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The regulations within the City Code to determine the number of required parking spaces for a student housing facility are not clear. There are currently 426 parking stalls located on site. City Code requires one parking stall for every unit in a hotel /motel use, plus one for each employee. The current building contains 155 rooms. The amount of existing parking exceeds the requirements based on the past use of the site as a hotel. To date, parking has not been an issue on the site. 3. Park Dedication Park use dedications are not triggered by this application, because there would not be a net increase in the number of parcels. Students currently have access to a wide range of recreation activities on the Northwestern College campus. The need for pedestrian and bicycle access to and from the site is certainly increased by the use of the building as a student housing facility. Opportunities to increase access to recreation and trails should be a priority in the future in the event that a subdivision of the property takes place. 4. Guiding Plan for the B -2 District The existing building is presently situated in a way that conforms to many of the principles in the Guiding Plan for the B -2 District. The building is situated close to the street with nearly all of the parking located to the back of the building. The use, as a student housing facility, is similar in nature to uses already permitted in the District, such as high density multiple family housing. Additionally, the proposed application would expand the sidewalk system and streetscape in accordance with the B -2 Plan. Because the site is not being fully redeveloped, but rather re -used, other principles of the Guiding Plan that relate to this site are not as clearly addressed. For example, it is not possible to realign the access drives towards a new intersection to accommodate a traffic light, because of the placement of the existing building. Additionally, the Guiding Plan for the B -2 District states that future development on this parcel should be oriented around a green space, which is not the case with the existing building. 5. Additional Review The Building Official and the Fire Marshal have determined that an Occupancy Permit will be required in order to allow people to inhabit the property after May 31, 2011, when the current interim use permit expires. The Building Official and Fire Marshal have prepared conditions of approval addressing certain building code and fire safety requirements that need to be met prior to the issuance of an occupancy permit. Provided that the requirements are met, they have no objections to the application. City of Arden Hills Planning Commission Meeting for October 6, 2010 Page 8 of 12