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the City Council directed Staff to bring forward the preliminary site plan for the new Municipal Center to the Planning Commission for review. He added that prior to making a final decision on whether or not to build a new Municipal Center, the City Council wanted the site plan to go through the approval process both to make sure the new facility will meet the standards of the Ramsey Town Center, but also to identify any changes, needed in the plan so as to better get an understanding of costs of the project. Assistant Community Development Director Trudgeon explained the Ramsey Municipal Center and City parking ramp will be located on 4.4 acres. The TC-1 Town Center requires a Floor Area Ratio of li0. He indicated for this site, a F.A.R. requires 191,664 square feet of building. He stated that absent the City parking ramp the lot coverage of just the Ramsey Municipal Center area is 0.36 F.A.R. However, when factoring in the City parking ramp the F.A.R. will be 1.7. He noted the parking ramp is proposed tO begin construction in the Spring of 2005. He stated the proposed Ramsey Municipal Center in conjunction with the City parking ramp will exceed the required F.A.R. of 1.0. Assistant Community Development Director Trudgeon further explained that the proposed Town Center Zoning District has setback standards based on the principle to have them serve more as 'build to' lines rather than traditional setbacks. He stated for the TC-1 District, the minimum setback is zero and the maximum is 5 feet with at least 60% of the front facade within the maximum setback area. He indicated from review of the plan, it appears that only 33% of the front faCade is within 5 feet of the property line. He commented that under the Town Center regulations, a variance will be required to allow for the current configuration. He added that 60% of the front fa(;ade is located within 18 feet of the property line. He stated there are several factors that may mitigate the effect of the larger setback that should be considered during the variance discussion. Assistant Community Development Director Trudgeon stated that the Town Center Technical Advisory Committee has reviewed the layout of the building and is supportive of a variance to allow for the building to be pulled back as shown. He indicated the group believes that puli-back of the building provides for some visual relief while still engaging the pedestrian and the design works well for the use of the building. Assistant Community Development Director Trudgeon advised that the preliminary site plan shows 42 public parking stalls and 28 stalls for the Police Department and City vehicles. He indicated under the Town Center Zoning District regulations, a maximum total of 187 stalls parking spaces are required. He stated the Town Center Zoning District and the Town Center Development Guidelines strongly encourage shared parking scenarios and the utilization of parking ramps where possible. He indicated that fortunately, the City parking ramp will be adjacent to the Ramsey Municipal Center. He reviewed that the parking ramp will accommodate parking space for approximately 800 vehicles. He noted that most City employees will utilize the parking ramp for daily parking. Assistant Community Development Director Trudgeon explained that TCTAC and Staff recommend that the following items be addressed: P14 Planning Commission/December 2, 2004 Page 14 of 19