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REQUEST FOR ACTION <br />TO ITEM NUMBER <br />Ci Council 3.6. <br />AGENDA SECTION MEETING DATE PREPARED BY <br />Consent ul 5, 2011 erem Barnhart, Plannin Mana er <br />ITEM DESCRIPTION REVIEWED B~/ <br />A. Authorization to Complete Ordinance Amendments <br />i. Variances REVIEWED BY <br />ii. Landscaping <br />B. Authorization to Initiate a Conditional Use Amendment <br />to Amend the Planned Unit Development Agreement <br />for Trott Brook Farms <br />ACTION REQUESTED <br />Council motion authorizing staff to bring forward two different ordinance amendments: one related to <br />variances and the other to landscaping. Staff would also like authorization to initiate a Conditional Use <br />Amendment to amend the Planned Unit Development Agreement for Trott Brook Farms. <br />Staff will not be at the City Council meeting on July 5. Should Council wish to putt this item from the consent agenda, it <br />will be added to the July 7 7 zvorksession. <br />BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION <br />Variances <br />In June 2010, the Minnesota Supreme Court made a decision on a variance case, stating in basic terms <br />that if a property has a reasonable use, a variance should not be granted. This effectively made variances <br />very difficult to approve, if not impossible. In response, the legislature amended the variance standards <br />statute, adopting the standard employed by Minnesota counties. Staff will be preparing an ordinance <br />amendment incorporating the new language. <br />Landscaping <br />In conjunction with the recently adopted City beautification goals, staff seeks authorization to review and <br />propose amendments to the landscaping/ screening ordinances, with several goals, including: <br />• Increase the presence of landscaping on streets and high visibility areas <br />• Increase the presence of flowers and shrubbery in landscaping plans <br />• Review the landscaping requirements based on `benchmark' cities; propose adjustments as <br />necessary <br />• Encourage the use of additional landscaping <br />• Encourage the use of `native' landscaping where appropriate <br />• Clarify existing requirements <br />C:\Users\jjohnson\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.Outlook\SFWAYSNS\Request for Action OA <br />authroization 7-5-11 (3).docx <br />