10-26-2022 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES CITY COUNCIL OCTOBER 26, 2022 2 after requesting site plan amendments. The Council gave final approval of the Pioneer Commons Preliminary Plat on May 25, 2022. She reported that based on Council discussion and public comment, Lennar had provided an updated site plan to show additional circulation to address concerns about traffic, city road connections, and internal connections within the private streets of the development. The Community Development Director reviewed the entire project and explained the three phases of development. She stated the overall site grading has begun and the first phase will consist of constructing the extension of Vanderbie Street from Allen Avenue to County Road D and 48 townhome units, and noted they plan for some units to be completed by spring 2023. She reported that the project has met the requirements of the City Engineer and has received a permit from the Ramsey Washington Watershed District. The Community Development Director explained that the applicant is seeking variances for front and read yard setbacks of some of the units. She reported that the plat indicates which units She noted the Council requested that the south end of the development be less dense, which Lennar complied with, but in order to do this, the plan requires smaller front and rear yard setbacks in certain areas in order to place the homes appropriately. She explained the front setback variance request is from the required 25 feet to 20 feet, and the rear yard setback request is from the required 30 feet to some units at 20 feet. She noted that many of the units along the eastern edge will have much larger than required setbacks. Paul Tabone with Lennar, stated the engineering and construction plans are almost final, they have received their permit approvals from Ramsey County and the watershed district, and are working through a few final pieces. He reported they intend to do as much grading, street and utility construction as the weather will allow, with the intention to start a model over the winter for the spring selling season. He explained that the variance setback requests are minimums and stated that in many cases they will actually be more than that. He stated that especially along the eastern edge, there will be actually 50 to 60 foot separation. He noted they will have a minimum of 22 foot front setbacks in order to park full size vehicles in the driveways. Fischer clarified that the plans show exactly which units will need the setback variances so there are no questions. Torkelson stated it appeared the reduced setbacks are on the units along Vanderbie Street, not along the exterior of the development. Mr. Tabone stated that most of the reduced setbacks are on the interior Fischer stated that he wants the construction traffic to be required, not preferred, to go north instead of using Allen Avenue, since that is a new street. The Community Development Director stated that was discussed during the pre-construction meeting, and explained that once they can have access into the site from another location, the construction traffic will be signed to use other access. McGraw asked when the Vanderbie Street extension would be completed. Mr. Tabone stated they will do as much as they can this year and finish in the spring if needed. Torkelson stated that there had been discussion about putting bump-outs on the southern end of Vanderbie, but did not see them in the plans. He noted they are shown at the trail crossings. Eric