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HomeMy WebLinkAbout20251029 Environmental Board Minutes Environmental Board October 29, 2025 Page 1 CITY OF LINO LAKES ENVIRONMENTAL BOARD MEETING DATE: October 29, 2025 TIME STARTED: 6:30 p.m. TIME ENDED: 7:17 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT: Alex Schwartz, Julia Nelson, Lindsay Buchmeier, Mary Jo Stevenson, Shawn Holmes MEMBERS ABSENT: Jonathan Parsons, Elizabeth Larkin STAFF PRESENT: Thomas Hoffman, Jennifer Alderink 1. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Chair Schwartz called the Environmental meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. on October 29, 2025. 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 3. PUBLIC COMMENT Chair Schwartz declared open mike at 6:31 p.m. Stephanie Falkers at 154 Pine Street had a public comment regarding the Pulte Homes concept plan. Ms. Falkers property backs up to the western and southern edges of the proposed Del Webb-Pulte Homes development. She noted that she has lived on her current property or the property next to hers for over 30 years and has used the land for residential and agriculture with animal husbandry. Because of the proposed 50-foot adjacent lots to her property that back up to her horse pasture fence, she has a liability concern regarding her horses and how people will interact with them. She mentioned that it could also Ms. Falkers also noted that she was concerned about the valuation of her property as Del Webb-Pulte is proposed to be developed out of the floodplain and what the impacts are for them and for a possible future sale. Environmental Board September 24, 2025 Page 2 Chair Schwartz closed public comments at 6:34 p.m. 4. SETTING THE AGENDA: Addition or Deletion of Agenda Items There was some confusion as to whether the board needed to set the agenda, so setting the agenda was not done at this time. 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Chair Schwartz took a motion to set the minutes. Ms. Nelson motioned to approve the September 24, 2025 meeting minutes. Motion was seconded by Ms. Holmes. Motion carried 5 0. 6. ACTION ITEMS A. Del Webb-Pulte Homes PUD Concept Plan The applicant, Pulte Homes of MN LLC, is proposing a master planned development located on the North side of Main Street (CSAH 14), East of Sunset Ave NE (County Road 53), and South of Pine Street. The proposed development is bordered by Blaine to the west and south of Columbus. The development contains approximately 259.2 gross acres and consists of mix of residential housing and residential/commercial. Including Del Webb Brand homes (455), Pulte townhomes (106), and Pulte single-family homes (174). The proposed development is called Del Webb-Pulte Homes. Tom Hoffman, City of Lino Lakes Environmental Coordinator, presented the Del Webb- Pulte Homes PUD Concept Plan and was available for questions. Paul Heuer, Representative for Pulte Group, presented the Del Webb-Pulte Homes PUD Concept Plan and was available for questions. Ms. Holmes inquired as to what phase one of the project will be. Mr. Heuer said that in phase one, homes from all levels of this project would be for sale. He said that the first phase would include the amenity center of Del Webb and the arrival drive. They will start in the south portion of the development and work their way north. Ms. Nelson APPROVED MINUTES Environmental Board September 24, 2025 Page 3 Mr. Heuer said that there is roughly 20 acres of Peterson property, and the rest is three different Robinson properties. Ms. Nelson inquired if the Del Webb-Pulte Homes covers all of the northwest sod farms, or only part of the Northwest sod farms. Mr. Hoffman clarified that there are more sod farms to the east along Main Street, so Del Webb-Pulte would cover about half of the sod farms. Ms. Nelson inquired about the pond being built in the development. Mr. Hoffman stated that the pond will be private and part of the amenity set of Del Webb-Pulte. He did note that it is a possibility that some of the other water features through the development may have recreation opportunities, but they are still working through that. Mr. Hoffman also said that a lot of the land for the development will have to be over excavated for the fill and floodplain storage, so the opportunity to have some recreational or passive use along those corridors is likely with the final design. Ms. Nelson noted that if the ponds being constructed can be kept pristine and attract wildlife, that would be a huge selling point. Mr. Heuer said that some of the ponds will be larger than others, so the larger ones will most likely be deeper and can attract a variety of different wildlife and plant species. Ms. Nelson asked if there is anything that the Del Webb-Pulte group can do to mitigate some fears of the neighbors that have livestock on the north side. Mr. Heuer said that he would start by having a conversation with the resident that came to speak at the board meeting today. Ms. Nelson asked the median price for the senior homes. Mr. Heuer noted that prices can fluctuate, but currently, the smallest homes are $450,000 to $500,000. The largest homes are about $800,000-$900,000. Ms. Nelson asked about the HOA fees. Mr. Heuer said the HOA fees would be around $300 a month. Chairman Schwartz said that the City spent a lot of time and resources going through the AUAR process, as well as the master planning. He noted that there is a piece of an APPROVED MINUTES Environmental