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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL WORK SESSION – JUNE 26, 2017 5 <br /> <br />Councilmember Holden questioned the designation of a property that may have a mixed use. <br /> <br />Interim City Planner Zweber stated that one option would be to use “higher education campus” <br />and “higher education office” as the terminology but also stated work must be done so that anyone <br />reading the terms clearly understands the allowed use. <br /> <br />Mayor Grant encouraged having limitations on the use. <br /> <br />Councilmember McClung indicated that both universities have room to expand within their <br />traditional footprint. He suggested looking at all businesses in Arden Hills when making this new <br />distinction so that a nice mix remains. He also stated that while there are some vacancies, which <br />allow new businesses to come in to Arden Hills, there are not that many. <br /> <br />Jim Gromberg of WSB agreed. He stated Arden Hills has roughly an 8% to 10% vacancy and <br />currently there is a good mix in the city. He said the key is to retain that mix. <br /> <br />Councilmember Holden spoke about the survey conducted by the EDC which showed the main <br />reason businesses have left Arden Hills is because they need a place to expand. She questioned <br />the cities used for the comparison regarding higher education zoning. <br /> <br />Interim City Planner Zweber indicated Appendices D and E of the report list the communities <br />and their zoning districts. <br /> <br />Councilmember McClung stated he agreed with Councilmember Holden in that it would be <br />difficult to find another city that has Arden Hills’ percentage of higher education. He stated he <br />wants to be cautious as to what is allowed for expansion. <br /> <br />Councilmember Holden reiterated she would like to see a better definition created as the term <br />“college” sounds like a four year university only and excludes entities such as a VoTech. <br /> <br />Mayor Grant asked if Bethel and Northwestern had zoning districts of their own, and if the <br />location and a better definition could be determined regarding the terms “college campus” and <br />“college office”, would this be acceptable. <br /> <br />Councilmember Holden stated she would be comfortable with that. <br /> <br />Councilmember Scott stated he was more lenient due to his past experience in the Air Force in <br />which they partnered with local higher education. He feels this expansion could possibly help the <br />City attract higher pay jobs once TCAAP is developed. <br /> <br />Councilmember Holmes said she would like to see Bethel and Northwestern be consistently <br />zoned. She expressed concern if a CUP were allowed in the B2, B4 and possibly CC districts that <br />it could be hard to stop. She stated she would like to be more restrictive as she is especially <br />concerned about the B2 and B4 districts being used for higher education classrooms. <br /> <br />Mayor Grant agreed that allowing conditional uses could be a slippery slope. <br /> <br />Councilmember McClung stated he would also like to be more restrictive.