Agenda - Council Work Session - 08/13/2013

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STAFF REPORT BACKGROUND INFORMATION IDEAL. CLASSIC. A-2013-9a Zoning Text Amendment Chapter 74, Article V, Division 6, Sections 74-270 Sensitive Development District City of Anoka July 9, 2013 The City of Anoka is proposing amendments to the zoning code pertaining to the Sensitive Development District that would allow for single family residential in the area east of the Rum River Library. The Sensitive Development District ordinance was drafted and approved in 2010. At that time, the land west of the Rum River Library was guided Medium Density Residential in the 2030 Land Use Map in the Comprehensive Plan (see map). When the Developer presented to the City Council in April and was chosen as the preferred developer to prepare a plat for the City to consider for the city owned land north of County Road 116 and east of the Rum River, the Council guided the Developer to come up with a plan that included single family lots to provide a high -end single family housing product ($400-650,000) that is currently not available within the City of Anoka to provide more housing options for the public. The Comprehensive Plan Map Amendment will be considered as a separate item. The proposed text amendments outlined in summary below accomplish the following goals: • Allow the zoning to permit single family use east of the Wild and Scenic Boundary as shown on the map and Labeled "Townhomes" which is the current permitted use (approximately 9.7 acres). As currently written, the existing ordinance prohibits single family use east of the Rum River Wild and Scenic Boundary (west of the Rum River Library) and only townhomes are permitted. • The lot sizes east of the Wild and Scenic area may be 10,000 square feet. (see map)This lot size is consistent with the R-1 Single Family Residential zoning district. The current ordinance states the minimum lot size is 12,500 square feet for this area. This size was intended more specifically for the land south of the High School, which is also zoned Sensitive Development District, to allow for more tree preservation. The land north of County Road 116 that is to be development is an open farm field with the remaining tree canopy preserved under the conservation easement established in 2007. • Under architectural control, pertaining to front facing garages, there are 4 design features that are required to be incorporated for front facing garages. The proposed change in the ordinance is to remove the provision that the garage must be stepped back 5 feet from the front line of the house. When the original ordinance was created in 2010 and the front - facing garage design features were discussed, the main focus of the discussion was