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Planning Case No. 452-96 • New Apostolic Church; 3025 County Road H September 4, 1996 Page 12 line, and a buffer area ranging from 10 to 23 feet along the north property line. Effort has been made to incorporate several large existing trees into the buffer along the north side, including a 26" oak tree. The landscaping plan shows an extensive screen of evergreens along both the north and east sides. The buffer areas are less than is typical of other Mounds View churches. As discussed earlier, the typical width is 30 feet for buffer areas between parking lots and adjacent residential properties. The narrowest buffer area on this site (10 feet) is along the back yard of the property owner situated north of the site. This property owner has requested a buffer area of at least 15 feet be provided. This dimension has been met for the middle section of the north property line(for approximately 72 feet out of 224 feet or 32%) but not inthe area most critical to the adjacent property owner. The 12 foot buffer area along the west end of the north property line will be reduced to as close as 7 feet if the compact parking spaces are"sawtoothed" into this area to make them functional. (This issue is discussed under the"Development Review" section of this report.) If the proposal were for a 70-seat church, the parking requirement would be for 18 spaces (or 13 less spaces). All of the compact spaces could be removed and six additional regular spaces. It appears possible to achieve a buffer of 20 feet along the entire north property line, if the need for parking were reduced by reducing the seating capacity of the church. Staff does not know the size of the building footprint for the 70-seat church, but it may be reduced enough so that a 15 foot buffer could be achieved along the east property line. Testimony received from adjacent property owners indicates strong feelings that the use as proposed is not compatible with the adjacent residential neighborhood, with the main concerns about the extent of paving and the width of the landscaped buffer areas along the north and east side of the property. Some concerns have also been raised about traffic and drainage. (4) The use,in the opinion of the City Council,is reasonably related to the overall needs of the City and to the existing land use. (6) The use is not in conflict with the Comprehensive Plan of the City. As is noted earlier, current planning staff is not familiar enough with the City's Comprehensive Plan to comment on whether this use is in conflict with the Plan. The Zoning Code does envision the development of churches in residential neighborhoods, and there are five other churches in Mounds View. The applicant has testified that a number of the members of this church are from the Mounds View area, and desire to locate the church close to their homes.