Agenda - Planning Commission - 01/23/2025

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the site, so the site is not considered secure. Should the applicant add a gate, the Fire Departments for both communities will require a lock box for their access. Grading and Drainage The site is generally flat. The applicant is proposing to lightly grade the site for drainage with storm water collecting in a basin at the south end of the site or a storm water trench along the southeastern portion of the site. Storm water management of this site is reviewed by the Lower Rum River WMO. Additional refinement of the grading and drainage plans are needed before submittal to the WMO. Off the eastern property line on Links at Northfork property is a large berm. The applicant has reached out to golf course management to add trees to this berm for additional screening and to fulfill the landscaping requirements of the site. Some of the plans indicate modifying the berm and adding a retaining wall. Golf course management has indicated that they will consent to the landscaping, but not the grading and wall. Additional modifications to the grading plan along the eastern property line are likely necessary, but would not substantially impact the site design. Landscaping and Screening From the EPB's January 15, 2025, meeting, it was noted that the submittal does include a Landscape Plan for the project. While there is a request to rezone the Subject Property to a PUD, which has no specific standards, the proposed use is most similar to that of an industrial use, and therefore, the minimum required plantings are to be determined using the canopy cover formula. As submitted, the Landscape Plan needs to be revised to include at least another 27,370 square feet of canopy cover. If, for example, the Applicant were to add a species such as American Elm, Bur Oak, and/or White Oak, this could be accomplished with as few as seven (7) additional trees. All the plantings along the eastern boundary are shown to be on the adjacent golf course property (on top of the existing berm). Staff has informed the Applicant that they need to provide the city with a copy of the written authorization from the adjacent property owner for the plantings to be on the golf course property. The Landscape Plan does include a sixty (60) foot wide bufferyard along the northern property boundary, which abuts an existing residential property. Within the bufferyard, the Applicant is proposing a combination of deciduous overstory trees (Red Maple), evergreen trees (Green Giant Arborvitae), and a six (6) foot tall wooden privacy fence. Typically, a bufferyard would need to be landscaped with an additional thirty percent (30%) of the required plantings. However, the inclusion of the privacy fence reduces the amount of required plantings in the bufferyard by fifty percent (50%). Thus, an additional 6,320 square feet of canopy cover is needed and again, depending on the species chosen, could be accomplished with as few as two (2) additional trees. City Code does provide standards for parking lot landscaping (one tree for every ten parking stalls). However, neither Ramsey nor Elk River Staff consider this to be a typical parking lot. This, in essence, simply serves as a storage area for larger vehicles. The landscape requirements for parking lots are intended to ensure there is some shade available for customers and/or employees (they are parking for shorter periods of time) and to create some visual relief. The users of this site will be parking their vehicle and essentially storing it on the Subject Property for longer periods of time. Additionally, it is worth noting that the plantings along the eastern boundary are directly adjacent to the easternmost row of stalls and thus, will provide some shade for those areas. Lighting The applicant has provided a draft lighting plan. The plan shows areas where additional lighting is possible with the addition of freestanding light poles. The northern portion of the site is limited to a 20-foot mounting height (due to the adjacent residential use) with the majority of the site having a 30-foot height. Given the nature of the use, larger and wider drive aisle and deeper parking spaces for the trucks and trailers make pole placement challenging. With some modification, all of the parking areas should be able to meet Ramsey's 1.0 fc parking lot requirement. Many areas of the large drive aisles will be dimmer due to longer distances from light poles, but should be able to achieve the 0.5 fc exterior storage area requirement.