Agenda - Council - 09/21/2004 - Special

Home

cottages. The final plat under review shows 54 single-family lots and 22 association maintained cottage lots. As part of the first plat of the development, the Developer dedicated ail of the street right-otVways and drainage and utility easements. As part of the first development phase, utilities were installed in the location of the second addition. No further work on the utilities is expected to occur as part of this final phase. The City approved a tree preservation plan as part of the first phase approval. This plan will be adhered to as part of the second phase of construction.' The applicant will be required to pay for park dedication, trail development and for sewer, water, and stormwater trunk charges. He advised staff recommends approval of the final plat of Village of' Sunfish Lake 2® Addition subject to compliance with City Staff Review Letter dated August 20, 2004, and the applicant entering into a Development Agreement with the City of Ramsey. Mike Thomas, Vice President of Liberty Land Development, stated Liberty Land Development purchased this property because the previous developer could not make it work. When they purchased this they looked at a development agreeme'nt with sewer and water trunk charges at $1,862 per unit. They have now found out two days before final plat with no warning, that the trunk charges have gone up to $4,125. This is a total cost increase of $162,000. There has also been an increase in the park and trail fees, which all results in a total increase of $202,612. He stated the development was pre-approved as a whole and the sewer and water were put in as a whole. They would like the Council to work with them at the old fees at preliminary approval, or at least give staff a recommendation to negotiate a new fee that is not a 60 percent increase. Assistant Community Development Director Trudgeon explained the sewer and water trunk fees were $1,862 per tot. The Council recently approved the sewer and water comprehensive plan and the recommendation to raise the trunk fees from $1,862 to $4,125 was approved at the last Council meeting. This is a total of $162,000 in additional trunk fees from what was previously understood. The park and trail fees, which change annually, changed January 1st. It is stated in the development agreement that the park and trail fees would not be adjustable, and this is seen all th~ time. However, the trunk fees were just raised, and it is a big jump. City Attorney Goodrich advised precedent needs to be considered when discussing this issue. Councilmcmber Strommen inquired what the price range is on the homes in the development. Mr. Thomas replied the price range will be approximately $300,000 to $325,000 on the single- t:amily homes, with the price of the cottage homes a little lower. Councilmember Kurak asked if the cost of the fees could be adjusted down because of the notification to the developer. This could be a point of differentiation concerning the precedent, as well as that this was a complete PUD. She noted this developer has had to do things a little di1'l'ct'ently because this was a difficult development. (;~)uncilmcmbcr Cook commented this was all approved a long time ago, with this being like the thit'd phase. (iouncihn~,mber Zimmerman noted it is the same situation with Town Center. Ci~ Council/August 24, 2004 Page 19 of 25 -21-