08-14-2019 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES CITY COUNCIL AUGUST 14, 2019 McGraw stated that Midwest Gymnastics in Little Canada has been training St. Paul resident, Sunisa Lee, who qualified for the national team. PUBLIC HEARING — The City Clerk explained that Caribou Coffee at 3354 Rice Street is VARIANCES TO seeking variances to allow additional signage on their property due to the ALLOW ADDITIONAL re -alignment of the I-694 and Rice Street bridge, and Country Drive. She SIGNAGE AT 3354 RICE stated the property is on the corner of Rice Street and Country Drive with STREET; APPLICANT: two street frontages. She stated that Ramsey County purchased and CARIBOU/ALLIANT removed the former Vadnais Inn that was adjacent on the north side, and ENGINEERING Caribou was able to acquire some excess land from the County that will allow for a parkinglot expansion. She explained that there is currently wall signage only on the west elevation, along with a 15-foot tall free- standing pylon sign at the corner of Rice Street and Country Drive. She noted that there are also four directional signs for the drive-thru lane entrance, height limit and menu board, and all of the existing signage meets the City Code requirements. The City Clerk explained that once the I-694/Rice Street reconstruction project is complete, this property will be a stand-alone parcel entirely surrounded by roadway, andadjacent to a round -a -bout that completely changes access for the site. She reported that the Rice Street access will be removed and there will be a new right -in, entrance -only access on the north side of the property. She stated that due to the complete change of the area's roads into round -a -bouts, Caribou is concerned about customers figuring out how to access their site. The City Clerk explained that the total amount of signage allowed is 15% of the front building face, and two sides of the building can be counted for corner lots. She stated that based on two building faces, this property is allowed a total of 317.25 square feet of signage. She noted that the sign code allows counting two building faces for properties with frontage on two streets, but has no allowances for a property that has four sides of street frontage since it so seldom occurs. She explained that the applicant has requested a variance to allow wall signage on all four sides of the building since the roadway will surround the site and all sides of the building will be highly visible. She noted there is currently a 61.3 square foot wall sign on the west side facing Rice Street, and the applicant is proposing the same wall sign on all four sides of the building for a total of 245.2 square feet. The City Clerk reported that the applicant is also proposing to install a new 15-foot tall, 84 square feet, free-standing pylon sign along Rice Street, a little further north than the existing pylon sign, and Caribou is requesting to also keep the existing pylon sign. She explained that Staff has been working with Caribou and communicated to them that City Staff FA