03/03/2004 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MARCH 3, 2004 APPROVED 1 quality development. There are some further changes and clarifications that need to be 2 incorporated into the final plan as suggested in this report. Additionally, design items 3 such as the streetscaping element will go through further modification and review as part 4 of the Public Improvement Design process. 5 6 Mr. Bill Griffith, Hartford Group, stated this has been a City and City staff driven 7 process. A lot of work has been done on the project including the Environmental 8 Assessment Worksheet and Transportation Study. Hartford, as a developer, needs 9 flexibility and certainty. Hartford has been working on getting partners to make the 10 project a reality. He noted the build out on the project would be three to five years. 11 12 Ms. Elizabeth Coetes, Hartford Group, thanked the City Council for involving Hartford in 13 making the City's vision a reality. She asked the Council if they had any questions. 14 15 Mayor Bergeson inquired about other Hartford projects in the area that the Council may 16 visit. 17 18 Ms. Coetes stated Hartford has projects in St. Louis Park, Burnsville and Apple Valley. 19 She indicated a market study was done that looked at both residential and commercial 20 use. The natural resources within the City are an asset but do limit the number of 21 rooftops. Therefore, the plan includes higher density areas to make the project 22 economically feasible. Hartford needs the approvals to move forward in obtaining 23 equitable partners for the project. 24 •25 Ms. Coetes reviewed the first phase of the plan noting the first phase will include senior 26 housing and assisted living. She stated Hartford does have interest from a hotel and 27 Hartford hopes the City will flexibility for that option. 28 29 Community Development Director Grochala stated there is a site plan but the plan may 30 be shifted. The maximum densities and square footage capabilities have been set. There 31 are certain areas within the plan that are set up for either strictly commercial uses or 32 residential uses. The plan has flexibility to allow for the different types of development 33 that may occur. 34 35 Economic Development Assistant Divine distributed and reviewed the 2004 Housing 36 Affordability Thresholds issued by the Metropolitan Council. She indicated the plan 37 includes affordable housing along with housing on the upper end of the scale. 38 39 Ms. Coetes stated the project will include some rental units including senior housing, 40 work force housing, condominiums and assisted living. She noted the townhome area 41 will be owner occupied market rate. 42 43 Councilmember Reinert inquired about the density in regard to the mixed use areas. 44 Community Development Director Grochala advised in the residential district 190 units 45 would be the maximum number of units allowed. In mixed use areas, the maximum 46 density does not apply because the buildings may be three or four stories high. However, 47 the maximum number of total units has been capped at 450 units. In certain blocks