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Plan Evaluation A full evaluation of the proposal was presented to the Planning Commission at their January 8, 2014, Regular Meeting. The Report to the Planning Commission on this application is included in Attachment F. Discussion Landscaping The applicant is exceeding the landscaping requirements in terms of perennial planting coverage and is requesting flexibility on the number of required tree plantings along the right-of-way. The Zoning Code requires that at least 10 percent of the total landscaped area on a property be planted with perennials. With the proposed development, 16.4 percent of the landscaped area on the site would be planted with perennials or shrubs. Of the total landscape area on the two-acre retail building site, 13.1 percent would be perennials. One tree planting is required along the right-of-way for every 40 feet of street frontage. Trees cannot be placed within drainage and utility easements or road right-of-ways. Between County Road E and Lexington Avenue, the building site has approximately 500 feet of street frontage. A total of 12 trees would be required and only 7 are provided. However, the B-2 District Design Standards also require at least 50 percent of a building to be constructed at the front setback line. In this case, the entire building is effectively located at the front setback lines, exceeding the design standard requirements. Due to the building orientation and the location of public easements between the property boundaries and front set back lines, site constraints prevent the applicant from meeting this requirement. Façade Transparency Commercial buildings are required to have at least 50 percent of the first level façade that fronts a public street be comprised of transparent windows or doors. In this case, the County Road E and Lexington Avenue façades are required to meet this standard. At least 20 percent of all other façades that are reasonably visible from the public right-of-way must include window or door openings. On these façades, simulated windows may be used for service areas. This standard would apply to the western and northern building façades. On three sides of the building, 100 percent of the windows used would be transparent. For the County Road E façade, a portion of each window would be simulated to accommodate display areas within the store. The applicant has requested flexibility in the transparency requirement for the southern façade in light of the additional window transparency provided on the western façade. The design standards allow the City to grant a proportional reduction in the transparent window requirement on a public street façade if additional transparent glass is used on other sides of the building. The following table outlines the proposed window and door transparency for the four sides of the building: City of Arden Hills City Council Meeting for January 27, 2014 P:\Planning\Planning Cases\2013\PC 13-017 - PUD Amendment_1201 County Road E - Goodwill\Memos_13-017 Page 3 of 9