4 5 1. 6 7 2. 8 3. 9 4. 10 11 12 5. 13 6. 14 7. 15 16 8. 17 9. 18 10. 19 11. Erect and maintain a four (4) to five (5) foot obscuring fence azound the lot west of the building. Construction of the obscuring fence must be completed prior to the issuance of the license. Install a gate at the west end of the lot, restricting vehiculaz use to that area of the existing curb cut. Clean up and maintain the boulevazd. Outside storage of parts or vehicles aze prohibited by Capitol Area Architectural Planning Board (CAAPB) zoning rules. Vehicle parts (Yires, oil or similaz items) wili not be stored outside. Trash will be stored in a covered dumpster. Vehicle salvage is prohibited by CAAPB zoning rules. All vehicles on the lot shall be licensed and operable. All vehicles parked outdoors on the lot must appeaz completely assembled with no major body parts missing. No vehicle sales are allowed. No auto body repair is allowed. No repair of vehicles may occur on the exterior of the lot or in the public right-of-way. All vehicles on the site must be parked as shown on the approved site plan on file with the 20 Department of Safety and Inspections (DSI). 21 12. The entire pazking lot shall be re-graded and resurfaced by January 1, 2009. 22 13. Provide more lighting around the pazking lot by January 1, 2009. 23 24 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Council of the City of Saint Paul hereby approves this license 25 application. Boshom Carter Stark Thune � Adopted by Council: Date � Yeas � Nays � Absent I� Requested by Department of: � �� � ✓ Adoption Certifi�ed by Council Secretary By: �/C�r7L Approved y . Date � O� By: Form Approved by City Attomey By: Fottn Approved by Mayor for Submission to Council By: � Green Sheet Green Sheet Green Sheet Green Sheet Green Sheet Green Sheet � D8-i39 co ���_�� CoMact Person & Phone: Marcia Moertnond 266-8570 Must t3e on O6-FEB-08 Doa Type: RESOLUTION E-Document Required: Y DoCUment Contact: Jean Birkholz Contact Phone: 26G8673 ,s-�wwar-as � Assign Num6er For Routing Order Total # of Signature Pages� (Clip All Locations for Signature) Green Sheet NO: 3048971 0 ouncil 1 000cil De arbnentDirector 2 Clerk (,ti Clerk 3 4 5 Approving the license application with conditions, per the Legislative Hearing Officer, for an Auto Repair Garage license for Henry Ba Tra, V ice President, Rice Auto Repairs, Inc., doing business as Rice Auto Repairs loca[ed a[ 601 Rice Street. ar Contracts Planning Commission 1. Has this personffirm ever worked under a contract for this department? CI8 Committee Yes No Civil Service Commission 2. Has this person/firm ever been a ciiy employee? Yes No 3. Does this person/firm possess a skill not normally possessed by any current city employee? Yes No 6cplain all yes answers on separate sheet and attach to green sheet Initiating Problem, Issues, Opportunity (Who, What, When, Where, Why): Advantages If Approved: Disadvantages If Approved: Disadvantages If Not Approved: Transaction: Funding Source: Fi nancial Information: (F�cplain) Activity Number: CosURevenue Budgeted: February 13, 2008 3:12 PM Page 1 LICENSE HEARING MINUTES ��i13� Rice Auto Repairs at 601 Rice Street Monday, January 7, 2008, 10:00 a.m. 330 City Hall, 15 Kellogg Boulevazd West Mazcia Moermond, Legislative Hearing Officer The hearing was called to order at 10:10 a.m. Staff Present: Jeff Fischbach, Department of Safety and Inspections (DSn; and Jean Birkholz, Council Research Others Present: Henry Ba Tra, business and property owner; his partner, Mr. Gellen; Daniel Sach Le, Attorney, Murphy Law Firm; Paul Mandell, Capitol Area Architectural Planning Board; and Tait Danielson Castillo, Director, District 7 Planning Council Rice Auto Repairs: Auto Repair Garage license Ms. Moermond stated that this is a legislative hearing that's for a license application. This is a Class N notification which means that the neighborhood gets notified and has a chance to voice its concerns. If any one has a concern, it triggers a hearing. Other Class N Licenses include: entertainment, liquor, auto sales, etc.—things that have an immediate impact on their neighbors. The City received one letter of concern to the issuance of this license. Ms. Moermond will begin with a staff report. Staff will be asked to explain their review of the application and will also explain their recommendation. Then, she will ask the applicant to talk about the business plan. Next, she will hear from people who are here in support of the issuance of the license and those with concerns about the issuance of the license and, she will talk about how to deal with some of those concerns. There are three (3) possible outcomes from this hearing: 1) Ms. Moermond would recommend to the City Council that they issue this license without any conditions; 2) she would recommend to the City Council that they issue this license with agreed upon conditions; 3) she would recommend to the City Council that they not issue this license but refer it to an administrative law judge for a further heazing and findings. (Time was made available for Mr. Le to translate to Mr. Tra throughout the hearing.) Mr. Jeff Fischbach reported that befare these applicants purchased this property, the property owner was renting it to a tenant, who had an auto repair garage license. That tenant's license was to expire at the end of October of last year. The new owners submitted a license application before the purchase