09-13-2000 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mounds View Planning Commission September 13, 2000 Special Meeting Page 6 Planner Ericson said the problem with placing the curb cut on Greenfield Avenue is it reduces the amount of area that can be used for parking. If the building is left in the same orientation there is just barely enough room to squeeze the driveway back along the adjoining property and then into the parking lot which would eliminate two parking spaces so you lose either part of the parking lot or part of the building. Commissioner Thomas said she is concerned about having two curb cuts so close together on County Road I. Planner Ericson said the request for reduction in the parking stalls is not a request of the applicant it was brought up by the Commission last week because the Commission felt 20 spaces were too many and that is what lead to the proposal for 14 stalls. He indicated the 20 stalls calls for a variance of four feet from County Road I and four feet from the side property line. Commissioner Thomas said they went from a maximum of 20 stalls to a minimum of 14 stalls and have left no maneuverability as far as site development to fit in that many spots. She then said if they really are limiting it to 14 stalls she feels Mr. Zwirn’s comments as to the fact the City and developer are trying to fit too large a building on too small of a lot have some validity. Commissioner Thomas said six parking spots were dropped from last week’s plan and if the orientation of the building is changed you lose two more parking spots. Then you are down to 12 parking spots which is too few for the size of the building. Commissioner Heglund said he is not sure it has been determined how many spots are required for the size of the building and he did not believe the Commission has studied enough what this size of the building requires. Commissioner Thomas indicated the City has a lot of buildings of this type and has set Ordinances which are used to judge how much parking is required per square foot of building. Commissioner Johnson said he would like to try to meet in the middle and he thought there would be 16 or 18 parking stalls not 14 parking stalls. He then clarified the Commission is supposed to be talking about the variance not the development plan. Commissioner Johnson said at this point he would vote for the variance. Commissioner Thomas asked if they are locked into a certain amount of feet in a certain place when they actually have no idea what they are saying yes to. She indicated the variance would be dependent on which site plan was approved so there does need to be discussion about site plans prior to approving the variance. Planner Ericson said based on the site plan provided to the Commission, it calls for 14 parking stalls but there are ways to look at how much parking is enough parking and there are a number of ways to look at the situation. The Commission is being asked to provide a minimum number of parking spaces to the applicant and the applicant would be required to work within those constraints.