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City Council Regular Meeting Minutes September 12, 2000 • Page 7 2 Mr. Bergstrom was clear to state that the Planning Commission's denial of Frontline Church's re- 3 quest was not in any way directed towards the Church personally, in fact, the Commission 4 thought that the Church would make'an excellent addition to the City. However,the Planning 5 Commission put together findings against the proposal and those findings are noted on page 3 of 6 the Planning Commission's July 18, 2000 meeting minutes. 7 Cavanaugh inquired of City Attorney Soth if he felt the findings were appropriate. Mr. Soth 8 noted that the findings appeared to be in order. 9 Karen Cole, a representative of Frontline Church, approached the Council and requested that the 10 Council consider the Church's application. She felt that the Planning Commission's findings 11 were unfounded. She also stated that part of the building that would be used for the Church 12 would also be used as a storage facility and thus would be part of the taxable base of the City. 13 Additionally, she felt the Planning;.C:ommission's concern that the Church would not provide a 14 viable tax base for the City was riot a;legitimate reason for a religious use. She proposed that the 15 use of the property would be appropriate for Frontline Church and she would urge the City to have control over future projects as opposed to the blanket definition of changing the precedent for the entire City. 18 Ms. Cole noted that she believed the Church would be a tremendous asset to the City, and the 19 Church would also be donating a 4-foot wide easement to the City for use as a walkway to the St. 20 Anthony Shopping Center in the future plans:' Additionally, she noted that the Church would be 21 willing to work with the City with a conditional use permit in a form in which the City would 22 approve. She additionally requested that the Council consider the Church's application. 23 Horst inquired about the potential use of the property as a taxable base. Ms. Cole stated that 24 typically, Churches are not taxable however the Church would rent out a portion of the property 25 for a commercial use. Horst asked.for elaboration. Ms. Cole stated that the building would be 26 utilized as storage. Horst responded that storage is not a permitted use except in light industrial 27 districts. 28 Horst asked for some clarification from City Attorney Soth. Mr. Soth said a property can be tax 29 exempt,however,taxes must be paid for a portion that is used for a noncharitable purposes. 30 However, he was not sure that storage would,be..in compliance. Mr. Soth wished to clarify some 31 points. If the amendment to the zoning ordinance would be approved by the Council,there is a 32 presumption that a church use would be permitted in all commercial districts. Under certain cir- 33 cumstances, a conditional use permit could be''denied,but the presumption would be with the ap- plicant that the applicant is entitled to the conditional use permit. To be clear, it would not be correct to assume that a permit could be denied in other areas once the amendment to zoning is 36 approved.