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Planning Commission Meeting Minutes – Wednesday, March 05, 2008 Page 6 ? The Planning Commission strongly supports green design and working toward LEED Certification for any projects such as this that may request tax increment financing (TIF) dollars; ? The Planning Commission supports the use of TIF for remediation of any environmental contamination related to this project; ? The Planning Commission strongly supports the consideration of transit options and opportunities within the site with an aim toward reducing required parking structures/stalls. Ayes: 5 Nays: 0 Motion carried. Chair Bakeman advised that the Case was scheduled to be heard by the City Council at their March 17, 2008 meeting. e. PLANNING FILE 07-068 Request by Aeon for approval of a PRELIMINARY PLAT and GENERAL CONCEPT PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT for the renovation and expansion of the Har Mar Apartments at 2225 – 2265 Snelling Avenue Chair Bakeman opened the Public Hearing for Planning File 08-068. City Planner Thomas Paschke reviewed the request of AEON for approval of REZONING and GENERAL CONCEPT PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT to complete site and existing building improvements to the Har Mar Apartments, 2225 - 2265 Snelling Avenue, and to develop a new forty-eight (48) unit, four (4) story apartment building in the northwest corner of the property. Mr. Paschke provided staff’s analysis of the request and the project specifics, as detailed in the Project Report dated March 5, 2008, noting that the PRELIMINARY PLAT proposal for the project sought to subdivide the 3.06 acre parcel into two (2) lots; with Lot 1 including the five (5) existing apartment buildings and associated parking, and Lot 2 including the new apartment building and associated parking, in two (2) phases. Staff recommended APPROVAL of the request by AEON for REZONING and GENERAL CONCEPT PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT, based on comments and findings of Sections 4, 5 and 6, and subject to conditions detailed in Section 7 of the Project Report dated March 5, 2008. Mr. Paschke noted that one of the main issues with the site was drainage, with existing conditions leading to water seepage into the buildings/units due to poor grading directly adjacent to each building. Mr. Paschke noted that the applicant’s proposal was to re-grade the site to eliminate the drainage issue, creating a positive grade adjacent to each building that allowed water to flow away from the building. Mr. Paschke further noted that another item needing to be addressed was parking, with current parking disbursed in an inefficient parking lot configuration, with this proposal placing parking lots and an appropriate number of stalls in locations more consistent with future/anticipated use. Mr. Paschke noted further refinement of emergency vehicle access was pending, but that staff supported the overall improvements, as conditioned, in the staff report Discussion included current on-site parking for existing buildings; rationale for changing from the initial concept of multiple-bedroom units to the current proposal for multi-bedroom units in only the new building when constructed; current code to provide two (2) parking spaces per unit through the PUD requirements and built-in flexibilities depending on specific clientele and resident demand or requirements in the complex without “over parking” the site; additional discussion at the staff level with the applicant regarding calculations for parking excluding on-street parking accommodations; access and trash enclosure issues; refinement and negotiations between conceptual and final design approvals; and proposed interior renovations and energy efficiency measures planned but not specific to this PUD application.