09-28-2005 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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NORTHWEST ASSOCIATED CONSULTANTS, INC. 4800 Olson Memorial Highway, Suite 202, Golden Valley, MN 55422 Telephone: 763.231 .2555 Facsimile: 763.231.2561 planners@nacplanning.com MEMORANDUM TO: Little Canada Planning Commission FROM: Stephen Grittman DATE: September 1, 2005 RE: Little Canada — Maaco Conditional Use Permit for Accessory Retail Auto Sales FILE NO: 758.09 - 05.29 Background and Analysis Maaco is seeking approval of a Conditional Use Permit to add indoor automobile sales to its current auto body shop facility at 3245 Country Drive. The site is currently zoned I -P, Industrial Park. The current auto body use is a legal non - conforming use of the property. Retail sales is allowed in the I -P District by Conditional Use Permit with several conditions, as follows: 1. Such use is allowed as a permitted use in the a "B -3" District ". 2. Such use does not constitute more than 10 percent of the gross floor area of the principal structure. 3. Adequate off - street parking and off - street loading are provided. 4. Signage is in compliance with the sign regulations. The application fails to meet the first two of these conditions. The third condition cannot be verified based on the site plan submitted by the applicant. With regard to condition No. 1, automobile sales is allowed in the B -2 Zoning District, but not the B -3 District. The City acted to eliminate automobile sales and other similar uses from the B -3 District several years ago. As a result, the request can not comply with the terms of the Conditional Use Permit regulations. With regard to the second condition, the site plan appears to show five indoor display spaces. The site plan is not drawn to scale, nor is the display area dimensioned on the plan. The building is approximately 7,000 square feet in area. A display area of 10% (700 square feet) would accommodate only 2 to 3 vehicles. The proposed display area would appear to be about two times the allowable size.