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5.2. SR 10-11-2010Item 5.2. T City Council ~a~A: ATE: SU J T: Jeremy Barnhart, Planning Manager October I I , 20 I 0 Midwest Mini Storage (ICostreba) At Open Mike at an August Council meeting, Russell and Ryan Kostreba approached the Council, in essence complaining that staff has not "worked with" them with regard to their landscaping and storm water corrections as directed by Council. The Kostreba's asked for an opportunity to discuss the issue with the full Council. Staff expects the Kostrebas to be present at the Council meeting. Their position is summarized in the attached email, received on June 15, 2010. City Administrator Johnson responded via email on June 25, 2010. This email is also attached. The Kostrebas did not respond to City Administrator's email. Staff will be at the meeting to address any questions the Council may have. C:\Documents and Settings\XPMUser\Local Settings\Temporuy Internet Files\OLI{G6\Memo to Council RE KostreUa 10-11-10.docs r~rn: Pmotin@aoLcom [mailto:Pmotin@aoLcom] Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 5:20 AM T®: Johnson, Lori Subject: Fwd: outdoor storage actions The concerns raised in this email need to be addressed. Paul From: To: mayorerLq.com, nick.zerwas@ci.elk-river.mn.us, iwgump@yahoo.com, pmotin@aoLcom Sent: 06/15/10 7:33:28 P.M. Central Daylight Time Subj: outdoor storage actions Dear Mayor, City Council members, and city staff, I Russell Kostreba write to you today on behalf of Midwest Mini-Storage owned and operated by Ryan Kostreba and myself. We recently went through the process to get a conditional use permit amendment to have outdoor storage. In this process which was completed in mid April there were two items the council ultimately wanted us to address, erosion control and landscaping (plant new trees). We agreed to do this and were told the city staff would work with us to address those items. There have been failures on the city staffs part that have hindered us from completing these items while costing us a significant amount of money and leaving property and equipment vulnerable for weeks. In regards to the landscaping plan and planting new trees, the city council stated that we were to work with city staff to draw up a new landscaping plan that would allow us to accommodate the lack of water on site and the sandy soil. We began working with city staff member Jeremy Barnhart to draw up anew plan. I had a very different understanding of what the city council meant when they said the staff should work with me to get a plan in place to bring our landscaping up to code. It has been stated many times before, during, and after the planning commission meeting and the city council meeting that we have been having a very hard time getting trees to grow and stay alive. More then half a dozen times I mentioned planting trees that were 4-6 feet tall. Trees that would require less water to get established then the large ones required by the city and would hopefully get a good root system in place and in 2-3 years be large enough to meet the city's requirements. The initial information we got from Jeremy was an email on 4/28/10 stating to pick trees from a certain web site (most if not all trees on this website are between 12 inches and 3 feet in height when shipped). We submitted a landscaping plan based on this basic information, then received and email from Jeremy on 5/11/10 stating that the city code required a certain number of trees from different categories. We resubmitted our landscaping plan, then received an email from Jeremy on 6/9/10 stating that the trees were not large enough. In his last email he suggested I just go ahead and plant all the trees right away to the city's code. Telling me to do the same thing I did last time (which did not work) is not going to give different results. Essentially, we have been told to meet the original requirements and Jeremy has not worked with us to accommodate the lack of water and the sandy soil and it took two months for us to get this information. Along with the landscaping plan, we were told we needed to get a letter of credit so that if we did not complete the work, the city would draw the letter of credit and do the work. While discussing the landscaping plans, we repeatedly mentioned planting smaller trees that we would be able to keep watered and allow them to get established. Also on more then half a dozen occasions in my brief conversations with Jeremy, (Jeremy was always really short on time when I went to see hi~n) I mentioned getting a letter of credit somewhere in the $2000-$3500 range. Now in his last email he is asking for a letter of credit for over $13000, of which I am not able to attain. NOT once during these conversations did Jeremy ever stop me and correct me. He had to have known that the $2000-$3500 I talked about was not even close to what he wanted. If I was NOT going to be allowed to plant 4-6 foot tall trees, and would be required to plant trees from the start the size of the city's code, Jeremy should Have said so. I believe, Jeremy not correcting such obvious mistakes would be the same as him giving me the wrong information to start with. How am I as a Business owner supposed to make good financial decisions without the proper information? In regards to the erosion control plan, the city council stated that we were to work with city staff and tl city staff member on hand at the city council meeting, Rebecca Haug said that some programs were aval'able'~and that sle would work with us to get this done. During the city council meeting we expressed our concerns about the cost of doing this and Rebecca said that we should be able to find a cost effective method. I set up an appointment to meet Rebecca Haug so we could discuss what she wanted me to do to repair the small erosion on my neighbor's site. She did not meet me out there, instead John Anderson from BDM did. He told ine they could not give me advice on how to fix it and that I needed to draw up a plan before they could say if it was acceptable. Then the city sent me a bill for having BDM come out and state he couldn't tell me anything until I drew up a plan. John Anderson said I should just send Rebecca an email with what my plans were. I did. It took a week to get an "I guess they'll work". I went out to do that and as I feared, and stated during the city council meeting, the damage to the surrounding ground started to get severe. I left plans with Rebecca on a new Idea. Storms were coming in that Saturday so I went ahead with them. I called and left a message stating I had done them and wanted her to go out and inspect them on May 17th. Remember at this point I now have my fence tore down and my property vulnerable to gain access to the