CC_Minutes_2008_0324 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

~t.._ , S March 2008 City of Roseville Planning Commission 2.660 Civic Center Drive Roseville, MN 55113 Re: Planting File 08-008 Dear Planning Commission members, We return before you, the Planning Commission, for the second phase of this initiative First, if this application is approved, we will welcome the potential owners to the neighborhood and will enjoy the benefits from a neighborhood deli. Since the prior phaso of this discussion revealed the serious problems that could arise iPthe property is rezoned within the our€ent framework in order to allow this deli, we welcome discussions xt the City Council level toward revising the City Code in a way that can better balance the interests at stake here, including most importantly the community"s interest in high quality residential areas. Allowing low-impact, non-fast food uses such as [Iris could well be possible within areas such as this, so long as we mean by "low-impact" not solely the volume of traffic, but also the signage, sounds, smells and other aesthetic concerns that can make restaurants such unfit neighbors. The City may wish ro consider a wide variety of regulatory approaches, including ordinance language that aims at franchise fast food restaurants in sensitive areas, such as that in St. Paul. Second, there is reason Yo be concerned, as the staff suggest in the Planning Document, section 4.5, that if the City does not succeed in altering the code, the property will be in a legal Twilight Zone. Members in the community, like members of the Planning Commission, are able to think beyond our own self-interest; the Planning Commission should carefully assess the likelihood of articulating and passing suitable authm•izing amendments to the Code. We do not want the prospective owners to undertake this risk needlessly. Third; related to this, and knowing that businesses do fail or choose to sell, we want to reinforce how interested t-ve will be in Che finure use of this site. We hope strongly that a temporary permit, once ie has been used to change the property's physical plant, will not be a fait accompli tojusiify a change in the propertys zoning, the camel's nose that resulted in a concession to a B-16 zoning district on this site. Last, but perhaps mosC importantly; we will continue to watch vigilantly and push for compliance with Resolution 9414, that the expiration of the prior Conditional Use Permit, which had allowed parking on the south side of the property (on Autmnn Sn'eet); will be enforced and the parking will be removed as part of the landscaping plan implemented by the new owners. All of the factors that drove the City Council's concern with the prior proposal militate that course. Sincerely,n C Patrick Schmidt 1140 Autumn Street