Agenda Packets - 2010/05/24 - Laserfiche WebLink

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CUP- Farmers Market Report May 24, 2010 Page 2 The Location and Character of the Surrounding Area. The Wynnsong movie theater is located on the south side of Highway 10 at Edgewood Drive. The applicant is proposing to locate the market at the south end of the parking lot, closest to Highway 10 for the best visibility. There are residential properties to the south of the theater building, but they are probably not within sight of where the farmers market would be located in the parking lot. Depreciation. The proposed outdoor sales activities would operate one day a week for about four months during the year – from mid-June through mid-October. It would only be open during daylight hours so there would be no new lighting that could bother or disturb neighbors. Every summer, Merryville Farms operates a seasonal produce stand in the Mermaid parking lot, Linder’s Flower Mart is at Mounds View Square, and Robert’s Sports Bar holds a weekly flea market. Both Merryville Farms and Linder’s are open every day and have been operating in Mounds View for many years, and their outdoor seasonal sales do not appear to have had an adverse affect on surrounding properties. The Demonstrated Need for Such a Use. The applicant is proposing a farmers market as a service to the residents to be able to shop in their own community, and to have access to fresh, locally grown produce. As noted above, the outdoor sales would occur one day a week for about four months a year and only during daylight hours. City staff is unable to determine if there is a “demonstrated need” for the proposed use as the City Code requires. The nearest farmers market to Mounds View is held at the Shoreview Community Center on Tuesday evenings during the summer. If Ms. Basumatary is successful with the farmers market, that would demonstrate a need for her proposal. Summary: Staff has drafted the resolution for the conditional use permit in such a way so that the applicant would not need to appear before the Planning Commission and City Council each year. The CUP will remain in effect indefinitely as long as there are no changes to the operation and there have been no problems or reasons that would warrant the City Council to re-examine the CUP. The applicant will need to submit a letter of intent and letter of permission from the property owner to the City each year before the start of the farmers market. The Planning Commission unanimously approved Resolution 926-10 on May 19, 2010, recommending approval of the conditional use permit for a farmers market. Alternatives: As with all planning applications, the City Council may recommend approval of the request, recommend denial of the request or table taking action. In this case, staff is recommending approval of the request. If the City Council wants to recommend denial of this request, city staff would want direction from the Council to draft a resolution of denial with findings of fact appropriate to support the denial. If the City Council needs more information before making a decision or if they need to discuss the matter further, the Council can move to table the request until the applicant provides the City with such information. Because of 60-day requirements, the Council would need to act upon the request as soon as reasonably possible to avoid an inadvertent approval.