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_________________________________________________________________________________________ <br />City of Arden Hills <br />Planning Commission Meeting for July 5, 2017 <br />P:\Planning\Planning Cases\2017\PC 17-006 - Higher Education Study\Memos_Reports_17-006\PC Memo (07-05- <br />17)_17-006 Final.docx <br /> <br />Page 2 of 6 <br />some potential outcomes are described in executive summary of the study. Formal <br />recommendations are not included in the report at this time. These potential outcomes are in two <br />separate topics: the regulation of higher education uses and the land use and economic <br />development issues to be considered for inclusion in the 2040 Comprehensive Plan. <br /> <br />Any amendments to the regulation of higher education uses will need to be ultimately approved <br />by the City Council by October 9, 2017 before the moratorium expires. The land use and <br />economic development issues will continue to be discussed as the City develops the <br />Comprehensive Plan update, which is expected to be approved in the first quarter of 2018. Staff <br />would request that the Planning Commission review the summary of City Council discussion <br />from their June 26 Work Session, provide suggestions on how to address the regulation of higher <br />education uses within Arden Hills and provide feedback on which land use and economic <br />development topics from this study should be included in the City’s 2040 Comprehensive Plan <br />Update. <br /> <br />June 26 City Council Work Session <br /> <br />On June 26, Planning Commission Chair Roberta Thompson presented the findings of the draft <br />Higher Education Study dated June 21, 2017. The presentation included a potential outcome to <br />replace the current “Schools, Higher Education” definition with a “College, Campus” and <br />“College, Office” definition. The “College, Campus” use was proposed to be allowed as a <br />conditional use in the R-1 and B-1 districts and the “College, Office” use was proposed to be a <br />conditional use in the B-2, B-4, and CC districts. The City Council discussed this potential <br />outcome and recommended some revisions. <br /> <br />The City Council liked the idea of two separate definitions, but had some questions about the <br />types of educational uses that would be considered a “College” and what a definition of <br />“College, Office” would include. Based on that feedback, staff is proposing to change the titles <br />of the two uses to: “Higher education, campus” and “Higher education, classroom/office”. The <br />City Council had greater concern with the zoning districts that the higher education uses would <br />be allowed. <br /> <br />The City Council recommended that the “Higher education, campus” use should have its own, <br />separate, stand-alone zoning district. Staff suggested the creation of an “INST – Institutional” <br />zoning district. The City Council recommended that the “Higher education, classroom/office” <br />use be limited to less than the B-2, B-4, and CC zoning districts, but did not recommend any <br />zoning district to remove that use from. The City Council did recommend that the “Higher <br />education, classroom/office” use have a limitation on how much of a zoning district it can <br />occupy. <br /> <br />Based on the discussions and recommendations from the June 26 City Council Work Session, <br />staff has prepared the following possible text amendments for the Planning Commission to <br />review and discuss.