06-24-2024 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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STAFF REPORT TO: Mayor Fischer and Members of the City Council FROM: Chris Heineman, City Administrator DATE: Monday, June 24, 2024 RE: Amendment to Villas of Gervais Lake Development Agreement SUMMARY The City Council is asked to approve a Motion to Amend the Villas of Gervais Lake Development Agreement to change the name of the developer and transfer ownership of the subdivision from Sean Keatts, owner of Cara Builders to Joel T. Larson, President of Hampton Properties VII, LLC. An amendment to the grading plan which requires the removal of some additional trees and adds a retaining wall along the west side of the homes to the west of the new street was reviewed and approved by City Engineer Eric Seaburg. The revised tree removal plan was also reviewed by Mark Rehder, a Board-Certified Master Arborist. Due to the distance from the property line, he determined that the retaining wall would have little to no impact on the private oak trees on the adjacent private property. Other than this amendment to the grading plan, there are no additional changes to the terms of the Development Agreement. All of the remaining terms and conditions of the Development Agreement must be completed by the new developer. BACKGROUND City staff was initially approached in March 2022 by Sean Keats from Cara Builders, LLC about the subdivision of a 3.12-acre parcel located north of Little Canada Road and bordered by Edgerton Street to the east and Gervais Mill Park to the north. The parcel is in the R-1 single-family zoning district and is the last undeveloped remnant of the Huot property. City staff worked with the developer on eight site plans before arriving at a layout that would work for the site with minimal variances. The initial site plan included 11 single-family lots and was ultimately reduced to 8 single-family lots before being presented to the Planning Commission. The Planning Commission reviewed the application at the July 14th Planning Commission meeting and voted to recommend approval (5-1) to the City Council. The City Council conducted a public hearing and considered the Preliminary Plat application at the July 27 City Council meeting. Based on feedback from residents, the City Council recommended reducing the site plan to seven single-family lots and referred the application back to the Planning Commission. The Planning Commission reviewed the recommended changes to the Preliminary Plat and additional information from the watershed district at their August 11 meeting and again recommended approval to the City Council.