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ARDEN HILLS PLANNING COMMISSION –October 9, 20137 City Planner Streff indicated the City has received a proposal from Bethel University to obtain a conditional use permit to allow higher education as the principal use of the property at 2 Pine Tree Drive. The University has negotiated a purchase agreement in order to acquire the property from Country Financial, contingent on the approval of a conditional use permit that would allow the entire facility to be used for higher education and other general administrative uses. If approved this site would function as the east Campus for Bethel University. City Planner Streff explained the applicant has applied to expand the higher educational use at 2 Pine Tree Drive toencompass the entire 189,804 square foot facility. Their objective is to purchase the building,and as leases expire, fully occupy the structure within 5 to 15 years. Bethel University has a plan toslowlyexpand their higher education uses, including administrative offices, general andspecialized classrooms, meeting rooms and other general educational uses into the space. BethelUniversity previously obtained a conditional use permit (Planning Case #13-008) from the Cityto occupy approximately 26,000 square feet of the County Financial building for highereducation. The approval was granted for higher education but requires the University to seekadditional approval for any expansion or intensification of the use. City Planner Streff stated the property located at 2 Pine Tree Drive is currently owned by Mutual Services Life InsuranceCompany (c/o Country Life Insurance Company) also known as Country Financial. Theproperty is generally positioned north of Lake Josephine, south of County Road E, east ofHighway 51/Snelling Avenue and west of Lexington Avenue. The property consists of three (3)parcels that total approximately forty-three (43) acres. Of the three (3) continuous parcels onlythe northern two have associated functions that currently relate to the proposed principle use ofthe property. The northern parcel which is 21.52 acres in size contains the access road off ofPine Tree Drive and the majority of the surface parking. The center parcel which is 19.16 acresin size contains the one (1) existing building and a small fraction of the surface parking. Theremaining undeveloped parcel to the south is 2.43 acres in size and is made up of mainlywoodlands and wetlands. City Planner Streff commented the property is located within the B-2 General Business District, where higher educational usesare permitted by conditional use permit. The property includes a five (5) story, 189,804 squarefoot multi-tenant office building, of which 181,432 is rentable. At this time approximately75,000 square feet of the building is occupied by Country Financial and other tenants of thebuilding. Approximately sixty percent (60%) of the building is currently vacant. According to the information provided by Bethel University the property would have a diverse mixture of normal daytime office uses along with both daytime and evening classes. The University is planning for a mix of transportation modes to be used between the two campuses, including shuttle service, carpooling, personal vehicles, walking and biking. Shuttle services to and from the main campus would be provided to the students, guests, faculty and administration staff on a daily basis. A pedestrian and bicycle trail connecting the two campuses is also a desire of the University in order to provide safe routes for their entire student body. City Planner Streff reported classes at the Pine Tree location would be held between the hours of 7:00 am and 5:00pm, Monday through Friday. Evening classes would also be offered and would generally bebetween the hours of 5:00 pm and 9:00 pm, Monday through Thursday. Peak classroom usage,Monday through Friday, is between 350 and 500 students during daytime hours