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CommerciaTlBusiness Areas Plan Elements Based on the lack of a vacant land resource and the adequacy of commercial services in the general market area, the City of Falcon Heights does not intend to create additional commercial areas on land that is under the City's land use controls in 2007. Instead, it intends to improve and redevelop existing commercial business areasie~ke in a manner that is in keeping with competitive contemporary retaiUservice standards of design and quality for acommunity-oriented business district while minimizing impacts on adjacent residential areas. It is also the intent of the plan to create an attractive, easily accessible, walkable and visually secure commercial area for retail customers. Where appropriate, the City intends to consider additional housing as an element in any redevelopment of existing commercial property, in order to meet projected housing needs by 2030. Given the limited land area for commercial use in the city, 1.8% of the total land use, it is the intent of the city to attract businesses that serve the people who live and work in Falcon Heights and nearby, rather than a broader consumer base. The broader consumer base is served by the larger, more diversified and readily accessible commercial areas in the adjacent cities of St. Paul and Roseville as well as nearby Minneapolis. The plan also intends to include only businesses that are compatible and complementary • to the adjacent residential areas, and to exclude uses that are not fully compatible with adjacent residential uses or are not consistent with the community focus of the city's commercial districts. This is especially important because given the limited land supply and corresponding limited buffer areas all commercial structures are within 270 feet of residential structures; and many commercial buildings are within 40 to 50 feet of residential buildings and homes. An exception may include the expansion of the Snelling/Larpenteur Core west of Snelling Avenue, should the University or State Fair choose to divest themselves of the agricultural and fairground lands north and south of Larpenteur, east of Fairview. It is the City's intent to guide these areas toward medium to high density residential use mixed with compatible businesses that serve the local area The City's existing Land Use Plan establishes three categories of commercial business use including the Snelling/Larpenteur Commercial Core, Neighborhood Convenience and Limited Business as follows: Snelling/Larpenteur Commercial Core (B-3). It is the intent of the City to see all four quadrants of the intersection of Larpenteur and Snelling Avenues maintained and Assembled Elements, Draft 1 FH Comp Plan 2007 Page 28 of 42