2011 Planning Commission Packets

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Item No: 6A Meeting Date: November 2 2011 Type of Business: Other Planning Activity City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Planning Commission From: Heidi Heller, Planning Associate Item TitlelSubject: Discuss Code Amendment to Allow Vending Kiosks Outside of Retail and Restaurant Businesses Introduction: Video rental stores are no longer in existence due to technology and the internet. But another trend for renting videos has appeared in the last few years — the "Redbox". These are fully automated vending "kiosks" that are about the size of a food vending machine and disperse dvd movies or video games to rent. These "Redboxes" are located inside or outside, and so far seem to only be located at specific McDonalds, Walgreens, Cub Foods, Rainbow Foods,Festival Foods, Byerly's and Holiday gas stations. Discussion: Over the last few years, McDonald's and Walgreens have asked if they could place a Redbox outside their business in Mounds View. The City Code does not address this type of outdoor use, which means that it is not allowed. City staff has told both McDonald's and Walgreens that they could not have one outside, but they would be allowed inside the business. McDonalds does have a Redbox inside the restaurant. Recently the Holiday gas station in Mounds View installed a Redbox outside of their store (they did not ask the City if it was allowed), and Walgreens has requested a PUD Amendment to allow a Redbox at their store (Walgreens is zoned PUD). By doing a 55112 zip code search online for a Redbox location, it shows there are several in every city surrounding Mounds View. The current zoning code does not address vending kiosks, or anything similar. Other cities deal with these kiosks differently. Some simply allow them with no permits and others require special use permits. Staff feels that these kiosks would likely not cause issues if they were allowed. The machines use 12 square feet of ground space, are placed on the sidewalk next to the building so they are not removing parking spaces, and customers are only parking for a few minutes. The Commission should discuss if they feel this type of outdoor use should be added to the zoning code, and if so, should it be an allowed accessory use or a conditional use in business districts.