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City Council – Arden Hills August 17, 2017 Page 3 K:\03455-150\Admin\Meeting\08212017\WSB HE Study Memo 08162017.docx greater than traditional office uses would be to codify conditions and standards that a conditional use permit for higher education uses would need to comply with. These conditions could also address the City Council’s concern that higher education would occupy too much of the City’s limited commercial area. Staff would recommend that Higher Education, Classroom/Office be limited to a conditional use in only the B-2 zoning district. This would be more restrictive than the current Schools, Higher Education use which is a conditional use in the B-4 and Civic Center zoning districts as well. There are currently no higher education uses in the B-4 and Civic Center zoning districts, so no uses would become non-conforming if higher education was eliminated from those zoning districts. To address these concerns, staff has prepared the following draft language. “1320.085 Subd. 6 Higher Education, Classroom/Office Additional Conditional Use Criteria. In addition to meeting the requirements of Sections 1345 and 1355.04 Subd. 3, Higher Education, Classroom/Office uses shall conform to the following: A. No more than 25% of the total building area within the B-2 zoning district shall be occupied by Higher Education, Classroom/Office uses. B. Any Higher Education, Classroom/Office use shall provide benefits and have impacts to the B-2 district similar to an office use. C. The Higher Education, Classroom/Office use shall not generate any hazardous wastes, shall not result in any outdoor storage, and shall not require any mechanical or HVAC equipment that would not typically be required by a traditional office building.” The limit of 25% of the total building area within the B-2 zoning district was determined as acknowledgement of Bethel University’s current ownership and use of the Anderson Center at 2 Pine Tree Drive. The Anderson Center is 227,138 square feet in area. The total area of buildings within the B-2 zoning district is 982,138 square feet. This results in the Anderson Center occupying 23.1% of the total building space in the B-2 zoning district. The proposed limit of 25% would allow for about 18,400 square feet available for additional higher educational uses. At the July 5 Planning Commission, Chair Thompson questioned if any other communities have a percentage limitation in their zoning codes regarding higher education uses. After reviewing the codes, none of them have a percentage limitation in their codes. INST – Institutional Zoning District The City Council has recommended that a separate, stand-alone zoning district be prepared for the Higher Education, Campus uses of the Bethel University and University of Northwestern campuses within Arden Hills. To create the zoning district, a minimum of three items would need to be addressed: purpose statements, uses, and performance standards. Staff has prepared the following draft language.