erosion area, and I have construction equipment sitting on site also. It then took till the first week in June for "Niclci" to go out and she responded with what I did wrong and said additional work would need to be done. Nicki said she would talk to Rebecca and get back to us. I have tried contacting Rebecca and still have not received final word of what I need to do to be done with this. How is it that we are expected to do work to the city staffs satisfaction if they wouldn't tell me what they want? So here we sit June 15th nearly two months after we got approval from the city council still waiting for final word on the erosion control methods used. As it stands right now, nearly two months after city council approval, we cannot get a $13000 letter of credit, we don't have that kind of cash left to spend on trees right away, and we already have over $5000 dollars invested into this project. That $5000 looks to be a complete waste right now because we won't be able to meet the just learned about requirements of the city. We do not aslc for special treatment but fair and timely treatment. If we had been given the information Jeremy just gave us two months ago we probably would have just stopped and not spent $5000 getting our site ready. I believe all of the discussion and decisions at the city council meeting as I understood them are fair and acceptable. I do not believe the city staff has been fair or worked with us to meet the city councils or Midwest Mini-Storage's needs in this manner What we are asking is what can be done to fix this situation and makeup for the failures that put us in this situation in the first place? Thank you for your time, feel free to call with questions Sincerely, Russell Kostreba ~ Midwest Mini-Storage o neon, Lori From: Johnson, Lori Sent: ~~~~'~~~ June 25, 2010.4.:46 PM 70: Subject: Midwest Mini storage Russell; I am responding to your email of June 15 to the Council. The development process and requrmements can be complex, and frustrating, at times as you indicated. Staffs goal is to help make the process as easy as possible by worl~ing together with the applicant. Clearly you do not feel the process has gone well thus I want to address the issues you have raised. I have an opportunity to discuss your project this with Jeremy and Rebecca and they have provided comments to me regarding your project. First, I'll start by addressing the landscaping plan. Jeremy copied me on all of the letters and emails between the two of you regarding landscaping. It appears this was first addressed in a letter to you from Jeremy dated March 10, 2010, in which you were notified that you would need to complete the approved landscape plan for the original site approval in 2003. This has not changed. The landscape requirements are consistent with what was approved previously. The last email I have regarding landscaping is dated June 9, 2010, from Jeremy to you. It states that the number of trees you proposed in your June 3 email to him meets the requirements and he clearly outlines the size requirements for the three required types of trees. My understanding is that you have recently requested that the trees be installed overtime instead of meeting the requirements now. Once you proposed that change, Jeremy stated that a guarantee (letter of credit or similar) would be required to give the city assurance that the trees would be planted. The amount of the letter of credit will vary depending upon how many trees you intend to plant now. Jeremy would not have mentioned the letter of credit earlier because it would be assumed that you would complete the landscaping now since it dates back to a requirement from your original approval several years ago. You also mentioned you want to install smaller trees because Jeremy directed you to a website for tree variety information and that website showed smaller trees. Just because the informational website showed smaller trees does not mean that the size requirement for your trees has changed. Your landscape plan is consistent with the city ordinance approved by the City Council. Again, the landscape plan is consistent with the original approval of several years ago. Next, you raised questions about storm drainage. Rebecca Haug had scheduled two meetings with you that needed to be cancelled because of illness and a family emergency. In her absence, she asked Niclu Blake-Bradley and John Anderson to meet with you. Nicl~i gave you suggestions to fix your issue; however, you did not follow her advice. You indicated that you thought she needed to speak to Rebecca before following her suggestions. You received an email and voice message on June 10 from Rebecca and Nicl~i indicating that you should do as Nicki suggested. You emailed back stating that you would follow Nicki's suggestions. You stated in your email to the Council on June 16 though that you were waiting to hear from Rebecca yet you replied back to her after her June 10 email stating that you would do the work Nicl~i suggested. I know that Nicl~i, John, and Rebecca have all tried to work with you to resolve the erosion issues. I know that you are frustrated with the staff and city process. I want to assure you that staffs' goal is to provide as much assistance as we can in a timely manner. In this case staff has been worl~ing with you consistently since you first requested a change to your CUP on February 22, 2010. However, I know that you have wanted staff to do more of the design than staff is authorized to do and that you have not always agreed with staff's answers. Staff cannot arbitrarily change the requirements and ordinances approved by the Council. I think many of your comments revolve around the fact that when the Council said staff would work with you, you felt that meant staff could change the requirements to meet your needs, financial and otherwise. although, staff will always work with an applicant to comply with the approved plan, staff can't change the ordinance or prior site and CUP approvals without Council authorization. Therefore, if you would like to deviate from the city ordinance, that request will need to go back to the Council for their approval. Finally, I would like to suggest a meeting with you, Jeremy, Rebecca, and me to resolve these matters. Maybe by meeting face to face instead of communicating via email we can resolve these items and come to a resolution that is acceptable to you and the city. I look forward to hearing from you so that we can quicldy address your issues. We want your business to be successful. Please call me directly to set up a dine when we can meet. Best regards, LoriJohnson 763-635-1021 Lori Jahn~on ~ City of Elk River ~ 13065 Orono Parkway ~ EIk River, MN 55330 ~ 763.635.9000 Office 763.635.1090 Fax ~ www, ci. elk-river. mn, aas