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Planning Commission Regular Meeting Minutes September 16, 1997 • Page 6 1 2. Proposed Amendment to the Zoning Ordinance Establishing Regulations for Churches, 2 Temples and Synagogues. 3 Ms. Moore-Sykes reported this proposed amendment is a result of the recent variance request 4 application of St. Charles Borromeo Church to be allowed to proceed with a construction 5 project. The Church currently has a 65% coverage of impervious surface and is located in a 6 Residential District which requires a 35% lot coverage. The Church existed before the 7 Zoning Ordinance was codified. The Church would also be required to provide 360 to 400 8 parking spaces and currently only have 200 parking spaces. City Attorney has advised the 9 City to consider making an amendment to the zoning ordinance to address churches, temples •10 and synagogues. 11 Ms. Moore-Sykes reported she has contacted other churches in the area and they all exceed 12 the lot coverage requirements in an R-1 District and all but one require on-street parking. 13 Ms. Moore-Sykes stated she called several cities she knew that had dealt with a similar 14 situation including Arden Hills, Columbia Heights, Coon Rapids, and New Brighton. She also 15 contacted the League of Minnesota Cities. A suggested solution was that a Planned Unit 16 Development (PUD) be created for churches. But the City of St. Anthony's Ordinance states 17 that a PUD must be more that 3 acres so that would limit some churches in the City. Most 18 cities suggested a building to land coverage of 40%. This calculation would not include other 19 impervious surfaces. 20 Ms. Moore-Sykes stated the proposed amendment was a compilation of the information she 21 had gathered. She suggested that St. Anthony amend the zoning ordinance to restrict the 22 building to land ratio to between 30 and 40%. This ordinance amendment would also include 23 schools, publicly owned recreational facilities, some essential service structures, and City 24 buildings. She suggested that in regard to parking, the City Ordinance could be amended to 25 add that parking for R-1 Permitted Conditional Uses will be set by the Council according to 26 the expected demand for the particular facility. 27 Chair Bergstrom asked the what the current building to lot ratio is at St. Charles Borromeo 28 Church. 29 Ms. Moore-Sykes stated that with the new construction the building to lot coverage will be 30 26%. She did not have that information available for the other churches in the City. She also 31 recommended that the amendment include the requirement of a parking, landscape and 32 drainage plan for Planning Commission review. 33 Chair Bergstrom asked if the proposed language would allow for expansion of an existing 34 facility. 35 Ms. Moore-Sykes stated that was correct. Most of the churches in St. Anthony have a problem with parking on site. If the building to land lot ratio was utilized, the churches would be able to provide more parking without exceeding the lot coverage requirements.