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ARDEN HILLS PLANNING COMMISSION – January 3, 2024 7 <br /> <br />Chair Vijums stated he wondered why two car washes would want to be located side by side on <br />Lexington Avenue, given this was a high demand area. He believed the City Council should take <br />into consideration how valuable these two properties were along Lexington Avenue and <br />questioned if both properties should have car washes. <br /> <br />Commissioner Erler agreed with these comments and wondered if two car washes on Lexington <br />Avenue was a good use of land and was this something that fit with what the community wants <br />and the City’s long-term planning goals. <br /> <br />Commissioner Mitchell explained the free market makes those decisions and she supported the <br />developer being able to make this investment based on the market research they have conducted. <br />She stated this was a well thought through plan. <br /> <br />Chair Vijums commented his concern was that revenue projections may not come out as <br />expected for both car washes and he did not want additional unoccupied buildings along the <br />Lexington Avenue corridor. He stated that he wanted the City Council to take this into <br />consideration. <br /> <br />Commissioner Bjorklund stated he was concerned with the location of the proposed parking <br />spaces. He understood there was an agreement in place, but he wanted to better understand how <br />these spaces would be dedicated. <br /> <br />Mr. Campbell explained it was not his intent to need to use the additional spaces. He stated the <br />during the City Council work session, the Council was concerned the site did not have adequate <br />parking. He noted the original site plan had 18 vacuum stalls and three employee parking spaces. <br />He reported this has since shifted to 17 vacuum stalls and five employee parking spaces. He <br />indicated he would typically have three employees working at a time. He believed that all of the <br />parking could be maintained onsite and the additional 19 spaces were a bonus. He reviewed the <br />location of the additional parking spaces in further detail with the Commission. <br /> <br />Commissioner Bjorklund stated he would like to add a condition for approval showing these <br />additional 19 spaces on the site plan. <br /> <br />Mr. Campbell stated he could provide this information to City staff. <br /> <br />Commissioner Bjorklund commented further on how a condition for approval should be <br />considered to address the Commission’s concern regarding the fact there would be two car <br />washes next to each other. <br /> <br />Commissioner Collins stated he believed this was outside the Commission’s purview. He noted <br />the Commission was tasked with reviewing the merits of this planning case and explained the <br />proposed use for this property was secondary. He stated that he did not think both car wash <br />businesses would proceed and that one might self-select out, leaving the Planning Commission to <br />review a different application for one of the sites in the future. <br /> <br />Chair Vijums reported this was correct. He stated the observations of the Commission will be <br />noted for the record and the City Council will be made aware of these voiced concerns. He <br />indicated this was the best the Commission could do at this time.