STATE OF ALABAMA

 

COUNTY OF ETOWAH

 

CITY OF RAINBOW CITY, ALABAMA – PLANNING COMMISSION – FEBRUARY 23, 2010

 

The Planning Commission of the City of Rainbow City, Alabama met in a regular session at 3:00 P.M. and upon roll call the following members were present:

 

Present:                                                                Absent:

Thomas Moon, Chairman                                       Terry John Calhoun, Mayor

Wes Ellis, Vice Chairman                                         Larry Keenum, Council Member

Bettye Ann Boyd                                                    Larry Harris

Bryan Stone                                                          Mona Wallace

Elbert Tarvin                                                         

         

                                                                                      

 

 

Also Present:

Wiley McLain, Building Official                                  Laura Lloyd, City Attorney        

Eddie Perman, City Engineer                                   Greg Payne, Street Supervisor

 

 1.  Upon roll call, Chairman Thomas Moon declared a quorum was present and the   

      following business was transacted.

 

 2.  The minutes from the December 15, 2009 were presented.  Bryan Stone made        

      a motion to suspend the reading of the minutes and approve the minutes as  

      presented.  Wes Ellis seconded the motion.  Motion carried unanimously.

 

 3.  Twelfth Street Baptist Church was on the agenda for review of the renovations to

      the old K-Mart building located at 800 West Grand Avenue.  Mr. William Kreis,

      Johnson Kreis Construction, will be the general contractor on the project.  Mr.

      Ryan Vernon, Black Design Architecture, is the design firm.  Both men were

      present with renderings of the new project.  Mr. Vernon stated that seating

      capacity will be around 1,000 with 400 parking spaces available at the end of the

      project.  Mr. Kreis stated the completion date will be at the end of this year. 

      Rev. Craig Carlisle is pastor of Twelfth Street.  He stated they now have a

      kindergarten/day care at their present location and plan on re-locating it as well. 

      They have State approval at present location and will make preparations for

      approval at new location.  The balcony in the original plans has been eliminated. 

      There will be no increase of water and/or drainage problems because building 

      and parking lot are existing.  After discussion, Wes Ellis made a motion to

      approve the plans for renovation with Elbert Tarvin seconding the motion. 

      Motion carried unanimously. 

 

 4.  David Gregerson with Gregerson’s Shopping Center at 115 West Grand was

      present.  Mr. Gregerson stated that Cody Owens and Matt Pearce want to open

      the Wagon Wheel Saloon in the shopping centers vacant building where part of

      the grocery store was once located.  According to the Rainbow City Ordinance

      No. 436, a license can not be issued to anyone for on premise alcoholic  

      beverages within “two hundred (200) feet of school grounds”.  Wiley McLain,

      Building Official, interprets the two hundred feet of school grounds as being from

      property line to property line.  The Gregerson Shopping Center and the Etowah

      County Board of Education property adjoins each other on one side.  Etowah

      County has a pre-school at this location.  Planning members discussed with Mr.   

      Gregerson that, at this time, there was nothing that they could do about the

      ordinance and could not allow him to even seek re-zoning because they agreed

      with Wiley on the ordinance.  The Planning members stated that the Rainbow

      City Council was the only ones that could revise Ordinance No. 436 to allow on   

      premise alcoholic beverage sales next to a school.  If and when the City Council

 

    (cont’d on page 2)

 

Page 2

Planning Commission

February 23, 2010

 

 

       revises the ordinance, then Mr. Gregerson will need to apply to the Planning

       Commission requesting a public hearing for re-zoning of the building suite in

       which the bar will be located.  No action was taken by the Planning Commission

       at this time.

 

 5.   Mayor Calhoun wanted to discuss private streets in subdivisions. 

      Occasionally the City has a developer that wants to keep a street in a

      subdivision as a private street.  The Building Department will enforce the City            

      Street specificiations for building a road that will at least demand that a

      developer build the base of the road that will hold up to heavy truck traffic that

      is required during construction and that would allow any emergency vehicles to

      reach any home in the subdivision.  Planning is in agreement with this

      enforcement.

 

 6.  A public hearing was announce for the purpose of making changes to the Zoning

      Ordinance of Rainbow City.  The Building Department presented the changes

      that we feel are needed at this time to Section 107 - Mini Warehouses - of the

      Zoning Ordinance.  The recommendation is as follows:

      (a) Leave this as is

      (b) Leave this as is

      (c) The entire site shall be enclosed by an eight (8) foot minimum height

            security fence.

      (d) The entrance, perimeter, driveways, and walkways between

             buildings must have adequate security lighting and be approved by

             the Planning Board.

      Wes Ellis moved to recommend to the Rainbow City Council these changes be

      made to the Zoning Ordinance.  Bryan Stone seconded the motion.  Motion

      carried unanimously.

 

 

  7. There being no other business to come before The Planning Commission, Bryan

      Stone moved to adjourn.

 

 Respectfully submitted,

 

 

      Kathy Hill

      Recording Secretary