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ARDEN HILLS PLANNING COMMISSION – April 9, 2025 2 30 square feet. The Applicant has also submitted an application for a Conditional Use Permit to allow a Class II Accessory Home Occupation at 1126 Benton Way. The Applicant is the owner of piano lessons business. A home occupation is allowed in residential zoning districts, but a Conditional Use Permit is required when there are customers visiting the residence. The Applicant is proposing to meet with customers in-person by appointment only which triggered the Class II designation requiring a Conditional Use Permit. Senior Planner Fransen stated the Subject Property is zoned R-3, Townhouse and Low-density Multiple Dwelling District, and is designated for Low Density Residential Uses in the 2040 Comprehensive Land Use Plan. The Subject Property is the site of a single-family dwelling owned by the Applicant. All adjacent properties to the north, east, and south are also zoned R-3, Townhouse and Low-density Multiple Dwelling District, and designated for Low Density Residential Uses in the 2040 Comprehensive Land Use Plan. The parcel to the west is zoned B-2, General Business District, and designated for Commercial Uses in the 2040 Comprehensive Land Use Plan. Senior Planner Fransen explained 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. Senior Planner Fransen reported 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.