12-10-09 Planning Comm. Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

NORTHWEST ASSOCIATED GONSULYAN'TS, INC. 4~H00 Olson Memorial Highway, Suite L02, Golden Valley, MN 55422 Telephone: 763.231.2555 Facsimile: 763231.2561 plan ners(Nnacpla nning.com MEMORANDUM TO: Little Canada Planning Commission FROM: Stephen Grittman DATE: December 3, 2009 RE: Little Canada -Graba Properties -Amendment to PUD for Retail FILE NO: 758.09 - 09.30 Background and Analysis Graba properties and Bob Wagner have applied for an amendment to their PUD permit to allow up to 8,000 square feet of their building at 3225 Country Drive (the former Knox Lumber building) to be utilized for retail users. The building consists of a total of about 43,000 square feet, much of which is currently dedicated for use by a gymnastics club. The applicants are proposing that the north and northeast portions of the building be permitted for one or more retail tenants. The PUD District in this area was established to accommodate the conversion of the former Knox building for temporary use by Drywall Supply, an industrial supplier of building materials, and eventually redevelopment for higher profile use. The applicant completed the remodeling of the site and building, but has not been able to complete arrangements for office oroffice-showroom tenants which has been the primary focus of the PUD District zoning for this parcel. The applicant believes that retail tenants would be more likely to occupy the space and complete required tenant improvements. When the City considered the redevelopment of the Knox property, there were a number of factors which were weighed in the zoning applied to this area. The property has a high degree of exposure to freeway traffic, but due to interchange locations with 1- 35E and I-694, the access can be inconvenient. The property had been zoned B-W, Business-Warehousing. The City first acted to revise the B-W District to focus on office uses, along with office-warehouse and off- showroom businesses. The expectation was that the site would serve these types of businesses well by capitalizing on the exposure of the interstate, but attracting businesses that had somewhat lower traffic generation that traditional retail.