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Item 2 5/27/03 • ITEM: Two variance requests for the proposed Dino's Greek Restaurant at 1700 Snelling Avenue. SUBMITTED BY: Deborah Jones, Zoning and Planning Coordinator REVIEWED BY: Heather Worthington, City Administrator Roger Knutson, City Attorney EXPLANATION: Summary: The owners of Dino's Restaurant, presently located at 1670 Snelling Avenue, have proposed a new restaurant at the southeast corner of Crawford and Snelling Avenues, the site currently occupied by DJ's Embers Restaurant, 1700 Snelling Avenue. Two variances have been applied for: 1. A variance of 10.9 feet in the front setback 2. A variance to allow approximately 8.6% landscaping where the City code requires 25%. The site comprises lots 3, 4 and 5 of Keller's Rearrangement of Block 10 of Falcon Heights Addition. At present, Embers occupies Lots 4 and 5, the southern two thirds of the site. Lot 3, adjacent to Crawford Avenue, belongs to Falcon Crossing LLC. A shared parking agreement is in existence • between Falcon Crossing and Embers which is necessary in order for Falcon Crossing to meet the conditions on variances granted when the center was constructed. The present project proposes to trade Lot 3 for Lot 5, so that Dino's will own the northern two lots, and Falcon Crossing will own Lot 5, which is adjacent to the alley. The new restaurant would be built on Lots 3 and 4; a new shared parking agreement would be in effect for Lot 5. In addition, the easement containing the existing east Snelling service drive south of Crawford has been acquired by the City, and the whole site at the southeast corner of Crawford and Snelling would be redeveloped at one time. This site has been zoned B-3 since the City was last rezoned; for many years before that it was a commercial location, serving as a site for a restaurant and later for the municipal liquor store. Both restaurant and drive-through uses are permitted in this zone, being included in the definition of "Eating Place." Because of the relatively small size of this site and its proximity to the intersection of a state highway and a major county road (the third busiest intersection in Minnesota), there are difficult access and placement issues. The site plan under consideration has been modified from the original preliminary site plan in response to input from City Staff, from planning consultant Dan Cornejo, and from residents attending a neighborhood meeting on May 13. As a result of those modifications, the number of variances has been reduced from four to two, and the project has been brought closer to compliance on the remaining two issues. Staff would like to note that, while the existence of the drive-through portion of the proposed restaurant has aroused controversy in the community, the present variance requests are not related to • the drive-through, which is a permitted use and which, as proposed, complies with the City zoning code. These variances address placement and size of the building and the amount of landscaping versus impervious service. The following staff findings apply to the variance issues only. Staff Report: Dino's Restaurant May 23, 2003 Page 1 of 4