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NEW BUSINESS –9C communities of New Brighton, White Bear Lake, Arden Hills, Elk River, Apple Valley, Ramsey, Eagan, Osseo, and Maple Grove.(Attachment G) At the City Council Work Session on January 13, 2014, staff reviewed this data with the Council. Based on the comments provided by the Council, staff drafted Ordinance 2014-003, which would revisethe minimum unit size standards for multi-family dwelling units. The amendment to the multi-family design standards would decrease the required square footage for efficiency apartment units and increase the required square footage for two-bedroom and three-bedroom units, as well as the additional floor area required for each additional bedroom. The City Council directed staff to make these changes so that the City’s standards better reflect the requirements used by other cities and what is currently being constructed by the private market. The table below outlines the existing minimum unit size standards and the proposed revisions. Proposed Revisions to Minimum Unit Size Standards One- Two- Three-Additional Bedroom Unit Bedroom Unit Bedroom Unit Bedroom Efficiency Unit Minimum (SF) Minimum (SF) Minimum (SF) Minimum (SF) Minimum (SF) Existing Standards 600 700 800 900 100 Proposed Standards 550 700 950 1,200 150 Discussion The Planning Commission reviewed Section 1325.045, Subd. 1 of the Multi-family Dwelling Units Additional Conditional Use Permit Criteria of the Zoning Ordinanceduring their meeting on March5, 2014. The proposed changesto the Multi-family Design Standardswerediscussed by the Commissionand the consensus was that the current standards formulti-family units should not be revisedas they are sufficient for future development.However, theCommission believed that a reduction in size for efficiency units was reasonable. The Commission supported a change to between 450-550 square feet for efficiency units. The Planning Commission thought the City should not be too restrictive with the multi-family design standards and that the market should be allowed tocontrol the size ofunits built. It was also a concern that if a change didoccur a significant amount of variances would be requested in the future to satisfy the needs of developers.The Commission did not feel that increasing the size of multi-family units would ultimately ensure that the units builtwere of high quality. ______________________________________________________________________________ City of Arden Hills City Council Meeting for March 31, 2014 P:\Planning\Planning Cases\2014\PC 14-009-Zoning Code Amendment -Multi-family Design Standards\Memos_Reports_14-009 24 Page of