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Those are blanket statements and, as such, are dangerous statements. To get to the real issues, Kraus should be very specific about what he means. Kraus said, in answer to the Commissioner’s statement that he said there should be no apartments in the City, he did not say that. Kraus said that he had said that there has to be so much low-cost housing in the City. Kraus said there is more call for rental properties today more than ever. Senior citizens are going into rental properties in the senior citizen places. Baker asked Kraus to make his comments short and not go off on a tangent. Kraus stated that New Brighton has its quota of low housing and apartments. New Brighton has to look at what type of apartments or houses proposed to be built. There should be regulations on how this is to be handled. It is not a broad statement as to how much multi-family housing or senior housing units that this City can handle. New Brighton should not make a big business of it to see how many rental units we can get in here. Baker asked if anyone else would like to speak. th Alma Stepanchak, 2180 27 Avenue NW, stated she moved to New Brighton more than twenty years ago because the education in the Mounds View School District was superior. Stepanchak stated her main concern is that the schools remain superior. By overcrowding with more apartment buildings, the schools will go beyond maximum capacity and result in problems. There should be a balance of all kinds of housing and is not an issue for her. Stepanchak said her concern was that the City takes a really close look at our schools and how they are being affected by building. If it takes, rezoning for the future to accommodate that, the City should look at that. The Planning Commission has done a great job in looking at developments. The Planning Commission should look at proposals from the standpoint of education, too. Melissa Stephenson, a New Brighton resident, asked what would happen to the current structure on the site in question. Baker responded that the structure would remain on the site. Stephenson said she would like an explanation why that property has not been required to meet the codes of apartment living. Baker stated he did not know to what Stephenson referred. Stephenson asked Baker if he had visited the site. Baker responded affirmatively. Stephenson asked how Baker found the structure on the site. Baker responded he had not been in the structure. Stephenson asked how Baker found the exterior of the structure. Baker responded the structure was not the focus of his visit to the property. Stephenson said that, if the present structure remains on the property as-is, how will the new townhouses fit? Stephenson said she drove through the site and could not believe it was in New Brighton. Stephenson stated she worked with the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority and said the current structure would never have passed there. Stephenson said there should be some accountability here. The new structures will soon look like the current one. Apartments are needed in the City. New Brighton should accommodate the needs of a whole spectrum of people. New Brighton does not need to tarnish this City with this proposal. Please consider the current condition of this property before any approval is made. Teague said he could address some of Stephenson’s statements. There are some nonconformities on that site. The Planning Commission, Staff, and the Council required them to meet the codes. These are the nonconformities: Apartment must have one-stall enclosed garages. The applicants would construct detached ? garages. (Teague showed the location of the garages on the site plan.) The code requires perimeter curbing around the entire site. The applicant would be bringing the ? parking lot into conformance with the code by installing curbing. I:\COMMISSIONS\PLANNING\MINUTES\2000\03-21-00.WPD 3