08-522Council File # �p � ✓� �
Green Sheet # 3aS3273
SAINT
N
L, MINNESOTA
Presented by
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1 WHEREAS, the Legislative Heazl�Gi£�r recommends that the application (I.D. # 20080000082) for an
2 Auto Repair Garage license for Norvic Inc., doing business as Metric Auto World, 511 Smith Avenue
3 South, be approved with the following conditions:
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5 1. There shall be a minimum of eighteen (18) parking spaces marked for customer and employee use. All
6 vehicles on the site must be parked as shown on the approved site plan on file in the Department of Safety
7 and Inspections (DSI), dated 4/I 1J08. (Any changes to the site plan must be approved by the Zoning
8 Administrator.)
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10 2. Customer and employee vehicles shall not be parked or stored on the street or alley. This includes cars
11 which have been repaired and are awaiting pick-up by their owners.
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13 3. There shall be no exterior storage of vehicle parts, tires, oil or any other similar materials associated
14 with tY�e business. Trash will be stored in a covered dumpster.
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16 4. The license holder agrees to maintain the fencing, vehicle location and vehicle barriers in a manner
17 consistent with the approved site plan.
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19 5. All vehicles parked outdoors must appear to be completely assembled with no major body parts
20 missing.
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22 6. Vehicle salvage is not permitted.
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24 7. Auto body repair and painting are not permitted.
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26 8. Auto sales are not permitted.
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28 9, No auto xepair of vehicles may occur on the exterior of the lot or in the public right-of-way. All repair
29 wark must occur within an enclosed building.
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31 10. Customer vehicles may not be parked longer than ten (10) days on the premises. It shall be the
32 responsibility of the licensee to ensure that any vehicle not claimed by its owner is removed from the lot as
33 permitted by law.
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35 11. Provide maneuvering space on the property to allow vehicles entering and exiting the site to proceed
36 forward as stipulated on the approved site plan.
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38 12. Licensee must comply with all federal, state and local laws.
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40 13. Starage of vehicle fluids, batteries, etc., shall be in accordance with Ramsey County Hazardous Waste
41 Regulations.
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� Green Sheet Green Sheet Green Sheet Green Sheet Green Sheet Green Sheet �
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Contact Person & Phone:
MarCia Moertnond
266-8570
Must Se o�
14-MAY-08
Doc. Type: RESOLUTION
E-Document Requiretl_ Y
Document ConYdct: Jean Birkholz
02-MAY-0B
�
Assign
Number
For
Routing
Order
Cootact Phone: 266-8673 I I
ToWI # of Signature Pages _(Clip All Locations for Signature)
Green Sheet NO: 3053273
0 ou¢d
1 onpcil De artment Director
2 Clerk G1 Clerk
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Approving the license application with conditions, per the Legislative Aearing Officer, for an Auto Repair Guage license for Norvic,
Inc., doing business as Metric Auto World, Sll Smith Avenue South.
Contracts
Planning Commission 1. Has this person/firm everworked under a contract for this department?
CIB Committee Yes No
Civil Service Commission 2. Has this person�rm ever been a city empbyee?
Yes No
3. Does this person�rm possess a skill not normally possessed by any
current city employee?
Yes No
Explain all yes answers on separete sheet and attaeh to green sheet
Initiating Problem, lssues, Opportunity (Who, What, Whe�, Where, Why):
Advanta9es If Approved:
Disadvan W ges If Approved:
Disadvantages if Not Apprwed:
TransacYion:
Funding Source:
Financial Information:
(F�cpiain}
CosVRevenue Budgeted:
Activity Number:
May 2, 2008 9:08 AM Page 1
LICENSE HEARING MINUTES ISg'�j �-a-
Metric Auto World at 511 Smith Avenue South
Friday, April 11, 2008, 2:00 p.m.
330 City Hall, 15 Kellogg Boulevard West
Mazcia Moermond, Legislative Hearing Officer
The hearing was called to order at 2:07 p.m.
Staff Present: Jeffrey Fischbach, Department of Safety and Inspections (D5I); and Jean Birkholz,
Council Research
Others Present: Mick Mohrlant, President, Norvic Inc.
Metric Auto World: Request for an Auto Repair Garage license
Ms. Moermond stated that this is an informai legislative hearing for a license application. This is a
Class N notification which means that the neighborhood gets notified and has a chance to voice its
concems. If any one has a concern, it automatically triggers a hearing. Other Class N Licenses include:
liquox sales, entertainment, auto sales, eta—things that have an immediate impact on the neighborhood.