agreement was completely executed; and they were having difficulty getting onto the property because the licensee (tenant of the previous property owner) was a disgruntled tenant. He had taken down a fence (cut it down at the posts); he had ripped out lighting; he had left the toilet running; and also created some mechanical ventilation problems. So, this wasn't just a change of ownership because of the nature of the work that was involved because of the damage that was done by the previous tenant. This location is also in the Capitol Area Architectural Planning Board's jurisdiction, so City planning does not apply to this. As part of this review, Mr. Fischbach stated that he was in contact with Mr. Le and had advised them that they needed to get the building back in order to meet building code requirements and also to re-install the obscuring fence that had been taken down. District 7 has recommended approval, but proposed that additional conditions be placed on the license. All of the Building Code issues with the exception of the mechanical ventilation issues have been resolved and they have a mechanical ventilation crew hired that has been in contact with the City's mechanical ��-i3� ventilation inspector so, they aze working to resolve that. Environmental Health is not applicable. Fire has approved this subject to meeting the building code issues. Licensing has approved it with the conditions recommended above. And, the CAAPB (Paul Mandell) has also approved it with the conditions recommended above. Mr. Fischbach said that he was out there on Friday to inspect and the obscuring fence has been installed. The Department of Safety and Inspections recommends approval with the following conditions: 1. Erect and maintain a four (4) to five (5) foot obscuring fence around the lot west of the building. Construction of the obscuring fence must be completed prior to the issuance of the license. 2. Install a gate at the west end of the lot, restricting vehiculaz use to that area of the existing curb cut. 3. Clean up and maintain the boulevazd. 4. Outside storage of parts or vehicles are prohibited by CAAPB zoning rules. Vehicle parts (tires, oil or similar items) will not be stored outside. Trash will be stored in a covered dumpster. 5. Vehicle salvage is prohibited by CAAPB zoning rules. 6. All vehicles on the lot shall be licensed and operable. 7. All vehicles pazked outdoors on the lot must appeaz completely assembled with no major body parts missing. 8. No vehicle sales are allowed. 9. No auto body repair is allowed. 10. No repair of vehicles may occur on the exterior of the lot or in the public right-of-way. 11. All vehicles on the site must be parked as shown on the approved site plan on file with the Department of Safety and Inspections (DSI). Ms. Moermond asked Mr. Paul Mandell, Capitol Area Architectural Planning Board, if there was any type of conditional use permit issued by CAAPB with respect to an auto repair garage at this location. Mr. Mandell replied that there is no conditional use permit but there is a sign permit that the applicant will need to separately apply for with them. He added that the billboard in the photo is separately owned and it is located on separately owned property. Mr. Fischbach added that they also need a City sign permit. Mr. Le responded that the sign maker, Signazama, said that they would take care of getting the permits for the sign. Mr. Mandell wanted the applicant to know that the property south of their building is owned by the billboazd company. Prior owners of the auto shop have parked there illegally and have had their cars towed. Mr. Le explained that this has been a very rough transition for his clients. Not just with the previous tenant, who was hostel and did substantial damage to the property prior to leaving it; but also with the previous owner, who has not cooperated to complete some of the necessary repairs. His clients have had to pay for them out of pocket in order to further this license application process, which has created a financial hardship for them because they have not been able to operate their business at all to this point. Mr. Le has spoken with his clients about the conditions recommended by DSI as well as those recommended by District 7. Each of these men has worked in the auto repair industry for over fifteen (15) years. They both had been mechanics back in Viet Nam and were trained there. Many of their friends and relatives own businesses along University Avenue and the rest of Saint Paul. This is a need for Vietnamese people who have communication limitations. They don't trust many other mechanics to do their work because they don't understand whaYs going on. 6 �-13�j Mr. Le stated that he spoke previously out in the hallway with Mr. Tait Danielson Castilio regazding District 7's recommendations: Modification to DSI's Condition # 1: Plant and maintain a 4 foot tall hedge along the western boundary of the lot. Planting must be completed by June l, 2008. 12. The entire lot shall be paved, with the exception of a 5 foot strip of grass along the west end of the lot. Construction of the paving must be completed prior to the issuance of the license. 13. A fresh coat of paint on the entire building must be added by June 1, 2008. 14. Provide more lighting around the lot by June 1, 2008. 