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CommuNiTYGROWTH <br /> le . <br /> STAFF RFPoRT <br /> Application: Ordinance Amendment Establishing Grow Zone Standards <br /> Applicant: City of Pequot Lakes <br /> Agenda Item:3(f) <br /> Background Information: The Planning Commission has worked for some time on <br /> identifying the unique characteristics that make the Pequot Lakes downtown a <br /> destination within the community.The Commission has also worked to identify barriers <br /> to growth and development within the downtown. <br /> Through this process,what has been discovered is that the regulation of use is mostly an <br /> unnecessary barrier to development, while the regulation of form is a critical factor that <br /> is completely overlooked by the Code. <br /> For example,the current code requires a Conditional Use Permit for a restaurant to open <br /> in the downtown. It makes no difference if that restaurant is converting an existing <br /> structure for the use, a roughly 4 -day application process is required. However, that <br /> same process and the same standards would also apply to a brand new drive-thru <br /> restaurant built along Government Drive. The ordinance is silent on the obvious <br /> incompatibility of such a use. <br /> The proposed standards create a Grow Zone where property owners can choose to either <br /> adhere entirely to the current code or entirely to the new Grow Zone standards.The new <br /> Grow Zone standards regulate the form of the structure and how it addresses the public <br /> space (generally, how it will look and interact with adjacent properties), not the use. <br /> While the current cede retains the lengthy permitting process,the Grow Zone provisions <br /> allow for what is essentially same-day permitting. <br /> This is a progressive approach that will not only make downtown Pequot Lakes the <br /> easiest and quickest place to obtain a permit in the entire Brainerd Lakes area, it will <br /> help make new development compatible and complementary to the existing buildings in <br /> the downtown. We want each new investment build on the last so that the downtown <br /> grows in a strong and vibrant way. <br /> Staff Recommendation: Staff is recommending the amendment be forwarded to the <br /> City Council for approval. <br /> Pequot Lakes Staff Report 3 M-1 <br /> AugUSt 20,2009 <br />