10-08-2020 Planning Commission Packet

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Little Canada Planning Commission 8 September 2020 Page 2 3824 Huntington Avenue St. Louis Park, Minnesota 55416 952.451.4818 bill@weberplanning.com different from a Conditional Use, which is not normally allowed but may be if the stated conditions are met. • Industrial Zoning Districts: Note that the Business / Industrial district exists on the zoning map but not in the text of the code. This district serves only two, adjacent parcels of land located at County Road D and Edgerton Street that total 1.75 acres and contain a house and a mini-storage building. Conversely, the Business-Warehouse and General Industrial districts exist in the text of the code but not on the map. • Business Zoning Districts: The B-2, Comprehensive Business District, exists in the text of the code but not on the map. And, there is only one location zoned B-4, Comprehensive Business District; it is along Rice Street south of County Road C. Preliminarily Proposed Zoning Districts and Land Uses Speaking only of the list of zoning districts and land uses, here are my preliminary recommendations: • Industrial Zoning Districts: The Business-Warehouse and the General Industrial Districts could be deleted because they are not currently used. The Business / Industrial District could be eliminated and replaced by the Light Industrial District. Alternatively, the site in question could be rezoned to a housing district. • Business Zoning Districts: The Auto-Oriented Business District could be eliminated because it is not used. Likewise, the Comprehensive Business District, which is used for only one land parcel, could be replaced by the proposed Corridor Mixed District. The City should consider creating a new district that I call Corridor Mixed and apply it along Rice Street. That district would allow a variety of retail and service businesses plus residential buildings with more than 8 units apiece. • Commercial Land Uses: The list of commercial land uses could be consolidated and expanded. That is, it is not necessary to try to list every conceivable commercial land use that you wish to include because that risks omitting some that you might actually want, such as cell phone stores, which are not currently shown. Instead, a smaller number of more inclusive terms could be used. I’ve proposed this: “Retail and/or service businesses that deal directly with the final consumer or beneficiary, but not including drive-through or drive-in service.” I also propose that many of the Conditional Uses in the commercial (and the residential) districts be made Permitted Uses with certain conditions stated in the code. That would allow more buildings to be approved by City staff without having to go through the Planning Commission and City Council, which is time-consuming. It also ensures that the conditions are clearly stated before a site plan is drawn. • Residential Land Uses: I suggest that residential buildings with up to 8 units be allowed in the R-2 district as a Permitted Use, which is not presently the case as only one- and two -unit buildings are included as Permitted Uses while ambiguous “multiple-