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_____________________________________________________________________________________________ City of Arden Hills Planning Commission Meeting for April 9, 2025 P:\Planning\Planning Cases\2025\PC 25-001, 1126 Benton Way - CUP Page 2 of 14 In the 1970s, the Subject Property was established as part of the Hunters Park neighborhood and homeowners associations through a Planned Unit Development (PUD). A PUD can permit a greater amount of flexibility for developments from the underlying zoning regulations. The Hunters Park PUD used the flexibility permitted in the PUD process, and the neighborhood was designed with varying lot sizes, structure setbacks, and lot coverages. A number of the lots were permitted to have structures that did not meet the underlying zoning requirements, which is a legitimate use of the PUD process. Because the lot sizes and building locations were approved as part of the PUD process, they are not considered nonconforming even if they do not meet the underlying R- 3 zoning requirements. In 1985, the City Council approved a process evaluating future changes to structures in Hunters Park:  If additions or alterations to the homes do not require setback or coverage variances from the R-3 Zone, only a building permit issued administratively by the City shall be required. This removed the need for a PUD amendment with every change.  If additions or alterations to cluster homes do require additional variances of any kind from the R-3 Zone, the standard variance procedure set by the City shall apply.  If both cases, the Architectural and Environmental Committee of the Hunters Park Homeowners Association shall review and approve the proposed addition or alteration before submitting the same to the City. It shall assist individual homeowners in determining if a variance is required for proposed alterations. According to the planning case files, the Hunters Park homeowner association approved this process along with the City. Since many of the lots and structures are “nonconforming” under the R-3 regulations, a variance is almost always required. There have been at least five variances approved for additions in the Hunters Park neighborhood; however, past variance approvals are not a basis for current variance reviews. In 2009, a previous owner of the Subject Property requested three variances to construct a 585 square foot addition to the dwelling. The proposed addition encroached eight (8) feet into the required 30 foot rear yard setback, encroached four (4) feet into the required 40 foot front yard setback, and increased the structure coverage on the lot from 19.4 percent to 26 percent. The variance was approved by the City Council with approval from the Architectural and Environmental Committee of the Hunters Park Homeowners Association. The proposed addition was constructed before the Applicant became the owner of the Subject Property. 2. Site Data 2040 Future Land Use Plan: LDR – Low Density Residential Existing Land Use: Single Family Dwelling Zoning: R-3: Townhouse and Low-density Multiple Dwelling District Lot Size: 0.2 acres Proposed Use: