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NORTHWEST ASSOCIATED CONSULTANTS, INC. 5775 Wayzata Boulevard, Suite 555, St. Louis Park, MN 55416 Telephone: 952.595.9636 Facsimile: 952.695.9837 planners @nacplanning .corn MEMORANDUM TO: Little Canada Mayor and City Council FROM: Stephen Grittman DATE: February 25, 2004 RE: Little Canada — Parking Supply for Town - Office Projects FILE NO: 758.10 The City Council has raised concerns relating to the parking supply for Town Office projects and whether the City's adopted standard will require adequate off - street parking for these projects. In the table below, I have tabulated the parking supply provided for each of the three constructed projects, as well as the proposed Mendota Homes project now under consideration. The City's zoning ordinance requires one parking space per 200 square feet of net usable area. For the majority of land uses (such as large office buildings), the standard reduction in floor area from gross to net is listed in the ordinance as 10 % of the gross floor area. This results in a parking requirement for large projects of one parking space per 222 square feet. For most town office projects, the percentage of unusable area is much greater, due to the higher percentage of floor area dedicated to stairwells, mechanical areas, wash rooms, etc. As can be seen from the table, the three existing projects were built with one parking spaces for each 315 square feet (305 square feet for Tacheny). The Mendota Homes proposal has a lower number of spaces, based on the applicant's proposition that the basement level will not be occupied for office use. Instead, only storage could be made of the basement level. Planning staff's concern has been that occupants of these units would be tempted to move office uses into the lower levels, counter to the covenants and other promises of the developer. If the lower level were dedicated to storage only, the project would have more parking than its competitors, based on the zoning requirements (one space per 265 gross square feet). The issue for this project is whether concerns over basement use can be resolved.