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ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION _ AUGUST II,2O25 <br />City Administrator Jagoe doesn't believe that is part of the zoning ordinance review updates but <br />she would have to double check. <br />Councilmember Monson said she would be open to the right project here. It's hard to lose <br />commercial space. We've had two or three other applications that have tried to come into this spot <br />in the last few years. We are trying to find a use for this land. This is the first concept that has <br />been proposed to include housing. <br />Mayor Grant agrees it is hard to give up that commercial space right in the middle of a <br />commercial district. It doesn't have any parks and there are no amenities other than a sidewalk on <br />Lexington Avenue. He doesn't support residential there. This is a commercial district and he <br />thinks it needs to remain commercial. <br />Councilmember Weber said the affordability aspect is important for him. It's a necessity. He <br />believes this would be the densest building in Arden Hills by double. He would need to see at <br />least l0-units of affordable units on any 100 unit multi-family development. He agrees with <br />others that this is a commercial area and he doesn't support residential on this site. There is <br />nowhere to play. <br />Councilmember Rousseau disagrees with that. She thinks this would be a great spot for <br />residential. New residents are going to visit and spend money and possibly work at those nearby <br />businesses. She thinks the best case scenario would be retail at the bottom. She understands that <br />may mean a fourth level on the building and she would expect affordable housing to be included. <br />Vishal Dutt summaized that he is hearing three no's, one yes and one maybe. It doesn't make <br />sense to move any further on this concept. <br />Mayor Grant thinks that is a fal.r characteization of the discussion. <br />Vishal Dutt thanked the Council for their time. <br />B. Zoning Code Update Discussion <br />Jason Zimmerman and Rita Trapp, consultants from HKGi were present. <br />Jason Zimmerman said this is a logical check point on the Zoning Code project. There have <br />been three discussions with the Planning Commission and they have received feedback from <br />thern. That feedback has been passed on to Council. This is useful spot to answer any questions <br />and clarit/ any of the proposed changes before presenting draft text. There are three areas for <br />discussion. The first topic is the comments and course corrections discussed with the Planning <br />Commission. The second topic will be answering questions regarding specific uses and <br />definitions. They tried to include a lot of that in the memo, but they are happy to discuss specifics <br />on any of those uses and definitions. The third topic is they are at a point where we could do <br />additional community engagement. They could work with Staff to create webpage asking <br />residents to weigh in and see what residents and businesses are concerned about. That is the least <br />pressing topic, compared to the other two. <br />Councilmember Holden said it was a big red flag for her to just allow Staff to approve a Planned <br />Unit Development (PUD). She said that is when the City is allowed to get something above and