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Basumatary CUP Report May 19, 2010 Page 3 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, and Merryville Farms sells fresh produce in the city, although farmers markets often sell items other than just produce, such as fresh cut flowers, homemade jams and maple syrup. 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. Alternatives: As with all planning applications, the Planning Commission 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 Planning Commission wants to recommend denial of this request, city staff would want direction from the Commission to draft a resolution of denial with findings of fact appropriate to support the denial. If the Planning Commission needs more information before making a decision or if they need to discuss the matter further, the Commission can move to table the request until the applicant provides the City with such information. Because of 60-day requirements, the Commission would need to act upon the request as soon as reasonably possible to avoid an inadvertent approval.