1996 Planning Commission Packets

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PIanraing Commission Planning Case No. 454�96: 2375 Highway 10 October 9, i 996 Page 4 Subd, 2 £ Subd. 3 c. Subd. 8 e, Subd. 3 f. Subd 2 c. Subd 3 i. i ihe entire szte, other than that taken up by a building, structure or plantings, shall be surfaced with a material to controI duse, drainage and erosion which is subject to the approval of the Director of Public Works/City Engineer. A curb not less thari six inches {6"} above grade shall separata the public sidewaik from motor vehicte service areas. At the boundaries of a r�sidential district, a strip of not Iess than ten feet { 10') shall be landscaped and screened in comptiance with subdivisions I 103.08 (1} through (5) of this Title. Subd S 1. A minimum of 10% of the property, excluding setback requirements, is required for landscaped greenspace. The plan(t)ing plan and type of shrubbery shall require approval of the PIanning Cornmission based upon a recommendation of City Forester. Subd 8 m. A natural screen shall be erected and maintained aiong all property lines separatiztg ihe site from any residential district. The screening shall include Iandscaping (trees, sluubs, grass, etc.) of a type (layout, species, heig,ht, size and density) izi compliance wiih subdivisions 1103,08 of the Title. The proposal represents an e;ctension of the existing Satum dealership. The applicant is maintaining the same architectural character in the b�aiiding expansion as is in th� original, and wili be landscaping the added site area so the effect will be one seamless development. All areas which a.re not in building or iandscaping will be paved and %he parking area will be bordered by a cancrete curb. The site does noi border proper�y in a residentiai district and therefore screening and buffering is not required. A landscaped area at least 10 feet in width is shown along all af the property lines. The landscape plan shows a row of Black Hills Spruce alon� the r�orth properiy line of the added site area which matches the existing site. The fron#age along Highway 10 wili be sod as is the existing site. The criteria from Section 1114.04 Subd 8.1. was added in 1995 and creates a probiem for the Saturn site. Ii states that the area in required setbacks shall be excluded from calculating if 10% of the site is in landscaping. The expanded Satut-m site would have 142,iO3 sq.ft. of tand; 10% would be 14,703 sq.ft. The proposed Iandscaped area is, 33,606 sq.ft. or 23.5%, which is more than twice the requirement based on percentage. Almost of all this axea, hov✓ever, is in the r�quired front, side and rear setbacics. Present day staff is r�ot certain what the intent of ihe ordinance acnendment was. It is a very �ommon practice for th� tandscaped area on a commercial site to be a1an� th� perimeter. In fact, the Zoning Code specificaily prohibits the placement of parking and loading in the froni setback, so ihe most logical use For the setback area is landscaping. The Saturn siie -� ,