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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - FEBRUARY 22. 1999 15 . Councilmember Aplikowski requested a Workshop be held to discuss the number of Ordinance variances being requested. She indicated these requests are difficult to handle and she thanked the Staff for the effort put into researching the applications. On the topic of the number of variances being requested, Councilmember Rem suggested the City of Arden Hills consider an overlay of special provisions for particular neighborhoods within the City. Mr. Ringwald stated that the Planning Commission had discussed this issue and noted that, with the new GIS system, all the previous Planning Cases are being entered into a data base. Once this is accomplished it may be possible to map out particular problem areas and determine if it may make sense to do an overlay of the Ordinance. He noted the process is difficult for the Staff as well as the City Council and, if there is a different process which would meet the same objectives, it may be worth considering. Mr. Ringwald noted the issue in the first Planning Case this evening, in which the corner yard setback had been changed from 20 feet to 40 feet, is one which is presented often. He suggested it may make sense to map these areas out to determine what changes may need to be made. He noted most of the lots in these areas are large enough that they would not need to be combined. Councilmember Rem suggested reviewing how other older communities deal with these sort of issues within their Ordinances. . Mayor Probst noted that there are several communities within the Twin Cities which have adopted procedures related to the issues which were in front of the Council this evening. These range from design manuals which provide ideas on how to update the older bungalow style homes, to the extreme that the City of Richfield is buying property with small lots and using creative ways to make one out oftwo lots, or two out of three lots. This makes available more current lot sizes for new construction. He noted the issue of variances had been discussed by the City Council on several occasions. Councilmember Larson stated that it seems at least one-half of the Planning Cases being considered by the Planning Commission are similar to those considered this evening in the sense that people bought property without exploring what type of alternatives would be available to improve the property. He suggested the City could be involved with the disclosure statement the real-estate agent must make to the buyer. Although the disclosure often indicates the zoning, it could include information regarding what would be required in order to improve the property. . Mr. Ringwald pointed out that surveys were not required for properties until the mid 1980' sand it is the older homes which tend to be the most difficult. He noted that, when Code enforcement actions are occurring, the City does inform the real-estate agents in order for them to pass the information on to a potential buyer. Many times homes are for sale for such a short period of time it is difficult to catch up with them. If a potential buyer calls the City for information Staff would make them aware of any possible issues with the property.