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<br />City of Arden Hills <br />City Council Meeting for November 24, 2014 <br /> <br />P:\Planning\Planning Cases\2014\PC 14-028 - Variance - Transwestern 3728 Dunlap Street North\Memos_Reports_14-028 <br />Page 4 of 7 <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 />The Planning Commission reviewed Planning Case 14-028 at their regular meeting on November <br />5, 2014. Draft minutes from the meeting are included in Attachment A. The Planning <br />Commission did not approve, deny or table the request as the motion to approve resulted in a <br />split vote (3-3). <br /> <br />Therefore, the following Findings of Fact were not amended to reflect a motion for approval or <br />denial. As indicated in the Planning Commission Report staff offered the following seventeen <br />(17) Findings of Fact: <br /> <br />General Findings <br /> <br />1. That the property is located in the B-4 Retail Center Zoning District. <br />2. That the lot is 116,244 square feet in size with approximate dimensions of 270 feet in <br />width, and 430 feet in depth. <br />3. That the property consists of a principal building of 44,590 square feet in size. <br />4. That the property has access off of both Dunlap Street North and Grey Fox Road.