15. The trash dumpster must be stored in the reaz of the building with a locked privacy fence surrounding it. Construction of the fence must be completed prior to the issuance of the license. Mr. Le believes that #13. A fresh coat of paint on the entire building must be added by June 1, 2008, will not be insisted upon by Dishict 7. He noted that his clients aze amenable to all the other conditions. They are, however, asking for more time to complete them because they are in economic hardship at this time. They request that the deadline of June 1, 2008 be moved to a later date for completion of three (3) out of the four (4) remaining conditions. They would request either December 1, 2008 or January 1, 2009. Regarding condition #15, his clients are willing to place a lock on the dumpster to prohibit any unlawful use of that dumpster instead of erecting a privacy fence azound it. Mr. Tait Danielson Castillo was invited to comment on District Ts process and how he notified the applicants of this process. Mr. Danielson Castillo, Director, District 7 Planning Council, responded that there seemed to have been some confusion on a couple of levels. In August, Mr. Le sent him a report about his clients' problems with the previous owner. When the license application from the City came to their office, the phone number for Mr. Tra on the application was incorrect. Mr. Le replied that he filled out the application and he miswrote Mr. Tra's cell phone number. Mr. Danielson Castillo continued to say that generally, they call the number on the application and invite them to a community meeting. This time, District 7 was unable to make that happen, and, so, the applicant was not present at the meeting. That was unfortunate because a lot of these things mentioned by the community are negotiable and could have been discussed at that time. Because the applicant was not present, they were unable to ask questions and have a discussion. Mr. Danielson Castillo added that conditions #13 can be dropped. If the fence has already been put up, that is fine. District 7 is mainly concerned with making the site look nicer than iY did. Ms. Moermond asked for the names of the previous tenant and the previous owner for the record. Mr. Le answered that the name of the previous owner is Mr. Ta Vang; the previous tenant is a Mr. Thanh Nguyn or (Mai). Ms. Moermond asked what District 7 had in terms of referrals or recommendations with respect to business assistance as they move forward. Mr. Danielson Castillo replied that there is a business loan out of the Grreater Frogtown Community Development Corporation right now. SPARC, out of the North End, also has been known to filter down Rice Street because of their interest in Rice Street. Both those entities might have some low interest loans that could be provided; they are specifically for faqade improvements. d��i3� Ms. Moermond asked Mr. Danielson Castillo how District 7 would handle Vietnamese translation if the applicants wanted to participate in a community meeting. He responded that they have several people they can call to help them with translarions. They also have translating equipment for use with lazger groups. Mr. Le added that if he is given enough notice, he would be available to translate for his clients. Mr. Danielson Castillo stated that the timelines laid out by Mr. Le would be amenable to District 7. He added that putting in a hedge along the western boundary of the lot is not absolutely necessary now that the fence has already been erected. The idea about the hedge was to be instead of a fence. Mr. Le said that his clients also want to beautify the lot and so, they will work with the community as faz as landscaping. Mr. Fischbach added that when the appiicants decide to paving the lot, they will need to go through site plan review with Paul Mandell (CAAPB), and the City will need to look at it for drainage. Mr. Danielson Castillo said that a nicer grade of gravel may work instead of paving; anything thaYs going to make it look nicer than it does now. Mr. Mandell noted that from a pollution standpoint, it is better to put down pavement; however, it is more expensive. Ms. Moermond will recommend approval with the following conditions: 1. Erect and maintain a four (4) to five (5) foot obscuring fence azound the lot west of the building. Construction of the obscuring fence must be completed prior to the issuance of the license. 2. Install a gate at the west end of the lot, restricting vehicular use to that area of the existing curb cut. 3. Clean up and maintain the boulevard. 4. Outside storag� of parts or vehicles are prohibited by Capitoi Area Architectural Planning Board (CAAPB) zoning rules. Vehicle parts (tires, oil or similar items) will not be stored outside. Trash will be stored in a covered dumpster. 5. Vehicle salvage is prohibited by CAAPB zoning rules. 6. All vehicles on the lot shall be licensed and operable. 7. All vehicles parked outdoors on the lot must appear completely assembled with no major body parts missing. 8. No vehicle sales are allowed. 9. No auto body repair is allowed. 10. No repair of vehicles may occur on the exterior of the lot or in the public right-of-way. 11. All vehicies on the site must be parked as shown on the approved site plan on file with the Department of Safety and Inspections (DSI). 12. The entire parking lot shall be re-graded and resurfaced by January 1, 2009. 13. Provide more lighting around the parking lot by January 1, 2009. The hearing was adjourned at 10:49 a.m. /jab �