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4. Business and Commercial Districts • Although Falcon Heights is primarily a residential City outside of its large public institutions, it possesses a small but important business community distributed along Larpenteur Avenue. (Please see the Larpenteur Corridor section for additional information about business and commercial lands in Falcon Heights.) It is vital to the sustainable future of Falcon Heights and to the health and well-being of its residents that the City retain and improve the existing viable businesses and encourage businesses that offer goods and services to the nearby neighborhoods. Existing Business Land Use in Falcon Heights The City is served by a central business district at the intersection of Snelling and Larpenteur Avenues, a limited business district (offices and professional services) at Prior and Larpenteur, and a number of smaller businesses along Larpenteur, mostly oriented toward local retail and service needs. The third largest business zone, also on Larpenteur, is occupied by Hermes Nursery, the last of the flower and nursery businesses for which Larpenteur Avenue was once famous. A retail cluster on Hamline Avenue between Hoyt and Idaho has been a valued neighborhood retail center for generations. Presently this location is occupied by a pharmacy, a coffee shop, a dental clinic, a recording studio, offices and an auto repair business. • Snelling Larpenteur Commercial Core The Snelling/Larpenteur commercial core was originally developed in the 1940s and is the only large retail area in Falcon Heights. By the 1980s, due to outdated design and amenity standards and access limitations imposed by the high traffic volumes on Snelling and Larpenteur Avenues, it was no longer functioning well in its original use as an auto- oriented shopping center. As presently configured, the Snelling and Larpenteur thoroughfares impose severe limitations on the extent to which the area can accommodate pedestrian traffic or function as an integrated retail center. As a result the four quadrants of the district have evolved somewhat independently over the last several decades. The northeast quadrant, known as Falcon Crossing, was redeveloped in the mid 1980s utilizing tax increment financing for public improvements in support of private investment. The redevelopment replaced retailer Flower City, which was destroyed by fire in 1982, and a row of older neighborhood businesses. An aging restaurant was replaced by Dino's Gyros in 2004 as part of the redevelopment on the southeast corner. Dino's and Falcon Crossing share parking and access. Falcon Crossing has a history of full occupancy. The quadrant is expected to remain relatively stable, although traffic, parking and pedestrian safety will continue to be a challenge. The northwest quadrant, occupied by a small shopping center, a restaurant, furniture store • and gas station, underwent some significant cosmetic upgrades in between 2003 and 2006. Since 1990, small businesses catering to neighborhood needs have somewhat given Falcon Heights Comprehensive Plan 2008 Draft -January, 2008 Part II: Land Use & Housing, Page II-30