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Planning commission defers Glen Haven Drive site plan after debate over slopes, buffers and missing variances
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Summary
Commissioners deferred the site development plan for 7008 Glen Haven Drive (a proposed 7,900 sq ft multi-tenant retail building) for one month after questions about required variances, steep-slope regulations and landscape buffering; the deferral passed 7–0 at the applicant’s request.
The Fairview Planning Commission voted March 17 to defer consideration of PC 12-26, a site-development plan for 7008 Glen Haven Drive, giving the applicant one month to work with staff to list requested exceptions and resolve outstanding technical questions.
The plan, for a 7,900-square-foot multi-tenant commercial building with three tenant spaces on a 0.51-acre parcel owned by Raymond McHale, included two exception requests: a tree-bank exception and an underground stormwater detention exception. Planning staff said the applicant intends to use an existing above-ground stormwater pond on adjacent property (also owned by the applicant) and that a subdivision plat will be required before a certificate of occupancy is issued. Chase Kerr of Kronk Engineering appeared for the applicant and described roadway and sidewalk improvements the team has incorporated per staff recommendations.
Commissioners raised several substantive concerns: whether the plan shows the 20-foot landscape buffer the design-review manual requires for shopping centers under four acres; whether the zoning ordinance’s steep-slope provisions (cited in the meeting as Section 13-102.2) and the stormwater ordinance both apply and, if so, which standard governs when they conflict; and whether the application had listed all necessary variances and exceptions. Commissioner Pape flagged a potential interpretation of the zoning ordinance that could reduce allowable impermeable area to zero if slopes greater than 20% are present sitewide, a point that prompted back-and-forth with staff and other commissioners about exemptions for isolated steep slopes under 5,000 square feet and the need for written documentation of prior staff decisions.
Staff and the applicant said they believe the plan meets the steep-slope exception threshold for isolated slopes and that roadway improvements (a widened southern lane, 6-inch post curb, 5.5-foot grass strip and 6-foot sidewalk) were incorporated into the design. Commissioner Fabe and others said the application should explicitly list any variances so the commission can consider them transparently; staff agreed that listing variances and documenting prior staff-applicant discussions would improve consistency for the commission and the public.
Given the outstanding items and the applicant’s request to coordinate further with staff, the applicant asked to defer the item for one month. The commission voted to defer PC 12-26 for one month; the motion passed 7–0.
What this means: The applicant will work with staff to clarify any required variances and exceptions and return the item at the next planning commission meeting. If the commission denies the application instead of deferring, the applicant would typically wait one year to file the same application again; a deferral preserves an opportunity to resolve outstanding documentation and return sooner.
