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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMarch 9, 2004 Precouncil MinuteMeridian City Pre-Council Meeting March 9, 2004 Page 12 of 17 just going to see some more concrete numbers to be able to make a better firm decision from. Rountree: That's everything I jotted down De Weerd: Mr. President. Nary: Madame Mayor. De Weerd: I guess just to note at our next director's meeting we will go over the incentive line item and each department has been asked to pull together a plan as to how they planned as a department to "man and check" kind of a program. So, we can get some more detail to you on that. Nary: That's great. Thank you. De Weerd: We probably should have some of those no-cost incentives with a compressed workweek and also the flextime. Nary: Anything else, Pauline, before we move on? Skeggs: No, that's all, Councilman Nary. Nary: All right. Thank you. Item 5. CUP/ Day Care Issue with Tara Gorton: Nary: So, Ms. Gorton, I think all the Council members should have received your letter, maybe more than once of what your concerned with, but could you maybe just briefly tell us what you would like us to do? Gorton: Well, I was just recently told by my landlords that the lease that I assumed when I bought my daycare business in October of 2000. I assumed the business from another client or another person and I assumed her lease and assuming her lease it was invalid, so when I took it over from her I was actually told that her lease was invalid, so I assumed an invalid lease. So, they want to expand their furniture business there on Meridian Road and they want to tear my building down or have it removed from the site. Sa, as soon as they get a buyer for that building or they get their plans in order, I am basically out of a building. I am sure you are familiar with it; 1 am familiar with it too. I have tried different locations trying to start a daycare the last few years and being frustrated with trying to start from scratch, I did go ahead and buy a business that was already established and now I am looking at moving my business. The thing about that is with childcare it"s an emotionally based business and if I move to far away from my present location, I am going to lose my clientele, my staff members are es#ablished and everything. I found a beautiful building on Fairview Avenue and Meridian Cily Pre-Council Meeting March 9, 2004 Page 13 of 17 it is zoned commercial and it's hard to find office space or a building that's going to be even close to what you need for daycare with the stipulations that are placed upon it and it's a nice building. It's on Fairview Avenue and actually has a yard that's already fenced and everything so it's a beautiful building, the probtem is that when I went in to apply for my Conditional Use I didn't realise it was going to take me so long to get that approved and so what I am asking. All I am going to do is physically move my furniture into my new building, it's very close. All am asking is for some consideration from the Council to have permission to occupy my building before my Conditional Use is approved. Nary: Council do you have any questions for Ms. Gorton. I had asked Ms. Powell to be here too to maybe give that perspective. Ms. Powell. Powell: Mr. President, Madame Mayor, members of the Council our Ordinance does not address anything except temporary lighting for holiday lighting, so the idea of temporary uses is just not anywhere in the Ordinance. The past interpretations have been that any temporary use requires conditional use approval; hence we are still in the four-month time width. There is continually an issue about uses where either in this instance or often what it is is the use begins up in a property and we have to send the cede enforcement officer out there to tell them that they are not an allowed use. They put in their CU applications and we don't aggressively pursue the enforcement aspects of that use that's going on without approval until they are through the CU process. So, I mean, from the standpoint of the code to operate the daycare she needs the conditional use approval. Nary: Anna, is it - I don't know if there is a method for this, but I guess I'd hesitate, Ms. Gorton, in allowing, normally daycares because of both the health and safety concerns and obviously because you'd have to meet all of those requirements, but also because depending on where you operate those, if we allow them in certain places, certain areas of the City it Ixings out a lot of people that don't necessarily want a daycare. Where you are outlining to operate at I don't think that that's probably even an issue. Gorton: No, there are not residences around it at all. Nary: Yeah, no residences. I wonder, Anna, is it possible and again I -let me back up one second. What's your timing that you need an answer? I know you'd probably like tomorrow, but realistically when do you have to know if you can temporarily operate this daycare or not? Gorton: Well, I am already renting the building. I am already renting both facilities, which it's a real big financial strain. I don't if I can afford to do that before the four months is up or not. So, if I can come back with more information from you. As far as the fire and health inspection goes I am basically going to have to remove my kitchen and put over there so if I get fire inspection I am Meridian City Pre-Council Meeting March 9, 2004 Page 14 oT 17 going to have to move all of my fire stuff over to the next building for my fire inspection, which takes it away from the use that 1 have right now. I can't remove it without -you know I have to kind of do it all at the same time. Nary: You can only have one kitchen because - Gorton: Right. I cannot move my fire extinguishers and my drawer alarms and things like that. I can't remove it from my business and safely run a daycare effectively. I'd be willing to offer any more information that you have. I am licensed by the Department of Health & Welfare and the man who licensed me is Richard Swift from the Department of Health & Welfare. He said that, you know, under Idaho law with the health and fire inspection that he would think that that would be adequate, but I have to have City approval, so that's why I am here. Nary: What would it take under like -you know how I hate variances and those things, but under like a miscellaneous type of application and we could provide radius notice so we would at least know if somebody has an issue. I don't anticipate it in this one. ff they met all the fire and public health safety inspections so that we didn't have a safety issue or concern. Could that at least until we make -until we consider a code change, would that be an interim gap that's reasonable? Because then at least we would make sure that the neighbors aren't going to complain. I think we'd only want to do this in a commercial area in general because I don't think we want to try to let someone operate in the neighborhood. I don't want to penalize Ms. Gorton for coming and telling us verses the person who just does it. You know, that doesn't seem very equitable to do it that way. What do you think? Powell: Just let me make sure what the question is. The question is can we do a temporary use as just as a Council approved use rather than going through Planning & Zoning? Is that the idea? Nary: Yes. Powell: It would take six weeks at a minimum, I believe, to get it to you. There is still that and if you can give me a few minutes so I can look at the code I can see how that -the reason I say that is because there is this sense that temporary uses aren't listed in there and I just want to look and see if there is a way that maybe I could get them up as a miscellaneous rather than a conditional use. So, I have got Internet access, but it will take me a little while if you want to do something else and come back to it, I don't know. De Weerd: Mr. President Nary: Madame Mayor. Meridian City Pre-Council Meeting March g, 2004 Page 15 of 17 De Weerd: We can, I guess, do one of two things. We can put this at the end or we can even put it under department reports on the regular agenda. We only have like 15 minutes. Nary: Do you understand what we are trying to mull over? Gorton: Yes, I understand. Nary: Is that sixweeks - Gorton: Better than four months, yes. Nary: Better than four months? You still have to go through the four-month process, but at least you'd have an ability to operate without us throwing the code into the trash. That is my concern. Gorton: Yes, I understand. Nary: Council do you folks have any other questions or --? Would that be all right then if you'd wait alittle - oh, I am sorry - Rountree: No, I don't have any questions. Nary: We may have to put this into our regular agenda and have further discussion and is that going to be all right? Gorton: No, that is more than frne and I thank you sa much for your time. Item 6. Parks and Recreation Commission Proposed Ordinance: Nary: Well, Council the next item, Item No. 6 was the Parks and Recreation Commission Proposed Ordinance and honestly I apologize for it being on there because I couldn't remember what we decided. So, we wanted to make sure it didn't fall off the radar of where we are at with it, so that is why it's on there, but I don't know where we are at. We have had a discussion about it about a month ago. I think the direction was go work out some bugs on it and bring it back, but I wanted to make sure it didn't fall off anybody's screens. Bird: I think it's been brought back. De Weerd: Mr. President. Nary: Madame Mayor. De Weard: Supposed to be put on the regular agenda for public hearing.