Board September 24, 2025 Page 4 island to the north on the map that was left out. Chairman Schwartz is inquiring why this piece was not included and asked Mr. Heuer why Del Webb-Pulte chose the land that they did. see if The Pulte Group wanted to buy their land as well, so the Peterson land was also purchased. One of the other neighboring properties called The Pulte Group recently inquiring about more land for sale, so The Pulte Group is in conversation with them as well. Mr. Heuer noted that The Pulte Group have an approved project. Chairman Schwartz noted about the densities in the AUAR and inquired as to how Del Webb-Pulte fits into that. He asked if that conforms with the low density or a higher density. Mr. Heuer said that it is a complicated question, but he believes that they will be at or near the bottom of the range for densities. and how it was a huge deal that the City had to make connectivity to the west, north, northern half of the project especially to Pine Street. The concern is for fire and safety and if the City is going to require connectivity in that area. Mr. Heuer responded that with this development, they are trying to satisfy both what the residents want and what the City requires. He noted that if they connect to Pine Street, a lot of residents in that area are not going to like that, so they are trying to avoid that. From a safety standpoint, the development has two ways in for each home, except short cul-de-sacs, so they have adequate access from a fire and safety standpoint. Mr. Hoffman commented that as part of the master plan, there is the potential for a future Pine Street connection with additional development to the east. Chairman Schwartz noted that it looks like the buffer on the east side of the development was more narrow or closer to the parcel line as compared to the west portion. Because of the neighbors with livestock on the east side, he asked if the development is able to shift the buffer over so they truncate the western buffer and expand the eastern buffer. APPROVED MINUTES Environmental Board September 24, 2025 Page 5 Mr. Heuer said that they do not have a lot of room for flexibility there, but they do have a little buffer where possible. There is potential for them to shift the buffer a little bit east to try and maximize the buffer to the west but wanted to make sure they are also keeping it fair for people on the east. Mr. Hoffman made the comment that it looks like there is a lot less buffer on the east side, primarily going along Main Street. property lines, so that buffer and greenway will be put in and installed with the next phase, at least on the other Robinson parcels, those existing smaller or single-family residence to the north. He goes on to say that there is not as much that can be done there, but it does show a much larger greenway corridor coming from that roundabout up through there on the Robinsons side. Chairman Schwartz asked if there are relates to the southwest to northeast greenway corridor through the southern portion of the development. Mr. Hoffman said that in the agenda packet on the conceptual land plan, it shows both the public trail and the private trail system. The private trail will start from the roundabout through the planned residential and commercial area, which follows the grand entrance and water corridor to the public park. The public trail will go from the second roundabout extending to the north. There will also be private trails through the Del Webb community going around the pond and exiting onto those streets. There would be a public sidewalk throughout there as well. Ms. Buchmeier asked if the Del Webb development will be a gated community. Mr. Heuer responded that the Del Webb development will not be a gated community. He notes that gated communities are not common here. Ms. Buchmeier asked if the two other Del Webb-Pulte developments in the Twin Cities Mr. Heuer said that the development in Chaska is Del Webb only. The one in Corcoran on the border with Maple Grove does have some single-family Pulte homes being built immediately adjacent to the Del Webb community. Ms. Buchmeier asked Mr. Heuer if he sees the combination of the Del Webb-Pulte communities with the high-density homes being successful. APPROVED MINUTES Environmental Board September 24, 2025 Page 6 Mr. Heuer stated that these types of communities are successful. The Pulte Group builds these types of developments all over the country. They have also learned the hard way of what not to do and will not be doing those things here. Ms. Buchmeier asked about the parcel to the north and what The Pulte Group plans on doing with it if they acquire it. She wanted to know if the roads would just shift and what it would look like. to acquire the parcel to the north. If they were to acquire that property, they would readjust the roadway to fill and water will have to be extended to them as well. Ms. Buchmeier asked Mr. Hoffman if the City has codes on fire and rescue as it pertains to these developments. Mr. Hoffman responded that the City is working with police and fire to review the plans to make sure we know how long the cul-de-sacs need to be so they have their turning radiuses. Ms. Larsen, the City Planner, will have more information and recommendations at the Planning and Zoning meeting. As of right now, there was no concern with access. There are two entries in and out of the development, so in the case of an accident or road work, the development can be