6.7. SR 04-20-1998y of
iver
MEMORANDUM
Item # 6.7.
TO:
FROM:
DATE:
SUBJECT:
Mayor and City Council
Scott Harlicker, Planning Assistant~
April 20, 1998
Request by Grace Assembly of God
Church for Conditional Use Permit,
Public Hearing Case No. CU 98-8
Request
Consider a request by Grace Assembly of God Church for a conditional use
permit to allow them to utilize space in a building located at 16820 Highway
10.
Location
16820 Highway 10, PID # 75-011-3205
Zoning/Land Use
C3 (Highway Commercial) / HB (Highway Business)
Attachments
· Location map
· Site plan
Overview
The applicant is proposing to utilize space in an existing building as a
temporary home for their church. The applicant has indicated that the church
will have a 1 year lease then a month to month lease after that. The rear of
the building is currently home to the City of Elk River Incubator Business
Center and the front of the building is retail space. The church will be
occupying space between to two existing tenants. They will be working with
the Building Inspector to ensure that they comply with all building and fire
codes.
13065 Orono Parkway · P.O. Box 490 · Elk River, MN 55330 · TDD & Phone: (612) 441-7420 ° Fax: (612) 441-7425
Memo to Mayor and City Counci]/CU 98-8
April 20, 1998
Page 2
Parking
The site plan shows 63 parking spaces on site. Some of the parking spaces do
not meet the dimensional requirements found in the zoning code. The site
plan shows 10 parallel spaces located along a stockade fence on the north side
of the site. Because of the distance between the building and the fence there
is not enough room to maintain a typical 24 foot wide drive aisle nor a 20 foot
drive aisle needed for emergency access as required by the Fire Chief.
Therefore, the parallel stalls should be eliminated. Since there is
approximately 105 lineal feet of pavement along Highway 169, the additional
spaces shown on the site plan along Highway 169 can not be accommodated
on the site. If the 10 spaces along the stockade fence are eliminated, as well
as the additional 5 along Highway 169, the proposed plan has 48 spaces.
Using the parking layout currently in place, there are 46 parking spaces.
With the existing retail and business incubator tenants, 48 parking spaces
are required. The applicant has indicated that the current total membership
of the church is about 130. Based on the current church membership 43
spaces would be required and the total parking requirements for the site
would be 91 spaces, which exceed the number provided by 45 spaces, and the
proposed number of parking spaces by 43 spaces.
Parking Requirements:
Business Center
Retail
Church
14,000 s.f.
4000 s.f.
130 members
28 spaces
20 spaces
43 spaces
91 spaces total required
46 spaces total provided
48 spaces proposed
Even without the church, the parking requirements for the tenants exceed
what is provided. However, the applicant claims the peak parking demands
for the church will be different than the other tenants. If the church holds
evening meetings, the parking demand could conflict with the retail and
individual business incubator tenants. In order to ensure that adequate
parking is available for the Business Center, a specific number of spaces
should be reserved for use by the Business Center. Because of the nature of
the businesses located in the center, some of them operate on a flexible
schedule. It is important the 7 spaces near the drainage pond and all but one
of the parking spaces located along the north side of the building in front of
the church entrance be reserved for the business center all the time.
Sicnage
\\elkriver\sys\shrdoc\planning\scott\cu988cc.doc
Memo to Mayor and City Council/CU 98-8
April 20, 1998
Page 3
The church is not proposing any signage at this time. Because of an
agreement with the Business Center, which allows the Business Center
exclusive use of the freestanding sign, signage for the church will be limited
to a wall sign and will have to comply with the city sign code.
Noise
There was some concern expressed by the existing tenants about the
possibility of noise from the church. Should this problem arise, efforts will
have to made to address it. Actions might include soundproofing or adjusting
the scheduling of church functions so they do not affect the other tenants.
Planning Commission Meeting
At the March 24, 1998 Planning Commission meeting no spoke at the public
hearing. The applicant explained that the church would have some meetings
during weekday evenings but these meeting would not involve the full
membership of the church. The full membership would only be there on
Sundays. The Commission discussed the parking situation and traffic flow
through the site.
Recommendation
The Planning Commission recommended approval of this request with the
following conditions:
1. The 7 parking spaces near the drainage area be reserved for the incubator
business center.
2. Should parking become a problem, the applicant shall add as many
additional parking spaces as needed.
The main issue with this application is parking and can the parking demands
for each tenant be met with the existing parking spaces. It is staffs opinion
that since the parking requirements for the current tenants exceed what is
available, the added parking demands of the church could not be
accommodated without affecting the current tenants. For this reason staff
finds it difficult to support this request.
Should the Council decide to approve this request, the following conditions
are suggested:
\\elkriver\sys\shrdoc\planning\scott\cu988cc.doc
Memo to Mayor and City Council/CU 98-8
April 20, 1998
Page 4
1. The 7 parking spaces near the drainage pond and all but one of the
parking spaces located along the north side of the building in front of the
church entrance be reserved for the business center all the time.
2. The parking spaces shown along the stockade fence be eliminated.
3. Signage for the church be limited to a wall sign as provided for in the sign
code.
Should noise become a problem, efforts will have to made to address it.
Actions might include soundproofing or adjusting the scheduling of church
functions so they do not affect the other tenants.
\\elkriver\sys\shrdoc\planning\scott\cu988cc.doc
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Plymouth, Mn. ..55442
(612) 557- 9081
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PAUL MEYER
ARCHITECTS, INC.
11315 48th Avenue North
Plymouth. Mn. 55442
(612) 557-908t
FAX 559-6038