09-24-2003 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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City has worked with the landowner over the years to limit or prohibit access to Park Street, requiring access to County Road C from that building. The subject site has no frontage other than the Park Street side. As a result, alternative access cannot be provided, unless the parcel were to be combined with other adjoining property. However, due to extensive wetland impacts on the site, development capacity is severely limited. The applicant's site plan illustrates a basic single family home with an attached garage, meeting setbacks from Park Street and showing a 30 foot setback from the wetland edge. This would meet City requirements, although the Watershed District may have additional concerns. If the site remains commercially zoned, it has little development capacity due to both setback requirements, drainage issues, and the need for parking. Moreover, the access for this commercial site (although low volume) would need to be from Park Street, inconsistent with the actions taken on the adjoining parcels. In Planning staff's view, the site has little value as a commercially zoned property. As a residential property, it would appear that it can accommodate a single family home, consistent with the development of the Park Street neighborhood in this area. The existence of a single family home on this site would, however, be inconsistent with the adjoining property west of Park Street. A higher density project would not resolve this inconsistency, In summary, the proposed single family home appears to be the most likely development capacity of the site. Planning staff would recommend a rezoning to R -1, Single Family Residential (rather than the R -2 requested by the applicant) to be clear about the City's zoning intent. pc: Kathy Glanzer Steve Westerhaus Lee Elfering Greg Schroeder Mike Torkelson, 100 Village Center Drive, North Oaks, MN