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Planning Commission Regular Meeting Minutes • August 20, 1996 Page 9 1 only the.number of rooms, which will provide more livable space and privacy to the residents of 2 the facility. 3 The State of Minnesota recognized their need to build the proposed addition by granting them an 4 exception to the moratorium that is in place to prevent the construction of additional nursing 5 homes or expanding the number of beds for a nursing.home facility. By adhering strictly to the 6 City's Ordinance requiring a 30 foot parking setback, St. Anthony Health Care facility will not 7 be able to construct their proposed addition, thereby causing an undue hardship for their residents 8 to continue to exist. 9 10 The St. Anthony Health Care Center has been operating at this site for 29 years in the same 11 capacity. Despite the long history this facility has in the City,the Center has not been shown to 12 be detrimental to the health, safety or general welfare of anyone residing or working in the 13 vicinity of the facility. It has also not been detrimental to property values in the area. 14 In addition to obtaining the Conditional Use Permit for the proposed expansion,the owners need 15 to obtain several variances because of the unique situation of this property and that of Chandler 16 Place. It has long been recognized that both Chandler Place and St. Anthony Care Center lack adequate parking. This is evidenced by the amount of parking that occurs on Foss Road and Chandler Drive. Part of this proposed expansion project will be to provide additional visitor 19 parking on site. 20 Mr. Miller has filed an application for a 15 foot variance to park in the sideyard setbacks at Foss 21 Road and Chandler Drive. The ordinance requires a 30 foot setback when the sideyard is 22 adjacent,to the public right-of-way. Parking plans have been submitted that show four parking 23 spaces in the parking setbacks of Chandler Place on Chandler Drive side and St. Anthony Care 24 Center on the Foss Road side. 25 Mr. Miller is requesting this variance because the expansion of the St. Anthony Health Care 26 Center will need a minimum of 144 parking spaces on site as required by the City's Parking 27 Ordinance. Showing parking spaces in the setback allows him to meet the required number of 28 spaces for his facility and proposed addition. He feels that getting a variance to park in the 29 setback is a better solution to the parking situation than asking for a variance that forgives the 30 eight parking spaces. 31 The curb cuts on both Foss Road and Chandler Drive meet the minimum width requirement of 32 the Parking Ordinance and are far enough from the intersections of 37th Avenue N.E./Foss Road 33 and 37th Avenue N.E./Chandler Drive so as not to obstruct the view of motorists entering or 34 exiting the side streets to either facility. 0 Staff has determined that the curb cuts are far enough from the corners of 37th Avenue N.E. of 36 each affected side street that it will not pose a hazard to motorists. If the owners' variance