Agenda - Planning Commission - 08/05/2004

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with the 195 unit plan because of environmental reasons. This resolved most of the issues with the residential units and Highway 10. The issue of Ryland Group is that they have been on a very long path and the developer has expended several hundred thousand dollars in putting together a plan and working with the City since last summer. They have put the whole package together in relation to the City ordinances and codes during the entire review process. Their point of view is that the potential adoption of Sprinkler Chapter 1306 is allowed by the state and not a requirernent, it is completely discretionary, as to whether the City adopts it and at what level the City adopts it in relation to 16 unit buildings or 8,500 square foot structures, or at what point to make the code effective. Given the long track record that Ryland Group and other builders might have. that have been in a long Process with the City, they are complete with the process, and the development agreement states that Ryland Homes and Turtle Moon will agTee to build the plan as the Council has approved it and to the standards applied, and the City agrees to approve it according to those standards. Ryland Group has relied on all those standards, and if a standard comes about in the next several weeks or months, that is very expensive with an impact of four to six thousand dollars per unit. This wo. uld be that much less home that a future resident of Ramsey would be able to purchase. His suggestion is that it be agreed that Ryland Group has provided according to the standards the City had in place at the time and allow them to move. forward. If the City wanted to discuss this they should at least consider making a point of application for the code. If it is adopted at final plat it would treat them together with other builder developers from a business standpoint. Associate Planner Wald suggested since there is a bit of uncomfortableness based on the fire sprinkling exemption, that the final plat action be tabled tonight and taken up at the meeting of the 22® after the Council has reviewed the sprinkling ordinance and the appropriate staff is available to participate in the discussion. Mr. Enger stated they do not want to delay this further. They did not want to speak against the sprinkling code. They will come back to speak to the Council at the time of the sprinkling code ordinance and would like to go forward with the final plat tonight. Motion by Councilmember Cook, second by C0uncilmember Kurak, to adopt Resolution #04- 06-149 approving the final plat of Rivenwick Village, 'and to approve the final plat contingent upon compliance with City Staff Review Letter dated June 4, 2004 and the developer entering into a Development Agreement with the City. Councihnember Zimmerman stated a cost of two percent is quite minor to him. He does not know why the developer would want to object, the sprinklers could be used as a sale point of safety in the buildings. Mr. Enger stated he does not object to the sprinkling code, but Ryland Group is beyond that point and they cannot pass that cost on to the buyer at this point. The sprinklers will not increase the value of the homes. If they had known about the code six months ago they would have accounted for it in the dealings with the developer. Councihnember Cook indicated the only way to moVe forward tonight is to follow staff's recommendation, and this is not the time for this discussion. It could be another month before the ordinance is adopted, but they will have to look at how it is enforced. City Council/June 8, 2004 Page 17 of 22 P63