Minutes - Council - 07/27/2004 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Further Discussion: Councilmember Elvig asked if the secondary access is considered in this motion. Commulfity Development Director Frolik replied the access would be addressed as part of the site plan. Motion carried. Voting Yes: Mayor Gamec, Councilmembers Pearson, Kurak, Cook, Elvig, Strommen, and Zimmennan. Voting No: None. Case #13: Amendment to the TC-2 Zoning District Regarding Allowing Accessory Gas Operations, Case of Ramdance LLC Assistant Community Development Director Trudgeon indicated Ramdance LLC has submitted a site plan to construct their first phase of commercial buildings in the Ramsey Town Center. The first phase will consist of a 54,000 square foot grocery store with a 1,777 square foot car wash and 430 square foot gas island. The first phase will also have an 18,000 square foot retail building at the corner of Sunwood Drive and Zeolite Street. The property to be developed is zoned TC-2. Under the TC-2 Zoning District regulations, gas stations are not permitted. The Planning Commission and City Council previously reviewed and approved a concept plan for R. amdance's commercial development. The concept plan showed a gas operation that was accessory to the grocery store. The Planning Commission and City Council discussed the accessory gas operations during their review. It was decided that limited gas operations would be acceptable as shown on the concept plan as long as the TC-2 District was amended to allow for it. The concept plan was approved by the City Council on May 11, 2004. Based on previous Planning Comlnission and City Council discussion, staff has drafted an ordinance that will allow for accessory gas uses with the Town Center Zoning District. The Planning Commission reviewed the draft amendment on July 12, 2004, and suggested several changes to the original draft so as to not encourage and allow for convenience gas stations. Assistant Community Development Director Trudgeon reviewed the allowed accessory gas uses under the amended draft ordinance. He advised staff and the Planning Commission recommend approval of the amendment to the TC-2 Zoning District to allow for accessory gas uses subject to certain performance standards. Mayor Gamec questioned the 10 percent limit on the gas and convenience item sales, as this generally creates a cash flow for a lot of stores. Assistant Community Development Director Trudgeon explained this is a direct result of Plmming Commission comments that they did not want to see an abundance of convenience stores with a gas station as an accessory to convenience stores. The ten percent limitation was an attempt to cap somewhat how dependent a use would be towards gas and convenience sales. With grocery operations of this size ten percent would be an acceptable amount. Keith McDonald, President of Shingobee Builders, stated Shingobee has sent these requests on to their grocer who has made a couple of comments. In regards to the ten percent limit, they do not disagree on the need for the percentage, however Coborn's thinks the percentage is pretty low. One of their concerns is that the price of gasoline has the potential to escalate faster than milk City Council/July 27, 2004 Page 23 of 35