05-25-11 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES PLANNING COMMISSION MAY 12, 2011 VARIANCE — 125 LITTLE CANADA ROAD — THE VILLAGE Duray recommended approval of a PUD Permit to operate an acupuncture business as requested by Pei Xiao, Eternal Spring Acupuncture at 2978 Rice Street based on the findings of the City Planner as outlined in his report dated May 6, 2011. Motion seconded by Hall. Motion carried 7 — 0. The Commission reviewed the application of Sherman Associates for a Variance from the setback requirements to allow a monument sign within six inches of the street right -of -way for The Village, 125 Little Canada Road. The City Planner indicated that in the middle of processing this application the Legislature changed the law on the review of variance requests. Under the previous standard the application had to show a hardship in not putting the property to a reasonable use and there were specific rules for how a hardship was determined. The Planner noted that the hardship has to prevent the property owner from putting the property to any reasonable use. He noted, however, that not many cities applied the standard that rigorously. These standards were reviewed by the Supreme Court last summer, and, as a result, there was a lot of activity in the Legislature to change the law. Under the new law that was just adopted, the Legislature has moved away from the hardship standards and adopted language similar to the County's standards of "practical difficulty ". Rather than saying that the hardship prevents any reasonable use of the property without a variance, there is a practical difficulty present that prevents a reasonable use of the property without the variance. Now cities will have to look at a variance request and determine if there is a practical difficulty in putting the property to a reasonable use without the variance. This will result in more case by case review as there will be more consideration given to the specific context of the property. The Planner indicated that the Statute only lays out a few standards that must be met. These standards include that the proposed use must be consistent with the Comprehensive Plan, the proposed use is in harmony with the surrounding area, and there is a unique condition to the particular property. The Planner noted that the Statute does not provide a lot of guidance for what the Legislature is defiling as practical difficulty. Therefore, one consideration is whether or not the proposal is a reasonable - 3 - 9