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• POLICY H2 10/12/05 ITEM: Variance requests for 1347 Larpenteur Avenue SUBMITTED BY: Deborah Jones, Zoning and Planning Coordinator REVIEWED BY: Heather Worthington, City Administrator Soren Mattick, Campbell Knutson EXPLANATION: Background/History/Property Description: 1347 West Larpenteur, PIN 152923340132, is located at the northwest corner of the intersection of Larpenteur Avenue and Hamline Avenue in Falcon Heights. The legal description is "Except for road easement, the east 96 28/100 feet of lots 8 and 9, Larpenteur Villas." The parcel is approximately 96 feet wide by 172 feet deep, with an area of approximately 16,553 square feet. The property is zoned B-1 "Neighborhood Convenience District" and has been used for local commercial enterprises for at least 45 years, most recently as a chiropractic clinic. The Hamline/Larpenteur intersection has commercial uses on all four corners, in Roseville and St. Paul as well as Falcon Heights. 1347 Larpenteur is adjacent to R-1 single family residential property on the north and west. The existing improvements consist of a principle structure built in 1959 and a parking lot on the north side of the building. • The 1347 La enteur arcel is bein sold to ether iP p g g with the vacant parcel immediately to the west. The second parcel, PIN 152923340020, is 50 feet wide by 172 feet deep and is zoned R-1. The parcel has no address and no structures; the only improvement is landscaping and a section of the parking lot for 1347 Larpenteur. Although this parcel is separate from the B-1 property and has different zoning, it is visually and practically (but not legally) part of the 1347 Larpenteur parcel and is listed and taxed as "commercial" under County land use definitions. The prospective new owner of the two parcels, Dr. Omar Awad, requests a setback variance of 8 feet on the east (Hamline Avenue) side of the building to construct a new entrance foyer and porch. The proposed new entrance is part of a general remodeling of the existing building for use as an eye clinic, a permitted use in B-1 zones. The west side of the building presently does conform to the required 30 foot setback, but there is no room to build an entry without a variance. The reasons for building the new entry on Hamline are • The present entrance facing Larpenteur is not easily accessible to patients parking behind the building. • An entrance facing Hamline would present a more welcoming facade to the community than an entrance facing the parking lot.