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City Council Regular Meeting Minutes June 28, 2005 Page 4 2 Councilmember Stille asked Mr. Martenson if he has owned the property for a period of time and 3 what he has tried to do to upgrade the property. 4 5 Mr. Martenson explained when he first bought the property four years ago, he requested to split 6 the lot. There is enough square footage, but not enough buildable area because of the Xcel 7 Energy easement. The existing home is on the far side of the lot, which would have made it 8 easier for the lot split, and would have made it affordable to tear down the house and put two 9 homes on the land. He stated he has put on a new roof, but it is an old house that would take a 10 lot of money to have much more done to it. 11 12 Councilmember Stille asked if the Council moved forward and changed the zoning, if he would 13 anticipate requesting variances. Mr. Martenson said everything in his plan would fit into the R -3 14 zoning with no variances required. 15 16 Commissioner Hanson asked if the units would be rental or for sale. Mr. Martenson answered he 17 would comply with whatever the City would allow. 18 19 Mayor Faust asked if there was a concept review, and if not, why not. He said he would highly 20 encourage that action in the future. He said it does seem like spot zoning. Just because there are 21 many wrongs around the area, it is still zoned R -1. He noted 37`h Avenue is a neighborhood 22 boundary and he is apprehensive because anyone along 37`h could then request to be upzoned. He noted 33d and Stinson development was a different set of circumstances. That was a down zoning from business to R -3. He said he is not sure that this is the right density currently, and 25 with the sketches provided, the properties would face R -1 zoning. He noted there are 26 townhouses along 37'h Avenue to the west. 27 28 Councilmember Horst said his concerns are in spot zoning as well. He said this is taking an area 29 that was a single family home and is now creating a zone. He questioned how this could be 30 handled fairly in the future. He raised the issue that someone could purchase the larger lots on 31 370' Avenue, request to be rezoned and build townhomes. The only compelling factor he said he 32 has to agree to this is that the Planning Commission agreed to it. 33 34 Commissioner Hanson noted he did not get the minutes from the public hearing and discussion 35 and couldn't remember the exact discussion. He said Chair Stromgren did address the spot 36 zoning issue and said he felt it was not spot zoning. The Commissioners fell in line with that 37 decision. 38 39 Councilmember Horst said there are some parallels with the Park station. Though, that was an 40 old property that was not being used. There is opportunity for improvement on the lot. He said 41 he wishes Mr. Martenson were proposing a single family home rather than townhomes, but he 42 said he understands. He stated he was inclined to change the zoning. 43 44 Councilmember Stille said he was on the Planning Commission four years ago when Mr. ` Martenson came before the Commission to request the lot split. He recalled making some representations and encouraging him to come back with other plans. That home is in need of 47 improvement. It is poorly positioned on the lot, and it is a rental property. He said when Mr.