Agenda - Environmental Policy Board - 10/03/2011

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Project Points System: Purpose: To create and implement a design review system to implement the goals and objectives of the Comprehensive Plan and the needs of a rapidly growing community. As some goals and objectives are a higher priority than others, the system is point -based to assign higher values to some criteria and lower values to other criteria. Implementation: All future residential projects will be submitted as Planned Unit Developments (PUD) and will be scored based on the Project Pomts System (PPS). It is highly recommended that the applicant read this PPS Scoring Guide thoroughly and plan their neighborhoods around the criteria described and explained herein. It also recommended that the applicant meet with city staff about their proposal prior to submitting the official application. City staff will review the application and recommend a score to the Planning Commission and City Council. In order to ensure that the point system does not favor one development over another for reasons such as size or location, the minimum score has been defined as a minimum percentage of possible points. For most projects, not all of the criteria included in the PPS will be applicable. These criteria will not be used to judge a project. For example, criteria related to attached housing would not apply to projects that only have detached housing. The total number of points possible will change from project to project depending on the circumstance. Project Points System Projects must receive a minimum score of City Council to consider approval. As part of the applicant process and in order to ensure accurate scoring, the applicant shall complete the PPS Application sheet, wherein they shall describe: 1) How they are proposing to attain points in each category (and reference the plan sheets and /or specific pages of other documents that show how the category is being met), or 2) Explain why they are not proposing to meet a category, or 3) Why they feel a category is not applicable. As the PPS is designed to be a set of choices, not all applicable categories are expected to be met. The City Council is the final arbiter of which criteria are applicable and which are not. of the applicable and attainable points for the The applicant will have the opportunity to meet with City staff to discuss their score. Staff will work with the applicant on ways to improve their score if their score is not above the 70% threshold. A recommended score of 70% does not guarantee approval by the City Council. The City Council holds the right to deny a project if it is not in compliance with the Zoning Code or Comprehensive Plan and to place conditions of approval on a project. Applicants are encouraged to attain as many points as possible and not to merely clear the 70% threshold. The City of Maple Grove intends this document to be dynamic and may change often. Applicants are advised to ensure that their copy of the criteria is the most up -to -date.