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Mounds View Planning Commission May 7, 2025 Regular Meeting Page 2 ________________________________________________________________________ 6. Public Comment None. ______________________________________________________________________________ 7. Planning Cases A. Parking Zoning Code Amendments Phil Carlson, Stantec, stated the City Council has asked that the Planning Commission review the parking regulations in the Zoning Code for commercial uses. The issue is that the required ratios for parking may be too high, resulting in too much pavement being required for businesses, both an economic and an environmental problem. This is a discussion item at this point for the Planning Commission. He explained he reviewed Mounds View’s parking regulations for the number of spaces required for various commercial uses (not all uses) and compared them to a number of nearby communities, plus Burnsville, which did a major parking study recently. Mounds View’s standards are mostly within the range of other communities, but some are higher. Mr. Carlson explained the trend in recent decades is to reduce the required parking for many office and retail uses, which reflects the concern that the Council has. In the 1960’s many cities used a typical standard of 5.5 spaces per 1,000 square feet of floor area for retail uses and 5 spaces per 1,000 for office uses. These standards made their way into zoning ordinances in almost every city in the country. In the decades since, many cities have reviewed their experience and done their own studies and reduced these numbers, often also including a maximum parking standard. This is the case in Burnsville where there are minimum and maximum numbers for some uses. Mr. Carlson commented the question of parking demand is unfortunately complicated, and one number never fits every use and business exactly. If the parking standard is too high, we impose a financial burden on businesses and on stormwater management issues. Plus, a “sea of asphalt” is not attractive. If the parking standard is too low, we run the risk of parking and traffic safety problems on site or of parking spilling onto city streets or nearby properties. Getting the “right” number is not easy, but we can recommend reasonable numbers that should fit most situations. Staff commented further on the proposed parking zoning code amendments and requested feedback from the Commission. Further discussion ensued regarding the parking requirements for the Mermaid and Abiding Savior Church. Commissioner Nelson discussed how overflow parking from the Abiding Savior Church was flowing over to the Hostess property.