The City received two {2) letters of concern regarding the issuance of this license. Ultimately, there are
three (3) possible outcomes from this hearing: 1) Ms. Moermond can recommend to the City Council
that they issue this license without any conditions; 2) she can recommend to the City Council that they
issue this license with agreed upon conditions; or 3) she can 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.
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 review the letters / emails that
were sent regarding this application.
Mr. Jeff Fischbach, DSI, provided the staff report. He began by reading the existing conditions:
1. There shall be a minimum of eighteen (18) parking spaces mazked for customer and employee use.
All vehicles on the site must be parked as shown on the approved site plan on file in the Department of
Saf'ety and Inspections (DSI), dated 4111J08. (Any changes to the site plan must be approved by the
Zoning Administrator.)
2. Customer and employee vehicles shall not be pazked or stored on the street or alley. This includes
cars which have been repaired and are awaiting pick-up by their owners.
3. There shall be no exterior storage of vehicle parts, tires, oil or any other similar materials associated
with the business. Trash will be stored in a covered dumpster.
4. The license holder agrees to maintain the fencing, vehicle location and vehicle barriers in a manner
consistent with the approved site plan.
5. All vehicles parked outdoors must appear to be completely assembled with no major body parts
missing.
6. Vehicle salvage is not permitted.
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7. Auto body repair and painting are not permitted.
8. Auto sales aze not permitted.
9. No auto repair of vehicles may occur on the exterior of the lot or in the public right-of-way. All
repair work must occw within an enclosed building.
10. Customer vehicles may not be pazked longer than ten (10) days on the premises. It shall be the
responsibility of the licensee to ensure that any vehicle not claimed by its owner is removed from the lot
as permitted by law.
ll. Provide maneuvering space on the property to allow vehicles entering and exiting the site to proceed
forward as stipulated on the approved site plan.
12. Licensee must comply with all federal, state and local laws.
13. Storage of vehicle fluids, batteries, etc., shall be in accordance with Ramsey County Hazardous
Waste Regulations.
14. Failure to remain in compliance with license conditions will result in adverse action against the
license.
DSI received a letter from the West Side Citizens Organization (WSCO) asking them to extend the
deadline for notification by a week so that they could review the application. No further correspondence
has been received.
Fire has approved the license; Licensing has approved with conditions; and Zoning has approved with
conditions.
DSI recommends approval with the aforementioned conditions.
Ms. Moermond asked Mr. Mohrlant about the business. He explained that he bought the building in
1979 and ran the repair shop there from 1979 —1997. He also owns the auto parts store one block away.
He closed the tepair business and left the building vacanY for a while and later sold the business name to
another individual. Last November 1, 2007, he evicted the tenant because there were problems, and so,
the building has been vacant since then. Mr. Mohrlant added that WSCO had contacted him, but he was
out of the country when they had their meeting. He spoke with Carlos at WSCO who told him that the
district had sent it through with no recommendation because no one was present at the meeting.
Regarding parking, Mr. Mohrlant stated that they have always parked cars on the east side of the
building where the storage building is and he is wondering if there is some special regulation limiting
them from parking there. Mr. Fischbach replied that Mr. Mohrlant would need to take that up with Jeff
Hawkins, Zoning Administrator. Mr. Fischbach said that he is looking at the site plan that Mr. Mohrlant
had submitted and it is not accurate. Mr. Mohrlant responded that he hadn't realized that he submitted
that same site plan for this application as he had when the addition was put on the back. Ms. Moermond
asked Mr. Fischbach to call Jeff Hawkins to see if he might be available to come over.
(Break)
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Mr. Moermond stated that a break had been taken to ask Mr. Hawkins to come over to talk about the site
plan.
Mr. Fischbach explained that Mr. Mohrlant had submitted a very inaccurate site plan; it was not
satisfactory for his license review. So, a site p1an was retrieved from the address file and Mr. Hawkins
went out to the location today and approved the site plan. Mr. Fischbach said that he clarified that they
could not be parking along the Smith Avenue side of the building between Smith Avenue and the
building. Mr. Mohrlant said that he used to park vehicles there and his tenant also parked vehicles there.
