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Planning Commission 4/27/04 • ITEM: Interim Use Permit for the Twin Cities Co-ops Federal Credit Union SUBMITTED BY: Deborah Jones, Planning and Zoning Coordinator REVIEWED BY: Heather Worthington, City Administrator Roger Knutson, City Attorney EXPLANATION: Summary: Last year a Farmer's Market opened in the north parking lot of Twin City Cooperative Federal Credit Union at 2025 W. Larpenteur. The market, which operated Tuesday mornings from 8 a.m. to noon, June through October, was set up under an Interim User Permit (IUP). The Planning Commission, and then the Council, approved the necessary code amendments to (1) add a provision for IUP to the Code, (2) add "farmers' market" to the zoning definitions, and (3) add farmers' market as a legal interim use in the B-2 zones of Falcon Heights. The actual IUP, also approved by the Commission and the Council after several public meetings, gave specific conditions for operation of the St. Paul Farmer's Market at the TCCU site, with the term of one year. By all measures, the market was a resounding success. No complaints were received. Residents • expressed universal approval of the way the market was conducted, the location, convenience and quality. The average turn-around time for each visitor was under ten minutes; many customers walked from nearby neighborhoods. While traffic was much heavier than usual on Prior, no serious problems were encountered. Parking was more than adequate. City Staff did not observe that the parking lot was full at any time; anecdotal accounts from TCCU staff bear this out. You will recall that we used the Interim Use Permit last year so that the City Council and Planning Commission would have an opportunity to revisit and re-evaluate the situation each year. In the intervening year, there have been several changes in the parking situation that require an adjustment to the IUP as approved last year. These are the only proposed changes. The adjustments are explained below: 1. TCCU staff drew our attention to some inaccuracies in the parking space count we used last year. They, and the City, used a site plan that showed an outdated striping of the parking lots. We now have a hand count of parking spaces actually available. The total count is 423 spaces. 2. In the intervening year, the Credit Union has tried to assist the City by making available approximately 30 spaces in its parking lot for lease to non-residents commuting to the University of Minnesota. This has benefited the community by easing on-street parking on Garden Avenue, and now removes 30 spaces from the parking formerly available to market customers. • 3. The Credit Union is also supplying up to15 parking spaces for the use of construction workers at the SE Corner, reducing the available parking by that number. Planning Commission: Staff Report on Farmers Market IUP, Page I of 2 4/27/04