PL MINUTES 05211991 - Laserfiche WebLink

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r' PLANNING COMMISSION - MAY 21 , 1991 2 Page 2 • 1 to only St. Anthony property for which the City would now be 5 able to allow construction of homes better suited to the 6 increasing value of land around the lake. Which of course, 7 in turn , would raise the City ' s tax base from those properties. 8 _ 9 Comprehensive Plan to be Updated 10 The need to revise the City ' s Comprehensive Plan to better 11 reflect the existing uses was the next project on which the 12 Mayor perceived a need for Planning Commission expertise and 13 recommendations . He said the Council realized these revisions 14 were long overdue and had staff research past City minutes to 15 find out why the ball had been dropped on a similar project 16 years ago when the need for revision had first been evident. 17 The minutes demonstrated that there had been 'a strong interest 18 in revising the Plan as far back as 1978 when the Council had 19 given the go ahead to match the zoning to existing uses which 20 were not in conformance with the zoning in the Plan. The Mayor 21. asked the Commissioners to reinstate the study of the Comprehen- 22 sive Plan and to work with the City Manager on recommendations 23 to the Council regarding necessary changes in the Plan. 24 25 Commissioner Franzese asked the Mayor why, in view of the 26 dreary outlook previously held for changes at Apache, he seemed 27 . so hopeful now. Mayor Ranallo recalled that at one time the 28 Apache Shopping Center had been .considered the second best • 29 shopping center in the Twin Cities . He recalled all the 30 reasons including Rosedale with a Daytons for an anchor for 31 Apache ' s decline but pointed to similar centers like Signal 32 Hills which have been completely turned around after years 33 of deterioration . 34 35 Mr. Burt reported that since: the center had been- put-on the 36 market, he had been contacted by several out of state firms 37 who had shown an interest in developing the area with a 38 different marketing strategy than the regional marketing focus 39 the present owners insist on following. The Manager envisioned 40 a different developer even proposing to level the existing center 41 and putting something entirely different on the site. He said 42 he thought the Commission might want to rethink what would be 43 the best use of that site, maybe even a Planned Unit Development 44 with a mix of housing with commercial . In planning for the 45 the future Mr. Burt suggested the Commissioners might even want 46 to change the focus to a more neighborhood marketing strategy 47 which might prove more successful and generate more tax dollars 48 for the City. 49 50 Mayor Ranallo pointed to the example set by the re-development 51 of the smaller St. Anthony Shopping Center on the other side 52 of town . He said that center had recently experienced a 53 complete turnaround to about 90 percent occupancy and a much 54 happier tenancy. Joe DiSanto who handles the center for its • 55 Portugese owners had been in town the previous week and had