serviced from the other side. Ms. Buchmeier asked if any of the recommendations from the Planning and Zoning meeting will need to be added to the Environmental Board recommendations or will the Planning and Zoning board take care of it. Mr. Hoffman responded that the recommendations will be included with the City engineer and public safety reports, so the Environmental Board does not have to include theirs. Ms. Holmes asked if residents would need to pay for flood insurance since the development is bringing in fill to elevate. She also inquired if there is going to be more runoff going into some of the properties that are boarding the new development. Mr. Hoffman stated that as a part of stormwater requirements, you must either meet or reduce the existing water leaving the site. There is testing and requirements done to the site to meet or reduce the existing water levels. There can sometimes be challenging circumstances, but overall, raising the elevation will most likely decrease the amount of water going elsewhere. APPROVED MINUTES Environmental Board September 24, 2025 Page 7 Ms. Holmes encouraged transparency and communication between the builder and the neighboring residence once construction starts to alleviate any fears about flooding. Mr. Heuer noted that there is one minor correction; they do not plan on bringing in dirt offsite to elevate the development. They plan to excavate the ponds, and that is where the dirt will come from to raise the homes above the floodplain. Chairman Schwartz asked Mr. Hoffman if he believes the amount of open water from think there is going to be an additional need for more storm water runoff areas. Mr. Hoffman said that it is challenging to know for sure until they get more modeling and calculations. A lot of the answers will depend on dead and live storage, as well as volume. There may be some adjusting on the size of the different ponds and the layout of them to get those calculations, but generally, with the different land use and housing types, tho Mr. Heuer noted that the final plan may end up with more or less ponding and lots. The current site plan and make adjustments. Ms. Holmes asked if the Environmental Board would see this development back on the agenda. Mr. Heuer confirmed that the Environmental Board will see this plan again, and that the unofficial feedback helps The Pulte Group decide whether to spend a lot of money to move forward to the next step of the preliminary PUD or not. Chairman Schwartz asked Mr. Hoffman about the lighting terms for this proposed Del Webb-Pulte development and if the terms all refer to the same things as previous board discussions on lighting mitigation. Mr. Hoffman confirmed it all falls under that concept of dark sky and light reduction. This plan not only covers light pollution, but how to keep light within the development and not go onto neighboring properties. Ms. Nelson asked about noise mitigation and how to keep the noise from Lake Drive to a minimum. Mr. Hoffman said there is a lot that can be done about noise mitigation based on some sound studies that have been done. Mr. Hoffman mentioned berming and landscaping APPROVED MINUTES Environmental Board September 24, 2025 Page 8 on top of that berm as a way to help reduce the noise. He also noted that noise reduction can come from the building products themselves. Mr. Heuer mentioned that the house distance from Main Street will also be a positive advantage. Chairman Schwartz makes a motion to approve the Del Webb-Pulte PUD concept plan to the next stage. Ms. Holmes motions to approve. Ms. Nelson seconds the motion. Motion passes 5-0. 7. DISCUSSION ITEMS A. Heron Rookery Event Update Mr. Hoffman presented about the tree planting event with Anoka county on Peltier Lake and was available for questions. Ms. Holmes asked what size the trees were. Mr. Hoffman noted that the trees were 3- in height. They planted multiple species, but primarily red elm because it mimics the same branch pattern as the ash trees. Chairman Schwartz asked if there is any benefit to going to the DNR to get a few 100 of the small seedlings and planting those in the spring. Mr. Hoffman noted that he wants to do a few 1000 trees because we can get them for cheap. The problem is that the trees come in the spring when the birds are coming back to nest, and are very susceptible to human activity. Ms. Holmes commented that you could heel in trees in the spring and then plant them in the fall. Mr. Hoffman said they have talked about making a gravel bed of bare root trees and having them available for public consumption in the fall. Ms. Holmes noted that the compost site is rich in nutrients, so that could be a potential spot to heel those trees in, but the issue there is the availability of irrigation. Mr. Hoffman said that the other problem with compost is that it gets hot, so if the trees were to be heeled in, it would have to be sand or gravel media so it can drain, which also encourages more of the fibrous roots. APPROVED MINUTES Environmental Board September 24, 2025 Page 9 Chairman Schwartz and Mr. Hoffman talked about alternate ideas for heeling the trees in until they can be planted in the fall. They will look into some options for future planting. 8. ADJOURN Chairman Schwartz took a motion to adjourn. Ms. Buchmeier motioned to adjourn the meeting at 7:17 p.m. Chairman Schwartz seconded the motion. Motion carried 5-0. Respectfully submitted, Jennifer Alderink Office Specialist APPROVED MINUTES