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7. Staff Report-Future Land Use Map Amendment TKDA | 444 Cedar Street Suite 1500 | Saint Paul, MN 55101 651.292.4400 • tkda.com An employee -owned company promoting affirmative action and equal opportunity. Memorandum To: Scandia Planning Commission Reference: Future Land Use Map Amendment Copies To: Brenda Eklund, Clerk Ken Cammilleri, City Administrator Project No.: 18109.000 From: Evan Monson, Planner Routing: Date: April 27, 2021 SUBJECT: Amending the Future Land Use Map in the 2040 Comprehensive Plan to correct the mis-designated portions of the parcel not presently designated as Rural Commercial MEETING DATE: May 4, 2021 LOCATION: 20021 St Croix Trail North, PID 1903219330005 ITEMS REVIEWED: 2040 Comprehensive Plan, Scandia Zoning Map BACKGROUND INFORMATION When reviewing a request to change the future land use map designation for some neighboring parcels to the west, the Planning Commission discussed the issue of the zoning and future land use designation of 20021 St Croix Trail North. The parcel is unique in that it straddles both St Croix Trail North and Oakhill Road North, and that portions of the lot are zoned GR while other portions are zoned R COMM. In the future land use map within the Comprehensive Plan, the parcel has portions designated General Rural and Rural Commercial. In order to ‘clean up the zoning designation for the parcel, the future land use designation must first be revised. The designations for parcels in the future land use map help guide rezoning requests. In order to change the future land use designation to Rural Commercial (which would allow for a rezoning of this parcel to R COMM), the future land use map must be amended. This process starts with the City, but ultimately must also be reviewed by the Metropolitan Council. PROPERTY INFORMATION Parcel description: 20021 St Croix Trail North is located at the intersection of Oakhill Road/County Road 52 and St Croix Trail North/State Highway 95. The parcel covers most of the intersection, with St Croix Trail traveling north-south through the middle of the parcel. The property, including the roadways, totals just over 40 acres of land. The portions of the parcel east of St Croix Trail North are used for the Abrahamson Nurseries business, with some wooded areas further east. The portions of the parcel on the west side of St Croix Trail North are part of the vineyards of the Rustic Roots winery. Future Land Use Map Amendment Staff Report May 4, 2021 Scandia Planning Commission Page 2 Zoning: General Rural (GR), Rural Commercial (R COMM) Land use: Winery, Garden Supply Store & Plant Nursery EVALUATION OF REQUEST Zoning & Future Land Use of the property In reviewing old zoning maps and comprehensive plans, the property has had conflicting zoning and future land use designations since the city was incorporated. A zoning map of New Scandia Township from 1999 shows the parcel with conflicting zoning designations, so the parc el having portions zoned differently is nothing new. The 2030 Comprehensive Plan, shown in Figure 1, was written in 2008. It designated the future land use of the parcel as both ‘General Rural’ and ‘Rural Commercial’. Figure 1: 2030 Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Map (zoomed in) Figure 2: 2040 Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Map (zoomed in) Future Land Use Map Amendment Staff Report May 4, 2021 Scandia Planning Commission Page 3 The zoning map from that time period reflected that designation in the zoning of the parcel, with most of the east side zoned R COMM and the west side zoned GR. The portions zoned R COMM roughly constitute the portion of the parcel used for the nurser y business. The future land use map designation remained split for the 2040 Plan (see Figure 2), as did the zoning designation (see Figure 3). The 2040 Plan had the Rural Commercial designation and General Rural designation, as well as an overlay noting aggregate resources were located in the area. The definition of the ‘Rural Commercial’ district in the 2040 Plan specifically calls out the nursery as a historic commercial node. The 2040 Comprehensive Plan describes the Rural Commercial future land use designation as: “The Rural Commercial future land use area is intended to support commercial development in places of historic commercial activity. These areas are the only commercial areas anticipated outside of the Village Center and are intended to complement Village Center commercial uses. Rural Commercial areas are designated at the historic commercial nodes of the Big Marine Store, Copas/Abrahamson Nurseries, and the intersection of Highways 95 and 97. Commercial uses reflecting the historic nature of the community and compatible with the surrounding rural character will be allowed on lot sizes of at least 2 acres. Because this future land use area builds upon historic character, commercial building design standards shall reflect the historic nature of the community.” Figure 3: Current Zoning Map Future Land Use Map Amendment Staff Report May 4, 2021 Scandia Planning Commission Page 4 Amending the Future Land Use Map An amendment (or a change) to the text or a map in the Comprehensive Plan follows a similar process as amending the Development Code. Neither the Development Code and Comprehensive Plan are ‘static’ or ‘meant to never change’; the City has the ability to amend each one, provided the appropriate approvals and processes are followed. The proposed change made by the Planning Commission would be to have the Future Land Use Map designate the entire parcel as ‘Rural Commercial’, so that a rezoning of the entire parcel to R COMM would be consistent with the future land use designation in the Comprehensive Plan. Chapter One, Section 5.0 of the Development Code lists the process and procedures to follow. The first step is review by the Planning Commission, then followed by approval by the Council. If approved by the Council, the request would be reviewed by the Metropolitan Council, who would review to ensure the request follows regional plans. Once approved by the Metropolitan Council, the change would then become official. In reviewing a request such as this, the Planning Commission is tasked in Section 5.1(5) with considering the possible effects of the change. The judgement shall be based upon, but is not limited to, the following factors:  The proposed action shall be considered in relation to the specific policies and provisions of and shall be consistent with the City Comprehensive Plan, including public facilities and capital improvement plans.  In the case of a map amendment, it meets the purpose and intent of the individual district. In terms of factor one, the request appears to be consistent with the Comprehensive Plan, notably in that the current user of the parcel in question is identified in the definition of the ‘Rural Commercial’ future land use designation. A change in the other portions of the parcel to ‘Rural Commercial’ from ‘General Rural’ would not impact any public facilities or capital improvement plans. The definition of the ‘General Rural’ future land use designation is also primarily geared towards single-family residential use, with ag-related uses as secondary options. Given this parcel’s current uses and location, it is unlikely that the east portions of the parcel designated as ‘General Rural’ would be used in the future for single-family residential development. If the nursery business were to expand, it would likely expand to the east, which if the east portions remain zoned GR would require a Conditional Use permit since the Plant Nursery land use is a conditional use. The Garden Supply Store land use is not permitted in the GR district, so depending on the sales on the site the current zoning could prohibit potential future expansion within its own parcel. The portions west of St Croix Trail North are used for the vineyard of the winery, which is an Agricultural use that, if this parcel were eventually rezoned, would be permitted within the R COMM district. Given the current uses of the parcel are permitted in the R COMM zoning district, it would appear that designating the entire parcel as ‘Rural Commercial’ in the future land use map would meet the purpose and intent of the district. Future Land Use Map Amendment Staff Report May 4, 2021 Scandia Planning Commission Page 5 ACTIONS REQUESTED The Planning Commission can choose one of the following: 1. Approve with findings 2. Deny with findings 3. Table the request STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS If deemed appropriate by the Planning Commission, the requested amendment to the Future Land Use Map and findings supporting it can be recommended to the Council for approval.