PL MINUTES 08191986 - Laserfiche WebLink

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-4- 1 2. The unique characteristics of this triangular shaped property would create 2 an- undue hardship for the owner to try to expand and improve his property 3 under the City Ordinance; 4 5 3. No objections from the neighbors to the proposal were received; 6 7 4. Mr. Bona controls all the property to the west precluding any objections from 8 adjacent property owners; 9 10 5. The property owner has indicated he would be willing to provide overflow park- 11 ing when required on the north side of the existing meat market building which 12 he also owns; and 13 14 6. Granting this variance would not create. a sight line difficulty for adjacent 15 properties since 'the station is bounded on two sides by roadways and on the 16 west by the property he owns which is in a commercial posture. 17 18 Before the vote was taken, the following motion to amend was made: 19 20 Motion by Commissioner Jones and seconded by Commissioner Wagner to require the 21 areas near the station sign and between the driveways on the north side of the 22 property be landscaped and curbed to restrict parking in those areas. 23 24 Commissioner Werenicz indicated he- "would not be comfortable with requiring land- 25 scaping the neighbors had opposed". 26 27 Mr. Bona indicated .he. believed he should be granted some "leniency" when it came 28 to planting the area between the driveways on the north, balancing it out with the 29 fact that. he had been "wil-ling-to spend thousands of .dollars to make my business 30 look like.' a residence to fit it into the neighborhood". The station owner said he 31 perceived th-e back of the station ."would look like the. back of a house to the 32 residents on 27th. " He would have no problem with keeping the area around his 33 sign green but the station owner questioned "how long grass between the driveways 34 would last in Minnesota winters with the abuse it would take from plows coming 35 from four directions". 36 37 Commission Wagner said he had supported the amendment because he is a member of a 38 mark.eting. gro.up who. are promoting the City as a residency for middle income, 39 middle management people who.work :-in large- industries near St. Anthony and the 40 very heart of.* that effort would be to push for the beautification, especially I 41 landscaping Kenzie Terrace. The ,Commissioner. told Mr. Bona his station would be j 42 one of th.e focal points of that ,project -as it is approached from Trillium Park. 43 Therefore, to provide the greenery which is requested now would fulfill a request i 44 the marketing committee intends to make to him eventually. j 45 46 Commissioner Bowerman said he perceived it might be "unreasonable" to tie in a 47 request that Mr. Bona landscape his property with the granting of a variance 4 8 because .of the condition which exists on- other businesses and restaurant properties 49 in the same area where no conditions related to landscaping have been imposed. 50 The. Commissioner suggested Mr-.. Bona be encouraged to provide greenery but not 51 make. i,t a condition for granting the variance. He also said he perceived a } • 52 problem with snow storage with landscaping. j 53 54 Commissioner Hansen said he perceived the nature of a service station is "to 55 promote a lot of coming and going" and to require shrubs near the driveways might