05-23-07 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES CITY COUNCIL MAY 23, 2007 flexibility in the types of retail uses that are allowed, while retaining the warehouse use component. Johansen also indicated that Hom has not put together a final design for the building. That design will depend on the tenants that they have for the property. Johansen stated that the more use flexibility they have, the more money they are likely to spend on the property. Blesener stated that the City wants to see Hom Furniture in Little Canada, and is willing to work with Hom. However, the City must still be careful to not open the B-W District to a multitude of retail uses. Blesener agreed that a PUD zoning for this property would be preferable. Johansen indicated that Hom Furniture is scheduled to close on the property very soon, and would like some assurances that City is willing to expand the allowable uses for this site. Johansen again referred to Hom's list and early comments about the impact that some of the uses would have on parking. Johansen indicated that the property has over 400 parking spaces with Hom using a maximum of 100 on weekends. Johansen stated that he cannot see any uses on the list that would overtax the parking lot. Keis asked about the motorized sports use and asked if that use would include outdoor storage, test driving of vehicles, and repair and service. Allan stated that she envisioned the Tousley Sports Center business. Johansen indicated that the Tousley Sports Center use generates a low volume of traffic. Johansen indicated that Hom would be agreeable to restrictions that the Council might want to place on the property, such as no outdoor storage. McGraw noted that while Hom Furniture is asking the Council to allow a list of uses based on experiences they had with the City of Plymouth, Little Canada has had experiences where property owners have made assurances to the City and have ended up being out of compliance with the Codes. McGraw noted that vehicle-related uses have been a problem for the City. McGraw stated that he would like to avoid opening up the B-W District to a number of additional uses. He also indicated that there are four or five uses on Hom's list that are of concern to him, otherwise the remainder of the list is fine. Johansen asked which uses appeared problematic. Montour felt that more definition of the uses was needed before the Council could respond. For example, what specifically is a builders center, do any of the uses involve outdoor storage, outdoor display, increased parking demand. Johansen indicated that Hom Furniture would like to have some outdoor display of patio furniture, for example. McGraw noted that one of the primary concerns is outdoor storage of materials.