Agenda - Council - 09/28/2004 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Chairperson Nixt noted most of the discussion was held at the July 12th meeting. This action is a temporary band-aid until they can evaluate what the F.A.R. requirements should be. Board Member Brauer inquired about the ideal floor ratio. Mr. Voss replied he does not think they arrived with a magic number. It would vary between 20 and 25 percent based on the particular uses and the parking requirements and serviceability requirements. He does agree with Chairperson Nixt that this as a band-aid to a more meaningful solution, such as a zoning text amendment specific to the TC-2 district. Shingobee would encourage that consideration. There will be a minimum of three more retail phases in the TC-2 district and it would be beneficial to take care of this on a more global basis as opposed to a specific variance in each case. Board Member Brauer asked if staff is comfortable with the ratio between 20 and 25 percent. Assistant Community Development Director Trudgeon indicated the desire in the core area is to make sure what is here is not happening in the core. This end will be larger retail and staff is comfortable with looking at what the number is to be sure it makes sense with the values of Town Center. He would strongly advocate against changing it for the core area. Chairperson Nixt noted this is aTC-2 concept only. One observation he had was that one of the benefits relates to the next case of multiple units on one lot. When they look at these two cases in context with each other the benefit would be to be able to increase the surface area requirement because of the synergies gained from overlapping parking, as well as the design infrastructure that will facilitate pedestrian traffic. He noted they have looked at the 25 percent floor area percentage, which he understood to be a pretty traditional percentage for his type of big box retail development. He asked if the percentage took into consideration the appropriate synergies that are being created because of the shared parking. He noted it seems that percentage should be able to be increased as a result of many multiple units on one lot. He questioned if the ordinance was created to reflect a higher floor area requirement for multiple lots. Assistant Community Development Director Trudgeon explained with a single lot there is the ability to share a lot of resources. One unique thing about this parcel is the stormwater pond will serve some of the surrounding quadrants as well. Due to that, this is parcel is different, and the 25 percent may be appropriate. The worry of staff is if all the parking and amenities are on one lot it may not end up being the best continuity for that type of development. There are synergies and tradeoffs. Chairperson Nixt asked how the gas station was factored in with the floor area. Assistant Community Development Director Trudgeon replied he believes it was in the uncovered portion. The gas station was not included, but it was minor and would not make much of a difference. Mr. Voss indicated he agrees with Assistant Community Development Director Trudgeon. Because of the desire for water as a feature, as well as storm water there is a pond on this piece of property. The storm water management will be accomplished through area wide storm water Board of Adjustment/August 5, 2004 Page 6 of 11