Agenda - Council Work Session - 05/28/2013

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amendment for the Subject Property; as the EDA and City Council were interested in feedback from surrounding property owners. This was an important step in determining any issues the neighborhood would have with a Zoning and Comprehensive Plan Amendment. Public Open House On April 18, 2013 the City hosted an ("Open House") regarding the future development of the Subject Property. Nearly 250 surrounding property owners were contacted via direct mailings. Comments were received from Open House attendees as well as written and verbal comments received outside of the Open House. In total, the City received twenty-six (26) comments. Of those that responded, twenty-three (24) preferred the residential concept (92%) and three (2) preferred the data center (8%). A detailed analysis is included in the attached Power Point. Staff received a petition in opposition of a data center development, and in support of a residential development, from surrounding property owners on April 26. Said petition included 69 signatures and has not been reviewed or analyzed by Staff. General common inquiries included, but were not limited to the use of the site as a school, park, or renovated Fire Station #2 in place. There were also multiple inquiries as to whether the data center could be sited elsewhere in the community. It should be noted that the Anoka -Hennepin School District does not currently have plans to develop the site as a school for the foreseeable future. The Parks and Recreation Commission has reviewed park needs for the area in the past, and has focused on safe pedestrian connections to other recreation areas in close proximity. The City continues to review future trail and safe pedestrian connection needs for the area. For those opposed to the data center concept, common comments included concerns with decrease in property value, presence and view of data center being undesirable, compatibility with the character of surrounding properties, noise, and long term risk/potential re -use of the site. For those accepting of a data center, common comments include traffic impacts for residential uses being undesirable as well as residential development reducing the privacy of surrounding property owners (hours of operation). Attached to this case is extensive information attained through the public input process. Data Center Prospect Update Over the past few months, Staff has received inquiries from national developers/builders, commercial real estate agents, Connexus Energy and the State of Minnesota regarding the development of the Subject Property for a data center user(s). Although Staff has not worked directly with a data center prospect, the market remains active and interest in the Subject Property remains significant. Observations: Upon completion of the public open house in April, Staff analyzed input received from surrounding property owners and attempted to address common concerns raised in relation to the proposed data center development. The purpose of the information below is to (A) identify concerns that were raised; and, (B) attempt to provide the Council with a options to mitigate said concerns. This information is broken down into two sections. The first section (open house) outlines specific concerns with specific mitigation options. The second section (revised feasibility and concept maps) includes updated analytical information based the mitigation options presented by Staff. SECTION 1: OPEN HOUSE Concerns listed below were raised at the public Open House regarding the development of the Subject Property for a data center user(s). Noise A number of residents raised concerns regarding the noise generators and air conditioning units would create.