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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL — MAY 8, 2023 7 10. NEW BUSINESS B. Campus Commercial Use Discussion City Administrator Perrault stated Ramsey County recently issued a Request for Development Interest on the Thumb Property on TCAAP. This site is currently zoned and guided as Campus Commercial. Under the zoning code, Campus Commercial is described below: The Campus Commercial Zoning District facilitates a building format that allows multiple, single tenant buildings or campuses within the northern "Thumb " site of the Plan Area. The goal is to allow for an individual plan approach for each campus or building, based on user preferences within a range of requirements. City Administrator Perrault reported examples of currently allowed uses on the site are office, financial institution, and research and development facilities. The Joint Development Authority recently met and was supportive of expanding the allowed uses in the Campus Commercial zoning to open the possibility of additional interest. If Council is supportive, Staff would discuss additional uses on the site and make a recommendation to the Planning Commission for further consideration by the City Council. Councilmember Monson stated the JDA approved the Request for Interest (RFI) on the thumb property in April. Once this was approved, the JDA wanted the Council to talk about expanding the potential uses on the thumb. She noted a lot has happened since this property was zoned Campus Commercial years ago. She stated the market conditions have changed for office space which was the reason for asking the City to reconsider the zoning for this property in order to maximize the value and expand the allowed uses of the property. She requested this item be sent to the Planning Commission in order to have them consider additional potential uses within the Campus Commercial zoning district. Councilmember Holden reported she believed Director Collins stated it best at the JDA meeting that this was not a good idea. She feared that in a rush to do this so fast, there were now complications by opening this up and changing who could bid now. She indicated the City could be missing out on a great opportunity the way it stands now. She stated if a change was made, she wanted it to be done responsibly. She did not want Alatus or Costco to get the project just because a change was being made after the fact. She stated this was the warning from Director Collins. She understood there were a lot of businesses interested in this property and she did not believe now was the right time pull the tablecloth out but rather the direction of staff should be followed. She suggested if no acceptable bids are received, the City could then reconsider what the zoning and uses should be for this property and issue the RFI again at that time. Councilmember Monson commented Director Collins was concerned about this discussion and that the City would have a preference as to who would go there. She indicated the JDA was not trying to determine this, but rather was trying to open up the property to get the best project possible. In order to best expand the pool of candidates, she supported this being further discussed. She reported the JDA does not have anybody in mind for this property. Rather, the office climate has changed and perhaps the Council could consider expanding the uses for this property.