7/20/2020 - City Council - Work Session - Minutes4/a
SPRING PARK
On Lake Winnetonka
CITY OF SPRING PARK
WORK SESSION MINUTES
JULY 20, 2020 — 6:00 PM
SPRING PARK CITY HALL
CALL TO ORDER - The work session was called to order by Mayor Rockvam at 6:00 p.m.
Council Members Jerome P. Rockvam, Mayor; Mark Chase; Pamela Horton; and Gary Hughes
Present:
Council Members Jeff Hoffman
Absent:
Staff Present: Dan Tolsma, City Administrator; Al Brixius, City Planner; Mary Tietjen, City
Attorney; and Theresa Schyma, City Clerk
1. 4000 SUNSET PROPERTY LINE DISCUSSION
City Planner Brixius presented a summary of a property line issue at 4000 Sunset Drive. He reviewed
the history of the property and past surveys that are in dispute. He further discussed a meeting with
the owner of 4000 Sunset Drive and a land surveyor to establish a compromise to correct this issue.
He further detailed four options available to the City to resolve this dispute.
Mayor Rockvam believes the City should not vacate the access point and keep the access open to the
lake. Many people use this access point, especially during the winter. He further asked who would pay
for any changes.
City Planner Brixius responded that the burden would be on the homeowner that is disputing the
surveys on file. It would be the homeowner's responsibility to record the documents and get
monumentation as well.
Mayor Rockvam has an issue with the reason for the request; the homeowner wants the change of
property line so that an addition can be added to an already cluttered and congested area. He wants
time to visit the site before a decision is made. He further stated that adding a garage will not reduce
the clutter because many houses in that area still park in the driveway all the way up to, and sometimes
into, the street causing safety concerns.
Council Member Chase stated that a fully compliant garage could possibly help hide some of the
vehicles and clutter.
Mayor Rockvam stated he will not commit to an opinion until he has time to visit the site.
Council Member Hughes agreed with Mayor Rockvam about needing more time to decide. He
suggested providing photographs for the Council or possibly meeting on site with the City
Administrator to discuss the options.
Mayor Rockvam stated another issue is that the current property owner leases dock spaces which
creates more cars and traffic.
City Planner Brixius was unaware of the dock issue and responded that an amendment could be added
to the variance that would require dock spaces be used by tenants only and cannot be rented or leased.
City Administrator Tolsma discussed a conversation with the adjoining property owner about the
trees that were originally planted for privacy concerns. He added that he would like this issue to be
permanently resolved so the City is not revisiting this property line issue again in 10-20 years.
The City Council consensus was to delay a decision on the issue until council members could conduct
site visits for more information.
2. CITY CLEANUP DISCUSSION
City Administrator Tolsma discussed the history of clean-up day events in the city including financial
information and current issues with curbside collection. He stated that clean-up day events are paid
out of the City's General Fund but only residential properties are allowed to participate. He further
detailed how surrounding communities conduct their clean-up day events.
Mayor Rockvam added that residents have too much time to have items on the curb and it creates a
junky atmosphere that reflects badly on the City. He would like to reduce the amount of time that
residents can put items out for clean-up day collection.
Council Member Hughes stated he does not want to see the brush/yard waste portion of the Fall
clean-up event disappear.
Mayor Rockvam responded that residents currently have free access to drop off brush and yard waste
at The Mulch Store in Minnetrista.
Council Member Horton stated she is in favor of changing to having only one cleanup event per year.
City Clerk Schyma stated there are communities that have a full Spring cleanup event but they also
do a Fall brush/yard waste event only. She added that the Council can try a different approach this
year and revisit the decision next year.
Council Member Chase stated he is in favor of reducing to one full event per year but continuing to
do a Fall brush/yard waste event only.
City Administrator Tolsma stated this might be a good year to reduce to one year since the Spring
event had to be delayed until the end of June this year due to COVID-19. He reiterated his concern
that only residential properties are allowed to participate even though the events are paid for out of
the City's General Fund.
The Council consensus was to reduce the City's cleanup events to one full event per year and having
a Fall curbside event for brush and yard waste only. The Council further stated they would like to
revisit the issue next Spring to see if the modifications should continue as -is or if further changes are
needed.
3. RENTAL ORDINANCE FINAL DRAFT
City Planner Brixius presented a summary of the final draft of the proposed rental ordinances. He
discussed the language prohibiting short-term rental properties in the City and the licensing of long-
term rental properties in single- and two-family homes.
Mayor Rockvam stated he personally opposes both ordinances because he does not see a need for it.
He stated that he does not believe the City needs to be involved since Hennepin County already has
a process for tenant -landlord disputes.
Council Member Hughes approves of the portion of the ordinance that prohibits short-term rentals.
He is opposed to the rest of the ordinance that address rental licensing for long-term rental properties
at single- and two-family properties.
Mayor Rockvam asked if more public hearings would be required.
City Planner Brixius responded that three public hearings have already been held before the Planning
Commission.
Council Member Chase would like to have the ordinances separated so that the Council can vote on
the short-term and long-term rental ordinances separately. He believed the long-term rental ordinance
for single- and two- family properties was only being drafted to give the Council an idea of what that
licensing program could look like; he did not believe there was a Council consensus for approving
the ordinance.
City Administrator Tolsma stated that the Council will be presented with two ordinances to vote on
at an upcoming City Council meeting.
The City Council consensus was to separate the ordinances so that they can be voted on separately.
Council Member Hughes asked about how the City will notify residents that the proposed ordinances
will be considered at an upcoming meeting.
City Administrator Tolsma responded that three public hearings have already been conducted in front
of the Planning Commission and detailed the City's process of posting agendas. He stated that if the
Council consensus is to have another public hearing it would probably need to be held at an alternative
location because, based on previous attendance, City Hall would not have enough room to
accommodate due to COVID-19 social distancing requirements.
City Planner Brixius stated the Council has a couple of options including introducing the short-term
rental prohibition as a zoning ordinance which would require a public hearing. He stated that since
the short-term rental ordinance has been changed into a complete prohibition since it was initially
brought before the City Council for discussion; there could be an argument to conduct another
hearing on that particular proposed ordinance. He also stated that the Council could decide that they
would like the public hearing to occur in front of the City Council instead of the Planning
Commission. Whatever the Council decides, additional time will be necessary for publication of legal
notices and additional notification.
Mayor Rockvam thinks it is a good idea to have another hearing since it is a controversial topic that
has invited a lot of public participation. He would like the public hearing to be held at an alternative
location because he believes the hearing should be in -person.
City Planner Brixius stated staff will look at the schedule to see a time and place of when a hearing
could be held.
4. ADJOURN — The work session was adjourned by unanimous consent at 7:00 p.m.
Date Approved: August 3, 2020
Dan Tolsma, City Administrator
Theresa Schyma, City Clerk