Agenda - Council - 06/26/2007 - Laserfiche WebLink

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CASE #: 6 REQUEST FOR PRELIMINARY SITE PLAN REVIEW OF THE ANOKA COUNTY MEDICAL EXAMINER FACILITY; CASE OF PSD, LLC AND ANOKA COUNTY By: Sylvia Frolik, Assistant Community Development Director Background: Anoka County has entered into an agreement with PSD, LLC (property owner) to develop a new facility for the medical examiner on a portion of Outlot GG of Ramsey Town Center. The site is adjacent to Rhinestone Street N.W., south of Sunwood Drive and north of Civic Center Drive. Currently, the Anoka County Medical Examiner's Office is located in the lower level of Mercy Hospital. The facility currently serves 7 counties; that number is expected to increase to 1.0 in the new Ramsey facility; with .a potential to serve a total of 15 counties in the future. The following items are enclosed for your information: a. Site location map b. Sketch Plan (referenced as Preliminary Plat) c. Overall Site Plan d. Site Dimensioning Plan e. Site Grading Plan f. Landscape Plans g. Building Elevations h. Planning Commission and Board of Adjustment Meeting Minutes of 6/07/07 i. City Staff Review Letter dated June 21, 2007 Observations: The property is zoned TC -3, a work place sub - district of the Town Center for which corporate and medical campuses ' are encouraged. The proposed medical examiner facility will be approximately 17,850 square feet in size and is placed on the site to allow for a future expansion. The minimum floor area ratio in this district .25; the proposed floor area ratio is .43. The TC -3 district regulations require 2 -4 story buildings; the proposed building is 1 story. However, the Town Center Guidelines for the TC -3 District indicate that occasional 1 story buildings are acceptable if they don't dominate the street frontages and the rooflines are at least 18 feet in height. The medical examiner facility has been designed with a clerestory to give the illusion of a 2 story building. The height to the top of the clerestory is 24 feet. The clerestory includes some windows to bring natural light into the building. To intensify the illusion of a functional second story, the architects have added spandro glass, which looks like a window but does not function as a window. These same spandro windows have also been added to the main floor of the building to give it more street level interest where windows would not normally be placed based on the interior floor plan. One additional consideration of the 1 story building is —141—