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Planning Commission Meeting Minutes March 21, 2006 Page 3 1 Motion by Commissioner Galyon, second by Commissioner Hoska, to recommend approval of 2 the Conditional Use Permit for Dominium, LLC for the salon to be located at the Landings. 3 4 Motion carried unanimously 5 6 7.2 Parking Variance—VSI Construction 7 8 Chair Stromgren opened the public hearing at 7:12 p.m. 9 10 Ms. Moore-Sykes stated that staff received call from Todd Mohagen, VSI Construction about the 11 possibility of building an office building on the vacant lot adjacent to Tires Plus. She stated that 12 Mr. Mohagen advised Staff that the building would be leased as offices for realtors, insurance 13 agents, accountants, and attorneys. She noted that Staff also met with Brent Thompson, S &T 14 Development,who is the lead for this project. She explained that the Zoning Code for the 15 Commercial Zoning District calls for a minimum lot size of 15,000 square feet and this lot is 16 36,892 square feet according to the plat. She stated that the proposed building has a footprint of 17 6,441 square feet with two levels,main and lower levels. She stated that a storm water drainage 18 easement also exists to the south and east that significantly reduces the useable area on this lot. 19 She reviewed the parking requirements noting that they are based on a gross floor area of 12,833 20 square feet and the Zoning Code requires one parking space for every 300 square feet, which for 21 this project equals 43 parking spaces. She indicated that the sketch plan has 35 parking spaces 22 planned, leaving a deficit of 8 parking spaces, which is the reason why Mr. Thompson, S & T 23 Development, submitted the application for a variance. She explained that the applicant argues 24 that other similar projects that he has constructed in Roseville and Vadnais Heights have 25 provided 8 parking spaces per unit and he reports that this number has been sufficient for the 26 tenant. She noted that Mr. Thompson also explained that Staff's calculations,while based on the 27 gross floor area,take into account the HVAC room,the stairway, restrooms or the elevator, 28 which are all areas that the applicant feels should not be included in the parking calculations. 29 She stated that when these facilities are removed from the calculation of the gross floor area of 30 the lower level, there is space for only two or three offices and the net floor area calculation 31 reduces the number needed for parking on this project from eight to three. She stated that Mr. 32 Thompson has assured Staff that this would adequately meet the parking needs of the tenants. 33 34 Ms. Moore-Sykes stated that another issue associated with this vacant lot is the storm water pond 35 that is pre-existing and was constructed according to the specifications of the Rice Creek 36 Watershed District. She explained that this storm water pond accommodates the water run-off 37 from the Tires Plus site as well as any future development that might occur on the adjacent site. 38 She further explained that the pond is designed to slow water run-off and clean the storm water 39 before it is released from the pond. She stated that the storm water pond occupies approximately 40 one-third of the lot area further reducing the opportunity to provide the eight additional parking 41 spaces. She stated that Minnesota Statutes require that in order for a variance to be granted, strict 42 application of the provisions of the City's zoning ordinance would cause undue hardship and that 43 the hardship is unique to the property. She stated that Mr. Thompson feels that because the 44 storm water pond is located on site and occupies a large portion of the property that this situation 45 constitutes a unique hardship not created by the proposed project and that because of the storm