Arden Hills Council reviews zoning table, parking changes and use definitions; council removes nurseries as principal residential use

City of Arden Hills officials reviewed draft changes to the zoning and subdivision ordinance at a June 8 special work session, focusing on a revised land use table and updated parking requirements that staff said align with industry standards.

Community Development Director Jake Reilly told council members the consultant-marked draft (HKGi) replaces "place of worship" with "place of assembly" and lowers some minimum parking ratios to reflect surrounding communities. Reilly said colleges and other institutional campuses would generally address parking through conditional-use permits, which allow staff and the Planning Commission to calculate required spaces for campus uses such as auditoriums, classrooms and event centers.

Why it matters: The land-use and parking tables determine how existing and future businesses and institutions can use property and how much off-street parking must be provided; small changes can make an existing use nonconforming or trigger site modifications for redevelopment.

Council discussion touched repeatedly on how to treat mixed-use sites. Mayor David Grant and councilmembers asked whether required-space increases for certain businesses would be grandfathered; staff confirmed existing legal nonconforming conditions would remain. Councilmember Kurt Weber pressed staff to reconcile multiple draft versions before forwarding a text to the Planning Commission, noting simultaneous edits have led to inconsistencies.

On data centers, staff outlined two approaches: list and define the use but assign it to no zoning districts (effectively not allowed), or omit the use entirely and rely on the general rule that only listed uses are permitted. Reilly recommended omitting the use if Council intends to prohibit it, because leaving it listed but district-less can signal an unresolved status and prompt applications.

Council reached specific policy directions during the discussion. By consensus, council members agreed to remove nurseries as a principal use in R1, R2 and R3 residential districts while permitting nurseries as accessory uses or allowing them in I-Flex with standards. Members also asked staff to: retain shared-parking language in the ordinance, draft clearer definitions for recreational indoor/outdoor uses and sports courts, provide zoning maps and definitions with future drafts, and correct known table errors before the Planning Commission review.

Other code clarifications sought by council included separating standalone car washes from motor-vehicle service uses, clarifying whether tattoo shops should be categorized under personal services (several members supported that change), and reconciling the treatment of cannabis uses with other personal-service businesses.

What comes next: Staff will incorporate the council's feedback, reconcile concurrent edits made by consultants, and return a revised text and supporting definitions (including maps) for further council review before Planning Commission consideration. Specific text and finalized parking ratios will be circulated for comment prior to any public hearing.