Agenda - Council - 06/26/2007 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Case #9: Request for Site Plan Review of Terrace Hill Apartments; Case of Trident Development, LLC Associate Planner Dalnes stated on May 7, 2007, the City received an application from Trident Development, LLC to develop a 63 -unit apartment building on the property legally described as Lot 1, Block 1, The Ponds of Ramsey, generally located on Dysprosium Street, west of CSAH 5 and the Ramsey water tower property. Trident Development, LLC has submitted a site plan application to develop a 63 -unit, general occupancy apartment building on an existing property located in the Ponds of Ramsey. The property is approximately 4.5 acres in size and is zoned R -3 High Density housing. The property was rezoned in 2003 as part of the overall development plan for the Ponds of Ramsey. The original development plan proposed an 80 -unit senior building on the site, but no site plan application was made for this project. Ms. Dalnes explained within the R -3 district, a maximum of 15 units per acre is permitted, and the proposed site plan indicates on overall density of 14.9 units per acre. The site plan meets all setback, site design,. lot coverage, and minimum floor. area requirements. Ms. Dalnes stated the building is proposed to be 3 stories and 43 feet in height. The building elevations indicate a 35% brick front faeade and multiple architectural features including porches, a cantilevered faeade, and window treatments. The application meets City Code requirements for building height and architecture. However, the City Council has expressed concern over the massing of the building. Staff has suggested adding roof pitch variation and architectural detail in reference to the garage doors. Associate Planner Dalnes stated the parking requirements for this site are 2.5 spaces per unit, one of which must be enclosed. The site plan proposes 164 stalls, of which 63 are enclosed in attached and detached parking facilities. In total, 37 spaces are proposed within detached garages and the remaining enclosed spaces will be accommodated in at- grade garage stalls within the first floor of the building. Staff requests an effort be made to improve the aesthetics of the garage doors. Access is proposed to be gained from Dysprosium Street. In light of recent efforts by Anoka County and the City of Ramsey to identify the future re- alignment of Trunk Highway 47, an alternate, future access from Nowthen Boulevard is proposed through the City property to the ,east. This future access would only be obtained if /when the TH 47 route was constructed down Dysprosium Street and Nowthen Boulevard was turned back to the City. Ms. Dalnes stated significant changes have been made to the original concept plan for Terrace Hill Apartments. The applicant has relocated the building as to not interfere with the possible re- alignment path of TH 47. Staff has also requested that the applicant further revise the plan to minimize the presence of any parking or pavement in the possible right -of -way area, which requires the applicant to relocate a stormwater pond, and re -route the proposed drainage from the existing pond to a future pond located in the right -of -way. This allows the applicant to re- position the proposed building farther to the north, and avoid the necessity to locate any parking stalls in the proposed right -of -way. Staff has been working closely with the applicant to achieve these revisions to the grading plan. Density transitioning is required when R -3 Residential development abuts R -1 Residential property. The applicant is proposing to meet the density transitioning requirements through the use of existing tree cover and the addition of trees on the western property line. U4111I:T