Agenda - Environmental Policy Board - 05/16/2022

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Environmental Policy Board (EPB) 5. 1. Meeting Date: 05/16/2022 By: Chris Anderson, Community Development Information Title: Consider Natural Resources Elements for PACT Charter School Site Plan, Preliminary Plat and Final Plat (Project No. 22-107); Case of JB Vang on Behalf of PACT Charter School Purpose/Background: The City has received an application from JB Vang Partners (the "Applicant"), on behalf of PACT Charter School, for review of a Site Plan, Preliminary Plat, and Final Plat related to a proposed new, second school campus to be located at 7633 161st Avenue NW (the "Subject Property"). The Subject Property is presently owned by The Church of Saint Katharine Drexel (the "Property Owner"). As the Environmental Policy Board (EPB) will recall, the City previously reviewed a Sketch Plan, along with a requested Comprehensive Plan Amendment and Zoning Amendment, related to this same project. The City Council ultimately approved the Comprehensive Plan Amendment and Zoning Amendment contingent upon approval of the Preliminary Plat. Notification: Another Public Hearing will be conducted by the Planning Commission on May 26, 2022. Staff attempted to notify property owners within 700 feet of the Subject Property, as reflected in the Anoka County Property Records, of this current round of applications for Site Plan, Preliminary Plat, Final Plat, and a Variance (to a side yard setback) of the Public Hearing to be held by the Planning Commission on May 26, 2022. A notice of the Public Hearing (to be held by the Planning Commission) was also published in the Anoka County UnionHerald, the City's official newspaper. Observations/Alternatives: Background Information The Subject Property is approximately thirty-three (33) acres in size and is currently zoned R-1 Residential (MUSA) - 80 and guided as Low Density Residential (again, City Council approved a Comprehensive Plan Amendment and Zoning Amendment, with contingencies, in March of this year. Assuming the contingencies are met, approximately 18 acres of the Subject Property would be guided as Public/Institutional and zoned as Public/Quasi-Public). The Subject Property is at the northwest corner of Variolite Street and 161st Avenue and abuts Central Park to the west. Properties to the east (across Variolite Street) are zoned R-1 Residential (MUSA) - 80, range in size from about 0.31 acres to 1.46 acres, and are guided Low Density Residential. The properties to the north and south (across 161st Avenue) are zoned R-1 Rural Developing, range in size from about 1.1 acres up to about 2.57 acres, and are guided as Rural Developing in the 2040 Comprehensive Plan. The property to the west (Central Park) is about 37 acres in size, is zoned Public/Quasi-Public and is guided as Park. The Plat would create a single, buildable lot (approximately 18 acres in size) and two outlots (approximately 8 acres and 6.5 acres). The eighteen (18) acre parcel would be for PACT Charter School to develop a new 6-12 grade campus. The two outlots would be reserved and retained by the Property Owner for the future home of a new church. Natural Resources Information Wetlands and Floodplain: There do not appear to be any floodplain areas within the Subject Property. There is a wetland present in the northeastern corner of the Subject Property (the City's Wetlands Inventory identified this wetland as a Manage 3, or low functioning, wetland). The majority of the wetland is within the northern outlot and thus, protected from any building activity associated with the school. Based on the Site Plan, there are no proposed