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<br />City of Arden Hills <br />Planning Commission Meeting for November 5, 2014 <br /> <br />P:\Planning\Planning Cases\2014\PC 14-027 - Variance - Transwestern 1160 Grey Fox Road\Memos_Reports_14-027 <br /> <br />Page 6 of 9 <br /> <br />b. The Building Official reviewed the plans for the project and had no additional <br />comments. <br />c. The City Engineer reviewed the proposal and stated that a Grading and Erosion <br />Control Permit is needed for this project. <br /> <br /> <br />Variance Evaluation Criteria <br /> <br />On May 5, 2011, the Governor signed into law new variance legislation that changed the review <br />criteria City’s must use when evaluating variance requests. The new law renames the municipal <br />variance standard from “undue hardship” to “practical difficulties,” but otherwise retains the <br />familiar three-factor test of (1) reasonableness, (2) uniqueness, and (3) essential character. Also <br />included is a sentence new to city variance authority that was already in the county statutes: <br />“Variances shall only be permitted when they are in harmony with the general purposes and <br />intent of the ordinance and when the terms of the variance are consistent with the comprehensive <br />plan”. <br /> <br />Therefore, in evaluating variance requests under the new law, in order to find a practical <br />difficulty, cities should adopt findings addressing the following questions: <br />• Is the variance in harmony with the purposes and intent of the ordinance? <br />• Is the variance consistent with the comprehensive plan? <br />• Does the proposal put property to use in a reasonable manner? <br />• Are there unique circumstances to the property not created by the landowner? <br />• Will the variance, if granted, alter the essential character of the locality? <br /> <br />As was the case before the new legislation took effect, economic considerations alone cannot <br />constitute a practical difficulty. Furthermore, the new law clarifies that conditions may be <br />imposed on granting of variances if those conditions are directly related to and bear a rough <br />proportionality to the impact created by the variance. <br /> <br /> <br />Findings of Fact <br /> <br />Staff offers the following eighteen (18) findings of fact for review: <br /> <br />General Findings <br /> <br />1. That the property is located in the B-3 Service Business Zoning District. <br />2. That the lot is 333,523 square feet in size with approximate dimensions of 430 feet in <br />width, and 745 feet in depth. <br />3. That the property consists of a principal building 132,247 square feet in size. <br />4. That the property is accessed off of Grey Fox Road.