10-23-2013 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: October 4, 2013 RE: Little Canada — Little Free Library FILE NO: 758.09 —13.08 Background and Analysis The City has been approached by residents wishing to introduce a "Little Free Library" to the community. The Little Free Library concept has come up in many locations as a way to promote reading and community identity. A container location is established at a prominent location, in which the sponsors stock a variety of books. The books can be borrowed by any user of the Library, and the concept encourages users to add to the stock by leaving a book for others to borrow. The container has taken many forms, depending on the location and the sponsors of the Library. Location of the Little Free Library can be a zoning issue. If located on private property, they would usually need to be identified as an allowable accessory use, and monitoring and maintenance would technically be the responsibility of the property owner. If such a facility were to become unsightly, the City would need to address the issue as a code enforcement process which can be cumbersome and expensive. In response to this idea, the proposal being brought to the Planning Commission is to allow the establishment of the Little Free Library concept on publicly -owned property, specifically, property owned by the City. In this way, the City will have the ability to monitor the upkeep and use of the facility. To accomplish this, an amendment is proposed to allow a Free Library container as an accessory use on City property, under a series of conditions. The amendment would be made to the Public zoning district, Section 920.030. The proposed conditions include the following: 2