11/01/2010 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Search

Pr bu \Ati . Se_ss w(, I I Dear Mayor and City Council, Table 1 below is taken from the currently proposed Comprehensive Plan, and represents planned growth through 2030. The numbers in the first four columns came from the Met Council's "Net Residential Density Worksheet" (presented on page 2 for your convenience), which was created pursuant to Lino Lake's plan. For your convenience, I have added a fifth column listing the plan's proposed maximum densities allowed. Please note that this plan will permit up to 5,649 new residential units in the 1,171.5 acre total, which results in an overall density of 4.82 units /acre. The "planned" 3,545 units is actually the absolute bare minimum allowed in the proposed plan (as opposed to a target in the center of a range). Tablel . Calculating Currently Proposed Net Density of Residential Development Land Use Type # of Units Net Residential Acres Net Density Units /Acre Max. Units /Acre Low Density Residential 1,119 746.3 1.50 3.5 Med. Density Residential 666 185.1 3.60 6.9 High Density Residential 1,134 162.1 7.00 12.0 Mixed Use 625 78.1 8.00 ? (8.0) TOTAL 3,545 1,171.5 3.03 4.82* *Maximum u/a allows 5,649 residential units (not counting mixed use), a 59% overage in net density. As you can see, new housing will be drastically different in Lino Lakes under this plan. There is also a lack of control, with an allowance for a 59% upsurge from the plan in the density of all new construction. Table 2 below is a proposed alternative. The minimum densities are set to more accurately represent actual development that occurs in Lino Lakes, and the range of density variation is more controlled. This table uses the same acres for Low and Medium Density Residential and mixed use as the above. However, by raising the minimum densities allowable to more realistic numbers and then calculating per Met Council Guidelines, more Low and Medium Density homes are accommodated. With more units at these densities, the number of High Density units can then be reduced by more than 50 %, from 1,134 to 538. This alternate density plan fully meets the Met Council's requests for Lino Lakes. Table2. Calculating Alternative Net Density of Residential Deve opment Land Use Type # of Units Net Residential Acres Net Density Units /Acre Max. Units/Acre - Low Density Residential 1,642 746.3 2.2 2.4 Med. Density Residential 740 185.1 4.0 4.5 High Density Residential 538 76.9 7.0 8.0 Mixed Use 625 78.1 8.0 ? (8.0) Free Acres / Greenway 0 85.1 0.0 0.0 TOTAL 3,545 1,171.5 3.03 3.30 ** * *Maximum u/a allows 3,864 residential units, a 9% overage in net density. Please note that using the same 1,171.5 total acres yields 85.1 "free" acres (at 3.03 u /a). For 3,545 residential units, Met Council's requirement of 3.00 units per acre allows up to 1,181.7 total acres, but the minimum densities in this example only require 1,086.4 total acres. The extra acres can be used for greenways, applied to lower the densities even further, or however Council sees fit. Also note that the max. u/a numbers have no effect on the above calculations. That is because the Met Council ignores these numbers in its density requirements. However, the max u/a numbers come into play when re- writing zoning ordinances, as it is these that will actually limit the density of each development as it occurs. The Met Council does not involve itself in density maximums, so City Council is free to do as it sees fit. THANKS! Mike Trehus, 11/1/2010