12-18-23-WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORKSESSION - DECEMBER 18, 2023 10 Mayor Grant stated that Councilmember Holden still has no committees but would like to serve on the Communications Committee. He had heard other's preferences, but thought it didn't speak well of the Council to not allow Councilmember Holden to serve. D. Preliminary Rice Creek Commons/TCAAP Commercial Zoning Discussion City Administrator Perrault explained this would be the first of a two-part discussion regarding a number of zoning changes at Rice Creek Commons. At a previous City Council meeting they discussed changes to the areas west of the spine road. This was in -light of the recent developer proposal to increase the density from 1,460 to up to 1,960 housing units. Council may want to consider modifications to the commercial zoning regardless of any density changes or as a result of anticipated zoning changes. If they allow warehousing at least 30% of the building must be office. For big box retailer in Retail Mixed -Use there is no provision barring big box. Should Council want to suggest changes, it should also provide direction on how to move those forward. He noted there are other parties that are a part of this discussion, such as the County Board, the developer, and the JDA. Mayor Grant said he wanted to see jobs in that area, not necessarily 70% warehouse. They could go into discussions about the 30% being a percent of total square footage or of the footprint, or what constitutes office. That structure could be changed. He thought as they shrink commercial they need to be careful in terms of the area's appearance and building materials, especially because 20% of the proposal is affordable housing. What should the exterior building materials be? Tip up concrete has gotten better, but they need to be sure it looks like good quality and will stand the test of time. Councilmember Holden asked who the County was negotiating with for Outlot A. City Administrator Perrault couldn't say as it has not been publicly disclosed yet. They are having a closed session in early January to discuss the purchase agreement. He didn't think the entire JDA knew, but he thought the County Board representatives did. Councilmember Holden commented that they are not partners with the County on Outlot A, then. City Administrator Perrault responded that we are not privy to the land sale. Councilmember Holden said they took the bid, they're the ones that are negotiating it and the City has no clue who they are, so they're not really partners. When the JDA had the commercial marketing experts in, what did they say about commercial? City Administrator Perrault thought the main takeaway was to continue to offer flexibility to allow for more types of businesses to enter the space. They had a retail person come in and someone from Greater MSP and two others that were more housing related. There is less demand for office space but more demand for light manufacturing, R&D, etc. The message was the more flexibility we can have in the zoning codes to attract businesses coming in will serve the community better.