04-02-2025 Park Board Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Search

Park Board April 2, 2025 pg. 2 DRAFT MINUTES Staff recommends 100% cash dedication in lieu of land. The developer will be credited to construct a minimum 8.5 ft wide public trail (depicted in green) from Wilkinson Way to the public open space property and extending the trail to Ash Street. This creates a multi-functional greenway corridor. Future passive amenities including a pavilion and benches could be considered for the public open space property. Mr. Huelman questioned if there was a plan for a trail to the north. Mr. DeGardner replied there would be a trail on the south side of Ash Street and the west side of Centerville Road. The trail would be within the county right-of-way. Lauren Grouws, VP of Development for Wilkinson Waters LLC, is present at the meeting. She discussed that they proposed a trail through the wetland area and owned the land further west. Mr. Kusterman asked about North Oaks park and the trail system. Mrs. Grouws replied that they are private, and no connections are proposed to their trail access. Mr. Huelman made a motion for 100% cash dedication in lieu of land with the credit to construct a public trail. Mrs. Ballering seconded. Motion carried 6 – 0. B. Review Natures Refuge North Preliminary Plat Mr. DeGardner summarizes M/I Homes of Minneapolis/St. Paul, LLC (M/I Homes) is submitting an application for a Preliminary Plat for land north of Natures Refuge. The proposed plan includes 93 villa homes on an approximately 59.30-acre site. The original concept plan for this development was reviewed by the Park Board on November 1, 2023. The proposed Preliminary Plat accomplishes the following: Approximately 8.5 acres of open space adjacent to the Arena Acres neighborhood. We revised the original concept plan to pull back lots from Arena Acres to the center of the development, increasing the buffer width from Arena Acres from 50 feet to 160-400 feet, and reduced the number of lots from 108 to 93 homes. Approximately 34 acres of open space (58% of the site) and preserves natural features. We provided 4 more acres of open space from the original concept plan. Providing this additional open space reduced the number of trees removed by 1,400. The site plan also takes care to avoid as many wetland impacts as possible. Linear trails are proposed to provide connectivity to the existing Nature’s Refuge trail to the south and a future trail connection when the property to the north is developed. Estimated Park Dedication is 93 lots x $3,500 = $325,500, less credit for trail construction costs. Incidentally, the City collected $115,760 from Nature’s Refuge after