07-24-2002 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mixed Use Building - Development Stage PUD. The corner project consists of a four story building with first floor retail storefronts along Rice Street, to the corner with Little Canada Road. The retail area is served by a parking lot that accesses Rice Street at two locations, the northernmost access proposed as a right -in, right -out driveway. The project will require the approval of Ramsey County for its access. The retail area would be required to have one parking space per 200 square feet of retail area, a total of 62 parking spaces (including the 10% discount allowed for non - productive floor space). As noted above, the site has 88 at -grade parking spaces. Of these, 41 spaces are located along the Rice Street frontage, and 25 are located adjacent to the south of the building. The other 22 spaces are located east of the building, primarily serving the residential portion of the structure. The building appears to meet the City's intent to maximize the exposure of retail to the street, and includes an extension of the building that creates a building presence at the corner of Rice Street and Little Canada Road - one of the City's objectives for redevelopment of this site. The building itself is a gable - roofed structure, with a series of cross - gables facing the streets. Some of the residential units have access to exterior balconies that project from the building. Materials proposed include a base of "simulated stone ", lap siding on the second and third stories, and shake siding on the fourth story. The roofing is proposed to be asphalt shingle. The building design and materials would appear to meet the intent of the City's Architectural Guidelines, as well as the Redevelopment Plan objectives for the area. The residential side of the project includes a tier of units on the ground floor that front on Little Canada Road, together with a community room and other common areas. The upper three floors include 23 units each, with a small lobby area. The east side of the building includes an entry lobby at ground level, as well as access to parking. The at- grade parking consists of 22 spaces, and below grade parking includes 76 spaces underneath the building. Access to those spaces is via a ramp at the southeast corner of the building. Most vehicles will likely need to use the Rice Street driveway to get into the basement parking due to the configuration of the ramp access. The zoning ordinance permits parking for senior housing at a rate as low as one half space per unit. The parking proposed is approximately 1.2 spaces per unit. The applicant has also included a detailed landscape plan for the mixed use building site. The planting schedule provides for a significant amount of landscaping along the Little Canada Road exposure, and an attractive, more open planting along the Rice Street exposure in front of the commercial uses. Planning staff's primary comments regarding the site planning would be for the Little Canada Road streetscape and for pedestrian connections. The City should verify that the Little Canada Road portion of the project is consistent with the extensive streetscape design already installed along most of this roadway. Plant materials, tree spacing, and lighting details should coordinate with the streetscape scheme. With regard to pedestrian access, the plan connects the site to the corner of Rice Street and Little Canada Road, then continues with sidewalk along Little Canada Road to the east, and sidewalk along the building 2