Minutes - Council - 09/26/2006 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Associate Planner Geisler indicated the Planning Commission reviewed the preliminary plat and site plan at their September 7, 2006 meeting. The Commission recommended denial of the Comprehensive Plan Amendment and rezoning requests, but did want to provide some comments on the plan and site plan in the event that the City Council is inclined to approve the plat. The consensus of the Commissioners was that the current plan was an improvement over the previous plan that showed 8 townhome units. Based on this, the Planning Commission recommended approval of the preliminary plat and site plan, with further review of density transitioning requirements for the site. Ms. Geisler advised if the Comprehensive Plan Amendment and Rezoning are granted, the submitted preliminary plat and preliminary site plan meet City Code requirements with the exception of lot width. Staff is recommending that the reduced lot width be considered for approval because the proposal is meeting all other lot standards and setback requirements, and because the twinhome buildings will have less bulk and a lower profile than the townhome buildings that were previously proposed for this site. Mayor Gamec left the meeting at 9:55 p.m. Councilmember Elvig presided as Mayor Pro Tern. Councilmember Jeffrey noted the property adjoining the subject property is zoned R-l on three sides and B-2 to the north. He asked what is located on the B-2 property to the north. Associate Planner Geisler replied Superbowl is located on the property to the north. Councilmember Jeffrey questioned why this zoning would not be changed to R-l with the adjacent residential zoning and the Superb owl parking lot to the north. Councilmember Cook inquired about possible uses under the B-2 zoning. Associate Planner Geisler replied under the current B-2 zoning any of the uses on Highway 10 would be permitted, including retail, gas stations, auto repair, auto sales, offices, banks and restaurants. Councilmember Cook inquired about the size of the lot. Mr. Dan Murphy, DPM Investments, stated this parcel is 1.1 acres. The property was listed for one year as a business property and they did not get any interest. The property is across from a rental storage unit and residential property on three sides, and is way out of the way of normal traffic. Ebony Street is a small street, it would be difficult to find and a difficult location to run a business. The property was listed below market value in comparison to land on Highway 10. Due to the extension of water and sewer up this street the property owner has a $40,000 bill owed on that Mr. Murphy stated they thought multi family housing on this property would be a good transition. Little did they know they would run into a citizen revolt on multifamily housing in Ramsey. A lot of issues were brought up at Planning and Zoning that had little to do with this particular project. There was a lot of talk about crime, low income housing, and those types of things. They will be building upper $200,000 units appealing to one floor living with the master family bath and bedroom on the first level. The price range will be about $275,000. The concerns heard over and over at Planning and Zoning related to crime and low income. This is not what they will be doing, but the citizens are concerned because of Ryland and other national City Council / September 26, 2006 Page 29 of 39