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enclosure and lighting will reinforce a City priority of encouraging investment <br />along the recently beautified County Road E B2 Business District. <br /> <br />This application also appeals to flexibility with respect to use of the existing <br />drive-thru lane most recently used by prior tenant TCF Bank. The site cannot <br />without extreme measures allow the fifteen car stacking indicated as required by <br />planning staff. Ownership therefore understands the unlikelihood of City approval <br />for a drive-thru use such as fast food/ coffee. In conversations with prospective <br />bank tenants, however, the drive-thru use anticipated is significantly less intense; <br />One lender indicated as few as three cars may use a drive-thru in an entire day. <br />Therefore, the Owner would like to graciously request flexibility in the City <br />approval of this application to allow drive-thru for less intensive uses, whether <br />bank or other low-volume drive-thru prospect. <br /> <br />Recent construction improvements at the site perhaps offset these requested <br />modifications from zoning regulation. As mentioned briefly earlier, the Owner <br />agreed to simplify the site’s access to County Rd E, closing one large center drive <br />aisle and rebuilding the remaining drive aisle at the western end of the site. This <br />change increased safety by removing an access point and by locating the <br />remaining access as far as feasible from the neighboring private street access to <br />the east on the Wellington redevelopment. It also should be noted that the <br />building facelift recently completed increased façade transparency, increased the <br />area covered by masonry, and eliminated area covered by aging wood shake <br />shingles and EIFS. The Owner completed this building facelift work with the <br />intention that a phase of sitework improvements would be completed as well, <br />together making the combined improvement believed necessary to attract another <br />top quality business to the Arden Hills business district. <br /> <br />In sum, the Owner requests your approval of the proposed site improvements in <br />spite of these relatively minor requested modifications from applicable zoning <br />regulation. <br /> <br /> <br />Intended use of the property and why the City should approve the request: <br /> <br />The Owner has owned Arden Square for almost 30 years. The intended use of the <br />property will not change, remaining low impact retail office/ medical clinic. The <br />density and intensity of use will not change. The types of uses, number of users, <br />and approximate number of employees and occupants therefore will also not <br />change. The existing medical clinic operated by the American Red Cross will be <br />paired with an appropriate and complementary tenant to be determined for the <br />vacant space. These uses have and will in the future have a positive effect on the <br />factors identified in Section 1355.04 Subd 3 Paragraph B of the City’s Zoning <br />Code, which reads as follows: <br />