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AttachmentA <br />107 <br />Mr. Grefenberg advised that he was referencing District 10 of the Comprehensive Plan and the definition <br />108 <br />of Community Business. <br />109 <br />Mr. Paschke asked whether the definition specifically stated “no educational use.” Mr. Grefenberg opined <br />110 <br />that there were two (2) areas where the Comprehensive Plan contradicted expansion on this specific site; <br />111 <br />and expressed further concern about the specific requirement and whether the City’s requirements were <br />112 <br />being relaxed for the Northwestern College Master Plan under page 2 of Attachment A. <br />113 <br />Vice Chair Gisselquist asked Mr. Grefenberg to enlighten the Commission on how this proposal would <br />114 <br />directly violate or violate the spirit of District 10 of the Comprehensive Plan. <br />115 <br />Mr. Grefenberg stated that he could not do so; and asked that staff enlighten the Commission and him <br />116 <br />first, since that was what they were paid for. Mr. Grefenberg read a portion of the Comprehensive Plan <br />117 <br />language, with an Institutional District use approximately ½ mile to the north with boundaries; and under <br />118 <br />land use, there was no language addressing educational use under Section 10. <br />119 <br />Vice Chair Gisselquist asked staff to respond to Mr. Grefenberg as to whether there was any obvious <br />120 <br />violation addressed with the Comprehensive Plan. <br />121 <br />Mr. Paschke responded that, as a short answer, his response would be “no.” For a broader response to <br />122 <br />the question, Mr. Paschke noted that the Comprehensive Plan did not list out a litany of uses, since the <br />123 <br />City’s Zoning Ordinance provided regulation that incorporated the general or broad definitions and goals <br />124 <br />and policies stated within the Comprehensive Plan. To the extent that those definitions for any one of the <br />125 <br />Zoning Districts indicated, Mr. Paschke noted that you may or may not find similar uses listed in Zoning <br />126 <br />District designations. From staff’s perspective, Mr. Paschke advised that staff’s analysis that may be <br />127 <br />summarized or not even detailed in the staff report, included a thorough review consistent with the written <br />128 <br />report, indicating that an office use for this nursing program or some other form of office-based <br />129 <br />educational use was permitted in an office space. Mr. Paschke opined that such a use seemed to be <br />130 <br />similar to those uses currently supported under that District and under different Comprehensive Plan <br />131 <br />designations. <br />132 <br />Mr. Lloyd concurred; and noted, consistent with his previous conversations with Mr. Grefenberg, that the <br />133 <br />description of use designation within the Comprehensive Plan didn’t indicate that Institutional uses should <br />134 <br />be allowed. Mr. Lloyd clarified that Zoning Code definitions leaned toward post-secondary educational <br />135 <br />campus institutions; however, office space like this proposed use was more distinct from that campus <br />136 <br />institution. Setting aside the not-for-profit nature of this particular educational entity that Mr. Lloyd opined <br />137 <br />was beside the point, since he thinks that the Minneapolis Business College and/or National American <br />138 <br />University may both be for-profit institutions, but still considered to be teaching, rather than a more <br />139 <br />institutional feeling similar to that of a college campus. Since this is not a campus, and doesn’t appear to <br />140 <br />be an institutional use infiltrating a business district, which he took to be of concern to some <br />141 <br />Commissioners and Mr. Grefenberg, Mr. Lloyd opined that the office environment and activity proposed <br />142 <br />were distinct from an institutional or campus use. <br />143 <br />Mr. Grefenberg referenced pages 4-8 of the Comprehensive Plan and definition of “Community <br />144 <br />Business;” and examples provided of what was included. Mr. Grefenberg noted that this section also <br />145 <br />stated, it would encourage access and traffic management, when those areas were located on A-minor <br />146 <br />augmenters or relievers as defined in the Transportation Plan. Mr. Grefenberg questioned if this use met <br />147 <br />that requirement. <br />148 <br />Mr. Paschke responded that he was unable to answer that particular question of Mr. Grefenberg. <br />149 <br />Mr. Grefenberg expressed appreciation that shuttle service would be provided, since the Comprehensive <br />150 <br />Plan indicated a strong orientation to pedestrian and bicycle access. While reassured by staff related to <br />151 <br />his concerns with parking, Mr. Grefenberg noted that he remained concerned that this proposed use and <br />152 <br />Text Amendment was a significant departure from the Comprehensive Plan; and without a satisfactory <br />153 <br />answer to his questions, why waste time doing a Comprehensive Plan at all. <br />154 <br />Mr. Grefenberg opined that this issue had come up before; and further opined that the City apparently <br />155 <br />wasn’t learning from past mistakes. While recognizing that the Commission may not be prepared to <br />156 <br />respond to his questions as a citizen or those of the volunteer Commission, at tonight’s meeting, he <br />157 <br />stated that he would like some answers. Mr. Grefenberg advised that his remaining questions were: 1) <br />158 <br />clarifying the clear distinction between a campus setting and non-educational land use; 2) whether there <br />159 <br />was some way that the Planning Division and Planning Commission could collaboratively work with <br />Page3of6 <br /> <br />