Agenda - Council Work Session - 02/14/2017

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CC Work Session 2. 3. Meeting Date: 02/14/2017 Information Title: Discuss Concept Development Project: Case of Rum River Hills Golf Course - 6:15 - 6:40 - 25 Minutes Purpose/Background: PURPOSE (1) Receive updated proposal/ request from Rum River Hills. (2) Provide high-level, general direction to Rum River Hills. BACKGROUND -Proposed Project - Rum River Hills approached the City in 2013/2014 with a proposal to redevelop their golf course, and hopefully help revitalize the 167/47 retail node. Rum River Hills proposed a roughly 165-unit, residential, golf community, development (with a mix of single family homes, town homes, and apartments). Rum River Hills is proposing to move two of their golf holes from the east to the west side of Highway 47, to the City -owned "water tower site." This redevelopment project calls for the construction of a Highway 47 pedestrian underpass, the reconstruction of Quicksilver, and the extension of a City sewer line. - 167/47 Statement of Goals - Discussion of the Rum River Hills proposal was intertwined with the City's process to adopt a formal "statement of goals" for the 167/47 node in 2013. Please see the attached City policy. In summary, the City was willing to discuss assisting projects that removed/ improved blight in the areas of "primary concern." - Direction Provided to Rum River in 2013/2014- In 2013/2014, Rum River Hills was requesting the City pay for (1) 100% the pedestrian underpass, 550K, (2) 100% of the sewer extension, $1.6M, (3) 100% of QuickSilver, 690K, (4) and provide free land, 200K. The City rejected this request, as it was too much to consider at the time ($3M of city contribution). The City encouraged Rum River Hills to engage an engineering firm to develop better cost estimations for their project, so they can provide the City with better documentation. The City encouraged Rum River Hills to engage with a master developer/ equity partner. Lastly, the City encouraged Rum River Hills to reconsider how much they were asking from the City. NOTE: some elected/ appointed officials were also concerned this project didn't "directly" address the "primary area of concern" in the 167/47 Statement of Goals, and were not interested in this project, period. - Comprehensive Plan/Zoning- The project would require a Comprehensive Plan Amendment for a variety of aspects (sewer/water district - MUSA, land use, residential type). The concept has been reviewed by Planning Commission and the public in the general sense, but has not been specifically advertised for the specific project. If the City Council is comfortable with the parameters of the deal structure, Community Development Staff would recommend that the land use be the first step in review. - Update, what's new? - Rum River Hills began reaching out to staff again in 2015. They engaged SEH Engineering to complete a feasibility report for the project --to obtain pad ready sites (see attached SEH report). Rum River Hills is now not asking for free city -owned land (willing to pay). They are now not asking for the City to pay 100% of QuickSilver, but they are proposing to split the costs. They are still asking the City to extend the sewer line, and they still are asking the City to pay for the pedestrian underpass. Please see attached cover letter from Rum River Hills.