07-09-2025 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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2 Lake Phalen Rowing is a non-profit organization that provides coaching services to youth rowers. The club consists of 22 co-ed youth participants and is led by two volunteer coaches. Practices are held once daily, weather permitting, from 4:30 to 6:00 PM during the spring and fall school terms, and from 8:00 to 10:00 AM during the summer break (typically early June through late August or early September). The club also offers limited adult programming through a “masters” program. The applicant has stated that adult participation is small, has fluctuated over time, and that future programming is uncertain. The applicants propose to allow club members to assemble on their property, store club-owned rowing equipment on-site, and launch from their shoreline onto Gervais Lake. Although the property owners do not serve as officers, coaches, or employees of the club and have indicated they are not receiving compensation, the proposed use is being considered a home occupation. This classification applies because the property is being used to facilitate regular and frequent organized activity involving individuals who do not customarily reside at the residence. Regular use of the property by a non-residential organization introduces potential external impacts such as increased traffic, elevated noise levels, and a higher intensity of land use than is typically associated with residential properties. These impacts, along with any appropriate mitigation strategies, are evaluated under the City’s standards for home occupations. CODE CRITERIA The City Code provides limited procedural guidance for evaluating Special Home Occupation Permits. However, it grants the City Council broad discretion to "impose such conditions on the granting of a special home occupation permit as may be necessary to carry out the purpose and provisions of this subdivision." The purpose statement for the Home Occupation regulations is as follows: "To prevent competition with business districts and to provide a means, through the establishment of specific standards and procedures, by which home occupations can be conducted in residential neighborhoods without jeopardizing the health, safety, and general welfare of the surrounding neighborhood." This purpose statement serves as the guiding framework for evaluating proposed deviations from the general home occupation standards. In applying this standard, the City Council has full authority to approve, deny, or modify individual elements of a request as needed to preserve compatibility with the surrounding neighborhood. REQUEST OF THE CITY To consider a Special Home Occupation Permit, which would permit deviations from the requirements of regular, by-right home occupations. Under City Code, home occupations are permitted with specific conditions. If a resident seeks to deviate from those conditions, a Special Home Occupation Permit is required. The applicant is requesting the following deviations: 1. Exterior Storage Standard: There shall be no exterior storage of equipment or materials used in the home occupation, except personal automobiles used in the home occupation may be parked on the site