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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL—NOVEMBER 24, 2025 11 <br /> Senior Planner Fransen stated she did not have this information in front of her. <br /> Mayor Grant indicated the Planning Commission voted 7-0 to recommend approval of this <br /> request. He did not believe this vote would change if the matter were sent back to them for further <br /> consideration. <br /> Councilmember Holden commented if the Council does not like the shoreline impacts the Council <br /> should table action to December 8, versus sending this application back to the Planning <br /> Commission. She clarified that no portion of the existing homes were grandfathered in because the <br /> applicant was proposing a brand new build. <br /> Councilmember Monson inquired if the applicant were to add onto the existing structure into the <br /> new lot, would the Council have the same considerations. <br /> City Attorney Bjerkness advised the applicant would be allowed to keep the non-conformities that <br /> exist today,but they could not be expanded. <br /> Councilmember Monson stated she would be more open to supporting this request if the applicant <br /> was not building anything new within the shore impact zone. <br /> Councilmember Holden indicated this was a Council decision and was a policy issue. She <br /> supported the Council either tabling action on this item in order to provide the applicant with the <br /> opportunity to bring another plan back to the Council for further consideration or voting on this <br /> item at this meeting. She explained she was very concerned about the crawl space and the fact this <br /> area would flood, especially given how many 100-year flood events have occurred in recent years. <br /> Mayor Grant reported if the City Council were to vote this request down, the applicant could not <br /> bring back another application for six months. <br /> Community Development Director Reilly stated this was the case. He explained another option <br /> available to the Council would be to add conditions or ask staff to bring back conditions that were <br /> more appealing to the applicant. <br /> Councilmember Rousseau inquired if the applicant would be interested in reducing the size of the <br /> living room that reaches out into the shore impact zone. <br /> Councilmember Holden stated she did not believe the Council should be redesigning the house <br /> for the applicant from the dais. <br /> Councilmember Rousseau asked if the space within the shore impact zone could be further <br /> reduced or was the design based on the Planning Commission's recommendations. <br /> Tan Nguyen, the applicant and architect hired by the property owner, explained the design was <br /> based on the Planning Commission's recommendation. He indicated the kitchen area (Lot 4) does <br /> not cross into the flood zone at all. He reported he could look into reducing the area that juts into <br /> the flood zone,but noted this would just flow over to the other side on Lot 4. <br /> Councilmember Rousseau questioned if the applicant would support delaying action on this item <br /> to January. <br />