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■ ■ Chapter 2. Background 2.1 Study Area The project area encompasses ap- proximately 250 acres, which is 15 percent of the total area of the City Fridl„ Ne,v ■ of St. Anthony and the entire North- Brighton ' west Quadrant of the city. The study _ ` Shoran area is centrally located within the ;Hilltop .-study Arden Hills metropolitan area, approximately I�"11 Area Colu bia I Ir ■ four miles northeast of downtown Heigh s ILJI Minneapolis and eight miles west ■ northwest of downtown St. Paul. Al- Mil eapol is ■ though not located on the interstate Roseville highway network, it is within one mile of both the 1-694 and 1-35W. Lauderdale Falcon Heights The study area contains a cross - section of uses present in the city St.Paul and can be broken into three distinct sections. The north section is a 70 ■ acre, park-like area that has been ■ operated by the Salvation Army as a camp site and conference facility for over 75 years. The middle section is made up of Silver Lake, an approximately 75 acre body of water, and a small neighborhood of single family homes along the south shore of the lake.The south section contains a broad mix of uses, including the 330,000 square foot, largely vacant, Apache Plaza Mall, a Cub food store, an apartment complex of about 140 units, as well as a sizeable number of office, ■ commercial and retail uses. See Appendix A for greater detail. ■ 2.2 Past Planning Efforts Several years ago, the City began to take steps to facilitate the redevelopment of the study area. The City's comprehensive plan identifies the Apache Plaza area as a com- mercial redevelopment opportunity and states that the City desires to take an active role in guiding its design. The city's comprehensive plan was recently amended to include a ■ new Commercial Mixed Use land use plan category. This new designation will allow for retail uses as well as light industrial, office, warehouse, and residential uses and maintain ■ the maximum amount of flexibility that an outmoded site such as Apache Plaza requires ■ for redevelopment. The new land use designation has been applied to all property in the study area south of Silver Lane (Silver Lane to 3711 Ave, Silver Lake Rd to Stinson Blvd). The City has also revised the Planned Unit Development section of the zoning ordinance that can be applied to some or all of the study area to allow for the implementation of a flexible development program. The City has also passed a development moratorium on the study area that will remain in force through September, 2001. A recent proposal to redevelop the existing mall building into a high technology office campus was narrowly ■ rejected by the City Council in 2000 because it did not go far enough in its vision for the . Apache Plaza property. Northwest QUadrant Redevelopment Plan St. Anthony Village Page 2.1 ■ ■