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• Mayor and City Council Planning Case No. 452-96: New Apostolic Church (Conditional Use Permit) October 10, 1996 Page 5 leasant View Drive is twelve feet in width and needs to be signed as "Exit Only". There are 27 parking spaces provided (23 regular spaces, 2 handicapped, and 2 compact) which exceeds Code requirements as long as restrictions are placed on the use of the building so the church auditorium and fellowship hall are not used at the same time, and the capacity of the auditorium is 98 seats. The size of the parking spaces meets Code requirements. It is staff's understanding that the Fire Department has stated the drive onto County Road H will be sufficient for emergency access, if the building is sprinklered. As noted earlier, we are expected a letter from the Fire Marshall confirming this information. Off-street loading is not required for this type of use or size of building. Finally, Chapter 1121 includes Subd. 12 which states "Required screening: All open, nonresidential, off-street parking area of five (5) or more spaces shall be screened and landscaped from abutting or surrounding residential districts in compliance with 1103.08(6) of this Title." This requirement is discussed under the section on screening, buffering and landscaping on page 7. f The provisions of subdivision 1125.01(1)e of this Title are considered and satisfactorily met (This section is quoted below.) Adverse Effects: The Planning and Zoning Commission shall consider possible adverse effects of the proposed amendment or conditional use. Its judgment shall be based upon (but not limited to)the following factors: (1) Relationship to the Municipal Comprehensive Plan 0 (2) The geographical area involved. (3) Whether such use will tend to or actually depreciate the area in which it is proposed. (4) The character of the surrounding area. (5) The demonstrated need for the use. As noted earlier, staff will be commenting on the relationship between this application and the Comprehensive Plan at your meeting on October 29. Whether the proposal fits into the character of the area, and whether it will tend to depreciate the surrounding area is an issue. Neighbors from the vicinity have attended the hearings and testified that they are concerned-about what they see as a lack of fit between this proposal and the character of the neighborhood. The applicant is proposing to place a 4,050 square foot building (with a 2,025 square foot footprint) on a single 22,500 square foot residential lot. Approximately 60% of the site will be in paving and building; 40% of the site will be in landscaping. The amount of paving is far greater than is the case with single family residential development. This proposal would result in the smallest site developed as a church in Mounds View (approximately 1/2 acre). The smallest existing site for a church in Mounds View is 1.59 acres (of three times as large) and the average site size is 3.7 acres. Although there appears to be agreement that a church does not devalue the surrounding residential properties per se, the nearby neighbors feel that a church and parking lot of this size placed on a single residential lot in a wooded, country- style neighborhood will devalue their properties. Approval of this proposal would set a new benchmark as to the site size and buffer widths which are acceptable to the community, below current conditions on church sites in Mounds View. The prevailing view on the Planning Commission is that the proposal is not compatible with this neighborhood. 4e applicant has testified of the difficulty encountered by his clients in trying to find vacant property which ld allow development of a church near to where most of the church members live. The church ngregation includes members who live in the Mounds View area. There appears to be a demonstrated need for the use.