Minutes - Planning Commission - 10/10/2002

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Chairperson Nixt stated he shared Councilmember Anderson's concerns but it is not his understanding of what is happening here. He stated he is looking at the outlot as a stand-alone. Principal Planner Trudgeon stated this was on the Council's agenda and tabled until their next meeting for requests that the developer bring sketch plans for both areas and if they could not do the sixteen units, show how they would develop the second part. Mr. McGee stated what it comes down to is that they have to develop the entire piece of property, they cannot have outlots. Principal Planner Trudgeon stated this is inconsistent and there is some desire to know what is going to be developed on the Outlots. Motion by Chairperson Nixt, seconded by Commissioner Kociscak, to approve the site plan of Villas of Meadow Point contingent upon compliance with City Staff review letter dated September 26, 2002, and the developer receiving preliminary plat approval on terms that the City Council has requested and subject to approval by City Staff on landscaping plan. Motion Carried. Voting Yes: Chairperson Nixt, Commissioners Kociscak, Brauer, and Reeve. Voting No: None. Absent: Commissioner Johnson and Watson. Case #13: Proposed Ordinance to Amend Maximum Number of Permitted Units per Building in R-2 Residential District ' Principal Planner Trudgeon explained that City Code states multiple dwelling units (including duplexes, twinhomes, townhomes, and apartment buildings) in the R-2 Residential District shall contain no more than 10 units per building. Allstate Development LLC is requesting an amendment to increase the number of housing units that can be contained in a building located in the R~2 District. Allstate Development would like to construct a townhome development with eight 16-unit buildings as part of the Villas at Meadow Point subdivision. The new R-2 Zoning District limits the number of units in a building to 10. The previous ordinance governing medium density residential district had no cap on the number of units allowed per building. For your information, the new high-density district (R-3) has no cap on the number of units per building. Staff contacted several neighboring cities regarding caps on building size (in terms of units per building) in their medium density residential districts: Anoka: No size limit on buildings other than overall density, minimum lot size, and lot coverage. Coon Rapids: Eight units/building maximum for townhouse development. No cap on multiple- unit dwellings. Elk River: R-3 (townhome) district allows 6 units/building if situated in a row, 8 units/building if situated back to back. No cap on units/building for apartments. Andover: Two density districts - low density: not to exceed 8 units/building or 2 stories; high density: not to exceed 24 units/building or 3 stories. Planning Commission/October 10, 2002 Page 17 of 20