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Planning Commission Meeting — Zoning and Subdivision Ordinance Revisions — Work Session #2 —April 9, 2025 Exterior Storage (Commercial) It is common for nonresidential properties to have exterior storage concerns, whether it's an excessive amount or an unsightly appearance of vehicles and other materials stored on the property. The current code language is very general and vague, making it difficult for staff to administer and enforce: • Vehicles, including but not limited to cars, trucks, buses and RV's parked and/or stored in public view for more than a period of seven (7) days shall be prohibited unless allowed by the permitted business or industrial use, except as regulated in Section 1325.12. • Inoperable and Unlicensed Vehicles. Exterior storage of passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, recreational vehicles, trucks, boats and watercraft that are in an inoperable condition or are unlicensed shall not be parked outdoors in the city for a period exceeding seven days. During the meeting we will discuss the direction that HKGi recommends pursuing for the proposed elements as an approach to increasing these standards: • Setting a maximum percentage of the property to be allocated to accessory storage. • Regulating overnight parking of various types of vehicles by differentiating between company vehicles, customer vehicles, scrap vehicles, semitrailers, etc. • Requiring the location of accessory storage and certain vehicles in the side or rear yard, including provisions for what is allowed if the property is located on a corner lot. • Requiring increased screening provisions for accessory storage or vehicles from public view. • Limiting the height of the accessory storage or vehicles with additional toppers. Outdoor Lighting Arden Hills lighting standards are very brief and generally lack detail. HKGi believes they could be dialed up to ensure that lighting is not impacting health, safety, and welfare. Currently the code regulates illumination as: • Any light or combination of lights shall not cast light that exceeds a meter reading of one foot candle on the travel lanes of adjoining public streets or 0.4 foot candles on adjoining residential property. HKGi recommends including provisions that state that lighting shall not impact visibility and also prohibit flashing, moving, or intermittent lighting which could be hazardous. Another recommendation is to reduce the 0.4 foot candle allowance at the property line to zero to ensure no lighting is disrupting adjacent properties. In addition, dynamic displays are currently only allowed on drive-thru menu signs. This restriction is out of touch with other metro communities and should be expanded to allow reasonable use of dynamic displays in nonresidential districts. QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION • Are there any concerns with the proposed approaches for the identified topics? Consider if some topics are too restrictive or too flexible. 11