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City of Arden Hills Planning Commission Meeting for April 4, 2018 P:\Planning\Planning Cases\2018\PC 18-001 - 3246 New Brighton Road - Preliminary & Final Plat, Comprehensive Plan Amendment, Variance, CUP\Memos_Reports_18-001 Page 10 of 17 As a condition of approval, staff is recommending that the applicant work with the City to find locations for the additional replacement trees on the site. If the replacement tree plantings cannot be reasonably accommodated on the site, the City can work with the applicant to find off-site locations for the plantings or require that a fee in lieu of the plantings be provided. The Tree Preservation Ordinance states that mitigation requirements can be reduced, as determined by the City Council, when there is a greater public good, such as providing affordable housing or allowing for LEED Certified architectural practices. The project has a stated goal to provide housing at an affordable level and to design the dwellings so that they are “net zero” and create more energy than they use. C. Driveways Two driveways are proposed on New Brighton Road to provide access to the four single-family dwellings. The Preliminary Plat shows a cross access easement for both of the shared access driveways. These cross access easements would need to be recorded after the Final Plat is filed. The minimum width for residential driveways on collector streets is 12 feet and the maximum width is 22 feet. The access driveways would each have a width of approximately 20.5 feet. 4. Variance Requirements – Section 1355.04, Subd. 4 The applicant has requested a variance to allow the four proposed lots to have a width less than the minimum requirement for the R-2 District. Lots in the R-2 District are required to have a minimum width of 85 feet. Each of the four lots is proposed to have a width of 81.75 feet, or 3.25 feet less than the minimum requirement. The Planning Commission and City Council must use the following criteria when reviewing a request for a Variance: 1. Purpose and Intent. The Variance request shall comply with the purpose and intent of the provisions of City's Zoning Regulations and with the policies of the City's Comprehensive Plan. The variance complies with the purpose and intent of the Zoning Regulations as the purpose of the R-2 District is to establish areas for the development of single family housing at a maximum density of 5 units per net acre. The proposed density of the subdivision is 2.68 units per net acre. The Comprehensive Plan states single-family residential uses at 1.5 to 3 units per acre are allowed in the Very Low Density Residential land use district. If the Comprehensive Plan Amendment is approved then this criterion would be met. 2. Practical Difficulties. The applicant for a Variance shall establish that there are practical difficulties in complying with the provisions of the Arden Hills Zoning Regulations. The following criteria apply to this application: a) Reasonable Use. The property owner proposes to use the property in a reasonable manner not permitted by the Zoning Ordinance. A single-family residential dwelling