He is wondering why he can no longer pazk there. Mr. Hawkins stated again that the site plan submitted
by Mr. Mohrlant was just a crude drawing, not dimensioned or detailed. So, instead of sending the
whole application back, Mr. Hawkins said he tried to assist by working it to what he could justifiably
approve. He stated that the pazking area in question was open at one time and would have been
adequate for ingress and egress. But with the addition there, there's only 18 feet at the widest point
between the sidewalk and the building, which is not even the width of an access lane. A legal parking
space is 9 x 18 feet. For angle parking, he'd need a 15 foot maneuvering lane. Mr. Hawkins added that
Mr. Mohrlant could re-do the whole site plan with dimension detail and propose parallel parking there.
Mr. Hawkins would evaluate it and he'd also have Tom Beech, site plan reviewer, look at it. Mr.
Fischbach stated that if Mr. Mohrlant would submit a new site plan with parallel parking, he probably
would neefl to put in curb stops along the sidewalk so that cazs would be kept from going onto the side
walk. Mr. Hawkins added that the screening fence would also need to be extended probably 30 feet.
Mr. Fischbach informed everyone that this zoning district is nornconforming, residential, RM-2. Mr.
Molulant said that all he really wants is to be able to back in his car next to the building. He hasn't
parked cazs back there for yeazs. Mr. Fischbach and Mr. Hawkins both thought that he should submit
something in writing to that effect (a detailed, dimensioned drawing).
Ms. Moermond noted that an email indicated that the building is in need of paint — some chipping and
pealing. Mr. Hawkins responded that he noticed some damaged areas on the building as well as the
fence. The building has three (3) colors. Some work needs to be done. There is also a hull of a race car
that shouldn't be there (considered exterior storage).
Mr. Mohrlant eaplained that he plans to paint the exterior of the main part of the building to match the
siding that was put on the outside storage shed. Ms. Moermond encouraged Mr. Mohrlant to sign the
waiver for graffiti so that he won't be charged in case the City needs to come out and take care of it.
Ms. Moermond stated that she is vacillating between trying to wark out a condition on the license to
make sure Mr. Mohrlant gets the fence in good repair and the building is taken care of vs. calling up the
Fire Certificate of Occupancy people asking them to take a look at it. The email complaint states that
there are problems. Mr. Mohrlant responded that he called recently to make an appointment for Mr.
Dave Bergman to come out. Ms. Moermond said that she would forwazd the email to Mr. Bergman.
Ms. Moermond added that in the interest of good neighbor relations, iYs probably a good idea to paint
the building sometime soon, and of course, keep the fence in good repair.
Mr. Hawkins commented that the two (2) biggest things that will bring complaints from the citizenry
are: 1) exterior storage; and 2) working on vehicles outdoors. Both of them are covered in the list of
conditions on this license.
Ms. Moermond said that she will recommend approval with the following conditions:
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D8 �5�-a-
l. There shall be a minimum of eighteen (18) parking spaces marked for customer and employee use.
All vehicles on the site must be parked as shown on the approved site plan on file in the Department of
Safety and Inspections (DSI), dated 4/I 1/08. (Any changes to the site plan must be approved by the
Zoning Administrator.)
2. Customer and employee vehicles shall not be parked or stored on the street or alley. This includes
cazs which have been repaired and aze awaiting pick-up by their owners.
3. There shall be no exterior storage of vehicle parts, tires, oil or any other similar materials associated
with the business. Trash will be stored in a covered dumpster.
4. The license holder agrees to maintain the fencing, vehicle location and vehicle barriers in a manner
consistent with the approved site plan.
5. All vehicles parked outdoors must appear to be completely assembled with no major body parts
missing.
6. Vehicle salvage is not permitted.
7. Auto body repair and painting are not permitted.
8. Auto sales are not permitted.
9. No auto repair of vehicles may occur on the exterior of the lot or in the public right-of-way. All
repair work must occur within an enclosed building.
10. Customer vehicles may not be parked longer than ten (10) days on the premises. It shall be the
responsibility of the licensee to ensure that any vehicle not claimed by its owner is removed from the lot
as permitted by law.
11. Provide maneuvering space on the property to allow vehicles entexing and exiting the site to pxoceed
forward as stipulated on the approved site plan.
12. Licensee must comply with all federal, state and local laws.
13. Storage of vehicle fluids, batteries, etc., shall be in accordance with Ramsey County Hazardous
Waste Regulations.
14. Failure to remain in compliance with license conditions will result in adverse action against the
license.
The hearing was adjourned at 2:3> p.m.
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