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Regular City Council Meeting <br />Monday, October 26, 2009 <br />Page 19 <br />Mayor Klausing requested what controls the City could have in place for this <br />commercial property adjacent to a residential neighborhood for screening and <br />landscaping mitigation with future development. <br />Mr. Paschke advised that City Code provided performance standards for such de- <br />velopment for permitted uses. <br />Mayor Klausing noted the concern expressed by the public during the public hear- <br />ing at the Planning Commission level as it related to traffic on Weavers; noting <br />that there was no existing curb cut at this time that would allow access into this <br />residential neighborhood. <br />Community Development Director Patrick Trudgeon advised that staff would ad- <br />dress that issue when an application was received for development, depending on <br />the proposed use, and in accordance with City Code; possibly requiring a traffic <br />study to determine traffic flow on site; access; and whether adequate police, fire <br />and vehicle disbursement was provided; at which time access issues would be ad- <br />dressed in conjunction with Ramsey County for Rice Street. Mr. Trudgeon ad- <br />vised that current City Code discouraged commercial access onto residential <br />streets, and referenced applicable City Code, as well as references in the Code to <br />access to county and state roads and factors determining demonstrable proof. <br />Mayor Klausing opined that access onto Wewers would prove difficult during <br />most of the day, specifically during rush hour, and made little sense. <br />Mr. Paschke advised that there was a shared access on the site already in place <br />and that perpetual access easements were also in place through that lot for access <br />to the north side. <br />John Kohler, architect with Semper Development <br />Mr. Kohler noted that the minor subdivision previously approved split access to <br />the property, already on the southern property line, preserving that access, which <br />had been stipulated for that specific purpose. <br />At the request of Councilmember Ihlan, Mr. Kohler advised that closing on the <br />property was currently underway between Semper and the current property owner <br />(owner of the hardware store), with the property owner being the applicant for this <br />request. Mr. Kohler advised that there was no specific user defined at this point, <br />with some interest expressed until the rezoning issue was realized, due to half <br />zoned residential and half zoned commercial, and that this action should make the <br />property more marketable. <br />Councilmember Ihlan questioned why consideration of rezoning to B-1 designa- <br />tion, rather than B-3 was not considered, to provide more protection to the resi- <br />dential neighborhood through fewer and less dramatic permitted uses. <br />