HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/09/1987 Council PacketMEETING NOTICE
LINO LAKES COUNCIL CHAMBER
6:00 P.M.
MONDAY NOVEMBER 9, 1987
The purpose of this meeting will be to discuss some
alternatives for the future of quality of housing
developments in Lino Lakes.
YOU'VE SPENT HOURS AND HOURS CONSIDERING
LOT SPLITS AND VARIANCES.
NOW PLEASE TAKE 20 MINUTES TO
CONSIDER HOUSING POLICY - AN
ISSUE THAT LIKELY WILL DETERMINE
LINO LAKES FUTURE DEVELOPMENT
HOUSING POLICY
Please grant me the opportunity to provide you with a
no -holds -barred overview housing development in Lino Lakes.
First let me give some factual information followed by a few
generalizations. Later let's look at some options open to
the city.
* Dennis Erickson is building houses in Shoreview,
Circle Pines, and Lino Lakes. His signs indicate
selling prices in the area of $125,000 in Circle
Pines. The dwellings in Shoreview look like they are
in the same price range. If I remember correctly the
sign in front of his development, Dennis Erickson 2nd
Addition, shows houses starting at $69,000.
* Most of the high value residential development found
in Lino Lakes is in the southeast part of the city
near Otter and Bald Eagle Lakes. This is to some
degree an extension of the higher value residential
development in North Oaks - White Bear Township -
White Bear Lake.
* Gardner Brothers is looking for a large parcel of
land in Lino Lakes. This builder specializes in low
cost housing.
* Circle Pines and Shoreview are fast exhausting their
residential land supplies. The same holds true for
Blaine.
* On October 26, I had a telephone call from a woman
wanting to purchase a home. She said, "I don't know
how to put this but-er-ah- I heard lots were cheaper
in Lino Lakes than Blaine."
* White Bear Township will have its land supply
exhausted in five years.
* Kent Roessler built some of the houses in
Centerville's Center Oaks Addition. Gardner
Brothers built the rest. Roessler is presently
interested in developing land on LaMotte Drive. I
asked him to put some restrictive covenants on his
land to ensure higher value housing - higher value
than the starter houses in Centerville. He is
reluctant though considering the covenants.
* Lino Lakes has only a limited amount of residential
land. According to the recently completed
Comprehensive Plan Amendment, there are only 4,402
acres of developable residential land in the city.
Unfortunately more than half of this total (2,350
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acres) is in the rural zoning district with a ten
acre lot size minimum. Dividing total rural acreage
by ten, gives a total of 235 dwellings.
* Lot -size requirements for sewered single family lots
are 11,250 square feet, about average for the
metropolitan area.
* Minimum house sizes for the R-1 single family
district are as follows:
Rambler (3 bedroom)
Rambler (2 bedroom)
1 1/2 Story
Split Foyer
2 Story
960 Square
912 Square
912 Square
912 Square
850 Square
Feet
Feet
Feet
Feet
Feet
These are slightly below metropolitan area averages.
* On November 3, Rick Carlson discussed with me
subdividing 33 acres in southwest Lino Lakes. He
stated "the character of Lino Lakes hasn't been
determined yet. People are reluctant to build
executive homes because value hasn't been
established." If pushed, Carlson will build homes
similar to Rohavic Oaks though he would be more
comfortable in the $75,000 to $90,000 range.
* Gaughan Company is interested in purchasing land
in Lino Lakes. They've been in the residential
development business for about a year. They will
build high value or starter homes. Jay Johnson,
the company's representative, stated there would
be interest in building high value homes in the
southeast part of the city. At present though,
Gaughan is building on land near the
"rehabilitation center."
Now for some housing generalizations:
* The market for starter (low cost) homes is
decreasing. As the number of families starting the
family formation stage of life decreases so does
the demand for entry level housing.
* It's difficult to build low cost housing on other
than flat, sandy land. When soil corrections or
extensive grading are needed it raises the cost of
the lots. It reaches a point where builders can't
get enough money for the lots without building
higher value homes on them.
* Metropolitan Council sees a slow down in house
construction coming in the 1990's.
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* In times of depression low -value home sales
decline. Prosperous people can continue to build
homes.
Future starter homes will likely be used houses
in first and second ring suburbs.
* If Lino Lake's goal is to increase its population
as fast as possible, it should lower its mobile
home park requirements and contact Blaine mobile
home park owners about building parks in the city.
This is one part of the lower -value home market that
will increase.
* High value homes pay property taxes that increase
geometrically over lower cost houses. The $150,000
house does not pay twice what a $75,000 house pays
but something like four times as much.
* Persons living in higher value dwellings require
fewer government services than persons in low income
residences, e -g Otter Lake Estates vis-a-vis Lino
Apartments.
* From a services/tax base point -of -view the worst
possible situation is low value, low density
residential development.
* Low value housing will keep high value housing away.
* Lino Lakes will have to be more active in determining
the housing it wants - if it wants anything other
than mostly low cost housing.
* Commercial and Industrial development is attracted to
areas with good quality housing i.e. Eden Prairie,
Plymouth.
Here are some options for the city to consider.
1. Do nothing. Lino Lakes isn't such a bad place right
now. In fact it's pretty nice. We have a wide range
of "housing opportunities". Don't change anything.
2. Increase minimum standards for lot sizes and house
sizes. Require a two car -garage - many cities do.
Require some landscaping in residential areas. This
will announce to everyone that if higher value
dwellings are built in Lino Lakes, the values will
be protected, i.e. no one will be able to build
cracker -boxes next door.
3. Establish an "executive housing" zoning district.
Again. other cities have done this successfully. In Page 3
MEMORANDUM
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council
FROM: John Miller, City Planner
DATE: November 6, 1987
SUBJECT: Twilight Acres III
The proposed Twilight Acres III preliminary plat is located
in the city's "R-1" Single -Family Residence District. As
you are aware from reviewing other material, the plat
proposes to create one -acre residential lots. The land is
within the city's MUSA boundary.
In the purpose section of the R-1 district it states, "The
area is intended for development of single-family detached
homes on lots with public sewer and water."
The developers of the plat have stated they do not wish to
use public utilities.
I would recommend the members of the Council take a serious
look at this proposal from at least three points of view.
First the city has only a very limited amount of residential
sewer -available land. It's a precious commodity that should
be used to its fullest.
Second, there will be some cost in bringing the utilities to
the MUSA land. If parcels are allowed to opt out, costs to
the city and other property owners might be increased.
Third, it appears it would be in conflict with the city's
zoning ordinance to allow development in the R-1 zone with
private sewer and water.
the executive housing district there would be larger
lot sizes, larger minimum house sizes and so on. The
zoning map would have to be amended to include their
district. One place for the district might be south-
east Lino Lakes east of I -35E.
You should include the members of the Planning and Zoning
Board in this decision.
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