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Karla Mundell, 5720 147th St. N., the property owner to the east of O'Reilly property, <br />came to the podium. She stated that they do not have a problem with the fence line. She <br />also asked how big was the previous building was on that lot. Planner Juba answered that <br />she was not sure. <br />Commissioner Rosenquist asked if the city has any record of the property that Mr. Cox <br />had to buy for parking. Planner Juba gave some background. She stated that the property <br />used to be owned by one person and in order for each of the properties to accommodate <br />the number of spaces required by the ordinance, when being developed, they needed to <br />have some cross access and shared parking easements. She stated that it wasn't by staff's <br />request to purchase additional property. <br />City Administrator Bear stated that the original owner, owned all of these properties and <br />when he decided to sell, one parcel was sold to Mr. Cox. He stated the parking that is <br />behind Mr. Cox's business once had a requirement to be paved and incorporated within <br />the development. He stated that if the gravel parking lot was paved, no one would park <br />there. After reviewing this, it is apparent that the parking requirements were excessive. <br />That's why we are looking to revise the ordinance. He also stated that it should be <br />looked at whether or not there is contradiction between the design guidelines and zoning <br />codes. City Administrator Bear added in that the zoning does allow for another <br />automotive store and although that may be unfortunate, but it is allowed. <br />Commissioner Arcand stated that he would like to try to make it work because they have <br />asked them to do certain things with the site plan and they've done them. <br />Commissioner Rosenquist agreed and stated that the O'Reilly representatives have done a <br />good job, especially with working with this piece of land. <br />Commissioner Knauss agrees with Commissioner Arcand in it not being the Planning <br />Commissions role to interfere with market place and competition, although she does <br />empathize with Mr. Cox. She states that she does not believe there is a parking issue and <br />it sounds like that ordinance will be revisited. Commissioner Knauss believes that there <br />seems to be a conflict between the downtown design guidelines and the ordinance <br />requirements. She stated that she would like to see the trellises removed from the <br />O'Reilly building. She also stated that she told Mr. Cox that she would request his letter <br />be included as the public hearing record. Her next comment was that she believes that <br />the Planning Commission needs to think more about the gateway feature and it needs to <br />have continuity throughout the downtown. She asked if O'Reilly would be okay with <br />escrowing the landscaping that was supposed to be put in that area. That way, money <br />will be there when a design is finally figured out. <br />Mark Wold answered that if the design is come up with and sent to them, they can <br />probably work with it. They just don't want to put anything in and have someone change <br />their mind. He stated that he would be willing to escrow an amount. <br />