09/21/2009 Planning Commission Minutes

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING Monday, September 21,2009 6:30 o'clock p.m. retail uses require one parking space for every 150 square feet of retail floor space. Based on this, Harvest Moon requires 47 parking spaces. The building is considered retail with elements of a garden supply store. The retail store portion of the business need 70 parking spaces and the greenhouse portion of the business would require 29 spaces. The outdoor retail space has not been addressed. The Code views all of the retail,warehouse,outdoor sales and storage equally when calculating parldng needs for a garden supply store. Staff has separated out the actual retail pace from what is considered a garden supply store;i.e.,greenhouse and outdoor retail and storage spaces. Therefore,the 30,000 square feet of outdoor retail space directly adjacent to the greenhouse space requires 37 parking spaces and is considered the main outdoor retail space. The outdoor area further east across the driveway would require 92 parking spaces. According to City Code, a total of 275 parking spaces are required for this site. The site currently has parlcing for 132 vehicles. In Staff's view,the 75,000 square foot outdoor storage area is not a primary retail space and would question the reasonableness of requiring 183 parking spaces. The existing main access to the site is located approximately 300 feet north of Wayzata Boulevard and 150 feet south of Kelley Parkway. Staff would recommend the Planning Commission discuss a possible parking shortage in the future and request that Harvest Moon address the shopping cart situation in the parking lot. Planning Staff recommends approval of the parking variance and the amendment to PUD No. 1 to allow retail foods as a permitted use for this site. Staff would further recommend that some sort of tentative plan be worked out regarding future parking needs with this approval. John Riley,Otten Brothers, stated Otten's has a parking lot that is designed to handle their three busiest weekends in May and that the employee parking is relocated to the back to accommodate the extra traffic at those times. Even on the busiest day in May,there is also parking available on the western side of the building. Otten's does not require additional parking and that there are other areas on the lot that could be converted into parking if necessary. At the present time they are looking at approximately 400 to 500 customers per day and that there is an average of 20 customers at a time. Kang asked whether Otten Brothers is open year-round. Riley indicated they are open year-round and that May is their busiest time. Kempf asked where the main entrance would be for Harvest Moon. Riley stated they are undecided at this time but that there are two option available. Acting Chair Kang opened the public hearing at 7:48 p.m. There were no public comments regarding this application. Acting Chair Kang closed the public hearing at 7:48 p.m. Kang indicated she does have a concern regarding access to this site. Page 8