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With that in mind, a Zoning Amendment will be required anyway. The following Zoning Districts will be required <br />for this project. <br />65 Foot Wide Lots <br />R-1 Residential (Villa) District <br />55 Foot Wide Lots <br />R-2 Residential (Detached Villa) District <br />40 Foot Wide Lots <br />R-2 Residential (Townhome) District <br />The Subject Property is also located in the Mississippi River Corridor Critical Area (MRCCA), a designation of the <br />State of Minnesota. Said rules were recently updated. The project generally conforms with the updated rules. The <br />City will need to revise its Critical Area Ordinance as part of this project. <br />Tree Preservation <br />A significant amount of discussion has centered on preserving portions of the existing forestry cover. The canopy <br />coverage of this forest is high -quality. While the understory has had some disturbance due to previous grazing by <br />farm animals, the Planning Commission, Environmental Policy Board and City Council have agreed that the <br />quality of the ecological area is worth attempting to protect portions thereof. <br />Through discussions, the Developer is proposing to convey fee title of approximately 7 acres along the back side of <br />Bowers Drive for purposes of tree preservation. Staff recommends that this is contingent upon the City successfully <br />securing a third -party funding source intended for natural resource protection. This funding and implementation <br />plan will continue to be discussed with Preliminary Plat. <br />Public Park <br />The proposed project includes a 1 acre public park. The Park and Recreation Commission is supportive of this <br />general approach. There are limited recreation areas in this area including for existing residents in the Bowers Drive <br />Neighborhood and Alpaca Estates Neighborhood closer to Armstrong Boulevard. Eventually, the area of the east of <br />the Subject Property is anticipated to develop as single-family residential as well. The Park and Recreation <br />Commission feel a public park in this area is warranted. <br />In addition, this park is anticipated to be a nature -based park intended to preserve existing trees on the site with a <br />tree fort theme. <br />Riverdale Drive <br />The project will require the extension of Riverdale Drive, a collector road serving multiple neighborhoods and <br />business districts. The Riverdale Drive Extension is part of the long term plans to improve safety and mobility of <br />Highway 10/169 regardless of future development. Additional detail is known since previous review. Staff will <br />continue to work with the Developer on final design with potential construction in 2021. Additional detail on the <br />funding approach is included in the attached Policy Framework. <br />Staff has been working with multiple residents on refining the final layout. Staff believes that the City, Developer <br />and Property Owner are closer to a compromise with additional refinements to be made. <br />Access to Highway 10 <br />Part of this project will result in the existing access from Bowers Drive to Highway 10/169 being closed. The new <br />Riverdale Drive will be the new connection to Highway 10/169 as a right-in/right-out only. There will be no center <br />median opening to access from westbound Highway 10. Bowers Drive residents will need to access westbound <br />Highway 10/169 from Armstrong Boulevard. <br />Several residents have inquired about not allowing Riverdale Drive to connect to Highway 10. This would result in <br />a long single access point to several hundred homes (Bowers Drive plus Riverstone South). This would not be <br />