01-03-24 PC Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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