PC Packet 11-20-2012 - Laserfiche WebLink

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FINDINGS Section 9-041. Area of Special Control. Section 11-040(4). Other Uses. SITE CHARACTERISTICS Location: 400 10th ST NW Lot Size: 497,299 SF (11.5 acres) Topography: Varies Comprehensive Plan Designation: P-QP, Public & Quasi-Public Zoning: B—4, Downtown Business Surrounding Land Uses: North: Interstate 694,New Brighton Exchange South: 10th ST NW, office East: Interstate 35W West: Old Highway 8 NW, office/school use CHAPTER 11'S SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCE ANALYSIS Chapter 11 of the Zoning Code outlines all zoning-related parking standards. Section 11-040 of this chapter, Special Circumstances, item number 4, Other Uses, states the following: "Other uses or unique circumstances not specifically mentioned here shall be determined on an individual basis. Factors to be considered shall include: size of building, type of use, number of employees, peak demand hour, expected volume and turnover of customer traffic, and expected frequency and number of delivery or service vehicles. The applicant shall be responsible for collecting, assimilating and presenting the data in support of the request. The data must be documented to the City's satisfaction." After discussion with the City Attorney, staff has interpreted this section to mean certain exceptions to Chapter 11 may be allowed for unique circumstances. This section is rarely, if ever used, because most uses are consistent with the listed commercial/industrial definitions and are able to meet Chapter 11 standards. In this case, the applicants believe that additional off- street parking is not needed in order for a Subway restaurant to become a tenant at the Community Center. The Community Center has 297 parking stalls on site. Based on a parking analysis done at the time the Ramsey County Library was being considered, the Community Center and library collectively demand 318 parking stalls (or 21 stalls short of the required amount). When factoring in the Subway shop, approximately 3-4 additional stalls of parking would be required (i.e. fast food restaurant parking ratio of 1 stall per 65 SF of floor space). Since the library opened and the southern parking lot was expanded, Parks & Recreation staff hasn't observed any parking shortages on site. Further, the tenant (O'Breksy) has indicated that much of their business will come from joint users of other uses within the Community Center, such as the library, fitness center, or Eagles Nest. Additionally, the applicants have provided information from a Subway franchisee operating out of the Maplewood Community Center,who states "most of the customers...are people coming to the Community Center for other reasons, so the parking impact is minimal". As such, staff agrees that the Community Center is a unique facility and Subway, as a tenant at the Community Center, likely justifies the authorization of a special circumstance under Zoning Code Section 11-040(4). Therefore, no additional parking would be required based on the following: • The majority of Subway customers will most likely be shared customers who are already visiting the Community Center for other reasons.