Agenda Packets - 2003/04/28 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

PUD Amendment Report April 28, 2003 Page 2 Property Tax Consequences. Staff has reviewed the proposed amendment from a property tax standpoint. While there are innumerable factors that play into a building’s assessed valuation, a large component of the equation is the overall building area. The more building area, the greater the building value and, the greater the tax capacity. The draft site plan indicates a 15,000 square foot office building, nearly twice the size of the original restaurant footprint. Staff has asked the commercial appraiser from Ramsey County to comment on the potential tax implications of the proposed amendment and will report on this issue verbally at the Council meeting. Potential Adverse Effects: Chapter 1125 articulates the potential adverse effects that can and should be addressed in the course of considering such an amendment. They are as follows: 1. Relationship to Municipal Comprehensive Plan. Mounds View’s adopted Comprehensive Plan identifies the Theater PUD site as a Regional Commercial PUD. All of the identified and approved uses within with the PUD would fall into this future land use designation. The proposed office use on the corner of Long Lake Road and County Highway would be just as consistent with the Comp Plan as would the PUD approved restaurant use. 2. The geographical area involved. The site is a triangular lot located on County Highway 10, the City’s primary and most prominent commercial corridor. The parcel is a corner lot bounded to the west by Long Lake Road, a higher volume traffic arterial. A wetland and woods separates the site from the other parcels associated with the Theater PUD. Rice Creek Watershed District approved the development and stormwater ponds were constructed to handle full site build out. 3. Neighborhood Impact. As mentioned earlier in this report, the original planned use for this particular parcel was a restaurant. A restaurant however would generate more traffic and would have a greater demand for parking than would an office use. While there’s no denial that a restaurant would be preferred, an office use would have less impact to the neighborhood and would be less likely to generate later evening disturbances. 4. The character of the surrounding area. As indicated above, the parcel is separated from the other Theater PUD parcels by the intervening woods and wetlands. Across the street to west is Wildwood Manor, a 40-unit multi-family senior residential complex. Beyond Wildwood Manor is the Silver Lake Woods Townhomes. North of the parcel, across County Highway 10, higher density commercial has been developed. Thus, the proposed office building would not be out of place and may even have less of an impact to the neighbors closest to the parcel, Wildwood Manor. 5. The demonstrated need for such use. Residents continually comment that it would be nice to have another sit-down type of restaurant in the City. (There are many restaurant options in Mounds View, however most are of the “Fast food” variety.) The other most wanted uses residents tend to identify are grocery, hardware and medical. It is my understanding that the proposed office building on Outparcel A would be marketed to medical practitioners. Only one such use exists in the City currently—Silverview Chiropractic in Silverview Plaza. A specialized office development on this site could fill a niche not currently met in the City.