3D - Conditional Use Application to Construct Grocery Store

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COMMUNITYGROWTH ctY°f I N S T I T U T E Pequot Experts in Small Town Planning Lakes..=.= offensive odor, fumes, dust, noise, and vibration, so none of these will constitute a nuisance and to control lights and signs in such a manner, that no disturbance to neighboring properties will result. G. The conditional use will not result in the destruction, loss or damage of a natural, scenic or historical feature of major significance. H. The conditional use will promote the prevention and control of pollution of the ground and surface waters including sedimentation and control of nutrients. Staff Findings: With the zoning classification for the site to be determined, the Staff is not providing draft findings at this time. The rezoning decision is going to dramatically alter the approach taken on this property, either an urban orientation or a highway orientation. When this decision is made, the proper ordinance provisions can be applied and an evaluation of the property can proceed. Planning Commission Direction: The Planning Commission can approve of the conditional use permit, deny the application, or table the request if additional information is needed. If the motion is for approval or denial, findings of fact should be cited. Staff Recommendation: The applicant has worked to address the issues that have been raised,both prior to and during the Design Review Team meeting. Despite this,the plan remains in flux due to a few circumstances unique to this application. The fact that the Council opted not to move forward with Tax Increment Financing -� (TIF), which caused the applicant to modify the plan,yet the applicant has subsequently indicated that they are going to request TIF a second time, leaves the physical layout of the plan in transition. Additionally, the fact that the rezoning weighs so heavily into the decision on how to proceed with this application is a factor that can't be overlooked. Is the property going to be rezoned to DMU and thus be urban-oriented or will the zoning remain Commercial and the property be developed with a highway-orientation? These unresolved issues, central to the physical layout of the site, prompt us to recommend that the application be tabled to allow for them to be worked out. Assuming the Planning Commission makes a recommendation on the rezoning, the next Council meeting should resolve all of these issues. In the meantime, it would be beneficial to the applicant and to this process to provide some specific feedback on this project as envisioned by the applicant, with the DMU zoning applied. To that we offer the following comments: • The current design of the site contains is, without much question, highway- oriented. The building is pushed far back on the site with the parking between it and the highway. The applicant has tried to provide elements to create an urban orientation - including increased landscaping, potential future trail connections and a physical connection to the north at the rear of the property - yet these modest modifications do not overcome the underlying design, which is a traditional big box approach. • Pequot Lakes allows traditional big box construction in the Commercial zone. As the Comprehensive Plan points out, it does so in a way that"all new development Pequot Lakes Staff Report 3(c)-4 August 20,2009