7A, Planning Case 11-011 – Select Senior Living PUD & Plat

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Discussion The project, as proposed, meets all of the requirements of the City’s Zoning Code, and substantially conforms to the City’s design standards for the B-2 District. A complete review of the application can be found in the June 8, 2011, report to the Planning Commission (Attachment D). Traffic The subdivision of the property into two lots would create a nonconforming parcel. Lot 2 would not be conforming because it would have no direct access to County Road E or Lexington Avenue. The County has indicated that they are not in favor of allowing an additional access in this area. That being said, a traffic study was completed that looked at ingress and egress to both parcels, and found that, depending on what is developed on Lot 2, traffic would not be significantly increased, and may even decrease compared to the traffic generated on the site as a hotel. RLK Engineering prepared a traffic analysis of the site, specifically looking at past, present, and anticipated traffic generation to and from the property (Attachment C). Because the user of Lot 2 is unknown, RLK prepared their analysis assuming five different development scenarios for Lot 2: a specialty retail use, a fast food restaurant, a bank, an office, and a pharmacy. The traffic analysis found that given the reduction in vehicle trips from the senior housing, additional development could occur on Lot 2 without significantly increasing overall trips to and from both properties. While the vehicle trips in and out of the site are likely not going to exceed capacity, ingress and egress to Lot 2 is critical in maintaining proper traffic flow and safety. Staff has suggested that directing one-way traffic through the front drop-off area from west to east would improve the exiting movements out of both Lot 1 and Lot 2. In addition, Staff has suggested a number of traffic management improvements that could be implemented with the development of Lot 2, depending on the anticipated traffic generation, that would provide safe and efficient traffic flow into and out of that site. Traffic management improvements could include adding a pork chop to ensure all traffic entering the east driveway turns right into Lot 2; widening the drive aisle accessing Lot 2; and adding a median on the drive aisle between Lot 1 and Lot 2 to separate traffic entering and leaving Lot 2. Implementation of these traffic management solutions would be done with the development of Lot 2, and would have the result of allowing Lot 2 to have near exclusive use of the eastern driveway, effectively separating the traffic generated by the two parcels. Park Dedication Park use dedications are required as part of the approval of a subdivision of this property. According to the City’s subdivision ordinance the property is subject to a park dedication City of Arden Hills City Council Meeting for June 27, 2011 \\Metro-inet.us\ardenhills\Planning\Planning Cases\2011\11-011 - Select Senior Living PUD (PC Approved)\06-27-11 - Select PUD and Plat - Memo.doc Page 3 of 8