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NORTHWEST ASSOCIATED CONSULTANTS INC. <br />PLANNING REPORT <br />TO: <br />FROM: <br />DATE: <br />RE: <br />FILE NO: <br />Little Canada Mayor and City Council <br />Little Canada Planning Commission <br />James Vick /David Licht6 J <br />12 June 1984 <br />Palmen - Rezoning <br />758.09 - 84.26 <br />NrElVa <br />JUN 13 1984 <br />CITY OF <br />LITTLE CANADA <br />BACKGROUND <br />The property in question is a parcel just under five acres in size located <br />at 401 Viking Drive. The property is zoned "R -1 ", Single Family Residential. <br />Mr. Palmen has been operating a landscaping /excavation business at this <br />location for seven years. Since this is not an allowed use within the "R -1" <br />District, Mr. Palmen has been asked to comply with the Zoning Ordinance. To <br />legally maintain his business at this location, Mr. Palmen has applied to <br />rezone his property to a PUD district. <br />ISSUES AND ANALYSIS <br />At issue is a basic policy question of allowing nonresidential, primarily <br />commercial /industrial activities in areas of the City which have been <br />designated for low density single family development. A related policy <br />question is the proper utilization of the Planned Unit Development District. <br />The Land Use Plan denotes areas which are segregated into varying types of <br />activities. The rationale for such separation of use is that different uses <br />have different and quite commonly conflicting characteristics. The business <br />operated by Mr. Palmen is part commercial and part warehousing or open <br />storage of equipment. The difficulty posed by such an operation is that <br />similar type businesses can be quite negative from a visual, noise and traffic <br />perspective. If, however, one, although possibly minor in impact is allowed <br />to exist, then others regardless of impact will also have to be permitted. <br />The problem with exterior storage is evident even in industrial areas, notably <br />the Ryan Industrial Park. <br />Relative to the PUD question, its application to the request at hand appears <br />to be stretching the intent. While legally it is the only procedure available <br />.and could be utilized to approve Mr. Palmen's request, our view is that it <br />would be a tactic utilized to avoid the basic Comprehensive Plan and land <br />designation issue. In the recent past, Little Canada has utilized the PUD on <br />two occasions. The first is the Nardini Demont property rezoning. In this <br />1.2 <br />4820 minnetonka boulevard, suite 420 minneapolis, mn 55416 612/925 -9420 <br />