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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL-July 13, 2009 9 property and construct a 43,000 square foot retail area in its place. The parking would be reconfigured on the site and there would be new trees and landscaping installed as well as internal and external pedestrian connections and outdoor seating areas. The project would be done in three phases. Phase I includes a Walgreen's, which is building one, and an attached building three, which is retail space that would be divided into one to three bays. As part of Phase I; the parking lots would be reconfigured with planting islands, all of the landscaping would be completed, the pedestrian connections and sidewalks would be installed, grass turf would be placed over the Phase II and Phase III sites, and an Arden Hills gateway sign would be installed. The requirements for the Tree Preservation Ordinance and the Landscaping Code are exceeded by the applicant's proposal. She reviewed the Preliminary and Final Plat. The applicant is requesting that the sign allotment of 80 square foot per tenant be changed to accommodate the sign requests for the Walgreen's. The applicant is requesting 161 square feet for Walgreen's and 93 square feet for building three. The applicant is proposing to build the sign base for the Arden Hills gateway sign and the City would provide the sign face. Traffic studies have indicated that current levels of traffic would not warrant a new traffic signal at this time. Ramsey County has reviewed the proposal and the traffic studies and they are not supporting a new traffic signal with Phases I or II. Ramsey County approval would be needed before a traffic signal could be installed. As more development occurs, the need for a traffic signal is more likely to occur and a condition that links Phase III to a future traffic signal has been included. Of the 46 B2 Design Standard requirements the applicant has met or exceeded 43. The three points that they are asking for flexibility are the setback for building #1, which is the Walgreen's building, the facade transparency for building one, and a reduction in the amount of parking required for the entire development - Mr. Pete Keeley, Arden Plaza LLC, thanked the City and Staff for their cooperation and work. He presented a PowerPoint presentation, which outlined the proposed project and provided visuals of what the project will look like when completed. He reviewed the three areas that they were asking flexibility on and the reasons for the requests including the setbacks and the reduction in required parking spaces. Councilmember Holden asked what the sizes of the proposed ornamental trees were going to be. Mr. Keeley clarified that the trees that line the street were taller shade trees and the ornamental trees were shorter. This would give a more layered appearance to the area.