Minutes - Council - 06/22/2004 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Nm'man replied he would be more concerned if the ordinance goeg into effect and people gay no one told them about it. Brian Sullivan of Ryland Homes stated they are a little concerned about the ordinance being retroactive to a development that has already been approved. They have been working with the City and this ordinance has come up over the last couple of months. The issue of putting in sprinklers in a home becomes a hardship for them as far as marketing and selling. Thc homes they build do meet the state code for fire safety, while the sprinkling code is a discretionary code. Ryland Homes has no opposition to putting sprinklers into townhomes, and they are wo,'king with that in several communities. In Eden Prairie they were working with the first 200 homes being approved prior to the ordinance going into effect, so the sprinkling code did not go into effect for those homes. The homes that were approved after the code was approved arc being enforced. Ryland Homes would like the Council to consider grandfathering the plats that have been approved prior to this ordinance going into effect. Mayor Gamec inquired if the builder has any grounds to stand on as far as a conflict with approved plats. City Attorney Goodrich replied in relation to subdivision issues in a preliminary plat, the City cannot amend the ordinance for two years, but that has nothing to do with building permits or codes. The City is under no legal obligation to address previously approved plats. Councilmember Zimmerman stated there are some excellent builders that have said they would put in sprinklers and he would hope others would take that lead. There is no set time to say it is a good time, and they need to go forward with this. Councilmember Kurak commented she understands the situation in that the builder has already developed a marketing plan and strategy on what the units will sell for, and this ordinance has an impact on the bottom line. What would be more troubling are the developments that are half built, as she would imagine they would come forward with the same complaint. There are quite a few townhomes that have had their final plats approved and have yet to be built. In essence they would be making an ordinance that would not be followed through with. She questioned what the reason would be for adopting the ordinance if they were to allow all these holnes to be built without the systems. Todd Baumgartner of Pulte Homes stated they have some homes that are not finished as well. There may not be ever a good time, but they need to balance the interest of the developer, the City, and the public safety. The Council has the ability to acknowledge that some plats were completed before it was understood this ordinance would go into effect. He did talk to people in the City about this, and that time it sounded like this would relate more to Town Center. The plats for Pulte Homes have been final platted and fully approved. He would echo the comments made by Mr. Sullivan regarding this. They usually look at a cost of three to four thousand dollars per unit, and for affordable housing that is it big hit. Councilmember Cook expressed concern that there are several groups out there that are iu this situation. D.R. Horton has final plat approval on Town Center Phase One and they are asking what the City would like to see for sprinklers. Yet others are asking how they can get by without the sprinklers. It would not work out to allow everyone that was working on final plat approval before this policy came into play to build without the sprinkler systems. In that type of situation they would have part of the Gardens of Town Center sprinkled and part of it not sprinkled. They would then have the situation of dealing with a major developed area that has all kinds of different pockets. The only way to be fair is to go by the application for building permits. Councilmember Elvig asked Mr. Baumgartner how difficult it would be for them to briug their permits forward. Mr. Baumgartner replied in one development they probably could, but not in their other development. Mayor Gamec asked what time period most townhouses are financed for. Mr. Baumgartner replied most townhouses are financed with five to seven year City Council/June 22, 2004 Page 15 of 32