Agenda - Council Work Session - 03/26/2024

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Part of this project will result in the existing access from Bowers Drive to Highway 10/169 being closed. The new Riverdale Drive will be the new connection to Highway 10/169 as a right-in/right-out only. There will be no center median opening to access from westbound Highway 10. Bowers Drive residents will need to access westbound Highway 10/169 from Armstrong Boulevard. Several residents have inquired about not allowing Riverdale Drive to connect to Highway 10. This would result in a long single access point to several hundred homes(Bowers Drive plus Riverstone South). This would not be consistent with City Code requirements and require a Variance. Staff is not supportive of this request due to public safety concerns. Second Bowers Drive Access Based on Planning Commission Review, this topic is the top concern of Bowers Drive Residents. General consensus is that all other concerns can generally be mitigated. It has long been discussed providing a second access to Bowers Drive. Bowers Drive represents the longest dead end street in the community and exceeds current City Code requirements. First and foremost,the City acknowledges the unique neighborhood character of Bowers Drive and strives to protect this character. While the City feels strongly that a second connection is necessary and warranted,the City also believes that there is a way to accomplish this without traffic impacts. The connection point and road design can be accomplished in such a way that traffic modeling will demonstrate this this connection point will not result in additional traffic counts. In fact, Staff believes this may prove to be a benefit to Bowers Drive rather than a detriment. Staff acknowledges that some on Bowers Drive are opposed to this connection, including the two new homes on either side of this connection point(currently an Outlot preserved for future road connection). There are two general options on the table. 1.Full Road Connection 2. Restricted Public Safety Access The Planning Commission previously recommended a full road connection. The City Council left both options on the table for further analysis and discussion. Staff generally prefers a public road connection with reduced width, but is open to policy direction. Following the Planning Commission, Staff issued a survey to Bowers Drive Residents. Results of said survey are attached. Out of approximately 80 homes on Bowers Drive,the City received 30 responses (37%response rate) when factoring out duplicate responses from same household. 21 households responded that they do not support a second connection. 9 households supported some type of connection. The survey noted that non-responses could be considered as anon-objection to the second connection(50 households did not respond). Funding Source: Processing of this case is the responsibility of the Applicant. There is a Cost Share Agreement in place for the extension of Riverdale Drive that has the Developer,Property Owner and City contributing to the costs of this Collector Road serving multiple neighborhoods and areas and is part of the Ramsey Gateway Plan(US Highway 10/169). Recommendation: Based on discussion. The City has broad policy discretion as the request requires the approval of a Zoning Amendment(and possibly a Comprehensive Plan Amendment)due to lot sizes and densities. Action: