The Clearwater City Council Monday approved an amendment to the city’s comprehensive plan and a rezoning of a parcel at 435 Bluff Street from R-6 to R-1 Residential for property owner Tom Allen.
Allen was requesting the rezoning after an issue with the construction of a garage on the property.
Last year, Allen hired a contractor to build a 44’ x 30’ post/frame garage on his property at 425 Bluff Street, which was the site of an apartment building. At that time, the garage would have been an accessory building on the property.
In January, before the garage was completed, Allen submitted an application to split the lot, with the intent to sell the apartment building to another party and keep the split-off parcel.
City staff explained that in order to do the administrative lot split, Allen would have to cease building the accessory structure because it would create a non-conforming use on the parcel, since there was no principal structure (a home.)
Construction ceased and the permit was voided.
At the April council meeting, Allen said he should be allowed to finish the structure because the permit was applied for before the lot split. But Administrator Kevin Kress said city code states an accessory building isn’t allowed unless there is already a principal structure on the property.
Monday, Allen requested a zoning change so he could build a single-family home on the new lot. Single-family homes are not allowed in an R-6 zone.
The council approved the request.
In a 3-1 vote, the council approved the development of an engineering standards document from Bolton & Menk at a cost of $9,600 and a transportation update document for the comprehensive plan at a cost of $10,500. Councilman Richard Petty voted against the motion, saying the city already had much of the information in documents it hasn’t used.
Other Business
In other action the council:
• Approved a branch agreement with the Great River Regional Library outlining the responsibilities of the city and the library;
• Approved a site improvement performance agreement with Kwik Trip for the new store on Hwy. 24;
• Directed Administrator Kress to look into the cost of purchasing new chairs and a meeting table for city hall;
• Appointed April Vaseca and JonPaul Dufour to the Clearwater Park Commission for three-year terms.
