Laserfiche WebLink
ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL—OCTOBER 28, 2013 8 <br /> City Planner Streff commented the property is located within the B-2 General Business District, <br /> where higher educational uses are permitted by conditional use permit. The property includes a <br /> five (5) story, 189,804 square foot multi-tenant office building, of which 181,432 is rentable. At <br /> this time approximately 75,000 square feet of the building is occupied by Country Financial and <br /> other tenants of the building. Approximately sixty percent (60%) of the building is currently <br /> vacant. <br /> According to the information provided by Bethel University the property would have a mixture of <br /> normal daytime office uses along with both daytime and evening classes. The University is <br /> planning for a mix of transportation modes to be used between the two campuses, including <br /> shuttle service, carpooling, personal vehicles, walking and biking. Shuttle services to and from the <br /> main campus would be provided to the students, guests, faculty and administration staff on a daily <br /> basis. A pedestrian and bicycle trail connecting the two campuses is also a desire of the University <br /> in order to provide safe routes for their entire student body. <br /> City Planner Streff reported daytime classes at the Pine Tree location would be held between the <br /> hours of 7:00 am and 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday. Evening classes would also be offered <br /> and would generally be between the hours of 5:00 pm and 9:00 pm, Monday through Thursday. <br /> Peak classroom usage, Monday through Friday, is between 350 and 500 students during daytime <br /> hours and peaks between 240 and 375 students during the evening hours, Monday through <br /> Thursday. As shown by the applicant, two scenarios have been developed to understand the use of <br /> the Pine Tree Campus in terms of its student, faculty and administrative populations. Scenario 1 <br /> indicates the likely use of the facility at full capacity would be 797 people/seats. This scenario <br /> accounts for 237 staff or faculty and 560 classroom seats. Scenario 2 suggests the maximum <br /> capacity of the facility would be 873 people/seats. This scenario indicates that 203 staff or faculty <br /> and 670 classroom seats would utilize the facility. <br /> City Planner Streff commented the current surface parking lot on the property consists of <br /> approximately 777 parking spaces, or roughly one (1) space per 260 square feet of gross building <br /> area. The zoning ordinance states that one (1) space per 250 square feet of gross floor area is <br /> required for business and professional office uses. Bethel has prepared a class scheduling analysis <br /> indicating how their staggered classroom usage mitigates the parking concern on the property. <br /> Site Data <br /> Future Land Use Plan: CMU: Commercial Mixed Use <br /> Existing Land Use: Commercial <br /> Zoning: B-2: General Business District <br /> Current Lot Sizes: 43.11 acres (3 Parcels - 2 Pine Tree Drive, 12 Pine Tree Drive, and <br /> 4300 Dunlap Street N)with an 189,804 square foot office building <br /> Topography: Relatively flat <br /> City Planner Streff reviewed the surrounding area, the Plan Evaluation and the Conditional Use <br /> Permit Evaluation Criteria. He provided the following Findings of Fact for review: <br /> General Findings: <br /> 1. The applicant is proposing a use of higher education for the facility located at 2 Pine Tree <br /> Drive. <br />