Planning commission recommends variances and conditionally approves O'Gorman final plat in Cannon Falls

The Cannon Falls Planning Commission on May 11 recommended approval of variances that would reduce lot depth and shrink a front-yard setback from 25 feet to 17 feet for lots in the proposed O'Gorman plat and recommended the related final plat to city council, conditioned on a development agreement requiring alley improvements by the eventual developer.

Planning staff made the presentation and said the variances are tied to the final plat and may be approved separately; staff explained the code requires alleys to meet city street standards when public infrastructure is created and that a development agreement would be required to accept the alley as public infrastructure. "The ordinance says in 01/2009 streets and alleys ... the streets are going to be paved," staff said, describing the city’s interpretation that alleys serving as streets must be paved and subject to construction observation.

The applicant, identified in the record as Mr. Gorman, spoke at length during the public-comment portion and questioned the city’s requirement for additional surveying and paving. He said he installed utilities in 2018 and provided as-built plans and disputed a staff request for additional construction observation and survey work. "It’s gonna cost me about 25 to $30,000 to blacktop that," he said, and also told the commission he paid a $450 fee related to the survey requirement and faced roughly $5,000 in engineering or surveying work.

Commissioners pressed staff to clarify whether the variances had been part of the preliminary plat previously approved; staff said the preliminary plat included similar conditions but that one southern lot would have required a variance regardless. Staff also explained that even if the commission recommends the final plat, the recorded final plat and development-agreement conditions would govern whether building permits could later be issued if those conditions were unmet.

A motion to approve the variances carried after commissioners voted aye; no recorded nays appear in the public transcript. The commission then discussed the final plat and accepted a motion to recommend the final plat to city council on the condition that whoever builds on the property execute a development agreement that requires the alley to be constructed to city standards and be acceptable to the city before acceptance as public infrastructure. That motion also carried with ayes recorded and no nays recorded in the public transcript.

The commission’s action is a recommendation to the City Council; the final development agreement and any assessments or allotment of paving costs would be negotiated and approved later, including council review. The meeting concluded with staff announcements about an open house for the comprehensive plan on May 19 and the commission’s next meeting on June 1.