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Regular City Council Meeting Monday, June 16, 2008 Page 19 • Further discussion ensued re ardin communit n g g y a d/or neighborhood congestion problems; potential uses with higher intensity that may provide more negative impacts to the neighborhood; and access onto Larpenteur Avenue on the far west side, and current turning onto Dale Street and Alta Vista Drive. Applicant, David Ficek Mr. Ficek advised that he had owned the building for eight years; and was seeking to redevelop property based on current building condition and the sixty percent vacancy rate. Mr. Ficek advised that he was heavily vested in other assisted living facilities in conjunction with Comforts of Home; and saw this parcel as an ideal spot for such a use. Mr. Ficek advised that this was proposed to be a small facility, not competing with Presbyterian Homes facilities; he anticipated 3-5 em- ployees per 24-hour shift; and occasional visitors by family during holidays and weekends, with residents not permitted to own cars. Mr. Ficek advised that he had talked to neighbors regarding their traf- • fic concerns, which he was under the impression was a separate issue from his rezoning request, as well as being an ongoing issue for a number of years, and was willing to work with staff and the neighbors to do his part. Mr. Ficek noted that amulti-story building could be built on the site without a rezoning and/or or variance proposal, but thought this would be a better fit; and anticipated the total redevelop- ment's end product to be $4 million and create additional jobs for the community. Mayor Klausing sought additional information on the status of Mr. Ficek's financing for the project. Mr. Ficek advised that he was not moving forward until City approval was granted, but had engaged an architect, and anticipated construc- tion financing through North American Bank or Lake Area Bank, immediately following that approval. Further discussion included impacts of rezoning and/or variance ap- proval to the proposed project; limitations of the lot in building con- • figuration and setback requirements; inability to achieve sufficient parking if the developer were to flip the building and put parking on