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listed that the Planning Commission feels are not important, that should also be part of the discussion. • Minimum unit sizes—based on a preliminary review of other communities in the metropolitan area, cities that have minimum unit size requirements have regulations that range from 450 to 650 square feet. Some cities differentiate between efficiency units and other units in terms of their minimum sizes and some do not. • Windows—Staff has not been able to identify other cities that have a requirement that every unit have at least one window to the outside. The building code requires each living unit have a window to the outside or to a courtyard; however, courtyards are not clearly defined. Design standards could be written that define courtyards. • Parking requirements—Some cities have more nuanced regulations that consider the size of a residential unit when setting minimum parking requirements. One possibility would be to require a certain number of stalls per sleeping unit; for example, 1.25 or 1.5 stalls per bedroom. • Structured parking—Many cities require that at least one parking stall per unit be either covered or enclosed. Staff would like input on the difference between covered versus enclosed parking. • Lighting—The Arden Hills Zoning Code currently has maximum lighting requirements, but not minimum requirements. The Ramsey County Sheriff has recommendations for minimum lighting for commercial and multi-family residential properties. The City may want to consider adopting minimum standards to go along with the maximum standards that already exist. • Secured bicycle parking requirements—It is not clear if other communities have requirements for a certain number of secured bicycle parking spaces for multi-family residential, additional research is necessary. • Minimum indoor community space— Some communities have requirements related to a ratio of required community/shared space for number of units in the building. • Outdoor recreation areas—The B-2 District has requirements for outdoor gathering spaces; however, this is not a requirements in other districts. The City may want to consider requirements for outdoor recreation or gathering space for all multi-family housing developments. Next Steps Based on the discussion with the Planning Commission, Staff will begin drafting design standards for multi-family housing. Staff plans to identify key stakeholders that may have an City of Arden Hills Planning Commission Work Session for July 11, 2012 P:IPlanningOanning Cases12012Voning Code Amendment-Multi family HousingW-11-12- PC Memo-Multi family zoning study.doc Page 2 of 3