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Regular City Council Meeting Monday, May 10, 2010 Page 12 • Mr. Trudgeon reviewed the proposed language changes to the Comprehensive Plan to the four business districts: Community Mixed Use; Regional Business; Community Business; and Neighborhood Business, as addressed in Attachment A to the RCA. Discussion included institutional uses tied to scale of use based on designated, cri- teria for specific; unanimous support at the Planning Commission level; definition of institutional uses elsewhere in the Comprehensive Plan; further refinement and definition in the zoning code rewrite of institutional uses; and staff's seeking of a formal written letter of withdrawal from T4C. Councilmember Ihlan expressed concern in considering such amendment, now that the time constraints are no longer applicable: ^ In Councilmember Ihlan's review of the land use chapter of the Comprehen- sive Plan, the term of Institutional Use is too broad, when it does not simply apply to churches and scale of uses, as referenced during discussion at the Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee level. Specific concerns were re- lated to District 2 near Northwestern College (page 4.13 of that chapter) and expansion by the College into residential and/or commercial areas adjacent to Snelling; ^ References brought up in the public a-mail comment related to potential con- • flicts with mixed uses; and ^ How further expansion of Northwestern College and ultimately their tax ex- empt status in use of prime commercial properties and potential significant impacts to the City's tax base, requiring policy level discussion and negotia- tion for a Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) program. Councilmember Ihlan opined that there needed to be more public comment and more attempts to get interested people to attend before a decision was made. Councilmember Roe opined that he didn't foresee a rash of institutional uses tak- ing over the community; however, noted that current text limits institutional uses to existing institutional sites of the Twin Lakes area and were too restrictive. Councilmember Roe further opined that he was not concerned with tax exempt is- sues, since land use was historically cyclical; and noted that the land use designa- tion immediately adjacent to Northwestern College was residential with the ex- ception of several office buildings, and that other means were already in place to address any encroachment of Northwestern College into residential areas on the east side of Snelling Avenue. Mayor Klausing spoke in support of the text amendment; and provided his res- ponses to the a-mail as it related to sexually-oriented businesses near schools as being unrealistic, given current City Code restrictions; and further advised that his • reaction and perspective was valid given potential institutional uses not currently addressed by the Comprehensive Plan, and following review by staff and the