Agenda - Planning Commission - 07/22/2021

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Regular Planning Commission 6. 4. Meeting Date: 07/22/2021 By: Chris Anderson, Community Development Information Title: PUBLIC HEARING: Consider Sketch Plan and Comprehensive Plan Amendment for the Property West and South of Fire Station #1 (Project No. 21-122); Case of U.S. Home Corporation dba Lennar Purpose/Background: The City has received an application from U.S. Home Corporation dba Lennar (the "Applicant") for a Sketch Plan and Comprehensive Plan Amendment for the property generally located west and south of Fire Station #1 and identified as PID #20-32-25-44-0003 (the "Subject Property"). The Applicant is seeking action on a Comprehensive Plan Amendment now, before incurring significant cost in preparing a Preliminary Plat. The Sketch Plan is the first of three (3) steps in a Major Plat. No formal action is required on a Sketch Plan. Rather, it provides an opportunity for the Planning Commission to provide feedback to the applicant prior to the drafting of more detailed plans required at the Preliminary Plat (2nd step) and Final Plat (3rd step). Notification: The City attempted to notify Property Owners, as reflected in the Anoka County Property Records, within 700 feet of the Subject Property of the request. Observations/Alternatives: Project Summary The Subject Property is approximately 35.5 acres in size, including about eight (8) acres of wetland. The site surrounds the City Firestation on the west side of Armstrong Blvd. The Applicant is proposing 133 new dwellings, including a mix of single family homes (65-foot wide lots) and attached townhomes. The proposed net density of the project is 5.1 units per acre. Comprehensive Plan The Subject Property is guided as High Density Residential in the 2040 Comprehensive Plan. This designation requires a density range between eight (8) and fifteen (15) units per acre. The Applicant has applied for a Comprehensive Plan Amendment to re -guide the Subject Property from HDR to Medium Density Residential (MDR), which allows a density range of four (4) to eight (8) units per acre. The City can approve a Comprehensive Plan amendment without a formal plan for the site, if the City Council wishes to do so. This can be helpful to set plans for the and solicit projects, if the vision now differs from what is in the Comprehensive Plan (in this case, High Density Residential). Staff does see merit in the request to reduce the density from 8 - 15 units per acre to 4 - 8 units per acre, since the site abuts some low density residential on the north and west, and is across from low density residential across Armstrong Blvd on the east. All comprehensive plan amendments must receive approval from the Metropolitan Council. Staff has sent the request to the Metropolitan Council for high level feedback on the request, and will follow up with additional information if the Council approves said amendment. Zoning The Subject Property currently has a split zoning. Approximately six (6) acres (in the northwest corner of the Subject Property) are zoned as R-1 Residential (MUSA) - 80 with the remainder zoned as R-3 Residential (High