pf_03192 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

LARKIN, HOFFMAN, DALY & LINDGREN, LTD. The Honorable Mayor John Kysylyczyn City Councilmembers February 18,2000 Page 4 restrict either building coverage or floor area ratio: Inver Grove Heights, Maplewood, and Savage. The 25% lot coverage restriction used by the city conflicts with the Comprehensive Plan's focus on business retention and new economic development. The Comprehensive Plan "encourage(s) the development of existing and future retail shopping centers as a means of achieving maximum efficiency of land uses..." . Rosevill~ relies on two density standards in the Shopping Center District: floor area ratio and lot coverage. The City of Chaska is the only other community surveyed by Resource Strategies that combines these two standards. But Chaska allows 40% building coverage and a 2.0 floor area ratio, both of which are considerably less restrictive than comparable Roseville provIsIOns. The only practical way to comply with both the 0.5 floor area ratio and the 25% lot coverage restriction is to build two-story buildings. Very little retail space is constructed in the region on multiple levels. Additionally, multi-story regional malls may need a lower lot coverage, but they typically require a higher floor area ratio. . The city has established a number of strict performance standards governing commercial development in the Shopping Center District, including setbacks, buffering and 24-hour activities. Building setbacks, buffering and restrictions on 24-hour businesses address city objectives to assure compatibility between shopping centers and nearby residential uses. The floor area ratio standard meets other objectives, such as matching site development with roadway and public utility capacity. Building coverage limits, on the other hand, do not achieve any valid public purpose that other Code standards do not already address. Given the more restrictive setback and buffer requirements and performance standards applicable to 24-hour uses in the Shopping Center District only, the lot coverage standard is simply no longer needed. . The Shopping Center District has many requirements which exceed other Business District standards. These include a floor area ratio provision that is twice as restrictive as any other Business District, extra setbacks when letting dissimilar districts, height restrictions, screening requirements for outdoor activities, landscape requirements within setback areas, and additional setback and buffer requirements when loading docks abut residential areas. The combined effect of these provisions eliminates the need for an isolated standard, such as lot coverage, particularly when the standard is overly restrictive and, as recently interpreted by the City Council, renders all shopping center properties nonconforming. . After a nine-month moratorium and an exhaustive planning study, the city amended the Shopping Center District section of the Code to further restrict and regulate twenty-four hour uses within 300 feet of a residential district. These new standards extend enhanced protection