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515 Little Canada Road, Little Canada, MN 55117 -1600 <br />(612) 484 -2177 / FAX (612) 484 4538 <br />MEMORANDUM <br />TO: Mayor Fahey & Members of the City Council <br />FROM: Joel Hanson, City Administrator <br />DATE: June 23, 1995 <br />RE: Infill Ordinance <br />MAYOR <br />Michael I. Fahey <br />COUNCIL <br />Beverly Scalze <br />Jim LaVaile <br />Steve Morelan <br />Bob Pedersen <br />ADMINISTRATOR <br />Joel R Hanson <br />In discussing the proposed infill ordinance with the City Planner <br />and the City Attorney, a number of concerns were raised regarding <br />on -going administration of this provision as well as consistency <br />with the conditional use permit process for structures being <br />relocated into the City. As a result, we are going to recommend <br />that the infill ordinance not be adopted and that we modify the <br />language for conditional use permit administration to strengthen <br />criteria for situations involving structures being moved into the <br />City. (Attached is a memo from the City Planner addressing these <br />revisions.) <br />The one caveat the Council should be aware of is that this will <br />not address a situation where someone chooses to build a <br />structure that does not meet the characteristics of the <br />neighborhood in a built up area. However, in discussing this <br />further, we feel that market conditions should cover this <br />situation. It does not seem very likely that someone would <br />choose to build a $50,000 home among $150,000 homes. We further <br />felt that even if the infill ordinance was in place, it would not <br />ensure proper handling of these occurences by the administrative <br />person doing the infill review. This is based on the fact that <br />the infill review would need to be conducted for virtually all <br />new structures within the City. I would fear that this would <br />become a rather routine process leading to possible oversights. <br />I would also have significant concerns regarding interpretation <br />of when a structure is out of character with a neighborhood. <br />(Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and it is tough to <br />anticipate what some people may or may not find offensive.) It <br />was suggested a committee structure be used to prevent one <br />person's judgment becoming the ultimate call, but this would <br />become very cumbersome in the majority of the building permit <br />applications we are reviewing. Therefore, it seems that we are <br />imposing a number of restrictions that may never be needed in <br />actual practice. <br />Page 2 <br />