Minutes - Council Work Session - 10/17/2023 - Special

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Mayor Kuzma asked if Staff is comfortable changing the language to the MUSA reserve from the urban reserve. City Administrator Hagen said yes. He added that Staff will meet with the Met Council and talk about the plan to submit a comprehensive plan amendment to reguide and adjust some of the existing or approved developments in the COR. He asked if there are any areas that they would like to adjust from commercial in case they are not meeting the numbers required. He noted that they had previously discussed the land that is north of the solar farm which is guided for commercial use. Planning Manager Larson added that the Lord of Life property with the Presbyterian Homes proposal is still pending. He noted that it is currently zoned and guided for various densities of residential; however, it is more than what it is currently guided for. He explained that they will need to do a comprehensive plan amendment for this site for around 100 more units. He stated that Presbyterian Homes told Staff to leave this be for now so he is not sure if they are not looking to move forward with this or if they will deal with it after they have everything that they need to start working on an actual site plan. Councilmember Riley asked if they are already looking to make a comprehensive plan amendment and this potential change would be favorable why not just make the change now. City Administrator Hagen stated that if they changed this now and added more high density then this would give more rights to the developer to put in more high density down the road, which Council may not like as much as the Presbyterian Homes proposal. Councilmember Woestehoff shared that he would be more in favor of focusing on the north side adjacent to the COR area as there does not seem to be a lot of very good walking or bike paths safely across Highway 10 if they put anything to the south of it. City Administrator Hagen asked if the commercial property east of Ferret and west of Armstrong fall under the mixed use category of the COR and would there be benefits of changing this to a mixed use. He asked if the mixed use minimum should increase based on actual projects that they have seen. Planning Manager Larson said yes. He noted that this land is currently designated as commercial and some is mixed use. He stated that the only people who are inquiring to do anything in this area are for retail use. Councilmember Woestehoff stated that he would not mind some high density designation south of Highway 10; however, it would feel better to have this closer to the COR. Planning Manager Larson stated that a lot of the areas south of Highway 10 are in the MRCA that does have a height limitation. He noted that a three story building would likely be feasible but a lot of apartment buildings these days are four or five stories tall. City Council Special Work Session/ October 17, 2023 Page 6 of 16