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DOCS-#230374-v1-MEMO_TO_COUNCIL_CONCERNING_ROERS_DOWNTOWN_DEVELOPMENT_PARKING1 230374v1 M E M O R A N D U M TO: CHANHASSEN CITY COUNCIL FROM: ANDREA MCDOWELL POEHLER CITY ATTORNEY DATE: MARCH 18, 2024 RE: ROERS DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT OFF-SITE PARKING Background The City is reviewing the preliminary plat and site plan for the Roers Downtown Development that relies on shared parking agreements for off-site parking to meet city parking requirements. The City has asked this office to review the applicability of the Minnesota Court of Appeals 2013 unpublished opinion in Crossroads Center Rochester v. City of Rochester (A12-21221) concerning shared parking agreements in meeting city parking requirements. The court case was the basis of an article discussed in a law firm’s website that was raised as an issue by residents. The Court’s decision is an unpublished opinion by the Minnesota Court of Appeals, which may not generally be relied on as precedential and is meant to be limited to the facts of the specific case. Discussion Case Issue 1: Did the City of Rochester properly apply its ordinance in reducing the parking requirements for the new restaurant to be built on property that was originally part of the Crossroad Shopping Center based on the shared parking easement on property within the shopping center development for off-site parking? Court’s Decision: The Rochester City ordinance provided for lower parking requirements for spaces designated as part of a “business center.” The city ordinance defined a “business center” as “[a] building or group of buildings planned, constructed and managed as a total entity, with common on-site parking for a group of commercial, office or service establishments.” The shopping center was constructed in 1984. Thereafter, the restaurant property at issue was sold to a separate entity apart from the shopping center ownership. The court found that the replacement of a smaller restaurant with the larger restaurant on the property more than 25 years after the shopping center was constructed, where the new restaurant required an additional 20 parking spaces within the shared parking easement area, did not qualify for the reduced parking space requirement. The court found that the evidence did not establish that the new restaurant development was planned or constructed as a total entity with the shopping center or managed as a total entity. 2 230374v1 Application: This case is limited to the facts and City Code provisions in the case. The City of Chanhassen does not have similar requirements for the off-site parking in Roers development and the case is not applicable to the Roers development. Case Issue 2: Did the City of Rochester properly calculate that the restaurant development would have the necessary off-site parking spaces to satisfy the City ordinances by including the additional 20 off-site parking spaces provided for in a 1984 shared parking easement? Decision: The Rochester City code required “evidence of ownership or control of the parking facility, either by deed or long term lease” in order to use off-site parking spaces to meet code requirements. The Court determined that the authority to use the parking provided under the easement did not satisfy the City Code requirement for “ownership or control.” Application: The City of Chanhassen’s code does not require “ownership or control, either by deed or long term lease” for the use of shared parking. Rather, Section 20-1117 of the City Code requires that “the use of the parking facilities shall be protected by a recorded easement, acceptable to the City.” The Roers development is granted a right to use a minimum of 25 stalls over the Market Street Station, LLC property pursuant to a shared parking easement. In addition, the Roers development is granted right to non-exclusive use of the existing parking on the Chanhassen Frontier, LLC property through a parking easement agreement. This easement would need to be amended to remove the restriction prohibiting overnight parking, in order for the shared parking on the Chanhassen Frontier, LLC property to be considered as available off-site parking for the Roers development.