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HomeMy WebLinkAbout17-075 - ADMIN Resolution - City Council - 2017/04/17RESOLUTION NO. 17-075 RESOLUTION ADOPTING FINDINGS AND DECISION DENYING REZONING TO PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT AND DENYING PRELIMINARY PLAT WITH VARIANCES BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of St. Louis Park, Minnesota, that the following Findings and Decision are adopted: BACKGROUND I. St. Louis Park Leased Housing Associates I, LLC has submitted an application for approval of a rezoning to Planned Unit Development ("PUD") and a Plat with variances from the City's subdivision requirements. 2. The Subject Property is located within the C-2 General Commercial and R-4 Multiple Family zoning districts. 3. Notice of the public hearing on the rezoning and preliminary plat with variances was mailed to all owners of property within 500 feet of the Subject Property. 4. Notice of the public hearings on the rezoning and preliminary plat was published in the St. Louis Park Sun Sailor. 5. The Planning Commission held the public hearing and recommended approval of the rezoning and preliminary plat with variances. 6. The City Council has considered the staff reports, Planning Commission minutes and recommendations, testimony of those appearing at the public hearings and comments in the record. FINDINGS OF FACT I. The property is located at 4424 and 4400 Excelsior Boulevard and 3743 Monterey Drive, St. Louis Park, Minnesota ("Subject Property"). 2. The Property at 3743 Monterey Drive is owned by the St. Louis Park Economic Development Authority ("EDA"). The EDA did not sign or approve the applications for the rezoning, plat, and variances. The EDA does not support the applications and will not sell the property owned by it to the applicant. Without the property owned by the EDA, the plat cannot be approved or recorded and the project cannot be constructed. 3. The current zoning of the Subject Property is consistent with the City's Comprehensive Plan and allows a reasonable use of the property. The current zoning of the Subject Property is supported by a rational basis related to the public health, safety, and welfare. 4. The proposed development does not meet the purpose and intent of the PUD district which is to "promote higher standards of site and building design" and "encourage a more creative and efficient use of land." The standards and building design of the proposed development are traditional and the use of the land is not creative. The scale of the development, in particular the combination of the proposed height and proposed footprint of the building is not sensitive enough to the adjacent uses and resulted in less area than desirable for site landscaping and at -grade Resolution No. 17-075 2 amenities enjoyed by private residents and the public visiting and passing by the site. Also, the applicant failed to adequately demonstrate the tuning movements for the proposed service area would be sufficient to handle maneuvering of service vehicles on-site and within existing access easements. The development plan does not justify an increase in the allowed residential density from 50 units per acre to 61.9 unit per acre and an increase in height from 75 feet to 76.5 feet. 5. Pursuant to the City Code, easements for utilities must be provided along all lot lines. The easements must be 10 feet wide along street right-of-ways and five feet wide along interior lot lines. The plat requires two variances from the required placement of drainage and utility easements. The plat proposes variances from five feet to zero feet along either side of the shared property line between Lots 1 and 2 of the proposed plat. In addition, variances are needed on Lot 1 from the 10 -foot easement requirement down to approximately 9.5 feet along Monterey Drive in one isolated location near the proposed lobby, and down to between 7 and 9.5 feet for approximately 35 feet of the southeast corner of the proposed building along Excelsior Boulevard. 6. In considering the City Code provisions related to subdivision variances, the Council finds that: a. The requested variances do not relate to the nature of the proposed use of land and the existing use of land in the vicinity, the number of persons to reside or work in the proposed subdivision and the probable effect of the proposed subdivision upon traffic conditions in the vicinity. b. There are no special circumstances or conditions affecting the property such that the strict application of the provisions of the subdivision ordinance would deprive the applicant/owner of the reasonable use of the land. Encroachments into the proposed 10 feet wide easements along Excelsior Boulevard and Monterey Drive were avoidable by repositioning, or reducing the footprint of the proposed building or repositioning the building on the site. c. The requested variances would have no impact on the public health, safety and welfare of other property in the vicinity in which the property is situated. d. There is no topography, drainage or other naturally occurring characteristics of the land that result in an undue hardship preventing the land from being used in a manner typical of land within the vicinity. Although there are significant grade changes on the property, the site is a complete redevelopment of the lot which affords opportunities to avoid any variances or encroachments of the new site improvements into the required drainage and utility easements. e. The requested variances, considered by themselves, are not at odds with the intent of the Comprehensive Plan. 7. The requirements for a variance are not satisfied because there is no unusual hardship. The Subject Property can be reasonably developed without at least two of the variances. 8. A plat must include the location, dimension, and purpose of all existing and proposed easements, both public and private, and utility easements intended to be dedicated or reserved for public use, including the size of such utility easements in acres. Without the requested variances, the Plat does not meet City Code requirements. Resolution No. 17-075 DECISION Based upon the above findings, the materials submitted by the applicant, staff reports, submissions from the public and any other materials submitted to the City Council, the applications to rezo e t e R( !wed Subject Property to PUD and for preliminary plat approval with variances are denied. Rwed f r Administration: Ad ,p.Rted by the City Council April 17, 2017 Tom HAr*nfng, city Manager Attest: J/1 L k Meliss,A Kenn e y, City'Clerk