Commissioners voted 4-0 to approve a 5-foot setback variance and final site/building plans for a new roughly 19,000 sq ft salt storage building and 6,000 sq ft brine building at 9721 James Avenue South, needed because the current salt shed site is being redeveloped. The commission also authorized deferring sidewalk construction along 97th Street and Irving Avenue since the industrial area lacks connecting sidewalks. The item heads to City Council's March 3 consent agenda.
Staff explained a 1951 survey error left the lot 6 inches narrower than intended, and the commission voted 4-0 to allow a variance reducing the required width from 60 to 59.5 feet so the owner can later subdivide into two lots. Neighbors Shirley and John Winters testified with concerns about a future second house, drainage/lack of storm sewers in the area, parking and property values. Staff said any subdivision would require a separate future application, and the existing attached garage would need to be demolished before a plat could be recorded; decision is final unless appealed to City Council by Feb. 24.
On a 3-1 vote (with one abstention), the commission recommended City Council adopt updated fence standards allowing taller fences in corner side yards, eliminating the 50% opacity requirement for front-yard fences, and restricting fence covering materials — but voted to strike a proposed change that would have allowed 8-foot-tall, fully opaque fences at the principal building setback in front yards. Chair Cook (Kootken) argued 8-foot fences don't fit Bloomington's community character; other commissioners were split on opacity but agreed on rejecting the 8-foot front-yard fence option. Goes to City Council as a public hearing March 23.
After more than a year of negotiation, the commission voted 4-0 to recommend City Council adopt a privately initiated ordinance amendment allowing existing remote airport parking facilities (Park and Go and Park and Fly, near MSP) to become a permanent conditional use under CX2 zoning rather than temporary interim-use permits set to expire in August 2027. The deal requires each site to set aside a 2.75-acre development parcel along American Boulevard East for future non-parking development by December 31, 2036, with fines/enforcement if missed, and exempts existing lots from retrofitting landscaped parking islands. Applicant representatives (Bill Griffith for Rosa Development, Dan Williamson of Park and Go, Kristen Mir) called it a hard-won compromise; heads to City Council March 23.
In a study session (no formal vote), staff presented a fee study recommending increases to six application types — including site plan reviews, conditional use permits, interim use permits, and single/two-family variances — after finding Bloomington fees have fallen behind peer cities and full cost recovery; the variance fee would rise to $400. Commissioners pushed back on charging small homeowners nearly as much as large commercial applicants (e.g., Toro) for a variance, urging staff to consider tiered fees by project size; the item goes to City Council Feb. 23 and does not return to Planning Commission.
