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LAKE ELMO PLANNING COMMISSION STAFF REPORT Date: July 7, 2006 for the Meeting of July 10, 2006 Applicant: City of Lake Elmo by It's City Council Location: 8890 1 Os' Street North Requested Action: Comprehensive Plan Amendment and Rezoning Land Use Plan Guiding: PF Existing Zoning: PF Site history and Existing Conditions: City records regarding this 38 acre (overall) site date back to 1988. The site owner (Apostolic Bible Church) applied to the City to rezone the entire 38 acres from RR (Rural Residential) to PF (Public/Semi-Public Facilities) with the specific intent to build a church. There were also indications that the applicant may include a seminary facility on the site. No application or discussion of a corresponding Comprehensive Plan amendment appears in the 1988/1989 records of this proceeding, except reference to a clause in the City Zoning Ordinance (that remains to this day as 301.060 E.8) stating that a rezoning action automatically amends the Comprehensive Plan to conform with the zoning. While that may have been the understanding of the City at that time (Comp Plan responds to zoning), Minnesota court decisions (and Statute amendments) that may have taken place subsequent to 1988/1989 clearly prescribe that zoning must respond to the Comp Plan. Hence (at least today) there can be no rezoning that is inconsistent with the Land Use Plan, Today, the Plan must be amended first. Following initial review, Public Hearing and discussion at the Planning Commission level the applicant amended the rezoning application to reduce the area of the requested action to the westerly 13 + acres (net of road right-of-way) • of the 38+ acre site. Although the Planning Commission recommended denial of the application, the City Council did eventually approve it and a related land division. That land division is not, however, of record with Washington County. In 1991 the property owner (Apostolic Church) was asked by the City if they intended to proceed with the church project to which they responded in the affirmative, but that construction would not start until at least 1994. This inquiry by the City was initiated responsive to a suggestion that the land be rezoned back to RR since no church construction had taken place. In 1998 the church advised the City that it planned to move forward with church construction during 1998. This may have been responsive to concurrent work by the City to amend the PF zoning district standards in a manner that was viewed by this church (and others) as constraining. Those PF amendments were eventually adopted by the City. There has been no contact of the City by the church regarding building plans since at least 2000.