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8. Drainage and utility easements along lot lines and any other easements required by this <br />chapter. <br />9. A grading plan with drainage calculations shall be submitted if required by the City <br />Engineer. <br />10. The subdivider has complied with the requirements of this chapter which the Planning <br />Commission or City Council have made the subdivision by registered land survey or survey <br />specifically subject to. <br /> <br />Since the resultant parcel at 4703 U.S. Highway 10 would not meet the Zoning Code <br />requirements for parking lot setback and landscape lot coverage, a variance is being requested as <br />part of the proposed minor subdivision. As part of the proposed subdivision, the City Engineer <br />has requested that a 20 foot wide sanitary sewer easement be provided centered on an existing <br />sanitary sewer line that cuts across 4703 U.S. Highway 10. <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 findings of fact for review: <br /> <br /> <br />City of Arden Hills <br />Planning Commission Meeting for January 7, 2015 <br /> <br />P:\Planning\Planning Cases\2014\PC 14-032 - Minor Subdivision - Arden Manor - 4605 Prior Avenue\Memos_14-032 <br />Page 5 of 8