03-09-16 PC - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

ARDEN HILLS PLANNING COMMISSION – March 9, 2016 6 Commissioner Lambeth believed that the claim the addition would block the view of the University of Northwestern campus was baseless. He fully supported the variance requests from the Ericksons. Commissioner Jones moved and Commissioner Neururer seconded a motion to recommend approval of Planning Case 16-005 for a variance at 3382 Lake Johanna Boulevard, based on the findings of fact and submitted plans, as amendment by the five conditions in the March 9, 2016, Report to the Planning Commission. Chair Thompson believed this was a very unique property and for that reason, she could support the requested variances. The motion carried unanimously (4-0). B. Planning Case 16-001; Zoning Code Amendment – Rezoning – Public Hearing City Planner Streff stated that in April of 2014, the City Council approved a change to the Zoning Map to begin the process of rezoning the land owned by the federal government east of the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant (TCAAP) known as the Arden Hills Army Training Site (AHATS). At that time, four parcels or approximately 2/3 of the AHATS property was rezoned to Conservation District (CD) in order for the City’s Zoning Map to correspond with the approved Future Land Use Map. City Planner Streff indicated that the remaining properties, adjacent to the eastern half of the TCAAP site, to be rezoned to either Conservation District or Park and Open Space District, were not included in the rezoning in 2014, as the Ramsey County Parks and Recreation Department was working with the federal government to purchase some of these lands to be incorporated into their park system. Three additional properties, to the north of TCAAP, to be rezoned Civic Center District, also remained unchanged during the rezoning in 2014, as these properties were expected to be rezoned with the remaining properties east of TCAAP. City Planner Streff reported that while the majority of the property to be rezoned to Conservation District remains under federal ownership and is being leased to the Minnesota National Guard, the City recognizes that portions of AHATS could be sold to private parties in the future and developed based on the underlying zoning classification. The main purpose of the Conservation District is to provide a “holding zone” for these lands to ensure that any future development on AHATS maintains a sustainable level of public expenditures for utilities and services. City Planner Streff explained that the proposed amendment would rezone the remaining four parcels on AHATS to Conservation District. These parcels cover the area bounded by County I on the north, Highway 96 to the south, to the east by a line extending directly north from Snelling Avenue North to County Road I, and west by TCAAP and the Rice Creek North Regional Trail. The rezoning to Conservation District would not include the Rice Creek North Regional Trail Parcels A, B, C, and D. City Planner Streff noted that parcels to be rezoned to the Parks and Open Space District are located directly adjacent to TCAAP and the Rice Creek North Regional Trail and include the