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• • Planning Commission 471-97: O'Neil Property March 8, 1997 Page 5 office, or townhomes. The issue ranked as most important in the 1988 Comprehensive Plan Update, based on a series of Planning Commission workshops, was: "The function of Trunk Highway 10 needs to be determined e.g.,strip commercial corridor, community commercial district,highway service district,subregional commercial center,or residential district." Suffice it to say, the future development of the Highway 10 corridor including the O'Neil property, has been under discussion for an extended time. Discussion of Request: The question before the Planning Commission is whether the Comprehensive Plan, which is intended to guide future development of the City, should be amended to change the expectations for the O'Neil property from residential to commercial uses. In particular, the proposal is for an entertainment-type commercial use (movie theaters) and offices. il The property is situated between an existing single family residential neighborhood and Highway 10, which carries approximately 40,000 trips per day. Highway 10 is the only commercial corridor in Mounds View. Other than scattered neighborhood businesses, all commercial properties are along this roadway. The O'Neil property is the largest undeveloped piece of land in single ownership on Highway 10. It is a significant property, and offers a range of opportunities for the community. The current Comprehensive Plan indicates that it should be developed as medium density residential, which the plan indicates is 3-6 units per acre. This density range is equivalent to single family homes. There are several issues related to this designation. 1. Need to Buffer: The current designation provides an important buffer between the existing single family residential neighborhood to the south and the Highway 10 corridor, by extending the same type of development onto this parcel. It appears the intent was to tie the O'Neil parcel to the existing residential area. Under this approach, it is to be expected that the development would be oriented away from the highway. It is staff's view that the reason there has been"debate" about the designation on the O'Neil property since 1979 is that it is sitting between the highway corridor and a single family neighborhood. There have been shifts back and forth between using the highway and using the adjacent neighborhood as the key to the future use of the parcel. Whenever a change in designation has been considered, it has either been to townhouses (i.e. residential), campus style office development (considered low intensity enough to be III compatible with residential) or commercial development with a buffer area of residential along County Road H2. The idea of retaining a buffer area appears to be the reasoning behind the zoning designations of B-1 and R-2 as well. The 1979 Comprehensive Plan