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Item No: 08B Meeting Date: January 26, 2026 Type of Business: Council Business Administrative Review: ___ City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Honorable Mayor and Mounds View City Council From: Evan Monson, AICP, Stantec, City Planner & Kribashini Moorthy, AICP Item Title/Subject: Height Requirements Request: Ordinance Amendment regarding Height requirements Introduction The city has a limited number of vacant parcels for new in-fill development, and has received feedback from prospective developers on constructing buildings that are taller than what is currently allowed under code. These inquiries are typically related to mixed-use style development (such as a mix of commercial uses in one building, or buildings with ground-floor commercial and residential above). The City Council discussed the issue at their December Work Session meeting. From that discussion, the City Council directed staff to prepare an amendment to the city’s zoning code to allow for increases to the height requirements currently listed in the code. Currently, the zoning code bases height requirements by zoning district. Planned Unit Developments (PUDs) are allowed to request taller heights through the PUD approval process. Staff prepared draft language for the city to consider. The proposed amendment focuses on allowing for an increase in height for parcels within the Corridor 10 Overlay Zone. The overlay applies to any parcel that has frontage on County Road 10 / Mounds View Boulevard, or any parcel that is within 200 feet of the right-of-way for the boulevard. The overlay zone has different design standards and architectural requirements than the underlying ‘base’ zones. The city’s comprehensive plan guides most of the parcels along the boulevard as ‘mixed-use’ or ‘general commercial’, with the intent that new development should be focused along the corridor. The parcels within the overlay zone are primarily zoned B-3 and B-4, as shown on the city’s zoning map, and consist of a number of parcels that could be redeveloped in the future. Amendments to the zoning code require review and a public hearing with the Planning Commission, and approval or denial by the City Council. A public hearing and review of the draft was conducted at the Planning Commission’s 1/7/2026 meeting. The first reading of the draft zoning code was conducted at the City Council’s 1/12/2026 meeting. During the meeting, there was discussion regarding the proposed increase of building heights for commercial and residential developments. There was consensus to reduce the permitted maximum building height to four stories, not exceeding 48 feet in height for commercial developments from the previously proposal of five stories, not exceeding 60 feet in height.