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Mermaid Staff Report <br />September 3, 2008 <br />Page 2 <br /> <br />Park Dedication Requirements: The Subdivision Code indicates that any subdivision of land is <br />subject to a park dedication fee. In this case, the City typically sets the fee as equal to 10% of <br />the market value of the land. Staff uses Ramsey County assessed values as the basis for <br />dedication computation. This fee amount should be determined by the City Council. <br /> <br />Utilities: When a new building is constructed, all utilities on the site would need to be installed <br />underground, per Section 1203.10. <br /> <br />Traffic: The traffic from the new retail center would either exit by a right turn only onto County <br />Highway 10 or onto County Road H, which is designated as a collector street. Both of these <br />roads are more than adequate to handle the additional traffic that a new five store retail center <br />would generate. <br /> <br />Vegetation: Most of the new lot area is currently an asphalt parking lot with a few landscaped <br />medians that will be removed or moved with the new development. When a new building is <br />proposed, the City Forester will review the new landscaping plan at that time. <br /> <br />Wetlands: There are no wetlands on this site. <br /> <br />Major Subdivision Summary: The Mermaid is currently zoned PUD, Planned Unit <br />Development, and the proposed subdivision would be consistent with the existing zoning of <br />the property. The submitted plat appears to meet city code requirements and is currently <br />undergoing a review by the city attorney. <br /> <br />PUD Amendment Discussion: <br /> <br />The City originally approved the Mermaid PUD in 2000 when the hotel addition was <br />proposed, and specified that bowling lanes, a hotel, banquet center, night club and lounge, <br />and restaurant were the only allowed uses on the site. The Halls are now proposing to <br />subdivide and sell a piece of their property to a developer who plans to build a 14,000 square <br />foot, five store retail mall. This proposed addition of retail to the site requires the City to <br />amend the Mermaid’s PUD Agreement be amended to allow this new use. <br /> <br />The addition of a retail center to one of the most prominent corners in the city would initially <br />seem to be a good fit. The primary issue with this proposal is parking – both for the existing <br />Mermaid uses and the new building. By adding a new building to the site, many of the <br />existing parking spaces will be lost and the new stores will generate additional parking needs. <br /> <br /> <br />Staff required that a parking study be included with the application for this PUD Amendment. <br />The Mermaid has made some interior changes since the PUD and parking requirements <br />were originally approved in 2000. In the last few years, the downstairs night club has been <br />removed with additional banquet space put in its place, and the size of the restaurant was <br />reduced and an arcade area added. The city code does not address complementary uses <br />when determining parking requirements. The code only states “this specific use requires this <br />number of parking spaces,” whereas staff realizes that in this situation for example, people <br />staying at the hotel also may be using the banquet room and the arcade. The parking study <br />is included in this staff report.