Agenda - Planning Commission - 12/04/2014

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Mayor Strommen stated with the aesthetics, the Planning Commission wanted to assure the Council also vetted issues. She asked about the safeguards related to not having visual issues such as a 'sea of parking' mentioned by Councilmember Johns. Community Development Director Gladhill reviewed design requirements, noting streets are required to be fronted by buildings, not parking, and 60% of the road frontage shall be building and only 20% can be surface parking. In addition, there is flexibility in plan review to create features such as architectural walls to screen parking. Community Development Director Gladhill noted that in this District, Sunwood Drive will be the main corridor and focus for building orientation. Mayor Strommen asked about the impact for a transit -oriented development, noting the North Star Station and parking ramp are in place. She also asked about market trends in other communities relating to transit -oriented development. Mayor Strommen noted the Planning Commission had raised a question about impact on grants that had been received. Community Development Director Gladhill stated a key piece is having a mix of uses, density, and overall understanding of the number of households within a one-half mile radius of the Transit Station. He explained that this change would not warrant a Comprehensive Plan amendment as the density would still be acceptable for transit -oriented development in a suburban area. Community Development Director Gladhill stated Ramsey told the Metropolitan Council, with funding for the Rail Station, that it would be 10-units per acre overall. In retail areas, there will be zero units per acre and in The Residence, there will be 75 units per acre. Community Development Director Gladhill stated the development plan was always intended to be flexible to react to the market and at this point, the aim is 2,000 households within The COR at full build out. He stated that can still be achieved as well as the goal of pedestrian orientation. Mayor Strommen stated it appears that overall, the density will be at 2,000 households and 10 units per acre even with this amendment. Community Development Director Gladhill answered in the affirmative, noting the PSD concept plan with FAR at .60 to .65 had density at 20 units per acre. He explained that when the Metropolitan Council looks at citing new transit ways, many times FAR is closer to .5 so this amendment would `raise the bar' and recognize the commuter rail. With regard to other communities, Community Development Director Gladhill stated they are also struggling with this issue and holding these same discussions. Mayor Strommen stated the Planning Commission had requested a market analysis and asked what that would consist of and bring to the table beyond the information already available. Community Development Director Gladhill stated the study could determine whether the cost figures reflective of structure parking are the same as construction costs Ramsey would experience for structured parking; correlating cost per stall to the cost per unit; and, market rent rates in Ramsey's market area. Mayor Strommen asked if such a study would provide more site specific numbers.