07-25-2007 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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NORTHWEST ASSOCIATED CONSULTANTS, INC. 4800 Olson Memorial Highway, Suite 202, Golden Valley, MN 56422 Telephone: 763.231 .2555 Facsimile: 763.231 .2561 plannerslanacplanning.com MEMORANDUM TO: Little Canada Planning Commission FROM: Stephen Grittman DATE: July 6, 2007 RE: Little Canada — St. Jude Medical — Comprehensive Plan Amendment for Expansion FILE NO: 758.09 - 07.05 Background and Analysis St. Jude Medical is seeking a Comprehensive Plan Amendment for a parcel of property along County Road B2, currently owned by the Roseville School District, adjacent to the west boundary of the St. Jude Viking Drive property. The property has been used as athletic field but is being sold by the school district for the purpose of allowing an expanded facility for St. Jude. At this time, St. Jude is seeking an amendment to the land use designation of the property, currently designated for Public or Institutional use. The proposed designation would be for Regional Commercial to match the designation on the current St. Jude facility. Concurrent with the Comprehensive Plan amendment, the City is processing an Environmental Assessment Worksheet (EAW) to evaluate the potential impacts of the proposed project. As shown in the supporting material from the applicant, the project will support a potential 475,000 square feet of new building area and significant new parking areas that will consist of decked ramps partially exposed and partially covered. The project will be constructed in stages, but will eventually connect the existing buildings with the new site by a series of passageways throughout the campus setting. Access to the newly added property will be from County Road B2. The primary issues relating to the change appear to be traffic congestion at the Rice Street/B2 intersection, and potential visual impacts to the Cobblestone Court twinhome development to the south of the new project area. The engineers are currently working on solutions to traffic issues as a part of the EAW process.