02/22/2010 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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• • • Outdoor Seating & Golf Course Uses page 3 area would be included in the larger review. Only in the rare case when no other review is required, the addition of an outdoor dining /seating area would be reviewed as its own administrative permit application. Since the outdoor dining /seating is not a stand alone use, the intent is to eliminate the need for an additional, separate review process or approval whenever possible. • The proposed amendments relocate the performance requirements from the lists of conditional use permits in the zoning districts to a new Subdivision 16 within Section 3 of the zoning ordinance. Each zoning district then refers to this subdivision. Some revisions have been made for clarification. • When discussing outdoor seating the question of alcoholic beverage service typically arises. The current requirements mandate that whenever alcohol is served in the outdoor area, the outdoor area can only be accessed through the building. The Planning & Zoning Board recommended that this requirement be eliminated as unnecessary and maybe even detrimental to the function of the outdoor seating area. The Board believed the business is responsible for activities in the outdoor seating area and will not want to risk losing its liquor license. Therefore, the City does not need to require absolute physical separation from sidewalk activity. The proposed amendments remove the limitation on access. The amendment also acknowledges the somewhat obvious need for a liquor license. Golf Course Uses, Including Liquor Sales The Chomonix golf course is owned and operated by Anoka County Parks. The golf course currently holds a 3.2 on -sale beer license. The manager of the golf course contacted the city last year inquiring about the possibility of upgrading the license. The discussions highlighted the fact that the zoning ordinance does not include on- or off -sale alcohol sales in the zoning district where the golf course is located. In fact, the zoning ordinance allows alcohol sales only in the three business districts. Rather, we need to update the zoning ordinance to address current and acceptable activities in the existing golf course and look forward to the potential for expanding the activity options in golf courses in general. Several issues arose from the examination of the zoning ordinance. Currently, the zoning ordinance includes golf courses in a large umbrella definition: Recreation Area. A parcel which may include water bodies and incidental buildings thereto used or intended for active or passive recreation, including, but not limited to, parks, playground, golf courses, hunting preserves, polo grounds, nature trails, bridle paths, beaches, campsites, ski and snowmobile trails, and canoe routes, provided that parcels on which there are located stadiums, arenas, bowling alleys, swimming pools, and other recreational activities conducted primarily in structures are not recreation areas. There are activities associated with and even specific to golf courses that are not common to all the other listed uses. It would be best to pull golf courses out of this very broad definition.