CCP 03-09-1987 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

COMPREHENSIVE PLAN STATEMENT . (96 AND HAMLINE PROPERTY) Applicant proposes that the property located at the southwest corner of State Highway 96 and Hamline Avenue in Arden Hills be rezoned from B-1 to B-2. This request is based on (a) a change in the character of the area in which the property is located and (b) the lack of feasibility of the current zoning classification. (Applicant's plans for developing the property can be briefly summarized. It is proposed that the westerly acre and one-quarter of the property be used for a day care center which is permitted under the current zoning code. The remainder of the site would be developed with two one-story buildings which would line up along Highway 96. The west building would be primarily devoted to service uses such as a real estate office, a title agency, an insurance business, and the like. The east building would be devoted primarily to retail uses such as a convenience grocery store, a dry cleaner, a restaurant, and the like. It is estimated that the proposed development would create at least 15 to 20 full time jobs. The users of the center would be primarily the immediately surrounding residents of the area. Currently 3096 of the 45,000 square feet of construction proposed for the site could be used for accessory retail purposes under the zoning code, This would total 13,500 square feet. The proposed development would increase that retail usage to 17,475 square feet (approximately 3996 as opposed to the currently permitted 3096), if only the east building is used for retail, to as much as approximately 26,000 square feet (approximately 5896 as opposed to the currently permitted 3096), if all of the east building and half of the west building were used for . retail purposes.) In the last several years, the area surrounding the property has changed. Much of the vacant land to the west and to the east of the property has been developed with single family and two-family residences. The overall residential population of the area adjacent to the property has increased dramatically. Yet, no convenience retail and service center is available to respond to the needs of the, surrounding residential population. The nearest retail and service facility, approximately one mile to the east of the property, is an enclosed mall which neither offers the range of uses proposed for the property nor the convenient in and out access available at the site. The experience of the current owner of the property since it acquired the site in a workout situation from another party several years ago has been that the site is not suitable for its current B-1 zoning classification. Arden Hills has been fortunate in recent years to experience something of a boom in office development in an area from just south of County Road E to south of Interstate 694. Woodbridge Properties and Opus Corporation are two major Twin Cities area developers that have built thousands of square feet of office space in this vicinity. Because of the attractiveness of the County Road E/I694 area, fringe areas such as the 96 and Hamline property are no longer feasible sites for office development. This conclusion can be supported by a feasibility study which the present owner of the property had conducted a year ago and by the testimony of a number of office developers who have looked at the site over the past two years. In summary, the proposed rezoning of the property would create the most logical use for the site at the present time, the proposed retail and service development . would fill a need that exists in the immediate area, and the design of the facility itself would harmonize with the immediate neighborhood. JASstmtOl