Minutes - Planning Commission - 06/05/2001

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showing the development of 86.71 acres at the corner of Dysprosium St. and Nowthen Boulevard. Royal Oaks Realty is proposing to develop 73 single-family lots, 152 townhome units and 82 apartment units on this property. As part of this plat, the applicant is also asking to rezone the property to Planned Unit Development (P.U.D.), to receive a variance from the height restrictions for the proposed apartment building, and site plan approvals of the townhouse development and apartment building. The property is currently zoned R-1 Single Family and B- 1 Business. The applicant is asking for a rezoning of the property to P.U.D. The March 2001 Draft Comprehensive Plan shows a total of 7.52 acres of this property being High Density Residential, 13.52 acres being Medium Density Residential and 65.67 acres as Low Density Residential. The number of units that the development shows (307) is less than the maximum number of units that would be allowed under the March 2001 Draft Comprehensive Land Use Map (340). The property has 28.02 acres of wetlands. The preliminary plat shows a gross density of 3.54 units per acre. When the wetlands are factored out, the net density for the whole development is 5.23 units per acre. The single-family lots abut urban size residential lot to the north and west and two large single family lots to the south that are buffered by wetlands. The single-family lots all meet the standard minimum dimensional and area requirements. Eighteen lots are subject to regulations governing shorelands. These lots all meet the dimensional and lot width requirements for the Shoreland District. The development will gain primary access from Nowthen Blvd. and secondary access from Iodine St. NW. The preliminary plat does not show any proposed access to or from the subdivision using Fluorine St. NW. The development is proposing to use Outlot A and B of Wood Pond Hills 4th Addition in combination with land on the development property to create 7 new single family lots and complete 145th Court. Two existing lots on the south side of 145th Court are shown as receiving additional land in their rear yards. The plat shows three outlots. Outlot A is located across Nowthen Blvd. and currently has the Lord of Life Church sign on it. The applicant is planning on deeding Outlot A to the church. Outlots B and C are planned to be deeded to the two property owners on 145th Court as shown. The drives serving the townhomes and the apartment building will be private and maintained by the Homeowners Association. City ordinances state that private streets shall not be allowed in Ramsey. However, past practice has been to allow them in certain developments. The sketch plan showed an access between the townhomes and apartment building. This has now been removed on the preliminary plat per the Planning Commission's direction. All public and private streets shall be named in conformance with the City's street grid pattern. The recently adopted sidewalk ordinance calls for sidewalk to be installed on all roads except cul-de-sacs. Information supplied with the preliminary plat only partially complies with the sidewalk ordinance. Additional sidewalk needs to be constructed on Iodine St. and that part of 144th Lane northwest of Fluorine Court. The grading and drainage plan is generally acceptable. However, further information regarding the slopes of individual lot grades will be needed to ensure that they are not less than 1%. The Lower Rum River Water Management Agency (LRRWMO) will require a permit for the stormwater drainage into the wetlands. This permit will also address the adequacy of the erosion control measures during construction. A traffic generation analysis was prepared at the developer's expense by SRF, Inc. Staff finds the access and traffic circulation acceptable. City staff recommended preliminary plat approval subject to compliance with City Staff Review Letter dated June 1,2001. Planning Commission/June 5, 2001 Page 9 of 28