04/08/2009 P&Z Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Search

• • AGENDA ITEM 6.A. STAFF ORIGINATOR: Paul Bengtson MEETING DATE: April 8, 2009 TOPIC: Discussion of Outdoor Sales Lot — Seasonal /Interim BACKGROUND Staff has been approached by the owner's agent for the former Schwan's site on the southeast corner of Lake Drive and 77th Street, with the prospect of placing a landscape /garden center that would stock trees in pots or balled /burlapped as well as a temporary greenhouse structure to house smaller plants. The use would last the planting season, and then could potentially include the sale of Christmas trees over the holiday season. A rendering of the prospective use is attached. ANALYSIS The site is currently zoned GB (General Business) and the current (and proposed) comprehensive plan include it in the Mixed Use land use designation. The site has immediate access to city sewer and water and to Marketplace Drive which then intersects with Lake Drive. The zoning ordinance includes a use entitled `Commercial greenhouses and nurseries' which is listed as a permitted use in the GB (General Business) zoning district. The definition of the use is as follows: Greenhouse /Nursery, Commercial. An enterprise that conducts the retail and /or wholesale of plants grown on the premises, as well as accessory items (but not power equipment, such as gas or electric lawn mowers and farm implements) directly related to their care and maintenance. (A greenhouse /nursery that does not conduct retail or wholesale is considered horticulture.) That definition requires the plant products to be grown on site. This would not be the case for this prospective user. The closest permitted use in the zoning ordinance would be `Retail Business' which is defined as: Retail Business. An establishment engaged in the display and sale of products produced off -site directly to consumers within a building or portion of a building excluding any exterior display and sales. IPThe obstacle there is that the definition specifically prohibits exterior display and sales.