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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — MARCH 10, 2025 11 City Administrator Jagoe said there will be some of the same variables that would come it to play with this topic to include short term rentals. She feels she has good direction on this topic to follow up with the consultants. Mayor Grant said other cities state it needs to be a family member. What happens when the property is sold to somebody else? City Administrator Jagoe said that is one of those variables that cities are encountering. There are a lot of discussion items surrounding this topic. Mayor Grant said there are a number of cities that allow these in the back yard and it has grown over time. If they had requirements, with the growth, it's probably not a family member anymore. Councilmember Monson said she thinks California has a massive housing issue and there is probably very little regulation on who lives there and whether it's being rented or not. City Administrator Jagoe said the last piece the consultants are seeking direction on is whether or not to split the District Requirement Table into one that is lot standards and one that is site standards. It is a suggestion for being more user friendly for how residents and developers obtain their information. The next update for the Planning Commission in April will be on some discussion items to do with Commercial and Industrial Districts as well as signage. Councilmember Weber said he would like to discuss B-3 and B-4. He has mentioned that B-4 does not act as a retail center. We are putting strictly retail businesses back there. The consultant stated that was the only thing holding him up from combining B-3 and B-4 into one district. He'd like to move forward with that. At the time he said Cannabis retail was the only use allowed, but now there is a thrift store. He would like to know what else is in B-4 that isn't allowed anywhere else. What other uses would prevent us from combining B-3 and B-4. The consultant specifically said B-4 does not act as a retail center in Arden Hills. If we are deciding exclusive retail uses in that area, he would like that addressed as well. Councilmember Monson said she liked how they described it as a Corridor Business and a Business Park. That is a good description of how it's actually used. She also thinks we need to solve the problem with putting retail business back in a Business Park. That just doesn't set businesses up for success. That is an important distinction for a business's success. She doesn't know where home businesses fall. She remembers there was a home occupancy business come through and it got to be too much for an ordinance change to allow them to sell plants or seeds, whatever the resident was selling. She would like to lift restrictions where the home occupancy businesses have pathways to success. Mayor Grant said the zoning along Lexington is B-3 and retail exists there, as it should. He thinks B-4 is more of a Business Park. There are reasons for having the two zones. Once you get too far into that area, you are out of the flow of traffic. That makes it more difficult to succeed as a retail establishment. He thought B-3 could be expanded, to give it a little more depth. He doesn't think having retail in the back of B-4 is realistic. It could be office, light manufacturing but not retail.